I spent the weekend in Hong Kong, which sounds a lot more extravagant than it actually was. Early last year there was a flight deal that offered a round trip flight to Hong Kong cheaply enough that the miles earned in the process were worth the price of the ticket, and the flight alone was very nearly enough to earn Platinum status on American Airlines. In other words, the flight was such a good deal that it was worth going for just two days.
And besides, I had unfinished business in Hong Kong, or rather, in Macau. Todd and I came here six years ago, and only when it was too late did we find out that the world’s tallest bungie jump was in Macau. I’ve never bungie jumped before, and I knew I had to wait until I was back. Why jump if it’s not the tallest one out there?
So yesterday we went to Macau. We bought our ferry tickets from a slightly sketchy tout who sold us first class tickets for less than coach price. Both of them said that they were only valid when used by “Hoi Pang”, but we must both look like Hoi, because no one batted an eye.
Macau is essentially the Las Vegas of Asia. At the ferry terminal we saw a free shuttle bus to the Wynn, and figured we may as well use it to get to where everything is. We walked around the Wynn, which is extremely similar to the one in Vegas, except that all of the signage is also in Chinese. Starving, we ate at Red Eight, which was so good and cheap that we double checked the conversion rates on our phones.
From there we walked to the bungee jump, which happens at Macau Tower. Though not in the realm of the tallest towers in the world, Macau Tower is a space needly that’s a solid 760 feet tall, plus a spire that goes up another four hundred or so. It’s unmistakable not just for it’s shape, but for the steady flow of people jumping off the side of it.
Watching someone jump off the tower is morbidly fascinating on its own. Other than the bungie fastened to their ankles, it’s indistinguishable from suicide. Bodies flutter in the wind, arms flailing away.
Once up on the tower, we ended up waiting for a while. That’s not so bad when you have such a spectacular view. Eventually I was suited up and put in the queue of jumpers. I had originally thought myself quite the badass for signing up for the jump, but that illusion was shattered in short order. Next to me were two giggly girls in their early twenties, and behind me was a kid who hadn’t officially become a teenager yet.
Finally, my turn came. You’d think that bungee jumping would be scary, but the truth is that it’s so surreal that you never even get scared. You stand on the platform, shuffle because your feet are bound together, and before you know it you’re looking at the tiny people below. Five, four, three… and you’ve leaned so far over the edge that your only choice is to fall.
The sensation of falling is one of the most bizarre I’ve ever experienced. I love skydiving, but it’s totally different from that. It’s quieter and feels way faster. It doesn’t feel like falling or floating, it feels like being forcibly pulled towards the earth at maximum acceleration. The sensation is totally overwhelming and completely unlike I expected it to be. I recommend it to everyone and can’t wait to do it again.
This being my only experience bungee jumping, I know nothing about it, but I suspect that such a high jump is unique because of the long freefall portion.
Today was quite different. A friend recommended a tea house called Lock Cha, which I was immediately suspicious of because it also serves dim sum. In my experience, places that advertise more than just tea tend to not do tea very well. But we woke up hungry, and figured that good dim sum and lackluster tea would be a reasonably good way to start the day, so we went.
Reading the menu immediately removed my concern. They had the years next to most Puerhs, had yellow tea, which is unusual, and had excellent examples of every tea I like. We ordered the oldest Puerh (an ’86), the best Taiwanese high-mountain oolong (a bargain at $12), and the only yellow tea they had in stock.
All of the teas were phenomenal, and the Taiwanese oolong was the best oolong I’ve ever had. And I drink a lot of oolong. It’s probably the best $12 you can spend on tea anywhere. We ordered a bunch of dim sum, too, and it was so good that we ended up ordering another round an hour later. All together, we were there for three hours, the whole crowd having turned over twice by the time we left.
Next to Lock Cha is a teaware museum. It’s small and simple, but has beautiful examples of teaware, mostly yixing puerh pots. In an hour you can see the whole museum, and it’s worth doing.
Both tea attractions are in the middle of Hong Kong park, which I’d never been to before. We walked around for a couple minutes and stumbled upon a flower conservatory. It’s not an amazing conservatory, but it’s fun. Half of it is desert, so there are some neat cacti, and then the second half is jungly sort of stuff.
Intrigued that a park would have a conservatory, we looked at the map and saw that there was an aviary as well. The aviary was a lot better and is definitely worth going to. We saw lots of birds I’ve never seen before. Like the conservatory and tea museum, there was no charge for admission.
Both of us happened to have friends in town while we were there, so we arranged to have dinner together. Before that was to happen, we had ninety minutes to kill. That wasn’t enough time to go anywhere else, so we decided to go back to the tea shop, where Brian wanted to buy a stunning tea set we’d seen earlier.
At first the tea shop looked closed, but the sign said that there was a traditional Chinese concert in session, and to come in quietly. In whispers they told us that the concert was $15, which seemed steep, but we paid since we had no where else to go.
What they didn’t mention was that the concert included unlimited tea. We nearly drowned in the pots of puerh they poured us, and the oolong they gave us was definitely in my top ten as well. The music was two solo players playing instruments I can’t describe, sometimes together. I’m not going to rush out and buy CDs of traditional Chinese music, but it was pretty magical to drink tea in a dim tea house while watching two obviously skilled musicians play.
As the concert drifted towards Flamenco music being played on Chinese instruments, we ducked out to make our dinner. It was a tiny noodle place where moving tables was apparently absolutely forbidden, so we had our dinner on two small separate tables with a large gap between them.
The noodles and beef were good and the pork dumplings that ended up being shrimp dumplings were okay. Mostly it was fun to have a motley crew of friends from all over randomly eating noodles together in Hong Kong. I felt particularly grateful to have so many friends who travel, whether together or independently and randomly colliding.
All in all, it was a fantastic weekend, and it reminded me how much I like going to places even for short amounts of time. On longer trips I’m really vigilant about how much time I’m working, but with two long and productive flights sandwiching a weekend, it’s easy to relax and focus on new experiences. I’m looking forward to coming back to Hong Kong in January, and will be more eager to book short trips when they’re crazy cheap in the future.
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Photo is a church and tower in Hong Kong.
I’m really embarrassed my posting schedule has gotten so out of whack, pushing both posts to the end of the week. I’m posting today, Saturday, and then will be back to Monday/Thursday for the foreseeable future.
Heading to Vegas this weekend mainly because I got a free flight. Going to go hiking in Utah with my brother and see some amateur MMA fights with my friend Roxy. Then next week I head to Austin to see UFC Fight Night with my brother. Am I becoming too obsessed with MMA?
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