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Published: November 19th 2008
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Now its time to let you all know what I got to in my second week in Hong Kong. Enjoy!
Jackie Chan Hand's
I have got a picture of Jackie Chan's hand print what more do i need to say! I also got Jet Li's and Bruce Lee's. The 'Avenue of Stars' as its called is exactly like the 'Hollywood Walk of Fame' which I hopefully will be seeing next year. It is also one of the many places to get a fantastic view of Symphony of lights which I watch another 2 times this weeks. Walking along this path also gave me the opportunity to have in drink the best pub in the world '
Mclovin's Tavern', what a name!
Wan Chai and the Golden Bauhinia
Wan Chai is near the main centre of Hong Kong Island and has lots of old historic buildings built mostly by the British. I wasn't able to go inside alot of these buildings as they are currently being used for new purposes. I did manage to view another Temple called the Hung Shing Temple. I did get some filthy looks when I
entered and was instantly told to put my camera away. I have realised that people living in Hong Kong that can't speak English are not friendly one bit an almost seem to want me to leave straight away when i try to talk to them, but like someone I met said that really we should learn chinese and not the other way around. I headed down towards to channel again to get a view of Kowloon for a change and to see the Golden Bauhinia. I've been told that this monument was a gift to Hong Kong from China during the handover from Britain. This place was a one tourist attraction I mean coach after coach of visitors pouring in to see this monument. One of the nicest moments during my time in Hong Kong happened by the water when I was enjoying the view. Choi and his girlfriend from Guangzhou, China just came over and started chatting to me and when I said i was from England he instantly asked if he could have a photo with him. How could I refuse!
Markets Galore
If you
like markets then Hong Kong is definitely the place. These markets are scattered all over and each one is totally different from the next, I've been through a flower market (don't ask me why walked into it by luck), a goldfish market!! why have a market selling goldfish what are they good for and there were like 20 shops selling them. occassionally one of the shops would be selling other animals but goldfish are the biggy. Ladies market which ignore the name is just full of knock-off clothes, watches and gadgets, but the main seller was replica football shirts, most I admit looked really genuine but you could definitely tell when there fake. The best fake I saw was a Liverpool Shirt with Torez on the back (its meant to be Torres), the owner of the shop wasn't very polite and when she saw me get my camera out immediately stopped me and saying that if I take a picture I have to buy it. Not going to happen!
Relaxation Time
Now as you have read I've been doin quite abit of walking over the past week
and I felt shattered. Nick and Ellen had recommened Repulse Bay as a good place to relax and swim in the sea and they were spot on. This place was like Southwold but alot warmer and nicer lol. The section of beach I relaxed in was virtually empty and I had this part of the sea all to myself, which was nice because I hadn't swam in like 8 years (seriously). I must have stayed on the beach for like 5 hours with no one bugging me to by there suites.
The Ultimate View
All the reviews had said that the Peak and night is too good to miss and like most things this past week they were right. The view was stunning and you could see for miles in every direction. This was also only about 8pm and pretty busy i bet its awesome closer to midnight when no-ones up there. When I finally got too hungry to stay i took what ended up being almost a cheap go on a rollercoaster, the peak tram is run on a fat rope from one
end to another and when the tram goes down they literally let gravity do the work until its nearly near the bottom, pretty scary cosidering that everyone was looking in the opposite direction to the way the tram was going.
What an Atmosphere
As a final treat to myself I had to go experience something in Hong Kong that would be totally different. I wasn't able to go to the Happy Valley Racecourse as there were no race events during my stay the only alternative was the go to the Sha Tin Racecourse which has been running for over 100 years. I got there during the first race and it appeared to not be that busy until i realised that everyone was inside. The weather was so hot that you couldn't stand outside for long without burning! It didn't take long for me to work out the betting here it is literally the same as the greyhounds, but the best part was that the average bet they recommend was only 10 Hong Kong Dollars (less than a quid, good for me and my money). As the sun started to drift over
the stadium the betters began to hit the stands and that was when i shot the video, this was only about race 6 out of 11, so you can imagine how busy it was later . I will admit i didn't have the best of luck and but did pick three winners but sadly they were all favourites so didn't win alot.
I have now arrived in Singapore and all I gona say at the moment is that its even more hotter and humid then Hong Kong. Temperatures are on average about 30 degrees during the day and low 20's at night (Thank God for air con or I wouldn't survive). I will tell you more about my time here in my next blog.
Hope you enjoyed reading this!
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Claire
non-member comment
well Dave seems like your still having a fantastic time, cant wait to read all about your adventure in Singapore love you lotsly xxxx