Tower block city - Hong Kong

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7th Jan - 9th Jan

Mon - arrived in Hong Kong in the evening. Ate tasty dinner in a really, really cheap restaurant - about £4. All signs in windows etc. in Chinese and no other Europeans in sight.

Tues - Wandered round the city beginning in Kowloon park, which is an oasis in the city, full of sculptures and with the biggest fountain we’ve seen outside of Las Vegas. Took the Star Ferry, a historical boat line, across to Hong Kong Island. Wandered around Exchange Square, which is the centre of the business area and, like everywhere else in Hong Kong, has a shopping mall. We then took the bus to Victoria Peak, which was quite an experience as the bus route snaked up the side of the mountain passing improbably tall and slender apartment buildings and loads of pockets of forest. Went to the Sky Terrace, a viewing platform on top of - you’ve guessed it - a shopping mall. Brilliant views over the city and the sea and islands surrounding the city. Beautiful pink reflections on the sea as the sun began to set. Could have stayed up there for hours. Took tram down - reminiscent of tram in Wellington. On a very steep incline on the way down, which was slightly scary, in fact the carriage floors have special ruts in the floor so that you can get in and out of the tram when it’s on a slope. Saw more sculptures in Statue Square on the way back to the ferry.
- Went for dinner in a Japanese (we think) restaurant - I got a shock when my meal turned up with a raw egg sitting in the middle. Tasted good though.
- Then went to see what can only be described as a stroke of genius by the tourism department. We stood on the embankment of Kowloon by the ferry terminal where we had a great view of the horizon of the city on the opposite side of the harbour. Then a light show started, where the buildings are the stars. In time to some ridiculously chirpy but thoroughly likeable muzak, the skyscrapers began to light up and flash in different colours and lasers and flashlights swept the sky. Each building was individually introduced and made an entrance. Absolutely brilliant but wacky!

Weds - Took the no.6 bus to Stanley, which was an experience in itself and reminded us of some the roads we drove in NZ. It raised round hair raising corners, seemingly dangerously close to oncoming traffic, but also gave us some fabulous views over the city and its beaches and islands.
- Spent a few hours wandering around the market, buying souvenirs and testing our negotiating skills. Alison was dead chuffed when she negotiated a hundred dollars (about £7) off the price of a jade bracelet. She wondered if she ought to sign up for The Apprentice as she needs a job when she gets back! We checked out the beach, had a disappointing lunch in a restaurant that was far too European for our liking, checked out a temple that contained a pirate’s bell and the skin of a tiger shot in the village at the beginning of the last century, and watched some impressive windsurfing from the pier.
- In the evening it was time to catch the flight home to the UK.
- Along the 40 min coach journey back to the airport there were just continuous tower blocks one after another. No housing like back here. It was something else to see.

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