Monday, June 04, 2007
Our stay in Hong Kong came at just the right time in the trip. After 5 months of being on the road we were eager for some home comforts. Although we had stayed in Shauna's in Sydney and Brizer's in Melbourne, we were still sleeping on couches and having to be considerate towards the other people who live there. In Hong Kong we were very kindly given use of the 45th floor apartment belonging to Shauna's parents who were away in the UK at the time. I was able to unpack my entire bag, leave my stuff around the house, cook good old fashioned western meals, relax on the couch watching dvds, go to the kitchen and make myself a snack whenever I wanted - all luxuries that you leave behind when you embark on a backpacking trip. We arrived in Hong Kong from Beijing around lunchtime and although we had plans to do some sightseeing in the afternoon, the sheer comfort of the apartment made it difficult to leave and so we gave in. We headed for a nearby shopping centre to buy stuff for a week of cooking - we decided we'd had enough of duck's feet and silkworms and for 4 days we were going to eat nothing but western food for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We bought a trolley full of stuff and during the course of the week we enjoyed such non-msg fuelled meals such as Spaghetti Bolegnase, pork chops and baked spuds, chicken stew, tuna pasta, mashed potato with sausages and chicken nuggets & potato waffles. It was heaven and we didn't feel the least bit guilty about not going out and sampling some Hong Kong cuisine.
Another luxury that Hong Kong provided us was being able to speak English and actually be understood. On our first full day there we set out to walk around the streets and catch some of the atmos. We moseyed down to central harbour and caught the famous Star Ferry across the water to Kowloon. This area of Hong Kong was more the Eastern area than the Western area in the city described as where 'East meets West'. We walked around and after dark headed for the Temple St Night Market. This market sells everything from electrical adaptors to mini wooden penis's. We were there mainly for a gawk however we did indulge in some ultra cheap dvds from a nearby shop. To any of those who are tut tutting me for buying pirate dvds - they weren't! They just actually were really cheap dvds. And so we headed back to our apartment armed with the entire collection of 24 - that's a lot of Jack! For our second day we took the funicular up to the top of Victoria Peak where the view is supposed to be amazing. Don't get me wrong, the view is inredible, especially at night, it's just that we had exactly the same view from our apartment's massive front windows - something I expect many visitors to Hong Kong don't have the luxury of. We walked a circuit of the peak which was pretty nice and headed back down to the city on foot for a drink. We had said we wouldn't go out for drinks while in Hong Kong thanks to our debaucherous weekend in Shen Yang but we decided to go for just one as everyone we knew who had been there before kept telling us about all the cool bars. We found the bar street and whie it was pretty funky, the drinks were expensive - Irish prices. We did have one though and agreed that if and when we came back to Hong Kong we would definitely check out the cool bar scene further. Back in our apartment we enjoyed some more of Jack Bauer before bed.
Unfortunately things deteriorated from here on the sightseeing front. For our third day we planned to go to the beach. The first sign that this wasn't going to happen was when we didn't wake up until lunchtime. It didn't take long for us to agree that we should just spend the entire day relaxing, reading and watching Federal Agent Jack Bauer save America from terrorists. We did actually leave the house at one stage - to get a taxi to the shop for a bottle of wine! But these decadent days are what it's all about and I reckoned a rest was needed before the madness of Thailand that was only 2 days away. In any case we were on holidays. Speaking of Thailand, our flight there on the Friday was in the afternoon so we spent the morning cleaning the apartment. The flight was uneventful and we arrived in Bangkok quite excited about the final leg of our trip - Southeast Asia. Although most backpackers head for the Khao Sahn Road which is a street chocked with bars, restaurants, markets and guesthouses. While it sounded like a fun area, we opted for a road just behind it which was a little quieter for sleeping but only 2 mins walk from all the fun. We had kind of decided to get an early night but as we walked past all the cool bars on the way to our guesthouse we realised there was no way that was going to happen. Once we'd showered we headed out to sample all that Bangkok nightlife had to offer.
The place was actually reminiscent of somewhere like Greece or Turkey where package holidayers go to for 2 weeks. Except a lot better. The thing is Thailand is fast becoming one of those destinations and as it was the 1st of June it was pretty full of Europeans on their 2 week boozey holidays. That didn't mean it wasn't fun and there was a great vibe about the place - not to mention the pretty Thai waitresses in tight dresses! At midnight, after a spot of bar hopping and some food, Fi announced that she was in the mood for a massage. Being the reckless travellers we are we went in search of one and found a place that was still open. Because I have a crazy freak obsession with people not touching my back, I opted for the foot massage while Fi went for the full blown Thai massage. Well I tell ya my feet have never been so happy in all my life! And the odd time I looked over at Fi beside me she seemed to be enjoying herself too. That night we went to bed feeling very relaxed altogether.
Our first and only day in Bangkok this time round (we will see it again when we come back at the end of July) we went to see the Grand Palace. We knew beforehand that there was a dress code in that you couldn't have certain parts of your body showing while in the palace and we thought we had accounted for that. It seems we hadn't and upon arriving they forced us to don some rather fetching trailer trash attire. Fi went for the Britney Spears look with a white shirt tied at the waist while I took a long pair of trousers that were more pyjamas. In addition to all this, the heat was serious and having to wear extra clothes didn't help our sweaty situation. I only feel bad for the next guy who has to wear my trousers! In the afternoon, we proceeded to the river side with the idea of taking some kind of boat tour. We managed to organise just that and we set off in a 10 person boat that looked quite like a gondola but with only the two of us in it. For the next hour the driver took us through many of the little canals that weave their way through Bangkok making it even more like Venice than we originally thought. Along the way we saw various temples, river lizards and fish feeding. We also came across a "floating market" (read old Thai woman in a little row boat with some drinks and tacky Thai souveneirs). I bought a beer for me and the boat driver from the woman to keep her happy and we continued on our way. It was actually a really nice trip and we were delighted we took it.
That evening we went for another massage - the first one was just too good to forget! While it was still very good, the first one was somehow just a little better. That evening we hit the Khao Sahn road again but this time we stopped at a little bar vendor thing on the side. It was basically a hot dog stand that sold cocktails instead of hotdogs. It had a few platic stools immediately in front of it and funnily enough it seemed to be the most happening place on the street! So we plonked our asses down and over the next few hours we sampled the different cocktails while striking up conversations with Thai women, Finnish men and Vietnamese children. Each conversation proved crazier than the last. We finished the night in the obligatory English pub in a desperate attempt to catch the Ireland V Argentina match but no dice. Probably just as well as it didn't kick off till 2am Bangkok time and we were on a 7.30 bus to Siem Reap in Cambodia the next morning.
Another luxury that Hong Kong provided us was being able to speak English and actually be understood. On our first full day there we set out to walk around the streets and catch some of the atmos. We moseyed down to central harbour and caught the famous Star Ferry across the water to Kowloon. This area of Hong Kong was more the Eastern area than the Western area in the city described as where 'East meets West'. We walked around and after dark headed for the Temple St Night Market. This market sells everything from electrical adaptors to mini wooden penis's. We were there mainly for a gawk however we did indulge in some ultra cheap dvds from a nearby shop. To any of those who are tut tutting me for buying pirate dvds - they weren't! They just actually were really cheap dvds. And so we headed back to our apartment armed with the entire collection of 24 - that's a lot of Jack! For our second day we took the funicular up to the top of Victoria Peak where the view is supposed to be amazing. Don't get me wrong, the view is inredible, especially at night, it's just that we had exactly the same view from our apartment's massive front windows - something I expect many visitors to Hong Kong don't have the luxury of. We walked a circuit of the peak which was pretty nice and headed back down to the city on foot for a drink. We had said we wouldn't go out for drinks while in Hong Kong thanks to our debaucherous weekend in Shen Yang but we decided to go for just one as everyone we knew who had been there before kept telling us about all the cool bars. We found the bar street and whie it was pretty funky, the drinks were expensive - Irish prices. We did have one though and agreed that if and when we came back to Hong Kong we would definitely check out the cool bar scene further. Back in our apartment we enjoyed some more of Jack Bauer before bed.
Unfortunately things deteriorated from here on the sightseeing front. For our third day we planned to go to the beach. The first sign that this wasn't going to happen was when we didn't wake up until lunchtime. It didn't take long for us to agree that we should just spend the entire day relaxing, reading and watching Federal Agent Jack Bauer save America from terrorists. We did actually leave the house at one stage - to get a taxi to the shop for a bottle of wine! But these decadent days are what it's all about and I reckoned a rest was needed before the madness of Thailand that was only 2 days away. In any case we were on holidays. Speaking of Thailand, our flight there on the Friday was in the afternoon so we spent the morning cleaning the apartment. The flight was uneventful and we arrived in Bangkok quite excited about the final leg of our trip - Southeast Asia. Although most backpackers head for the Khao Sahn Road which is a street chocked with bars, restaurants, markets and guesthouses. While it sounded like a fun area, we opted for a road just behind it which was a little quieter for sleeping but only 2 mins walk from all the fun. We had kind of decided to get an early night but as we walked past all the cool bars on the way to our guesthouse we realised there was no way that was going to happen. Once we'd showered we headed out to sample all that Bangkok nightlife had to offer.
The place was actually reminiscent of somewhere like Greece or Turkey where package holidayers go to for 2 weeks. Except a lot better. The thing is Thailand is fast becoming one of those destinations and as it was the 1st of June it was pretty full of Europeans on their 2 week boozey holidays. That didn't mean it wasn't fun and there was a great vibe about the place - not to mention the pretty Thai waitresses in tight dresses! At midnight, after a spot of bar hopping and some food, Fi announced that she was in the mood for a massage. Being the reckless travellers we are we went in search of one and found a place that was still open. Because I have a crazy freak obsession with people not touching my back, I opted for the foot massage while Fi went for the full blown Thai massage. Well I tell ya my feet have never been so happy in all my life! And the odd time I looked over at Fi beside me she seemed to be enjoying herself too. That night we went to bed feeling very relaxed altogether.
Our first and only day in Bangkok this time round (we will see it again when we come back at the end of July) we went to see the Grand Palace. We knew beforehand that there was a dress code in that you couldn't have certain parts of your body showing while in the palace and we thought we had accounted for that. It seems we hadn't and upon arriving they forced us to don some rather fetching trailer trash attire. Fi went for the Britney Spears look with a white shirt tied at the waist while I took a long pair of trousers that were more pyjamas. In addition to all this, the heat was serious and having to wear extra clothes didn't help our sweaty situation. I only feel bad for the next guy who has to wear my trousers! In the afternoon, we proceeded to the river side with the idea of taking some kind of boat tour. We managed to organise just that and we set off in a 10 person boat that looked quite like a gondola but with only the two of us in it. For the next hour the driver took us through many of the little canals that weave their way through Bangkok making it even more like Venice than we originally thought. Along the way we saw various temples, river lizards and fish feeding. We also came across a "floating market" (read old Thai woman in a little row boat with some drinks and tacky Thai souveneirs). I bought a beer for me and the boat driver from the woman to keep her happy and we continued on our way. It was actually a really nice trip and we were delighted we took it.
That evening we went for another massage - the first one was just too good to forget! While it was still very good, the first one was somehow just a little better. That evening we hit the Khao Sahn road again but this time we stopped at a little bar vendor thing on the side. It was basically a hot dog stand that sold cocktails instead of hotdogs. It had a few platic stools immediately in front of it and funnily enough it seemed to be the most happening place on the street! So we plonked our asses down and over the next few hours we sampled the different cocktails while striking up conversations with Thai women, Finnish men and Vietnamese children. Each conversation proved crazier than the last. We finished the night in the obligatory English pub in a desperate attempt to catch the Ireland V Argentina match but no dice. Probably just as well as it didn't kick off till 2am Bangkok time and we were on a 7.30 bus to Siem Reap in Cambodia the next morning.
# posted by Grum @ 4:13 AM 
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