Postcards from Hong Kong

Hey everyone,

Welcome to the first of my instalments brought to you directly from Hong Kong!

I set off yesterday morning, at about 11.30 am. As usual I was constantly worrying that I would forget something important, and as it happened, when asked to produce my student railcard on the train to London the realisation dawned on me that I had. Not a great start to the journey, that little mistake cost me an excess fee to the tune of 22 quid, and if the conductor hadn't been quite no nice about it it could well have been 40+! I could kill myself sometimes.

However, it was to prove to be the only hitch to the journey, the tube connection was smooth, check-in at Heathrow passes without delay, and at around 6pm in the afternoon I found myself sitting aboard BA flight 025 to Hong Kong International. It was a long flight, approximately 12 hours, of which I got about 5 hours sleep, so I think that for someone who cannot sleep in those ridiculously uncomfortable economy seats (oh by the way, they're called "World Traveller" on British Airways... how posh), I did pretty well. Checked out the in-flight entertainment, which was crap as always, so in the end I was contented to listen to some comedy radio channel featuring the likes of Ardal O'Hanlon and Matty's favourite, Woody Allen, wrapping on about his marriage(s). Another amazing feature of my economy flight was being sat right next to the toilets, but at least I had a good audience to watch me solving the cube blindfolded (that's the queue for the toilet, in case you were wondering about the connection).

Arrived safely at Hong Kong International at around 2:15pm local time, (that's 7 in the morning back home), to discover that the people in the Vodafone shop on St Stephens Street next to Jessops, yes thats YOU if you're reading, which you most likely aren't, blatently lied to me when they declared that my bottom of the range nokia phone wouldn't be able to make or receive calls or texts in Hong Kong. I currently have a great connection to some network called "Sunday" :-S Took the super-slick Airport Express train from HK International to Kowloon Station, and then the rickety old K3 shuttle bus more or less directly from there to my hotel.

The weather here is unbelievably hot and humid for an English guy, but some of the locals I spoke to reckoned that it was quite a cool day all things considered. Cool my arse, the thermometer was almost at 30 deg when I arrived and unpacked my things at the YMCA hotel. I can't believe I packed a jumper "just in case", what a fool.

Anyhow, after a nice shower I felt much refreshed, and proceeded to explore the adjacent area kitted out in my heat defying short trousers and t-shirt. I still felt as if I was going to melt however, but what kept me going was the amazing scenery. Across the harbour from the waterfront, stands hundreds of modern and beautiful skyscrapers, against a backdrop of even more beautiful rolling hills and mountains shrouded by ominous looking rain cloud. I snapped lots of pictures, buildings, busy streets, jellyfish swimming in the water, and walked around for a good hour before finally coming to rest by some idyllic scenery with a fountain burbling away in the middle.

By this point I was quite hungry, and it was about tea time, so I walked around and found a nice looking restaurant called the Spaghetti Station. I almost opted for z pizza, before I heard the concerned words of Lisa in the back of my mind saying "you must eat healthily while you're away". So in the end I plumped for a beef lasagne,which when delivered at the table looked as though it could have easily satisfied two hungry men. I wasn't able to finish it, alas, but I also couldn't help wondering if the HSBC advert which proclaimed that it was rude to eat all of the food provided for you would apply in this situation... So I paid, was forced in to giving a generous tip, and made my merry way back in the direction of the hotel.

And that's how I came to find myself in this lovely little internet cafe, 8 smart looking desktop computers in a small room hidden away in the dingiest chinese marketplace I have seen. I just followed the advert from the main street, and somehow found my way past all the sex shops to come and write to you, my dear reader.

My first impressions of Hong Kong are one of an amazing cultural society, all of Chinese history mixed with British colonial influences. In fact, if you ignored the shanty looking buildings, and Chinese language, you could almost imagine that you were back in England, were it not for the mindblowing landscape. However, it's not all brilliant, I am afraid to say I am already sick and tired of being accosted in the street asking if I am having a good day or whether I want a Rolex copy watch or whether I know how much some guy is selling suits for. It seems to be a disease in the immediate area, unscrupulous traders keen to peddle their wares on unsuspecting foreigners like me. Fortunately for me, after about 5 minutes I got used to it, now being accomplished in waving them off with a swift hand gesture. But it still isn't very nice, and has slightly tainted my first day here in Hong Kong.

I'm going to head back to the waterfront now, apparently there is a light show at 8pm, in fact it is the world's biggest permanent light show.

Missing you Lisa! See you all soon.

Dan :)