A night at the races

To celebrate the end of Simon’s training and my sister’s visit we decided to pay a visit to the famous Happy Valley horse races.

Horse racing is big thing here in Hong Kong with thousands of locals and expats getting together at the Happy Valley racecourse on Wednesday nights to watch the races, gamble and socialize. Set in the middle of Hong Kong with skyscrapers surrounding the brightly lit track, the Happy Valley racecourse must be one of the most impressive racing venues in the world.

I found that racing here is very different from what I was used to in the UK and Sydney, where the atmosphere is sophisticated and the punters dress up, sip on champagne and nibble on canapés. Here, horse racing is very relaxed. You can wear pretty much anything and drinks are served in large plastic cups and jugs. It seems to be more about the beer and gambling than about hats and outfits.





While many of the expats come to the races for a fun and cheap night out, the locals are really into the betting, many of them sitting inside at tables with papers with score results and statistics scattered around them watching the races on tv screens. Betting on horse racing seems to be a national hobby here with the annual betting turnover approximating HK$71billion (7 biljard Euro)

Getting ready for the start

I’ve never been a big gambler but with all the betting going on around me I decided to try my luck and bet on some horses. It all looks very confusing in the beginning with terms like trifecta, quinella and trio on the betting sheets, but with a little help from one of the betting ladies I found out that it’s actually not that complicated. Still, I decided to play it safe and I only bet on single horses to place (in other words, the chosen must end 1^st,2^nd or 3^rd  place) and only betting only small amounts. With little knowledge about any of the horses, I decided to choose the horsed based on their names (how can you not bet on horses called “Dr Win”, “Fun and Fast” and “the Untouchable Lad”?). It probably wasn’t the best betting strategy and I didn’t end up winning any money but I can assure you that the races are much more fun to watch if there’s a bit of money at stake (even if it’s only HK$10) and you join the cheering as the horses near the finish hoping that your horse will magically make its way from last to first in the last 100 meters (not very likely as I found out).

And they're off!

All in all, going to the races is definitely a favourite night time activity and the combination of the al-fresco atmosphere, the exhilaration of betting and jugs of cheap beer makes for a perfect night out. And maybe next time I’ll try a different betting strategy and see if its more successful.

Surviving the Smog

Having lived in Sydney for the past few years, where you will generally find the most beautiful bright blue skies, moving to Hong Kong was a bit of a shock.

The first few weeks I was here I didn’t notice how bad the air situation really was as the weather was pretty decent and the pollution level not too bad. I now know that these clear blue days are a rarity here in Hong Kong and most days the skies are pretty hazy, or should I say smoggy? 

The difference in the view from our apartment on a clear and not so clear day is remarkable.

Clear day



Not so clear day

Air pollution in Hong Kong is has become a serious problem affecting residents health and causing some expats to reconsider a relocation to Hong Kong. While the Government of Hong Kong has introduced new regulations and measures to tackle the issue of pollution the problem is still getting worse. In March 2010, Hong Kong’s smog was the worst on record and a research conducted by the Hong Kong University in 2008 found that the pollutants in the Hong Kong air were three times higher than New York and double that of London! According to a survey conducted in 153 countries, Hong Kong people are the unhappiest in the world with their air quality.

Where does the pollution come from? Well, there are two different opinions on this. According to the Government the pollution comes from the Guangdong factories in the Pearl river Delta. According to other sources, these factories are only part of the story. Hong Kong has the world’s highest traffic density as well as coal burning power plants, contributing to an estimated 50% of the total pollution level (source: http://gohongkong.about.com/od/healthandsaftey/a/ong_Kong_Pollution.htm)

But there is hope, you can now buy bottles of fresh air for HK$2 which, according to the commercial will help you with “exciting new skills, like balloon animals and yodelling” and let you “blow out your birthday candles with confidence”. You can check out the video here. 

So while I’m loving the fact that it’s mid November and it’s still 27 degrees, I’m definitely less enthusiastic about the smog and miss the crisp clear Sydney blue skies….

See you next time! 

Hong Kong’s tasty treats

One thing you don’t need to worry about here in Hong Kong is starving. Food is everywhere, from the fresh food markets to the local street stalls, from the amazing variety of restaurants to endless fast food chains. There is literally food everywhere you go.

While you can literally find any type of cuisine here in Hong Kong, the local style of cooking is Cantonese. The Cantonese influence is the result of Hong Kong’s geographical location near the Chinese Guangzhou province (Canton) and the fact that the majority of Hong Kong Chinese are immigrants or descendants of immigrants from Cantonese speaking parts of China.

One of the most well known dishes of Cantonese cuisine is dim sum. Dim sum refers to the dozen of types of small dumplings - whether boiled, fried or steamed - stuffed with vegetables, meat or seafood. Going for dim sum is sometimes also known as yum cha, which literally means going to “drink tea” (飲茶). Dim sum is particularly popular around lunchtime on weekends when families come out to eat and you’ll find long lines in front of the dim sum restaurants.

I recently went for my first real dim sum meal at Maxim’s Palace at city Hall and both the food and atmosphere were amazing. The restaurant was a huge lively and noisy room with waiters pushing trolleys with steaming bamboo baskets around the room. You simply point to what you want and they’ll put it on the table and on the bill. We tried steamed buns, rice noodle rolls, pork dumplings, spring rolls and some other dishes that I couldn’t identify. I can highly recommend the restaurant so if you’re ever here in Hong Kong make sure you include it in your itinerary (and to invite me!).

The large dining hall at the dim sum restaurant

My other new favorite dish is Peking duck, one of the most iconic dishes in China famous for its crisp skin and succulent fles. To achieve this the duck is air-dried, then coated with a syrupy sauce before roasting in an oven. The dish is eaten by wrapping slivers of the skin in thin steamed pancakes with spring onions, sliced cucumber and a variety of delicious sauces.

Traditional Peking duck

I had my first experience of eating Peking Duck in a local Chinese restaurant just over the Hong Kong border in Shenzhen. As tradition holds it, the chef sliced the duck at our table (see picture below) and we feasted on a table full of duck, pancakes and accompanying dishes. A single can be sliced in up to 120 slices so can therefore imagine that this dish is usually eaten by a group not by just two people as was the case with us! But the food was so delicious we actually managed to eat most of it!

The chef carves the duck at your table

Doesn't it look amazing!

There are still so many other dishes and cuisines to try here and I’m sure this won’t be the last time I’ll be writing about my culinary experiences here.

Bon appétit!