Thwarted in Hong Kong (& visiting friends)

So we landed in Hong Kong (sorry - instantly distracted by Cat stealing my Hokey Pokey - weird New Zealand 'crunchie' style thing)  (I hasten to add that Loz doesn't actually like hokey pokey, which is while I am 'stealing' it) and we set about trying to find our hostel to collapse in after our 3.15am start.  The hostel was quite cute with little chest of drawer stairs up to the top bunk, and bright primary colours on the walls.  It was however, also very damp.  'The wetness' as Cat calls it, was caused by the fact that being primarily quite a warm place, Hong Kong buildings are not really prepared for the apparently annual brief cold and misty spell that typically falls over Chinese New Year (they didn't mention that in the brochure) and creates much condensation on the inside of the windows.  Other than this and a funny smell (according to Cat) it was quite nice.  Having gotten marginally lost on the way and climbed a very steep hill, only to find out we didn't need to at all, we were relieved to finally make it, and gratefully collapsed for a rest.  We met a lovely girl called Dini from Singapore, who showed us round one of the markets and came for dinner with us.  It was at this point we decided to go and see a movie - Percy Jackson and the lightning thief - occasional crap acting and weak plot, but it was ok (and yet oddly I fell asleep in Avatar, and not this, despite the only showing we could get tickets for being at midnight).

Following the early start and late night, we were a bit lazy the next day.  We went for lunch with Dini, then on the old Star Ferry across to see the 'Symphony of Lights'.  I will say at this point, that perhaps our expectations were a tad high.  It is billed as a 'must see', but to be honest we were a bit disappointed.  (I, having felt rough all day, and dragged myself out to see this spectacle especially, was very disappointed, and a little grumpy - it did suck.) 

The first of two not so good things then happened.  Firstly, Cat lost her octopus card (oyster for you Londoners).  The card cost $150 (about £13-14).  She had only spent about $6, so we spent ages walking around looking for it, but to no avail.  (We were super pleased about looking for it for ages, as we'd also spent at least 45 mins looking for Pizza Hut... I will add that this was only because everywhere else was either selling head, tail or innards, or was wayyyyy out of our price range.  It wasn't very far away, but the map was ridiculous.  It just outright lied about where it was - anyway, that said, we got there eventually, and ate the crappest Pizza Hut ever, with the crappest service ever oh and seen as we were so miserable, we treated ourselves to the worlds worst cheesecake - which came still frozen.  So, needless to say, I was feeling rubbish, and p'ed off, THEN I lost my octopus card, so not only had I wasted $150, I now had to pay another $150 to travel round Hong Kong for the rest of the week!  Yay!)  The second thing as I was going to say before I was rudely interrupted, was that Cat wasn't very well either.  She had a nasty cold, which was only exacerbated by the damp (sorry, the wetness).  Cat decided that what she needed was a day of rest before the parade fun (It was worse than a cold- I felt a bit fluey too, although we don't say that out loud, because I'll be instantly quarantined) so we stayed in and chilled out before heading to the New Year parade, with high hopes and happy spirits, 3 and a half hours early to ensure we got a good spot (another event which we were very excited about.  A parade, Chinese New Year, Hong Kong... how can it possibly be bad?!) 

5 hours later when the parade finally finished, we sort of wished we hadn't bothered.  We'd had five hours of being shoved, pushed, prodded, poked, and groped by random (some of them smelly and weird) Chinese people. (The good news we discovered, was that all of mainland China heads to Hong Kong for the holidays - well, that was their cover anyway.  I still maintain they were sent by the government to stare at us and make us generally uncomfortable.)  Incidentally, we've noticed that they all do the peace sign in photographs.  We've figured that they have them taken in front of us, so they can give us the 2 finger salute at the same time.  When will we learn to stay home when things don't seem to be going well.

The next day Cat was still ill (I blame the little sod in Singapore).  She was also in the process of applying for a job, so I ventured out on my own to visit the famous Goldfish Market (closed for Chinese New Year), and Hong Kong park (it rained).  We did see the new year fireworks that night (they apparently drive the demons away) and once we'd moved for a better view, having stood completely in the wrong place, they were actually really good.  Apparently there was one shaped like a tiger... we only saw its ear!  Tres amusant.

I am glad to say that things did pick up after this, and Hong Kong had grown on us by the end of the week (the mould on the wall above my bunk in particular, had made startling progress.)   The next day we met up with an old friend of my dad's from when he was about 16.  Davie and Irene took us for coffee, to the gas lamps, mid-level escalators, dinner, and the amazing Russian vodka ice-bar, where you get a big Narnia-style fur coat to wear in the freezer, while you have your vodka shot.  We had an amazing night, and were excited about meeting up with them again later in the week. 


Cat was still ill the next day (yes. yawn. I was sick of it too.) so I headed out on my own, very excited at the prospect of going on the cable cars (which Cat doesn't like anyway so I wasn't being mean leaving her at home to miss it) at Lantau Island, and visiting the big buddha (or big bugga, as Cat keeps accidentally calling him - not sure he'll like that).  They were closed due to bad weather.  Never mind, after Fuji we've come to expect nothing but bad luck with the weather.  We went to the Temple street market that night, had dinner with Irene and bought lots of presents, and far too many handbags etc.  In particular I look forward to the bumblebee outfit I bought my dog Alf arriving home, so mum can send some pictures for us to post.  Spectacular - wings, antennae, the works - love it! 


One of the must-do things in Hong Kong (we of course take this phrase with a pinch of salt these days) is a visit to The Peak.  The Peak is reached by a tram ride up a hill, which puts you at a 45 degree angle, making the buildings look sideways.  In reality this meant for us, 2 hours of queuing (being poked and prodded by Chinese people again) and finally making it to the top of The Peak, only to discover there was so much fog we coudn't see anything (Mt Fuji, I hear you say).  Thankfully a very kind member of staff took pity on us when we showed her our blank photos, and let us up again when the fog had cleared a bit, so we actually saw something.  Hurrah!  Success!  Then we had to queue again to get back down.

 Cat was off to Macau to give her masterclass (which I'll let her tell you about), so I chilled out for the day and headed out to meet Irene for drinks at a gig Davie was doing.  It was ace!  Posh club, and great music, what more do you need?


Later we met Cat and went to a club called The Wanch, where we had a bit of a boogie to the band playing, and generally had a fab time.  (I sense a little glossing here Miss Hogg.)


In the meantime, I met my friend Tim who for those of you who haven't met him, went to Guildhall, but is actually from Macao, and now lives in Hong Kong.  We got the ferry across to Macao, which takes about an hour and then grabbed some lunch (which was lovely, and included no heads or tails), and then headed off to the masterclass.  Doing a masterclass is not something I have a massive amount of experience in - obviously, having seen and been in quite a few, I understand the concept, however having not played the saxophone for several months, not being in possession of a saxophone, and having discovered the night before, that I had dyed my only vaguely smart top orange with irremovable elephant dirt (it had been green), I wasn't really feeling ready for my first attempt.  It went very well though, and I enjoyed it, and they were polite enough to say they did too. 


After I'd finished sneezing on them, Tim and I headed out to a hotel for a coffee - my god it was posh, and then we had a quick look around a casino (or it would have been, if we could have found the entrance Tim left his sax at... that took us about half an hour in itself)  and went for some tea.  Tea was portuguese food, and was very yummy!  Then we headed back over to the mainland.

By the time I met up with Loz, she was on her 5th drink of the evening and having not been drinking since we've been away (again due to being skint, as opposed to being angels), she was claiming to be a little tipsy.  I didn't believe her - she looked fine (I think she believed me fairly soon though).  We had several more drinks, and did some dancing, then about 2am we headed for a taxi.  Loz was struck by an uncharacteristic and unusual wave of travel sickness on the way home, which brought about some loss of limb-control, but it was ok, as one of the symptoms was also giggling so at least she was happy.  It was a long taxi ride, and the effects lasted well into the next day, which was spent recouperating.

I hasten to add here that Catherine also spent the whole of the next day recovering too.  Not from her 'flu' as she'll probably try to complain but from the drinks she consumed as well.  Irene also apparently spent the day recouperating.  No more drinking for us then.  (I suspect I would not have been feeling so bad if I didn't have the flu.)

So, the next day was devoted to recouperation (yes, Cat as well) (although I didn't really need it), until Cat headed off to meet her friend Danielle for dinner.  They also went to the Avenue of Stars where I think they recognised about 2 of the people.  Nevermind, she got to touch Jackie Chan's hands so she was happy.  I went for dinner with Davie and Irene again (they really did look after us a lot.  Thank you!!)  Sunday meant time to fly, and with 11 hours ahead to fill we just kept thinking of New Zealand, and that it would hopefully all be worth it in the end.

PS. Cat did actually get her job application sent in, so fingers crossed!