Hong Kong Day 4 – Lantau and the Japanese Sake Bar

Tai O in all her glory

On Saturday the kids had the day off so we headed to Lantau Island on the ferry to check out the fishing village-on-stilts of Tai O. After a lazy breakfast, we had to pretty much run 2km through the streets and shopping malls to make the quick ferry with about 5 minutes to spare – and then on the other side we managed to do the same with the bus to Tai O. All up it took about 2 hours to get there, with a really scenic route through the hills overlooking the sea - but was worth the wait!

"Welcome to the last boat trip you'll ever take ladies"

The place was really bustling with fresh fish markets, loads of places selling dried fish skins and puffer fish with sombreros and googly eyes. We had a wander around, then went on one the many, many boat trips which take you through the town on a loop, and then out into the bay where all the fishermen ply their trade and you can spot pink dolphins. Cruising around the town was fun, it’s strange to think that these people will live their entire lives perched 10 feet above the water in rickety old shacks, at least some of them had air conditioning and TVs though!

Picking out the perfect puffer-fish for home

After the town they take you out into the bay, past all the fishermen who stare at you as you bob past, somewhat bemused – to where there is supposedly a colony of pink dolphins that hang out and flip around for pictures (if you believe the signs at the jetty anyhow). We sat out there for a good 15 minutes aimlessly looking at the grey waters – occasionally the mullet-sporting boat captain would point and say something in mandarin, probably “there are sometimes dolphins that way but probably not today you English pigs”. Eventually the charade was over and we returned to the jetty. I contemplated asking for a refund, but it had only cost us $4…

Afterwards we went for a stroll to the pier and experienced what would turn out to become a trip defining moment – the production of shrimp paste.

Nothing can prepare you for the foul stench that you encounter – roughly 300 metres leading up to the production area. Becky and Jon had warned us it would be bad – but words can’t really describe just how horrendous it is. By the time you reach the house the air is so thick it feels like you are wading through. The only thing we could liken it to is fishy cat food that has been out in 30 degree heat all day – but magnified by about a thousand. There are big blue barrels sitting out in the sun, filled with a grey-pink sludge which is presumably the shrimp paste and next to the house, is what looks like a big meat grinder – but more like a playdo fun factory, with a constant sausage-like slop coming out.

The smile betrays how much it reeked of dried fish.

Literally the worst smell ever.

We moved past as rapidly as possible and went up to a fancy 5 star hotel for afternoon tea and apple crumble (as you do) – before scamping back and heading to another little town on the way back, right on the beach. Unfortuantely we’d expected rain and didn’t bring swimmers – but it was hot as balls so we stood in the surf and cooled down for a while before heading to a beachside restaurant for sangria and dinner. At this point some guy from Kent who was probably the most annoying Englishman we’ve ever encountered approached for a picture of me and him, with my beard…. Fortunately he left and we watched the sunset, and the local wild Lantau buffalo invade the beach.

That night we decided to hit the town for our final HK evening. After a very English pint in the Yorkshire Pudding pub, we battled the partygoers in Halloween fancy dress (the streets looked like any English city on that Saturday night – it was weird, and didn’t feel at all like we were so far from home) and went in search of a Japanese Sake bar the kids had read about and wanted to try.

Solitary pensive buffalo.

The entrance was in a highrise, via a lift – not particularly well signposted. As we got in – there were two Japanese guys going up with us, to the same floor. Tentatively I said to one of them “Sake bar?” – they laughed and asked if we were going there, then laughed even more when we said yes! As we got to the top a big sign said members only – and we were getting a bit nervous, but were soon ushered to a floor table and given a menu so it seemed ok… We ordered the cheapest bottle they had (which wasn’t that cheap!) but figured it would still be good, given the setting. About 5 minutes after we ordered, there was some feverish activity behind the bar and the music stopped – the lights came on and a load of guys sporting ID badges came in and started talking very sternly to the staff. They then came around the club, asking everyone for their ID’s and showed us his, which looked as though they were some kind of Police… At this point, we were mildly terrified we’d never see out passports again for frequenting some kind of illegal mob-run bar, and we didn’t even get to try the Sake!

Sake!

Us and our fugitive bartender.

Fortunately, after 10 minutes or so they left and the place went back to normal service – then the bartender who seemed to be in charge, popped out from a cupboard he had been hiding in the entire time. It was all very surreal, so we were glad to eventually get our bottle – which tasted unbelievable and soon we are all rather merry, chatting with the locals (who were again a fan of the red beard) and having a ball.

We got back far too late considering we had to get up and pack the next day – but really enjoyed our final night of partying in HK.

Hong Kong Day 3 – Lamma Island and Kennedy Town

Lamma! Well,  it was overcast.

On the recommendation of the kids, next morning we set off early to Lamma Island – the third largest in HK, but living at a far more relaxed pace with no private cars or motorbikes anywhere to dodge! We got down to the port in time for a Starbuck’s breakfast (yes, we are adventurous travellers!) and managed to find the right ferry.

Island transport

The crossing was ok, and took about 45 minutes. The weather was a bit dodgy that morning, really cloudy and humid but the rain was holding off for now. On the other side when getting off the ferry we noticed a flier for a support group for the Lamma Ferry disaster that looked pretty recent – we later found out that only about 3 weeks ago one of them had hit another ship and gone down, with over 30 people not making it out.

turning Japanese

With that cheery thought in our heads, we had a wander around the little port town – which was mainly trinket shops, bars and restaurants aimed at tourists. There was a beach about a 30 minute walk away through the forest so we headed there as the sun was just about coming out – and fortunately by the time we got there we were both hot enough to have a dip! The water was pretty nice, although you are in the shadow of a massive factory and there is a shark net enclosing the swimming area so it wasn’t what you would call paradise. There were ex-pat ladies all around and a few Filipino nannies taking a swarm of pasty children for a day at the beach.

Dudes.

We saw you could trek on to the other side of the island in about an hour and get the ferry back from another port – but we decided to go back where we’d come in, grab some lunch and head back to do some more sightseeing before the evening. We stopped off at the bookworm café, which had good drinks and slightly mediocre vegetarian food (at least what we ordered anyway) – our experience was slightly tainted by the fact they took ages to serve us anything, then ages to get our change when we left meaning we missed our ferry by 5 minutes and had to sit at the terminal for another 45 waiting for another one.

This threw us a little, and we had also decided we needed to cull another few kg from our backpacks as the walk from the MTR to our hotel the first morning almost killed us, and overland postage from HK to the UK was about a third of the price of shipping from NZ, so we could afford to do it. After a very stressful 2 hours of box purchasing, unpacking, sorting, repacking and queuing at the post office (not the easiest process when you have no idea what you are doing – not entirely sure we’ll ever see our stuff again!) we were both a sweaty emotional wreck and hadn’t really made the most of our day at all!

Ladies!

That night we headed over to Kennedy Town where Becky and Jon were living – in a swanky high rise which was really nice inside, and made us start wondering how we would get on living in HK somewhere down the line…

Happy hour beckoned for us at a an ex-pat bar, before a tasty Japanese feast just around the corner and a rather extravagantly late nightcap at around 10pm!

Hong Kong Day 2 – Hong Kong Park and Temple Street Night Market

Sham Shui Po

We slept like kings, well – if kings had really small hard beds and air conditioning. Either way it was nice to sleep in til 10am for the first time in a while. We eventually dragged ourselves out of the apartment around midday and headed back to HK island with the intention of seeking out the park for a look around.

It was HOT so en route we promptly got distracted by H&M for a while, then checked out the Gordon St wet markets around the corner. They were pretty gruesome, all manor of meat hanging everywhere– live fish and crustaceans splashing about in tanks on the floor, the smell was something to behold – especially in the heat!

HK Park Fountain

Next we attempted to tackle the park – which was easier said than done! We were wandering about in a bit of a daze as it was, and got lost a few times inside the many, many giant shopping malls which all seem to be connected by foot bridges ten floors up and look exactly the same inside. After much frustration we made it! Much like central park in NYC or Hyde park in Sydney it is such a welcome and quiet distraction from the chaos just a few hundred metres away.

Inside there were some interesting water features which you could go inside, the oldest colonial building in HK (now a Tea museum of all things) – plus a few lakes and a massive aviary which we headed straight for. Inside they had hundreds of species of birds in a huge enclosure which stretched from the ground about 10 or 15 stories of a building high under the netting and would’ve been a couple of football pitches in length and width, so they all seemed happy enough. We hung around and watched the lorikeets and parrots get fed, then spotted some HUGE crested pigeons on the forest floor – all around there were birds swooping from one side to another, chasing each other about – we could’ve stayed all day!

Star Ferry views

Alas, we had to mosy back to civilization for a quick shower and meet up with Becky again once she’d finished work. We tried to head up to a place called the peak which involves a cable tram ride up the hill to the highest point of HK Island for sunset and to take in the views, there is also a giant Buddha up there which looks out over everything – but unfortunately, about 2000 other people had the same idea as us at the same time so when we arrived there was a GIANT queue and the prospect of standing around for a good couple of hours there and back didn’t really appeal in the humidity, so we decided to go and meet Jon and head for drinks instead!

Cocktail fun.

After another scenic ride on the Star Ferry over to Kowloon to meet the boy, they took us on a mission through the lobby of a rather fancy hotel, into the lift and up around 20 floors – then down a hallway past a huge indoor swimming pool…at this point we asked where exactly we were headed as it felt like the opening scene in Goodfellas where Henry takes them on their first date in the Copa Cabana. Soon enough, we’d arrived and it all became clear – rooftop cocktails! We sat and enjoyed the views across the water of the city and lights show for a couple of hours before jumping into a taxi and heading for Temple Street. This is where the massive night markets are held, and also the location of a collection of fresh seafood street restaurants which are also a must-do for HK – we were already keen on them so were glad when the kids suggested it. After watching some pretty hilarious locals doing street-side karaoke, laughing our heads off at the seedy looking sex toy side markets and a stroll through the actual Temple St market – which pretty much sold anything you could possibly ever want (well, a slightly dodgy version of anything you could ever possibly want at least) we sat down at a fairly typical street-side “restaurant”.

Coolest cats in HK

Good kitty.

It was chaos. Packed with tourists, surrounded on all sides by kitchens churning out food non-stop. If it wasn’t for the reputation of the food and the fact you were in Asia – you’d never stop and eat there, as every so often there was a waft of sewage or the occasional rat/cat/dog darting out of the kitchen. We swiftly ordered 4 local beers from the waitress, who are on commission for a different beer apparently and quickly became rather angry at our choice! We shared a few random dishes and sat chatting for a while – really enjoying the ambience and seeing this more traditional side of the city.

Temple St Markets

After hitting the markets again (I got some uber cheap TOMS shoes and Lisa almost got a wig) we were all exhausted and called it a night it was already midnight! 

Hong Kong Day 1 – Auckland to Hong Kong

Unusually neither James or I had thought to check our flight time from Auckland, our ticket said departure at midnight and arrival at 6am so foolishly we’d both anticipated about 6 hours. Needless the say when the captain announced we were in for an 11-hour flight it came as a bit of a shock! Fortunately long haul on Air NZ was pretty awesome and we managed to amuse ourselves between movies and sleeping.

Very tired, and before I noticed the chicken's foot
lurking in the rice!

We couldn’t check into our HK apartment until 10am so after landing at 6am we spent a couple of hours in the airport – partly to take advantage of their free wifi but also because we were scared to go outside a little bit…

Come 9.30am it was time to tackle HK’s metro system – the MTR – and although initially a bit daunting I think HK probably has the most efficient and easy to use train system on earth and before we knew it we’d arrived at our new neighbourhood for the next four nights – Sham Shui Po.

Our neighbourhood!

Our plan on checking into our (unbelievably small!) apartment was to try and catch up on sleep – but we were both really hungry and a bit excited/delirious so we opted instead to try and find a recommended restaurant in our neck of the woods. Where we were staying was exactly what I’d expected of Hong Kong – absolute chaos! Just highrise apartment blocks, street markets and neon signs as far as the eye could see. We were both a bit nervous about heading out but we put on our brave faces and within 15 minutes we’d found the place we were looking for.

Unfortunately, nothing was in English, no one seemed to speak English and it took all the strength I had to stop James from running screaming into the distance. We eventually managed to communicate that we wanted a table – but ordering food didn’t come quite so easily. They gave you a slip of paper with dishes written on them and in theory you just tick what you want – however, this didn’t seem to work for the woman who came to take our order who quickly got bored and walked off without taking it. The second woman had a bit more patience but wouldn’t accept what we’d ticked and just kind of pointed at other things we didn’t want and then walked off with our order.

Unsure of what we were going to end up with we were pleased when the first dish arrived and looked fairly normal – sticky rice wrapped in a banana leaf. James was still freaking out so I put on my best ‘don’t be so ridiculous’ face and heaped a pile of rice into my bowl and started tucking in. It soon became clear there wasn’t just rice in the parcel and as I nervously dug around to see what the hard thing was my chopsticks had just hit I was fairly horrified to discover it was a chicken’s foot! My ‘I’m so much braver in HK than you’ face quickly drained from my face and James had his moment of glory as he removed it from my bowl and hid it out of sight! I guess it had to happen at some point… Fortunately the rest of the food was delicious, so we left content at our adventurous attempt at lunch.

We’d read in the LP about a local temple that was supposed to be one of the most colourful in Hong Kong so to get over the trauma of our first meal we headed straight there for a meander around. It was easy to find and a welcome haven amongst the chaos of the Kowloon streets outside.

Old meets new

Soon it was time to head back for a shower before catching up with our friend Becky and her other half Jon after work. It’d been a good two years since we’d seen each other so I was pretty excited for the prospect of a bit of female company (no offence to James, he can be pretty girly at times) and see a familiar face!

Hong Kong Island

After getting a bit lost in the TST MTR station (easily done, it’s a maze!) we finally found her, and after a few catch up hugs we headed above ground for a sunset stroll along the harbor. It was an absolutely beautiful spot to admire the HK skyline before hopping on the famous Star Ferry to cross the water to Hong Kong Island.

James and I could barely believe the difference between Kowloon and HK Island – only 10 minutes between them but it almost felt like we were in London! Within a couple of minutes we’d seen a H&M and a Marks and Spencers! Where HK totally outplays London though is in the way you feel like you’re in Blade Runner with every turn of a corner.

The highlight was the Mid-Levels where the longest travelator in the world takes you from ground level up the incredibly steep hill! We hopped off at one of Becky’s favourite bars – I can’t remember the name for the life of me but it was pretty purple inside so we just referred to it as ‘The Purple Bar’ from there on in.

The Blade Runner Travelator

Luckily for us after work drinks seems to be the thing to do in HK and happy hours are everywhere with cocktails for about $3 each. A fair few cocktails in and Jon joined us from work – being the first time he’d met James and I, unfortunately I think it was a bit of baptism by fire for him as we were both jetlagged, a bit delirious and definitely half cut! Nonetheless, we stayed for a few more drinks and shared our travelling horror stories until about 9pm when we took a stroll to find food nearby.

We were both feeling pretty confident about traversing the MTR back to our apartment after a few drinks and sure enough we managed to get off at our stop, unfortunately though we took a wrong turn somewhere and ended up wandering around the rather surreal night markets for a good 20 minutes! Seeing backflipping robot puppies is not what you need after no sleep for 24 hours and many, many cocktails…!