Quiet night in Hong Kong

Tonight is my 4th in Hong Kong and I am lazying about the hotel I am. I haven''t had tv for almost 18 months now and it's temptation to simply chanel surf is quite impressive, in spite of the fact that I've only got 9 channels and of those 1 or sometimes are in English. But there is a remote control, so that adds a degree of comfort to the flipping.

So since Xian and the Terracotta Warriors, what's been up?

I returned to Shenzhen for a night with Chris to show him around the city I spent the last year teaching in. We were joined by some of my colleagues for a nice dinner and a late night of drinking. We turned into bed about 2am and were up early the next morning for a trip to the Zhuhai hotsprings.

The Hotsprings were wonderful and it was fun to add a third party to our trip, a fellow teacher named Michael. We spent 24 hours and about 60 Canadian dollars getting massaged, soaking in hot springs and eating pretty tasty food.

However, what's a little relaxation without some action after, right?

So the lot of us headed over to Macau, the Las Vegas of the East, for a night out of more drinks and some gambling. Chris got busted out pretty early, Michael held in. And I did okay for myself. The first Casino we went to was the famous landmark of the former Portugese colony The Grand Lisboa it was a rather sterile and boring affair although, I was getting a long well with the pit boss and the dealer. However, wtith the boys down in the count they were anxious to push away from the tables.

We headed next to the Wynn Casino, it was bigger and and fancier but no Casino Royale. However, I did get to fulfill a little gambling fantasy, unfortunately it was not "Rollin' Freddo" style, but instead it was getting to have a cigar and a proper free drink at the table. Double Vodka and ice, not a martini, but also a lot less pertensious then being *that* guy.

Lady luck was again on my shoulder and unfortunately not my friends'. I was up about 200$ Canadian, tipping dealers/cocktail waitresses and having a laugh in my extremly limited Chinese with my fellow players. However, after ordering a round properly tipping to make sure it was actually a double VODKA, not double water I was told that the Casino had cut me off! It was only my third drink and I had already tipped the dealer. I was pretty unimpressed, so I pointedly asked the pit boss for the directions to Venetian took my winnings and walked out with the fellas in tow.

Unfortunately I'd left Fortuna behind in Wynn and playing at the 30$ table I was soon down almost 300$. I pushed away at the shock of it and took my Grey Goose and new cigar to watch how Michael was fairing. He was up but the action at his table was slow. My gamblers ego started to whisper in my ear. I slipped away to the ATM, and bought back into the game with a further 300$ it was a silly decision, one should never buy back in when theyve busted out with the amount they wanted to spend. However, the goddess heard my faint whispers and returned to my side. I was hitting doubles and splits regularly and soon recovered my 'donation' to the casino. I eventually left the Venetian even at their casino and still up 300$ on the night. I got lucky with the buy back in, but the playing, smoking, drinking and late hour combined to make me desperately tired. We returned to the room where I am pretty sure I was asleep before head hit pillow.

The next day was a late afternoon in Shenzhen to sort out some travel logistics and get one more night out drinking with Chris in the city.

The next morning we were up early to meet Graham, a different teacher, for Dim Sum and then the three of us departed for Hong Kong. We spent the afternoon walking about seeing the basic sights of the city. The Star Ferry across, for my money, the most beautiful harbour in the world, the Peak to enjoy the amazing vista of the city, checking out the Temple night market and it's many unusual goods. (An aside, who in their right mind would by sex toys at an open air market) That night were out Lang Kui Fook (spelled that wrong I suspect) and drank until 2 in the morning.

The next day was Chris' last in China and we spent the morning and early afternoon at The Hong Kong Heritage muesum, where the had a wonderful display from Ancient Greece, including the world famous Discuss Thrower. It was beautiful and fascinating. However, I was a little worn out as for the last 3 or 4 days I was going throw many tourist sites I'd seen before, so afterwards when Chris wanted to go see the giant Buddha I decided to take a pass and go see the new Bond with Graham (great movie!)

After the show Graham headed back to mainland China and I returned to the hostel to find Chris. We decided to head once more to the harbour to enjoy that view of the city an the Walk of Stars, an interesting little Hollywood-esque area where famous Hong Kong stars did the dipping hands in wet Cement thing with Hong Kong Island as a backdrop. It is a very fun place to be. Afterwards we went shopping through a different night market with Chris working hard to try to find those last minute souveneirs for his bird and various friends back home.

The next morning Chris was up early and off to the airport, I however, had an exceptionally lazy day doing a lot of walking and reading and bloody much else.

I am rather looking forward to returning to the mainland tomorrow and starting travelling again. Hanging out in Hong Kong for 4 nights is some what akin to somewhat from Victoria spendning 4 nights in Vancouver, at a certain point you've seen all the sites.

Alright, back to Chinese Channel Surfing