First of all I would like to thank Karen Badger who so very kindly sent me a detailed email of what was good to do, best times, info on the public transport for which I am so grateful as it was so useful to me.

Secondly, because I did not feel 100% I don’t feel I got the best out of Hong Kong or it out of me so eg I didn’t get to eat any local food and my energy levels were poor until my final day there, however, on the upside I am travelling to NZ well and back to normal.

Some fun facts:

Hong Kong means “Fragrant Harbour”, the name came from the incense factories that once lined the harbour, giving it an aromatic scent.

The name “Kowloon” (Gua Lung) means “Nine Dragons”, named after the eight hills plus a servant-dragon.

Green Oasis: Despite its concrete jungle image, nearly 75% of Hong Kong is green space – some of the gardens are beautiful, I had expected it to look very dry and was surprised how lush some of Hong Kong was.

Population is just short of 7.4 million people in a 428 sq mile (1,108 km sq) area, HK is a compilation of 263 different islands.

There is a large Indian community due to the Military being British/Indian and the first Mosque was built within the grounds of the Military base within the capital.

The official language is English & Chinese, main religions Buddhism & Christianity and the currency is the Hong Kong Dollar.

The Opium War turned Hong Kong from a fishing village into a financial juggernaut.

I stayed at the Grand Kowloon Harbour Bay, I arrived on New Year Eve just as the sun was setting which really is beautiful, I had upgraded my room and this hotel was chosen for two key reasons: it’s beautiful outdoor pool area from which you can watch the fireworks at NY and my room had a full view of the bay, so if I didn’t want to go out I could watch it all from my room. Well none of that worked out for 3 reasons: 1. The pool area was shut for 4 months for annual renovation works! 2. Due to a fire at Tai Po where 161 people lost their lives in November, the Secretary for Culture, Sports & Tourism cancelled them as it was felt to be inappropriate. There were no light displays either & 3. I was shattered and needed to be in bed and near a bathroom!

With only 2 nights and 2 days, the second of which I was leaving at 5.30pm to the airport I was determined to try to get out and about, and so I thought I wouldn’t venture too far initially from the hotel! As anyone who knows me well especially my work colleagues I have a long and tricky history with trains, however, the MTR in Hong Kong was just like the tube to me, I just found it so easy to use, it is tap in tap out and so so cheap.

I decided to go to the Chi Lin gardens/nunnery (allow 1-2 hrs), it is free, such a serene sanctuary in the middle of the city, I really enjoyed it, and also gave an opportunity to appreciate Buddhism, the faith and the culture, great shout Karen!

I went back to the Hotel felt wiped so had a 2-3 hr nap, I got up and it a horrible feeling to be somewhere so amazing and being missing out on it so, I had a chat with myself and heading back into town on the hunt for the No:15 bus to take me to The Peak, no sign of it then tried to find the right tram and go speaking with two lovely English Teachers from Korea, one originally from Boston the other Toronto. We ended up on a Tram lol first one went the wrong way the had to change direction lol, for complete fear of boring you we took a taxi up and being New Year it was completely crazy and the queues were crazy.

Once at the top I split from the girls and decided to walk up to the top and then ended up walking the whole way down, it was quite dark on the pathway, however, there were plenty people all walking down too so it felt very safe. The Views were spectacular.

Final HK blog to follow…….