Last morning in HK

View from out pool of a junk in the harbour

This is the last day in Hong Kong. It's been a blast. Short and sweet and lots of fun. We'll be back again soon, I'm sure. Here are some shots from the last day: pool time and a photo of the newspaper featuring Creamy the fat cat we met a couple of times. He hangs out at a newsstand in Kowloon and is something of a local celebrity.

Pool time

My first "legsie" 

Article about Creamy on his birthday in the South China Morning Post

Eye bar

We met up with Michael and went to Eye bar in on our last night in HK. Best views of Hong Kong island I think - especially on such a clear night. Perfect clarity for the nightly 8pm cheesy light show and we even saw stars.

Souvenirs and shopping in Hong Kong

First purchase: exquisite tea from the Lock Cha Tea shop. 75g of Yunnan Pu-er and 38g of Phoenix oolong.

It was only a matter of time before I bought shoes. These are handmade silk shoes by a little shop that has been making shoes in Hong Kong since in 1958. Aren't they gorgeous?

Gifts from the guest relations team at our hotel for our 20th wedding anniversary

Time Out: Ideas for more things to see in HK

A plastic folder made by innovative HK design store "Goods on Demand" (Website)

Up to The Peak

The peak is the highest mountain on Hong Kong island (552m apparently). I found out today that from 1904 to 1947 it was an exclusive residential district reserved for expatriates. This was our second trip up to the peak. A lovely thing to do on a beautiful sunny day. We planned to just grab some noodles, but we stumbled across a fabulous Sunday brunch at Cafe Deco. Completely unplanned and great fun.

Sunday brunch with free-flowing champagne? Oh go on then.

Star Ferry

The Star Ferry has been shuttling people across the harbour from Hong Kong to Kowloon since the 1880s and it's still going strong. It costs just 2 dollars 80 cents for a ticket and the journey takes about 10 minutes. Read more here: http://www.starferry.com.hk/

Random stuff in Tsim Sha Tsui

This piece of art was made entirely out of pieces of toast. We found it in the K11 Art Mall.
(Artist: Maurice Bennet) 

We found David Fashions by accident!

Coffee shop named after a Dublin suburb?

1881 heritage building. Nice building (unfortunately now full of useless high end shops).

Above and Beyond

As an anniversary treat, we booked a table at Above and Beyond, the fancy Cantonese restaurant on the 28th floor of our hotel (review here). The decor was done by designer Terence Conran and there are 360 degree views of Hong Kong. David had let them know that it was our wedding anniversary, so they gave us one of the best tables and lots of attention all night. It was a really wonderful, memorable night:

Aperitifs...trying to work out the chopstick etiquette

View from our table (Hong Kong Harbour) 

Sichuan duck tongue in a wild mushroom marinade. The waiter asked if we were sure (David gets asked that a lot as he's an adventurous eater). 

Duck tongue paired with a glass of pouilly fume

Rain starting to blot the view. Champagne rose going down nicely though.

Beef and crabmeat soup

Crab with yellow croaker fish soup

Where's the view gone?

Panfried chicken in lemon

Wok fried pigeon and Yunnan cured ham with mushrooms. Asparagus in garlic.

Cake from the staff.... and the view is back!

Cake, card and some chopsticks each (bound together symbolically, how sweet).
I didn't have the heart to tell them that I'm not Mrs. McLoughlin. And David is "Dr."
Free cake is free cake.

Pot of Dragon Well for me and pot of 20 year old Yunnan Pu-er for David

Typhoon Jebi

Typhoon Jebi has brought a fair bit of rain the last couple of days, but it has mostly cleared up now. The weather has been pretty dramatic!