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It was past 5:00pm on May 09, 2009 when we arrived in Hong Kong. My sister J fetched us at the airport. We took a bus instead of a cab so that we will know how to commute from the airport to her place the next time we go to Hong Kong.

Once we arrived at my sister’s place, we called up our cousin A and we decided to meet up. We just rested for a while, then changed, and then left to meet my cousin A and her dearly beloved K at Four Seasons Hotel in Central, Hong Kong.

After our dinner at Four Seasons, we decided to meet up at Lan Kwai Fong instead of Four Seasons because my sister already planned to bring us to Lan Kwai Fong. My sister said that it was better to go to Lan Kwai Fong at that time because it was Saturday.

We walked from Four Seasons Hotel passing by the Central Market, then the Central-Mid-levels escalators, the longest escalator system in Hong Kong, to Lan Kwai Fong.

The Central-Mid-Levels escalator(s) in Hong Kong is the longest outdoor covered escalator system in the world. The escalators in total are 800 meters long with a vertical climb of 135 meters. The total travel time is twenty minutes but most people walk while the escalator moves to shorten the trip.

We did not go up to the highest point of the escalator. It was already night time and we just wanted to go to Lan Kwai Fong for a night out.

Lan Kwai Fong is a small square of streets in Central, Hong Kong, and is very popular among expatriates for drinking, clubbing and dining. It is like Temple Bar in Dublin, Ireland, maybe like Royal Mile in Edinburgh, Scotland, and probably like Malate in Manila, Philippines.

We met A and K at Bit Point along D’Aguilar street. Bit Point is a friendly German bar and restaurant. After a few drinks at Bit Point, we then went to Balalaika and had a few shots of vodka. Balalaika is a Russian bar and restaurant, also along D’Aguilar street. It has a popular vodka room with a temperature of about 20 degrees Centigrade.

After Balalaika Bar, we were supposed to go somewhere else. But we were stopped by some friends of A and K from Marlin Bar. Marlin is another bar along D’Aguilar street where the popular signage of Lan Kwai Fong is very visible. A few more drinks at Marlin and I got really super tipsy. Ok, ok, drunk!

We stayed longer at Marlin than planned and had the chance to see people dancing on the street in front of the Lan Kwai Fong Tower where Hong Kong Brew House, Balalaika, and The Cavern are.

The Cavern is said to be Lan Kwai Fong’s premier music club and bar with live music. According to my sister it was at The Cavern where Arnel Pineda used to perform.

I hope you know who Arnel Pineda is. If not, Arnel Pineda is a Filipino artist who got discovered via YouTube. Arnel Pineda is now the lead singer of a popular band called Journey.

The night was not yet over. We left Lan Kwai Fong and went to Sticky Fingers in Tsim Sha Tsui. Sticky Fingers is a disco, bar and restaurant located at the Tsim Tsa Shui Centre along Mody Road.

The place was quite full when we arrived but A and K knew a lot of people in that place so we never had problems. Our table was just waiting for us. The bottle of the wine had their names too. And a Filipino band was performing. We surely had a lot of fun.

It was probably past 2:30am when we left Sticky Fingers. We went to A and K’s place instead of going home to my sister’s place. We did not want to take a risk taking a cab and losing our way considering that we really had quite a few drinks.

We left A and K’s place the next day back to Lantau passing by the Tsing Ma Suspension Bridge which is connecting Tsing Yi and Ma Wan islands. Tsing Ma Suspension Bridge is the world’s seventh-longest span suspension bridge.

We just rested the whole day. We went out quite late in the afternoon and only because we went to Victoria Peak.

Well then, see you in Victoria Peak next time!

Updated: Added a Map on November 15, 2009.

Related Links:
Lan Kwai Fong
Lan Kwai Fong, in Wikipedia
Central-Mid-Levels escalators, in Wikipedia