Frank Pleasants' Hotel Musings: Macao

THE KOWLOON SHANGRI-LA, Hong Kong

Main lobby seen from the mezzanine

I have always stayed at the Shangri-la Hotel on the Kowloon side when in Hong Kong. It is not the very grandest of Hong Kong’s many grand hotels, but it is nevertheless extremely comfortable, managed with elegance and excellent value for money.

The elevator carpets --one for each day of the week-- are changed daily, appearing promptly at one minute after midnight.

A funny little memory remains engraved from my first visit to Hong Kong in 1997. I had never been to a tailor (there are many thousands of them in this exotic metropolis, and virtually every hotel boasts its resident tailor) and had found my way into the Shangri-la’s shop mainly out of curiosity.

A rather grand old woman who looked much like the late English actress, Gladys Cooper, was giving clipped, precise instructions when I arrived.

Gladys Cooper (Google archives)

Johnny

It was the last year of British colonial rule, and I gathered the lady had lived there for a long time. She clearly had a lengthy experience with Johnny (Hong Kong tailors all appear to take Anglo Saxon noms de plume, presumably bearing no resemblance to their Asian birth names).

She was accompanied by her twenty-ish granddaughter whom I guessed to be on the point of marriage. The English dowager had ordered at least a half-dozen outfits for the young woman who sat shyly in a corner, never voicing an opinion.

“Johnny” showed no emotion as the order became increasingly important.

As far as I could make out, there was no mention of price until the very last moment. As “Gladys Cooper” was exiting the little shop, she glanced briefly in my direction with just a hint of impatience, as though I might have had the good taste not to be there.

She then turned with supreme self assurance to the tailor and said, “Now I don’t want you getting any foolish ideas about asking for a lot of money, because that is entirely out of the question!”

Did I detect just a flicker of irony in Johnny’s response? “Certainly not, Madame, I quite understand.”

Hong Kong by night

-o-

Hong Kong pictorial sidebar

Hong Kong Island seen from Victoria Peak

I’ve been to Hong Kong four times since that first visit in 1997.

When I arrived the first time it was still officially British (It had been so from 1839 until 1997), and perhaps there were a few more Anglo-Saxons about, but it always seemed extremely exotic and multi-ethnic to me, particularly on the Kowloon side where I stay. Officially, Hong Kong is now 95 percent Chinese, though there is still a much more international floating population.

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The Shangri-la: Brenda during 2008 typhoon

Brenda was with me on my last visit in 2008, and it coincided with Typhoon Nuri. As hurricanes go, it was minor (although it cost the city several hundred thousand dollars, not including what looked like a million battered and abandoned umbrellas). Watching the effects of gale winds on the Harbor from our hotel room was a nice change from the otherwise blisteringly hot August sun.

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In 2003 I took a local ferryboat to Macao. It was only an hour’s journey, but was probably the most foreign seeming place I have ever known. I was completely at a loss, as I never found a single soul who spoke English. From the arrival port, I caught a taxi and told the driver in English and then in French: “TO THE CENTER.” He kind of shrugged, but that was as far as our communication went. After a few minutes drive, I said, “STOP”, and he did. It seemed a pretty picturesque area, as the photos attest. However, I have no idea where I was nor what might have been its significance.


Macao 2003

The Star Ferry

A few hours strolling about sufficed, before I found my way back to the port, and caught a boat back to Hong Kong.

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Hong Kong is said to have the highest number of Rolls Royces in the world. Quite a few of them are much in view at the entrances of the top hotels. As seen here at the ex-Regent (now the Intercontinental), widely considered at one time to be the Island’s best. Although I have always lodged at the Shangri-la, I did spend one night in 1997 at the Regent.