Hong Kong, Macau and Lantau Island

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The evening of my last blog, we went up the pier on Kowloon, which faces the Island to view the nightly "Symphony of Sound" which is a laser show set to music where all the buildings on Hong Kong Island come "alive". It was pretty busy and it was easy to see why, it was very impressive and cool to see green lasers shoot up from the Skyscrapers into seemly space. It was prime oppotunity for our cameras to be tested and we fought through the riot that was gathering to take a self time picture on the edge of the wall. I got a few ones, so check them out. We retired to our "room" and went to sleep. We awoke to freezing "character building" showers and damp clothes, we learnt that we needed to leave a window slightly open at night, otherwise because of the humidity everything gets wet.

We returned to Hong Kong Island and tried to see if it was plausible to do a 4 day round trip to Guilen which is in Southern China, unfortuantely this was not finacially possible due to buses, Visas and other complications. Giving the impressive scenery in the surrounding area, we were a bit gutted, and spoke to one agent who suggested going to Macau, an old Portuguese Island about an hour away and exploring the Lantau Island. We figured this was the best thing to do, as to stay in Hong Kong for 2 weeks was not ideal. Sorted.

The same day we went to some fruit markets in Eastern Hong Kong about midday and bought a Watermelon for our epic adventure up Victoria peak, which offers awesome views of the city, it was a fantastic warm sunny day, so we had to make the most of it. We went up about 3pm to give us enough time to see it in daylight and at night. The traditional way of using the tram to get up invovled queuing for an hour and paying significantly more than the cost of a taxi, so we opted for the latter option. It was quicker, easier and cheaper. We arrived at Victoria peak to find overpriced food, flocks of tourists and a (yep you guessed it) a McDonalds and a Starbucks. As much as we have occasionally resorted to the Golden M as a means of food, I found it slightly disapointing that the area ressemabled more of a Mall than a mountain top haven. Imagine a whole town centre on Snowden and you get the picture. We tried to escape the crowds, but the best views, were where the crowds were. We took our token pictures, and settled into the other side of the peak which was a little quieter, faced away from the city, but gave us a sunset view.

After the sun went down, we moved back across, to find the warm air had gone and was replaced with a bitter wind. The views of Hong Kong at night are spectacular. Absolutely awesome. I have not seen a skyline which as much charm and diversity in any city and Victoria Peak is prime viewing. And at night it's something else. Just look at the pictures if you don't believe me. It really was awesome.

A taxi ride down and we decided to eat, we had some noodles in Central, our first meal on actual Hong Kong Island, caught the Star Ferry back to Kowloon. As we went went to the dirty cramped room, we all laminated how much we had enjoyed the day and decided it was definately one of the more memorable of the Gap Year so far. The next morning we would get a ferry to Macau, which is a Island governed by China, essentially linked to Hong Kong and famous for its Casinos. We would spend two nights there.

We had read that Macau was alot cheaper than HK, much to our joy, but saw no evidence of this. We suspect that such the guidebooks were written the Casinos have brought in more tourists and therefore the prices were hiked up. We found a guesthouse to the South of the Island, but it seemed the owner was only willing to take 4 of us in. Ceasing the moment, I decided to make it clear I would not stay there, and (hopefully) later on I could sneak in and avoid trying to find somewhere else or pay triple the price. We had a wonder around the backstreets of Macau and discovered Macau cuisine was largely dominated by bakery and sponge cakes. They even gave free samples. Well we took full advantage of this and filled up on all sorts of breaded products. Worth a mention are the small sponge cakes which were the nicest thing going. Really good. For dinner we eat an amazing meal for a low price and then wondered down to a bar where some live music was being played. We had a beer, and life felt good. We discovered the Casinos and decided to come back tomorrow. I was not in favour of this given that I have been to Nevada and the novelty of a casino is nothing to me, but the for the others the lights were irrestable.

No problems occured in the room, we had be very quiet and sleep on a mattress on the floor, the beds were horrible anyway. The owner never knew everything

The next day we found a five man dorm 5 minutes away and decided it was better than to risk the other hostel for a second night. After checking in, we went to the top of the Centrel hill on Macau from which you could see the whole island, we sat and comteplated life, and just enjoyed the air and the views. That afternoon we had a nap before getting a traditional Macaunese meal of chicken in Portugese sauce. The restaurant has hosted famous faces such as Roosvelt and Audrey Hepburn. The meal was very nice, after a quick wash we went to the MGM Grand Casino, where it was agreed to all put in $HKD 100 about 8 pounds, on a game of roulette. Not wanting to appear a spoilsport I went in, as expected we lost, if only red 8 had come up! Rick, Muc and Nick went back to for another 100, me and Jonny played it safe and quit. After losing again both Muc and Nick went for another 100, they lost again, whilst Rick made a winning of $300 putting him 100 up. We all quit whilst he was ahead. The next day we would make our way to Lantau Island

On the final night, I decided it might be fun to shave my head into a Mohawk, just out of curiousity really, to see what it would look like. Muc got his clippers out, and there was no going back, half way through the battery ran out. I was not happy and had to sleep with half of my hair shaved off. In the morning we tidyed it up. My compliments go to Muc and Nick for a great job but sadly I did not suit it, so it all came off later that day. I did get a few funny looks of some Macaunee residents and the immigration officer at Lantau Island scrtinised my photo on my passport, much too everyone else's amusment. My hair is just really short now.

We arrived at Lantau hostel at about 3pm to discover that it opened to check in at 4pm. Alas, in the hostel there was no space, but the owner, who was such a nice guy and did his own thing between 10 and 4 everyday hence it being closed, let us stay in his office for free. We weren't going to argue. We went down to the town to find a Starbucks, but NO McDonalds!! YES!!!! Unfortunaltely everything closed at 6pm in the villiage because the Cable Car from a bigger town below shut at 6 so no-one was around. We went back to the Hostel, invented a great game with a feather shuttlecock thing, played some cards until midnight and went to the office. The owner came into the office and informed us of a hike which started only a short distance from the Hostel up Lantau Peak, it was a great walk he said. He said it offered great views of the Sunrise. Great. At 5.00am the next day we awoke somehow managed to find the start of the trail and hiked up the path half asleep. We reached the summit at 6.45 with about 10 minutes to spare. It was amazing to watch and although a pain to get up, well worth the effort. We descented to the villiage and got some breakfast after climbing the mountain. Not bad for 10am!

Later that day after chilling for a while we walked down to the main city, where we picked up supplies of bread, jam and more importantly Chicken and pasta. For we were to cook for ourselves that night. Fried Chicken, Tomato Sauce and Penne Pasta. A beautifully cooked meal for less than 2 pounds was enjoyed by all and we felt very satisfied with ourselves. Compliments to the Chef. We also had our own room for the night. We arose this morning at about 8.30 had "toast Olympics" which invovled all 5 of us trying to eat a loaf of bread and jam in as short amount of time without making illegal moves on others toast. We do have fun.

Today we are back in Hong Kong and I'm pleased to say in better accomadation, we walked along the harbour front and went to this cafe where I'm writing to you from. We are in Hong Kong until Thursday when we fly to Bangkok, Thailand where we'll be faced with a whole new set of challenges, which will bring a whole new set of adventures. I've throughly enjoyed my time in China and Hong Kong, highlights being the Wall, Shanghai and Victoria Peak.

See you in Thailand

Jx

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