Hong Kong High Life...

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April 2nd 2007

Published: April 2nd 2007

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Loose footed

Apartments in the sky

Its all about the view...

Bing Bang Boom

and before we knew we had left the land of the rising sun and touched down in Hong "fragrant harbour" Kong. Months of planning and weeks of farewell partying meant we were ready to chill in the city where easts meets west, and thats exactly how we spent our first few days.

Luckily we were able to step right into the lush expat lifestyle courtesy of Dan (a friend of Rob V's - thanx Rob for the introduction!) who had a sweet apartment with a HUGE deck (even my western standards) in the mid levels right in the heart of the city. It provided a good base to familiarize ourselves with everything Hong Kong has to offer, and 212 channels of satellite TV wasnt bad either.

Our first few days were spent exploring Hong Kong Island, which is where the majority of businesses, westerners, and expat bankers base themselves. As Dan said, it really is like one big bank. There is some serious cash flowing through this tiny island, and BMWs, $10 beers and multi-million dollar 60 storey apartments are everywhere to be found.

But right next to plush restaurants serving all

Pricey power bill

Nite from from Victoria Peak. Kowloon in the distance

kinds of food imaginable you can street side vendors and eat Chinese style for just a couple of bucks. Or leave that bar where the beer is killing you at double digit figures (not in the backpacker budget) and head over to the seven eleven and get it for a tenth of the price!

Thats the cool thing about Hong Kong - its a city of contrasts, and you dont have to spend a heap to enjoy it. Jump on a 50c ferry and cross the harbour to Kowloon (the Chinese 'mainland'), where Arab traders push cheap Rolexs on every corner and 'Golden Dragon' restaurant signs shine bright at nite, and it gets even cheaper. The more the Chinese culture smacks u in the face, the much more forgiving it is on the wallet, but still just as interesting.

Skylines - Hong Kong kicks arse! Hope the pics do it justice. The view of Hong Kong skyline from Kowloon is awesome in itself (with a laser light show every night @ 8pm), but climbing up to Victoria Peak and looking down on the city blows the Kowloon side away. We were both mesmerized by the architecture and layout

Rush hour HK

Trail blazin'

of the city. Its like they have taken the tallest buildings from every city in the world and planted them in a block of land the size of a large park. Definitely worth checking out.

Island chilling - Hong Kong aint all about tall buildings! If you need out, as we did, you can just hop on a 30 minute ferry to Lamma Island and literally leave the city behind. The island is where hippies, artists and organic vegetable growers live, and we spent a cool day hiking, swimming and sampling the local produce.

After ten days of exploration, and visas sorted for both China and Nam, we got on the ferry and headed to Macau. Like Hong Kong, Macau has had centuries of European influence (in this case Portuguese), and fortunately they have preserved a lot of the older colonial buildings. When you head into Largo do Senada, it really feels like you are in Lisbon, except for the hordes of Chinese tourists. But then you just go down to the casino strip, or Asia's 'Las Vegas' and the only thing European about it is the g-string clad Russian dancers. Nothing wrong with that!

So all