I landed in Shen Zhen on Thursday at about 6pm-ish feeling a little groggy from the flight. Before we even left for China Dave and Raymond had been teasing me relentlessly about the kind of thing that can happen to a lonely white guy in Shen Zhen, especially if they have a large golf bag with them and the shiny aura of a bewildered traveler. However, it seems getting through domestic Chinese flights were not a problem. Also, when I landed, there were actually plenty of English signs pointing me towards the Hong Kong bus companies. So it was a simple matter of buying a standard ticket to Kowloon, jumping onto the bus and hopping over the border when I got there. Border control between China and Hong Kong was a little odd. I had to fill in a form to get through the China side of the border, then another form to get through to the Hong Kong side. It was essentially the same form too, so I've no idea why they think its necessary to manage it this way. And since I was the only tourist and I was carrying loads of baggage, that meant I held the bus up and annoyed everyone. Its not as if there was anything I could do though. I eventually arrived at my accommodation (the Kowloon YMCA - I can see Nev's comments now...) at around 11pm and dropped straight into bed.
Friday started with the cleaning lady barging into my room. This happened every day I was in Hong Kong apart from that one time I remembered to put the "Do not disturb sign" on my door. It was the same cleaning lady every time too. Its fair to say I wasn't impressed at this. However, it did have the fortunate side effect that I got out of bed before breakfast finished. One odd thing about the YMCA was the fact that it seemed to be mostly couples staying there. At breakfast I was the only person sitting on their own. Its not pretty to watch to newly weds spoon feed Greek yoghurt to each other whilst making not very subtle jokes about the similarities between Greek yoghurt and well, I'm sure you can guess. At the other end of the spectrum were the crusty old couples (variously smelling of urine) spoon feeding eachother Greek yoghurt and making not so subtle jokes... you get the picture. Some things aren't worth considering over a bowl of cornflakes and Greek yoghurt.
Anyway, my plan for Friday was to head up to the Peak (which I didn't make) after visiting the office and looking for some cheap PSP games. I dropped into the office at around 11 and met the HKG crew. They took me out to lunch at a local noodle shop where I had my first taste of genuine HK noodles. Yummy. Afterwards I got some advice on socket converters (annoyingly, Hong Kong runs a UK electrical setup. So all the converters I'd bought for china didn't work), and went out to find the knock off psp shops. I ended up buying Burnout for the PSP which I am yet to play. I don't know why I do this - buy a game/console and never actually work up the patience to sit down and use the bloody thing. But anyway it gave me a chance to walk through the financial and shopping districts of the main island. I was fairly impressed. Although the buildings are ridiculously tall and crowded together, the quality of architecture generally surpasses that of Japan and China. This is for two reasons. Firstly they don't have to worry about earthquakes so the buildings can be extremely tall without worrying about structural expense. Secondly, there is a lot of money floating around out there so they don't cut corners. Another aspect that helps make HK attractive are the abundance of old colonial style buildings. Some of them could have been lifted straight out of Bank in London. Later that day I also stumbled into a couple of VCD and import DVD shops. I was sorely tempted to splurge my cash but I really didn't have room for much beyond the VCD of Kung Fu Hustle I bought on my last day.
Friday night was another matter. I met up with Alex from London who has moved out to Hong Kong permanently with the firm. She is getting on well and should be renting her own place by now rather than staying in Corporate Apartments. We ate in Lan Kwai Fong (there was still no sign of Nev's illustrious lady boys) and chatted about relocation etc. Eventually we met up with one of her mates from the UK who also happened to be in town and went for some drinks. Alex seems to know all the cute barmaids (from being stranded out there with no one to hang around with) which meant her mate and myself had a nice time enjoying the view! Also, towards the end we just stood on the street and watched the girls go by. After about eight or nine pints I hit the road, the ferry and eventually the sack.
Saturday was that one morning where I was blessedly spared the attentions of the cleaning lady. That was fortunate because it took till midday to unglue my eyelids. My plan for the day was simple: Get to the Peak. I didn't know what I'd do when I got there but by Jove I'd do it old boy. Anyway, I got ready and put some needed fuel down the gullet. The tram to the top leaves from the main island so I hopped over in the ferry and walked up to the tram station. It was a fantastic old fashioned mountain tram that creaked and bumped its way to the top. It also slows down near the top so you get an awesome cross bay view. At the top is a couple of observation points, a path round the peak, and a shopping mall. Still feeling squeezy I decided to limit my wanderings to the polished colonnades of the shopping centre and grabbed a book to read whilst sitting in the sun. One of the nicest aspects of sitting up there was the fact that the sounds from the city didn't make it all the way up....
Later that day I met up with some work folks and went for a meal in a plush restaurant near my hotel. I can't remember the name of the place but I do remember they served sweet crispy noodles. Mmmm. The evening was completed by a tour of the main island and a brief stop in Stanley. A little fishing village that reminded me of ye olde British sea side towns.
My last full day was spent enjoying Lan Tau island with my Boss and his Wife. First stop was the awesome Buddha - biggest I've ever seen - near the central peak of the island. This spot is isolated and beautiful. The monks at the monastery live a life of quiet service and ask only that we respect their peace... its a pity then that a hulking cable car service is being constructed right next to it... sigh. We also visited another fishing town called Tai O on the far western point of the island. This was a rustic little affair with genuine weather-beaten locals and shanty town style plywood huts. It was a little weird to see this kind of poverty so close to the hubbub of the airport and on such a small island too. Its like the government doesn't really care about these people... Anyway, you can see the photos on flickr. Oh, lest I forget. I had some fantastic Char Sui pork courtesy of Raymond at one of his local restaurants. Mmm
Then it was Monday and I was on my way back to Tokyo... What had I achieved in China? Lets recap, in order of importance:
1) A nice tan
2) Eating Dog
3) Eating Frog
4) Eating Sweet Crispy Noodles
5) Eating Crazy sweets in Tai O
6) Seeing a hyuge Buddha
7) Buying import PSP games
8) Meeting cute Locals
9) Losing lots of money at golf
10) Getting my worst recorded score at golf.
Hmm, next time I go on holiday, I think I'll hold off on the Golf.
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