Last Wednesday, Tom and I went to the Happy Valley racetrack to participate in HK's favorite past-time: betting on the races. We arrived in the stifling heat to find a beautiful grass course surrounded by tall apartment buildings -- the lights were stunning. We were also pleasantly surprised to find that general admission tickets got us very close to the action -- we were able to drag a cocktail table over right next to the fence! After fortifying our stomachs with McDonald's (yes yes, I know, but they're everywhere, and are better for you than some of the local fried foods!), we ordered some beers and set to work figuring out the racing forms. There were 8 races scheduled, with a minimum HK $10 bet (about $1.25). We selected horses via a very scientific method (funniest/prettiest names -- at least that was MY method) and proceeded to lose our money race after race, except an HK $18 win-fall during the 7th when Tom correctly picked a horse to place. We also proceeded to drink a lot of beer.
It was awesome, even when (or particularly when) some of the loudest thunder I've ever heard rolled across the sky, and the clouds opened up with a vengeance, delaying the final race. Since every time I bring Tom to a horse race it rains cats and dogs (animal theme here), it was par for the course (oh I'm mixing my animal and my sports metaphors!). Everyone crowded indoors for about 20 minutes and the beer kept flowing, so we were fine. We finally headed home about midnight, thankful for the slight break in the humidity wrought by the storm.
For an interesting historical fact about Happy Valley, it was originally where a lot of westerners settled when they first got to HK. Since it's a muggy little valley, they all proceeded to get malaria, and many of them died. Consequently, there are several beautiful old graveyards in Happy Valley decorated in a cool gothic (?) style. I'm definitely going to have to check them out in more detail when I'm not distracted by the gambling...
More to come soon!
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