Jessy DB: Energetic, curious and impulsive - three words that describe your Hong Kong Guide. A Filipino born and raised in the city of dim sum, crazy shopping and busy streets, Jessy intends to experience it all and take you along for the ride. Though she’s lived here for most of her life, she believes there’s always something new to discover—good and bad—in this brewing pot of cultures and traditions. Three things she loves best: Shopping, food and music! Look your best as you take a walk in her shoes (at least one from her insane collection) and see what it’s like to be a foreigner in a place you call home. We promise it’ll feel good.

Dragon Boats and Rice Dumplings

One of my favorite events in Hong Kong is the Dragon Boat Festival, or Tuen Ng. Officially it falls on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese Lunar calendar or June 8, this year. No matter the date, the celebrations are usually held on week-ends to allow as many people as possible to enjoy the races. As in most Chinese festivals a major part of the celebration involves food: in this case, a special rice dumpling often wrapped in bamboo leaves, Zong-zi. This festival...

May 14th, 2008 | Hong Kong | Read More

Bun Fun on Buddha’s Birthday

Yesterday was the Buddha’s Birthday holiday in Hong Kong. It was also the date of one of the great annual events in Hong Kong, the Bun Carnival on Cheung Chau Island. Unfortunately, I missed it but see my strategies below for overcoming the problem of getting to the island…maybe, next year. This is the only festival I’ve heard of that features buns, the Chinese variety. of course, steamed not baked. What makes this event totally unique is the bun scrambling...

May 13th, 2008 | Hong Kong | Read More

Off The Beaten Track: Outer Islands – Lamma

Lamma, the third largest island after Lantau and Hong Kong, is considered by most locals as the most laid back spot in all the territory. It does have a whiff of the 60′s but just a whiff, created by a few organic food stores and restaurants, a few art galleries, some resident writers, poets and artists plus a number of retired expatriates who, if nothing else, remember the “good old days” of S., D. and R&R. (If you need a translation, let me know.) Four of...

May 11th, 2008 | Hong Kong | Read More

“Whass Up” in Hong Kong? May-June, 2008

I hope to make this a regular, monthly article highlighting some of the major events scheduled for the next 30 days or so. Please be aware that this is just a sampling. There is a lot more going on here. If you want more detailed information or scheduled events for dates beyond this list, you can contact me on the Planet Eye blog or e-mail me directly at ejhahn@netvigator.com until we get our feedback utility going on this site. Saturday, May 10: Eugene Pao, Jazz/Rock, Grappa’s...

May 9th, 2008 | Hong Kong | Read More

At the Fringe

While I was doing yesterday’s article, I realized I have never mentioned The Fringe Club, one my favorite places in Hong Kong. Sitting at the corner of Wyndham and Lower Albert Streets, it is located in a 95 year old building that was once a storage warehouse for ice brought down from Manchuria in the winter and dispensed throughout the summer. It is the most retro, 60′s-like location in Hong Kong and maybe in all of Southeast Asia. I love it. The club offers theatre,...

May 8th, 2008 | Hong Kong | Read More

Le French May in Hong Kong

I feel bad that I almost forgot about the 16th anniversary of Hong Kong’s annual celebration of all things French, Le French May in Hong Kong. While it may be too late to visit this year, maybe you can plan ahead for the 17th celebration in 2009. If you are already here or on your way, you can still take in a number of events this year. The events actually started in April and many of the exhibits will continue to be shown well into the summer. The performances include dance,...

May 7th, 2008 | Hong Kong | Read More

The Flying Pan

Even though, I’m 70 years of age, I, too, was young once. Many of my fondest and perhaps foggiest memories are of sitting in a 24 hour coffeeshop at 2:00 or 3:00 AM, eating breakfast with my more or less inebriated friends. The biggest drawback, as you can imagine, was the quality of the food. Think a step or two down from Denny’s. The price was usually right, though, and we weren’t looking for gourmet food, just something to alleviate the next morning’s...

May 5th, 2008 | Hong Kong | Read More

Hong Kong International Art Fair: Art HK 08

An incredible event for those who appreciate art is coming to Hong Kong, May 14-18. Held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center, 1 Expo Drive, Wanchai, Art HK 08 will feature more than 1,000 pieces of art on offer from the more than 100 galleries exhibiting here. All the art will be on sale with prices ranging from HK$5,000 (US$650) to HK$29 Million (lots and lots of US Dollars). Both Asian and Western Art will be featured. A special exhibition...

May 4th, 2008 | Hong Kong | Read More

Bacar Wine Brasserie

This fabulous restaurant is just up the steps from Hollywood Rd. next to the escalator. You don’t want to miss it. In the near future, I plan to list those eating places that I consider a "good value." Bacar will be on the list. That is not to say it’s cheap but then value is a function of getting your money’s worth and on that criteria Bacar more than qualifies. Seven of us ate there last night and the bill was right around HK$200 (US$26) per person,...

April 26th, 2008 | Hong Kong | Read More

Eating Inexpensively in Hong Kong

Hong Kong has a well-deserved reputation as an expensive destination and an expensive place to live. True, true, unless you learn, at least partially, how to live, eat and shop like a local Chinese. In this article, I plan to help you save money eating out in Hong Kong by suggesting patronizing noodle shops, wet market food courts, Chinese fast food outlets, and small restaurants called cha chan tan. In later posts, I will talk about shopping for clothes and other items, finding...

April 24th, 2008 | Hong Kong | Read More

Frog Face Fish on Wyndham

In the last year or so this area has gone through huge changes. Where there used to be mostly Antique shops and Carpet stores, there are now a number of excellent restaurants, pubs, cocktail lounges coffee shops and juice bars. This part of Wyndham St. is an eastern extension of Hollywood Rd. Wyndham, a little further east, makes a sharp left turn and continues on down to Queen’s Rd. Central. Such street direction anomalies can be found everywhere in Hong Kong. I re-visited...

April 21st, 2008 | Hong Kong | Read More

Hong Kong

If you are thinking about seeing the "authentic" Hong Kong you better hurry. The Government is busily destroying the very attractions many people visit Hong Kong to see. The three latest victims are Wedding Card Street, already ruined, the Wanchai Wet Market and the Bauhaus style Central Market Building. All of these places are scheduled for destruction under the guise of "Urban Renewal". Actually, the major developers in Hong Kong want to continue to put up huge...

April 20th, 2008 | Hong Kong | Read More

Hong Kong, City of Surprises

I am constantly brought up short, even after 16 years of living here, by sights, sounds and smells that I encounter for the first time. One of the benefits, for me, of contributing to this site as the Hong Kong Local Expert is that it will motivate me to explore this great city even more than I have in the past. Today, I visited a friend’s office on Jardine’s Crescent in Causeway Bay, one of Hong Kong’s “shopping” alleys. (Across from Exit “F”...

April 17th, 2008 | Hong Kong | Read More