There was a period where suddenly the whole world was in Hong Kong. To those who are still hesitating for who knows what lousy reason, this post should compel you to book that air ticket immediately.
When Mom was in Hong Kong, I had three days straight of fantastic food and hotel room stays. I got to try the authentic Italian place called Amaroni's Little Italy at Festival Walk which always looked too expensive for my meagre allowance. The ambience was lovely, with dim lighting, classic chandeliers and European paintings. The food was fantastic without a doubt, freshly baked bread and olive oil, soup, soft shell crab and cannelloni. We were both stuffed to the brim, but that didn't stop us from scarfing down Japanese food the next day at lunch at one of the best Japanese restaurants I've had so far in Hong Kong in Lan Kwai Fong. She brought me a little piece of home with a copy of The Straits Times and a mother's tender loving care with kisses in the morning. Of course, the extra money and Ben & Jerry's treats helped a great deal as well.
When Jinghan and Minwei were in Hong Kong, I effectively widened my CS circle of friends as we went to The Peak (my sixth time) and into Madame Tussauds, which was incredibly fun because we took about a couple of hundred photos with our favourite celebrities, sportspeople, people of the past and politicians. We also went for a session of KTV, delicious dinner at Yuen Long, grabbed street food, shopped at Mongkok till 1am in the morning and had claypot rice at Causeway Bay. I truly enjoyed hanging out with the two of them, and if the Taiwan plan goes through, I'm looking forward to spending time with them in their place of exchange.
When Minxiu was in Hong Kong, I laughed till my sides ached every single day. He never failed to be down with some ailment daily (sprained ankle, sore eye, flu which required about 5 packets of tissue a day and incessant coughing), and his actions, words and behaviour cracked me up immensely. And because he was part of the unforgettable China trip, I feel as if he truly belonged in this Hong Kong experience. From emerging with that huge suspicious looking grey bag consisting buys from almost every store at the factory outlet mall, parading around with those two bags filled high with DVDs (more than 100 discs, he spent HK$6000) to chalking up another HK$2744 at H&M in less than an hour, I've concluded that he is the greatest male shopaholic I've ever met. And the best part is, he loves taking photos - and of others, which meant that no moment on our China trip was missed. It was sad to see him go through the departure gates - of course not without those last pictures.
I love having visitors even if it means visiting those tourist attractions a million times over. It brings me a part of home, and home always means comfort.
