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Hong Kong at Night
Taken from Victoria Peak After deciding we wouldn't go back to 'Duckie' and his unsavoury accommodation, Nick looked around for an alternative. I didn't know too much about what he booked but he said it was a double room. It was actually a pleasant room, and very clean too, but it was in Hong Kong and therefore TINY!! The 'double' was actually more like a king single, not that you could really fit anything else in anyway. We struggled to find enough room to put our packs and walk around; certainly for three of us it was very crowded, and we were often finding ourselves literally standing on top of each other. Phoebe put her foot down about sleeping on the roll out mattress on the floor and demanded that we take turns. We were prepared to do this but when it came to my turn Nick was too gentlemanly to let me sleep on the floor (not that I complained!) and insisted on taking my turn. Phoebe thought this was grossly unfair and said something along the lines of “you just think too much of a lady to sleep on the floor”.
Having already been in HK, arriving back was like a homecoming.
The shoe is stuck!
Well and truly eaten by the escalator! We were already familiar with the streets, the landmarks and the super excellent rail system (a train every two minutes). HK seems to be such a city of contrasts. For starters, the very unique East meets West blend is fascinating: it may technically be part of communist China but that's no reason to not shop at Louis Vuitton. The there's the crowdedness of Mong Kok versus the wild isolation of the nearby New Territories. Go to any restaurant on HK Island and you'll see a table of people from all other the world chatting like long lost friends. The skyline looks like it is testing the bounds of engineering with so many cool structures and skyscrapers all crammed in together. Personally I loved the Bank of China Building, with it's angular geometry apparently giving out bad feng shui to all other buildings around it. All these things make HK a really interesting and fun destination.
By the time we got to HK, I was in need of some beauty therapy. I did my research first, looked up recommendations from locals and expats on the internet, and set off to become 'beautified'. First stop was for eyebrows, which I had
Phoebe and Joy
about to chow down a huge ice-cream Sundae...ok Nick and I helped learnt were best 'threaded' in HK instead of waxed. I had only vaguely heard of threading before and never quite believed it, but was interested to find out more. The best place for threading was apparently 'Kkhoob Surat', an Indian beauty parlour in the Mirador Mansion. This might sound kind of glamorous but believe me it wasn't. Mirador Mansion is an old run down concrete structure that is operated as a multi-level indoor market. Khoob Surat is on the second floor, lit by flourescent lights, right at the back where most shops have gone out of business and strange men seem to frequent. Nick and Phoebe escorted me upstairs and I popped my head in to ask about doing my eyebrows. Barely a word was said except “sit” and a hand motion to the chair. I obediently sat down in the barbers chair. A second later she was standing over me with a string in her mouth and the other end in her finger; I closed my eyes and when I opened them again I had perfectly shaped eyebrows....just like that! Luckily I was able to have a look at the girl next to me who was also getting her
eyebrows done to view the threading technique. A little hard to explain but it seems they twist the thread, lay it next to your eyebrow and then twist the thread tighter. When the thread twists it catches stray hairs. So...we learn something everyday!
One of the highlights of HK was meeting up with my friend Joy, who has been living in Shanghai/Hong Kong for the last six years. Hanging out with her at her apartment on HK Island and just exploring the surrounds with Joy was great time of catching up and spending time together. One particular night after viewing the light show (rather underwhelming due to bad weather), we headed up to the nearest shopping mall (there's at least one every kilometer in HK) to get some dinner. Escalators are everywhere in HK. As HK is so multi-dimensional, there is always a need to go up or down, and this should be done via escalators, not stairs....stairs are too difficult in stilettos. Just as we were getting off we suddenly realised that Phoebe's shoe was firmly stuck in the grate of the escalator. After a bit of commotion I found the emergency stop. Upon inspection we found that
Chicken Feet
are good to eat. Actually Phoebe wasn't too much of a fan her shoe was not going to move, the escalator had literally eaten the front of Phoebe's shoe, it was completely ruined. Thankfully, as her shoes were ultra sensible and had toe protection, her toes were unharmed. First one useless security guard arrived, who called his security guard friend. Both of them stood around looking useless wondering what to do. At Nick's bequest, they called centre management and a very apologetic man and his entourage turned up. Nick explained that these were Phoebe's only shoes, intended to last certainly more than three months, and more to the point, were rather expensive. After more apologies he said we could come into the shopping centre and choose any pair of shoes free of charge. An unexpected windfall for Phoebe!
Even though Joy was working she still managed to fit in lot's of fun things for us to all do together. First, a visit to Cheung Chau Island known once for it's pirates, then a sumptuous seafood dinner with Joy's Mum, her sister and some friends. On Sunday we had Yum Cha together where Phoebe finally got to eat chicken feet like she wanted to (she has decided they're not her favourite). Then Joy and I headed to Tung Chung outlet for some more shopping. Sunday evening we made Anzac biscuits together as a token of our recognition for Anzac day back in Australia and New Zealand.
As we had a few days to spare we thought we'd go and have a look at Macau, only a 1 hour ferry ride from Hong Kong and steeped in Portugese history and more recently, ostentatious casinos. Having been to Malacca in Malaysia we were interested to draw a comparison.
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Heather
non-member comment
I really enjoyed your Hong Kong post and photos! I wish I had done trips like that when I was Phoebe's age! My blog is looking for travel reviews (about chicken feet, or of hostels with tiny rooms! ;), etc, to share. If you have the time, check it out at dirty-hippies.blogspot.com, or email us at dirtyhippiesblog@gmail.com. Continued fun on your travels! Heather :)