Essexgirl Goes to Hong Kong

After almost imploding with frustration and misanthropy at Heathrow Terminal Three we finally left for out week in Hong Kong. We arrived the next day in the late afternoon and found chaos with our shuttle bus service. A short walk from our hotel the Eaton we found the local MTR (tube station) Jordan and bought an Octopus card for HK$150 ($50 refundable) which is just over a tenner, and then (after a nice Chinese dinner) we got the Star Ferry over to the island, before getting the tube back to crash out.

On the Monday we went to the tourist office and booked tours to Lantau and for Tai Chi and Tea. After this we went to Man Mo Temple, one of the oldest in HK and had a walk down Hollywood curios and antique market then to the escalator, which was going in the wrong direction. Later that night we went down to the waterfront, to the Avenue of Stars where you can watch a Sound and Light show over Victoria Harbour. We ate at a Blues on the Bay restaurant which was Western styles and we both had lovely Thai style curries. Ratboy's had the world's largest prawns in his and my veggie one had fruit such as grapes and strawberries in it. Hong Kong is a great city to walk around late at night, it is still very warm but less crowded, plus we had the opportunity to explore Temple Street Night market where I got three bags.

On the Tuesday it was our Lantau tour. We got the ferry across and had a short break at Cheung Sha beach so we could say we had paddled in the South China Sea. From the bus we saw the resevoirs and a couple of the seven prisons on the island (which has only two hotels). Next we went to see the world's largest, seated, bronze, outdoor Buddha. He was a big fellow. Our guide showed us a round the museum associated with it and pointed out a bone from the neck of the original Buddha kept in the museum. After that we went for a vegetarian banquet lunch at the Po Lin monastery which was delicious and then had some time to walk around the monastery before visting Tai O fishing village, whilst fishing is not as big an industry as it was, the villagers still live in traditional stilt houses and fish (especially dried fish) are available to sell. It was about a million degrees centigrade at this point, with 4000% humidity, no breeze and the smell of fish. It was a miracle my lunch stayed in my tummy. We also visited at Taoist temple and then got a boat to see the pink dolphins which live in only two places, the Amazon and the Pearl River Delta and can only survive in mixed fresh and sea water conditions. No one is sure about their colour and whether it is to do with the pollution or their food. I was expecting some pinkish grey dolphins but they are a really strong girlie pink colour. I have a few photos of the splash they made as they disappeared back under the water as I pressed the shutter. We took the digi video cam and notched up 12 mins of film of the (empty) South China Sea before a pink dolphin graciously agreed to appear in the right place at the right time for approximately three seconds.

On Wednesday we had an early start and went for a Tai Chi lesson. It was very good and quite hard work even though it is not very energetic. After that we went for Dim Sum as part of a tour, which were nice, and then to a Bird Market, where many men buy and sell birds and come and display their pets to other enthusiasts, you can also buy cages, porcelain water bowls and live locusts to make your feathered friend happy. A strange, but interesting, place. Next stop was to try some Chinese teas and to see the correct way to make them. I dutifully tried them all, but am still never going to drink the damn things. After this we took a little walk to some of the air conditioned shops, there are a lot of designer shops in HK and a lot of electronic shops. For the most part they are not any cheaper then the UK. After lunch we headed back to the hotel for a quick rest.

That evening we went to Happy Valley race course for one of the first meets of the new season. There were seven races. Ratboy carefully studied the form, rider, distance etc whilst I chose the horse because I liked the name of it or the jockey's colours. I made 200% of my stake, Ratboy didn't win a thing. I also had two close losses on a photo finish. After this we got a tram and decided to explore Wan Chai, but it chucked it down with the intense rain that we don't see in the UK. We ended up in some dive called the Horse and Groom (apparently also known as the Horse and Doom in the guide book), due to the weather we did not get chance to explore the area so headed back to the hotel for a few drinks at a nearby hotel. When they started snorting cocaine at the tables and singing Kareoke, we left.

On Thursday we had a quiet day, and got up late before going over to the Island and getting the bus to Stanley. We took some time exploring the market and had a snack lunch before going to the beach for a bit and getting the train back again. We went back to the harbour that night and took some photos and then headed to Ashley Street where we went to a fab Indian called The Gaylord and I got to eat Tandoori mock-duck. Yum. Got ripped off at the cocktails at a nearby bar which was a shame, but that is a good area for going out generally.

For Friday we had booked a trip to Shenzhen in China. We had a short time in the morning and then we got picked up. We got the high speed Ferry across and then a coach took us to a few sights such as a statue of some Goddess and a mangrove. Then the groups split, some went to Lo Wu shopping centre for 4 hours of shopping and the rest of us went to Splendid China theme park where we took a little train around the park to see China's highlights in miniature. Just before the end it chucked it down with rain and we got drenched, we then ran to the restaurant where we had a pleasant lunch and then to a show where we saw dancing and acrobats. Some of the girls were fabulous and much better than the boys. We then had time for an hour at Lo Wu where I managed to purchase some Class A fake bags - Gucci and Prada bags and a Gucci purse for £50. We then caught the train home, which was opposite the shopping centre and were back at our hotel by midnight (twelve hours after we left) for a drink in the bar.

Saturday was our last day and our first opportunity to visit Victoria Peak and ride the funicular (it had been closed earlier in the week). Not missing a trick there was a shopping centre at the top. Unfortunately it was a hazy day so photos were not great. We decided to try Wan Chai again, this time for lunch and struggled to find a Chinese restaurant with an English menu. There were Western style restaurants, and one or two Chinese ones with no vegetarian options. Eventually we found a place but although the menu was in English the staff didn't speak it so requests to see the menu and ask for chilli oil were met with blank faces. We got the ferry back to from Wan Chai to Kowloon and picked up a pair of trousers I bought for the equivalent of less than £15 before getting the MTR back to Jordan and the hotel to go to the airport. The shuttle bus service was as bad coming back as going home but we got our flight without too much incidence. Regrettably the food was disappointing on return but we survived the 13 hour flight and landed at Heathrow at 5.30am.