Hong Kong

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So here we are in Hong Kong!

We got here in the end, after our flight was delayed for 2 hours, feeling absolutely knackered but determined not to give in to the jetlag (yet).

This is a really interesting place and you could spend a fortune if you wanted to! (Most people seem to!) Shops seem to be open the best part of 24 hours a day and even at 11pm at night there are families out shopping with the seemingly millions of others around. Which is better than having chavs on street corners! There are thousands of people everywhere at all hours- think of London at rush hour but then everyone decided to just go and buy a Gucci suit and matching iPod instead at the last minute! And with nicer weather. And less litter (i.e. none!). And cheaper. And so on...

Our hostel is okay, a bit out of the main areas itself but has everything we need (including free internet!) and the MRT (underground type thing) is really cheap anyway to get about. The hostel is in the north end of Kowloon on the mainland, which faces Hong Kong Island itself.

So what have we actually been upto? On Saturday night we just went for a wander around Kowloon like the star-struck tourists we are and enjoyed our first of many tasty and cheap meals. Our plans on Sunday were then unfortunately put back a bit as we slept until 14.30 by accident (by the way, that vibrating alarm clock is terrifying when it goes off!). But we salvaged the afternoon by taking the ferry to HK island and having a good wander and got some food and drink in a cool area of town called Lan Kwai Fong. The bar we went to brews its own beer, which was well worth a second glass (would've been rude not to!). Monday we went up 'The Peak' on HK island, which is basically the highest part of the island and means taking a funicular train which is very steep, to the point it makes the skyscrapers look tilted when you look out the window! We also went to Causeway Bay (shopoholics heaven) and the Zoo (lots of apes and monkeys and jaguar) which was cool too. Didn't get upto much that evening as the jetlag was kicking in but had some nice cheap food from a proper local place near the hostel.

Today we've been to Lantau island, to see the world's largest Bronze Buddha (I think). Really nice, lots of greenery and very quiet compared to the city! The monastery is active with monks and they seemed to enjoy the 25 minute cable car ride as much as we did (and were as snap happy with their digital cameras as everyone else!). This evening is unplanned as of yet, but will probably involve food!

Any fellow ex-politics spods (you know who you are!) may be interested to know we've seen a few pro-democracy posters and human rights criticisms against China around a few places. Certainly wouldn't get away with that on the mainland, so quite interesting to see.

We have some photo's, but can't figure out how to get the camera to connect with Chinese Windows, so we'll add them on at a later date!

And finally then, tomorrow we head off to Singapore! But more about that next time...

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Comments

[Maz]

Can't believe it's all underway, come round so fast! Sounds like you're having a great time so far, sure that'll continue! Website is mucho impressive btw, bit more hi-tech than ours!!

[John]

Generous gift
Does this blog meant that the generous gift Jon and I gave you has become obsolute or has it become more of a refuge for your inner-most thoughts that are just too personal to go into this blog and will probably be held back for the auotbiography, as little marketing pieces, i.e. "Vicoria Beckham reveals for the first time..." et cetera.