Archive for June, 2008
Hong Kong and China
I had some spare time this morning so I have uploaded my photos from my trip to Hong Kong and China.
Sadly the weather in both countries was not conducive to walking around with a dSLR camera so the photos are limited to times when it STOPPED raining and while indoors.
The photos can be found by clicking the below links.
As I mentioned, the weather was not fantastic for most of the time I was in Asia.
Warm temperatures + rain + low cloud cover == 1 very humid trip.
Having said that, it did not stop me from having a great time.
Hong Kong was an interesting place. It was almost like still being in Sydney, only the cab drivers are better in Hong Kong.
I arrived early morning on the 13th and wandered around the airport for a little while, picked up a phone sim card and then jumped in a limo to the hotel.
I checked in to my room at the hotel and due to a lack of sleep on the plane pretty much crashed right away.
After I got up I went for a wander around downtown Hong Kong Island. Ended up eating lunch at a rather nice chinese restaurant that was in a massive shopping center, not cheap but I walked away happy so that was the important part.
Saturday saw me meet up with Georgie and head out on 1 of about 11 boats for a party out on the water.
We loaded up the boat around 12pm with all the beer and food and set course for a quiet spot somewhere around one of the Islands.
Beer, food, boats, music and someone from almost every country in the world made for one crazy afternoon.
Once we got back into town we had another party to attend, this time a pool party at the local yacht club hosted by the local Dragon Boat team.
More food, booze and this time a pool made for an even crazier night.
The next day I spent wandering around Kawloon haggling for the right price on some camera stuff. Sadly the shop I WAS going to buy from did not have one of the lenses in stock so I went home empty handed.
Monday saw me check out of my HK Hotel and jump on a ferry to Macau. A short 1 hour ride from Hong Kong Island, Macau is referred to (by the PR people I am sure) as “Las Vegas of the East”.
Having never been to Las Vegas (I am sure that will change by the end of this trip) I can’t really compare, but Macau was loaded with Hotels, Casinos and Prostitues. Everything I am told that Vegas has.
I spent 2 days in Macau sampling some of their finest cusine and trying out as many Blackjack tables in as many casinos as I could walk to.
Thanks to the miserable rain I did not get to do much sight seeing outside of the main part of town or get any photos but it was great fun.
Wednesday saw me make the scary trip to mainland China.
Originally I was headed for Shenzen where I was to be picked up by the people I was going to see but since I was in Macau it was decided it was best I jump on a bus from the boarder near macau.
This proved to be much harder than originally expected since almost nobody speaks English in China (or at least this part of it).
Eventually I found somebody who helped me buy my ticket and then made sure I got on the right bus.
I was picked up by Adam and Jason at the Dongguan coach terminal and we headed for the Reactor Paintball factory.
We stopped in at a Chinese McDonalds on our was for a quick lunch and then arrived at Reactor.
The place is incredible and the people who work there are some of the nicest people I have ever met.
Adam introduced me to the crew and then we went on a tour of the factory.
They were making the new Tournament grade Killer Paintballs while I was there so I got to see first hand just how they were made.
I must say, they are going to be a great ball when they are finally released to the public.
That night we went out for dinner at a local restaurant.
Private room upstairs with our own mini beer keg and more food than you could poke a chopstick at.
After dinner we headed to WalMart for a bit of shopping China style. Spend about $30 and came home with enough stuff for another suitcase.
Back to the hotels “spa” for a foot massage, the name is kind of misleading as it is more of a full body massage but it was great either way.
Back to the factory the next day since Mike and Adam had work to do, I chilled out in the office sorting out my new DVD’s and taking photos of the factory with Adams new best friend Mao.
After the power to the factory was cut at around 3pm we called it a day and headed for the electronics warehouse and KFC for some lunch.
If you are ever in China, do NOT eat the Chicken and Prawn burger from KFC. It tastes as bad as you might imagine.
A bit more shopping at the electronics warehouse and then back to WalMart and it was time for me to head back to HK.
Arrived back in HK at about 10.30pm and checked into my room. Dropped off my bags and went out for drinks with Georgie and her friends.
Ended up back in my hotel around 2am and was up again at 3.30 to pack and head off to the airport. After checking in at the airport I headed for the Qantas Club lounge for a shower and some food, thank heavens for the Qantas club as the plane was delayed almost 2 hours.
Finally boarded the plane and settled down for the long flight to London.
More from London and Brighton at a later date.
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