Nei Ho (hello)

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From the rather humid Hong Kong. Arrived here last night from Brisbane feeling a little less zombified than my previous visit. Once again took me a while to pluck up the courage to go to a restaurant but I met a couple of locals who kindly taught me some Cantonese. There was no stopping me after that. So here goes......

Nei Ho - Hello
Do che - Thankyou
Yat bui bear zhou ng goi - One beer please

My last few days in Australia were spent relaxing and enjoying the last of the Aussie Sun! I went off to Noosa for 2 nights which was a very nice, chilled out spot. I was greeted each morning by Red and Green coloured Parrotts flying from tree to tree. Ive bumped into a few people more than once and this time it was somebody from home - Saul's brother! He was catching the same bus as me to Noosa and we bumped into each other in the evening. He was lucky enough to see me walk around a pool table with my trousers down - unfortunately I was in a Killer Pool tournament and a foul resulted in this....embarrasing.

I returned to Brisbane for my last 2 days. I forget how much I liked Brisbane - it has a real feel good factor about it; laid back atmosphere, music playing in the streets, a nice lagoon etc. So of course when the time came to leave Brisbane and Australia, I was pretty sad! Ive had a great time in this wonderful country.

So here I am in Mong Kok (tee hee). Went to Lantau today to see the Big Buddha (impressive) followed by Pin Lo Monastery - more statues of Buddha with locals praying and meditating. Feeling a little bit out of place, I made a cheeky escape and got the bus back to Wang Chung and the MTR back to Mong Kok (tee hee).

Not quite sure if I like Hong Kong. Cons - its always surrounded by fog, the pace of life is unbearably fast, the people seem a tad grumpy, the streets smell and the air feels polluted. On the plus side, the culture is fascinating and night time is fantastic. I went to eat at 11pm last night, the streets were crammed, all the shops were open, music was playing in the streets, bright lights everywhere.. Incredible. Returned at about 1am and it was a little quieter, but still busy for the time.

Its just one more full day tomorrow and I fly home the following day. Cant wait to see you all again, although I know most people are back at Uni now. Nevertheless, I'll be doing a few roadtrips!!

Speak soon,

Rich

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Photos

Hong Kong
The place that never sleeps

Lantau Island
Me and the Big Buddha...should have raised my right hand!

Sunset at Noosa
Nice

Noosa Beach
Very nice place