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Published: October 25th 2008
Well, as you probably expected me to say, the Formula 1 was indeed, fantastic! I read that it was a quite a dull race to see on TV, but watching it track side in Shanghai was everything I imagined. The noise and speed of the cars was awesome and the atmosphere great. Lewis Hamilton is a superb driver and noticeably quicker at braking and down shifting into the corners. He drove like a man on a mission, occasionally locking up a wheel, but always making the corner. I really hope he keeps it all together and wins the championship this year; it is so good to have a good British driver to support and cheer for at last. Rubens drove well too so that made me even happier. I am asking myself now why it took me so long to go to a race. I intend to go to many more: Gem will be happy!
We caught a night train to Hong Kong on the Monday after the race. It was a nice reasonable 20 hours this time, but we had comfy beds and the cabins were nice and clean. Hong Kong is a great city, as people has told
us, and certainly had a British feel to it, probably helped by all the double decker buses around the streets. We caught the peak tram up to 'The peak' to have a good look at the city and it looked spectacular from above. However the highlight of Hong Kong for both of us was visiting Ocean World and seeing the 4 Pandas they have there. I won't talk about them now as I took hundreds of pictures of them and when I get them posted you can see how great they were. I now want a pet Panda!
Our accommodation in Hong Kong wasn't great. It was one of the better hostels in HK, (the Yes Inn), but Gem and I were in different buildings, so it wasn't ideal, and we decided to stay a couple of nights only. With this in mind we decided to travel to and then spend the next couple of days in Macau; if only to get another stamp in our passport! To be fair though visiting Macau was worth much more than another passport stamp. It was a really nice place and a bit like a 'sleepy' Hong Kong with plenty of colonial
charm. It was here before Hong Kong but then lost its importance as the Portuguese influence in the area diminished and the British established Hong Kong. It is now full of old buildings mixed amongst new casinos (Vegas style) where the Chinese come each weekend to gamble away all their money, due to the relaxed gambling laws here compared to mainland China.
Phase 1 of our trip is now coming to an end and we head to South East Asia next. It has been pretty cool to think that we have travelled from Europe to Hong Kong without catching a plane. After I insisted on visiting Russia and China, Gem has informed me that the next few countries are her part of the trip so I'll be doing as I'm told!
We fly to Bangkok on the 25th.
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