Country: China.
City: Hong Kong.
Currency: 1Euro = 8.5 China Yuan Renminbi.
Arrival Date: Friday March 14th.

Date: Wednesday the 19th, 12pm

OK so I finally made it to Hong Kong!! Wow my first time every here and I love it here too!! I thought Japan was great, really diverse and fantastic fashions, customs, people and technology!! Hong Kong has all that too ...well not as weird and wonderful on the fashion side of things as the Japanese but still up there!! Only in Hong Kong you can shop til you drop!! There is so much you can buy...literally Anything you desire you can buy here!! let you imagination run wild!! heheee But the thing I enjoyed most was the fake stuff that you can haggle for and get for a couple of dollars!! Something that probably would have cost you 10 times the price for the same stuff in Europe and hundreds of times the price if it wasn't a fake, like the designer names!! WOW I've never seen anything like the markets, shops and massive malls they have here!! Amazing!!

So anyway let me start with the day I arrived on Friday the 14th.
I got to the huge Hong Kong airport and after getting the train to another part of the airport then waiting a while to get through immigration, then picking up my bags, I found the information desk, figured out how to get to Hong Kong Island and finally left the airport!! heheheee well it's a big airport you know! So I got the 12A bus to downtown Hong Kong Island which took about 45 minutes. You see there are four sections to Hong Kong in all. There's Lantau Island where the new airport is located, then there's Hong Kong Island itself, then there's Kowloon and then the land between The Peoples Republic of China and Kowloon is called the New Territories! So I decided to stay on Hong Kong Island itself and found a cheap hostal called Mount Davis Jockey Club Hostal.

The guy at the airport advised me to get a taxi up to the hostal from downtown instead of getting the second bus and walking the rest of the way. And it was just as well I took his advice because after getting the taxi we drove up the biggest, steepest (is that a word?? hmm) winding road you've ever seen!! After about 10 minutes driving uphil get found the hostal!! It was on the top of a bloody mountain (maybe thats why it's called Mount Davis!!) So I never wouldve walked uphill with my full pack in a million years!! So I got there anyways and checked in!! Great I thought! Only 7.50 Euro a night!! For Hong Kong that was superb!! Later I figured out why!! Now dont get me wrong I liked the place in the end!! kinda..hehehe...well it grows on you doesnt it!!

OK so there was one big dorm room for all the girls in the place ...let me see there must have been about 30 beds in the dorm that looked like they were imported from a Chinese prison! hehehee They had little bars at the end of the bunk bed that your feet kept hitting off and if you're a bloke, getting stuck in (so I was informed!). They were kinda comfy I guess ...which would have been grand cos I stayed in places like that before and not had a problem with them for what you're paying...only thing was ...there was nothing up there on the mountain!! No shops, no way of getting food, no taxi's, no internet, no other buildings even and no way of getting anywhere without waiting for the hostal bus!! which only left at 7, 9, 10.30am and 8.30pm!!

I got there at 5pm so was stuck til 8.30 (hungry) until I could get back to civilisation and get some food at 9pm!! Even then it would've been ok except the only way of getting back was the last bus at 10.30pm. So I got that and hung out chatting to a few people who were sitting out on the open air terrace. There was however the most fantastic view of the whole of Hong Kong!! all lit up and looking absolutely amazing!! so that did make up for everything a bit. I decided to head off to bed and get some sleep as I was pretty tired after a long day and see what was in store for me in Hong Kong itself on Saturday!!

I got up when I was woken up by everyone else getting up at about 8.30am on Saturday the 15th.
I had one of the interesting showers that scald you first of all then go cold and then when you actually get it to the right tempertaure it turns into a dribble and five minutes later the water runs out of the tank and it's cold again! hehheee I got used to it by the second and third day and would hop into another shower and use that tank if the water ran out in mine!! heheee Anyway I met Helen from England that morning and got chatting to her. To cut a long story short myself, Helen and her boyfriend Jason ended up getting the bus down the mountain at 9am together and followed Simon (another English guy) to the Tourist Information centre to see what they had to offer!! We were trying to see if there was a tour around Hong Kong like a hop-on hop-off bus or something that we could get to see where everything was roughly.

We ended up getting a tour of The Island of Lantau!! hehee it was really good!! We started with a ferry ride from Central on HK Island and in an hour we arrive at Mui Wo on Lantau Island. We hopped on the Lantau Explorer Bus which was waiting by the ferry pier and guess who was on the bus only Simon!! He had gone earlier on the slower ferry and we had caught up to him on the fast one after we grabbed breakfast!! heheee That was funny!! So we all hung out together for the day and the first stop was 15 minutes at Cheung Sha Beach, the longest beach in Hong Kong. Then back on the Bus and off up to the Big Buddha!! He was a big bugger!! So we had an up close and personal encounter with the world's largest, seated, outdoor, bronze Buddha!!! We walked about the grounds and saw the temples and even tried the Buddhist vegetarian lunch at the monastery!! That was interesting!! hehehe

The third and final stop was the 'Tai O' fishing village, home to some of the ethnic boat people of Hong Kong. The village had houses built on stilts and these amazing fish markets and ..well.. they sold lots of other stuff too!! If I just knew what the hell they were it'd be good!! lots of dried stuff!! all types of things, fish, eggs, birds (live and dead), meat ...etc...etc... Then we hopped on the bus back to Mui Wo for the return ferry to Central!! All for 15 Euro!!! Not bad eh!! Check out the littel map of the Island and where we went!!

When we got back we took a stroll to the Irish bar 'Dublin Jack's and met up with a few others from the hostal just to check out the bar and see if it was good for a Paddy's Day celebration pub!! It was!! So then we got the No.15 bus up the mountain on Hong Kong island to Victoria Peak which is a great lookout point for the city at night!! There were tons of people there and we stopped after that to get some dinner! We ended up at this little pizza place at the peak and ordered some pizzas!! No ordinary pizza though! Well we are in Hong Kong so we got a duck pizza!! hmmm interesting! and a sausage and ham one as well...just in case...it was ok but not the best really!! Lucky we had the sausage one to feast on!! Then we got the bus back and that the 10.30pm bus to the hostal and back up the hill again!!! It was a long tiring day so any bed was welcoming at that stage!!

I got up kinda early again on Sunday the 16th.
Again people getting up tend to wake you hehheeee. So Jason and Helen were on the same bus downtown at 9am so we all went to the info centre again to find something to do that day on HK island!! We got the details of a tour that cost 35 Euro and did it ourselves by getting the bus for 1euro to Stanley Markey where we strolled leisurely about and checked out all the bargains!! Then caught another bus to Aberdeen and took a Sanpan trip on the river!! It was really nice and very interesting to see all the fishing boats there. We even passed by the exclusive Floating Restaurant which was a spectacular sight to see!! After that we headed to the Aberdeen market which was unbelievable!! It was the stinkiest market I've ever been at! They had racks of dead meat and all sorts and in that heat it was gross!!!

Then beside that they had live animals for sale all squashed into cages!!! It was aweful to see!! Then right beside all that there were other stalls selling clothes and dresses and that!! Stinky dead meat and then clothes!! It was just weird and aweful and interesting all at the same time!! After that we headed back to HK and walked through Soho to see the shops and sights there before having dinner and taking the tram to Times Square!! They had lots of big screens and lights and very expensive shopping there!! We took a stroll around the gigantic Causeway Bay Shopping Centre which was massive inside and had about 9 floors all organised accoring to the type of item you're looking for!! Very Clever!! We didn't buy anything of course as it was far too expensive but nice to look at!! Then we hopped on the fancy metro and got to the 9pm bus just in time before it left else we would have had to wait another hour and a hlf to get back!! I was pretty tired so after a bit of a chat at the hostal with the others I went to bed.

We got up and took the metro under the sea to Kowloon on Monday the 17th.
Happy St Patricks Day!!! hehee There was a walking tour around Kowloon which we (Helen, Jason and I) did and I really enjoyed!! We started at the Flower market which was lovely!! Then to the Bird market which was really interesting to see, but hard sometimes when you see far too many birds in really small cages!! Unfortunately thats the way things are done there and even though you feel like opening all the cages and setting them free you can't change the ways of an entire country!! Later we made it to the fish, cat, dog, snake and everything you can imagine market!! We wandered through the Ladies market where I eventually after 5 months of holding back bought a silver ring, a Gucci bag, a leather belt, a pair of shades and a CK watch all for ...get this 26 EURO!!! hehehee YOU GOTTA LOVE HONG KONG!! And you Have to haggle!!!

After all that we headed back on the Star Ferry over the bay to HK and up to the Irish Bar to celebrate Paddys Day with a yummy dinner in The Dublin Jack pub!! Helen, Jason and Simon all came along and it was great fun!! I had yummy mushrooms for starters, then Salmon for main and apple tart for desert!! yum yum!! We stayed there for some irish music and three of us even got a free Guinness hat as well!! We headed back to the hostal on the 10.30pm bus and continued the celebration with a few Germans and people in the hostal until about 1am!! I was pretty knackered after a long day walking and eating and partying and went to bed then!! What a fun day though!!! heheeee

I got up pretty late on Tuesday the 18th.
I took the 10.30am bus downtown with the guys adn booked the New Territories tour for 1pm with Simon. I had breakfast and a stroll about some shops and checked my mail for free in The Pacific Coffee shop (which is pretty cool!) before meeting Simon for the tour. We went off on teh bus into teh country side to the quiet temple where The Buddhist and Taoist traditions of Hong Kong's ethnic Chinese majority converge. At the temple the air is thick with the fragrance of incense. Worshipers can light three sticks of incense, one each for the earth, the heavens, and humankind. It's believed that the rising smoke carries prayers and wishes to the heavens.

Then we took the bus to visit Tai Mo Shan ("Big Misty Mountain") and at 3,144 feet, Hong Kong's highest point which normally provides a stunning panorama of the region's rugged beauty!! We saw nothing but the misty bit though!! hehehee ah well.. back on the bus and off to the coast where there are lots of tiny fishing villages. The bus stopped in one, where the Tanka Boat People, descendants of the New Territories' original inhabitants, still continue the daily routine of centuries of fishermen before them. After that we headed for the traditional rural market in Luen Wo. Here you can buy all sorts!! Chickens, vegetables, rice and fish. It's not really a tourist market but here you can see where the locals do their shopping!! So that was a fun day out at the places that you cant really get to otherwise!!

When the tour was over they dropped us at the Kowloon side so we could meet up with Helen and Jason who had gone shopping for the day! W took a stroll around The Temple Street Night Market and saw some very interesting things for sale there!! hehehee After all that fun and excitement .. ahem... we headed for the Spaghetti House and had a yummy dinner!! We hopped on teh ferry back over to Hong Kong and saw the city by night again!! What a fantastic sight it is!! We were kinda early for the bus and so just chilled in the shopping centre before hopping on the 10.30pm bus back to the hostal. I chatted with the guys for a while before organising me stuff for leaving on wednesday and my trip to The Philippines!! hahahaaa I'm off to the sun and the heat again!! and the mosquitos and the malaria!!! Doh!! Although HK was pretty hot too and I did get some sun on one or two days!! But the Philippines wil be hotter!! hehehe Bring it on!!

So Wednesday the 19th has arrived .
I got up late and just had enough time to sort myself out before getting the bus to the HK station downtown. Helen, Jason and Simon all waited for me and we got the bus together!! They were really nice and even carried my bags for me on the short walk from the Maccau ferry station where we were dropped off up to the HK station where you can check in!! Thanks for the help guys!! hehehee I must say that Hong Kong is fantastic in that sense!! You can check in for your flight any time during the day and they'll take your bags off you and bring them to the airport while you wander leisurely around the Island and shop before heading off for a flight later in the day!! Yet again...Very Clever!! You just pay 10 dollars for the ticket and they take your bags and you can get the train any time during the day from the station which will get you to the airport in 23minutes!! I counted!!

It's a really nice train too, with tv screens in every seat to amuse you for the 23minute ride to the airport!! Clever people in HK, with the subway map on all the metro tickets, walkways above the streets so that you can walk anywhere without having to cross a raod, worry about cars or wait for lights!! They have the worlds longest system of escalators above ground through the streets so you dont even have to walk some of the way!! What a fantastic place it is!! Then when I got to the airport although you do need to account for the long wait getting through immigration again and then trek to your gate which can take up to 25minutes walking!! You can however just take the train most of the way, which was just as well as i was at gate 65!!! But they have lots of realyl nice shops and restaurants and even free internet in a few differnen places throughout the airport!! Definitely coming back to Hong Kong again!! Without a doubt!! Bye for now! I had a real blast there!! :-)

Here will be the photos!!

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