evfn - YourView

[HongKongMan]

Instead of my usual (I say usual but it has only been three weeks now) Sunday hike, I ended up instead with a project social on Sunday. The official project social secretary had booked us a table for ten at what I was assured was the best champagne brunch in Hong Kong at the Intercontinental hotel at Tsim Sha Tsui (or just TST to most). It is a five-star hotel with breathtaking views of Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour (back toward's Hong Kong Island) and an amazing selection of fresh sea food (particularly good lobster) and sushi. Apparently you have to book months in advance - but that may have been a cunning plan by our adminstrator to convince me to forget the hike and attend. When she then mentioned that it was also as much Moet as you can drink, I was sold. The hike could wait another week, it was time to get into the HK lifestyle and social scene.

Considering I was out to three in the morning the night before, having survived a local version of Jacky Chan driving the taxi home (I was impressed and scared at the same time by his ability to use the on and off ramp of the expressway to overtake other taxis, steer the car between the traffic like he was playing a PlayStation game and still argue/gossip on the radio with dispatcher!), I was amazed that I made it to the ferry terminal at nine for the short trip across Victoria Harbour to TST. The ferry costs HK$2.2 (£1=HK$15) and navigates it's way across the harbour with speed and ease. So the attached photos are taking on the ferry and capture the sights of Hong Kong Island (including one of the trams behind the ferry terminal) from the ferry itself - I guess this is the view of Hong Kong that everybody expects...

The bruch lived up to expectations and it is amazing how quickly a four hour lunch can pass when you are drinking champagne and discussing the poor state of the England cricket team and the girls expressing how great it was to see Jonny back playing Rugby for England the night before. Afterwards we caught a taxi back to HK Island (stuck in a traffic jam under the Harbour in one of the tunnels wasn't fun), and went for a few more beers/vino tinto and ending up playing a dice game (where you have to bluff your opponent - I cannot remember the Cantonese name) until midnight. Monday morning at work was not easy in any way, not sore legs this week but a very sore head.

Hong Kong, 07.02.2007