Holiday Inn Donghua Shenzhen

... an advertisement for Channel Perfume. It was obvious that the part of China that I was in was very industrialized and westernized and at least on the surface, did not seem like the oppressive communist country we hear about in the west. So after taking some video, I was on my way to my hotel: a docked cruise ship!

The name of the hotel is Cruise Inn, and it is an old Chinese cruise ship that they have docked, then filled in land around it, and now use it as a major hotel ...

... don't know about it. The hills of Yangshuo, and Guilin, such amazing natural wonders, yet one still feels that it used to be something so much more before the McDonalds sprung up, and the locals started selling full English from 7-11. Cycling through the karst fingers, one could not help notice the odd one that was half gobbled up by a new city that has sprung up five minutes ago. Is the unending desire of China to become economically more and more powerful going to ...

... a very minor road winds through country park. The school is on the border of a buffer zone and a permit is required to go further, which means that you can’t miss the bus stop as the police take you off. It used to be a government school with quite a bad reputation and had been closed for a few years. International College Hong Kong has completely refurbished most of the buildings, it must have cost millions. Despite the principal telling anyone who’ll listen how ...

... a scare tactic. Or the Hong Kong government doesn't care if you leave with Swine flu...you just better
not arrive with it. Not to mention the fact that they have cut the air conditioning in the airport so the temperature inside now matches the hot and humid temperatures that are awaiting the swarms of
tourists outside. But enough about that....I managed to pack everything into my new pack...it came in at under 20kgs....19.7 to be exact ...

... cuisines. Shark's fin, Abalone, Truffles, Fois gras and top quality Wagyu beef are starring on the menus of the city's classiest eating establishments, alongside some of Asia's most impressive wine lists. Ambience and atmosphere also play an important role in Hong Kong's ritzy restaurants, and some of them offer guests spectacular ...

... all our belongings, leaving our hands free to take as many pictures as we could! We were surprised at just how incredibly friendly the people were in the villages, and they did their up most to make us feel welcome and at home in their villages. After the village walk, we arrived at the most spectacular lodge I have ever seen. It was called 360 Degrees Leti, and architecturally it is stunning, and the modern wooden exterior really stands out against the rugged ...

... lights @ Tsim Sha Tsui station. Along e way, I @@ this parking meter which.... accepts octopus card also !! surprise !! oh u can drop by The Penisula hotel if u've time before u head to ave of stars. It's Hong Kong's very 1st hotel & boost it's own Rolls Royce ...

... bag in storage but when I question the security, she cannot answer and phones somebody. 'Somebody' tells her to ask me to sign a disclaimer of the hotel's responsibility. When I refuse she phones someone else. Suddenly "Oh, room available" is the response. I tell her that the room is not available until this afternoon, "No room available now". Isn't that surprising - give them the problem back and suddenly there's a solution. We go back to reception and get our room key and ask for our ...

... most people are probably trilingual: Cantonese, Mandarin and English. On our first day in Hong Kong, we had taken a bus from the Shenzhen airport, and it was the first of many times I was glad to be on a bus in order to observe the beautiful scenery. Hong Kong is comprised of a few islands and the city skyline just shoots up magnificently from across the harbors. Later in the evening, we watched the Symphony of Lights, a laser light show in which most of the buildings in the skyline ...

... this time it was different. Last time it was all shopping, eating in 5 star restaurants and having translators communicate your every whim. This time I had the dubious pleasure of living in an all male frat house - albeit in the lap of luxury. It was Iain, Aron, Joe, Andy and I. This time round I also enjoyed the shopping, the translators, the 5 star dining but somehow it also managed to include endless grooming indulgences: massage, body scrubs, milk and honey ...