Our "miss" list

We eagerly reentered the US excited to see our friends, eat our favorite foods at our favorite restaurants, breathe clean air and never ever enter another grocery store permeated with the smell of durian. Yes, we like the fruit in all its forms (e.g. soup and ice cream) but do not heart the smell.

Our friends and colleagues in San Francisco and Dallas always ask what we thought of Hong Kong. It’s easy to list all the things that we disliked or that were different – I mean really, who loves endless days of pollution? But we’ve been back long enough to also miss a great deal from Hong Kong. Here’s our “miss” list:

Darryl misses delicious curry noodles from this tiny but famous shop Kau Kee in Sheung Wan. This place was an instant favorite since he last lived in Hong Kong in 2003. Kau Kee was on our list of “one last time” places to eat before leaving, so my colleagues, Darryl and I went there for my last lunch in Hong Kong.

In general, Darryl misses how cheap the food can be in Hong Kong. He ate like a king for US$1.00 a day. Breakfasts consisted of bolo bao (and other tasty bao) and noodles with choy sum (or other veggies) and pork, fish, squid or octopus balls for lunch. At least once a week, there was a huge fresh jin doy for my breakfast.

Darryl’s kryptonite is chips or “crisps” as they are called in the grocery store, a term adopted from the English. Last year Darryl brought back bags of tasty chips from London, only to eat them all on the plane. Fortunately Hong Kong offered a never ending supply of delicious chip flavors we have yet to find upon return: seaweed (nori), Thai basil, and curry flavor.

We both miss the efficiency of the MTR (subway). San Francisco has so much to learn from Hong Kong. Trains are spotless, frequent, and easy to navigate. Everyone uses an Octopus card (think Oyster card in London) which makes embarking/disembarking not only speedy, but ensures everyone pays the fare. The MTR also seemed to be the one place where good manners were in abundance. Hong Kongers are quiet, cover the phone conversations with their hands and keep their hands to them selves. This is the complete opposite of the 45 Stockton.

Darryl also misses crazy, inventive gadgets like our chip clips, his personal hand-held fan, and our creative iPod cord holders.

I miss the Hong Kong skyline. The evening lightshow is a popular tourist attraction. I miss leaving the office and seeing ocean-colored blue lights fall like raindrops in a waterfall, followed by riding in a taxi home seeing the Bank of China all lit up.

I also miss tea time. Ever the Anglophiles, Hong Kongers celebrate tea time with the pomp and circumstance of the English. The Hong Kong version involves bubble tea or bao. I never practiced this tradition while at Oxford, but found it to be a great excuse to spend time with friends. And we miss our friends.

Thanks Hong Kong for an amazing 6 months.