In which I am easily amused but harbor just a few dreams of imperial wealth

In keeping with one of my and several of my friends' favorite pastimes, I went this evening to the bar atop the Peninsula Hotel, otherwise known as THE Peninsula Hotel (Hi, Rox!), otherwise known as Conde Nast Traveller's perennial pick for the Best Hotel in the World.

First, the getting there: Hong Kong is a city of islands, the main two of which are Hong Kong Island (where I've been staying) and Kowloon. These two are easily travelled between both by subway (it seems) and ferry- the latter of which is renowned to be one of the great ferry excursions in the world, and at roughly thirty cents a ride, surpasses the Staten Island ferry in bang for the buck.

I took the ferry ride at dusk, having been informed that every evening the Hong Kong skyline puts on a light show, which is best viewed from either a)said ferry or b)the bar on top of the Peninsula Hotel. Let's take a minute here: EVERY NIGHT, almost EVERY notable building in the HK skyline is part of a Disney/Vegas- style electric boogaloo. For.... sheer entertainment? Who knows, but the distinctive buildings have even more distinctive nighttime profiles even when they AREN'T shaking their electric groove thangs, so I was eager to see it.

I timed the ferry ride to arrive at the Peninsula for the actual show. This is where the would-be wealth comes in... despite its oddly unimpressive web site, the Peninsula is basically the Bellagio with 98% of the tacky bits removed, and a storied past to back it up. Were it not for the fact that my travel wardrobe only barely provided an outfit that I thought was even marginally suitable for the place, I would have been dying (to be able) to move in.

In any event, I made my way up to the bar, which, aside from the view, was frankly unimpressive. It was smallish, and the house specialty drinks were $150HK... around $20US. I had a marginally less expensive greyhound, which was made with nominally fresh squeezed juice and what tasted and felt like very little vodka indeed. So, in the bare bones assessment, not one of my faves.

However.

Then the light show started. Okay, yes, it's a little corny... but it's also one of the coolest things I've seen, particularly given that tonight, for some indecipherable reason (the bus boy's English was somewhat marginal), the light show incorporated... FIREWORKS. A coordinated display of them, from the tops of something like 15-20 of HK's most notable buildings. I challenge anyone to watch that and not grin like an idiot, overpriced drinks, cramped bar, and cheesy conglomeration of rich expats notwithstanding. And I doubt there was a better view of the show from anywhere in the area than there was from the bar at Felix, the restaurant on top of the Peninsula. Except, apparently, in the men's room at the same bar, but I have no confirmation of that and will seek none.