COMING UP FOR AIR

It's been a tough week, working late nights and early mornings to further develop our design proposal. Yesterday we had our third review, and as always we managed to throw together a presentation at the last minute. (Isn't it amazing when things fall into place in the 11th hour?) Afterward, we decided to spend the weekend relaxing in some of Hong Kong's hottest locales.

Immediately after the review, a group of Dutch, Swedes, Koreans, and myself enjoyed a much-needed entertainment break on the main island: Chinese Opera! We were treated to a beautiful performance of "The Poetess Li Qingzhao" at the Lu Opera Theatre of Hefei, Anhui. I was taken by the beauty of the costumes and the careful choreography of the actor's movements. Specific body gestures and hand movements seemed to convey particular meanings and expressions established centuries ago, reminding me of traditional dances of India. The majority of the musical score was pre-recorded with the stage actors singing live, in conjunction with some outlandish percussion instruments played offstage as audible punctuation. It was an delightful two hours not soon to be forgotten!

After the show we ventured up the hilly streets of Central Hong Kong to SoHo, which here means South of Hollywood Road. Our journey was assisted by use of the world's longest escalator, which continues alongside block after block up city streets whose steep angles would rival San Francisco. SoHo is notorious for its worldwide selection of culinary delights; this weekend we opted for Mediterranean and Greek (hi, Mom!). Opa!

After dinner a few of us ventured on to the famous Lan Kwai Fong neighborhood, which is littered with a myriad of bars and clubs. A little tip for your next visit: to survive in Lan Kwai Fong you must first stop at "Club" 7-Eleven for some US$.65 beers. Enjoy your right as a Hong Kong local to drink on the street, taking in the wild atmosphere and undulating medley of music from all directions. Then, enter your choice of chic no-cover bars for dancing, chatting, and mingling. When thirsty for a refill, simply stroll back over to Club 7-Eleven, and repeat. You have now successfully learned how to party in Hong Kong all night long (till about 7am) for under US$10.

The next day we took it easy, slept in, and took in a movie: "Madagascar." Afterward, we ducked into a small local restaurant for dinner, where I enjoyed a local delight: crispy roast pigeon! It was quite tasty, in fact, although I can't say it had more meat than a small quail (I'd recommend ordering two). I assume these are special farm-fed pigeons, although now that you mention it, I haven't seen any of our winged friends around the city...

To top it all off, we changed into some sleek threads and headed to the Hotel Peninsula to sip a few cocktails at Felix, a chic lounge designed entirely by Philippe Starck. Noteworthy design elements include elevator lighting which subtly dims and takes on a sultry red hue before opening into the bar interior, rippling sculpted walls, and a men's room with marble urinals placed strategically along a floor-to-ceiling glass wall overlooking the Hong Kong harbor and skyline. Certainly a view (and a context) nearly impossible to beat!

Now it's off to bed. Tomorrow we relax on the beach before diving into the final gruelling week of this design project. The work hard/play hard mentality is just another of the extreme contrasts of this unique city. Hope you get a sense for it here!