I really admire the women that look so well put together despite the sweltering Hong Kong weather. It takes a huge amount of energy and time to achieve the perfect makeup, the perfect hair, the perfect outfit, the perfect shoes, the perfect bag, the perfect nails, etc. Unfortunately, that is not me.
My usual (3-4days a week) Hong Kong summertime routine is makeup free and hair in a ponytail:
0 minute makeup & 0 minute hair
Unfortunately, this causes the service staff to label me as a poor Mainlander (as opposed to a rich mainlander who are all decked out) which results in bad service or them talking down to me in their halting Mandarin.
Grooming is very important in Hong Kong. People have the expectation that one puts their best foot forward in public especially for females. How you present youself will determine how you are treated. The richer you look, the better you will be treated. Of course I could speak English to receive better service, but I do not see the point when my Mandarin and Cantonese is better than their English.
When I get tired of being treated poorly, I resort to my 5 minute makeup routine (2-3 days a week):
5 minute makeup & 1 minute hair
This combined with an expensive bag will get me decent service. The 5 minute makeup is my normal HK winter routine. In the brutally hot HK summer everything is gone within 15 minutes of me being outdoors due to my oily skin.
On my weekly dates with hubby, I will go all out and do my 10 minute makeup and 10 minute hair routine:
10 minute makeup & 10 minute hair
This gets me pretty great service. Everyone is suddenly all smiles, until they notice my polish free hands and feet…kidding. In order for me to not sweat the makeup off and to not tie my hair up, this look requires door to door taxi service in the summer.
I have not yet gone the full nine yards have my makeup/hair/nails done professionally like I did back at my friend’s wedding in NYC so perhaps I might get the VIP treatment if I were to do that in Hong Kong:
25 minute professional makeup & 25 minute professional hair
I kid you not when I say that many females especially those at the IFC Mall/Landmark Mall/Pacific Place Mall/various upscale shops & restaurants, look like they have their makeup and hair done professionally everyday. Particularly the ladies who lunch with their Chanel suits, Louboutin Shoes, Birkin bags, styled updos, manicured nails, not to mention perfect matte makeup in the crazy hot weather! What is even crazier is that lately I have seen lots of very pregnant woman tottering around in their 5-6 inch platform heels. What if they trip?! Isn’t protecting their unborn child more important than looking perfect?
*The above applies for Asian females in most situations. Non-Asians are judged much less harshly.
**Lest you think I am exaggerating, all of my Asian female friends that travel through Hong Kong feel the same way. One of our frequent discussion topics.
What are you eating in the first picture?
Do you see that table behind you in the five minute picture (uh oh, they will be pissed if you don’t blur their faces). That woman looks like a local so she will get good service regardless of her outfit.
They should be practical and be happy to see your money and reciprocate with good service because your dollar is the same as any other dollar they get – I got that insight from my experience with some but not all the Korean restaurants in NYC. If they are going to crap on you, they should give you a discount or pay YOU.
I’m not happy thinking about the discomfort Mainland tourists are being subjected to because unlike you, they have nothing to fall back on and they deserve to feel that people SHOULD be kind to them because they haven’t hurt anyone. If someone was meaner to me during my harder times, i would think that would be worth remembering.
But you still make Hong Kong sound super fun if not for the food than the people watching and the fascinating crap they pull when they can get away with it.
I am eating passion fruit in the first picture.
Yes, locals do get better service when they speak HK Cantonese. But a friend of mine speaks Guangdong Cantonese and receives not so good service.
I feel bad for the Mainland tourists especially the not crazy wealthy ones who saved up all their money for a visit to HK. At Ladies Market I have seen one female near tears and she was saying things like I have never been treated so badly in my life by a vendor just because she ended up not purchasing a particular item.
But then there are these amazing HK vendors who are very honest and gave me back my money when I overpay by mistake.
I like the 10 min look
although cant see your face too clearly
It is the look I did everyday while you and Cindy were in town. =)
Call it my guest look, as I will be sporting this look while Mike/Tom/Shukai are in town as well.
As a mother of a 3-year-old, my look 7 days a week is the 0 minute hair and makeup. I just don’t have time for all that! Plus I am always out and about in the heat and humidity. I see many other mums who are better dressed and made up, but they all have domestic helpers. I think it’s quite obvious that I’m not a local nor a mainlander (even though I have Chinese heritage). Perhaps because of the way I dress? Or perhaps because I don’t speak Chinese. I do dress up and put on makeup for a special occasion or a dinner out (once or twice a month), but if my son is tagging along, I just feel silly being impractically dressed in a dress/skirt and heels. I only do it if my husband is around to help, otherwise it’s jeans and flats for me. I am a tomboy by nature, and feel most comfortable in shorts and sneakers, which is my outfit most days since we came to NYC last week.
Perhaps it is because they see your son is of mix of Asian and Caucasian? Hong Kong people love the Eurasian look.
When I tell people I came from the US, many assume my husband is non-Chinese.
I don’t think HK people like the Eurasian look at all. Isabella Leong and Maggie Q are extra pretty and there was a successful nontalking model with the surname Gordon who was in the first Aces Go Places film but they’re really NOT that traditionally popular even if they grew up in Hong Kong. I think HK demands that you show proper respect and humility FIRST and then you may EARN their regard. I think HK is now weary post-handover and will acknowledge power to whoever wields it and if that famous blogger who LIVED at Four Seasons Place for years was totally Chinese, I think people would have NO problem telling her that her husband (who is white) is paying too much and I think they would have dared to not provide such good service. Her blog is a strong ad for Four Seasons Place but if I stayed there, I am convinced that the staff would be angry at me even if I could afford it because it is insult to my background and upbringing to pay this much for so long (1), it hurts to look at someone like them who has it better but isn’t MEAN – mean actually works unfortunately (2) and because they expect a guest in such accommodations to provide a certain sheen of exclusiveness – not just ANOTHER Chinese returnee (3).
That’s probably another reason, the staff at the Conrad was so pissed when the two drunk middle aged white guys came in with the two OFW dinner companions. It’s not about the money or the race, it’s that you are bringing down the look of the place and you’re not making them feel good about having you as a customer. That’s reality. That’s why that store didn’t open the door for Oprah after hours when she was in a sweatsuit and no makeup. When she enters a Paris couture show, a large number of local staff are beaming at her back because she has indeed “graced them” with her presence – looking tiny waisted and YOUNG no less.
I wondered why LaJolla Mom had such a glowing report of the staff treatment of her daughter but I realized that the whole family must look very exotic/unassailable to the locals. I think that buys them time in the way that many hybrid kids experienced growing up where people treated them extra well. That’s not real respect.
And because of my last trip, I KNOW exactly what you are describing – it was ABOUT to happen to me. Thank god, it didn’t but also I think I am much more domestic and local in flavor than you are. I am obviously one of those clueless ABC Southerners who blurt out inconvenient truths to the amusement of more sophisticated Chinese so basically I get tolerated because I’m clumsy. But on the other hand, if you had local relatives, they might tell you to dress up regardless even if they don’t. HK girls have their own assets and they would want you to play up your own different positives.
Are you saying they are mean to you at ordinary eateries when you have no makeup on!??
Not restaurants but retail shops. Not even high end shops.
The real estate broker in Girl With a Dragon Tattoo snatched the brochure out of her hand when she was viewing the flat – I wouldn’t have purchased the flat. That’s so Pretty Woman (I hate that movie).
http://consumerist.com/2012/11/13/is-it-ever-acceptable-for-waiters-to-be-unpleasant/