29th - 31st July 2009

Feeling relaxed and rejuvenated we arrived in Hong Kong and headed on the train to Kowloon where we found some nice accommodation for a reasonable price. That night we walked around the night market and I had a strange dinner of rice and beef but the beef was mostly weird looking skin which I didn't eat.

The next day we got up and headed over to the city on the ferry. Our first stop was the financial tower where there is a viewing deck. We weren't allowed in because we didn't have our passports on us so we headed to China Bank where there was also a viewing deck where you didn't need ID. We were so impressed on the walk over by the infrastructure of Hong Kong as you barely have to walk on the foot path as they have open air walkways that connect a lot of the buildings. We went up the tower and were amazed by the gorgeous view. It was possibly even better than the first option as we could see that tower from where we were. Following that we headed to the park and zoo and had a walk around there looking at the animals. We then went up the peak tram and to the peak tower where there is an amazing 360 degree view of the city. It'd been raining so it wasn't the nicest day for it but still worthwhile. It's crazy the hill that tram has to climb up.

On our way back through Haiphong road we were once again hassled by Indians trawling for someone to make a suit for. We can't work out why they always ask me (Sam) because the wife beater, elephant shaped bag and green toe nails should be a sign I'm not interested. We did however start having a bit of fun with them. We decided to start saying random things, my word is watermelon and Nikki's is pineapple. The first few times we just laughed but after that it started to work. It would have spiced there day up a little too from just hearing the same thing all day. So they heard "No Thanks, No, Pineapple, No". The confusion lasted long enough for us to get away.

Another trick we used to get back at the annoying tailors was to point at something in the window if they were inside as we walked by. They would then come running out after you but by then you're gone.

We had a late flight out on our last day in Hong Kong, so after checking out of the hotel at noon we headed to the shopping centre to while away the hours before our flight.We went and saw 'UP' in 3D which was really good except that we both ended up with crook necks afterwards from looking up at the screen.

Overall we had a fantastic time in SE Asia with many great experiences and friends. You'd think 3.5 months would be enough but we're already talking about where we'll go back to so I guess it's the start of a lifetime of travel through Asia for us. The Americas here we come!