Our first morning in Hong Kong (Tuesday) we were up early with good intentions of heading up to the peak. When we looked out the window however it was a bit cloudy, and after the Great Wall, we weren’t too keen on heading up to another high place in cloudy weather. Instead we took it easy and lounged about the apartment. As it turns out it was probably a bad decision, as the rest of the week was even cloudier and we never made it to the peak. 
About midday we jumped on a bus and headed down to Repulse Bay, where we had arranged to meet Chung Sze after she finished work. As bad as this bay sounds it was actually quite nice, after a walk along the beach and a quick visit to a temple it was time for lunch. We ate in a Thai restaurant in Stanley, on a balcony, in the sun, overlooking the beach.
Next came our first HK shopping experience. Stanley market, just by the water, very cheap and one of our favorites in Hong Kong. We ended up buying ties, travel patches, Chinese lanterns and chop sticks. Our afternoon in Stanley was finished with a swim in the beach at sunset, which we had practically to ourselves. Oh, did I mention it turned out to be a clear sunny day in the low 30’s!
We then caught another bus down to Times Square in the centre of Hong Kong before heading to Chung Sze’s fathers restaurant for dinner. More great food, traditional Hong Kong rice soup and garlic prawns. After dinner we went to the computer market, which was quite amazing. Like a 4 level shopping centre but only selling computers and electrical gadgets. After a mango pudding we headed home with all our shopping and feeling pretty tired.
Thursday was very exciting, we rushed out of the apartment and headed down to the wharf and on to a ferry. After about an hour we arrived in Macau, another world famous casino city! We started by doing the cultural parts of town (unlike Vegas this place has history!). We walked through the old town, which looks so much like Portugal (being a Portuguese colony and all!). As we wondered through the old town we snacked o
n the free jerky and cake handouts all the shops have on offer, by chance we stumbled across some sort of Chinese parade (costumes and Chinese dragons) and ended up at the old church ruins.
Next it was time to get serious, we headed down to a few of the casinos! Starting with the Sands casino with its amazing 10 meter high crystal chandelier in the foyer. Some of them have the themes like in Vegas, we saw a volcano, Aztec temple, collesum and Swiss Tudor styles. Finally we ended up at the Venetian which is remarkably similar to the one in Vegas. Damien wanted to kick back, have a few beers and maybe a punt, but we decided against it, time is of the essence!
We had been recommended a restaurant called Fernando’s by no less than 4 people since we arrived in Hong Kong, so we wanted to head there for lunch. It is a traditional Portuguese restaurant down by the beach. From the outside it looked like a beach hut, and only slightly better on the inside, but the food was really nice. We had a few beers with our traditional chicken and suckling pork, salad, chips and fresh home baked bread. What really makes this place amazing (the whole city) is that it is so Portugese, but it is in China, so you have that influence. 
On the way back to the ferry we grabbed some coffees and Portuguese tarts, which we really didn
’t need. Back in Hong Kong we had to go from the Macau ferry terminal to another ferry terminal to meet Chung Sze. Rushing didn’t help but we ended up walking in circles and around a stupid shopping centre we couldn’t get out of for about half an hour, before finally finding the way. We were then back on the boat an over to the Tsim Sho Tsui area for a quick look around, it is a very exclusive and expensive shopping district. We then spent the evening wandering around a night market, where we bought quite a few things mainly cheap clothing etc. We also had dinner in a little outdoor café, but the food was really nice fresh Chinese prawns and fish. We then had to say sad farewells and a big thanks to Chung Sze for being such a great host. We have absolutely loved Hong Kong, partially the company, partially the city, partially the food, partially the markets and partially the weather I guess.
Friday morning we were up early, our last day in Hong Kong so we wanted to do as much as possible. We dropped off a huge bag of dirty clothes to the Laundromat for them to be washed for us! Headed back to Mong Kok for some more shopping but took a long time to find sports shoes that actually fit our big feet. We also had to spend a bit of time on the phone to the bank in Australia as our credit cards have had to be cancelled, bummer! We went to the post office to send a package home, all the crap that we have bought but can’t carry! All up we have spent over 2000AUD in four days (ouch), which includes 2 pairs of asic shoes and a laptop, but we have lived the life!
About midday we jumped on a bus and headed down to Repulse Bay, where we had arranged to meet Chung Sze after she finished work. As bad as this bay sounds it was actually quite nice, after a walk along the beach and a quick visit to a temple it was time for lunch. We ate in a Thai restaurant in Stanley, on a balcony, in the sun, overlooking the beach.
Next came our first HK shopping experience. Stanley market, just by the water, very cheap and one of our favorites in Hong Kong. We ended up buying ties, travel patches, Chinese lanterns and chop sticks. Our afternoon in Stanley was finished with a swim in the beach at sunset, which we had practically to ourselves. Oh, did I mention it turned out to be a clear sunny day in the low 30’s!
We then caught another bus down to Times Square in the centre of Hong Kong before heading to Chung Sze’s fathers restaurant for dinner. More great food, traditional Hong Kong rice soup and garlic prawns. After dinner we went to the computer market, which was quite amazing. Like a 4 level shopping centre but only selling computers and electrical gadgets. After a mango pudding we headed home with all our shopping and feeling pretty tired.
Wednesday morning we were both feeling a bit tired and lazy, so we headed down the street and found Jaspas Café for breakfast. It wasn’t cheap, but it was good. Bacon eggs and hash browns, pancakes for Christine and nice coffee. After breakfast we continued walking, it was all downhill, so no problems there! We stumbled upon another food market with stalls lining both sides of a small street. At the bottom of the hill we jumped on a bus and headed back to Times Square, where we bought a brand new laptop! 
Chung Sze finished work, met up with us and then took us over to Mong Kok, where we visited the shoe market and the ladies market. Nothing too exciting here although we did buy some carry-on luggage and Christine bought a hand bag. We then had to rush home and get changed in a hurry, as we were going out to a Salsa Ball. Chung Sze has been doing dance classes, so we got to go and watch her class perform, eat a buffet dinner, drink wine and also do a bit of dancing.
Chung Sze finished work, met up with us and then took us over to Mong Kok, where we visited the shoe market and the ladies market. Nothing too exciting here although we did buy some carry-on luggage and Christine bought a hand bag. We then had to rush home and get changed in a hurry, as we were going out to a Salsa Ball. Chung Sze has been doing dance classes, so we got to go and watch her class perform, eat a buffet dinner, drink wine and also do a bit of dancing.
Thursday was very exciting, we rushed out of the apartment and headed down to the wharf and on to a ferry. After about an hour we arrived in Macau, another world famous casino city! We started by doing the cultural parts of town (unlike Vegas this place has history!). We walked through the old town, which looks so much like Portugal (being a Portuguese colony and all!). As we wondered through the old town we snacked o
n the free jerky and cake handouts all the shops have on offer, by chance we stumbled across some sort of Chinese parade (costumes and Chinese dragons) and ended up at the old church ruins.Next it was time to get serious, we headed down to a few of the casinos! Starting with the Sands casino with its amazing 10 meter high crystal chandelier in the foyer. Some of them have the themes like in Vegas, we saw a volcano, Aztec temple, collesum and Swiss Tudor styles. Finally we ended up at the Venetian which is remarkably similar to the one in Vegas. Damien wanted to kick back, have a few beers and maybe a punt, but we decided against it, time is of the essence!
We had been recommended a restaurant called Fernando’s by no less than 4 people since we arrived in Hong Kong, so we wanted to head there for lunch. It is a traditional Portuguese restaurant down by the beach. From the outside it looked like a beach hut, and only slightly better on the inside, but the food was really nice. We had a few beers with our traditional chicken and suckling pork, salad, chips and fresh home baked bread. What really makes this place amazing (the whole city) is that it is so Portugese, but it is in China, so you have that influence. On the way back to the ferry we grabbed some coffees and Portuguese tarts, which we really didn
’t need. Back in Hong Kong we had to go from the Macau ferry terminal to another ferry terminal to meet Chung Sze. Rushing didn’t help but we ended up walking in circles and around a stupid shopping centre we couldn’t get out of for about half an hour, before finally finding the way. We were then back on the boat an over to the Tsim Sho Tsui area for a quick look around, it is a very exclusive and expensive shopping district. We then spent the evening wandering around a night market, where we bought quite a few things mainly cheap clothing etc. We also had dinner in a little outdoor café, but the food was really nice fresh Chinese prawns and fish. We then had to say sad farewells and a big thanks to Chung Sze for being such a great host. We have absolutely loved Hong Kong, partially the company, partially the city, partially the food, partially the markets and partially the weather I guess.
Friday morning we were up early, our last day in Hong Kong so we wanted to do as much as possible. We dropped off a huge bag of dirty clothes to the Laundromat for them to be washed for us! Headed back to Mong Kok for some more shopping but took a long time to find sports shoes that actually fit our big feet. We also had to spend a bit of time on the phone to the bank in Australia as our credit cards have had to be cancelled, bummer! We went to the post office to send a package home, all the crap that we have bought but can’t carry! All up we have spent over 2000AUD in four days (ouch), which includes 2 pairs of asic shoes and a laptop, but we have lived the life! The last thing we had hoped to do was to head up to the Peak, but, sadly we ran out of time. We have heard it is very nice, we will have to come back! After a busy morning we had to rush home, get the washing and pack, before heading out to the airport to fly to London.
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