Fireworks! Glamour! Champagne! All night parties! Confetti! Midnight kisses! New Year’s Eve is my favorite holiday and has been since my parents gave me nose-tickling Spumante and shiny noise-makers as a child. I’ve celebrated in numerous cities around the world, in the most wonderfully memorable locations!
This year was celebrated in Hong Kong! Ronja, Amber, Michelle, Kevin and myself crossed the border from Shenzhen through No Where and into Hong Kong, hopped on a train and exited into a world of glittery holiday lights and police barricades. With magic on our side we found a darling restaurant with a table for 5, followed by a most brilliant spot to OOoh and AAahhhh at every colorful burst of pyrotechnic wizardry.


While drinking a bottle of bubbly we asked a friendly face to snap a group photo. This German man soon joined our group and together we roamed the streets of Hong Kong looking for adventure. The first bar we wandered into said there no tables, we said we’d wait, but tables were immediately available for natives. We kept walking. The second bar, which saw an explosion of confetti on their sidewalk looked promising. We sat down and were given a menu with beers costing 80-90RMB! That’s absolute robbery. We knew their tricks and asked for a Chinese menu but when they refused, we left.
The night was young and with beer in our hands we continued our quest… and from a distance we saw a jumble of neon lights. Dodging double decker buses we hurried across, being delightfully swallowed into a street oozing with happiness and drunken banter. A table appeared in front of Pattaya BBQ. Laughter, drinks, grilled squid, mushrooms and eggplant were in abundance.


Sunrise drawing near we bid farewell to our cozy drinking spot and looked for a place to sleep. Paying for a KTV room for a few hours seems like the most logical except, it was closed. Next we inquired at nearby sauna’s, but unlike sauna’s in Korea, these are for men only. So half of the group took the subway home, but myself, Ronja and Manu stayed behind.
To be continued!
*Also, I get to cross off one part of #7 on my 32 before 33 list. Go to Hong Kong – check!
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