Hong Kong In the Sun

A certain someone told me that I complained too much in my last post, so I'm not going to mention that the last time I was here it poured it down with rain for three days straight - but this time I woke up to blue skies (view from window:)


I had a day to wait for my visa but it was glorious and I was skipping with glee like a mad giant through the startled crowds of little hong-kongers. The looks of bewilderment on their faces combined with their incongruously heavy clothing and face masks giving them the odd appearance of just having been whisked away from Siberia and plonked down in the tropics.

After a session hammering away at some work in Starbucks' wireless internet zone, I listened to a teach-yourself chinese podcast on chinese etiquette & pleasantries while sunbathing at the docks. Tip: you can get wireless internet (HK$20/day) & a great view on the balcony above star ferry pier. Wandering randomly through the back streets I ran across what seemed to be a crowd of squatters in a construction site but on closer inspection turned out to be a restaurant.


I couldn't resist trying the fare which was scrumptious but regretted it later as I felt a little queasy that afternoon... (recovered now though so don't worry mum - iron stomach to the rescue!)

Does anyone else find anything in this picture incongruous?


People keep asking me what the difference between Cantonese and Mandarin is, so...

Cantonese sounds a bit like an argument in a somerset accent on speed and is spoken mainly in Hong Kong, in your local chinese restaurant and by Jackie Chan.

Mandarin sounds a bit like a machine-gun aimed at a xylophone and is spoken in the rest of China and in films like 'Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon'.



Tourists having a ride on a 'traditional' chinese vessel. Because obviously, they used to build pagodas on boats, honest.