Ok, so I said that I was going to be flowing some 40 wisdom at the start of each post, but I have decided that it's kind of corny and much better suited to my crazy wheat paste bombing project, which I really ought to get done in the '05. Besides, I think all of you already know that you shouldn't be buyin' no 85 thousand dollar car before you buy a house. That's just common sense.
Last weekend I had a lot of fun - went out both nights and took a sweet-ass sweet trip up to Victora Peak. I'll try not to be too journaly about it - "Friday I went here, then Saturday I went here..." - though that is to some degree what this blog is about, so...whatever. I'll start with the trip to Victoria Peak, which is the big mountainish hill directly behind the Central part of Hong Kong. I swear to God, this thing is such hill-mountain - what the hell do you call those things? I guess they call it a Peak here. But damn, you can walk up the thing in an hour, probably. Now I know that ain't no mountain, and I'm from Florida, for God's sake. But it's not a hill either.

Anyway, I walked over to the entrance to the Peak Tram, which is fairly touristy. There are ads and displays for the Madame Tussaud's and the Ripley's Believe it or Not! at the top - what up, wax Jackie Chan, lookin' good, dogg - and music and lines and all that. The tram has been in operation for 100-odd years and has not had a single accident. At the start of the ride, you cruise steeply up between heavily landscaped condos - for those of you who have been to the condo-and-hotel part of Coconut Grove, it's pretty much like that - and eventually the development falls away and you are surrounded by lovely greenery dotted with the occasional old-ass stone steps that the coolies would use back in the day. Before the tram was built, coolie labor would haul fat-ass British imperialist whitefolk up in sedan chairs in a grueling 3-hour journey. Nowadays, the tram just takes a few minutes to reach the top. For the journey up, I suggest "Beep Street" by Squarepusher - it's perfect for the solo vid and just about long enough for the ride up. Very trippy and journeylicious. For the ride down, I chose Terror Squad's "Lean Back" because, well, you uh, you lean back. I stood for the ride down in order to face downward (the tram does not turn around; rather, you just sit facing upward, same as the ride up the Peak, and ride down that way), and I really had to lean back. I wasn't dancin', just pulling up my pants'n doing the Roc-a-Wear, or rockaway, or whatever that chunkbutt says in the song.

Once you reach the top, there is a multi-level observatory shaped somewhat like a Chinese wok, designed by some cat that the Fodor's guide mentioned and whose name I cannot remember at the moment, and the views are spectacular. One can see all of Hong Kong (the city part, since 'Hong Kong' technically refers to the whole island), all of the harbor, Kowloon across the way, and the New Territories to the north, behind Kowloon. It's just a huge, massive, amazing sight to see. There's all kinds of crap up on the Peak, too - the tourist attractions and shops, several restaurants and snack joints (Broo-killin' Beer served at the pizzeria - so strange to see the Brooklyn Brewery sticker on the window up there), little mini-rides and such for the kiddies, all that stuff. I shot some photos and decided to take the Peak Trail around the Peak, which is a paved path with dense, lush forest on either side. Man, it was lush like....like...Barfly or some shit. Jesus, why can't I think of a famous lush besides Bacchus? Oh, sorry, Dionysus, oooh. I kept expecting Rambo to come jumping out of the bush with the AK and the bandana.

The walk around the peak is remarkable only in that the views continue to be stunning, and it's pleasant to walk around in the cool breeze at that altitude and check out all the different plants and trees and such. Apparently the Peak is an excellent habitat for butterflys, though during a different time of year. Here and there on the trail, there are mansions tucked away that are of course really cool, and on the back side there are a couple small clearings with parks and a vita-course in case you want to do pullups or some shit. I think that, since their emergence decades ago, vita-course are generally hated by all at this point. Can I get some love on that? Anyone like jumping and climbing around on that crap, then running to the next one?

Anyway, that's essentially Victoria Peak. I didn't eat up there, so I can't recommend a good restaurant, but you should absolutely make a trip up there if you ever go to Hong Kong. It's a tourist destination, to be sure, but for good reason, and you will not see a better view of the city and harbor than up here. It's cheap - HK$30 for a round-trip journey, which is just under four bucks - and you can just do your own thing up there. Going on a bright, clear, sunny day is of course a good idea, and you might want to spend enough time up there to let night fall (have a meal or something) because the view of the city is apparently just as spectacular at night. Moms and I are going to try that day/walk/eat/night routine, so I'll let you know what it looks like. A lot of the buildings here have pretty crazy lights, so I imagine that the city looks pretty dope after dark.

Anyway, I think I'm a make the weekend stuff a separate post - well, I'll put it in this one, what the hell. I'm not going to bore you with Saturday - went to see M. Shite's latest "whoa, man, that ending like totally freaked me out - again!" film, The Village, and got some pizza and drinks later, so nothing too interesting there. Friday night, however, I went to a pretty cool place that's worth a visit if you're looking for someplace mellow and vaguely New Yorkish. I met some reporter and a couple friends - two reporters and a mouse who works in the New Territories - at a place called the Frost Club. It's housed in this massive old building, obviously a remnant of the days iof British rule - that looks like a wing on Buckingham Palace or something of that sort. At street level, there's a gallery and open space with information on upcoming events, like an arts center in Williamsburg or a lobby at SVA, something like that - and upper floors have studios, another gallery sponsored by Apple, and an indoor bar with some tables and a couple separate rooms for private parties. There are also some tables outside on that level, and one more short flight up takes you to a large terrace with tables spread here and there, cute lighting and plants and such ringing the parapet, and an outdoor bar as well. There's also a grill going next to the bar where you can order these sort of Greek-style plates with skewers of either chicken or lamb and some salad, pasta, and a hunk of bread. Very tasty and perfect for downing many beers. They do not have a wide selection of beer here, or anywhere I have been so far - I have not seen more than five taps at any of the places I have visited yet - but this place did have the Tetley's SmoothFlow (Yea, LEEDS! - I guess) and some other tasty beers. I'm a big fan of Tsingtao, and you can obviously find that in abundance here in HK.

Anyway, the place is sort of cyber-hippie - it's not really hippie like we know it, but it's got this groovy, arty vibe that makes one feel very relaxed and comfortable. The scene itself is fairly expat - most of the Asians there are either professionals or the significant others of Western folks. The reporter's friends were very nice - knew a lot and talked about all sorts of things, from politics to 9/11 (discussed it just as we were passing midnight, into 9/11...I know, one of those not-that-interesting facts unless you're 16 and really puffed), to teaching Chinese kids in the New Territories. We asked Mousie, the teacher, whether she knew any Chinese, and she only knew two phrases: "Sit down" and "Don't cry." I figured maybe I'd learn them in case I needed to use them with the whores in Wan Chai.

So anyway, we had many drinks and nice conversation in the thankfully cool breeze outside, and it was a lovely change from being inside, freezing from the AC whose thermostat doesn't move an inch all year long. I was keeping my fingers crossed that one of the three remaining honeydips would take me home, but...dammit! They all went home with each other, and I walked home solo. S'all good. It was a long shot anyway.

More later,
Chucky