Hong Kong Trip

Every city has its unique atmosphere, but Hong Kong feels much like Taipei because their signs are written in traditional Chinese--even though it is now part of People's Republic of China, whose official script is simplified Chinese.

A three-minute walk from Yau Ma Tei Station, was The Cityview hotel where we stayed for two nights over the long Tomb Sweeping Day weekend. The front-desk clerk, who happened to live in Sha Tin, showed us how to take a bus to the Snoopy's World at New Town Plaza. After explaining the whereabouts of nearby bus stops, she even upgraded our room from a Superior to an Executive. I fancied that the upgrade was a hospitality shown by the clerk, but the reality was that she said all the Superior rooms were occupied.

For a huge fan of Charlie Brown like Evania, visiting the Snoopy's World was a pilgrimage that must be made in Hong Kong. It was fittingly to be our first spot after checking into the hotel. Following the direction given by the hotel clerk, we reached the playground and engulfed by the crowd, mostly parents with their children. Although surrounded, we strove to take photos during the intermissions of passers-by so that we would appear to be the sole visitors in our photos. That proved to be a public stunt requiring a lot of patience and courage.

Evania borrowed several travel guide books from local libraries to prepare for this trip. We brought along two of them and they came in handy. I particularly recommend Traveller's Hong Kong by Peter Wei, who is a native from Hong Kong. One of the book's sections highlights some famous movie filming spots, such as the Goldfinch Restaurant (also ‘Cafe de Goldfinch’) that appeared in In the Mood for Love and 2046. We mimicked what Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung Chiu Wai's characters did--we dined in this dimly lit, old fashioned restaurant and chatted politely about her husband and my wife.