Robsons-Adventures_HK_Holiday Reports-Diary

11/6 - Don't no why but neither of us could sleep last night, max of about 3 hours. Anyway after a coffee and panini for breakfast we headed to Kowloon Tong on the MTR and changed onto the KCR (train) to Sha Tin. All connections with no more than 2 mins to wait. Once at Sha Tin it took a few minutes to get orientated and make our way down to the river for the Dragon Boat racing. The heat and humidity today were bit of a killer - even for me! The boat racing was a bit disappointing here; it was the juniors racing and we were quite a distance from the action, being stuck on the river bank. I had read that there was also some racing at Stanley, so we decided to head their via the Mongkok computer centre. You could get software cheap, but most other things seemed to be the same price as back home. From Mongkok we caught the MTR to Central and then a #6 bus to Stanley. The traffic was terrible, until after Repulse Bay. Once at Stanley we eventually found were the Dragon Boat racing was taking

place and this was what we had come to see. Just how we had imagined it. Large boats with drummers and we were able to get right in with the competitors and mingle with them on the beach. Great atmosphere!!! Perhaps next year we should enter a Met Office team. Traffic back to Central wasn't quite as bad, but still slow. It was then back to the hotel and across the road for dinner. I then headed out for a massage to the same place as I had visited last year on a couple of occasions on Haiphong Rd. Different girl this year though, a beautiful 34 yr.old Thai girl (Maggie) married to a HK guy. She gave a mixture of a Chinese and Thai massage which was excellent. I met up with John again at the hotel and we went out to the Felix bar in the Pennisula Hotel, a famous bar on the 28th Floor overlooking HK Island, but the highlight is to use the loo. You will have to visit yourself to find out why! Don't expect cheap drinks mind you, a G&T was about £6.50. We finished the evening off at the Whale Pub, located behind the hotel on the lane of many pubs, with a final drink in our hotel bar just as a couple of singers were finishing.
12/6 - A late start today (10:00). Whilst having our morning coffee we got talking to and English guy who lives in HK, in the import/export business (importing French wine, exporting antique furniture). We then made our way to to Central and the island ferry terminal to catch a fast ferry to Cheung Chau island, a 30 min trip. This was a lovely island without cars and we spent about 90 mins walking up the hill to get better views, passing the cemetery and the massive spiders. Had a sea food lunch before walking around the town and onto the beach. The island is only 2.5 sq km so it didn't take very long to walk around, but it was well worth the trip. Once back in Kowloon and Tsim Sha Tsui we went to get some shopping for John at the Chinese Fine Crafts shop. I again went for another massage with Maggie (whilst the heavens opened) before heading back to the hotel to have dinner with John. Unfortunately he wasn't feeling too great, but he was able to have something to eat.
13/6 - After our usual coffee breakfast we went for a walk around Kowloon Park (just across the road from the hotel). There had been some overnight rain and there was still the occasional outbreak. After our walk and a go at Tai Chi (no we didn't really have a go), we went back to the hotel to pack. After leaving our bags we headed over to HK island and Wan Chai, stopping at the White Stag pub for some lunch (roast beef). We then caught the MTR to the end of the line at Sheung Wan and took a walk around Bonham Street, famous for its medicines and shall we say the unusual. Whilst heading back toward Central the heavens opened on us, so we just had to go shopping again and I ended up buying a pure silk quilt (less than half the price of the UK). For dinner we went to a Japanese restaurant close to the hotel and had a feast along with sake, the full works! By now it was time to head back to the hotel and collect our bags and head to the airport, using the K5 bus again. We had plenty time to have a look around the spacious airport, which is certainly nicer than Heathrow, but probably not the best that I have used. At 23:25 we said a sad farewell to Hong Kong after a great mini break. A lot of flying for just 4 nights, but well worth it.