A week in Hong Kong

The atmosphere of Hong Kong makes this place unique. The shops, the food, the places, the people: it's all good! For me, eating out is a great part of a visit abroad. The food is varied, and often unrecognisable. Only once was I brave enough to order noodles with tubes and wobbly bits.

I had a copy of The Rough Guide with me and it was great. It was mostly accurate and allowed me to see places that I might not normally have seen. The Budda was one of my favourite day trips, although it takes a couple of hours to get there and a couple back. The journey was eased for me and my childish mind thanks to the comedy place names en-route (Tong Fuk was my favourite).

I was in Asia just as SARS was taking hold.

Quick Tips:

It is SO hot and humid, you find yourself planning trips via air-conditioned stops. Elevators are often as cold as fridges.

Take advantage of happy hours in hotels if you are planning to have a few sherries. The tab in a bar can easily rocket (as I found out).

Set aside some money to buy clothes. I'm not a big clothes buyer but at these prices you'd be a fool not to. Granville Road (off Nathan Rd. opposite Kowloon Park) had some great, cheap clothes shops.

If a menu says 'Beef', translate that as 'bits of cow'. Many restaurants have pictures on the menu; keep an eye out for them, v. helpful.

Best Way To Get Around:

The only reasons to have a car in Hong Kong are that you're a farmer and need it for your crops or you have an 80's fixation for status symbols. Mercs are 10 a penny and there really is no need for them. The public transport system is fantastic, really fantastic. It's cheap, clean and easy to use. The subway trains are frequent and easy to use, the buses tell you in Cantonese and English what the next stop is and the hotels and points of interest at that stop. Even the ferries are regular. Taxis are good and not too expensive. Do carry the name of your hotel in Cantonese on a bit of paper though.

Octopus cards are a must. They are a great value and are so easy to use. Once you've bought one (HK includes HK worth of credit) you just wave it over an electronic pad as you get onto buses, trains and some ferries. You can even use it in some shops like 7-11. To add more credit to it, you can use the automachines in the subway stations or ask anywhere that accepts them to add credit.

We managed to get this hotel at about half it's published price by approaching them directly via email: rsvn@eaton-hotel.com

Because of the discount, we opted to spend the extra saving on a better room. We chose a deluxe room that had floor to ceiling windows going in a curve around one end of the room. Considering the price we were paying the hotel did seem very luxurious.

Staff were polite and friendly, rooms were clean but signs of wear and tear were beginning to show. We were glad we had a safe in the room and we never touched the mini bar.

While I was there it was my 30th Birthday. Although I never mentioned this to them, when I returned from my days shopping, there was a bottle of wine and a card waiting for me. It was a really nice touch.

The breakfast buffet was nice but it got a little unoriginal towards the end of the trip. I'm not sure the food was worth the money but the lack of hastle sure was. I made use of the hotel bar's happy hour but after this, like everywhere in Hong Kong, the drinks got expensive. The nightly live music was also a bit intrusive but on the whole not bad.

The hotel has a business centre with free internet access but I never got round to using it. The rooms also have broadband connection for laptops.

The hotels air-con was fierce. The lifts were like fridges but sometimes this was a life saver. The room air-con was much better and very controllable.

This hotel is perfectly situated to see Temple Street Night Market and is close to Jordan Subway station, so getting around was never a problem.

I would recommend this hotel and would stop there again (if I was lucky enough to go back to Hong Kong).

Temple Street Night Market is just crammed with life. There are quite a few tourists here but also locals. The range of goods on offer is impressive. From watches to CD's, knives to teddy bears, there seemd to be an unending range.

As you walk up through the brightly lit stalls, the air does tend to heat up rapidly. You have to cross about 4 roads as you go up the length of Temple Street so take advantage of the space between each section to catch your breath.

If you can spare the time, I advise you to take an evening stroll there with the intention of buying nothing. Some of the traders are very persuasive so use a first visit to spot the things you might like to buy. If you still want them the next day, then go for it.

Around the Temple Street area are some great, cheap restaurants. These are the kind of places the locals eat and a lot of them don't have any English on the menu. Unless you are feeling really brave, it's always worth finding a restaurant with pictures on the menu. We ate around here a few times and paid about HK$25 for each meal (£2ish).

As for myself, I didn't buy anything from Temple Street. There was nothing there that I wanted and it felt a bit like the whole thing was trying to cater too much for the tourists.

An obvious tourist attraction you might think, but there is a reason why popular attractions become popular.

First off, let me say that the walk from the Ferry Pier to the Peak Tram terminus is not a minor thing. It is pretty much all uphill and although it is not too far, in the heat of Hong Kong, it soon becomes a struggle.

Once you have found the Peak Tram Terminus (Big building with PEAK TRAM written on it), you can choose your ticket type. On my first trip up the Peak, I bought a return ticket but for my second trip, I had an Octopus card. The fair is only a few HK$ and takes you up a very steep incline to the Peak terminus. As you exit the tram, you go through a zig zag of isles and escalators, past lots of shops and a few restaurants. You can keep heading up until you reach the observation platform or you can leave the building at about the second floor and head over to a shopping mall.

The observation platform is where most tourists head for first. The views over Hong Kong are great (mist and cloud permitting) and a clear day is strongly recommended. I took a second trip up the peak at night but the low cloud meant I couldn't see a thing, and I mean Not A Thing! Very spooky.

The Shopping Mall has a couple of restaurants, food shops, a supermarket, clothes shops and tourist shops. Pretty standard stuff. The only thing I can report is that when I went there, it seemed quieter than most shopping malls in Hong Kong. I bought some clothes there from a great chain store. They were good quality and cheap.

On my second visit to the Peak, I stopped at the first shop you come to on the right as you leave the Peak Tram terminus. They sell traditional Chinese clothes and items. The old man that was working there was very nice and patient, and I bought some great stuff at a much cheaper price than the big Chinese Products shops in Kowloon.

The Star Ferry is a great little boat service that seems to run without a hitch. About every 8 minutes, another ferry turns up and takes you across the water between Kowloon and Hong Kong Island, and it only costs pennies.

This service is obviously not as convienient as the MTR (subway) but it is a lot prettier. As soon as you get within a few hundred metres of the Ferry Terminal, you will see signs directing you to it. Ferries go from Kowloon to all places over Hong Kong, but the signs at the ferry port are clear and written in Cantonese and English.

Walking down to the ferry reminded me of a cattle run. Once you have chosen your destination and entered through the correct gate, you can only go one way, so there is no fear of getting lost.

For the Star Ferry trip between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, you must also choose the upper or lower deck before you go through the departure gates, as there are different gates for each deck. The lower deck is cheaper but wet (close to the water) and the upper deck is a few pence more but glass covered and dry.

The trip is over in just a few minutes so don't hang about if you want to take photos. I regret that I didn't take the Star Ferry at night. The view is supposed to be amazing. I guess it gives me an excuse to visit Hong Kong again.

When I landed in Hong Kong, about 1 in 6 people was wearing a mask. When I left, about 1 in 10 WASN'T. I never wore a mask while I was there and never once thought I was going to die. In a city of over 7.5 million people, 100 (as it was at the time) with a contagious disease was really nothing to worry about. The only precaution I took was that I wouldn't put my bare hands on handrails or door handles, a very obvious precaution that many of the mask-wearing locals didn't bother with.

I was put on medical suspension from work for 10 days after I returned from Hong Kong. If I had left my trip any later, I'm sure my employers would not have allowed me to go.

I thoroughly enjoyed my holiday in Hong Kong, possibly more than I've enjoyed any other holiday, and let me tell you, I didn't think I would. I'd never been on a city holiday before and with the outbreak of SARS, I wasn't sure what to expect. If I could go back right now, I would jump at the chance. It really is a fantastic, vibrant place. The City of Life it truly is. Don't let fear and ignorance stop you from going to this wonderful corner of China.