Hong Kong

We arrived in Hong Kong late and had to get the bus into Kowloon in order to get to our airbnb. This was relatively easy and soon we were checked in and decided to try and find some food before heading to bed. This was a little harder but we soon found a place that had a sort of English menu and we had a small dinner before heading to bed. I think the brief taster gave Rich a bit of an indication of what Hong Kong was like without scaring him

The following day we went to China Travel service to discuss our Visas for China and decided to let them do all the hard work for us so we left our passports there and got told to pick them up on Thursday. We explored the local area a bit more and went to a couple of markets to do some shopping and eat some more local food. Whilst at the market Rich spotted Jermaine Jackson, and while we were not 100% sure to begin with (as no one else seemed to recognise him) we looked online later and it did say that he is currently in Hong Kong. We also found a nice dim sum restaurant for lunch which meant Rich got his first proper taste of dim sum here.

Now we had a few days clear, since we have to wait for our visas to be processed, we started planning the rest of asia, especially Japan as we needed to book accommodation as it was fast filling up. We also did a couple of trips around Hond Kong including going on the mid level elevators, which is a series of elevators to take you up Hong Kong island past all the shops as it is quite steep, we went to Hong Kong Botanical gardens and zoo, which was a free zoo in the centre of Hong Kong Island. We also went to Victoria peak which is the higest point on the island and we watched the sun go down and the buildings light up. We also we to see the big budda on Lantau island, went to the monastery there and went to a nunnery in Kawloon.

I did also try and head to one of my old haunts, Murphy's pub only to find out it shut down late last year which was very disappointing but we have done lots of exploring and I think Rich is a little more prepared for china now. The people of Hong Kong do try to be helpful and usually have some English skills/menu which helps but I don't think China will be the same

We picked up our visas yesterday (much to my relief) and we are off to Beijing today

Me in the morning (Rich)

View from the gardens

Big Ass Buddha

The view that the big ass buddha gets

The Ass of the Big Ass Buddha

Us with our heads in the clouds

A Bridge we were not allowed to cross

Not sure whether this was a threat or a cry for help!

One of many buddha statutes

Temple of 10,000 Buddhas and yes there was 10,000 in there

Wheres Wally - I mean Catherine

From the Peak - I could crop the random people out but if I did that chances are there would be no photo left!

From the Peak - HK

Bonsai

Rich Again in the afternoon

Someone should tell him that those machines give you skin cancer