Day 200: Jogging Bowen Road — Food Tour — Beers with Dominic Leary
Day 200! Wow.
Margaret’s dad had sent over one “must-do” recommendation for Hong Kong: The Bowen Road jogging path.
Today was our last full day here in Hong Kong so I decided I had to bypass the gym and head over to HK Island for my morning workout. I left the room around 6:15, took the subway over to Central then hailed a cab for the 5 minute drive up the hill, starting my jog at 6:50. It was a long way to go for a workout but it was worth it.
The car and bike-free path winds along the edge of the mountain (hill?) behind the city. You are level with the tops of countless sky scrapers which is like no jogging experience I’ve ever had.
It’s 3k each way and I was a sweaty mess by the time I got back in a taxi down into the city. I trained back to Kowloon, grabbed a raisin bun and a vitamin water with the commuters and was back in the room around the same time I am each morning. A great start to the day.
We had nowhere to be until 3pm, so we took our time at breakfast and with school. I downloaded some Tinybop science apps for James on Wayne’s recommendation (new Brit friend in UB). He loved the one on simple machines — esp. the levers section that allows you to catapult rocks at different angles and speeds into a dragon’s castle.
We hit the pool for about 90 minutes and ordered a light lunch while there.
At 2:30 I was still at the pool with the kids when I realized that our Airbnb food tour started at 3pm — not 3:30 as I originally thought. We raced upstairs, changed, jumped in a taxi.
Our driver was a talkative, opinionated, young-looking (but 38 as he admitted to us) and skateboarding-obsessed guy. He chatted us up the whole way on Hong Kong history, neighborhood cultures, the protests and several other topics we could only half understand.
We met our guide Ronald right at 3pm. He’s a young guy, born and raised in HK and is both a pro soccer player (!) and does 2 – 3 food tours per week.
We were joined by two New Zealanders, Jeff and Pete — travel-obsessed buddies just arriving from Macao, super nice guys and totally cool with us dragging kids along. We’re excited to reconnect with them in Auckland in November.
The tour was a highlight of our HK visit. There were seven stops and a dozen or more items consumed including:
- Stinky tofu
- Fish skin dumplings
- Fish balls
- Pineapple buns
- Herbal tea
- Octopus
- Egg waffles
- Mango mochi, and…
- Pig ovaries!
After a sweaty and delicious 2 hours and 45 min Ronald walked us to the subway. Margaret and the kids headed home for baths and bed. I walked to pickup three pairs of pants we had dropped at a tailor to have holes patched.
I then got on the train back over to HK Island to meet NYC neighbor and friend Dominic at a rooftop bar called Piqniq. It was a cool spot, filled entirely with a diverse mix of Western expats. We caught up over a couple beers.
Dom, Katie Alice and their two boys seem to have a comfortable life in HK. They live up in the mid-levels in a big apartment complex. Like all expat families, they have a full time Philapino “helper” (as they are called) who works 12 hours a day, 6 days a week for $1000 US per month.
The benefits of living in HK: inexpensive help, ease of travel to all of Asia, super safe for kids and families.
Downside: It’s a bubble on HK Island. Sure there is a mix of westerners but everyone is upper class (though not HK super rich) and works in finance or related industries. There is no blending of class and culture like in NYC. There is no taking the subway to the East Village or LES and wandering around.
In the taxi on the way home I watched live coverage of the Mueller hearings on my phone. We turned it on my iPad and Margaret and I watched for a few minutes before being disgusted / frustrated and turning it off. We prefer the little bubble of our own we’ve created, away from the US political shitshow.
Headed to Beijing tomorrow to meet Lobsy, beginning three weeks in mainland China!
