To Hong Kong (Day #2)

My second day in Hong Kong. The entire day was spent on Hong Kong Island. We started off the day going downtown for some music CD shopping along 王后大道 Queen's Road. I picked up a couple of nice jazz compilations - just something to listen to when I am caught in KL's mad traffic jams. After that, it was a simple lunch of 雲吞麵 wan tan meen and porridge.


王后大道 Queen's Road and trams

After lunch, we rode up the Central to Mid-Levels Escalator, stopping along the way to check out some 麻雀 mahjong shops. Then, it was a mandatory stop at the 泰昌餅家 Thai Cheong Confectionery at 擺花街 Lyndhurst Terrace to buy egg-tarts (the shop is famous for being patronised by ex-British Governor of Hong Kong Chris Patton). Most of us bought one piece. I was feeling greedy, so I bought three. And since the egg-tarts are best eaten when hot, I ate all three in one go.


(L-R): 泰昌餅家 Thai Cheong Confectionery, guzzling my egg-tarts

After dinner at a nice Manchurian restaurant in Soho area, we did a short stroll around 蘭桂坊 Lan Kwai Fong, just to soak in the typical Hong Kong nightlife. It was amazing how alive and crowded the place was on a weekday night. The restaurants and pubs were just over-flowing with people.


Night scene in 蘭桂坊 Lan Kwai Fong

To Hong Kong (Day #1)

My second trip to 香港 Hong Kong. The first was in March 2004, to attend Brother Michael's wedding. That was a relatively short trip, only 4 days, so I did not get to see much. So, I decided that this time, I will try to cover more areas. This time, it was with my ex-housemates.

Our day began at 8:30am, with a trip up 太平山 Victoria Peak. Since the apartment we stayed in was in 跑馬地 Happy Valley, which is practically halfway up to the Peak, we decided that it did not make sense for us to go all the way down to the base of the hill and take the tram up again. So instead, we hailed a taxi from right outside Wendy Apartments.

It was a really hot morning up on the Peak, and reports state that we were experiencing the clearest skies ever witnessed at the Peak in 9 years! I took quite a few pictures at the vantage point, and took a nature walk along the 2.8km circular trail around the Peak. I even bought myself a new pair of long-shorts at Giordano (I only brought one pair of long-shorts, as I was not expecting the weather to be so hot).



(L-R) At the lookout point of Victoria Peak, along the hiking trail

The afternoon was spent in 九龍 Kowloon area. The primary agenda was for two of us to buy our climbing ropes and other rock-climbing accessories (according to my climbing buddy, rock-climbing equipment is generally cheaper in Hong Kong than back home in Malaysia). However, in the process of traversing from one shop to another on foot, we managed to cover a large portion of 九龍 Kowloon area.

Food-wise, we had a simple lunch of 腸粉 ch'eong fun in some small eatery, followed by egg tarts purchased from a roadside stall in 旺角 Mong Kok area.


(L-R) 腸粉 Ch'eong-fun for lunch, and egg tarts for dessert... yummy!

We finished off our Kowloon walking tour with a stroll through 廟街 Temple Street, browsing at stalls selling cheap trinkets and souvenirs.


Along 廟街 Temple Street

Then it was a quick dinner at a small restaurant serving fish ball noodles. The contrarian in me opted for beef spare parts noodles.


(L-R) 牛腩麵 Beef spare parts noodles and 炸魚 deep-fried fish

After dinner, we adjourned to 尖沙咀 Tsim Sha Tsui to watch the 15-minute Symphony of Lights display along the harbour front. It was a spectacular display of lights from the major skyscrapers on Hong Kong Island's side. Not the kind of display a point-and-shoot camera can capture - you just have to be there to see it with your own eyes.


Symphony of Lights, viewed from 九龍 Kowloon side.

What a tiring day. My feet are sore from all the walking. Thank goodness, it will not be another early day tomorrow. I think I will rest early tonight.

Dating without tears

As I was sitting on Her Majesty's Throne (read: toilet bowl) yesterday, I read this interesting column entitled "Dating Without Tears" in The Star Metro Classifieds. The first thing I intuitively did as I went through the bullet points (which I have reproduced here ad verbatim) was to perform a mental check on how many I had followed or fumbled with:

• The best way to ask a girl out is in person. If that is not possible due to lack of opportunity or because you aren't confident enough, your best alternative would be over the phone.

I admit it: I am a shy guy. I have always had problems asking a girl out in person. Especially if it is a girl I am really fond of. I get the shivers. Yes, the phone definitely helps.

• Make sure you are well groomed. And of course check your breath beforehand!

Now, I may have crappy fashion sense, but when it comes to grooming up before a date, I think I do pretty alright. And I also make a mental note when a girl passes subtle hints about what kind of clothes suit me (and what kind don't!), so that I know what shirts and trousers to avoid like a plague on the subsequent dates (if there even are any!). And there is, of course, my sacred bottle of Tommy Hilfiger aftershave that I use only on dates. As for the breath part, I normally go through two bottles of Listerine before leaving the house, so I generally smell like a mint production plant throughout the date.

• If the girl says no, don't take it personally. Continue the conversation for a little longer, say it was nice talking to her and walk away.

Oh, this is one that took a lot of working for me. I used to feel so dejected from rejections. I would go home with my tail between my legs, and bang my head against the wall wondering if if was my hair, breath or bad sense of humour that cheesed her off. After a decade of rejections, I think I am handling it much better now.

• The fact that you took her rejection well may even pique her interest. If she isn't a stranger make more of an effort to get to know her. She may grow to like you and you may get another opportunity to ask her out.

This one remains to be seen. I have yet to have an angry customer return to my front door.

• If she says she was busy to your first offer and you get a similar response to your second date option accept it as a rejection and move on. She is probably trying to be nice.

Oh, yes... this sounds so darn familiar. Practically right out of a textbook.

• Think of subjects to discuss on the date in advance. Good ideas include stores about you, things you want to know about her, family and common interests.

Herein lies the problem. Once I get going with my lucidity, my weird sense of humour and uncontrolled hand gestures start kicking in. Some find it downright musing. Others feel the need to escape this raving lunatic.

• Do not ask a girl out over e-mail or by instant message.

Oh, God... now I know the reason for my 99.9% failure rate.

• Don't worry about small breaks in conversation as that's normal. But if it lasts an excessive amount of time, or she is giving you non-verbal queues that she wants out of the conversation, then politely end it.

This is usually a one-or-zero thing. Either we talk so much that the restaurant owner has to throw us out the back door, or we spend the full hour or two at the diner staring at the floor and counting the number of floor tiles. Fortunately for me, the latter only happened once... a long time ago.

"Chinatown"

Roman Polanski's 1974 movie "Chinatown" (starring Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway) ranks among the best movies ever made. Fast forward 33 years later, and I finally got down to watching this film classic on DVD recently. And all the while, through all the twists and turns in the plot, I thought to myself, "they don't make movies like this anymore".

But there was something else that I enjoyed just as much as the movie itself - the soundtrack composed by the late Jerry Goldsmith. The jazz tracks peppered here and there were enchanting, but in particular, it was the main theme "Love Theme from Chinatown" that truly mesmerised me. Short as it was (the track is only two minutes long), the haunting yet sultry melody puts you right there... on a street in the city at night, illuminated by a solitary street-lamp, with your lover in your arms and warm embrace.

Listen to the piece once... and better still, listen it as you watch this great movie. And just for those two minutes, you will feel yourself sent faraway to a world of romance like no other.

Of unscrupulous taxi drivers

A colleague of mine from Shanghai made her maiden voyage to Malaysia yesterday, also her first trip outside of China. She was supposed to catch a taxi from Sheraton Hotel in Subang Jaya to our office in Kelana Jaya this morning. It would have been a relatively straightforward journey - 10 to 15 minutes and no more than 10 Malaysian Ringgits.

Hailing a taxi was a harrowing experience for her. All the taxi drivers whom she hailed not only refused to use the meter, but also insisted on charging her RM25 for the journey! Fortunately, she was clever enough to decline, and promptly called me on my mobile phone for help. Naturally, I obliged her a ride to the office, and thereupon arranged with our company secretary to have a dedicated taxi to ferry to and from work for the remainder of our stay.

To my colleague Grace Ge, I say, "我代表馬來西亞所有的誠實公民向你道歉, 希望今日發生的事件不會破壞到你對馬來西亞的印像" ("On behalf of all the honest citizens of Malaysia, I offer my sincere apologies, and hope that today's incident will not mar your impression of Malaysia").

Malaysia is 45 days shy of its 50th birthday, and yet we are suffering the embarrassment of having our local taxi drivers give our country a bade image with their unscrupulousness and bullying attitude towards foreign visitors. When I think of how honest and professional the taxi drivers in Shanghai are, I feel so ashamed that our country, supposedly just over a decade away from Vision 2020 (our targetted year to officially become a fully-developed nation), is falling behind in terms of integrity and civility.