Well this is where it begins then! Had an absolutely wicked time here in HK, ive crammed in and done as much as I could i the day and evening I had here.

I had a rough plan of what i wanted to do although didnt quite stick to it - all worked out well though. First stop after landing was to head off to Tian Tan (a giant 220 ton steel Buddha) hidden away in the hills of Lantau Island. Its fairly close to the airport and in a completely opposite direction to the rest of HK so made sense to go straight there. Jumped on a bus to Tung Chung and from here there are 3 options.. another bus, a taxi or a cable car. Obviously i took the cable car! Absolutely wicked experience - the views over Lantau and the airport were brilliant. Got a bit rocky and blowy at certain high points but i beat the queues and had a car to myself. They take 17 peolpe and as you know theres more meat on a pork pie than me so all was good!

The view looking up to the buddha from the bottom was pretty special. I was going to count the steps up to it (as i know some will ask!) and got to about 120 when a bloke asked me to take a picture of him and i lost count. and i forgot to count on the way down. If your bothered google it!!! At the bottom of the buddha was the Po Lin Monastery. As you can imagine, full of worshippers praying and lighting incence. Loads of monks about to and after a quick look about headed into my hotel on Hong Kong island.

Heres where it didnt really go to plan! I wanted to get the tram up to the top of the peak for the views over HK but the weather and visibilty was atrocious. I could barley see Kowloon island from my 15th floor room that was just over the other side of the water. Was a bit gutted but realised it was a waste of time so I headed over to Kowloon for a stevie wonder via the famous star ferry. Looked around and visited the avenue of stars (chinese version of hollywood). Knew 2 of them. Went and had something to eat although bit of a disaster. Its all very well these guide books and internet sites saying for authentic and cheap food go off the beaten track and find where the locals go. Obviously its a bit of a lottery, sometimes you lose and sometimes you win a tenner. I lost.

Took me about 20 mins to finally get an order as i couldnt grasp her Chinglish (to be fair to her my chinse has slipped over last few years). Got what was supposed to be a curry, was ok but not great. She gave me some free soup though and it was pretty ropey to be honest. Looked like slops out the sink and it tastely like it to. I stuck with it a bit an told myself to embrace the culture but after getting near the bottom i pulled up some fish guts including an eye so i left it.

Anyways after that carried on with my look about the HK in the pouring rain and towards the evening decided, blow it, visibility had improved and i headed up to the peak - and am i glad i did or what! Got off the steep tram and headed all the way up to the viewing deck, stepped out and WOW! Saw the most beautiful scene of Hong Kong at night. The skyscrapers were all lit up and it was absolutely top notch! Took some pictures but i bet they wont do it justice. Ive got the memories of it though i suppose.

By this time i was pretty shattered and was up for bed but not before i went over to Lan Kwai Fong (the bar and restaurant area) to sample some of that. Was as i imagnied - a strip full of brits, irish bars and takeaway pizza places. Had a few tsing taos and even managed to watch the second half of liverpool vs wolves! And we actually won. Treat!

After that was time for bed, but not before one last game of food lottery. Wasnt very hungry so tried to order a couple of portions of chicken satay as me loves it. Anyway she plonked down a massive bowl of beef in satay sauce with noodles. But it was yum! And just as i was about to dig in she brought me over some sort of tea, and a plate with a ham omellete and a piece of toast that was bigger than switzerland. I took a picture of it. All that and my drink (what i actually ordered) plus tip came to 50 HK dollars - about 4 pound 12p to you and me! WINNER!

And i do believe thats about it for HK. Except seeing that really annoying, bald and dumpy tv presenter that does them ive found it in my wardrobe, its stolen from my attic programmes. Random.

Anyway absolutely loved HK, shame the weather was a pit pants but i didnt let that stop me doing evertyhiong and enjoying the city. Sorry no photos yet, my lead is packed at the bottom of my bag and checked in. Waiting now in departures for my 12 hour flight to Melbourne. Cannae wait. Sorry if this was a bit long, i imagine the rest of the entries will be more regular and not so text heavy!

hope you all had a good boxing day. love to all x

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