I love Hong Kong. Warm, exciting, cosmopolitan, visually interesting and with a wonderful mix of old a new.

Through the cross referencing mentioned earlier, we found another great hotel, The Icon, in Kowloon. It is only a few years old, is owned by the catering and hotel keeping university next door has great architecture and once again, great staff (except the toad like man who decided communicating with me was a chore when we came back at 1 am and asked if the bar was still open). On the 9th floor is an outdoor pool overlooking the harbor and the views from our beautifully appointed room on the 22nd floor were outstanding. Again, not the cheapest, but great value.

On the first night we visited Brian and Sandra, friends who we met skiing a number of years ago and now find themselves enjoying HK during a secondment there with Bank of Canada. It was nice to visit an HK home, though as Brian was on a secondment package I think we saw the upper end of HK living. They have a spacious appartments on the south of the Island with great views .............and a maid. This meant we could concentrate on catching up, gossiping and drinking their wine stash. Again, seeing them after 4 years was easy and we had a great night.

We dragged ourselves out of bed the following day to take our red eyes and mild shaking to enjoy one of the J&J specialities........a champagne Sunday brunch. This one was at the Conrad, and for a seafood fan such as me, represented the pinical of such events. Lobster, crab, Cary fish, King Prawns the size of Lobster, more lobster, more crab etc. And all the normal roasts etc. To top it all, free flowing champagne from 11-3. That's 4 hours within which to get your money's worth. As an illustration of just how epic that is (and perhaps our hangovers), J and I opted to arrive at 11.30. That's unheard of in the FT clan who are more likely to camp out overnight so that we can be there at the off. A great day.

After an 'old mans' nap, we had a bit of an explore and a trip on the Star Ferry before going to one of my favorite bars in the world; the Felix bar, high up on the top floor of the Penninsula Hotel. Not only do they do great Martini's (which I learned are best drunk in moderation. 4 is not moderation, especially when you have been on a 3.5 hour champagne binge) but they have the great loos mentioned in my last HK blog.

Now, you would think that after 3.5 hours of champagne and a few Martini's, bed would be a good option. We thought so too. Shame there was a lively bar full of locals watching the footy and selling pints of Hoegarten. Cut to 2 hours later in a hotel. James tries to do impression of growly bear in mistaken belief that it was 'sexy', then becomes a shy bear, then collapses on bed. What a prince.

Our last day of our epic holiday fittingly began with a hangover which was reduced by a Bloody Mary at breakfast and cured by a foot massage. We did a little light sight seeing before heading to the airport. Our last leg was with Qantas and it was surprisingly good. Perhaps the best business class trip I have had. Great service, good entertainment, good seats. It meant we got a few hours kip which was a great thing as as soon as we arrived in Sydney it was a quick show and into work. May as well get it over and done with.