Good food, great friends and laughter - lots of each....

What a contrast from Beijing. To be honest, I could not have left Beijing quickly enough and to have Hong Kong next on the itinerary only made the contrast of the two more extreme. To start with we were greeted with efficient service, trains on time and a smiling friendly face (of the one and only Aidan Campbell) at the other side. Falling in love with Hong Kong was instant for both of us. The smart city and slick service still has an edge to it that is tangible. And neatly tucked between the high rises and designer boutiques is life...rough, real and tasty. I am not sure if we overstayed our welcome, but spending 7 days in HK was brilliant - much needed downtime, washing (done for us) and time to prepare for the next leg of the journey.

Aidan was a brilliant tour guide. Within minutes we knew how everything worked, where to get what, how it all worked and what to avoid. Discovering their (Aidan and Carla's) eating spots was a treat and our first night we were delighted to share in their sushi spot (local style) Ladies and Temple street night markets (new Gucci wallet for me!) and all contained within the bright city lights - always look up, otherwise you miss it.

In fact LOTS OF FOOD should be the title of this blog as we seemed to do a lot of eating out. Sat morning we started with dim sum - again we were the only gwailo (Westerners) in the place and thanks to Caroline and Carla for the tour of the menu. More please! Followed by a wander through Hong Kong Park and their very cool free aviary. We also marveled at the fish and terrapins in the pond for ages.

The evening entertainment was Lan Kwai Fong with all the bars packed with stylish bankers - my jeans and a t-shirt was a stretch for "smart"!!

The week highlights were:
Stanley Bay - in 45min you are in a totally different world and would guess you were in the Med. Winding roads, bargain hunting and noodle bars dominated the day.

Markets, markets, markets - Ladies, Temple street, Jade.... you name it we went there and there are bargains to be found. A t-shirt and handbag were the only purchases and anyone who has been here knows how restrained that is. Simon also managed a purchase (but not in a market) and a new camera lens was invested in (expect GREAT pics from here on)

Foot massages - aaaahhhhh...... although a little ticklish at first.

Happy Valley races - horses running through the high rises at night... very popular with the locals and expats alike. No money was won, but the bets were small.

Lama Island - and no there are not actual lama's there!! Wonderful day on one of the islands south of the main island. Hot, hot, hot and the 5km hike across it was rewarded with spectacular views at the top and a cold beer and FAB seafood at the end.


Food - of every kind. Dim Sum, Sushi, Noodles, Thai and the best burger in years (not McD's)


Meeting cool people - Aidan and Carla have lots of friends in HK and over various evenings of drinks / dinner / lunch we met most of them. Our final night was spent at Jaspas for some good Aussie grub and a cocktail or two. Aidan - how was that 'Salty Dog'?

View of HK Island from the bay - especially over a cocktail or two at the Intercontinental!! Bright lights, big city!


Sadly we departed Hong Kong, but ready for the next adventure with backpacks full of clean clothes and a plan (all be it a rough one) I do have a feeling we will be back though.... more than once. Easily 'movable to' if we could find the jobs!