You always forget how wet a tropical climate is ..

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The non stop lifestyle I’ve lived since arrival doesn’t show any immediate signs of slowing. I can barely remember everything that I’ve been up to since my last entry. I did make my trip into Mong Kok for my haircut as planned and it all went okay. What’s the worst that can happen when all you want is for it to be cut short? Thankfully nobody threw acid off the roof into the crowds below on this occasion, indeed I think cases of this have dried up which is a relief for everyone. I also had the chance to buy a few more clothes. I decided to go a bit more expensive this time as one of the Ralph Lauren polo’s I bought for £2 last time is already coming apart at the seams after only 3 washes so I may as well get something that lasts. In the day time on week days Mong Kok is considerably calmer and doesn’t feel like the most densely populated area in Hong Kong, which came as a relief.

Later that night I went to a karaoke place. It was interesting; instead of having a public bar there were lots of private rooms to hire. 4 of us went in one and I won’t go into the embarrassing scenes that ensued, but suffice to say I had a great night. Wanting to try something different was the motivation behind that night, in general the social side of my life is similar to that in the UK when I’m not sight seeing or something. There are a wealth of bars and clubs in areas such as Lan Kwai Fong (central HK Island) and Tsim Sha Tsui and they’re all too expensive for guys. Normally you’ll pay around $200 to get in and then it’ll be an open bar or something, which I never seem to get my money’s worth out of. Girls will normally get in at half that price or, on Ladies’ Night, completely free which makes the whole social scene a rather irritating mess to me.

I was willing to pay to get in and get to know people at first, but as time wears on my social group has been very much formed and it’s worth trying to set up some sort of cheaper alternative arrangement. On Friday night some of us found somewhere that let us in for $120 which wasn’t too bad, only around £10 and we didn’t have to buy any more drinks. I’d happily have more nights like that. In the long run I can see the social lives of guys and girls becoming increasingly separate as I certainly can’t afford to pay over the odds every week so that they get all they want free. I imagine I’m not alone in that view.

From 7-11s and supermarkets drinks can be bought for about $4 each and then it’s possible to sit on the lawn at our residence or go up the IFC terrace I spoke about in my last entry. Equally there are some clubs with free entry where you pay for drinks as you go which seems far more worthwhile for me. I don’t think I’ve yet had value for money from any of the overpriced all you can drink nights and personally would love to stay clear of them for the rest of the year, although that’s unrealistic. The truth is, whilst I can’t afford to do it all the time, I’d much prefer to go out with friends and pay over the odds than spend a night in on Facebook or Football Manager all by myself. Hopefully a middle path will emerge, just in time for all the 1st semester students to go home and the whole process to start again in January…….

Rant over. This last week I’ve been able to see the other side of a tropical climate. Upon arrival, and pretty much ever since then to be honest, I’ve become used to stifling heat and humidity. I’d been told that mid May to Mid September is Hong Kong’s typhoon season where it receives 80% of the year’s rainfall. Now I’ve actually seen this and at the moment am having to become used to it. I think I prefer the heat. On Thursday night there was a level 3 typhoon warning, which is generally rather mild. It affects nothing and all the classes and shops and businesses run like normal. It’s not so exciting, but it does involve plenty of rain and a slightly cooler temperature. Indeed between the rainy spells, there is a coolness and freshness previously unknown to me in Hong Kong. There were some fairly strong breezes too, but that was about the extent of it. I woke up on Friday morning to see massive puddles all over the place so maybe I missed the main event. Friday was quite wet too, we were outside on the terrace in the club at night and it started tipping it down. There wasn’t really space for everybody inside.

The true typhoon excitement came on Monday. There were rumours going round that there would be warning levels 9 or 10. Level 10 is the highest it gets with the typhoon directly hitting Hong Kong. It’s very rare and generally only happens every few years. It turns out we only reached level 8 which is more common, but the Hong Kong Observatory website still advised us to take actions such as move valuables away from the windows in case the wind caused them to shatter and find somewhere sheltered to stay (not really possible in the rooms we’re given). Festival Walk had barricaded all the outside doors and only allowed people to enter and exit via the subway and MTR and other undercover entrances. With all this build up and excitement, I spent a long time wondering what the big deal was. There were heavy showers and a few gusts, but that appeared to be the extent of it. It was upon this observation that I decided to wander down to Festival Walk for some food (we were sold out at the residence). I got caught up in a devastating ten minute spell of seriously strong winds which obliterated my umbrella in about 10 seconds and massively heavy rain. I was drenched by the time I arrived but the walk back up was all calm and well.

It turned out that that 10 minute or so spell was a sign of what was to come that night. At around 10pm or so I could see buckets of rain falling horizontally in the wind, with gusts making it change direction frequently and unpredictably. When it blew in the direction of my room I did for a second or so think that the windows actually would shatter under the pressure, it was that strong. Turned out I was worrying about nothing. The wind and rain didn’t stop for a long time; I could still hear the whistling of strong wind and the sound of rain pouring down when I went to bed in the early morning. As a consequence of all this and a fear of more bad weather classes in university were cancelled for the following day. I have Tuesdays off so it doesn’t really affect me, which is relief seeing as all cancelled classes have been rearranged for Saturdays!

The warning level was back down to level 1 on Tuesday - in other words unpleasant weather that shouldn’t be of inconvenience to anybody. There have been strong breezes and a few gusts as well as plenty of heavy showers. We took a trip to Mong Kok to look into visas for Mainland China (ridiculous prices, they clearly don’t want visitors.) and in some areas you could smell the sewage as a result of all the rain. Maybe it had flooded or something. I was stupid enough to be wearing flip flops and it’s always a struggle not to slide over in the wet. We were lucky enough to travel back to the residence in the dry. As I was writing this there was relentless heavy rainfall for an hour or so. Even after the rain eased it remained dark, grey and overcast for the rest of the night. The heat and typhoons and rainfall are all supposed to begin letting up towards the end of September and beginning of October. I personally can’t wait.

I shouldn’t complain too much about the weather though because in the middle of all this we had a nearly perfect weekend. Saturday was dry and cool following on from the mild typhoon that had just passed by. I accompanied people shopping in Mong Kok (again) before we had a relaxing time in central. Andreas bought a camera and has been absolutely crazy with it, all the pictures on here were taken by him. I'm not good at taking photos, especially seeing as I have a 5 megapixel camera that has never truly recovered from the sand that got in its lens in Goa. I had my first look at Soho, the district brimming with various restaurants from all over the world. It’s on a hill, so there are escalators going up the main street where you can look at all the different potential places to eat, varying in price and standard. We ate at a brilliant Thai place that I would go back to were it not surrounded by alternatives that could be equally impressive.

The intense heat was back on Sunday, which was unfortunate considering what we chose to do with our day. First off we went to one of Hong Kong’s racecourses, out towards the New Territories. It was not the famous Happy Valley Racecourse on Hong Kong Island that you hear guide books talking about, but I imagine it had a lot of similarities. It seems that Chinese people love gambling, but most mere mortals can’t afford trips to Macao and will feel utterly out of place in casinos such as the Venetian. Horse racing is open to the masses. You can dress however you like, you pay $10 to get in (80p) and then minimum bets are $10 too, although it is perfectly possible to bet silly money too is you wish. There really isn’t any sort of glamour surrounding the scene, but there is a real sense of excitement and anticipation as you go around. Most people were there to have a good time, although I’m sure there were a few gambling addicts about too. When the race starts it’s great entertainment to watch the race and see how your horse is doing, and you feel the noise in the stands build up as they move towards the final straight. I didn’t win, but then I only lost $40 and I don’t really have any regrets. My friend Peter somehow managed to lose closer to $250, maybe it’s a good thing he wasn’t let into Macao.

Following on from this we looked around the Ten Thousand Buddha Monastery in Sha Tin. To do this on the hottest day for a week was possibly an error as we had to climb countless steps to reach the top and we all felt disgustingly sweaty and sticky by the time we were up. They were selling water and other drinks up there for double its usual price but nobody really cared. It was, however, entirely worth the discomfort. There are apparently 10,000 Buddha statues there, I certainly lost count. As we were walking up we were surrounded by gold life size statues, each one different and individually made. Once up to the first level you can enter a large room packed with smaller carvings that are dimly lit up by fairy lights. There are even bigger carvings outside in all sorts of strange shapes and sizes, one with an absolutely massive right arm if I remember properly. There was another with legs coming out of its eyes; it looked as odd as it sounds. On the way up you don’t feel like you’re in Hong Kong much as you’re surrounded by lush green scenery, but once up the top you get a decent view of Sha Tin, although it’s hardly one of Hong Kong’s greatest skylines to look at. I imagine that most tourists visiting Hong Kong don’t bother with the monastery; certainly if you only have a week or so here then there are probably sights of a higher priority. However it’s definitely worth a trip if you’re in Hong Kong for a longer period of time.

After that we got some dinner and really began to loathe the tropical climate. I’d done my washing at the start of the day and, maybe somewhat foolishly, decided that the day was good enough to hang all my clothes outside. I was none too impressed when I saw an absolutely massive thunderstorm happening outside, awe inspiring as they can sometimes look. They were all drenched by the time and some had blown onto the floor and had to be washed again. No long term damage though. Not much else to say now. It’s actually a lovely day outside today, clear and sunny. It would be the perfect afternoon to go up the Peak I imagine and get the clear view of the skyline and harbour. However I will get other chances and I’ve set today aside for work. I’ll try and write another update soon, hope that everybody back home is okay. Rob.

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Photos

The final straight
Excitement builds....

Inside Sha Tin Racecourse
Good view of the track

View of the stands
Loads of spectators

The path up
Lined with statues, hardly looks like Hong Kong

Buddha statues
Including the one with the long arm

Inside one of the rooms
Loads of tiny little sculptures - all different

Slightly disturbing
We all felt there was something creepy about this one.

Big statue at the top
Don't know if this person was extra special or something.