A parade of ducks, half a dozen plucked and ready for roasting, hung from the kitchen ceiling. Beside the ducks hung pigs, butchered and prepared for the high heat of an oven’s glowing charcoal. The roasting of ducks and pigs was the highlight of my Hong Kong Foodie Tasting Tour, a four-hour walking meal in the culinary capital of Asia that continues to grow as a port for starting and/or ending cruises. If you have only one …
Ovation of the Seas moves its homeport with the seasons in a grand circle, including Tianjin (Beijing’s seaport), Hong Kong, Singapore, and Sydney, Australia. Cruises cater to Chinese passengers when the ship sails from China. HONG KONG Gone was Johnny Rockets, a fast food mainstay of Royal Caribbean cruise ships. So, a meal of burger and fries was difficult to find on the 4,180-passenger Ovation of the Seas during a five-night voyage into the South China Sea. …
DAY 9–I’ve been to spas all around the world—tiny outdoor ones in Belize and fancy resort ones in ski country, on big ships and Hawaiian gardens in Mexico and Tahiti. But I don’t think I’ve ever indulged in a major city. Hong Kong has made me rethink that. Of course here massage is a part of the culture—locals hawk reflexology on street corners for as little as $10 US. But major hotels are getting into the act …
DAY 8–Sometimes the best is last. We’ve gone Northeast from Kowloon into the outer territories and are sitting outside at Chuen Kee Seafood Restaurant in Sai Kung, a small city of about 150,000 people as dish after dish of fresh seafood is brought to our table—lobster on top of noodles, fried squid, abalone, steamed fish, stir fried crab with ginger and scallions. The restaurant is packed because it is the weekend. Before we ate, we ogled some …
DAY 7–My eyes are closed and soft music is playing as my feet are getting massaged. AAH…After four days of exploring Hong Kong, I can’t think of a better way to end the day—or a more unusual way to end Christmas afternoon. Of course in Hong Kong, there are reflexology shops; it seems, on every street. Employees hand out brochures in the street and prices vary widely from $10 to over $100. Our guide has suggested this …
DAY 6–I’m standing in front of a Giant Buddha making a wish—out loud. Monks, I’m told, stand in this very spot to pray because there seems to be an echo. And this isn’t just any Buddha but the largest outdoor sitting Buddha in the Po Lin Monastery on the island of Lantau. The Monastery was established in 1906—some 100 monks hidden from the tourists still live here—but the Tian Tan Giant Buddha -which took 10 years to …
DAY 5–Think Times Square and the Vegas strip rolled into one. On Steroids. Think Black Friday and post Christmas sales and New Years Eve revelers at the same time. That only begins to describe Hong Kong Christmas Eve when hundreds of thousands take to the streets—no cars are permitted in the hotel district—to shop and shop some more until two in the morning (the subways run all night). They book crazy expensive tables at hotel restaurants and …
DAY 4–“Take a step forward and look at the sky,” I’m trying. It is 8 a.m. and it’s one of those moments I can’t believe I’m here—Hong Kong’s famous Victoria Harbor is in front of me as I try to follow Tai Chi Master William Ng has he introduces about 20 of us to the ancient Art of Ti Chi. Ng teaches this class three times a week from 8 am until 9 am right next to …
DAY 3–Some people choose hotels by the name; others by the location. People are choosing the newly renovated Mira for its hip design. The 492-room hotel has been open just a year across the street from Kowloon Park. You walk out the door onto Nathan Road, one of Hong Kong’s busiest thoroughfares and inside to a super modern lobby. Rooms have famous Arne Jacobsen Egg Chars, huge DVDS, Bose I-Pod docks. I especially love the free mobile …
DAY 2–Locals say it would take 50 years to sample all the restaurants in Hong Kong. I’ve only got a few days and I’m determined to eat my way through this huge city. Today, I’m the only Caucasian face in the jam-packed Tim Ho Wan that has the reputation for being the cheapest Michelin star restaurant in the world. People come here for Dim Sum and are lined up waiting outside. “We don’t like to make reservations …
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