22 December, 2018
Hong Kong, China

Up quite early and read until about dawn, then headed to Macau. No, not the former Portuguese island colony (maybe later in the trip), but an eatery just up from my hotel. Had some decent egg tarts and a toasted bun with butter and sweetened condensed milk drizzled on top. The later was a little sweet for my taste, but the breakfast satisfied. Oh, and coffee with cream (or at least milk). Oy.

On the way to the waterfront I passed an excellent looking breakfast buffet at a hotel. Tomorrow. For sure.

My plan was to work my way through museums along the waterfront but once I saw the view of Hong Kong Island from near the Star Ferry building I nearly changed plans and jumped a ferry for Hong Kong proper. “Stunning” doesn’t even begin to be adequate. Too hazy for photography, but 120 degree panorama of massive skyscrapers. Simply beautiful. Awe-inspiring.

I moved on, but both the Space Museum and Science Museum were not yet open, so took a long walk to the Hong Kong History Museum. I was confused about where to pay before learning it was free. The main floor had a nice exhibit of wood carving, much of it gilded. Beautiful stuff, very nicely displayed.

There was a massive permanent exhibition downstairs covering everything from the natural history of the area, the flora and fauna before the area was settled, early peoples and their ways of life, then various periods of civilization leading up to fairly modern times. It was huge and very well done. I spent over three our there.

Incredible carving, from a solid pice of wood, and gilded in leaf foil

Next on my list for the day was claypot rice for lunch. This is a traditional dish where rice is placed in a clay pot covered with various vegetables and/or meats, then baked with a lid so that the rice gets a little crispy on the bottom. A long hike back to Nathan Road where I caught to superb MTR subway to Yau Ma Tei. Some difficulty with Google Maps on my phone as the tall building sometimes block GPS signal, but finally found the place I was looking for. Closed. Ah, but I had a backup claypot spot in mind and it was nearby. Always prepared, that’s me!  Also closed. Claypot fail!

A most curious business model

It was after 1 p.m., I was hungry, and tired, so took the MTR back to iSquare, the massive multistory shopping mall across the street from my hotel and ate at an overpriced Italian place. Still, a good pizza and a couple of San Miguels were just the ticket on a muggy day. Back to the room to rest and read.

I was thinking about heading out again about 6:30, but almost didn’t. Still tired and not very hungry, I thought about staying in. Finally headed out and found a funky area five minutes about that has a sort of youthful hipster vibe (making me out of place there entirely, but so it goes.)

I ate at Ebenezer’s. Ebenezer himself greeted me at the door. Ebenezer has somewhat multicultural (and Halal) food. The chicken tikka pita was good, though the chicken was not cooked Tandoori style. If you go to Ebenezer’s and order spicy, be prepared for spicy. Not outside my comfort zone, but certainly on the leading edge.

From kebab to pizza to Indian to “Cambell’s Soup of the Day” Ebenezer’s got you covered

There was a tap room on the walk back that promised local beer. Craft brewing is a relatively new phenomenon here but seems to really be taking off. The Back Kite Goden Ale was pretty good and the pop music decidedly western.

Beer selection at the Kowloon Taproom

If you look closely, you can see a sign for  Yardly Brothers Llama Island IPA.  “None of the watery shite.”

Headed the Central tomorrow on the island of Hong Kong.