The Stadium!
Like I mentioned in a previous post, it was super easy to make friends at the hostel and so my first night I ended up going to the race track! I thought I was going to sleep right away since I barely slept on my flight but I met another traveller in the elevator up to my room and she and some other backpackers were going to the race track.
The atmosphere at the race track was unreal and so for roughly $1.50 CAD, it was worth it! I felt as though there were three groups of people that attended these races: the tourists/backpackers who just want to see horses race and drink beer, the casual fans who are from Hong Kong, and the avid, avid (did I mention avid?) fans!
1) The tourists/backpackers would get up really close to the race track and place an uneducated bet hoping the payoff would be enough to cover their night out.
2) The casual fans were the local people who would come to enjoy a night out. They would sit in the stands, wander down to the race track to grab a beer and place a bet or two.
3) The avid, avid fans sat up in the stands, usually in the members’ only area. They had descriptions of all the horses and all the odds and placed, what I assumed would be, educated bets. These people were INTO it!
The Stadium!
Tourists trying to get close to the horses.
Anyway, at the race track we met some other travellers and expats working in Hong Kong. We had a few beers and I was eventually convinced to place a bet. I took the safe route (because I would soon be working for a company that believes in passive investments and Exchange Traded Funds) and placed a bet on the favourite but lost. Being a bust, I named this horse Anthony Bennett.
Where I placed a bet...
My plan was to head back to the hostel since the lack of sleep was starting to hit me, but a few of the people I met were going to a bar in Wan Chai. I had to drop some stuff off at the hostel, but they convinced me to go and come back since it was close to where I was staying. I made it back, but soon realized the party was in the streets! Since you can buy beer at 7/11 and drink openly outside the bar, it ended up being a better (and cheaper) atmosphere outside. You could get a beer for $2 CAD at 7/11 or pay close to $12 CAD inside. Woah!
Note: Hong Kong can be pretty sketchy as I heard some stories from another Canadian who had lived there for a year. Also, when I asked a guy for directions in Wan Chai while trying to meet up with my new friends, he asked me if I wanted to buy cocaine, heroine or weed... what a first impression (this was like at 9 pm on a well-lit corner, not like 3 am in an alley)!