Hong Kong: Coffee and Exploration
Detour Coffee
My wife and I had the opportunity to visit Hong Kong last year. She was invited to deliver a lecture at the New Asia College of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Yale University commissioned me to document the students throughout the week, as well as her talk.
Captured from the window of our room
Before arriving, I was unaware of the coffee scene in Hong Kong.
Due to our work obligations, I was unsure of the amount of free time we would have to explore on our own. But for the first time in years, we were traveling child-free, having flown members of my wife's family to stay at our home and watch over our children.
I even had a brief visit to the hospital due to food poisoning. Now, that was not on my list of places I hoped to visit. I lost about 24 hours at the end of our trip. It sucked, but everyone at the hospital was kind; I was in and out quick - and I won't let that detract from our time there.
Because straight up - Honk Kong is freakin' amazing. It was a perfect blend of DTLA and NYC with its own unique vibe. That said, the flight there was an intense, seventeen-hour long, non-stop flight that kicked our butt.
We took advantage of every free moment available, visiting numerous restaurants, galleries, and, yes, many different coffee shops.
My unofficial coffee crawl began a few days into our trip.
We were able to break away for a visit to the M+ Museum. Upon arrival, I noticed that there were two coffee shops nearby, almost directly across from each other. The first one that we visited was Zombie Specialty Coffee. We had pastries and coffee, and even though we were on a small, alley-style side street, it felt like we were back in our old neighborhood of Los Feliz, CA.
At that point, I decided to show the barista, who only spoke a small amount of English, my Americano Mondays website. I then asked if she would be ok with me capturing some images of her and the shop. I let her know that I would share the photos with them as well.
Zombie Speciality Coffee
And there I was, back in my zone of capturing images of a barista within the walls of a cafe, and it felt so freakin' good.
Due to the pandemic, a cross-country move to two different states, and dealing with depression and grief about a life we once lived, it had been a few years since I had created new work for Americano Mondays.
In all honesty, I had also grown tired of capturing another photo of a barista pouring perfect latte art. And felt I needed to pivot.
However, this trip awakened my joy of documenting coffee culture in a foreign land. And I freakin' loved every moment of it.
One of the more interesting experiences I had was the day we visited the Sai Kung District, a small, once-thriving fishing village that we were told had been greatly affected by the pandemic.
The district was full of narrow pathways that led to small boutique shops and markets nestled below homes on the upper floors. Within a few hundred feet, I visited Arm Coffee, Commute, and Ria's Coffee Roasters. Then, only a few minutes away, we came across Cuit; they specialize in pastries and sourdough bread but also have a solid coffee program on-site.
I could have spent an entire day within that district, exploring and drinking coffee. But we had a boat to catch and a beautiful island to visit later that afternoon.
My time in Hong Kong reignited my passion for exploring the world of travel and coffee culture in new ways.
And I'm in the early stages of making that happen on The North Light. A whole new platform for those who love travel rewards, the outdoors, and good coffee.
I've been brainstorming and working on launching this for quite some time now. I'll discuss this further soon. But if you would like to be notified when it's officially launched, you can sign up HERE.
I was honored to capture a small section of the thriving coffee scene in Hong Kong. I barely touched the surface of telling their story, but with my limited time on the ground and work obligations, I'm just glad to have met so many kind people who shared their love of coffee with me.
