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Published: December 13th 2015
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Friday 6th November 2015 We arrived in Hong Kong at about 6pm with a plan to meet my friend Mel for dinner & drinks later that evening. Our original plan to take the metro to the hotel was quickly scuppered by throwing ourselves directly into Hong Kong rush hour. With the queues so deep we couldn't even see the train, never mind get on one, we abandoned the metro to find a taxi. Having finally located a taxi rank, we were speeding through the centre of the city in no time. The thing we both love about Hong Kong is the minute you arrive, you are completely engulfed by the huge buildings and bright lights and feel like you're at the centre of the world looking up. We were genuinely both mesmerized, and just a little bit excited about a Friday night cocktail.
We checked in at our hotel, the Butterfly on Victoria, freshened ourselves up and jumped back into a taxi to head to Sevva, a bar on the top floor of Princes Building, to meet Mel. We've been so lucky on this trip to get the opportunity to see not only new places but also
see some of our closest friends along the way, and this was no exception. We were greeted with smiles, hugs and cocktails by Mel, who'd managed to secure us a table on the roof terrace overlooking the bright lights of Hong Kong. From there, we took a taxi through the winding streets towards the Peak to get the birds eye views of Hong Kong by night. Mel had kindly arranged dinner for us at the Peak Lookout, a really pretty restaurant with views over Hong Kong. Dinner was all about indulgence feasting on burgers, lasagna, ice-cream & wine.
With so much to catch up on, we weren't quite ready to call it a night after dinner and headed to another bar for a coca-cola bottle shot (not entirely sure what was in it but it tasted like fizzy cola bottles) followed by an oversized syringe filled with alco-jelly. All elements of a good night. Last stop was a packed bar for beers all round. However, when a cheeky cockroach decided to scurry up Mel's arm, both Mel and I launched into an arm-flinging, leg-throwing, overzealous Irish jig that sent the cockroach flying and landing with a thud
on my chest. I'm not sure we'll ever recover. It was at this point, traumatised and with the whole bar staring at us, that we decided to call it a night.
Saturday 7th November 2015 After treating ourselves to a lie-in, coffee and chocolate croissants from the local bakery, we jumped in a taxi to collect Mel on our first full day in Hong Kong. After cold China, the bright warm sunshine and blue skies were a welcome sight! The first stop of the day was Stanley on the south side of the island. Travelling across the island, it really struck me how varied Hong Kong is, going from the dense metropolis of Central to the seaside feel of Stanley, skyscraper to lush greenery to beach all in one journey. As it was fast approaching lunchtime, we stopped at at a small restaurant overlooking the water for a fish&chips lunch and a chilled glass of Rose. With the seaside town feel of Stanley and glass of wine in hand, it really felt like we are on our summer holidays! After a long leisurely lunch, we spent the afternoon wandering around the small market stalls enjoying the sunshine.
From there we hopped into a taxi to have a sneaky peak at the Golf Club where Mel is a member. After dropping off our bags, we crossed the road to a small beach and spent the next few hours paddling in the sea. A real novelty after travelling through so many cities in the past month. Chris spent a long time playing with stones in the shallow waters and seemed happy as a pig in mud. Mel and I enjoyed the time chatting, whilst unknowingly slowly being swept out out to sea. With the sun going down, the sea getting chilly and Mel and I drifting further away from Chris and his stones on the shoreline, we decided to call it a day for our time at the beach. We headed back into the club for a long hot shower before getting changed for dinner. Mel had kindly planned for us to have dinner at the golf club, which was the perfect end to the day. Sitting on the terrace overlooking the golf course, we started the dinner off with a cold glass of champagne. Always a fabulous start to an evening in my opinion! Sharing dishes
followed, Singapore style noodles, spring rolls, rice and lots more wine. We couldn't resist desert with hot chocolate cake and apple crumble going down a treat! Such an amazingly relaxing day with good (and a lot of) food, good wine and the best company!
Sunday 8th November 2015 Sunday started in a leisurely manner, drinking coffee in the hotel watching films on tv (the novelty of english tv!) The plan for today was a touristy one, with the aim to head out to the Big Buddha on Lantau Island. After treating ourselves to a McDonalds brunch (we are on holiday!!) we took the metro to Tung Chung station to get the cable car up the Big Buddha. We had anticipated a bit of queue given it was the weekend, but we hadn't quite expected a 90minute wait just to get on the cable car. Too impatient to wait in the glaring sun, we gave up on our short lived Buddha dream and took the metro to Kowloon. From the station we headed to the sunny harbour to get some shots of the famous skyline, a cheesy selfie and stuff our faces full of ice-cream. Ice-creams finished (most of
it melted on my skirt) we wanted to go and have a peek at a few of Hong Kong's markets.
We walked along Nathan Road to get to Temple Street market. I was already so hungry by the time we arrived, we had to make a short pit stop at a street vendor to buy ourselves the hugest steamed pork bun I've ever seen in my life. Re-fuelled on hot steamed bun goodness, we wandered through the market, perusing a sea of phone cases, HK souvenirs and selfie sticks. With one market done, we wanted to pop into the Jade market before heading off to meet Mel. Speaking to Mel later, I think we may have taken a wrong turning. Rather than finding ourselves in a large indoor Jade market, we found ourselves on a small street lined with stalls selling sex toys. Not quite what we had in mind!
With the sun going down and being our last night in Hong Kong, we headed back towards the harbour to get a panoramic view of the skyline by night, not to be missed! Meeting Mel, we started the evening in the cocktail bar of
the Intercontinental (of course!) indulging in foam topped martinis with great views of the skyline. From there Mel had arranged dinner with a view, at Aqua, with a great table giving us panoramic views of the bright lights of the city. We couldn't leave Hong Kong without a little trip on the Star Ferry so post-dinner hopped on the next ferry to cross the water, where it was time to bid farewell to Mel and Hong Kong. A great end to a great visit :-)
Monday 9th November Today was a travelling day, starting with the obligatory packing our big old backpacks. From unpacking and re-packing so regularly, we are starting to become pros. Packed up and ready to go, we hopped in a taxi and headed to the station for the express train to the airport. Hong Kong is definitely setup for making life as easy as possible, letting us check our bags in at the train station and whisking them off to the airport to save us lugging the things across Hong Kong and the airport. Cue a leisurely journey to the airport and onto the plane bound for our next country Vietnam. First stop
Hanoi.......
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