HONG KONG: It is 7 a.m. and from my hotel window high above Victoria Harbor a cruise ship is returning with a load of weary gamblers who, presumably, have been up all night trying to beat the floating bank. I would normally be just as worn out after a long flight from Vancouver, but am not because I also arrived by ship.
Not a gambling ship dedicated to one night going nowhere, but a rather special ship, the Azamara Quest, tasked with going everywhere and taking its time about it. A slow boat to China if you will.
Arriving at any great seaport, whether Sydney, Cape Town or, of course, Vancouver, makes for wonderful travel experiences, but that is only half of it. Dashing to the airport for a dismal flight home is such a waste, particularly when the likes of Hong Kong awaits.
So I stuck around, to enjoy rediscovering Hong Kong, which I first visited when home base was a leave flat belonging to the make-up artist who prepared Nancy Kwan for the movie World of Suzie Wong. I had an extended stay then, allowing for an editing job on the late, great Far Eastern Economic Review, and working with characters who were legends in their own lunchtime. Heroic drinkers they might have been, they also liked to eat.
The American Restaurant in Wanchai, famous for its love hotels and no-squeak shoes, was conveniently close to the office. Its Peking Duck was highly regarded by us hacks, but also wealthy Chinese, who often had a bottle of cognac on the table. Old China hands like Richard Hughes used to say the best food in China was in Hong Kong.
I recalled this the day after stepping ashore from the Azamara Quest, when lunch was at a Michelin-starred restaurant called the Island Tang. Everything about this place was superb, from its elegant décor to the silky service. But one thing stood out - the dim sum, so renowned that mainland China chefs come here to learn.
In the evening we were Kowloon-side and walking up Nathan Road, which has more life and sparkle than every downtown street in Vancouver put together. And that's not including Chungking Mansions, once called post-modern Casablanca, where, shall we say, a lot goes on, such as filtering the distribution of 20 per cent of the cell phones in sub-Sahara Africa.
They say you can get a good curry in Chungking Mansions, but we had a loftier goal, Nanhai No 1, named after a Chinese treasure ship and currently a culinary hotspot in Hong Kong. It has, of course, a Michelin star. It was here, as we dined on exquisite seafood, I realized that this was a new Hong Kong with more affluence and style. One clue was the dish with an XO sauce, which tops the five-star cognac of my American Restaurant days.
As a Hong Kong private equity guy had warned me on the ship, there are no cognac bottles on tables any more. Now it's the best wine, which might have occurred to me as two years ago Hong Kong overtook New York as the world's wine auction capital.
You might choke when I recount that lunch the next day was another Michelin star restaurant, the third in a row. But Tim Ho Wan is different. It is the world's cheapest, and smallest Michelin star restaurant in the world.
For one third of the price of lunch number one, you can have a dining experience like no other - crammed in a noisy room, full of people jubilant simply because they are in, some having lined up around a Mong Kok block for two hours or more. It's that good, the work of Mak Pui Gor, formerly dim sum maestro at the Four Seasons here. He has two other restaurants, one with a star and the other a cert to join the club. At all of them you have to take a number, and wait. But do it - the pork barbecue bun alone is worth the trip to Hong Kong.
When you get here, don't miss the Star Ferry, the world's best value travel experience. That means you are on Hong Kong-side. No problem. If it's daytime take the Peak Tram (built 1888, Chinese allowed on board since 1912), and after dark go to the Armani Bar for cool cocktails.
Then back to Kowloon for the Temple Street night market. Not a shopper? Go round the corner and check out the fortune tellers.
For history, visit the Kowloon Walled City Park. What was once a seething den where criminals took refuge is now a quiet park, as is the Nan Lian garden and Wong Tai Sin temple. Amazingly, Hong Kong has places where you can relax and admire carefully tended plants. There's islands too, such as Lantau, with its giant Buddha. If you want a bird's-eye view of everything take the express lift at Sky100 and enjoy the 360-degree panorama from the observation deck.
If the views don't blow you away, the street-level designer shops will. These days the top names, such as Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Hermes, are the dream of so many mainland Chinese visitors that the line-ups rival Heathrow arrivals.
Finally, think ahead to next year, when the old Kai Tak airport reopens as a cruise terminal. No doubt more ships will be attracted to dock here, affording a majestic location to dock after that thrilling harbor entrance.
Hong Kong, you can't beat it.
For more information visit www.discoverhongkong.com/canada, call 4163662389.
