HK - The Joys of an Unhealthy Holiday Breakfast

After a lifetime – or what seems like one – eating healthy breakfasts (typically high-calcium yoghurt, high fibre bread, Manuka honey and fairtrade regular coffee since you ask!) it’s great to be on holiday and to be a little naughty with the diet.

 Pacific Coffee is my favourite place for breakfast; a local coffee shop chain that doesn’t just rival Starbucks but beats it hollow. The background muzak is decent small-group jazz, old Beatles tunes or some 60s nostalgia, while the barista brews a very decent cup of coffee. My usual is a medium cappuccino with a slab of cake; either the 440 calorie Cranberry, Apple & Pecan with its hint of cinnamon, or the very moist Banana Walnut at just 365 calories.

First job is to read the shop’s Thought for the Day, chalked on a blackboard above the serving point, and today's is: ‘The first duty of love is to listen.’ (Paul Tillich). Mmmmmh, ok, thought about it, now let’s settle with the day’s newspaper.

 

Reading the South China Morning Post takes about 45 minutes, much of it spent on the main section which has an extensive international news section as well as detailed coverage of the action in mainland China. Then there are the Business, Sports, City (local news), special features and adverts sections. The Post is a truly excellent newspaper with rounded coverage, balanced views and nuanced editorials. In fact, it’s a whole lot better than the London Times that I usually read and get through in a fraction of the time (of course the proportion of adverts to news and opinion seems a lot higher with the UK paper, which helps).

In case I’m in danger of running out of material I’ve always got some back-up in my rucksack.

One of the joys of travelling in Asia is discovering new authors from the region. My favourite genre is mystery fiction, particularly crime. So, each time I come to Hong Kong I scour the local bookshops for new talent in the region. Often there are worthies from Australia, Singapore or Hong Kong itself whose work is unknown in Europe but is readily available in Hong Kong book stores. Also, many American authors who are not imported into the UK by the large chains (e.g. WH Smith, Waterstones) can often be found in Hong Kong. (Although the actual figures are difficult to determine, it is highly probable that many more American nationals live in Hong Kong than British born citizens).

 

Yesterday’s discovery was Tarquin Hall, a 44 year old English author living in India. He has created Vish Puri,a wonderfully comical but deceptively sharp Punjabi private detective who wears his heart on his sleeve and tackles the pervasive corruption, bureaucracy, inequality and dysfunctional social stratification of modern India with intelligence and aplomb. There are four books in the series and I plan to read them all as soon as possible.

Isn’t it fun being on holiday?