Hong Kong. Perhaps an Asian New York, only with laundry hung out of every second window. Hong Kong. Maybe like Sydney, a harbour city that wants to attract more tourists for it's New Years Eve fireworks.

Whatever you picture Hong Kong to be like, it contains millions of tall office buildings and residential apartment blocks stretching from the grey street to the pollution brown sky. From the peak, it looks quite stunning. I would love to have visited pre-WW2 and then come back now to see the changes. I am sure they would be obvious and immense.



But I want to describe two places on the other side of the island, mind you, this description is based on a passing glance only. Aberdeen seems to be a sleepy town just 30 minutes from Hong Kong Central. It could be a town where everyone sleeps but they don't play here. From what we saw, the fishing industry dominates the harbour foreshore and dormant apartment blocks speckle the skyline. It is an area populated with the elderly, passing time in the sun, and junks. These small boats still trade, house families and take tourists like us out for a trip around the harbour. This was the only place where we could bargain and again, Jen excelled. I think the boat owner started at $500 Hong Kong dollars for 5 people for 30mins but Jen, and Angel, got her down to $220. I still don't know how she does it. I think the key is for them to name the price, then for them to go lower, then to split that second price in half and aim around that point... or something like that. Our junk, a traditional Hong Kong small vessel, was actually motorised and didn't have sails but it was a good trip nonetheless. We got to see it all, trading junks shipping vegetables or other products around the harbour and junk homes used by families. It is said that many years ago some people were born and died on junks never setting foot on land in their lives. Hard to believe.



Stanely Beach and Market is the next area that is worth a mention. Again, it is on the other side of the island but this area has a much different feel to it. It is an area that looks to be populated by the wealthy. Plush homes and nice apartments with gorgeous ocean views line the foreshore and creep up the escarpments that meet the bay. The rich and wealthy probably have weekend homes here and so they should. It had some cool bars and decent cafes along the promenade and with views like in the pictures, who wouldn't have a home here! This area is also home to a good market with fairly decent goods for a reasonable price. Jen couldn't really bargain here as a lot of the market stalls have signs saying "No Bargaining" or "Fixed plices". We were kinda interested in buying some artwork there but the colours weren't quite right for us and it seemed that it may have been a screen print with colours placed on top. Oh well, we'll get something later. Most of the shops here were small stores that had '2nds' and overstock for brands ranging from Billabong, Gap, Old Navy, Polo, etc. Jen had fun looking through all the racks and bins to find a treasure. Coming from Australia all this stuff was super cheap, but as I was told by Jen some of it was about the same price you would pay in the States at stores like TJMaxx or Marshalls. Obviously Jen lasted a lot longer here than I did and soon found myself searching for a cold beer!