Friday 4th March

We are safely back in UK.
The flight, although long, was fine.  We had champagne as soon as we boarded.  We were well fed:  3 course brunch, snacks throughout the flight, 4 course dinner with huge glasses of wine which was topped up, dessert wine and port to complement the cheese.  We were met by our chauffeur driven Merc and in what seemed no time at all, were delivered to Ted and Mya's.   We noted the speed and volume of traffic was somewhat different to the pace of life in NZ! 

Photos have been uploaded to yesterday's blog. 

We are rather tired; Ian was nodding off at the dinner table so it is early to bed. 

Thursday 2nd March

The last full day of our holiday!

We had to “enjoy” an early breakfast as our tour bus picked us up at 8.00am.  Our guide, Danny Boy, told us that we had two more hotel pick ups so “sit back and relax”.

When all the passengers had been picked up, we were told that the Peak Tram was not running as it was out of commission for 5 days for maintenance.  Just our luck!

We drove through the tunnel onto Hong Kong Island and our first stop was at Aberdeen, a fishing village that was nothing like Aberdeen in Scotland.  We were given the opportunity to have an entertaining voyage on a Sampan. 

The skipper spoke very limited English, with a very heavy accent and shouted at us to try to make us understand what he was saying.  He pointed out a luxury cruiser that he said belonged to Jackie Chan, who are we to disbelieve him?  He took us around houseboats, the largest floating restaurant in the world,

small fishing boats and very large fishing boats.  It was an extremely busy little harbour.

Our next stop was at a jewellery factory where we were told that we would see how the jewellery was made and be instructed in all aspects from design right through to quality control.  We did have a three minute talk from a young lady, whose accent was very heavy and difficult to understand.  She didn’t go into any details and spent most of the time talking about the Chinese horoscopes and asking what sign we were.  It was not very enthralling.  Then we were shown into the workshop where three people were sitting at work benches not doing a lot.  We weren’t very thrilled with their quality control!  Then into the show room where we were encouraged to buy!  Well, what else had we been taken there for.  Actually, we did get a drink and it was a useful bathroom stop!

Then it was on to Stanley Market, the place that everyone associates with Hong Kong.  It was a fairly bustling market but we quickly walked through it and out onto the water’s edge.  We followed the signs for a Temple and found ourselves inside a modern complex that was being built.  Oops, not quite what we were looking for.  Although some people we know do make a religion out of shopping!!  We found our way to the temple and went inside.  It was very ornate and had statues of many deities.  In front of all of the statues were bowls of fruit.  Linda couldn’t stay in it for very long as they were burning so many joss sticks that it was making her feel ill.

After walking back through the market we met up with Danny Boy at the coach.  He told us that he had had a message from the office to say that the Peak Tram was due to reopen at 1.00pm so we would be able to make a one way journey.  We drove up to the Peak and Danny pointed out many of the buildings that could be seen through the haze (according to him there is no smog in Hong Kong, only haze).

The sun had started to shine by this time although photographs were proving difficult because of the light quality.

While we were at the Peak we went out onto the famous Green Terrace where they are proud to show that they are helping the environment by collecting rain water and using solar panels!  The Green Terrace afforded us a view over Hong Kong Island both to the north and to the south. 

On Hong Kong Island we passed through areas once occupied by senior British military personnel and now owned by millionaires.

On the journey back we went through many of the areas of Kowloon that we had walked through yesterday.

Back at the hotel it was chance for a lunch stop and a much needed cup of tea.  Then it was out to sample the delights of the different markets.  The flower market was beautiful and the aromas were gorgeous.  We had never seen so many flowers and plants in one place before.  We could have bought so many, including orchids for $20 (less than £2). 

We went to the bird market which Linda found a little disturbing as there were hundreds of “wild birds” in cages, waiting to be sold.  They looked in good condition and they were singing but it felt very wrong.

We found an indoor market selling the freshest fish, well it was still alive! 

We also saw live chickens waiting to be butchered and sold.

A stroll back through the Ladies Market, which was full of  “designer” bags, very glittery ornaments and clothes, brought us back to the hotel.

We asked about getting down to the waterside and were told that there was a free courtesy coach from the hotel to take us there.  After a very quick wash and change we were down stairs for the coach. The traffic was horrendous and it took us 45 minutes to get to the waterside.  The journey took through the very bustling city centre where everything was lit up so much that it hurt our eyes.  At the waterside we experienced a spectacular light show that is put on every night.  The buildings on Hong Kong Island are lit up; some have laser lights on their roofs, and the lights change in time to the music being played on Kowloon. The light show was spectacular but very much at odds with all of the signs around the city telling us how green they were and how to save our resources!

The courtesy bus then took us back to the hotel and as the traffic had cleared the driver did the journey in 8 minutes. 

We were able to go to the hotel restaurant to indulge in the buffet meal.  We were faced with a fantastic selection of Chinese dishes, including ostrich.  Ian sampled virtually all the fish dishes on offer including some spider crab.  The waitress brought him some nutcrackers and special scissors to use and a bowl of lemon water to rinse fingers after.

Then it was back to the room to pack and try to get some sleep before the wake up call at 4.10 am!  Our flight is at 8.15am so we are booked on the limousine shuttle service out to the airport. 

You will have to view our final photos when we get back to UK

Wednesday 2nd March

We arrived safely in Hong Kong at about 5.30am local time.  Not much sleep had by either of us on the journey.

We were through immigration quickly and collected three of our four bags very quickly, but had to wait for ages for the small one with the toiletries in.

We asked at an information desk about how to get to our hotel.  A suggestion of the train followed by a bus was not what we wanted to hear as we thought that there was a shuttle bus.  Linda rummaged through her paper work to find that there were details of a shuttle bus in the original itinerary but not in the final itinerary.  Thank goodness that she had brought both copies!  It told us that we needed to go to stand B17.  We found a pillar with B17 on it and waited there for about 5 minutes until we realised that there was a notice on the other side of it!!  That shows how tired we both were.  It instructed us to go to desk B17 but we could only find desks B1 to B16!  We asked at B15 who told us where the missing desks were.  We pushed our luggage to the correct desk only to find that it was unmanned and there was a notice on it to go to B12!!! Linda was finding this very funny or was it that she was having hysterics by this time.  We went back to B12 and found that there was a very reasonable charge of $100 per person (about £8) for the shuttle bus and that we could charge it to the room.  We booked the tickets and then were sent off to another area to sit and wait.  We were approached three times by different people reassuring us that we would be moving very shortly!  Finally we were approached by a young man and told to follow him!  We did and finally got into a very luxurious shuttle bus (leather seats like arm chairs), leaving the airport at 7.15 am and arriving at the hotel at 8.00am.

We approached check in to ask if we could leave our luggage but were booked in and given a room immediately!  Service!

Up to the room and the bags were brought up for us.  We managed a quick cup of tea and then Linda had to get into bed to have about an hour’s sleep.

Feeling refreshed we both showered and set off to explore.

All of our senses were assaulted at once.  The noise was horrible, the sights were incredible, it was very hot and our noses were given whiffs of exotic food and horrible drains!  The smog spoilt many of our views of the city.

 

After walking past some traditional market areas, we passed through the jewellery area selling mainly expensive watches and bracelets.  We continued walking around the main Kowloon shopping area ( where designer shops were cheek by jowl with market stalls, Chinese food shops and fast food outlets) ending up at the harbour side. 

 

We walked along the Avenue of the Stars but only recognised the names of Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee.  There was also a statue of Bruce Lee.

 

We were reminded of our visits to both Canada (Whales) and Germany (Lions) when we saw the Buddy Bears that Jackie Chan had first come across in Germany in 1990 and brought the idea back to Hong Kong.

 

On the way back from the Harbour side we visited one of the city parks and admired the beautiful flowers and the birds (both wild and caged).

Linda was fascinated to watch the people, mainly men, playing a board game with counters.  We weren’t too sure what game it was.  People just sat down at the board and then waited for someone else to come along and play.

 

During the day we were approached many times asking whether Ian wanted to have shirts or suits made or whether we wanted “copy watches”; all of these offers we declined.  In contrast, many designer shops had doormen restricting access so that queues were formed up outside and shoppers were allowed in when others came out.

 

We noted that there were some very smart, modern buildings adjacent to some very scruffy ones; also that the majority of buildings were high-rise with street facing shops on the ground floor, other trading establishments on the first and second floors (with lift access from spooky passages) and residential on the remaining floors (access not apparent).

We were extremely weary when we got back from our 8 km walk around the city so after downloading the photographs we changed and went for dinner in the hotel.

We were thrilled to find that we could have broadband access to the internet in the room and there was no limit or charge on it.  We were able to look at the e mails and were thrilled to find one from Nick and Jenny Frost who we were friendly with when we were first married and lived in Hildesheim.

After writing the blog, accessing the account to publish it has proved problematical as the required toolbar is in Chinese characters!!

As you will deduce, we have succeeded in uploading it, complete with photos so we are having an early night as our sightseeing tour of Hong Kong by coach starts at 8.00am.