We had been waiting for weeks to finally catch up with Rick and Jo (KG's parents), and the time had finally arrived! We all descended on Hong Kong for a week of eating, drinking, shopping and a little bit of sightseeing.
We hired an Air BnB apartment in Tsim Sha Tsui, which is right in the heart of the tourist district. It also happened to be right in the heart of every dodgy watch seller and tailor in Hong Kong. Jo and Rick quickly made 'friends' with a couple of particularly clingy street salesmen before deciding that polite declines were not going to cut it for these lads!
Our first sightseeing adventure was checking out the beautiful Hong Kong skyline from the Tsim Sha Tsui promenade near our apartment. It was quite breathtaking, and even better at night. Hot tip: don't worry too much if you miss the 'Symphony of Lights', I've seen episodes of Gilmore Girls that were more riveting. Just grab a beer at one of the rooftop bars instead.
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| Hong Kong Island skyline by day... |
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| .... and by night! |
Next we were riding the cable car up to the Tian Tan Buddah and Po Lin Monastery on Lantau Island. I was wondering whether the return ticket was worth the money, until we saw some poor sod sweating his pills off doing the journey by foot. It was clear that we had made the right decision. It was a great day out, with fantastic views and a beautiful monastery.
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| Gates family shot in the Lantau Island cable car |
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| And a Temple shot outside the Po Lin Monastery |
Not quite done with spectacular views, we caught the Victoria Peak tram up to the peak to look over the Hong Kong harbour. While the views were amazing, the highlight of the trip was actually a very small, angry Hong Kong man who absolutely kicked off at a tour group who had the gall to push in front of him in the line. Much to our delight, the entire exchange happened in English, and ended with our small, angry friend calling the tour group leader 'a piece of shit'. Hilarious! Unfortunately, we didn't get a photo, but here's one of everyone enjoying the view instead with said tour group in the background:
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| Still laughing at the angry Hongkonger teeing off at the tour group behind us |
We also headed out to Macau for a day trip. After an hour long trip by ferry, we disembarked in Macau only to be harassed by a dozen blokes wanting to take us on tours so we high-tailed it out of the ferry terminal to explore the city on our own. It has a fascinating history with plenty of Portuguese influence, so it looks and feels quite different to Hong Kong. We also decided to pop into the Venetian Casino. What a different world! We checked out the shops along the 'Grand Canal', and Tom tried to double his money on roulette (and failed).
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| Ruins of St Paul's in Macau - a quick photo before retreating into the shade. |
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| Wandering around Senado Square - a different world to Hong Kong. |
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| The fake 'sky' at the Venetian Casino - so you can shop and gamble all day long! |
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| The Grand Canal at the Venetian Casino |
We had a couple of great nights out, including a rather big night at the local Irish pub to watch Queensland beat NSW in the State of Origin. Tom decided the best revenge for his precious Blues losing was to give Rick the biggest hangover of his life, and appears to have succeeded. It was also Rick's birthday during their visit, so we headed to Pirata in Wan Chai for an amazing celebratory dinner. Great views and very reasonable prices, plus a birthday surprise at the end! We had some great food at plenty of not-so-luxurious places too, which was just as awesome.
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| Rick multitasking - expertly handling a dumpling with chopsticks while smashing a chicken wing. All class! |
Dad had some particular interests while in Hong Kong, including retiring on a sampan and buying loads of useless shite at the Temple Street Night Markets. Who would've thought?! And women always get blamed for the shopping. Pft.
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| "Do you think there would be enough room for two of us in here Joanne?" |
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| Where 's Rick? Temple Street Night Markets |
We were also lucky enough to run into some other great friends in Hong Kong. Kym and Adrienne (workmates of Tom's from Adelaide days) happened to be in Honkers with Kym's gorgeous daughter Alex checking out all the fun stuff like Disneyland and Ocean World (which I never let Tom go to apparently because I'm not fun). We also caught up with our wonderful friend Wheato after way too many years! To make up for it, we indulged in far too many wines and talked bullshit for hours. We also got our fortunes told by a guy at the Man Mo Temple - accuracy aside, it was great fun.
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| Tom getting his fortune told at the Man Mo Temple - apparently he is incredibly lucky! |
It was very tough to say goodbye to Mum and Dad, along with our other mates in Hong Kong. As fun as travelling is, we always miss our family and friends. Being away from you all is definitely the hardest part of being abroad, and certainly makes us appreciate how lucky we are to have such awesome people waiting for us back home. Can't wait to see you all again and give you big hugs! Now, onwards and upwards to South Korea...
Yeah/Nah Index
Tsim Tsa Shui - yeah but only for a shopping visit. Stay on Hong Kong Island.
Macau - yeah but just for a day
Lantau Island - yeah
Hong Kong Island - yeah
