17th November 2005 Early start from Beijing to HK (flight at 0750) Usual stuff with airports at that time of the morning, shops just opening up and procedures are pretty slow. still we had our supposed chocolate buns from the local bakery in Beijing to look forward to. Unfortunately this chocolate looking substance also seemed to be chestnut so was slightly dissapointed. One thing we have been impreseed with has been Cathay Pacific. More specifically the food offered on their flights which this morning was a cracking English breakfast for me and noodles for the wife. In flight entertainment was the Wedding Crashers which was pretty good and I didn't mind laughing out load and annoying those around us. Landed in HK and was immediately dumbfounded by just how well organised the whole place was. Clean & efficient, you'd have thought it was a former German colony. We were due to be staying with the lovely Eva Kong (ex Cemos), our host for the next four or five days and it must be said that she made the place feel home. Thanks again Eva. Crossed over the Lantau Bridge (not the proper name I know) which was mighty impressive and into the heaving behmoth that is Kowloon and Hong Kong Island. Dumped our stuff at Eva's and then went for some simply fantastic dim sum on Nathan Road. Weather was a nice 22 degrees, just one of those annoying temperatures where you don't know whether to go for the whole tourist outfit (shorts and T shirts). Bad news as Eva and Amy soon discovered, I had a cold. One of those really runny ones where you have to blow your nose about 8 million times and still the snot flows. Nice. Also got tissue stuck in me beard lots and was generally feeling pretty s***e. Anyway, took a walking tour round the harbour area and ferry across from one side to the other. The scenery is truly impressive here with some of the most massivist buildings ever. Saw the light show across the harbour which was also pretty impressive, couldn't help thinking that it should be accompanied by music though. Pretty knackered so got the bus home. Friday the 18th November. Before we go any further much thanks again to Eva for letting us stay with her, for the generous use of her room and we had a truly great time. Enough sucking up? well I think so. Now it must be said that space is pretty (understatement) limited in HK. This space may also extend to the size of the beds available. Basically as we said before I don't think we came across any Chinese people who were as tall as me or Amy, therefore why should they sell beds that are over six foot in length? So me and the wife wedged ourselves into Eva's bed with feet touching the cupboards and head touching the headboard, this made turning over practically impossible. Still is was a good laugh and we slept very well. We got up pretty late and went round Kowloon. Bought some noodles from a street restaurant, if that's the right word, and eventually sat down to eat. Got some very strange looks from locals and tourists alike which basically said why the hell are you doing that, can't you afford to eat in a proper restaurant? Which of course we can but that's not the point. HK is so efficient I found it difficult to find any flaws at first, but they are there just like any other big city. First of all, where are all the parks? (no need to answer that one really) secondly where the hell are all the benches to sit on? who stole them and how do you get them back? As you can tell we did the usual Norman thing and decided to walk everywhere and we needed somewhere to sit to rest those achy legs. In the afternoon we went up to the peak overlooking Hong Kong and Kowloon peninsula. We were lucky enough to be up there just as dusk approached and got some great views and hopefully photos as you will be able to see. Now reader we have to report something very grave. You know when you have just had so much of one type of food and you cannot go on, well this happened to us. Some of you may be thinking that what we did next was sacriledge whilst being around so many great restaurants but we were tired and probably a little homesick. So we went for the cheap, easy and dirty option. That's right a good Macca's. Sorry, it was the first and I've said 10 hail mary's to purge my soul. Clearly we will have to do something very special tomorrow night to make up for it..... Saturday 19th November Decide to go to Stanley on HK island for the day. Amy beats me again at Chess which I am getting pretty pissed off about seeing as I taught her how to play (properly) in the first place. Nice little town this one, bit similar to a typical English seaside resort as they say in the books. Had a walk round the busy markets and Amy made the first major purchasement of the trip - a Mah Jong set. We are getting into the bartering thing pretty well now, it's all in the smile apparently. Treat the first price with disdain with a friendly 'I know your game' smile and come back with a totally derogatory offer, half or less of the original amount. Keep haggling and don't give an inch, if you do then they know you are weak and all is lost, Obi wan. So we got a Mah Jong set, reduced from 650 to 475. Not bad considering the quality. However we had not bargained on how we were going to get it back to the UK. Unfortunately this set off a chain of events which had the world prices of Mahjong sets fluctuating as Amy was now well in the groove. Oh yeah had great noodle soup which you can see me eating in the photos. Went out with Eva in the evening for a fantastic seafood meal in Sai Kung. They keep the fishies outside the restuarant just waiting to be cooked. Once you have perused the sometimes enormous fish you go inside and fill your face. Sunday 20th Nov Surprise surprise, Amy has Stu's cold. Nice weather again today. Have a good walk around Central district on HK isalnd, see all sorts, the medicine stalls, ginseng and tea. Good antiques market as well. Stumble upon the fish market which was great entertainment. The sellers have little basket type things in front of them, the very cramped and (lets face it about to die) upset fish are taken from their holding tank and displayed for all to see on the little basket. Fishy get a bit more upset and tries to make a bit of a dive for it. Falling onto floor and getting all dirty. Slightly sick but good fun anyway to see which fish can last the longest and jump the furthest. Go for a 'western' and have a pizza, from (obviously) Pizza express. Watch the footy in a local bar (great) and lined up the beers within happy hour for drinking during the game. Some habits die hard, just like when Spurs give away a last minute goal. The lucky charm Eva had by this time turned up to see West Ham get their last minute goal. still I am not too depressed as don't have to go back to work to face Ken and Campbell in the morning ribbing me about the result. Monday 21st Get up early and go see the big Buddha (BB) on Lantau island. Too much walking was undertaken today. BB was great and got some really nice photos. Temple there was cool too with some full on golden Buddhas(sitting). Aside 1 One of the stations in Hong Kong is called Mong Kok (pronounced Mon cock) Had the French had something to do with this, one asks? Aside 2 HK people are much better at queing than their Beijing counterparts. Must have been something the Brits taught them. Beside the BB there is some wooden sculpture type thing set out in the shape of infinity. Quite impressive really and got some good photos. Try to walk down from Ngong Ping to Tseung Chung (about 6km). Unfortunately we start off on the wrong trail and begin climbing about half way up Lantau Peak. Eventually we figure we are going the wrong way and finally get to Tseung Chung. Feet a lot sorer. Then proceed to walk past ALL the markets looking for more 'great' bargins' before hunger takes over and we treat ourselves to one final sumptuous chinese meal. Pork dumplings were especially good. Aside 3 Goldfish market was my favourite, they supposedly bring good luck the the Chinese. Goldfish were about 10 dollars for about 4 or 5. Life is so cheap these days. We had another great time in Hong Kong, it truly is an international cosmopolitan city but there is one major gripe. There are too many people. Claustrophobia (have I spelt that right? where is the damn spell checker?) is everywhere, just trying to cross the road is a nightmare as you are trying not to bump into others in the middle. That said we would definitely come back as the food was something else (macca's aside). Tomorrow we are off to Bangkok. Not sure what to expect. Will keep you posted though. Thanks for the messages, keep them coming. Lots of Love Stu & Amy.