Hong Kong Lederhosen

A different beerfest, three years earlier...


With the parents in town, I thought it best to show them traditional Hong Kong. By taking them to the Hong Kong beerfest. Nothing quite says 'Hong Kong' like a marquee erected in a car park, full of Chinese people being baffled by an oompah band.

As this was my second outing to the Marco Polo this year, I managed to get my lederhosen out of the wardrobe. Now that the temperature has dropped a little more, lederhosen are more practical than they were a month ago; that is to say I can wear them without fainting.

Wearing lederhosen in Hong Kong is an interesting experience. For a few minutes you feel odd, then you begin to imagine you're in an Austrian fairy tale, and then you wonder how many Austrians wrote stories involving neon lights and restaurants with duck hung in the windows to entice customers. Possibly part of Struwellpetter, but my girlfriend has forbidden mention of that in the flat, so I'll say no more.

Although I'm used to wearing lederhosen in Hong Kong, apparently nobody else in Hong Kong is used to the sight of me, so as we walked through Tin Hau we felt confused eyes staring at us. It's nice to feel special sometimes: after a couple of hundred years, the novelty of gweilo in Hong Kong has worn off. Perhaps if the Germans had been the neighbourhood opium dealers then things would have been different, although then I'd have had to wear a Beefeater costume to draw attention to myself.

As wearing a Beefeater costume in Tin Hau would be quite normal right now.

Ahem.

The beerfest itself was its usual combination of German music, German beer and German food. Well, two out of three isn't bad, is it? My family gave off a sense of profound bafflement throughout, which is to be expected, but professed to enjoy the exoticism of it all.

Which is a little odd, when you consider that the UK already has car parks, and beer, and braincrushing music. But maybe not all at the same time.

Spot the difference: Hong Kong Beerfest this year - thanks to Candy for the photo...