Blogs from Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong, Asia - page 13

I have just arrived in Hong Kong and thought I'd give my blog an update. Except for the 1hour delay taking off (due to late cargo loading) everything went smoothly. Had an entire row to myself on the plane, food was pretty good. Everything is so tightly packed in, I mean I expected it but wow! I remember having the same feeling when our school group drove from the Shanghai airport through the city to the host school! Long flight, but glad to be in a nice hotel, the Ibis is pretty good. I was very lucky to have chosen this hotel because it was one of the free shuttle bus transfers offered by the Airport express train. Time to head out and find some food!... read more

After our fever pitch excitement was destroyed by our flight cancellation, we managed a stressful negotiation to get on an early Qantas flight to Hong Kong. Harry got our averages up early with a high volume , high liquid spew just prior to our decent. We are one for one in the vomit per travel leg.... Waiting for the next flight to Heathrow.... Ben sickish, Isobel sore jaw, Tom Waterhouse would have us in the red.... 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

Headed south to the ancient city of Dali, with its impressive gateways and towering central pagoda and took a day-hike up into the surrounding Cang Shan mountain range for views over Erhai lake in the valley below. Scrambled beyond the usual tourist trails up overgrown paths up to a rocky landslide before heading down via peaceful Zonghe temple and its fusion of Buddhist-Tao imagery. Returning to our guest house enjoyed a handy mandarin lesson from our tour-leader, followed by a yak-burger meal and a few beers soaking up the atmosphere at a street-side bar. Next was a fleeting visit to the nearby city of Kunming - chatted about chinese politics with a friendly retired engineer and watched a spectacular laser and fountain show at Green Lake Park, before flying out the next day from the giant, ... read more

Friday night we had a little work party to say good bye to our co- worker Adeline who is heading back to Singapore next week and for my team to be able to see my apartment. Originally it was going to be a BBQ in the nice pool side/ BBQ area but with the weather, decided not to chance it and I rented out the Function room in my complex.... They provide glasses, plates, full kitchen, etc and they clean up afterwards- that was the nice part- I just had to bring the extra beer/ wine and food up to my place. About 22 people showed up which was good. I had ordered a ton of food from a nice gourmet shopping market in Hong Kong ( Olivers) - had veggie platters, antipasto platters, sandwiches, small ... read more