My HK birthday

Day Four: My birthday! I am writing this with a sore head and slightly queasy disposition the morning after.

I meet Tony near M&S and we make our way to the Peak Tram station, and it is packed with tourists. The tram has a 100% safety record, it has never had an accident. The Peak is the highest point in Hong Kong and has (on a clear and not so clear day) an amazing view.

View from the Peak, smoggy!

This is the viewing platform.

Bubba Gump was the fictions shrimp venture in the Forrest Gump films, but at the Peak they've made it a reality and this is their mascot!

After the Peak we catch a taxi to Kennedy Town to drop of some stuff and then head to

Stanley for a late lunch. The weather was gorgeous and sunny and it felt very much like sitting in Bondi! I also introduced Tony to my mini-van obsession in HK, there are tonnes of them on the streets, you either see the distinctive red taxis or tricked out mini-vans everywhere.

Stanley harbour.

These ladies, I think, were doing Tai Chi...

This is our the yummy seafood lunch with a nice glass of Pinot Grigio.

Probably one of the best desserts I've had in a very long time it was absolutely delicious! A block of pavlova covered in cream with fresh strawberries, strawberry sorbet and some kind of strawberry spun sugar with pistachios and a praline cream sauce on the side.

Tony then took me to the Smugglers Bar, where every square inch of the walls and ceiling were covered in business cards, ID cards and money from all over the world with messages written on them. 

Look at the size of the tips jar...

This is TK stapling his card onto a post....

...and me pointing to mine - which he put at toddler eye-level!

We stayed at the Smugglers Bar for the rest of the night, at some point Tony and I started a kinda Pilates versus Yoga face off in the pub (it wasn't too busy inside) and I seem to recall a good 15 minute period where I tried to get my foot behind my head... plus a lot of touching the floor with the palms of my hands and doing the star (see below) on the wooden benches. Good to know I still have strength and flexibility even when not entirely sober...

It was hilarious and got us talking to a lovely Thai/Chinese lady called Lena who is a pilates devotee like me! We have swapped numbers and will be catching up after CNY. Some more wine was consumed and then some tequila (never a good idea on my part) and then possibly the longest taxi ride home of my life... 

Tony has this great camera on his iPhone that takes really old/polaroid style photos.

I made it back in one piece (just!) to find a letter from the hotel asking when they could deliver my birthday cake! Which they did this morning. I tried to explain the whole gluten-free thing, but alas, I think they thought I was allergic to 'flowers' not 'flour' :)

Misc: These are things that have caught my attention, just random snaps I've taken throughout the day.

A very HK street view in Kennedy Town.

A cute ad for a jeans store.

V cool giant Pez dispensers at the Peak.

I saw these whacky VW Beetle ads on a taxi at the airport but wasn't quick enough with the camera - this taxi kindly posed for me in Stanley, its a scaled 3D model of a Beetle  :)

Next: Nurse my sore head and treat myself to a 2.5 hours spa treatment at the hotel followed by another lie down!