Hong Kong SAR

Wow.  I was totally blown away by Hong Kong, even on the way in from the airport.  The sky was blue, the water was gorgeous, and all around I'm surrounded by massive skyscrapers shooting out from surrounding parks and greenery.  I instantly love it.

Having said that, I was a little sidetracked on seeing the city.  I got off the bus at the 13th stop, as directed by Mike, and the good lad had been waiting for almost an hour for me.  He brought me up to our room, which was pretty small and on the 11th floor, but you'll have that in a city this big.

Back downstairs, I mentioned that I was thirsty.  I did mean bottle of water stylee, but we headed into a pub a couple of doors down.  There we met Johnny from Carrickfergus, who was just off the boat and on his way home, and who was all on for buying us drinks.  I hope Johnny made his flight home.  After that, we headed to another area of town, where we met a couple of French guys, who again seemed to want to buy us drinks.  They were funny boys, but they left early because Douglas had to work in the morning.

The next stop was another bar on that street, where we met Gary, who, in keeping with the theme of the night, bought us several drinks, including some shots containing raw egg yolk (why?!).  He then took us to a nightclub that was absolutely full of Filippino ladies, and quite a few white guys who were 'enjoying' their company.  We didn't stay long - after all the free drinks, it was about time to go home.

The next day, it finally happened.  It was bound to at some stage, and Nikki I'm only sorry you weren't here to witness it.  I got a hangover.  I don't know why you would get one, they are absolutely horrible.  It's certainly not the worst I've ever felt, but it just has no interest in going away.  I couldn't even sleep it off because every time a lay on my side I felt sick.  It's rubbish.  And we didn't haver aircon during the day, so that just made it worse.  So that kinda took up the whole day, I'm ashamed to say.  (Rick, now I understand.)  I finally fell asleep, and when I woke up, Mike had gone out.  He came back with McDonald's, and he had got me a salad - oh how the tables have turned!!!  Later that evening, we went for a bit of a wander, got some tea, and went back to sit in the aircon.

Thinking about it now, in retrospect it may have been a number of things.  We live on the 11th floor - it could have been altitude sickness.  It could have been salmonella from the raw egg in the shots (seriously, why?!).  It could have been jetlag - there's an hour time difference between Bangkok and Hong Kong.  So maybe I'm still hangover-free.

The next day we got our sightseeing shoes on, and headed off.  We jumped on the subway to Hong Kong Island (it goes under the water!), and had a look at the Bank of China building.  The building itself is really cool, but the view from the 46th floor viewing deck is even better.  Hong Kong is beautiful, the buildings are amazing, but there is so much greenery for such a built up city.

After that we had a look at the Hong Kong Shanghai bank building, outside of which sit two lions.  One of them still bears bullet scars from when the Japanese soldiers used them as target practice!

We then headed to the pier, where we took a free junk boat trip around the island, and back to Kowloon on the mainland, which was lovely.  We had some lunch, and then called into an internet cafe.  Mike's friend was getting into town that day, so he let him know where we were, and he met us there.  Ian, who used to work with Mike, was travelling with Jospe, from Denmark.  We went for food and a few drinks, and then headed to the pier, to see the light show.  It happens every day at 8pm, but at weekends they have fireworks as well.  It must be a pretty expensive affair, since it goes on for 15 mins, but it does look really good.  Music is played out of speakers all around, and the lights on the buildings are synchronised to it, it's quite impressive.

After that, we were off to the comedy.  The Hong Kong comedy scene is a relatively new one - the club just opened in February, and we were the first sell-out crowd.  They haven't got a bar license yet, and until the quality of the acts improves, they should really concentrate on getting one.  It was painful sitting through some of the stand up, some of the acts simply weren't funny.  Some of the 'jokes' didn't even have punchlines.  We were really cringing through parts.  In fairness, some of them were quite good, including a Filipino, and another guy who was making his debut!  The regulars, most of whom were from America, just shouldn't have been on stage.

After getting our complimentary drink in the bar a few doors down, we got out of there, and jumped on the MTR to Wai Chai, where we had been the other night.  We got some food, and headed to a bar for a few drinks, where we discussed God, the universe, and Ricky Gervaise.  We ventured out to a club after that, but as it was approaching 5am, we decided to call it a night.  But not before I got my photo taken with a pimp - I may look stumpy, but I had to get the shoes on camera!

The next day we got up and headed to Kowloon Park, where every Sunday a display of traditional Chinese martial arts takes place.  It was great, there were about 25 kids, including some tiny tots, putting on a show for the large crowd that had gathered to see them.

The heat got a bit much, and I was hungry, so we headed to Hau Fook st for some cheap grub.  We considered going to see the large Buddha, but it was a bit too late a rather far away, so we gave it a miss.  Instead, we headed back to the room for a bit.  That evening, we met the boys.  They had bumped into Nick and Louisa, who they had met in China, and who were lovely!  Mike and I had planned on going to the night markets, but we all went for food instead.  After dinner, we went across the road to Ned Kelly's for some Sunday night jazz, which was really good.  We headed home about midnight.

The next morning, the alarm went off early, and Mike and I were up early for Tai Chi in the park!  It was really good, and the two teachers, William and Pandora, were lovely, and very enthusiastic.  We spent the first 10 or 15 mins doing single 'patterns', then watched them and anyone who practiced Tai Chi do a series of patterns, which lasted about 15 mins.  We then practiced a series, slowly at first, but then faster, and eventually with music.  It was fine to start with, but as it sped up I think I resembled a first-timer at an aerobics class - I didn't really know what I was doing some of the time!  But it was really good, and I'm glad we got up for it.

After an early start, it was nap time, and as I hadn't slept well at all the night before, I managaed to kip till midday!  We met Ian and Jespe for food, and sat in the park eating.  After that, Mike had to go for his haircut, and the boys had visas and things to sort out, so I went on the net for a bit.  An hour or so later, the two boys met me, and we took the MTR to Hong Kong Park, on the island.  It was nice to stroll around - there are so many lovely parks in the city, and with the transport system as good as it is, they are easy to get to.

We spent a few hours there, and then up to the Bank of China building (again) to get the city view.  After that, the boys fancied some coffee and cake, so we sat in an (airconned!) cafe for about an hour, which was nice!

Then it was off to the Peak Tram, where we met Nick and Louisa.   Mike met us there as well, and we all headed up the hill on the tram, which at times is as steep as almost 30 degrees!  You can stand straight and be only inches from the floor - it's weird!

The view from the top is one of the best city vistas I've ever seen.  The islands, the skyscrapers and the greenery all make for some amazing views.  We had some food (in Burger King, unfortunately, but it's gotta be the best views you'll ever get from the establishment), and went back out again to get a glimpse of the skyline at night.  Nick and Louisa hadn't seen the light show, so we watched it from there, but it's not really as good.

Back down, we decided to sit in the park for a while, with some refreshment from 7-11.  We chatted there for a couple of hours, and ended up going to a local kareoke bar, which was random, but a lot of fun!  Nick and I were the only ones who actually joined in the fun though!  We had a couple of games of fussball, and made it home by about 5am.

The next day was a late one, but I made it up by midday.  I managed to convince a very hungover Mike to get out of bed, and after calling up to Ian and Jespe, we all headed off to Ocean Park.  It's a massive amusement park type place, with lots of other attractions.  First stop was a roller coaster, hurray!  It wasn't the best one I've ever been on, but the scenery around it was fabulous, so that made up for it.  Mike hadn't been feeling well enough to join us on that, so we met back up with him, and headed to the dolphin show, which was great.  They did the usual jumping out of water and stuff, I just hope they are treated well!!

After that, we moved on to the aquarium.  I'm not usually one for them (or as Jespe put it, boring 'um' things - museums, aquariums, mausolems), but this one was particularly good.  They had tonnes of sharks and loads of different kinds of fish, and a huge glass tunnel where you could walk through and see them.  They also had an enormous fish tank that you could walk round, it was great.

From there, we were gonna go on the other, better rollercoaster, but it was getting late, so we headed to the cable cars, to get over the hill and see the star attraction - the panda bears.  For the 10th anniversary of independence, China gave Hong Kong two more, so there are now 4 bears living in the park.  By the time we got there, the two new cubs were in bed (boo!), but we did get to see two adults.  One was sleepy, and didn't move too much, but the other was up and about, eating and scratching.  They were amazing to see, especially when you think that it's quite possible that they will become extinct in our lifetime.

Pandas done, the park was closing up, so we headed home.  We had a curry in one of the restaurants in our building - which was on the 4th floor but is designed to have a shop front like it's on the street - blogged, and then headed to bed.

The next day my alarm went off early, and I turned it off and went straight back to sleep.  Oops.  Mike woke me up at 10am - the same time that I was supposed to be at my hair appointment!  Oh dear.  I got up and headed out anyways, and after much searching, I found the T&G academy.  They were really nice about it, and didn't seem to mind at all that I was 45 mins late!  I had to wait a half hour, but they took me anyways, and I got a free haircut.  It didn't turn out exactly as I wanted, but it was certainly better than before.

Back at the 'mansion', I waited on the boys to get back from their game fair.  We went for food, and then spent the rest of the day in the museums - Wednesday means free entry.  We spent a couple of hours in the Space Museum, then took a cab to the Science Museum.  Mike and I had to leave that one early though, since we wanted to get to the night markets.

The markets were good, but pretty much the same as others we've been to.  After a while they're all a bit same same.  I did find a watch necklace that I'd been looking for though, so that was cool.  And they were so cheap I bought two!  Mike got himself the helicopters we had seen, but I resisted getting one myself, simply because there's no way they'll fit anywhere in my bag!

I also tried to buy a camera, and went round several shops pricing them.  I decided they were a bit much, so headed back to meet the boys.  The four of us got dinner, and then had a look at some more camera shops.  I actually found a shop that was giving me a good price, and paid for it and everything, when suddenly they tried to sell me a different camera.  The guy tried telling me that it was a much better one that the one I had just bought, even though it didn't seem to be, and it was much more expensive.  He then pointed out that it even came with a plug-in battery charger, which wasn't included in the one I had just paid for.  I showed him on the box that mine also had that, and he tried telling me that I had bought the smaller 'Hong Kong' pack, bla bla bla.  I told him I didn't want the other camera, he told me I could have it at the same price.  It was all getting messy.  Luckily though, he didn't kick up too much of a fuss, and gave me my credit card payment slip back.  Fingers crossed...

We went back to the room, packed, and spent a while on the net.  And that was about it!  We were up and out early the next morning, jumped on the bus out to the airport, checked in, and it was up and away.

And that would be it, if I hadn't forgotten to write the following stuff about Hong Kong:

Octopus cards: they're great, and you can use them on the MRT (tube), the bus, in shops, in can machines...  They're so handy.  And you don't even have to take them out of your purse to use them!

Aircon rain: it didn't rain the whole time I was in Hong Kong, but the streets make it look like it has.  That's because of the plethora of aircon machines on each of the hundreds of windows on the dozens of floors above your head, which rain down on sections of the pavement.  Quirky.

I'm sure there's more, I'll add it as I think of it.