Like any major city, Halloween is a bit of a big deal in Hong Kong. Unfortunately Nate and I did not make it out the Saturday before Halloween but we made up for it on the actual night! There is an area in Hong Kong called Lan Kwai Fong or LKF for short. LKF is a square of bars, clubs and restaurants that is very popular among expats (ex-patriots). There is a pizza slice restaurant and Mexican restaurant that are both pretty good. The area is a bit steep in price. We can usually buy two tall can beers of $12 HKD (that's about $1.50 American, boo ya) in 7-11 but they were double the price. They have what I like to call the "untz untz untz" clubs.
When Nate and I arrived to LKF we were surprised. It was before 8:00pm and the streets were PACKED. There was a stampede where people died in 1993 and I could see why. The streets are narrow and sloping so it would be easy to get stuck. There were many police officers patrolling the area and attempting to control the flow of people "traffic".
Nate and I wanted to be cheap so I dressed in all black and bought a little package that included a cheetah tail, bow tie and ears. Nate bought a fake mustache. When we arrived in LKF it was like we were Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel on their honeymoon! I have never been photographed so much in my entire life. Not only were we having our photo taken but many people wanted to take a photo with us. I really thought yikes is this what the paparazzi is like? No wonder famous people get annoyed! We walked around once and noticed it was getting more and more packed. It was very interesting to see people with their children out and about. Although it was fairly early I would have been frightened that my child would get squished! A man was dressed in an orange costume holding a baby on his shoulder....very odd. There were some very ornate costumes as well as people who were not dressed up at all. The police began walking through attempting to clear a path. There were also areas on the side that were gated off. We saw quite a few Geishas. We also saw a man dressed as the "Gangnam Style" guy.
After we walked around once we needed to find a restroom. We were not allowed to go back the way we came so we stopped into a bar/restaurant called Taj that was one floor up. The views from the patio were amazing but unfortunately they were taken. We sat inside and ordered some drinks. We then noticed that people were smoking hookahs! Since I have never tried a hookah before we thought, what the hay, let's try! There was an entire hookah menu. After some himming and hawing we decided on Mango. It was very sweet and actually good! I only had a little bit since I had been sick previously with a cough. It was a very fun Halloween experience!
