Wednesday, 9 December 2009

Hong Kong Central and the Races

Day two in Hong Kong saw us waking up to another cool misty day. Determined not to be put off by the weather and dressed in jeans and t-shirts (as opposed to the coats that the locals insisted on wearing!), we headed into Central for another day of getting to know Hong Kong.

First stop was Hong Kong Park which is really a little oasis of greenery tucked away behind the huge Bank of China and the like. We met with Jan for some Thai food then headed back into the centre of town to just absorb our surroundings. With Leon's new camera in hand, we wandered up the steep streets, down some alleys, went to the wet market and even came across a cage full of frogs for sale (and yes, they were there to be eaten...)

Away from the old and into the new, we then some how managed to navigate ourselves back to the IFC Mall which is a huge, very modern shopping center where I managed to do a little retail therapy (I didn't have a cardigan and it is Winter in HK - it reallt was a necessity!)

In the evening, Sophs cooked some stir fry and then, having been nicely fed and watered, we headed down into Causeway Bay for a night at the races. Now I've not been to the races since Cheltenham (so that was about 10 years ago) and I didn't really know what to expect. When we arrived there finally after losing our way around Happy Valley a little bit, we made it there for the last 3 races. The atmosphere was incredible; the stands stretched so far across and the stadiums were fully packed - it was unbelievable. We stood amongst the crowd cheering our horses on and although I was $40 out of pocket, it is definitely something I would recommend to everyone. Leon was fortunate enough to leave the races a little bit wealthier, but don't worry, I'll make sure he spends it wisely at Stanley Market today.

No comments:

Post a Comment