Bongkers in Hongkers

Well we have actually now left Hong Kong, but here is a belated post to let you all know how utterly fantastic, and expensive, it is there.... For a start the internet was ten US dollars an hour rather than the usual one dollar an hour, hence no post.
We arrived in Hong Kong more than ready to experience modern city life as a total contrast to India. The city didn't disappoint. Right from when we landed at the modern air conditioned airport we knew we were in for a treat! On the bus heading to Kowloon we drove down wide streets full of people, lit up like Tokyo, with large banners full of Chinese characters we couldn't understand and enormous advertisement hoarding for the designer shops which Honkers is full of. It was definitely an assault on the senses and nice to get such a dramatic change of culture from India.
We set the tone for our 5 day stay on the first night - planning to go out for some quick noodles we ended up having a slap up feast plus alcohol (a treat!!) and spending a days budget. Mmm it was worth it though!
Our first full day was also my birthday, and it was a lovely day. We commenced with breakfast in bed - naturally! - and then I had some in-room beauty treatments which was heaven. We had lunch in the hotel restaurant, which was an enormous buffet of sushi, oysters, huge mussels, every kind of fresh fish, noodles, meat - it went on and on. The best part was the desserts section which had a dozen kinds of pudding, cakes, chocolate mousse, bread and butter pudding, souffle, tarts - it was a feast fit for a king (or a birthday girl!). A walk on the harbour front aided digestion and then we went for a swim at the YMCA, which also had a jacuzzi and sauna. I don't think you can imagine the utter bliss after 2 months of filth!
In the evening we went for a drink at the bar in the Peninsula Hotel, HK's most luxurious hotel. The bar is on the top floor overlooking the harbour, which was lit up and was an incredible sight. At 8pm sharp the laser show began and we had prime seats by the huge plate glass window. To music, which is pumped into the harbour front, all the city skyscrapers light up with pulsating coloured lights and lasers - it is quite beathtaking. We reluctantly left the show, vowing to head down to the harbour front the next night to see it in full, and went for a lovely birthday dinner, complete with a surprise cake that wasn't much of a surprise as the waitress was the least subtle person in HK and kept whispering in Andy's ear throughout the meal.
Hong Kong seems never to sleep, so after dinner we did a bit of drunken shopping and I got a lovely black silk chinese dress with red piping as a birthday present from Andy.
The following day we spent on Hong Kong island, which is the main business district. We did all the usual tourist stuff like a tram ride, lunch in Soho, and walk through the zoo and a ride up to Victoria Peak, which has great views of the whole area, although it was a bit hazy when we were there. In the evening we saw the laser show from the harbourfront and it was even more impressive with the music playing. Each building taking part was introduced, and as its name was mention the lights on it lit up and flashed and went mad - it really made the building look as if it had a personality! That evening we browsed around the many electrical shops for a new digital camera - if you have noticed the lack of pictures of Andy and I recently its because I dropped the digital camera in Delhi and broke it, I was Miss Popular that day! So we have been stealing them from the internet. But no more; Andy is now the proud owner of a tiny - and cheap - new Olympus camera.
The next day we visited Macau, which was owned by the Portuguese until 1999 and retains a Mediterranean feel which is an odd contrast to its chinese culture. We did our usual in-depth sightseeing tour consisting of lunch and a bottle of wine, some shopping, a quick wander to the fortress (just to say we'd seen it...) and then home! Saddened by the knowledge that this was our last night in Hong Kong we headed for the amazing buffet once again, I had a final and lovely hot bubble bath and then we packed our stuff...
Andy was starting to panic slightly about the amount of money we were spending; the only reason I wasn't is that I had made a determined effort not to know the exchange rate calculation into US dollars and therefore totally avoided knowing the true price of anything. However when our hotel laundry came back at 700 HK dollars (with 7 HK dollars to the US dollar it was 100 US just to wash a few pants and t-shirts) even I had to agree it was a good thing we weren't staying any longer...
The next morning I was physically dragged from the hotel room kicking and screaming, thrown onto a bus and frogmarched to Bangkok.