The land of the shiny green suit...

Earlier this month I was in Hong Kong for a quick visit. Hong Kong is perhaps one of my all-time fave cities (although maybe Shanghai has overtaken in…), so it’s always great to go back. The weather was quite cool at this time of year (at least for the first few days), so it was also nice to escape the heat of Singapore! The flight itslf is only three and a bit hours, so its a fast hop (for anyone who wants to visit next time they're in Singapore...)


When I first arrived, my colleague form HK was feeling a little under the weather, so I had a whole Sunday night to kill. I remembered that the walk along Nathan Road was quite a nice one, and as it was around 5pm when I set off, I figured that if I started at one end, by the time I reached the Causeway it would be dark, giving me a nice view of Hong Kong Island at night. I took the MTR to Prince Edward, thinking it was a short walk to the causeway. Wrong. I had underestimated the length of Nathan Road, and ended up pretty damn far from where I wanted to be. Nonetheless, it was a nice (but tiring) walk that night, finished off with some Sichuan noodles with bubble tea (left). Not sure how Sichuan the noodles were (they seemed to be mostly carrots), but nice enough.

Next day I was off to Lan Kwai Fong in the evening. I was pretty beat after work, but I figured I should venture out a little to soak up the nightlife. Being a Monday night, LKF was a little empty, but was still as I remembered it, the hang-out for expats and local businessmen. Full of bars and pubs, it looked like an ideal place to have a beer after work. Only I was too tired. I wanted to eat, and sleep. So I found a neat little noodle bar in Central and had some beef noodles. Some of the best noodles I’ve ever had, although maybe a little too much tenderiser in the beef. I had a Tsingtao beer as well (well, I’m in China, right?). Apparently the chef made noodles in Macao for years, and even knocked up a bowl for the Portuguese president some time ago. Now, this sounds good in theory. But it’s a bit like saying that m fish and chips are great because I cooked them for the Japanese premier once. How is the Portuguese president to tell good noodles from bad? Maybe he does, and I’m doing him a disservice. All I’m saying is that if he had made noodles for the Chinese premier, I’d have been impressed…;-). Anyway, they were good. The couple in front of me took a pic, so I thought I would as well.




Left: Lan Kwai Fong
Far left: Beef Noodles & Beer






Tuesday night I had dinner on the Peak, which was lovely. It’s so much cooler up there than down at sea level, you can see why the rich and famous make their homes in the clouds.

Then, time to come home. And buy duty free at Changi Airport. This is a ritual that all locals (and foreigners who live here) partake of, give that booze is so damn expensive here. The staff at duty free are very helpful (I think they’re on commission), so the whole experience is very easy (and costly, if you buy the regulation 3 bottles of beer, one bottle of spirits, one bottle of wine).

The one thing that strikes you after visiting HK for a few days from Singapore is that you have just used two of the best airports in the world. Seriously. You can tell the organisation and thought that went into them, and their design. The airport train from Lantau Island to Hong Kong Island is wonderful, the airport itself in HK is beautiful – and shopping is not bad either. But Changi is great, with the efficiency that it prides itself on. Which one is better? I’m not sure. But I do know that they are more enjoyable and relaxing than Heathrow!

Colbar

I didn’t get around to posting about one of our new favourite places to go makan – the Wessex Estate and OneNorth in Singapore. The whole estate is very close to the new Biopolis that has been developed in Singapore. Biopolis was developed to attract genetics engineers and scientists to Singapore, and I think that the chap who cloned Dolly the Sheep might even have been here at one point. The whole estate felt very much like the Little Kent area we have visited before – lots of colonial bungalows (many named after outposts of the British Empire, or major battles in the history of the Empire). Some of these bungalows have been converted to allow space for small business to grow, giving the whole estate quite a relaxed and quirky feel. Therew as a lot of redevelopment going on, and it would seem as though the Estate is getting quite a makeover. Nonetheless, there were quite a few classic cars around, lending a feel of Enid Blyton-esque Britishness.

However, the real standout was Colbar. An old bar frequented by expats for years, it was almost pulled down for good recently, when a new highway was built. However, a petition was gathered, and the bar was actually relocated (brick by brick) to its current location. The food here is absolutely fabulous (think old English pub foods, real brown sauce & ketchup, and vinegar…), and there is even a bring and borrow library there as well. You’ll see from the pics that I had the fish n chips – best on the Island. The bar also sold other pub favourites (sausage & chips, burger & chips - you get the idea), and pickled eggs. Not sure how popular they were, but there they were on the counter. The bar also stocked a decent selection of British real ales in the chiller. All in all, a great place.



Far Left: Bungalow with suitably exotic name
Left: Me on Woking Rd









Far Left: Research Lab
Left: Colbar





Colbar
9A Whitchurch Road, Wessex Estate Tel: 6779-4859
Opening hours: 11am-10pm; closed on Mondays

Batman!

Okay, weak pun. Again. I've only just got around to posting this, but a few months ago we were regularly visited by a bat. He hung around outside the house, and on one occasion ventured inside, hanging on the light. I prodded and poked, but he was quite happy where he was. Eventually he got the message, and went to find Robin. We get lots of animals around the house, including a few geckos (my favourite has been called Gordon), who entertain themselves watching us watch them.

We get a lot of bats here in Singapore, and it seems as though there are more than when I first came here a few years ago. Mostly fruit bats, you can hear them call at night, and they swoop over your heads like the Red Baron if you are out walking in the evening, conducting guano bombing raids.

It's raining again...

This week seems to herald the coming of the wet season in Singapore. It’s been building up over the last few weeks but it appears as though the rains are here. How do I know this? I walked out for my lunch, and half way to the food court felt the pitter patter of raindrops – 15 yards later and it was the not so faint clap of thunder, 10 yards further and I was drenched. I waited an hour for the rains to subside but to no avail. No choice left, I ran.

The Rainy season is characterised by sudden and thunderous rain. You can be walking along in bright sunshine one minute, the next you are looking for a life raft. Waiting it out is futile – the rains can go on for days. The only solution is to carry an umbrella with you wherever you go.

It is important here to distinguish between British rain (“is it raining? Not sure, let’s try”), and South-East Asian tropical rains (“Why didn’t we buy a house on stilts? Is that my car floating away…”). Rain in Singapore and the region is ferocious, never giving you a minutes respite. Whereas (ordinarily) British rain spreads out the water over a three hour period, South-East Asian rain gives it to you in about 10 minutes, throwing rain down with force.

Except in the rainy season, where it rains for days, months even.