Tales from the Orient

Me waiting for train to go to International Airport


The Journey

We had a great trip out - all flights on schedule and a colleague of one of our friends met us at the airport and drove us direct to our hotel. The journey back was good until I got sick. When we went into the Qantas Club at HK on the way back, this guy smiled at me and said "I think I know you" and I said "I think I know you too!" It was the manager of the Avis branch at our local airport who I've dealt with several times over the years. Amazing who you meet and where! He and his wife were off to Paris, then a cruise out of Monaco then on to Italy - to celebrate her birthday. What a wonderful birthday present!

The Shopping

The spoils laid out on the spare bed

One of the nice things about going to Hong Kong is the amount of shopping to be done! Here's a list of what we brought back (couldn't fit everything into the photo)

2 Jackets - one each - black silk for me, cashmere for Bloss
9 Shirts - for Bloss - Hugo Boss and Ralph Lauren
7 Pairs shoes for 3 for Bloss, 4 for me
6 Pairs sunglasses - 5 for me, 1 for Bloss
1 Oil painting
Jeans and Tshirts for all 4 grandchildren
Ferrari jacket for US grandson
12 pairs undies for grandsons
Tos for all 4 grandchildren
2 Tops each for Son and DIL
D & G Handbag for friend
Gucci Overnight bag on wheels, laptop bag and handbag for me
Fendi handbag for me
1 pair Jeans for me
8 Tops for me
9 pairs Calvin Klein undies for Bloss
2 black leather belts - one each

Just as well I only half filled each suitcase - they were chocka on the way back. I think mine weighted just under 30kgs.

What we did

Bloss outside Stanley Markets

Monday we went across to Hong Kong island and caught a bus to take us to the other side of the island where we went to Stanley Markets. Last time I was in HK (5 years ago) I bought a black silk jacket - blazer style - which has just been great so wanted to try and get another one. I did - not sure if it's as good as the last one but will still be fine. We also bought a nice oil painting there which I'll have stretched and will just suit a spot in the entry hall. Bloss was persuaded to go and visit a tailor - not by me but by one of the many street touts. I turned my back for a minute to go into the chemists and by the time I came back he was all set to be measured up. Actually he did want to get a jacket made anyway. He's so tall (6ft 4ins) and has incredibly long arms so finds it almost impossible to buy jackets off the shelf.

Heading out to dinner

At night we enjoyed the happy hour session in the hotel then caught a cab to the Havana Club - had been recommended to us by friends who were in HK in February. It was good and had good music. Should say that the happy hour was great value - we enjoyed a chardonnay or four as well as nibblies both hot and cold and we found that a lot of the time after that we had no real need to have dinner.

Bloss and I at Statue of Nuwa, Shenzhen

Tuesday we had booked a tour to Shenzhen which is in China. Fascinating city - 25 years ago was only a fishing village and now has a popluation of 12 million. We visited some interesting places there incuding the museum which had a scale model of the entire city - awesome. We went to a shopping mall there where we'd been told the prices were much cheaper than HK but we didn't actually find that and found them to be really aggressive marketers - not nasty just really full on. We had caught a boat from HK to Shenzhen at lunch time, then had a coach meet us there, then came back to HK at night on the train. A top day.

At a fabulous Chinese Seafood Restaurant

We had an absolutely scrumptious lunch here - you can't see it in this pic but there were these incredible flower filled chandeliers everywhere

The Avenue of Stars

Wednesday we checked out some of the local department stores and had a walk along the esplanade on the Kowloon side - checking out the Avenue of Stars. We then found a nice little Irish Pub and had a couple of beers to fortify ourselves for visiting the Ladies Markets in the afternoon - got a good few bargains there and Bloss got really into buying mode so didn't have to drag him round screaming. At night we joined happy hour at the hotel then headed off to Knutsford Terrace which is a really nice eating area in Kowloon. We had a lovely meal at an Italian restaurant there then popped back into the Havana Club for a nightcap.

Ladies Market

Thursday morning we found another mega shopping centre and had a wander round there then went back to the Ladies markets again. You know how sometimes you think afterwards that you should have just bought something. Well there were a few things like that for both of us. Somewhere in there I think we went to the Irish pub again for lunch. Then at night we had happy hour in the hotel and a fairly early night - all this shopping was taking it out of us!

Star Ferry from Kowloon to Hong Kong Island

These ferries run every few minutes all day every day and cost about $2.20HK (that's about 30 cents) and that allows you to go on the top deck - bottom deck is $1.70HK

View from a tram

Friday morning we caught the Star ferry across to Hong Kong Island and had a wander round there then jumped on a tram and travelled the length of the route - a fantastic way to get a feel for the life in the place - sitting on the top deck with the windows down. I remember doing this last time we were here and it was great. Bloss had to go back to his tailors in the afternoon to pick up his jacket then at night we went to the Temple markets. This was the first time we saw rain and it was pouring so we had a pretty quick zip round there then back to the hotel.

The view from our room - Hong Kong Harbour

Saturday we spent the morning trying to work out how to fit all the stuff we'd bought into out cases! There had also been a couple of things we'd thought we'd get at Temple Markets which weren't there so.... you guessed it we shot out to Ladies Markets for an hour and did the last minute, last minute shopping! We had our room till 6pm which was great - had plenty of time to have a shower, get organised and then caught the airport shuttle at 7.15.

When I read this I realise how much shopping we did - but most of it was at markets and they are just so much fun - the people are warm and friendly (and pushy) but great to deal with. I was always referred to as Missy - "Missy you want copy Louis Vuitton?" and Bloss was Boss - "Hey Boss you want copy Rolex?"

I'm going to go back now and add a few photos, but as you'll have gathered we had a ball .....and guess what it's only 12 weeks till we head off for the States, Mexico and Cuba!!

ps As you might have gathered I'm now feeling a lot better - haven't visited the little room since lunch time but still wary of eating anything else.

pps Have done a lot of faffing around trying to get these pictures where I want them with captions in the right place - believe I need to go into Picasa to do it properly but that's just too hard right now. But the way I've done it I think if you click on the caption itself it'll open up the picture in another window. Have fun!