hk does the high life in HK

It's true, I've been getting tastes of the high life throughout the summer, what with the lunches at schmancy restaurants that require jackets, the tickets to plays, and flying around the globe willy-nilly, but tonight I went to a "romantic clifftop dinner" at The A*merican Club on the south side of the island.

Before you get too excited about my romantic prospects, it was a firm event, and the romantic clifftop dinner was attended by 7 associates, one partner, and me. So -- no romance. But wasn't there? The south side of Hong Kong is vastly underdeveloped compared to the ridiculously high-rise north side, and just driving there through winding mountain roads made me feel like I was going to a different country. Two associates and I went in the partner's Land Rover, sitting high and in air conditioned comfort.

The partner was the member of the club, of course. (Apparently, the firm pays for membership for each senior partner at a club of their choice.) There was a table for 9 set up outside on the terrace, just beyond the swimming pool. It really was on top of a cliff, and throughout the evening, a rust-red moon moved surprisingly rapidly up the sky, turning deep orange and managing to shine through the pollution and haze to light up the sea.

As the extremely polished but extremely nice associate from China (grew up in Shanghai, got her LLM in the U.K., worked there for three years at a shipping law firm, moved to Shanghai, and then to HK) said, "If you weren't in love before, this view would make you fall in love." (Of course, when you've got a millionaire French boyfriend, it lends itself to a warm view of the world.)

There was a menu on the table, but we'd pre-ordered our meals and the menus merely reminded us what the choices had been. They also had the partner's name and the firm name printed on them. I secreted a copy away in my bag, to remember the night I spent eating creamed avocado and celeriac pyramid (sided by fresh mozzarella and baby spring greens) and grilled US rib-eye (accompanied by sauteed baby potatoes and baby spring vegetables), and drinking endless glasses of Perrier, champagne, and wine. Crazy.

It was quite warm on the terrace overlooking the sea, but not as humid as the north side of the island, and the men made it to dessert without begging to go inside. At that time, I was ready to go in as well -- the humidity was uncomfortable, affecting my enjoyment of the meal. So we went inside to a club room (one of a large complex, of course), and shared five dishes of "An Indulgent Combination for Two" -- warm chocolate decadent with raspberries and chambord coulis, and brandied appled tart with calvados glaze and haagen-daz.

Anyone can go into a nice restaurant if they can pay the price -- I went to an extremely scenic restaurant today in Kowloon (a ferry ride away from my office) with Mighty Big Firm people, where the view was stunning: panoramic of the north side of Hong Kong Island, and stretching out to the west to Lantau Island. (The food was surprisingly mediocre (and in some cases downright bad) for such a chi-chi restaurant, but the view was fantastic. But I digress.) But that wasn't the same thing as going to this club tonight -- it was missing the exclusivity factor.
It was quite an experience, being on that terrace overlooking the water, in a private club in the dark hills of the south side of Hong Kong.

Actually, if the partner's house hadn't been in the midst of remodeling, we'd never have gone; the event was supposed to be a BBQ at his house. Instead, I got a glimpse of the high life. But here's the thing: as we walked in, Sunshine spread her arms and joked, "This too could all be yours, hk!" But (as I pointed out) none of the junior associates had been there before. It's a high life, alright, and not one that many are willing to climb to. I'm glad to have gotten the glimpse.

And now, I have to go to bed, because it's past midnight. But one thing more -- Coldplay is playing HK tomorrow night, and Mighty Big Firm is sending its summers to the concert. Despite my best polite whining, I did not get either firm to shell out for a ticket. I could probably buy one myself, but (1) I'd be sitting by myself, and (2) it's not just going to the concert, it's going on someone else's dime. I'd feel taken if I paid for a ticket, even though I like Coldplay, and even though some of those who are going didn't even know who they were before last week. Damn. I guess I'm not as free of the sense entitlement as I thought I was.