Hong Kong

So after spending all my money on my last trip, to Vegas, I am all about getting that paper! The next thing on my roster was standby, where we are on call during certain time frames to cover flights if they go crew down. I really needed to get called out to get myself some cash & managed to get allocated onto a 3 night Vegas. Now as much as I love a Vegas and I really do, I thought I'd advertise it on our swap page as I  really need a change of scene and was lucky enough to be offered a Hong Kong! I've never been there before & have heard its a fun trip and is very popular so I jumped at the chance.

Night sky

As I mentioned, Hong Kong trips are known for being wild nights out, but unfortunately no one on my crew was really up for doing anything... bloody dry January! However the captain, after hearing it was my first visit there, managed to round up a couple of the other pilots & two of the crew to go out to the horse races. It was in the Happy Valley district and the underground and tram system are so easy to use so we just hopped on them to get there. The races were so busy, which I wasn't expecting as it was the middle of the week and there was a great atmosphere. It seemed to be mainly ex-pats & Australians, which there's a big community of in Hong Kong. We had the jugs of beer flowing and actually managed to win a little bit of money on a couple of horses too! We then went out to a few bars after that & they had live bands playing which is always good.

The horse races

Wontons?

The next day I just grabbed myself some breakfast and met up with one of the girls who was going to the ladies markets. I'm not sure why it's called that but it's where you can get all your designer fakes of everything from bags, to hats, purses to shoes as well as a hell of a lot of tatt! I got myself a few bargains, never knew I was such a 'Gucci' fan! If you're going to the markets, the sellers seem to keep better versions of whats on show hidden, so make sure you ask as they may have what you're looking for out the back. Also goes without saying to make sure you haggle! On a side note, if you're fairly adventourous with food like me, then give some of the 'street meat' a go from the street vendors. I had some spicy ball things which were really nice & some maybe prawn wontons as well (I still don't know 100% what I was eating!)

Wandering through the markets

As our check out was so late, there was pretty much the whole day to play with. So I decided I wanted to see some of Hong  Kong & had heard about Victoria Peak. No one else fancied it so I went on my own. I just caught the underground and then a bus up. Victoria Peak is basically a very high point where you can see views of all the city. When I got there I went into a mall where there was a viewing gallery advertised, but when I got there, whilst the view was nice it didn't seem like I was in the right place. I went down and walked round the corner & suddenly found lots of restaurants and shops and knew I was in the right place. I spotted the tram, which I'd seen when I researched how to get to the peak so thought that must be what takes you to the main viewpoint. I bought a ticket, got on and it wasn't until it started going down I realised the mistake I'd made and that the tram was just taking me straight back down the peak! So I saw the view of the city briefly as I shot down the hill in this tram but couldn't take any photo's which was the whole point! So yeah, will have to go back I guess! Only thing I did learn is that the bus is a much better way of getting up & down, not only is it much cheaper, $10 compared to $32, the tram had a huge queue at the bottom to go up as well. After that I just made my way back to the train station and headed back to get a sleep in before check out. I have a feeling it will be a while until I can come back, as Hong Kong trips are hard to get but I really want to come back!

The 'back' view - only one I got a photo of!

Walking through the city

Next stop... Jamaica!