It’s evil, but I love it!
Just sitting watching Harry Potter II on dodgy DVD o’vision… For the measly sum of HK$150 (about 13 quid) in the Temple Street market I bought the first three star wars, harry potter II, die another day, lord of the rings 2 and a chinese movie. Out of these, only Did Another Day doesn’t work at all and Harry Potter is in fact a screening copy so it is perfect quality. Lovely.
Today I moved rooms again – this time staying with Sarah who’s out here on secondment for a bit. This is out in Kennedy Town which is an ex-pat haven on the far east of Hong Kong island. Lovely apartment with great views over the water – spent a happy few hours this morning just watching the boats go in and out. We also had to help Pascal, a friend of Sarah’s, get himself onto a plane to Tanzania as his ticket had been stolen on the way down from Shanghai!! After a lot of fuss and bother with the ticket office and a quick run to the airport express he made the plane OK to go see his wife and kid – phew!
Having dropped Pascal off I grabbed the number 6 bus across the island to Stanley market. This bus route has amazing views across both the city and the coast on the other side. We passed Repulse Bay and came to Stanley where on leaving the bus entered the market. Stanley Market is nothing special – hugely touristy and nowhere near as much fun as Temple Street market. Quickly wandered through and found a lovely quiet little beach where I sat and sunbathed for a bit watching people windsurf in the bay. This wonderful little beach is in stark comparison to the seafront on the north side of the market – a crassly commerical zone populated with chains and pseudo English/Australian/Italian pubs. A lot of people seemed to be enjoying it though, including a lot of young lads carefully posing their girlfriends in suitably scenic manners. Pretty sunset helped make up for the rest though.
The bus back was uneventful, with a brief stop off at Repulse Bay – a gorgeous expanse of sand and the end of the sunset. Back in town met up with Sarah and friends next to D’Aguilar street. D’Aguilar is Hong Kong’s touristy drinking spot – much like Bourbon Street in New Orleans, or any other touristy drinking spot worldwide – apart from the lack of beer smell that is. Hong Kong is very, very clean and almost entirely without extreme smells – except for occaisional fishyness.