East Eats West

A bed with a spectacular view

Picture: The best view of the Hong Kong harbour can be had from a room in the Intercontinental Hotel on Kowloon.  Among the many Hong Kong hotels, The Intercontinental Hotel is the one with the best view. Where else would one see big cargo ships and the impressive skyline from bed? Where else is the staff at the entrance so attentive to roll and pack a wet umbrella? Where else does the Jacuzzi offer a breath-taking view? Or where else do local film directors get married? And nowhere else is the view from the lounge so grand.

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Chinese tea at its best

Picture: The waiter is preparing tea according to the ancient Gongfu method originating in the Fujian region.

If you think only tea bags when you hear tea, then it is time for you to visit a traditional tea house in Hong Kong! If you order for example the Golden Buddha Hands tea only the preparation takes a few minutes and five pots as the waiter uses the ancient Gongfu technique to prepare it. Gongfu is considered the best way to prepare the tea as it brings the tea’s aroma out and does not let the tea turn bitter. The waiter uses different cups in order to clean and steep the tea. Or try the jasmine-peach tea with a little flower wrapped in tea leaves that unfolds once you pour water over it. If you feel like splurging ty Pu'er compressed green tea that costs up to 100000 HKD or about 12800 USD a piece. And if you are hungry traditional dim-sum is also served in the tea house. After enjoying a good cup of green tea I recommend you visit the Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware next door where they for example explain the Gongfu technique. Lock Cha Tea Shop in the Hong Kong Park in Central. Here is there website: http://www.lockcha.com/eng/index.html

Tangy China Club

Picture: The biggest dining room at the China Club in Hong Kong.

David Tang is the brain behind the iconic retro-chic China Club restaurant franchisee and I recently went to his first venture, the China Club in Hong Kong situated in the old Bank of China Building. The club recreates the atmosphere of Shanghai in the twenties and serves traditional Chinese cuisine from dim sum to sweet and sour soup. The China Club franchise spans nowadays from China to Singapore and David Tang also launched the Shanghai Tang clothes retailer that is now owned by Swiss Richemont.

Hong Kong tailor

Picture: My talkative Hong Kong tailor Peter and Wendy So.

How do you choose a tailor in Hong Kong among the hundreds: go for fabrics and the cut! A good suit has to fit but the cloth is as important as the cut. If you go for one of the street-hawking “1 suit and 3 pants” Indian tailors you will get what you pay for: cheap fabric with a poor finish. Wanna try something else? I had a jacket made in a shop by the name of British Tailors run by Peter So and his wife Wendy. Not only is his shop flowing over with quality cloth from Loro Piana (he even sells Vicunia, the most expensive cloth there is), Peter also knows also different jacket cuts from the likes of Kiton and Brioni. And there is his big advantage: he offers different styles and cuts, not only the plain-boring straight look you get from street-hawking tailors. Peter counts for example the famous ex-footballer Pele among his customers and he is as passionate about his customers as about cloth. He happily chats away only interrupted by short questions of „do you understand“? His suits, shirts and pants are all bespoke and made in Hong Kong by hand. A shirt in a good fabric costs about 800 HKD, my linen pants 2000 HKD and the jacket 6800 HKD. His shop is in the basement of the Intercontinental Hotel. Try him but do not expect a suit done in 24 hours, in which case you better go to an Indian tailor on Nathan Road!

Here is Peter So’s address: British Tailors, New World Center, Salisbury Road, www.peter-so.com

Picture: Fitting a new linen jacket, linen pants and cotton shirt.

The nightly Hong Kong Light Show

Every night at 8pm the Hong Kong skyline gets lit up with an amazing 15-minutes light show, the world's biggest. The combination of lasers, colourful lights and the dramatic Hong Kong skyline make for a wonderful spectacle and a perfect background for pictures. For more pictures click here: http://easteatswest.typepad.com/photos/china_hong_kong/index.html

The lost art of making tea in Hong Kong

Picture: Pu'er green tea selling for up to 4'000$ per block.

Tea, once a typical Chinese drink, is quickly substituted by coffee in Hong Kong and Mainland China. At the same time the skilful art of preparing tea is lost and tea leaves get burned in too hot water and tea becomes bitter because of too long brewing. One of the last remaining traditional tea houses in Hong Kong is Lock Cha Teashop located in Hong Kong Park. The tea house offers over 100 different teas and serves tasty vegetarian dim sum with it. The dim sum is prepared to ancient recipes by Buddhist nuns and the shop sells from cheap to very expensive tea. The most expensive tea they have on sale is Pu’er green tea of the year 1960 that once cost 2$ and now retails for over 4’000$. Consider it a healthy investment.

Picture: The Lock Cha Teashop in Hong Kong selling over 100 tea varieties.

A toilet with a view: the Felix restaurant

Picture: Normally reserved for the eyes of men: the Felix restaurant pissoir with a view on the 49th floor.

The Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong was the first luxury hotel in Hong Kong and still is the epitome of splendour. It features fine service, Swiss management and the Felix restaurant on the top-floor designed by Philip Starck. The restaurant with bar is all about being seen and watching the fabulous skyline of Hong Kong Islands will eating mostly mediocre but horrible expensive food. But the true attraction of the Felix is the men’s toilet with the pissoir in front of a wall-height window: definitely not for people with vertigo!

Picture: the terrible trendy Felix restaurant in the Peninsula Hotel.

A big room with a view in Hong Kong

  Picture: Waking up a the Hotel Intercontinental to the Hong Kong skyline, an American fregatta and the Hong Kong and haze.

If you want to live it up in Hong Kong and stay in a swanky environment you have plenty of hotels to choose from. There are basically two schools of thought about where to stay in Hong Kong: The old school (think about my dad) stays on Hong Kong Islands near the financial centre because of pure convenience and tradition. So you can either stay in never-out-of-fashion Mandarin Oriental Hotel or in the new-and-fizzy Four Seasons Hotel in the IFC building. The downside is that the view is meagre as you either look up a hill or on less-than-spectacular Kowloon.

The other option is to have a big room with a view on fabulous Hong Kong Island with its magnificent skyline. I personally love to stay at the Intercontinental Hotel in Tsimshatsui on Kowloon for the extravagant view of the magnificent skyline of Hong Kong Islands. Yes the hotel is a half-an-hour ferry-ride away from Central Hong Kong but the ride is an attraction itself. And if you really want to live it up you buy an Ambassador card for 150$ from the Intercontinental Hotel and get upgraded to a suite every time you stay there. And if you are lucky you get upgraded to a roomy executive suite with a view of the harbour and Hong Kong Island that is hard to match. In the end it is a matter of taste what you prefer: convenience or a view.

PS: And keep in mind that Hong Kong is mind-bogglingly expensive. Or as the Luxe City Guide adeptly put it: On a low budget? Do not go to Hong Kong. On a low budget and in Hong Kong? Start crying!

90 minutes for a hair-cut in Hong Kong

Back in English speaking Hong Kong I decided to have another haircut. Right next door to my hostel is the trendy hair saloon HairTed. This is were I got my first 90 minutes haircut! After being received and my bag being stored in a transparent locker, I was guided to the cutting chair and buried under tomes of trendy fashion magazines. I got then clothed in a too small overcoat and shuffled to the hair wash station. After reclining completely I got first thoroughly rinsed three times, shampooed twice and treated to an amazing head and temple massage. After being massaged my hair cut rinsed another time: The whole pampering and soothing procedure took already 30 minutes! I made my way back to the cutting chair where the assistant blow-dried my hair and changed my towels. I was brought more fashion magazines and treated to a tea. Then the hairdresser arrived and asked what cut I prefer. I told him and he embarked on cutting my hair. Most of the time the assistance stood right next to him, watching and learning. Every now and then the assistant took a brush and cleared the hair from my shoulder or readjusted the towel. He was also responsible for handing the stylist the blow-drier and other instruments. After both of them examined their work I was ask to comment on the cut. I assured them that it was excellent (what it was) fearing I would be treated to another lengthy haircutting session. Again I was shuffled to the washing station and my hair got rinsed. Blow-drying followed and the application of gel. So after 90 minutes my full beauty was re-established and I confidently left the hair salon. Next time I will try the 10-minute haircut chain down the road…

Hong Kong pioneer in democracy

According to the South China Morning Post the Article 45 Concern Group is pushing the idea of Hong Kong pioneering democracy in China. With democracy they want to further development and growth. Let's hope that Hong Kong will become an SDR or Special Democratic Region as it was an economical test bed before.