Hong Kong - Day 98 - 132 (10th June -14th July)

Hi everyone,

Hope you are all well and having a good summer back in sunny old blighty!

We have spent the previous month of our travels in Hong Kong staying with Tina's family in their village in the New Territories. We have filled most of our time indulging in some of the local pastimes, so there has been quite a lot of eating and gambling…. when in Rome and all that.

We spent the first week or so relaxing and recovering from the Philippines leg of the journey and enjoying luxuries such as electricity and hot showers. We also began to get into the rhythm of village life by getting in a fair few games of Mah Jong with Tina's dad and brother, and heading to Dim Sum in the morning on Tuesdays and Fridays with the family.

Whilst we were in Hong Kong we wanted to catch up with Tina's family but we also had to prepare and plan for then next part of our trip in Japan and China. I also had the personal aim to become the first white boy to be allowed to play Mah Jong in the village hall with the other adults….that is without losing all of our travel money! At present this is still a distant dream as Tina's Dad still tends to simply laugh at me every time the idea is suggested…although I take this as slightly more positive than outright rejection.

Continuing the gambling theme, our arrival in Hong Kong happened to be in time for the end of the horse racing season. We took full advantage of this and headed to Happy Valley for an evening at the races. The race course is essentially in the middle of the city and is surrounded by skyscrapers and high rise apartments. The races at happy valley take place in the evening which makes for an amazing atmosphere with the excitement of the racing and the lights from the cityscape surrounding the track. We placed a few bets on each of the eight races during the evening and only won once…which was pretty disappointing…but at least we lost all our money whilst enjoying a nice view.

We have also indulged in a few karaoke sessions during our time here, including a couple of all night sessions, unfortunately both of these all night sessions have involved quite a few beers which has had an impact on the quality of the (my) singing. On the first all night session I somehow got the impression the louder my voice was the better my singing was, in fact it became apparent to everyone else the reverse was true. On the second occasion it was just me and Tina and I insisted we should go for 6 hours of karaoke instead of heading home. Unfortunately for at least 3 of the hours I had the hiccups, this was not conducive to quality karaoke as a sober Tina could testify.

While in Hong Kong we have been trying to improve our fitness to get practice for some tough treks and hikes we will be facing later in the year. One hot Saturday we headed to Hong Kong island with Tina's brother Jamie to walk the dragons back hike. It's not quite as fearsome as the name might imply but it is a good hike with some stunning views of the Hong Kong countryside. Jamie has also taken us out on a few great bike rides around the New Territories. One such bike ride ended up with us going fishing at a local fish farm.

It was the first time Tina and I had ever been fishing so we were pretty excited at the thought of catching some fish. Jamie started of well catching fish right, left and centre. Tina and I were a little slower to get to grips with things but eventually we found the zone. Tina picked up her first fish and mine soon followed, but the most exciting part of the afternoon was yet to come. It was my turn with the rod and I felt what could only be described as a monster on the end of the line. I tried to pull it out and as we saw it come out of the water we realised this fish was more than twice as big as the others we had already caught. We all rushed to action…Tina grabbed the line to pull the fish in, Jamie grabbed a net and I panicked. In the next moment there was confusion and shouting….the fish seemed to have fallen back into the water but I still seemed to be hooked on and for some reason Tina was shouting at me. Within moments the situation became clear…the fish had dropped off the hook, the hook had the flown upwards with me pulling on it and was now impaled in Tina's arm and she was less than happy with this situation! Once we had unhooked Tina we were all pretty disappointed, me and Jamie because we lost the big fish and Tina because she had a new hook shaped hole in her arm.

During the second week of July my parents came out to Hong Kong to spend some time me and Tina. We took advantage of this and tried to pack as much into the week. The week started off with my mum and dad coming back to the family village for dinner with Tina's family. It was great to see our families together and despite the language barrier everyone seemed to enjoy the occasion.

During the next few days we headed to a number of the islands around Hong Kong, enjoying the great scenery and the differing atmosphere from the main city and eating some great sea food. We also caught a bus to the other side of Hong Kong island and visited Stanley market and Aberdeen harbour. Whilst at Aberdeen we had dinner at Jumbo restaurant, a huge floating restaurant in the middle of the harbour. This was a great experience and we got to eat pork belly and Peking duck, both tasted fabulous.

Although the weather was rather grey during the week we still ventured up Victoria peak on the funicular railway to take in some great views of Hong Kong and Kowloon. It must be the 5th time I have done this and it never gets tiresome, the views are simply amazing.

Hope you enjoy the update,

takecare and much love

x x