the most expensive "local" restaurant in Hong Kong, 福臨門(福临门) Fook Lam Moon.

Probably the most expensive "local" restaurant in Hong Kong, 福臨門(福临门) Fook Lam Moon. I just learned of it, while sitting on the balcony for lunch at Pawn (overpriced, mediocre service, decent food. Elevator was broken, 2 hostesses sit at an ad-hoc coffee table with laptops hooked up to visible lan lines). Anyways, check out the cars in front of the restaurant. I spot 5 Benz's, 1 Maybach, 1 Rolls Royce, 2 luxury-looking vans, 1 unknown. Note the group of drivers and bodyguars in white shirts and suits standing outside the main door.

Just a few typical car accidents in HK

From scanning local news stories you can get a glimpse of the vast wealth in Hong Kong:

"April 2, 2008
Two women hurt in head-on collision between car and taxi

A Porsche and a taxi collided head-on in Shau Kei Wan yesterday, injuring two people. The Porsche was making an illegal right turn from the eastbound lane of Shau Kei Wan Road into Ngoi Man Street when the collision happened at 11.34am, police said. Two women passengers in the taxi, aged 55 and 80, suffered minor injuries and were treated at Eastern Hospital. Both drivers were unhurt. In a separate accident, a red Ferrari was damaged when it hit the anti-crash barrier of the Nga Cheung Road flyover in Yau Ma Tei at 11.58pm on Monday. The 39-year-old driver, who was not hurt, passed a breathalyser test."

Original article here, but you need subscription to view.

The most expensive license plate in the world

Referring to the "This is how they roll in Hong Kong" post, under the "Hong Kong" label, here is a photo of a Hong Kong car which has both the local HK license plate (yellow) and the one that lets you cross into China (black). The latter is the one that costs about USD 50K.

This is how they roll in Hong Kong

You've got to have THE car, not just any car. It must be a luxury vehicle. You get bonus points for loud engines. Multiple vehicles, rare vehicles.

Anything else would be uncivilized.

Once you get it/them, you have to annoint it with all that shows that you are in the SAR game. Club plates, China plates (USD 50,000 gets you this right), a driver. Once you're there you can't just rest on your laurels, as the guy who's got the adjacent parking space in your building has told you about the deposit he's just placed for the 2008 lambo. You've got to get a package - Brabus rims, Chanel upholstery, German glass.... (yea, couldn't think of anything better).

Custom suits don't mean all that much, as they come quite cheap here. However, well-tailored name brand suits / custom-tailored high-end cloth will definitely get you on the list. Even if you only make 20K/year, you've got to get the thousand-dollar her outfit if you work in Central. You can't show up to work without the latest in heels either.

Everyone's an investor, and these days - everyone makes bank in the market (except me). A friend told me that he was recently at the well-known rich man's Chinese restaurant, and chatted it up with a waiter. The waiter ended up revealing that he'd invested his savings into one of the many Chinese bank IPOs in HK, and he'd netted HKD4mn (USD500K+)... yes, he's still a waiter.

You've got to have a maid... or two or three. Heaven forbid that you actually have to raise your own children! Feed them? Bathe them? Dress them? Not for any self-respecting HK-er. They'll just get a few Bun-Moy's or a few Nepalese. They're like US$600-$1000 / month for full-time live-in service. You can ask them to make you any food you want, anytime. Clean this, clean that!
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