The first couple of days

We've had a fairly quiet couple of days, with lots of mooching!

Day 1, we had a walk through Kowloon Park. Hong Kong is very excitedly getting ready to host the Asian Games ( a mini Olympics for Asian athletes) from 5th December. The swimming and diving events are to be held in the park, but before that we were amused to see the following upcoming event....



The "Oldies Games" - any volunteers to represent the UK? Haha

In the evening we went over to Discovery Bay to meet N_M's parents (who are here for a month) and his brother and sister-in-law for dinner. A good time was had by all, but we were still quite knackered and headed back to the hotel to bed before midnight!

Yesterday we had a picnic lunch from the local bakers and headed off to meet N_M's parents at Central. From there we went up to the Mid Levels, via a myriad of escalators (yuck!) We exited the escalators at Hollywood Road and made our way to the Man Mo Temple.



From there we visited Possession Point, where the British first landed to colonise Hong Kong. On 26th January 1841, a Royal Navy ship docked close by and the officers came up the hill, erected a flag and British Rule began! They have now made a park close by, a haven of peace amongst all the noise and bustle.



The ponds are full of fish that should be living in someone's tank at home, but have obviously got too big and been released there. We saw giant cat fish, arrowanas and angel fish living alongside terrapins and koi carp. Bizarre!



Last night took us to the night market for some pressie shopping. I've really missed these markets that stay open for shopping until midnight.

Now it's Monday morning, the sun is shining and we're just deciding what to do today. Laters dear readers!

The journey 2009!

We flew with Emirates this time (30kg baggage allowance in Economy swung it!). The flights were good, food plentiful, the staff lovely, but pity the same can't be said for the other psssengers! Well one other passenger whom we shall call Mr Mad for the purposes of this story....

This very large Nigerian guy sat beside me on the Dubai/Hong Kong leg, and the fact he arrived singing loudly was a bit of a good indictor of what was to follow. The loud praying that followed it unnerved me immensely, but he quietened down after take off. For a bit.

Despite his size he was obviously a waif, as he demanded food and liquor constantly. After his substantial chicken dinner, it was I NEED Beef, and abuse for the poor stewardess who told him there were no spare meals. He drank wine and lager until the purser intervened, and elbowed and kneed me constantly. That felt like a long 7 hours!

Everyone now has to fill in a health questionnaire to enter Hong Kong, and they're checking everybody's temperatures as you get off the plane and into the airport building. I felt boiling hot but obviously my core temperature must have been ok as we weren't stopped. As we collected our baggage Mr Mad was nowhere to be seen, so I'm hoping the shambles he made of his health and border control forms had caused him a little delay!!

The hotel feels just like we're coming home, except it has had a huge facelift since last year. It's very smart and we're in a newly refurbished room with a very cool carpet just like we had our eye on at home!

And when we woke up a little while ago the warm sun was streaming in, so I'm signing off now to go out into the hustle and bustle of HK life. Laters Taters!!

Our 2009 Trip

Well, almost a year has gone by since my last post. I'm just getting prepared for another visit though!

We decided to travel a little later this year to get the full benefit of the Christmas lights and celebrations, which had been put up but not switched on last year. So watch this space towards the end of November....

Our penultimate full day :(

We've had a really long, but excellent day, today.

We set off from the hotel on the 9am shuttle bus to meet C at the ferry terminal. We then boarded the jetfoil for the hour long journey to Macau.

On arrival, we chose one of the shuttle buses that are lined up to take visitors to the many hotels and casinos. We started our day at Wynn Casino, which has a superb show "The Tree of prosperity" twice an hour. I've taken some video which I can't upload until I return home, but here are some still pics to get an idea of the enormity of it.


People throw coins at the tree for luck and prosperity - sadly it didn't work for us!

We had a good look around the hotel and shops, then ate a deluxe lunch in one of the many restaurants!


We then took a taxi to go onto The Venetian, another enormous hotel, shops and casino. The scale of this place has to be seen to be believed - they have a St Mark's Square and Grand Canal inside, complete with gondolas and singing gondoliers!


We bought some superb Italian gifts for ourselves, then had a short while in the casino. The amount of money which is won (and mainly lost) is quite scary. We spent the princely sum of 100 dollars between us - about £8!



We had another taxi ride to Macau Tower, with a taxi driver who obviously doubles as Elvis in his spare time!, and found a very good restaurant for dinner. Some singers came round the tables and serenaded us beautifully between courses.

Then we went around the old part of Macau, which was originally under Portuguese ownership, and is still very European in design.


We saw the Ruins of St Paul's, a bizarre building where only one end wall has survived. The whole building behind it has disappeared, it's a very odd but beautiful sight.



After one more trip into a casino, where C tried to teach me roulette (I still don't understand it, hehe) we boarded the last ferry back to Kowloon. We said our goodbyes to C and look forward to seeing her again on our next visit.

And this is our last night, so the last post for now. We've got the joy of trying to fit everything we have bought into our suitcases tomorrow! So au revoir for now, dear readers. Thank you for all your comments and messages, we'll be back home and online again on Friday.

Tuesday 18th

Just a short blog for today.

We arranged to meet up with some of N_M's old friends today. C, his ex-girlfriend, picked us up from our hotel and we went to a totally vegetarian Buddhist restaurant. I trusted her to make my menu choices for me! We were joined by another of his old friends, and had a very relaxing lunch.


We had vegetable fried rice, (much more exciting than the rice at home!), crispy aubergine slices, broccoli in cheese sauce, and vegetable "crabs claws". I didn't try those, but apparently N_M said they did taste quite uncannily fishy!

After lunch, C dropped us back in Tsim Sha Tsui for a wander around while she went back to work. We did more shopping, mainly for Christmas presents, then went back to the hotel for a rest.


Later this evening, we went on the hotel shuttle bus back to the shops and ended the day by Night_Market buying me a beautiful cashmere pashmina from the Night Market! Everywhere is just putting up Christmas lights, and the pandas in the hotel are already feeling festive.


We have an early start tomorrow, as we're joining C on a trip to Macau. We have to be down at the jetfoil at just after 9am, mustn't forget the passports!

Monday 17th

Today we started by taking the hotel minibus down to Tsim Sha Tsui to visit "Sogo", an upmarket department store having a "Thankful Week" for its 15th anniversary. I had my eye on a nice handbag which N_M bought for me today.

From there we made our way by minibus to Kowloon Walled City Park. We visited the park last year, but had arrived just as it was getting dark. So this year we were sure to arrive in good daylight!

Despite all the hustle and bustle of Hong Kong, there are so many places that are truly peaceful and this park is one of them. We had a good look all around, starting in The Yamen, the only remaining historical building.


Whilst viewing the photo exhibition, N_M had a chat with a park official about the original walled city which he had visited many years before.


This guy had been walking round playing traditional music on a wooden flute which gave the park a very authentic feeling.

The gardens are lovely, with several pond areas with various fish in.


There is an exhibition area of bonsai trees which are perfect miniatures of the adult trees.



We also enjoyed the Chinese Zodiac garden, picking out the horse which is N_M's sign, and the bull which is mine.






Near the South Gate entrance is a tree which has obviously been removed from the old city walls and replanted, and is continuing to grow!


From Kowloon, we went back to Sha Tin, Mong Kok and Jordan, for yet more shopping!

Our second Sunday

We've had a most excellent day today!

We decided to make the trip up to Fanling, which is quite close to the Chinese Border. We had 3 changes on the train, and the journey took about an hour. It cost the princely sum of £1 each!

We went to see the Taoist Temple of Fung Ying Seen Koon.


I'm quite drawn to the Taoist way of life - they believe in (a simplified form) no meat, no alcohol, and the reverence of all living creatures. Their temples are always so peaceful and calming.




Here is a picture of the ceiling of the area of worship.






All of the upper floors outside the temple are dedicated to crematoriums. The open fires are kept burning, and then the ashes are stored in walls of small boxes, with a photo of the deceased person on the outside. The most wealthy families have their own "room" of walls, whilst everyone else is laid to rest in smaller boxes on the lower levels. The families bring food and drink to place in shrines alongside the walls.

There was a lovely pond of koi carp by the crematoriums.

It is a very peaceful place to visit.








After leaving the temple, we took a little minibus to Lung Yeuk Tau for a walk along the Heritage Trail. It was quite an exciting ride, through little villages and out into the countryside.

The trail takes you through 12 centuries old villages of the New Territories, some of which are still behind stone walls. We started the trail at Tung Chung Ling Ancestral Hall, which was built in the early 16th Century.

It is being guarded by these two fellows!

Then we went along to the Tin Hau Temple. The main hall of the temple is devoted to the worship of Tin Hau and her guards, Chin Lei Ngan (who is believed to see things a thousand li [Chinese miles] away) and Shun Fung Yi (whose ears can hear sounds as far away as from heaven).


The oldest relics surviving in the temple are two cast iron bells which are kept in the east chamber of the rear hall. One of the bells was cast in 1695 as a gift from the Tang clan to thank Tin Hau after having their sons adopted by her. The other bell was cast in 1700 as an offering to Tin Hau so that the young men of the clan could be blessed during their journey to the city for taking the provincial examinations.


The next monument along is the Lo Wai walled village, built by the Tang Clan, which is not accessible to tourists as all the houses are still inhabited. They all live behind these walls.


We then took the minibus back to Fanling, and the train onto Sha Tin. There we had a lovely shop in the New Town Plaza, picking up some items that N_M had been searching for since we arrived! And now we're back in the hotel having a well deserved rest!