After two months of travelling we reached Hong Kong, which would be our last stop in southeast Asia. Having finally mastered the art of being thrifty, we decided to blow the budget and experience Hong Kong in style. We were extremely grateful to accept Sandra and Stu's offer to stay with them in their flat in Causeway Bay for the 5 nights of our visit. We were even more delighted when they gave up all of their free time to be our personal tour guides.
Other than enduring England's dismal display against Germany in the World Cup, we had a great time. For the first 48 hours, we experienced the relentless Hong Kong rain as we dashed between shops, trams, and the metro. Fortunately, the elevated walkways of the Central area are well designed to provide refuge from the rain and traffic, and also gave Meg the opportunity to do some shopping.
For an adventure, we decided to visit Lantau Island to see the giant Buddha statue. Our journey consisted of a ferry to the island, a coach to the statue, followed by a spectacular cable car ride down past the airport and then two metro trains to take us back to Causeway Bay. The size of the statue was impressive, but what amazed us most is that we never waited longer than two minutes for any of our modes of transport. The efficiency of Hong Kong was certainly a welcome change from Vietnam.
On another occasion, however, Mark decided to forego the transport options and climb the 522 metres to the top of The Peak for a panoramic view of Hong Kong. Meg didn't think this seemed particularly sensible thing to do in the stifling humidity and that a (long-awaited) air-conditioned shopping expedition was more her style!
But the real highlight of our time in Hong Kong had to be the food. We were taken to a number of S&S's favourite restaurants and introduced to some real delights. These included pork and soup in a dumpling, a Korean BBQ where we grilled our own food at the table, afternoon dim sum in a fancy restaurant and homemade BLT sandwiches which made us realise how much we'd missed good western food. We also tried some of the more peculiar Chinese specialities. These included chicken's feet (similar to chicken wings, but less meat and more bones), ox tongue (chewy texture but quite tasty) and pig's neck (like fatty bacon). But the most memorable was when Mark literally put a foot in his mouth by jokingly stating he wanted to order the pig's trotter, only for Stu to actually order it! Fortunately Mark wasn't made to eat his own words so he cannot report on the taste.
Our enjoyable stay in Hong Kong was capped off with a scenic view of the island at night followed by a trip on the Star Ferry across the harbour. Next stop Australia...
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