Blogs from Aberdeen, Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong, Asia

A journey of about 1,200 miles plus any bends, at a cost of £100 a head. We left the hotel in Xi ‘an at 08.00, the train left Xi ‘an at 09.35 and reached Schenzen at 19.05. There were about 10 stops, each of about 5 – 10 minutes. The border crossing was a bit slow for novices, but we checked in at “T – Hotel” in Pok Fulam on Hong Kong Island at 10.00 pm and enjoyed a late night sandwich and celebratory drink. A grand total of 6,000 miles across China, 9,600 km. The train was busy on each stage of its route, and there was a wild cacophony throughout; everybody had an electronic device – a young, well-dressed couple close to us went almost the entire 9.5 hr journey watching a series of ... read more

Hong Kong has almost become a second home to us, we know the city so well and visit so often, on our last visit, Neil had the idea of doing something different to what we normally do! Being the big kids we are, we decided to pay Ocean Park a visit. Not just an ordinary theme park, it opened in 1977 and has since grown to 35 attractions and rides – there is the amusement park part of Ocean Park as well as an oceanarium, marine mammal park and animal attractions, along with observatories, laboratories, education department and a whales and dolphins fund. Apparently, the park has won several awards, including the world’s 7th most popular amusement park and Forbes’ 33rd most visited tourist attraction in the world! Getting There We really couldn’t have chosen a ... read more

Day 4: Today we went to the Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery, Kowloon Park (two of them actually, will explain later) and the Avenue of Stars. It was a big day!! Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery is technically not a monastery b/c monks do not live on the premises, but it has no joke over 10,000 statues of Buddhas. 500 are life sized and the rest are little figurines. Each statue has a different pose and expression. Some wear accessories, some hold props, one with a really long right arm, one with very long legs and one with arms coming out of it's eyes! We also recognized the Buddhas that Logan photographed for the All-Yen Collaborative! We walked up 400 steps to the main temple and the closer we got the smell of incense filled the air. The ... read more

I know, I know...that phrase is way over done...but I couldn't help myself :o) This blog is broken up into two parts. Part 1 is the night we arrived and part 2 is our first full day in Hong Kong. Part 1: 20 hours later, we made it!!! Phew...that's a long plane ride! Luckily, when we landed the whole process of getting off the plane, going through immigration and getting our bags took only about 20 minutes. I'm very impressed w/ Hong Kong's airport, it's clean and easy to navigate around b/c all the signs are in Chinese and English. We decided to take a taxi to go straight to the boat we're staying on in Aberdeen Harbour. If you've ever been in a cab in NYC you know how crazy the cab drivers are...well I'm ... read more

Amazing brunch at Top Deck, Jumbo Kingdom, $398 pp for all you can eat seafood buffet and endless bubbles! We met up with Lance, Kizumi, Missouri, Caitlin, Adrianne, Charlie, Amy, Adam, Anita & Dave for a loooongg arvo - 11am-4pm. Highlight was the Peking duck wraps, but there was endless brunch, including but not limited to Eggs benedict, omelette, thai curry, lamb chops, sushi & sashimi, Alaskan King Crab, prawns .....and.... the most amazing dessert cart........little creme brulee's, cheesecake, tirimisu, crepes, icecream - just awesome..... and well worth the money. http://www.jumbo.com.hk/eng/main.php http://www.cafedecogroup.com/index.php?_topRm=6&group=restaurants... read more