Over the Weekend: The Helena May

I was looking for new places to have afternoon tea and found a blog which introduced me to The Helena May.  Though we didn't get around to the afternoon tea, as the tour began at 11:15 am, I thought it might be nice to just check out this tour and see what it was all about.  

The Helena May Info:

35 Garden Road

Central

2522-6766

reception@helenamay.com

Free guided tours are given once a month and need to be booked at least a month in advance.

The tour was quite limited (see below of the tour stops), but the guide told us that the entire historical building would be open on Open Day, which wasn't set in stone as of this past weekend.  The guide told us that the building was undergoing renovations for the upcoming 100th year anniversary, which would be celebrated throughout next year. 

None the less, the ground floor and garden were gorgeous to wander through.  We took the tour more of fodder for sketches than as a tour of collecting any historical factoids.  The tour guide was just one of the long standing members of The Helena May and basically just told us facts from the website.

The Blue Room (above) is the grand showcase of the tour.  It's also where we all gathered in the beginning to be introduced to the history of The Helena May.

Of what our guide told us, Lady Helena May (pictured below), wife of former Hong Kong Governor Sir Henry May, noticed that there weren't any appropriate accommodations for young ladies who ventured over to Hong Kong back in the early 1900s.  So, she was the key person who pushed to have this building built to house any young woman who needed temporary accomodations.

The Blue Room, as the guide told us, was not as beautifully ornate as it is today.  He said that a few decades ago, it was quite drab.  He told us that a wealthy Chinese woman decided to renovate the space to what we see it as today.

The tour took us out to the gardens, which were lovely and had quite a bit of shade to protect the members of The Helena May from the scorching Hong Kong sun!  This was probably my favorite part of the tour because it was so quiet and peaceful.  The Peak Tram also ran along the backside of the garden, so that was nice to see those tram riders!

Another great spot, which I think most of the tour guests enjoyed was perusing the library.  The guide told us that the space for the current library was once the ball room of The Helena May.  It was then deemed too small, so it was converted into a library.  He said that it was the largest private library in Hong Kong, housing around 26, 000 English books.

I guess that's one of the perks of becoming a member of this woman's club!

The tour ended about half an hour later at the main lobby area, next to the restaurant.  From here, we were given the wonderful option to wander around at our leisure and revisit The Blue Room.

Afterwards, we hiked over to Hong Kong Park to have lunch at L16, which is one of our favorite Thai/Japanese restaurants.  Plus, it was the closest place we could think of to find food.

Thinking back, this was a great way to spend the weekend.  We trekked all the way into Central, which is quite the distance from Yuen Long, and spent the afternoon relaxing in Hong Kong Park.  Though it's quite hot these days, it just seems cooler (temperature-wise) in the park.  Someone told me that plants give off a cooling affect…

But, the weekend was great!  We got to view one of Hong Kong's historical buildings and also people watch at the park.

The Weekend: Lan Kwai Fong

If you are looking for somewhere to unwind after work…

If you are looking for somewhere to meet new people….

If you are looking for somewhere to dance in the streets with handfuls of willing participants to the music that is playing in your head at that given moment…

THEN Lan Kwai Fong is the place for you!

Lan Kwai Fong (and Soho just a few streets up from this little district) is what I think of as the entertainment epicenter of the Central Disctrict.  It's easy to get to, as the Central MTR has an exit (Exit D) dedicated to directing all people to this lovely collection of trendy bars and restaurants.

Here you can find the Hard Rock Cafe, Gordon Ramsay's Bread Street, Agave Mexican Cuisine, and, my staple place to eat, Ebeneezer's Kebab and Pizzeria.  Every nook and cranny of this place is crammed with somewhere to eat, drink, and dance.  And it's always evolving.

Over the weekend, as we were looking for a place to eat, we noticed that a Carnival was being set up in Lan Kwai Fong.  The event was in honor of the Spanish National Day and featured SPANISH STREET, where we could get bites of Spanish cuisine.  

The Carnival started sometime in the afternoon.  There were a few stages that featured Samba, Flamenco, and variety performances.  And there were also a few booths that offered games for the kids to participate in to win prizes.  There was also an entire LANE featuring Toys R' Us toys, which were soooo enticing children for children, especially when there was a giant Monopoly man hugging passerby-ers!

There are only a few events that I have been to in Lan Kwai Fong:

(1)  Octoberfest

(2)  Halloween Outdoor Extravaganza!!!!

(3)  and the World Cup events

So, checking out the Carnival was kind of a nice change.  It was really kid-friendly, tourist-friendly, and had an eccentric mix of booths (The Society of AIDS Care booths next to the OKAMOTO booths!).  

The Weekend: Ukulele Festival

On one of the hottest days of the Fall, steps away from the Pro-Democratic Student Movement, a Ukulele Festival was setting up its booths and sound checking.  

The Ukulele Festival was held at the Central Harbourfront Event Space on Saturday from 3 - about 9 pm.  It was a great international festival with local ukulele artists and ukulele players from Taiwan, Shenzhen, Japan, the States, and more.

Ryo Natoyama sound checking.

Lang Lang chilling with his ukulele.

Give & Take practicing backstage.

Hong Kong International Hula Association booth and hula dancers.

At the end of the night, while a lot of the crowed started dispersing and heading over to support the student movement, there was a sort of bittersweet feeling in the air.  The Harbour was to our right, the lights of the surrounding buildings were twinkling magically, and the organizers were saying their final notes of thanks...it was all truly romantic, but then you could see the police cars lining up along the streets creating road blockades and the students starting to march in Tamar Park...it makes me wonder what this city will be like when I wake up tomorrow morning.