Saturday, January 06, 2007

Day 59: 'Before & After' Pics In Hong Kong!

12 Week Fat Loss Challenge

Start: November 8, 2006
Finish: January 31, 2007

Day 59 of 84

Status: Round 6: Phase 3: Day 4

G'day,

After my morning HIIT cardio workout I was off to Kowloon and Hong Kong Island. I am staying in the "New Territories" close to mainland China, so the bus ride was about 40 minutes.

I wanted to pack in as much as I could as this was my only full-day in Hong Kong. I hit Kowloon at about 3.30pm and headed straight for "Marine Parade." The view across Causeway Bay to Hong Kong Island is simply breathtaking.

If you have never seen it, you must do it at least once in your life. You would need a camera the size of the Hubble telescope to capture the full panorama! Since my camera had run out of battery I paid $40 HK to have my photo taken by a local guy on the parade. I had only planned on getting one photo done but as you'll soon find out I also had another picture taken at night.

For my own amusement I have labelled these pictures 'before & after' in keeping with the theme of this blog. Here is the before picture!

I then went to Harbour City shopping mall for a quick browse through the sporting goods shops before having afternoon tea at "Felix." This restaurant serves great healthy snacks and has a great view of the Island.

At 6.00pm I took a "Star Ferry" harbour cruise that was meant to stop at 4 points (2 each at Kowloon and the Island). I had planned to get off at Wan Chai (the second stop) so I could see the sights of Hong Kong Island and then come back to Kowloon at 9.00pm on the same cruise.

My plan didn't quite work because the skipper decided not to stop at the last 3 ports! So at 7.00pm I was literally back to square one. Not to be discouraged I hopped on a regualr ferry and made it over to Hong Kong Island in 10 minutes! In the meantime I had a few minutes before the ferry departed so I decided to have an 'after' picture taken! Here it is.

Once I made it to Hong Kong Island I used my internal radar (I forgot to bring a map) to track down Lan Kwai Fong since I had been there 5 years ago and loved it. After half an hour of trekking through back alleys I eventually found it!

This area is a haven for expats and tourists. There are a myriad of bars and restaurants packed into 1 square mile, absolutely fabulous. Below is picture of Lan Kwai Fong with the exact restaurant called "California" I had a meal at tonight. See the "Big C" sign.

At 10.30pm I got the subway back to Kowloon just in time for the last shuttle bus leaving at 11.00pm and made it back to the hotel at 11.30pm.

Even though I saw a lot of Hong Kong this afternoon I really only scratched the surface of what this magnificent city has to offer.

Anyway, it is now morning in Hong Kong so I must go now and get in my last workout before I leave for the airport in 3 hours time. I definitely don't want a repeat of what happened on my last flight from Brisbane!

See you back in Osaka,

Peace, AJ

No comments: