But first:
I had a great time in Hong Kong. Having these five days off and being able to spend them in a city like "The Harbour of Smells" while meeting old friends and my girlfriend was truly a pleasure. I was also able to make some new friends, many of them somehow connected to Hong Kong's "Swiss Chamber of Commerce". They were off to a monthly after-work drink in Soho District, so the Chamber's President invited me to join in and meet some fellow Swiss people. The beer was chilled and everybody in good mood, but after a while I was feeling hungry and tired. The fifteen-hour flight I had absolved earlier that day began to take its toll. I grabbed Guk's hand, we said goodbye to everybody and off we were to a late dinner in a japanese Sushi-Restaurant. We were looking forward to the four days we were able to spend together.
One of the most memorable moments that weekend was when on Saturday hotel staff advised us that the opening ceremony of the "East-Asian Games" would be held off in the harbour that evening. Luckily enough, we were staying at the "Harbour View" Hotel that night, which really lives up to its name. Without knowing in prior, we had gotten ourselves the best spot to watch this evening-filling spectacle! There was just enough time beforehand to stock up on food and drinks. We decided to have dinner and watch the opening programme at the same time. "Oliver's" is a great delicacy shop located in Prince's Building in Central Hong Kong. As it was planned to be an early Christmas-Dinner, we got a roasted chicken, some ham, potato chips, fruit and german beer. We were officialy prepared: Let the show begin!
Of course, I can't go to Hong Kong without stopping over at Simon Lam's "Cohiba Cigar Divan" at least once a day. It's located inside the Mandarin Oriental Hotel and has become my "living room"I in Hong Kong, it's the perfect place to unwind. I brought Simon a box of cigar-shaped Chocolate-filled waffles from Switzerland.
I smoked the current "Edicion Regional" from "Asia Pacific", this year, it's a "Ramon Allones Celestiales Finos". I instantly liked it so much that I decided I'd have to buy a box of them plus a couple of single sticks as gifts for friends. In addition to its unusual but beautiful "figurado"-shape, the Celestiales Finos also has a very distinct flavour and an unusual presence for relatively young cigars.
