As someone summarised for me recently "I'm more of a second city kind of guy". And mostly it's true; Chicago over New York, Cologne or Munich over Berlin, Sinapore over Hong Kong - if you allow me a certain latitude. I think there are bold exceptions: Rome, Paris, London - but hey, who said we were logical beings.
But Singapore would have my vote time and time again over HK.
That was - until my last trip.
I just got back from a chilly yet beautifully azure Hong Kong, where I spent a delightful weekend. I was lucky enough to stay at the W Hotel in Kowloon and amazing it was too. Funky yet stylish; bold yet warm; quirky yet functional the entire hotel exuded sophistication and luxury. Swimming on the 73rd floor in the open air (and luckily warmed up) pool was a real treat; vista views of the city before me and enticingly warm water to do my pseudo-exercising in. The room was over-sized - think they upgraded me - ha - and tastefully kitted out in greys and earthy tones. The main thing that did annoy me was the iPod docking station didn't support my player - which is surprising since it's once of the new generation ones; I must confess this didn't matter too much as the in-room Wonderlust CD provided by the hotel was more than jumping for me - great tracks by Madonna, Kylie, Dame Shirley and other such funkettes.
On Saturday I met up with a couple of old C&W colleagues who treated me to one of the nicest afternoons I've had in HK for a long time. We ate dim sum in Sheung Wan - not a gwai loh in sight - and gorged ourselves on won ton, shrimp stuffed vegetables, ha kau, char siew bao and greens. We then wandered to a small adjacent alleyway to find "snake house"; an establishment that's been serving meals, pastries and coffee for over 60 years to those in the know. We had warm cola with ginger and lemon - now there's a combination for you. Apparently good for colds - but it tasted, even to the non-flu-afflicted, rather delicious. My good friend offered salted lemon with Sprite - which didn't sound as appealing; I passed on that concoction. Meandering the streets of Central afterwards in the yellow rays was a joy.
There were many such little episodes that really made this trip to HK memorable: getting lost on the dark roads of Stanely, dinner at Lucy's, yoga in Dragon I, Chinese art in the gallery, the luxury malls, the sophistication of the Hong Kongers' dress sense, protests outside Citibank, picking up my newly tailored shirts and much much more.
As we change, perhaps cities change too, or perhaps we just see them differently.
Either way, I'm glad HK is my friend again.
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