City Profile: Hong Kong

Hong Kong, People's Republic of China.



Once the shinning pearl on the Queen's colonial crown, Hong Kong has forever been a world within itself. The freest market on the planet has brought people from all over the globe, enchanting visitors with its forever expanding skyline, illustrious mountain ranges and of course, its food. With a population of 7 million, Hong Kong is about as world-class as they come.

Prior to the Opium Wars of the 19th century, the islands that now make up the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong were little more than a small collection of Tanka and Hakka fishing villages scattered along the Pearl River Delta. The British were quick to make their mark, however, establishing what would become the world's second largest container port as the social elite imposed their Victorian era customs on the islands first inhabiters. Hong Kong's population soared after British colonization, with an influx of Chinese immigrants seeking refuge from floods and famine in the mainland, further exacerbated by Mao's Cultural Revolution in the 1960 and 70's. The new immigrants were often met with legislative and cultural limitations, however, with colonialists ensuring the racial segregating of Hong Kong's population, institutionalizing a British style class system which continues to persist even under Chinese control.

Subsequent to the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, the outpost rapidly industrialized with the colony's economy growing 180 times from 1961 to 1997, moving from a manufacturing centre to a financial powerhouse towards the end of the 20th century. The transfer of sovereignty from the British to the People's Republic of China in 1997 saw the implementation of a 'one party-two systems' framework of governance, allowing the people of Hong Kong to maintain a level of personal and economic freedom beyond those of their mainland counterparts. The arrangement has been fragile at best, however, with the Chinese government gradually tightening its grip on Hong Kong's media and judicial entities, sparking widespread protests across the region as promises of universal suffrage in 2017 become subject to Chinese discretion.

Today, Hong Kong is an enchanting mix of past and present. The colonial and Chinese influences are strong, personified by the culinary hybridity of the islands cuisine, with a dim sum breakfast standing in harmonious contradiction with an afternoon milk-tea, in what can only be described as something uniquely Hong Kong. Traditional street markets have been moved to multilevel cooked food centres, symbolic of the British penchant for control over local populations in the region, whilst enabling the culinary delights of successive waves of Chinese immigration to flourish. Hong Kong is in many ways a place of contrasts, in a city where a short train ride can take you from the dense shopping meccas of Tsim Sha Tsui and Mong Kok, to the illustrious solitude of the MacLehose Trail, where the homes of billionaires and cage dwellers can be seen lighting up in unison from Lion Rock, whilst bamboo scaffolding maintains the structural integrity of new developments in The New Territories behind the range. 

Hong Kong is the personification of a globalized world, a place where international businessmen ride the elevators of the island's Central district, whilst low-level entrepreneurs coax budget travellers into their restaurants and secondhand electronics stores in the Chungking Mansions. In spite of this, Hong Kong has maintained a distinct identity of its own, a place where people identify themselves by their city rather than their country, where the cultural divide between the island and the mainland seems to grow by the day, as Chinese investment flows into Hong Kong pushing the cost of living higher and higher for the local population. The ongoing protests in Hong Kong are an expression of disillusionment with the current system, a collective cry for control over a destiny that has forever been shaped by external forces. Regardless of the outcome, Hong Kong will forever be a city belonging to the world. 

Meet a local
Ride a bus, train or ferry
Find a Market
Grab a drink
See a band
Find a Market
Surf a couch

Brisbane: Meet a Local

Meet a Local.

Meet Luke!

He's also an electronic musician and co-founder of Jukefield,a photography and video company based in Brisbane. He loves a good coffee and is always on the lookout for a great meal.

How long have you lived in Brisbane?

I've lived in the Brisbane area my entire life.

What is your favourite neighbourhood in Brisbane?

It's hard to go past West End. It's becoming more and more gentrified now but it's still the hub of alternative culture in Brisbane. There are a ton of restaurants and a lot of really cool cafes and bars with live music so I find myself there a lot. 

Do you have any particular favourite spots in West End?

Ugees is really good for coffee, it's $3.50 for a single or double shot which is great for the caffeine dependent. 

Trang's is probably my pick of the vast array of food options in the area, really well priced and delicious vietnamese restaurant. 

I've also got to give an honourable mention to King Ahiram's, it's nothing special but a $3.50 falafel kebab can really hit the spot if your wallet is light. 

Where is the best place to get a cheap bite to eat?

Sunnybank is definitely my favourite place to eat out. It's basically this ever-growing asian food district which has now consumed a lot of the suburbs around it. It's great! you can get a delicious authentic meal from all over Asia for less than $10.

I'd strongly recommend Mappen , it's a really well priced no-thrills Japanese diner which does free upgrades on Tuesday (large Gyūdon for less than $6)

Also, if you're in the area, make sure you check out the Little Taipei Food court, it's kind of hidden away but it's a goldmine of culinary delights from all over asia. 

Where is your favourite place to get a drink?

I've been going to Depo quite a lot lately, it's a cool little bar hidden away in a backstreet in West End. It's got a good range of reasonably priced beers (around $5-7)and just a general good vibe. 

Where is the best coffee in town?

There's been a lot of cafés popping up all over the place in Brisbane but I guess my favourites would have to be Café O Mai which is a Vietnamese restaurant and café in Annerley. I also really like Lady Marmalade in Stones Corner for more conventional coffee. 

Where is the best place to see live music in Brisbane?

Fortitude Valley and West End are the two main areas for live music but you sort of need to know where to go to see the best bands. I really like Black Bear Lodge, they have a really good mix of bands there, from guitar bands to soul nights. 

Trainspotters near the central station in the city is probably the best place to see up and coming bands, there's no cover charge and drinks are really cheap ($4 basic spirits)

What the biggest social issue currently affecting the Brisbane region?

The current state government has created a lot of problems for Brisbane and Queensland more generally. Queensland is a bit of an anomaly in Australia because we don't have an upper-house, so this basically means that once you win government, you can pass any law you like without much oversight. Since 2012, we've seen a lot of really scary laws pass through parliament, with the government dismantling the corruption watchdog and implementing some really unnecessary mandatory sentencing laws to deal with supposed crime groups. There have also been allegations of widespread corruption in the government, with suggestions that the premier has taken kickbacks for signing off on a number of business deals without environmental protections to help out friends in the business world. I'm really glad next year is an election year.

Best secret spot?

There used to be this really awesome spot which everyone called 'The Quarry' in Mt Gravatt which used to a limestone quarry with a massive rock face which you could jump off. Unfortunately it was bought out by a development company recently and has now been filled.

Another place that we like to go during the summer time is Cedar Creek which is on the north side of the city, it's a pretty large watering hole with a waterfall and some fairly sizeable rock faces to jump off. It gets really busy on weekends though, so I'd recommend going during the week you're able to. 

Image courtesy of TripAdvisor

City Profile: Brisbane

Brisbane, Australia. 

Photo Courtesy of Jukefield

Long misunderstood as a cultural backwater, the city of Brisbane has emerged as one Australia's most dynamic cities in recent years, drawing visitors from all over the world with its warm sub-tropical climate, dynamic music scene and an ever expanding multicultural culinary circuit.


Brisbane was once a place to escape for many who resided here in the later half of the 20th century. The on-going incumbency of a draconian provincial government and the oppressive authoritarianism of a rogue police force saw this sleepy river city whither in its 300 days of sunshine, with electoral disenfranchisement and widespread corruption plaguing the city throughout the 1970's and 80's, resulting in the carving up of inner-city neighbourhoods and  destruction of culturally significant buildings in the name of development.

Naturally, this oppressive nanny state manifested in a counter-cultural rebellion, with the emergence of a hard and fast music scene in the city’s nightlife hubs of Fortitude Valley and the more laid back West End gaining Brisbane a reputation for one of the most dynamic music scenes in Australia.

Much has changed since the days of Brisbane’s cultural dark age, as the turn of the century saw a proliferation of migration into the city, with the lure of cheap rent, a warm sub-tropical climate and a laid-back lifestyle providing a necessary refuge for southern Australians and a growing international community.


The legacy of post-war planning has seen Brisbane sprawl into the ever-expanding suburbs, but this has enabled the growth of migratory pockets, with the southern suburbs of the city bustling with immigrant communities from all over Asia (Sunnybank, Darra, Inala), Africa (Moorooka, Annerley) and the Middle East (Mt Gravatt), providing a mouth-watering mix of culinary options all accessible by Brisbane’s expanding (albeit expensive) public transport system. The once decrepit inner suburbs have rapidly gentrified, with an abundance of cafés, bars and restaurants lining the streets of traditional hotspots West End and Paddington, whilst expanding into up and coming areas such as Stones Corner and Woolloongabba.


Brisbane is no longer just a transit point for tourists to visit the famed beaches of the Gold Coast. It has emerged as a destination in its own right, a city that breathes within the skin of itself, where the scars of the ill-considered past live on in the congested highways and endless suburban sprawl, yet somehow produce something to be desired, a population without pretension, where the knowledge of the city's failings are embraced and held with pride. Brisbanite's know where they are, there is no illusion of place in this town and in many ways that is what makes it a place to be.

Meet a local
See a band
Find a market
Catch a flick
Ride a bus, train or ferry
Surf a couch

Road2Nowhere

I still remember the moment I decided to drop out of university and give myself away to the pursuit of travel. It was at some revelatory hour during a night of sleeplessness, when emerging beneath a sea of tangential thoughts came the realization that I had to escape. The confines of my parents home and the emptiness of my failing academic pursuits had left me with no choice but to leave, so a decision was made and for the next 8 months, I worked two telemarketing jobs, scrounging every penny I could until I had obtained monetary freedom. I’d made plans to travel before, boring my friends with overly romanticized notions of backpacking around Europe or island hopping in the Caribbean, without anyone (including myself) ever really suspecting that I would take the leap. In January 2012, I flew on a one-way ticket to New York City via Shanghai. Over the next 12 months, I would travel across the North American continent, spending hours at decrepit greyhound stations, in dirty hostels and on generously offered couches as I trekked through the vastness of Canada and the United States. 

Naturally, I got the bug…

Since then, things have never really been the same. There isn't a day that goes by where I'm not making plans for another trip. I eat, sleep and breathe for the next adventure, doing everything in my power to make it happen. I'm fascinated by the world that we live in and this is what I want to share with you. I hope that this blog will provide some insights into some of my favourite places so that they can become some of your favourite places. I still have many adventures ahead of me and I hope to share them with anyone who cares to read.