One Very Happy Valley

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Bright and shiny Hong Kong is a magical wonderland of neon and dim sum. A world of order, signs and helpful people we almost cried upon arrival. Our new home for only four days we fell completely for this mix of east and west, this mecca of buisness and technology, this British-ish bastion in the South China Sea. No-one can fail to be blown away by the shear scale of the place, both immense and tiny in equal measure. The skyscrapers surpase those of New York without ever looking back and yet you can walk across the majority of the city on raised covered walkways in less than an hour. Or why not take the ferry, underground, bus, tram or street escalators all with the convenience of your Octopus (Oyster, Lobster, Various Seafood) card.

It all works.

And that's it, that's what makes Hong Kong the place to be. Being there is a pleasure not a hassle. You don't have to plan just how to get from A to B and hope that today it's working, in Hong Kong somebody's done it for you. Somebody's tested the system, worked out how regular buses should run to be helpful and how much they should cost for you to go 'huh, that's pretty good'. 60p for a tube ride across the city - London take note. 12p for a tram ride anwhere on the network - Edinburgh, i hope your listening. This is a system that is a joy to use no matter where your going or what your doing. Perhaps that's why there's such a big smile on your face before you even reach the vast shopping cities flanked by more restuarants than you could shake a bloody big tree at.

It doesn't stop there either, oh no. There are theme parks (Ocean Park - the best one and Disney Land), markets (specific to flowers, birds, jade and fish), free internet and one very Happy Valley.

Happy Valley race course is the busiest horse racing venue in the world and at 60p to get into the fabled Beer Garden we can see why. Over 50,000 people are there every wednesday night, mostly ex-pats and their parents, and the atmosphere is electric. Nic had never been to the GeeGees before and gambling was something of a novelty. To start we went for a positively adventurous $10 bet (60p). The money was not wasted, however, and our victourious horse returned over $18! Decidely giddy at this result a head wobbleing $20 was bet on the 3rd race and once again nic's (beginners) luck held returning $80. Unfortunately this luck was not to hold and some decidely dodgy bets (my fault really) led to us first making a few loses and then squandering away all of our $98.5 winnings (650p (no pound symbol)).

But this place isn't called 'Happy Valley' for nothing. For race number 7 we decided to play the chinese at their own game and attempt one or their famed multipliers. Correctly placing horses 3,4 and 5 in the top three, in any order would net us a whopping jackpot. We crossed our fingers, got a few more beers and cheered them on. As they rounded the first corner things couldn't be worse - last, 2nd last and 5th - our horses had some work to do. Number 3, however, wasn't the favourite for nothing as before our very eyes he crossed to the outside and flew passed the pack into first dragging both number 4 and 5 with him! In the end only a photo finish could determine the placing of the top five behind number 3 and both of our horses were there.

Agonising minutes passed ...

Hundreds of dollars on the line ...

numbers ...

9 and 11

oh ... (removed for the sake of decency)

HANG ON!

didn't we also throw $10 (60p) on the outsider number 9 to place, hey this isn't too bad we might have won back our stake. But number 9 wasn't just any outsider, he was the rank outsider and our $10 returned $182.50 just for placing!

WOOOOOO HOOOOOOO!

That means taking off the entry fee and the numerous beers we made a grand total of ......... $0

What a night! What a place!


p.s. Thanks to mum and dad for the Dim Sum, oh and nic's new camera has been on fire - just take a look.

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