A street market lies just behind the Central Plaza building in Wanchai.
Street markets are an indelible part of the Hong Kong landscape, but they are only part of the story. As the financial center of Asia, Hong Kong more than holds its own when it comes to living it up. It is also home to a fantastic collection of unique and interesting architecture, as evidenced by the photos below.
From left to right:
1. The Lippo Centre has extruded areas that are meant to resemble Pandas climbing the building.
2. The Bank of China Tower is perhaps the most iconic of all Hong Kong buildings. The architecture is stunning, but the building really comes alive at night when it's fascinating geometry is highlighted by white neon lights.
3. The HSBC building was, at the time of its completion in 1986, the most expensive office building ever built ($670 million, USD). No building in Hong Kong has surpassed it yet.
4. A fishing boat trolls the harbor in front of Central Plaza. This building is located directly behind the Hong Kong Exhibition and Convention Center. Supposedly, the land cost was 3X the cost to actually build the building! At the top of the building, the spire functions as a clock at night, lighting up 4 bands of one color in succession, one every 15 minutes.
5. IFC2, the tallest building in Hong Kong. The lower level houses a huge upscale mall and also contains the train station I usually take to get to the airport on my way out.
Of course, as in any city worth it's salt, there is a fine variety of dining options available. While Hong Kong is considered the home of the best Chinese cuisine on the planet, there are a whole host of other unique and fascinating options from around the globe.
One such place was Opia, where I had to date, the best meal of this trip. Executive chef Dane Clouston is responsible for putting together a menu that combines the uniqueness of Australian cuisine with flavors generally associated with Thai food. For starters, we had the tuna sashimi with bonito/wasabi flavored pannacotta (unbelievable combination), seared scallops with chorizo and cilantro, and a wild mushroom tortelli with spinach and parmigiano that rocked. For a main dish, I couldn't resist the Australian Wagyu beef cheek that had been slow cooked to achieve supreme tenderness before being dropped in the deep fryer to make the outside super crispy. A salad of shredded green papaya and some coconut rice made this an incredible combination of flavors and textures. Truly outstanding!
Sorry for the fuzzy photo. But this dish was awesome!
Lunch the next day was also a winner. Olive, located on Elgin St. near the mid-levels escalators produced a fine Mediterranean menu. I seriously enjoyed the day's special - Lamb shawarma with yogurt sauce and fresh salad.
Dinner once again brought a special treat, Hutong. A hit with the local celeb crowd, the experience lived up to the expectations, both in terms of the view and the food. Situated on the Kowloon side of HK (across the harbor from downtown), this place offers a tremendous view from the 28th floor of the night skyline in all it's glory. The food is a modern take on Chinese cuisine that is inventive, and yet preservs traditional flavors and ingredients. The interior space only enhances the experience with its antique styled furnishings and service pieces.
Outside the windows lies the beautiful Hong Kong skyline, while an antique door is a window into the past.
Sichuan style prawns don't hold back. They don't make them like this in the States!
Never gets old.
After dinner, we took a walk by the famous Peninsula hotel (as featured in the Bond flick "The Man With the Golden Gun"). Taking the elevator up the the 28th floor brings you to Felix - one of the most stylish restaurants in the city. For some reason, Felix has become quite famous for its men's room which features urinals mounted to a glass wall so that you can take in the view of Kowloon while you are, um, you know.
The famed Peninsula. Notice there is a high roller making a grand entrance on the roof.
Come on, you knew this was coming.
A lion keeping the riff raff out of the Pen'.
Toys for Hong Kong's financial kingpins.
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