Note: The following entry was originally written at Christmas. The people of Hong Kong, unfortunately, are not in the habit of going out on the town dressed as Santa Claus every night for no apparent reason. If they were, and Hong Kong displayed its Christmas lights every night of the year, I'd be there all the time.

At 6.30 last night, there were a group of potentially drunken Santa Clones, dressed in big red santa suits and fluffy beards, ready for the annual Christmas ex-pat flat crawl in the Plaza down on the harbour front at Discovery Bay. This year, it seemed that I was to be joining them - and I really didn't know what I was letting myself in for. Being a stickler for punctuality - and also because I didn't fancy the idea of the forfeit for being late which we won't go into here - I was there well before everyone else and therefor had the pleasure of spending a good fifteen minutes being approached by groups of small children eager to tell me what they wanted for Christmas. To be honest, it has crossed my mind on more than one occasion since that this was always part of the plan and that everybody else was crouching for some time around a corner watching me say "Ho Ho Ho" to everybody that passed.

Various members of the group, mainly the ones most likely to cause trouble, were delegated to lead us around Discovery Bay as well as to supply drinks, deal with unhappy neighbours, hail taxis using obscene hand gestures, and anything else which may become necessary as the night wore on. We managed to cause a lot of merriment on the island right up until about 4.00AM, bussing and walking our way from flat to flat in as much of a straight line as possible, sometimes taking unintentional shortcuts through flowerbeds and telling passing strangers that they were our best friend. By the time the sun started to come up, much of Lantau had been woken from their slumber by the sound of badly sung Christmas Carols, sometimes even ones containing the correct words. In fact, the whole event apparently went much better than last year as we only had the Discovery Bay Police turn up to gatecrash three of the flats we visited. Our delegated liaison officer politely invited them in but for some reason they declined the invitation - deciding instead to hold on to his Hong Kong Identity card for a while. Party poopers.

Various prizes were awarded throughout the night for such misdemeanours as falling asleep after partaking of an overdose of Alcohol, being sick without permission and moaning too much. A great time was had by all, a sleepless time was had by residents, and a busy time was had by the police. It makes you proud to be British. The absolute highlight of the evening for me was seeing the look of sheer joy on the face of the driver of the Number 2 Bus when we all got on and sang loud carols all the way to our destination - he honestly looked as though we had brightened up his otherwise dull day, although for some reason nobody else wanted to get on the bus while we were there so he also probably didn't make an awful lot of money either.

I have no idea how the party ended, but when Simon and I left the last flat at around 4.00AM there were a big group of police looking mean and waiting to get in the lift as we got out at the ground floor so we might possibly have left at the right moment. Thank god these things only happen once a year.

Today, I've spent the day in Kowloon trying to get myself a Visa to visit China in a couple of days time. Kowloon is the area of the mainland reached by Star Ferry from Central, and is known mainly for the shopping opportunities along Nathan Road. Originally a residential street, Nathan Road has become the main shopping area of Kowloon and is now as covered in neon and lined with electronic shops as the rest of Hong Kong. The authorities seem to have made a huge effort to turn Tsim Sha Tsui, the harbourfront area from which the ferries arrive and depart, into a pedestrian waterfront area similar to the South Bank in London. Turning right out of the ferry terminal, visitors can walk along a paved prominade lined with kiosks selling local food, and look out over the bay at the skyline of Hong Kong Island opposite. Steps lead up to a second level, where an overhead walkway contains seating to allow people to sit at lunchtime and enjoy the view. The Tsim Sha Tsui promonade has also become the place to go to get away from the bustle of the city, and is home to a large pedestrian square which houses the Hong Kong Space Museum and the Museum of Art. On my first visit to Hong Kong in 1997, I spent the best part of an afternoon exploring the Space Museum and remember being very impressed - I was able to get inside various training simulators used by astronauts, and it was even possible to "suit up" and get into a tube where weightlessness was simulated. The Hong Kong Space Museum is also home to the local planetarium, which I enjoyed, but I do remember being dissapointed that the advertised film about the history of space exploration only turned out to be available in English on one day of the week. Needless to say, I had not turned up on the correct day.

Early morning by the waterfront brings out children playing in the squares between the buildings and groups of people practicing Tai-Chi, a spectacle intriguing to watch as people take this opportunity to exercise on the way to work. Tsim Sha Tsui is not the only place in Hong Kong where this happens - if you wander through any open space, square or park between 6 and 9 in the morning you will always find large numbers of people standing legs apart, waving their arms around and stretching. Some of them get together into groups with total strangers and can be seen dancing around in formation as though taking part in a dance class. Young or old, everybody stops for an impromtu workout on the way to the office, and it really is something which has to be seen to be believed. On the day that I first came across this spectacle, it also happened to be Valentines day, so all the open spaces and parks were full of young women with huge baskets of roses who constantly came over to ask if I wanted to buy a flower. I don't think I've ever felt quite so much as though I just wanted to put down roots and call somewhere home, but unfortunately the day moves on quickly and the hustle and bustle of city life takes over once more.

There are two major parks in Hong Kong, one on Hong Kong Island and the other in Kowloon - both providing an opportunity to get away from the city, if you can somehow ignore the high rise buildings towering over the trees wherever you look. It's rather a testament to the people who planned the city that they thought to allocate such a large area in the middle of both Kowloon and Hong Kong Island for parkland, and they've done such a good job that I spend much of my time whenever I'm in Hong Kong sitting by the fountain in Kowloon Park or strolling along the path which actually runs right behind the waterfall in Hong Kong. The latter is an amazing experience, but really not something to be attempted if you don't like getting sprayed. Covering an area of 8 hectares, my favourite of the two parks is by far the one on Hong Kong Island, which even contains a large walk through aviary on a scale that probably wouldn't be attempted in many places. Gently sloping pathways lead up the hillside and through the aviary before weaving in and out of water gardens, behind the waterfall and across traditional arched wooden bridges over lillyponds.There's even a sort of roman amphitheatre where, on my first visit to Hong Kong, I sat and watched a young Chinese couple getting married in the open air. The bride appeared between the pillars, her dress trailing behind her for what seemed like miles, and was escorted down the steps of the amphitheatre, looking absolutely beautiful and with a smile that almost split her face in two, to where the ceremony was performed right there in the middle to an audience of anybody who happened to be passing by. It seems that the local marriage registry is located right in the middle of the park, so this must be a common sight. I seem to be good at finding places I want to get married on my travels - the main problem is going to be narrowing it down to one. Oh, and finding somebody who wants to marry me. That would probably help, too.

I made my way this morning to the Chinese embassy, and found the tiny room where Visas are issued. To be honest, my understanding of the local tongue certainly wasn't good enough to comprehend any of what I was being asked, but by handing over my passport and nodding quite a lot I seemed to be getting somewhere and an English speaking local in the queue helped me out by telling me that I would have to return later in the afternoon to collect my Visa. He also told me that they aren't supposed to hand out Visas to non Hong Kong citizens unless they are ordered in advance, so I guess I've been lucky. Nevertheless, I was happy upon my return in the evening, after a day browsing the shops, to find that my passport had been duly stamped and my visit to China approved - for a moment, I had worried that I might have unknowingly signed up to the republican guard.

About Simon and Burfords Travels:

Simon Burford is a UK based travel writer. He will be re-publishing his travel blogs, chapters from his books and other miscellaneous rantings on these pages over the coming weeks and months, and the entry on this page may not necessarily reflect todays date.