Over the last couple of weekends, having not had any trips organised, we have been able to stay on Hong Kong Kong explore more of what this amazing city has to offer.
On Sunday a couple of weeks ago, we had tickets to the Hong Kong Art Fair 2012 which is the city's biggest art fair and brings together pieces from different art galleries all around the world. This trip was definitely an example of quantity over quality, and despite there being a few interesting pieces of art, the majority was a bit too niche for my taste. I have tried to take a few pictures of the most interesting pieces, but to be honest, my photos make most of the pieces look more artistic than they were in the flesh.
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| HK Art 2012 Fair Entrance Hall at The Hong Kong Exhibition & Convention Centre (HKECC) |
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| Is this really art? |
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| Jurassic Park meets Full Metal Jacket |
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| More people tripped over this piece than actually looked at it with any interest. |
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| Not sure if this is a piece of art, or just some interesting dividers |
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| Interesting piece, but not hard to put together really??? |
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| One way to use your old Super-Soakers! |
The weekend after our trip to the art gallery, we decided again to stay on Hong Kong Island and this time, explore the area around the Mid-Levels and Soho.
On Friday night we were invited to the birthday celebrations of one of D's colleagues, and on leaving the flat at 22:00 headed to Fly Bar in Lan Kwai Fun or LFK as it is known to the Chuppies (Chinese Yuppies). LKF is the equivalent of the West End, but is probably one of the few places in the world that makes a night out in London look good value.
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| Fly Bar (Lan Kwai Fung) |
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| It was definitely not this quiet when we left. |
However, Fly was a great place to start the evening and we were soon into the swing of things getting our groove on, on the quickly filling dance floor. All, was good until I spotted a few of the kids that I had spent the previous day teaching. As well as making me rather uncomfortable, it also made me feel VERY VERY old. However, we were enjoying ourself too much to let this ruin are night, and we swiftly headed to grab something to eat before making our way to Dragon-I nightclub. A good time was had by all and we were soon once again getting our groove on in somewhat more rowdy conditions than Fly.
The following day, having had a bit of a lie-in we headed back to the Soho and Central area to have a look around the winding streets of the mid-levels. The main tourist spot in this part of town is the Mid-Levels escalator which winds it way up the hill from the hustle and bustle of the business district into the more secluded and relaxed Mid-Levels. We decided to ride the escalator to the top and then make our way down via the winding streets ad alleys that style this part of HK.
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| The Central to Mid-Levels Escalator |
What we discovered was one of the most beautiful and interesting areas of Hong Kong, filled with antique filled market streets and hidden temples that defy the growing metropolis all around. An example of this, was the Man Mo Temple, which is a small, incense filled monastery dedicated to two very different Chinese gods, Man Cheong the God of Literature and Kwan Yu, the god of war or martial valour. It was a beautiful and serene place, and for a while we felt like we had left the city only to be brought back to earth upon looking through the open roof of the temple, through which you could see the vast sky-scraper tower blocks which make up the residential estates of the Mid-Levels.
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| Inside the incense filled Man Mo Temple |
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| More incense.... |
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| Our restaurant of choice for a VERY tasty lunch! |
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A 20-day incense burner, this has got about 2 days left
After our visit to the temple, we spent the rest of our afternoon wondering and perusing the antique stalls around Ladder Street and Cat Street. I use antiques loosely, however, as a number OF stalls were also selling broken Casio watches and pre-Nokia 5110 mobile phones (Proper Gordon Gekko-style bricks). Having earmarked a few items for purchase before we head back to the UK, we headed back to Causeway Bay for a good nights sleep and another couple of episodes of The West Wing.
We also discovered Elgin Street in the mid-levels,a tiny street packed with a great selection of restaurants. We decided to give the lunch menu in Bouchon a try and we were not disappointed, with both of us having a starter, drinks and a prime piece of fillet steak each, for under 25GBP.
That's all for now folks! Catch up again soon. J
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