It was almost like we never left the clouds when the plane landed with a bump and a roar in Hong Kong. The mist swallowed the plane right to the end of the journey and being an hour delayed, I was now very impatient to see my old friend from university! She kindly came to meet me at the airport, so with a scene of reunion worthy to feature in a film (!) we raced through to the metro to hot foot it over town to submit my visa for China. I was only in Hong Kong for two and a half days and with the visa taking two days to process, the race was on!
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During the rush to the visa centre I took cartoon colours, bright red lanterns, flashing lights, hilly streets, tea and medicine shop fronts and sky-high high-rise buildings into my view
This is clearly a city with a presence but also the richest city I had been in since leaving London. That evening, over warming bowls of Pho soup we caught up and planned our next two days. I slept 46 floors over Hong Kong that night thinking of how quickly you can be parachuted into a completely different world and how strangely things can feel very normal very quickly, especially when you have a familiar face to guide you in gently!
The next two days were centred around some easy sight seeing and getting some of my errands completed in time for China. Thankfully I will be able to return to Hong Kong and stay longer with my friend at the end of my trip to China, so we can have some more quality time. As we emerged from my friends apartment in the sky we headed into Hong Kong Island to have a nose around. I gazed in awe at the masses of sky scrapers hidden in the clouds. Admittedly the sky and pollution had come to meet them but none the less it gave a chilling image to see the man-made world disappear into the heavens.
After a healthy salad and the completion of my errands we weaved our way through mall after mall back to the metro and then mall after mall to my friends apartment. I can see why Hong Kong has got such a strong reputation for shopping but I would get totally lost without my friend navigating
! She has recently qualified as a yoga teacher and gave me a fabulous private class in the exercise section of her building complex. It was amazing to receive this class from her and to also know that I was helping her out by giving feedback on the design of her class and the perfect way for both of us to chill out after our busy trip to the city. We coupled this with a long soak in her complex jacuzzi - this luxury was alien to me but very, very welcomed!
In fact this short stop in Hong Kong reunited me with things I was familiar with and that I hadn't had or been exposed to for a while. The climax of this was definitely eating sushi again. It was WONDERFUL! After five months without sushi my only food craving since I had left London was satisfied! We also drank Prosecco in a bar for happy hour, watched an episode of Downton Abbey sitting on a sofa in her flat, I made my own breakfast in her kitchen - lots of things that were very normal before I left but now novelties!
There was also many firsts in this visit as well - meeting Kung Foo Panda in a shopping mall, seeing the avenue of stars, nosing in the very posh Peninsular Hotel, eating a Mr Whippy on the star ferry across the harbour, trying sole rice paper rolls at an amazing Vietnamese lunch, going on the outdoor escalators into Soho mid level and picking up my visa for China! Everything was just perfect during my visit thanks to my friend looking after me so well and as I was worried a bit about my visa, clutching it in my hand was an amazing experience! Nothing was going to stop me heading to China for a three week dream trip now
Creeping out of my friends apartment in the morning I thankfully did not feel sad because in three weeks I would spend time with her and her husband again. The door clicking shut signalled the start of my journey to Beijing, thankfully only a three hour flight away. China...here I come!
This post apocalyptic novel set in a future vision of Thailand really was something different to read on my trip compared with what I have read to date. (It is no surprise to my friends though as I read a lot of literature in this genre!) the world has fallen apart, ravaged by viruses, the survivors eat genetically modified foods and the Ministry of Health is fighting to constantly ensure survival of the country from any further outbreaks. Enter Emiko a windup, a genetically modified Japanese 'servant'. Her story moulds with the destiny of the entire country as she gets involved with the surviving politics and power struggles of thi
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During the rush to the visa centre I took cartoon colours, bright red lanterns, flashing lights, hilly streets, tea and medicine shop fronts and sky-high high-rise buildings into my view
Castles in the sky
This is clearly a city with a presence but also the richest city I had been in since leaving London. That evening, over warming bowls of Pho soup we caught up and planned our next two days. I slept 46 floors over Hong Kong that night thinking of how quickly you can be parachuted into a completely different world and how strangely things can feel very normal very quickly, especially when you have a familiar face to guide you in gently!
The next two days were centred around some easy sight seeing and getting some of my errands completed in time for China. Thankfully I will be able to return to Hong Kong and stay longer with my friend at the end of my trip to China, so we can have some more quality time. As we emerged from my friends apartment in the sky we headed into Hong Kong Island to have a nose around. I gazed in awe at the masses of sky scrapers hidden in the clouds. Admittedly the sky and pollution had come to meet them but none the less it gave a chilling image to see the man-made world disappear into the heavens.
After a healthy salad and the completion of my errands we weaved our way through mall after mall back to the metro and then mall after mall to my friends apartment. I can see why Hong Kong has got such a strong reputation for shopping but I would get totally lost without my friend navigating
Hong Kong Delights!
! She has recently qualified as a yoga teacher and gave me a fabulous private class in the exercise section of her building complex. It was amazing to receive this class from her and to also know that I was helping her out by giving feedback on the design of her class and the perfect way for both of us to chill out after our busy trip to the city. We coupled this with a long soak in her complex jacuzzi - this luxury was alien to me but very, very welcomed!
In fact this short stop in Hong Kong reunited me with things I was familiar with and that I hadn't had or been exposed to for a while. The climax of this was definitely eating sushi again. It was WONDERFUL! After five months without sushi my only food craving since I had left London was satisfied! We also drank Prosecco in a bar for happy hour, watched an episode of Downton Abbey sitting on a sofa in her flat, I made my own breakfast in her kitchen - lots of things that were very normal before I left but now novelties!
There was also many firsts in this visit as well - meeting Kung Foo Panda in a shopping mall, seeing the avenue of stars, nosing in the very posh Peninsular Hotel, eating a Mr Whippy on the star ferry across the harbour, trying sole rice paper rolls at an amazing Vietnamese lunch, going on the outdoor escalators into Soho mid level and picking up my visa for China! Everything was just perfect during my visit thanks to my friend looking after me so well and as I was worried a bit about my visa, clutching it in my hand was an amazing experience! Nothing was going to stop me heading to China for a three week dream trip now
Hong Kong Street Life
Creeping out of my friends apartment in the morning I thankfully did not feel sad because in three weeks I would spend time with her and her husband again. The door clicking shut signalled the start of my journey to Beijing, thankfully only a three hour flight away. China...here I come!
The Wind Up Girl - Paolo Bacigalupi
This post apocalyptic novel set in a future vision of Thailand really was something different to read on my trip compared with what I have read to date. (It is no surprise to my friends though as I read a lot of literature in this genre!) the world has fallen apart, ravaged by viruses, the survivors eat genetically modified foods and the Ministry of Health is fighting to constantly ensure survival of the country from any further outbreaks. Enter Emiko a windup, a genetically modified Japanese 'servant'. Her story moulds with the destiny of the entire country as she gets involved with the surviving politics and power struggles of thi