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As an island, Hong Kong consists of a little bit of flat, buildable land surrounding steep mountains. Decades ago, after all the easily-accessible areas had been developed, Hong Kongers started to edge their way up the sides of one rather steep hill. Fittingly enough, this area became known as the Midlevels because its residents were living midway between the harbor and the peak. Back in the day, the only way to get up to the Midlevels was to drive the endless switch-backs that worked their way up the hillside. Today the Midlevels is a fairly tony area to live, shop, and dine.

The collection of shops and restaurants at the base of the Midlevels is known as SoHo which stands for South of Hollywood street. A couple of weeks ago, some friends and I took Julie restaurant hopping in SoHo to celebrate her birthday.

As cool as SoHo is during the day, there is something almost electrical about it at night. The lights come on and the night-time revelers come out. Patrons spill out onto the sidewalks with their overpriced drinks and the music from one bar mingles with the music from another. SoHo at night is a heady mix of westerners and Chinese, of the hip and the even-more-hip, young professional and curiosity seekers.