Hong Kong (Part 2)

So we left the Visa Office after submitting our applications, all hopeful of a positive result or face returning home a lot sooner than planned.

Natalie and Kevin had submitted their applications and gone outside to get some air, mine was next and then after Chris and Jess had finished we left to find our companions. Unfortunately, we were unable to locate them, and at this point we experienced (not to be the only time) life without mobile phones. With no way to contact them we decided to head back to the hostel on the off chance they were there. They weren't, but with us all feeling a bit grubby we decided to have a quick shower, not together.

Refreshed, we returned to the reception only to learn that Natalie and Kevin had not been back yet, so we went to find somewhere to eat. We found a little Vietnamese restaurant, Jess ordered some rice noodles, Chris and I ordered some Chicken and Vietnam Sausage, not sure where on the plate this sausage was but the chicken was tasty.

It was time for a nap so once again we headed back to the hostel. Natalie and Kevin were there, and we all had a nice rest before heading out for dinner, this time it was Chris and Jess that had gone missing. So the three of us walked for a while and settled on a Japanese restaurant. Kevin ordered the 'Japanese Caesar Salad', which just looked like a 'Caesar Salad' to my uneducated eye. Natalie and I had some meatballs which were just incredible, washed down with a bottle Asahi beer.

We then went to the supermarket across from the hostel, it was like being in England. All the products, I knew and (in some cases) loved were there - Twix, Malteasers Walkers Crisps, Tropicana Orange Juice and Colman's Mustard, to name a few. We stocked up on sweets/candy and headed back to the hostel to watch a movie and slip into a sugar induced sleep.

The next day we returned to the visa office and went straight to the front of the queue to collect our passports, which now had shiny new z visas inside. Once again we were free to do what we liked and this time we were full of energy following a good night's sleep, so it was time to do some real exploring.

Natalie suggested visiting the Tian Tan Buddha, which can be found at the top of 240 steps (I didn't count them, I just consulted Wikipedia) and is 112 feet tall. To get there we had to take the subway, a much more civilized experience than that we are used to in Beijing. And then took a gondolier cable car type thing up-toward it before walking through a cool little village, reminiscent of something from Disneyland before eventually reaching the Buddha.

The Tian Tan Buddha from the foot of 240 steps

The views were quite breathtaking from beside the Buddha, the statue itself was pretty impressive too. On our way to the bus stop, we saw a cow and its calf walking around the carpark, it was strange to see but they weren't the only animals we'd seen that day. The area below the Buddha was swarming with dogs, many of which were seemingly starving or pregnant. Thinking back now, it was all very bizarre around there, certainly not as spiritual as you might expect.

One memorable moment of our trip occurred shortly after our visit to the 'Big Buddha'. I was walking with Chris and Jess, and we saw a Chinese woman crouching down on a foot bridge with her small child, he was taking a pee. Now in Beijing, it is not uncommon to see kids peeing (and occasionally pooing) in the street but in Hong Kong it was the first time I had seen it. One lady on the bridge, took exception to it and made a point of telling the mother, "you do know there is a public toilet just over there, don't you?" she asked in her home counties accent, the mother seemed a little embarrassed but couldn't stop her son, who was mid-flow at this point, the lady then stormed off but not before angrily saying "you disgusting people".

That night we went for dinner with some of Natalie's friends and then we took a mountain train up to what is known as The Peak,  from there we found ourselves overlooking Hong Kong and it was quite beautiful sight, especially at night with it all being lit up.

The gang and Natalie's friend Shan, stood atop Hong Kong's 'The Peak'

My friends from Beijing, Cat and Jon were also in Hong Kong at the time. They had been traveling around during their school holiday. We had hoped to meet up at some point, without a phone however it was proving to be too difficult. Jon and I exchanged messages on Facebook and they tried at the hostel several times to see if I was about. The morning we checked out, I took a seat while Natalie and Chris sorted payments out at the desk. Kevin was stood chatting to me and noticed a little piece of paper pinned to the notice board behind me, it was marked 'FAO of Dan Jones'. Cat and Jon had left me a note to say they would be at the subway exit by the hostel at 7pm (the previous night) and would wait for 20 minutes, sadly I didn't get to meet up with them in Hong Kong but we did get to catch up a couple of weeks later in Beijing. 

On the way back, we were on a 'hard sleeper' opposed to the 'hard seat' we had endured on the way down. It was fantastic, so comfy and we all slept well that night. In fact, I actually felt a little disappointed when we arrived back in Beijing, I could have happily stayed on there for another 24 hours.

Hong Kong is an amazing place, I really enjoyed my visit. Although I was annoyed about the visa issues that resulted in us having to go there, I guess in hindsight it was a blessing. I got to visit a really cool part of the world that I possibly would never have seen otherwise. 

For me, Hong Kong blends all the best parts of China and the Western world together. It has a Chinese feel to it, but everyone can speak English. And above all else they sold sandwiches! And bloody tasty they were too!

Stood in front of the famous Hong Kong skyline