Day 1

First impressions - everything is so organized and easy to understand! Figuring out which bus to get was really easy cos everythings in English. Was a little worried about the hostel i was staying in... especially when i found an entry in the guidebook just before i got off the plane saying "ChungKing Mansions is a scary place"... well, it wasn't THAT bad!!! As soon as i got off the bus i was surrounded by indians trying to take me to a different hostel in order to get commission - not sure if it was the ginormous rucksack of the pasty irish skin that gave me away :P Once i managed to find the right elevator (each one only goes to every second floor!), i made my way to reception where a dopey African dude told me i had to wait an hour to check in so I chose to sleep in the corridor while waiting instead of leaving my rucksack in his dodgy looking hands!!!!!

Smallest room i've ever seen

The hostel room was interesting... clean tho so can't complain too much and wouldn't expect anything bigger for Hong KOng!!! It did have the dodgiest looking view ever:

Symphony of Lights

Once i got my power nap in the hostel and ate a dodgy chinese meal (jeez the amount of salt was unbearable!), I wandered down to the harbour for 8 to watch the Symphony of Lights... Its a daily ritual where a number of skyscrapers on Hong Kong island shine lights into the sky that are synced with a soundtrack for 15mins. Wasen't quite as cool as I expected - the fact that every building in hong kong has a gazillion lights takes from it a wee bit!!

Can't go to another country without checking out an Irish bar

On my way back to the hostel i noticed a bar called O'Neils just two doors down from the mansions so i dropped in for a Corona (no bulmers :'( )... Ended up chatting to an american and german at the bar debating whether Obama will make a change... fun times - needless to stay it was one quick drink :P Bumped into an irish guy outside that i'd chatted to in the elevator queue earlier and decided to re-visit the bar now that my 'friends' were gone. Was cool to chat to someone who was just after traveling Aus and on the way home so I got loads of tips on what to do! We were very politely kicked out of the bar at 2am and i CONKED as soon as I climbed over the african sleeping on the mattress in the hall in order to get to my private room!

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