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Published: August 8th 2009
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Entering Hong Kong
You can walk into HK from Shenzhen train station in China - just follow the signs! So.. we left Hong Kong almost three weeks ago now (16th July). Time for an update!
Firstly.......extra special thanks to Vince & Nancy for not only accommodating us for 3 nights but also chauffeuring us to and from Hong Kong Island every day, feeding us, doing our laundry and generally making us feel very special indeed. We appreciate this even more considering that they're expecting a new baby fairly soon. Criminally, we didn't get any photos of Vince or Nancy (too busy talking and catching up to remember to pull the camera out) - apols guys!
As you can probably tell from the description above, Hong Kong was a complete break from the backpacker budget lifestyle for us and we lapped up every moment of the 5 star lifestyle while we could.
Highlights included:- Vince & Nancy's hospitality & being treated as part of the family - being invited along to a family meal out which turned out to be a veritable banquet including some of the most exclusive Chinese dishes available: shark fin soup, birds nest dessert to mention but a couple.
Generally being in a cosmopolitan city - with all the previously unavailable comforts
HK skyline
View from the peak of the Sky Tower that we could wish for: namely good Italian food & gourmet burgers - hmmmmm! For anyone entering HK after time spent travelling through mainland China I would definitely recommend Spaghetti House for that much needed pasta fix.
Air-con everywhere - Hong Kong was just as hot as the Chinese cities we'd been to but it was refreshing to walk around the centre being blasted with cool air as we passed by shops & other public buildings. Niiiiice.
Cocktails at the Aqua bar in Kowloon - (recommended by Vince, thank you!) with panoramic views across to Hong Kong Island. We managed to get prime seats in time for the 8pm light show, much to the chagrin of some high spending expat bankers at the bar who gave us evil looks for the next hour or so. The light show itself wasn't great but the views and cocktails were so stayed and ordered a second round, just to annoy those giving us evils....hahahahaha!
Day trip to Lantau Island - to see the giant sitting Buddha, very atmospheric at the top of the mountain as you can (hopefully) see from the photos. We took the cable car back down the
Cocktails in Aqua Bar
A Tiramisu cocktail, apparently mountain, which was also pretty cool.
View from the HK stock exchange and the money museum - the view was great and the money museum a surprising highlight. Thanks to Vince's work colleague for the recommendation on that one.
Karaoke - Nancy had to sit this out but the V-Man, Kerry and I, along with Vince's buddies Leo and Alex spent quite a lot of time and money in Vince's auntie's karaoke bar (with disastrous results the next day for me.....see later). Leo was a top singer, was a pleasure listening to him croon through a number of Chinese karaoke classics. An honourable mention should also go to Vince's version of "Better Man" by Robbie Williams - touching stuff 😊 😊 😉 Highlight for me was an impromptu and very late in the night duet of "Let it Be", across the bar with a random stranger who had just walked in off the street and started singing. One of those "what the f*ck is going on here" moments.
Low points:- "When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me........." Oh, the irony. It wasn't that I was
really drunk after karaoke,
but a combination of alcohol, medication, heat and several weeks of compounded illness finally took its toll on the morning we left HK. On the bus between Vince's and the tube station I started to feel ill. By the time we got to the tube station I was on the verge of collapse, with a pounding headache, heart palpitations, panic attacks, sickness in the stomach, cold sweats and God-knows what else. I'm not diabetic but I think I had a sugar crash, and it was NOT good. I couldn't move, at one point I couldn't even speak and I will never, ever forget how bad it felt. It took an hour of orange juice, air-con and TLC from the wife to get me moving again. It should be noted that Kerry managed to have breakfast (pork katsu curry) whilst I suffered, claiming that the katsu was the closest thing to a British fry-up on the menu and would help me recover - a likely story 😊
That's all for now - India to follow soon......
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