Eat, sleep, sightsee, repeat!

I needed a break, I really did. I bet you’re all thinking “why on earth does she need a break when she lives in a foreign country and only works 12 hours a week?”. It’s because China is such an exhausting city to live in, from the people constantly staring to the non-stop horns on vehicles and any form of transport is always chocker. It’s a very intense environment and stepping off the mad hamster wheel for a few days was exactly what I needed.

Hong Kong was my saviour of choice. English speaking country, 2 hour flight and a promise of cheap markets and incredible views sold it to me and I wasn’t disappointed. I think if I were to go and teach abroad again I would definitely opt for Hong Kong. It has all the pros of China and non of the cons and with the addition of Marks and Spencer food courts, Topshop for clothes and escalators where people duly queue on one side, it feels like a sub-tropical Britain.

I went with Brooke and we arrived really late on Monday night, so our bus into the city was a bit disappointing as we saw absolutely nothing. Also, it was about 10 billion degrees and the humidity levels of the Amazon, so thank goodness our room had air con! We stayed in a complete ghetto area of Mong Kok (no biggy because I live in a ghetto in Wuhan too) and our room was tiny but clean and cool so I was sold. Our man spoke English and even booked our ferry tickets for us, because foreigners can’t be trusted with booking tickets, apparently. Anyway, it was around 1am by the time we were showered and in bed so falling asleep with all the lights and market noise proved easier than expected – I literally can sleep anywhere now after my time in China. Turbulence on the plane – no problem, landing into Hong Kong – easy, bumpy bus ride – simple.

Just a little nap before leaving China (you can tell I was still in Wuhan at this point)

Mongkok

Mongkok - the most populated area in the world

On Tuesday we woke up to grey and worrying weather but it soon turned hot and sunny – too much so for my liking! Definitely kept nipping in and out of the gift shops all day for a quick use of their fans and air con. We had bought ourselves Octopus cards (the British equivalent of Oyster cards) and were soon navigating the subway like a pro all the way to Lantau Island. Here, we walked up to the cable car terminus (catchy name of Ngong Ping 360) and despite pre-booking tickets, had to wait a fair while. I entertained myself with guessing where people were from and giving dagger eyes to the screaming child. I won.

Waiting for the cable car

Let's pre-book tickets and still queue....

Finally, we made it into a cable car with a whole family from Malaysia and they duly started taking a photo shoot of us (this time it was agreed and on our camera!). Actually, in the whole 5 days spent in Hong Kong, we must have had only 3 people ASK (I know, it’s a shocker) for photos and when we politely declined, because they usually asked when I was a sweaty, hot mess from climbing thousands of steps to see a Buddha, they graciously walked away. Take note China.

View of Lantau Island

On the cable car

Unbelievably clear water

The cable car ride was fantastic for the views of Lantau Island and eventually, we arrived into Ngong Ping village ready to explore. An obligatory subway sandwich later and we were climbing up to see the biggest Buddha in the world. I was seriously impressed with how stunning it and the surrounding views were and also how peaceful everywhere seemed. A monk was leading a procession of people around the Buddha to pray and I really wanted to join in but the language barrier seemed rather problematic.

Hey Buddha

Big Buddha

Monk procession

We visited the Po Lin monastery and had a nice rest in the grounds while watching the daily lives of monks (nothing much happens) before wandering around the souvenir shops. Now, most of the shops had signs saying ‘no photos’ but I was adamant that a quick snap wouldn’t hurt anyone. One picture taken and I had to quickly run away as the owner got very angry. At least I got my pic!

Breathtaking views of the Po Lin Monastery

So zen

Monks are souvenir shopping

Po Lin Monastery

The illicit photo....

Successful cultural trip over, we headed back to Mong Kok ready to shop at the Ladies Market. I have been to a lot of markets in my time, and this was one of the best for quality and choice. To say I needed nothing, I didn’t do too badly and Brooke bought enough bags for everyone in Hong Kong before we headed to find something delicious to eat for dinner. We found an Indian restaurant nestled amongst the Ladies Market and had some fabulous naan bread, rice and tikka masala cooked by a little, old Indian lady. I don’t actually know if this is true and it was probably a big, burly man, but let’s just stick with my idea.

I don't think I even bothered with a knife and fork

Oh the food...

Post-curry, we were ready to shop again and Brooke had picked up a few Chinese phrases and they went down very well with the stall owners. One very pregnant woman nearly gave birth when Brooke told her the ideal price of the Michael Kors bag that I wanted. Luckily, I got the bag and the baby stayed inside. Eventually, we physically couldn’t carry anything else so we headed back to our hotel for the night.

Somewhere in Mongkok trying to find our hotel...

Ladies Market, Mong Kok

My new fetching loungewear

On Wednesday morning, we had to get up ridiculously early as we were taking the ferry to Macau and it left at 9am. This meant that before 9am, we had to get up, dressed and ready, find breakfast, travel to the ferry terminal and pass through immigration because Macau is a different country. We got to the ferry terminal and to the gates for each boat but three different workers told us three different gates! Luckily, we made friends with this Hong Kong lady, who was on the same ferry, and she helped us make it safely on. The boats themselves look like James Bond boats but they certainly weren’t made for rough waters because I was feeling queasy before we’d even left the harbour.

We were sat on the top floor of the boat and I swear that I saw a Chinese granny use the toilet three times during the trip! It only takes an hour so who knows how many coffees she’d consumed that morning. We made it to Macau and stepping off the boat, the heat completely took my breath away. It was so incredibly warm and humid *bleurgh*. The main languages of Macau are Portuguese and Cantonese so I was pleasantly surprised by how much English everyone spoke over there.

With the help of customer services, we caught a bus to Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro – the main area of Macau – and went to find a café to cool down in for a while. Down this narrow back street with a man drilling up the concrete path whilst having a fag (China flashbacks), we found a lovely café serving ice cold frappes, which was the best thing ever in the heat! These refreshed us enough to walk through Senado Square and head up to see the Ruin’s of St Paul’s. It was actually a very surreal sight, with just one wall left of a whole church.

So Spanish I loved it

Senado Square

The original building

St Paul's ruins

There were people handing out freebies so we kept walking around to get more because I really needed that Macau keyring in the shape of a poker chip (gambling capital of the world FYI) and then after copious amounts of pictures, we headed back into the cooler, cobbled side streets to explore. We found a quaint shop selling very exciting things, but we must have disturbed the woman during her afternoon nap as she seemed to be plucking prices from thin air. £15 for a miniature Buddha....I think not. We made a hasty exit and instead went on a search for some local Portuguese cuisine.

Love my new shopping bag!

After a recommendation from a security guard at a jewellery shop, we found ourselves waiting down a side street with a handful of other people. The restaurant opened its doors at 11.30am and we went inside to a beautiful, small room and ordered fish and pork with rice, and we even got bread with lurpak butter to start. The portions were ginormous! I just about finished my pork but the mountain of rice was too much even for me and we waddled out to walk it off in the sunshine.

Seafood rice

Baked pork and rice - obese portion

We found a small market and there was a stall selling Thai inspired pashminas and loose fitting trousers, which he wouldn’t let me try them on before I bought them. Handing over the equivalent of a fiver, I darted round the corner to try them on over my shorts, much to the amusement of the other shopkeepers. Luckily, they fitted perfectly and I wanted to wear them immediately. Brooke bought a lovely sarong thing and we skipped happily to catch the bus back to the port.

We had booked tickets for the 6pm ferry but we managed to get on an earlier, quieter one and enjoyed the ride back to Hong Kong. We spontaneously decided to head down to Victoria Harbour so that we could watch the sunset and enjoy the light show. Next to the harbour was an art gallery and these amazing little carts with a seating area on the top, which was covered in real grass! It made us feel like we were in the countryside and not minutes from the bustling centre, so we sat there people watching for ages. We walked along Avenue of Stars but had no idea who any of the stars were (Pak Choin?! I swear that’s a vegetable) and took loads of pictures before heading to Spaghetti House for dinner.

Sunbathing in the afternoon

Lounging in my 'garden'

Which way now??

I opted for squid ink spaghetti, which sounds horrible but it just tasted so good with tomatoes and crayfish and scallops. So much seafood, something I’ve missed living inland. Wuhan river fish that tastes like the swamp water it came from....no thanks. We finished our dinner and went back to the harbour, to get a good seat for the light show. What a disappointment! There was a backing track obviously coming from a standard CD player because it was so quiet and just three buildings that occasionally shone a green laser. In the meantime, one other building was having some sort of seizure and not following the music correctly – that was the most entertainment of the whole show.

Spaghetti house

Victoria Harbour at night

Who?!

We headed back to our hotel and chilled out, before deciding at 10pm that we were starving. Again. I ventured out in my pyjamas (and still looked better than many of the catastrophes emerging from the market) and found chilli chips with jalapeno sauce, which is what every sane person should want at that time. Whilst we were waiting, we watched these street performers doing some sort of gymnastic show and to show you how stupid the Chinese are, a woman was so busy on her phone that she fell into the performers and then kicked over their basket of money. To top it off, she stood there whilst her friends scrambled for the change. Luckily, my food was ready at that moment so we scuttled back to enjoy our food before bed.

Thursday was our last full day in Hong Kong *sob sob* and we were determined to make the most of it by heading up Victoria Peak, the highest point in the city. We followed our map to the tram terminus to get our tickets (why do maps not show hills!?) and bought our tickets for later before heading into Central. There was a woman outside the ticket office selling bus tours and Brooke wanted to get a free map off her but she was having none of it (probably because we’d bought tram tickets and had no use for the bus) and so we left empty handed.

The area of Central reminded me of New York, with all the Skyscrapers and posh shops. It also slightly resembled Oxford Street in London as I saw Topshop, Harvey Nichols and Marks and Spencer! We then embarked on the longest escalator from Central to Soho and got to see lots of the city from it. I came across a Marks and Spencer food shop and practically dragged Brooke off the escalator to go inside. After 8 long months, I was reunited with the humble pork pie and it was glorious. I couldn’t even wait to pay and ate it whilst perusing the shop. I had absolutely no shame in paying for the wrapper.

Just popping to Harvey Nichols

These are not just any pork pies, these are M&S pork pies

 My day then got even better, with a visit to an English pub, ‘The Yorkshire Pudding’. This was Brooke’s first experience with English food and we munched our way through Yorkshire puddings and gravy, mushroom soup, and then steak pie with chips and peas and it was amazing. So much pastry in so little time, but hey, it’s practically a food group. We were also people watching whilst eating and saw lots of people heading for the gym and cute school children heading home for lunch in little white uniforms.

Oh Pimms you were delicious

Mushroom soup and a Yorkshire pudding

Steak and Guinness pie with minted peas

Look what I found!

After inducing ourselves into a food coma, we crawled back to the tram terminus and the walk itself was so quiet and peaceful without everyone trying out their horns. We didn’t have to queue and hopped straight on to a tram to go up to the peak. Whilst we were waiting to get on, we met an Engligh guy called Pip who was very cute and saved us a seat in the café when we reached the top. I ended up speaking German to him over an English tea, whilst sat in Hong Kong – bizarre! The peak itself had much more than a viewing tower, and Brooke and I spent all afternoon up there so it was well worth the £8 admission fee. We found a really cheap souvenir shop e.g. ten postcards for a £1 and bought lots of pointless but must-have items before going up to the viewing platform overlooking the city.

The most fantastic view

Pip is in blue on the left....our new best friend

At the peak museum

The view from the peak

The view itself was utterly stunning and I was surprised by how big it looked. We also got to enjoy the view whilst eating dinner at Bubbagumps. This restaurant is based on the Forest Gump movie, and I’ve only been once before but it sells amazing seafood. Still very stuffed from lunch, we shared a starter and a main and all of it was wonderful. On our walk down, Brooke was tempted by a chest of drawers (I’m really not kidding) but I guided her away to get the tram back home. We sadly had to pack and count up our leftover money before I fell asleep for a much needed 11 hours.

Seafood platter and garlic prawns

Friday morning rolled around and we weren’t overly happy about having to leave Hong Kong, but decided that a foot massage would help. We had a flyer with an address on it but navigating Hong Kong is a nightmare and it took us ages to find the place. Eventually, we found it up a set of stairs and we had two men massage our feet and legs....perfect after a city break. Before leaving to go to the airport, we grabbed lunch but on our way to get our cases from the hotel there was a quick rain shower. I was wearing those cheap flip flops that you wander round the pool in so I ended up ice skating back to get my luggage.

Enjoying my massage

I changed my shoes and it stopped raining, so we caught the bus back to the airport and went to have coffee before checking in. Our flight took ages to appear on the screen, making us very anxious but our check-in lady, Ingrid, was adorable and changed our seats for better ones. We were quite happy and skipped away to security, where my bag was searched because I was stupid and had left a bottle of water in there. However, Brooke’s water was absolutely fine in the side of her rucksack and so was my hand sanitiser. Welcome to China where no rules are followed.

Waiting for the train

We wandered around all the shops in departures and even got a train to our gate and were quite excited until we saw that our plane was delayed. By 1 ½ hours! I don’t think any plane ever leaves on time in Asia, because by the time we got off the runway, it was two hours later than it should have been. Thank goodness for free wifi! I was so happy to see my meal arrive on the plane and then had a nap until we landed into soggy and thunderstormy Wuhan. We went straight through immigration and both grabbed taxis home, to sleep after a fantastic week in an amazing city.