Hi!!!! We've finally succeeded in getting an internet connection - apparently not an easy task in Vietnam. We do have more than 3 photos of Hong Kong ha, hopefully we'll be able to upload all our photos ASAP....

HONG KONG

Jo - We arrived into a very hot HK at 3.30pm, and with our four heavy bags (although mine were lighter than Alex's!) made it allllllllll the way to the arrivals lounge, where thankfully we were picked up by a little man (not being racist - he was little) just in time and taken to a wonderfully air-conditioned car which drove us to the Four Seasons Place. I, of course, had a little nap while Alex went to the gym, then when Alan arrived he gave me a grand tour of the apartment before heading out for a lovely meal in a bustling area of town.

The next day we went to 'Stanley market' where they had beautiful silk kimonos and piles of oil paintings etc, and some really really good deals. We then sat at the front seats of a double decker bus on the 30 minute journey back into the centre of HK, a nail-biting ride down winding roads just metres from very steep drops. For the next few hours we wandered around central HK, and managed to find a fast-food noodle bar (trickier than you'd imagine) so I could get my noodle fix! Early evening we went back to the hotel and went up onto the roof pool for a swim - unfortunately there were quite a few big fat men in the jacuzzi so we didn't really fancy squeezing in with them....

That evening we went for an amazing meal at Sevva, which had a balcony with a crazy view! Alan had possibly the biggest main course I have ever seen - a creation called a 'dosa' which is similar to a samosa only much, much bigger! Alex was restrained and only had two small ones for his starter instead! The staff both at the hotel and in the restaurants we ate in were very attentive, with very good english, and they actually seemed genuinely happy to serve you unlike you often find in England (especially at revs and browns....)

The next day we managed to grab a quick lunch with Alan before catching our flight to Ho Chi Minh. HK has a really convenient inner-city check-in where you can drop your bags and by some miracle they make it to the airport about half an hour's drive away. One thing I certainly noticed over my short time in the city was how cheap public transport is, and more importantly how efficient it is too. In the centre there are also loads of walkways connecting various buildings, so the humid temperatures outside can be avoided as much as possible - it can't be nice to run around the city in a suit in that heat! I really liked Hong Kong, probably more than I expected to. It's much more Westernised than I thought it would be, and a very active, lively city.

Alex - Hong Kong was great as usual. It was great to see dad and although he was busy we had a couple lovely meals and chatted over a few drinks. What I most enjoyed was being able to share some of my experiences with Jo- she had heard me speak about Hong Kong a lot and I'm glad she has now seen much of what I have spoke about and has some real idea of what the place is like - it was fun to see her react when she heard stall owners saying 'special price for you, pretty lady' and her actually thinking she had found a deal! It is great that we have a couple days back in HK after the U.S. to show Jo a couple more things e.g. the star ferry.

Jo and I have created a little game that we play before and after each place we visit; the idea is to, before we arrive, choose 3 words that we think will best describe the place and then evaluate those 3 words after we have left. So from now on, we will start each blog with the 3 words from the both of us and end the blog with our 3 're-evaluated words'.

I didn't play the 3 word game as I had been to Hong Kong before, but these were Jo's:

Before: Clean, Busy and Westernised

After: Hot, (very) Busy and International