Return to Hong Kong!

---

Hello and welcome to our blog!

For those who don't know, we're spending about 3 months travelling around SE Asia, starting in Hong Kong and then doing the "Indochina loop" around Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia and then ending in Dubai.

We set off about a week ago and flew to HK for a return visit after about 3 years away from the place. As soon as we landed and took a taxi through central HK, it felt great to be back and in many ways as if we had never been away!

No time to waste, we headed straight out on Wednesday night for Wanchai Wednesday - for the uninitiated, that involves free drinks for girls, dancing on bars and general fun and games for expats. It was a fun night and gave Ben and Alex, who we shared our time in HK with, a true introduction to HK.

The next day was spent on a junk boat sailing up into the New Territories and stopping for a seafood feast. Despite being pretty cloudy, Louise managed to get sunburnt - good start to 3 months in the sun! It was the perfect relaxing day after a night in Wanchai though.

We then spent a day sight seeing with Ben, Alex and another friend who live in HK. Or at least, trying to sight see but the mist meant that there were no views from the Peak and the lovely coastal road to Stanley was not as comparable to the Ozzie Great Ocean Road as usual. At least we were able to see the monkeys in the botanical gardens swinging about and generally showing off to the crowds!

After all that rushing about we all felt in need of some luxury so spent an evening in our favourite cocktail bar, Aqua, with incredible views over the harbour so we could enjoy the light show from the impressive skyscrapers and generally reflect on the view that we had not seen for too long!

One of the reasons for coming to HK in the first place was that the rugby sevens have been on - a time when HK becomes even more of a party town than usual. Matt and Ben managed to get hold of some tickets and spent Saturday (generally the most debauched day) in the South Stand (the most debauched stand) drinking in the sun - there might well have been some rugby going on in the background too, although neither of us could be too sure... Everyone gets dressed up and the atmosphere is fantastic - Ben and Matt went in Hawaiian shirts with inflatables around their waists - not a look to be repeated in the near future!

Meanwhile, Louise had a girly day catching up with Regina (a former HS HK trainee) and with Alex, going on a sunny hike followed by a leisurely lunch and massage/ear candling (for those who have yet to experience this, they put a hollow candle in your ear, light it and as it burns down it sucks the gunk out of your ear, leaving you with clear ears and better hearing - the world seems loud when you come out, especially into the HK traffic!).

After another stint in Wanchai, Sunday was spent in the very civilised venue of the Intercontinental Hotel in TST, Kowloon side, drinking plenty of free-flowing Moet and feasting from the extravagent buffet of seafood, sushi, roast meats, peking duck, chocolate fountain, cheeses and much more. It was a trying afternoon.

A combination of all of the above together with a fair bit of market shopping and some local eating involving pointing at dishes and hoping for the best has made a great return to HK and certainly not our last. The vibrant atmosphere and mostly friendly locals are a great combination and just wandering around the city soaking up the feeling of the place is one of the best things you can do.

We've had a superb time, but it's now time to move on, so we're flying tonight to Bangkok for some Thai adventures (not that kind!).

---