So much Dutchies!

This is now my fifth day in Hong Kong and I am liking it a lot. This is basically the last week I can take it easy before we embark on our trip trough China. This trip was originally due on next sunday (the 24th) but changes had to be made after we heard that the visa for Russia can only be applied for in Hong Kong and not in Beijing as we hoped and expected. This gives us a delay of one day since the local consulate will not be open on sunday and we have to wait till monday. That evening we will then go to Shenzhen to either take the train or bus to Guilin, so it means only a one day delay. Because we now don't have to apply for the visa in Beijing, we can arrive there one day later and basically nothing really changes. Since it's friday now, anticipation is growing. '

However, I am certainly not bored here in Hong Kong. Patrick and Bart are great guys and I am really apreciative that I can stay at their place and use their amenities. I have had a good time so far since there is a lot to do here. The first day, like I mentioned before I basically just slepth through, but in the evening we want to a bar called 'stick your finger'. There were two live bands playing and although the setlist wasn't that thrilling, Patrick assured me that normally they are more fun. However, since we were with a group of six we had enough fun and so the first day of my stay was a good one. The next day was a national holiday so basically the whole of Hong Kong were off from work. Patrick and Bart took me to Victoria's peak where a great view of the city can be enjoyed. Ofcourse it is one of the biggest tourist places of HK and it was full with them, it still was impressive to see the city like that. I tried to make a panorama picture there, so when I get I will try to stitch them together and see if I can post some good panoramas from that view as well as from the skyline.
After that we went to an area called 'Stanley' were dragonboat races were held. There we met up with Eva, Milou and there parents. I also got introduced to some of their friends and together we want to a Thai restaurant and had an excellent meal. Yes, the Dutch equipe is well presented here in HK! By that time Bart left the group to meet up with his girlfriend. After the meal we went to the appartment of Eva's parents to play some poker. Since it gotten late at one point and the metros weren't running anymore, they offered me a bed. This was really nice of them, especially since I was basically still on a 'jetlag' from the trainride from Shanghai. I slept like a log for almost 12 hours.

The next day (wednesday) I was supposed to meet Olli, Carl and Liam because they were leaving for England that evening. Unfortunately I couldn't reach them by phone, because of some stupid network problems, thus so much for that plan. Quite a pity though, since I probably won't see them in a while. I am sure that at one point we will meet up again in Europe. So instead of meeting them, I basically took the MTR to central station and wondered around there, just taking it easy and making some pictures. After that I took the same MTR to Mongkok where there is a big computer centre. I was looking for some replacement parts for my headphones, since I lost some on the way here. I couldn't find any in the end and went to a bookstore to buy the latest National Geographic Magazine.
Back home that evening I discovered that I didn't lose the earphone piece at all since it was just lying there on the table... weird...
The next day I basically stayed home all day to chill out and watch a movie (The Illusionist, real good) and surf on the internet a bit. That was quite nice after some hectic and busy days. That day was also the birthday of Ton (Eva and Milou's dad) and we were invited for dinner at their place. The dinner was excellent and we had a lot of fun that evening.
That night I had problems sleeping for some reason and although I wanted to go out today I decided to stay home to try to get a few hours sleep during the day. I needed this since today's Patrick's birthday and we are going to celebrate it at Lan Kwai Fong (look it up, you'll understand that I need to be in good shape for this). So today was quite boring but I'm sure the evening will have plenty of fun ahead to make up for this.

The plans for tomorrow is to be a bit active; I am planning to make some pictures of the skyline at day and nighttime and want to see some parts I haven't seen yet. Also, I promised to make the guys spaghetti, so I'll have to get on it that evening. On sunday we are planning a day at the beach at some place in the new territories where tourists don't come or something. We are now praying for some nice weather, but that should be okay since it have been good all week so far. Monday then eventually I meet up with Jamie again and will eventually set of for the mighty China, so chances are that my next post will be from some place there. I'll try my best to keep it updated, but I am not sure about my internet access posibilities, but I'll find out soon...

for now,

thank you, bye bye!