Birthday in the Far East...

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So we are now out of the gutters of Bangkok and into the streets of Hong Kong. We arrived in the early evening and flew through customs before catching the MTR train into the city itself. It was unbelievably easy to do and everything is so clean. I don't know where Singapore gets its reputation from, but I think you get a $10,000 fine plus jail time here for even having any rubbish! That first night after marvelling at so many huge buildings, we headed out for tea. Unsure of the area we ended up being slightly overcharged for a pizza in an underground restaurant, but it was good so we've let it slide. The next morning we were up and out and treated ourselves to a proper Asian Starbucks breakfast before heading up to 'The Peak' on the old tram. It was a really cool journey and from the top you can see the whole of Hong Kong and over to Kowloon. I also managed to drag Vicky into the computer game centre there which was really cool. We walked back down the hill (harder than it sounds, its so steep and killer on the legs!) and we saw the HSBC building and the Bank of China Tower which both look really cool though apparently the locals hate the Bank of China because it isn't Feng Shui. We then spent the afternoon wandering in and out of shopping centres, I can't believe how many there are!

Day two and we headed for kowloon on the ferry. I must admit I was expecting Hong Kongs version of Bangkok over there but it was nothing like that. There are Chunking and Miradoor Mansions which both look condemned (they're no better inside!) but the rest just looks like a street in Manchester or any other city in the world but with Chinese writing. We also paid a visit to the park over there which was especially nice in the sunshine and there are loads of fountains and birds, but also SARS warnings. Without this sounding too much like a list, we also walked along the promenade where you can see across the harbour to Hong Kong island and all of the sky scrapers. That evening we risked Temple street market in search of some rip-off goods. I have to say it wasn't much fun and the market was more sparse than I had imagined, certainly not the bustling street market of Malaysia or Thailand. Even so, it was more than enough for us and with tired legs we headed back to our hotel to celebrate my birthday and our last proper night of the trip with a few drinks.

The next morning we woke and checked out of the hotel and went off for our final day. We took a walk over to the park which has a small free zoo and is mainly full of monkeys, but they did have a tiger and some birds also. Its really hard to walk around though because its on the side of the hill. After that we headed to the Bank of China Tower again because we heard that you can go up it to the 43rd floor. We arrived expecting signposts and at least a few tourists so were baffled when there wasn’t really anyone there. The foyer was full of pictures an promotions for the Beijing Olympics but everyone milling around seemed to be in suits. After a fruitless search, we decide to try anyway and headed for the lifts. Its strange because outside each one there is a hand sanitizer (there must be at least 20-30 lifts!). The guy at the bottom pressed the button for the lift for us so we figured we must be allowed up. When we got in the lift, there was a plaque on the wall that read ‘This lift is disinfected every two hours’, which we thought was crazy and only added to our thoughts that Hong Kong is far more particular than Singapore. When we got the the 43rd floor and our ears had popped we stepped out into what seemed to be a normal office floor but with a big window looking out over the bay. It was amazing to see and also nice to enjoy because we were the only people there, there wasn’t a single tourist. After lunch we did a bit of shopping and then headed over to the train station to get our tickets for later and something for tea because we would be in the airport. After going back to the hotel and collecting our bags we were able to take advantage of the city centre check-in for our flight. It was really handy because we could check -in our bags and then forget about them until Gatwick, we didn’t have to faff around in Hong Kong airport.

At that point, that was the end. We got on the train and headed for the airport to complete the journey back to the UK. After five and a half months, or 157 days we headed home. It is something that I will never forget and has given me so many memories and experiences that will stay with me forever. Thank you for all of your comments and messages and most of all…


Thank you Vicky xXx

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Photos

Tickets
On the cable car up the mountain

View from the top
Looking out over Hong Kong

Who took this?
From Kowloon over to Hing Kong

Chunking Mansions
Very tasteful

THE END!
Our plane, taken from the airport after we landed.

Comments

[Mum]

Happy birthday golden boy!
Happy birthday to you. What a fab place to spend your birthday. Have you tried the Jumbo restaurant yet. It's chinese equivalent of beefeater at sea. You have to take a small boat to get to it, it's massive and very trouristy. Have a great day and don't forget to get that bottle of champagne I promised you. See you very, very soon! Love to you both. Mumxxxxxxxxxxxxx