Hong Kong Phooey

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We've thoroughly been enjoying Hong Kong! It has a very different feel to Shanghai. It's still really noisy (!), but hardly any honking horns. Traffic stops when it's supposed to, so as a pedestrian you don't have to fight for right of way with several taxis. It's so much easier to live generally as someone who can't speak Chinese. It's a lot more familiar. The British influence is still here - driving on the 'right' side of the road (!), same 3 pronged plugs, English is widely spoken, street names are very British. Though the rowdier side of it is also in strong evidence on a weekend - Lan Kwai Fong, an area packed with incredibly noisy bars, is hell on earth (unless your goal for the night is lying in a pool of vomit in the gutter)! Soho is much better - chilled out, laid back bars. Whereas Shanghai is very flat and spread out, Hong Kong is very hilly and the streets are all higgledy-piggledy. It's a shopper's paradise - from huge Gucci and Louis Vuitton stores to cheap market stalls, it has something for everyone. We've spent quite a lot of time just wandering around the streets in different areas. There's so much visual information to take in. Everything is so densely packed in on top of each other - shops, signs, bars, restaurants, roads, walkways....

One of the areas called Mong Kok has whole streets and areas dedicated to just one type of product. A street full of mahjong & curio shops, store after store of mobile phones, a flower market, streets awash with fish, aquariums and their accessories. I really want fish as well as a cat now (a fish-friendly cat). Then there's the Bird Garden selling all sorts of different types of birds - fascinating and depressing in equal measure. Some of those birds looked downright miserable in their tiny cages. The Edward Youde Aviary in Hong Kong Park felt happier.

We did the whole heights thing again and went up to The Peak, Hong Kong's highest point via the funicular tram. Amazing views all around Hong Kong.

On Halloween we went to the races. I've lived in Cheltenham and next door to Musselburgh, but my first 'meet' is in Hong Kong! Beginner's luck wasn't with me I'm afraid. I lost all my races, though one came 2nd by a nose, but I'd bet to win instead of a place. Paul had better luck and won on 2 races.

Tian Tan Buddha, the world's largest outdoor buddha is on Lantau Island. Attempt number one was blighted by the weather. We'd set off in jeans and a t-shirt, but the weather closed in and when we arrived on the island it was raining and windy and we were freezing. We abandoned the idea of going up into the mountains in search of enlightenment and had a very nice Turkish lunch and a mosey around a 2nd hand book shop instead. Upstairs, in a tiny back room, this tiny shop turned out to have a display of letters written by a soldier in WW1 and historical periodicals for sale. Random.... Yesterday we got to see buddha. After spending 1.5 hrs travelling there and 2 hrs travelling back (the cable car was out of action...) we were a bit disappointed to find that it was only built in 1984. Thought we'd get a bit of ancient culture for our trouble. However, it is a very beautiful buddha and I'm glad we persevered.

Friday night we met up with one of Paul's ex-colleagues. And used every mode of transport going! The public transport here is very efficient. We went to see 'Nightmare Before Christmas 3D' - one of my favourite films, at one of the newest shopping malls (via the metro). Then metro and bus to Park Island, a very quiet island where the only vehicles allowed are buses. We visited her friend who has a very cute 10 month old baby girl. We all went out to a great little seafood restaurant. Then a ferry and taxi ride took us to Soho for drinks till late into the night (minus mum and baby). Oh, we didn't ride a tram that night - they're great fun!

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