Trying to MAKE the time to do this led me to start thinking about why I started blogging about my adventures when in Shanghai last year. I think as much as it is a great way to share adventures with family and friends, it is also a good way for Juz and I to keep a diary to remind us of the fun we have/had while here in Hong Kong and our surrounding travels. And of course, it is a great way to share some of the 'knowledge' we are gathering along the way, which might be useful for visitors or you might simply find it interesting.
My train of thought then went to photos and how they are so much fun. Given we have taken quite a lot in our first 3 months here, I have decided to make this blog a pictorial one with some brief blurbs (ok - so the blurbs ended up longish :).
The one thing that marvels us every time we go somewhere, is that there is so much to do in Hong Kong. Mention Hong Kong and most people think crowds and shopping - and whilst they both exist, there are so many fantastic things to do here and it takes just a little exploring and you open a whole world of experiences.
I hope you enjoy seeing and hearing about what Juz and I have been up to in the last 6 weeks.
Here we go...
I turned 40 on March 10. My aunties, Marg and Cathy, were our first visitors. The night prior to my birthday was our regular Wednesday night at the races, followed by dinner and cake the next day. Suffice to say, Vegas was determined not to miss out on the celebrations either. I got lots of lovely flowers, cards and gifts from some great friends in all corners of the globe – very spoiled. Our gorgeous friend Tom came from Shanghai for my birthday too and we had a great dinner with he and Kip – we didn’t seem to get any photos that night! Juz put together an amazing 67 page PowerPoint for me (oh and a beautiful diamond and pink sapphire ring :); was a lovely birthday all round – which I will continue to celebrate as you all come to visit during the year!
The following weekend Juz and I headed to Macau for my birthday. It's an easy 60 minute ferry ride (see the first class meal ;). Thankfully, for Macau, they have discovered they really don't have any other industry but gambling - and of course the drinking and shopping that goes hand in hand. It is often called the 'Vegas of the East' - we would say it is far from being Vegas BUT, unlike Vegas, construction here is non stop and at a rapid pace. They are building countless new casinos/hotels. The only thing I think they are behind the times on is smoking; you can smoke everywhere, both indoors and out, which is pretty awful if you are not a smoker. However, many Asians smoke so I cannot see this changing as they want people inside the Casinos spending time and money smoking, drinking and gambling.
Juz had booked us an amazing suite at the Four Seasons to make it memorable for me, we went to Cirque Du Soleil (the clowns had juz on stage twice - and I think he secretly enjoyed it) and we had a delicious dinner at a restaurant called The Eight to continue the celebrations.
The last weekend in March sees the Rugby Sevens in Hong Kong. It is by far HK's biggst annual event. It has little to do with the Rugby really, and much more to do with entertainment and everyone having a good time. Needless to say, it is sold out in record time so the English scalpers do a roaring trade. Starting Friday at 4pm and finishing Sunday at 7pm, I am sure some people were simply drunk the entire time and had not been to bed. Everyone gets dressed up to go - not for any reason, just because they can! The Southern stand is the only area where you can take drinks to your seat - needless to say that gets very full, very fast. We went wth Kip and had a blast.
On Saturday morning we decided we too would get dressed up, so we made a mad dash to this brilliant market street here where they sell nothing but dress up costumes - it is awesome and maks you want to have costume parties! We cheered on the Aussies and the Hong Kong teams - and of course whoever was playing against the Kiwis and the Poms ;-). Was a brilliant weekend and cannot wait till next year - hopefully with a whole crew of you, so let's start planning our outfits now!
We also visited Stanley markets for the first time last weekend. I am not a market kinda gal, but this really is good fun and their are lots of restaurants for a cool drink! We are thinking of heading down one weekend for some wind surfing lessons.
Suffice to say all the good eating and drinking (see next batch of pics...) means we have now started training lots and to keep us motivated we are off to KL at the end of June to do the half marathon. This weekend we are off to the beach in Sanya - the 'Hawaii of China'. Juz has not played golf for 3 months, so he is really looking forward to the weekend (even though he does not yet know where we are going).
The upcoming months are already looking busy. We are really looking forward to visits from lots of people between April and October - including Mum in September for 2 weeks!! We are yet to meet many people here (we've been busy enough just the two of us!) so if you are coming through HK or want to come for a visit let us know - we would love to see you.
We feel really lucky to have the chance to be here and to be experiencing so many new and great things - and let's face it life is too short to not enjoy every minute.
So that's our adventures of the last 6 weeks. The next 4 weeks sees a public holiday every week here so we are ready to get out and explore some more!
Until next time,
G
xxxx
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