07 February 2009

We were up early this morning to get to the airport. As we got the Maglev train which took 7 minutes we found ourselves there and checked in with plenty of time to spare! We had a really good flight to Hong Kong (even had a meal with a smoked salmon starter!) and arrived around 2pm.

Our hotel is on Kowloon, which according to the guidebook is the 'real Hong Kong'. It is situated just off Nathan Road- a lively road filled with shops and loss and lots of people! This evening we explored and went to the ladies night market. This is a market near Nathan Road selling fake designer bags, sunglasses as well as souvenirs, clothes etc. We definately wish we had more space in the backpack to bring things back!

8 February 2009

Today we began to get our bearings around the different islands and took the ferry across from Kowloon Island to Hong Kong Islans which was very cheap and easy. The equivilant of about 2 pounds in English Money, the ferry was a bit rocky but had lovely views. When we arrived on Hong Kong Island we caught our first bus up to the Peak tram station. The tram was very cheap and takes you up to the very top of Hong Kong Island for fantastic panoramic views of the Islands and surronding mountains. Once we arrived we went outside to the glass viewing deck and attempted to take some photos in the middle of what felt like a gail (hence the windswept photos). Once we had enjoyed the views we treated ourselves to some lunch at the bubba gump shrimp restaurant inspired by Forrest Gump. The food was lovely and we even had a glass of wine which we hadn't been able to get in China so we were very impressed. The restaurant had lots of forrest memorobilia and glass windows that provided stunning views of Hong Kong.

After the Peak tram we travelled back to Kowloon Island for the symphony of lights show which takes place every night at the harbour. Several of the surronding buildings take part in a light show set to music which last about a half hour. A big crowd gathers to watch every night and we were so impressed we went to see it twice. That night we randomnly bumped in to Manuelle who we met on our intreprid trip in China. We all decided to go to the Night Market for a look around and something to eat. The cantonese style food is quite like you would get from the chinese takeaway at home so we weren't very adventurous and went for a chicken chow mein dish. But we did eat it with chopsticks! We then said goodbye to Manuelle as he was off back to Australia and went back to our hotel to prepare for our magical day at Disney!

09 February 2009

This morning we got the metro to Disneyland! Jess had never been to disney before so was really excited. The train to disney even had mickey shaped windows. It wasn't too busy so we had a really nice day and managed to go on quite a few rides. The lion king show and the parade were the highlights, as was our photo with Buzz Lightyear! One thing we didn't enjoy was being filmed by a group of dodgy old men (don't want to know why they were even at disneyland...) Definately looking forward to not being stared at anymore.

We spent the evening at the ladies market near our hotel in Nathan Road. As we've had enough of our trainers we both bought some fake converse to replace them with - still trainery but look a bit better! We also left our coats and scarves in the hotel as we're expecting very hot weather from our next few destinations.

10 February 2009

We didn't do much today as we had a transfer to the airport to get our flight to Bangkok. We've really enjoyed our time in Hong Kong, and wish we had a little bit longer here. Manuel described it as 'like china but nice'. Probably quite an accurate description!