Touristy stuff with PL (part one)

It’s taken me a while to write this post, for a few of reasons…

Em was only here for two weeks but we did so much whilst she was here that it’s taken a while to get it all written down. My sister, Lauren, also arrived less than two weeks after Em left (I’ll save the stuff I did with Lauren for a separate blog post). I’m also gonna have to split this post in to two parts. The second part about our trip to Macau and our adventure in Mainland China will follow soon.

I keep being told that I need to add more pictures from my time here. There’s a problem though as I’m also a bit light on pictures to go with this post. I forgot to get a lot of then off Em’s camera before she left. I’m hoping to get a CD with them on soon (hint!) so I’ll post more pics up then.

It feels like a lifetime ago that Em was in HK, but it was only six weeks ago that she arrived.

We spent the first couple of days on Hong Kong Island so that she could get over her jetlag and get to know the area where I live. We went up to the Peak. I’d already been up at night time and wanted to go up during the day, but Em also wanted to see it at night time. We got the tram up (didn’t cheat with a taxi this time!) at around 5pm and stayed until after 8pm. It was perfect as we got to see it from both perspectives. Like last time I went up, it suddenly started to rain really heavily for around 20 minutes and then stopped just as suddenly.

The best thing about going up the Peak is the air quality. As soon as you step outside, you are able to breath properly! It completely different to how it is down on the island. I’ve had to use my inhaler so much more here then I did back home but I can breath so much better up there. It’s really nice.

Big Budha: I’ve been wanting to up in the cable car to the Big Buddha – Tian Tan Buddha to give it its proper name – since I arrived in HK, but I knew it would be something that Em would like to do so I saved it until now.

The cable car takes around 30 minutes to get to the top, winding through the hills – The views are amazing. We got one of the glass bottom cable cars, which was pretty cool.

We went inside the Buddha then visited the huge monastery that is also there. We also ate in the monastery – It was really nice.

We spent the entire day up there as there’s so much to see. It was probably the hottest it’s been since I arrived in HK. It was unbelievably hot – I think 35 or 36 degrees. However, like the Peak, the air quality up there was ace.

Races: We decided to go to Happy Valley to watch the horse racing. It’s not something I’ve (or Em, I don’t think) ever really been bothered about doing but Happy Valley is always one of those courses that I hear about and it’s only down the road from my flat.

It was less then £1 to get and we were there for six races (I think). Between us, we know nothing about horse racing so we did what everyone does when they know nothing about horse racing – We went off the names of the horses and the designs of the jockey’s shirts! We each put a bet on the last four races and won… Nothing. Still, it was good fun.

Football: We stayed up to watch the Champions League final but the bar that I usually go to watch the football was full so we had to try somewhere else. It had a nice mix of Barca and United fans.

There’s not much else to say about this – We got spanked by the best team in the world. It was a very bizarre feeling, walking home at 5am with the birds singing, wondering if we did the right thing by staying up to watch a match that I knew we were going to lose. Having said that, I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if I’d missed it.

The plan for the next day was to go to Hong Kong Stadium to watch the Chinese FA Cup final. We didn’t bother going and went to the beach instead. I think we’d decided that we’d had enough of football until August comes around again.

Helicopter flight: I was hoping that Joe would be available to take us both up in the helicopter. It was something I was lucky enough to be able to do in my first week here and I was really happy when Joe said he’d take us both up during Em’s second week here. Joe is one of only four qualified helicopter instructors in HK and the fact that he is prepared to give up his time and take us on a flight for free is amazing.

We were up for around 50 minutes and the weather was great – It was a really clear day. We flew over the Big Buddha which meant we had seen it from every conceivable angle over the course of a week!

After the flight, we went to walk around Kowloon Walled City Park. I’d never read about it but Em had been talking about going since she arrived. It’s got a very cool history, which I won’t go in to here as this post is long enough. However, I’m here to help, and if you’re in to a bit of history then you can click here to read about it.

Beaches: We went to a few different beaches – Some of which I’d not been to before.

We took a 20 minute boat ride from Central to Lamma Island. The island is a very peaceful place. No vehicles are allowed on the island (apart from ambulances and fire engines) and no buildings are allowed to be more than three stories high. When you get off the boat, the beach is a 15 minute walk away but the it’s pretty cool. You walk through a small village and then through a wooded area.

The most bizarre thing about sitting on the beach is the fact that Lamma Island has a huge coal-fired power station!

We visited Stanley, which is another place that I’ve been waiting to go to. We set off and as soon as we got to the bus stop, with all out beach stuff in our bag, the heavens opened and it absolutely pissed it down. The beach was obviously not happening but we walked around Stanley market and then went for food. We had fish & chips which is something I’ve wanted to eat for weeks! It was great.  I plan to go back to Stanley when the sun is shining,

Em’s flight home was in the evening, so on her last afternoon, we went to Repulse Bay beach. After my paddling adventures a few weeks ago, she convinced me to go in the sea properly. She had to reassure me for about 20 minutes that she wouldn’t let me drown and, with her being an ex-lifeguard, I had to trust her.

Food: I tried to make sure Em got to try as many foods as possible whilst she was here. She doesn’t eat meat, but the fact that she eats fish helped a lot.  We tried loads of local restaurants, including the world’s cheapest Michelin starred restaurant! I think Em’s favourite meal was when we went for hotpot.

Although we packed so much in to the two weeks, there was so much other stuff that we just didn’t get time to do. They can be done next time, I guess. It was, by far, the best time I’ve had since I got here. As I blogged after Em had gone home, everything just felt ‘normal’ – I know she got annoyed or frustrated with me at times because, as strange as it sounds, I wasn’t used to being around the same person for 24 hours a day. I can’t explain it.

I’m so glad that she came and got to see where I live etc. I think she enjoyed HK. At least, I hope she did…

More pics to follow soon. Send me the pics, PL!

AJG

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