You can buy ANYTHING in Honkers!

Hong Kong… my first impression – Blade Runner! The massive skyscrapers towering over the markets below. Run down buses jockeying for position with the latest Porsche 4-wheel drive. One oneside of the street fruit, vegetables, whole roasted duck and fish gasping their lives away in tiny buckets. On the other side of the street is Louis Vouton, McDonalds and every other western convenience.

Actually, my first impression was of Mort City in SLA Industries but only a select group of geeks know what I am talking about!

Girlclumsys uncle and aunt (and cousin!) have been fanstastic to us. Her uncle Jan took us around Central (the main city areas) and showed us the Hong Kong that tourists see, The buildings, the shopping and the harbour. He then took us for a drive around the parts most people don’t see. Did you know that HK is 40% National Park? And I think Girlclumsy and I saw all of it J. We have taken a ferry out to Cheung Chau (an island that used to be a pirate hangout.. Villains!) and walked around probably the only place in HK that doesn’t allow cars.

HK is similar to Brisbane for temperature and humidity, so it was pretty nasty weather but nothing we haven’t experienced before every bloody summer. Actually.. I lie.. they do have something we don’t have.. smog to the ground! Only 30km away is Shen Zen (sp?), Here is where nearly every western item is made… and the pollution just rolls into Hong Kong! On a still day (like the day we arrived) the visibility was too about 250 metres! Amazingly awful! They have a pollution watch in the newspaper that said it was VERY HIGh and the worst smog they had seen in years.. lucky us. Next day however the Saomei Typhoon blew past (im not kidding). It missed HK by a very little and dashed itself ontop mainland China. This killed many Chinese but did clear the weather in Hong Kong for us… whee! HK also has pollution warnings on the beach. On the day we went to Cheung Chau it notified us that we had a 15/1000 of catching some awful E.Coli strain and die.. or at least be very very ill.. we decided not to swim!

HK is still very colonial. Fantastically so. We had dinner at the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club (members only!), and lunch on MI (Middle Island, donchaknow!) and had a Gunners (lemon, lime and bitters in a huge glass) in another yacht club up the coast.. also members only. It is a hard damn life! We had dinner at the FCC (Foreign Correspondent Club). Here Girlclumsy got to flash her journalist credentials to all and sundry.. she loved it but felt like a fraud.. for some reason.

HK would have to be the most amazing fusion of East and West. If you have the money to live or eveb go here.. it is worth it.

Must fly! Sorry for this to be so late and short.. and frankly unfunny!

Byee!