Soft Shelled Crab

Stuart about to eat a deep fried soft-shell crab. Yep, thats a whole crab that they dip into goo, and chuck in a deep fat fryer. Shell and all. I picked one up a couple of times but could not force myself to eat even a leg. Stu did tho'. Good on yer cuz.

You can find Stuarts Website here.


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The location of the apartment in the building
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As part of the restaurant they have a bar-b-que, with a tuk-tuk taxi parked next to it. Thats the Thai bit of Thai Mary I think (apart from the food of course).
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The actual Golf Course from the inside.
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Slightly further away shot of the restaurent with the apartments looming in the background.
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Thai Mary Restaurant

Our last night in HK, at the Thai Mary Restaurant
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The view from the window RIGHT
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The shrine outside the Thai Mary Restaurent, next to the Golf driving range in the posts below.
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Driving Range from the Apartment at night

The view from the window MIDDLE
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Skyline at night

The view from the Window LEFT
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Now this one was HUGE. It must have been about 5 foot long by 1.5 feet tall, and was about 1 foot thick as well.
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Some lovely Silver fish. Cant remember how big these were, either a couple of inches long or about 2 foot long.
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And another one.
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Sort of Manta-Ray fish thing that had a head that looked like a Dolphin
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A big blue fish. Seriously big. This thing was about 5 foot long.
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Look at the Evil Glint in its eye. Eeeeeeeviiillllllll
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Aaaaaaahhhhh...........thats better.
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Once safely back on land we went to the Aquarium, with the ever popular SHARK TUNNEL.
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It was at this point when I pointed the camera down that I realised that if we did disconnect from the cables we would bounce down the hill while still inside the POD, then crash into the water and drown. Hopefully we would be unconcious by the time we hit the water, because if we were still concious we would have to get out of what is esentially a well constructed cage. Hmmmnnn. Time to point the camera back at the horizon I think.
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This is your option if you dont want to go on the cable cars. Not that much better really. If you dont like heights you'll still be scared when you turn around at the top of the stairs, its just that you'll be hot, sweaty and tired as well. Which will probably make you fall all the way down the stairs, sustaining multiple everything.
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Looking back at where we have just come from.
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The POD.
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Same day that we went to the peak, we also went to Ocean Park, which is a combined theme park with rides, and aquarium. Its split over 2 levels, with the best bits up at the top. You can walk up there (bugger that for a game of soldiers), or you can take the cable cars. Now I hate heights, but it seems that I only REALLY hate them if there is a chance that I can fall, or be pushed. If I'm inside a thing then it doesn't bother me as much (note that I said.....AS MUCH).
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Up at one of the higher bits here.
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The Orange Wish Tree

The orange wish tree.
You buy an orange from an old woman with a bit of string through it (the orange, not the old woman). Attached to the string are some sheets of folded paper.
You write a wish on the paper, then buy some incense stick from the woman, light them, hold them by your head and bow three times to the shrine while making your wish.
You then wrap the string around the rolled up wish paper and throw the orange into the tree. The orange pulls the string along, unwrapping the wish-paper (much like an old action man paratrooper with parachute that I used to have......but I digress).
If the orange/string/paper combo lands in the tree and does not fall to the ground then your wishes will be granted.

Mine missed by a country mile.

Bugger. Back to work on Monday then.......
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The view down the hill from the other side of the peak from the city shots. Gives you an idea of how bad the pollution was that day.
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Thes ar (I think) apartments that are up on the peak. Must have a great view (when the smog is low)
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View of the island from the peak. RIGHT.
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View of the island from the peak. LEFT
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View of the island from the peak. MIDDLE.
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The view inland from the top of the peak.
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Looking out through the bottom of the tram. I was trying to show how incredibly steep the slope is but you'll just have to try to imagine.
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Going up to the peak (actually we're coming down here as I couldn't make the taxi driver understand that we wanted to go to the bottom of the peak so we could get the tram up.
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The Dark Knight being chased through the Hong Kong peak building by some eeevil clowns.
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Coming back into the harbour at night at the end of the trip
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..........and then we found one of the destroyes that formed part of the Carrier Battle Group. Or it found us. One of the two anyway.
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Mum, Dad and Kiki.
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This is some kind of Jet-Ferry. Amazingly fast. When you see it at dock, it sits low in the water, but when the engine starts and the jet kicks in it rises so all of the ferry is out of the water, and it actually sails along on ski's. Wierd. It also leaves a massive bow wake, which can catch you unawares, so when the Junk goes over it you get kicked up into the air. Very cool, unless you happen to be drinking from anything other than a can at that moment.
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My Dad and Stuart sitting on the bench at the front of the boat
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Then after lunch we went for a half hour walk up into the hills.
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For lunch as always we stopped at one of the many Islands that make up the SAR and have lunch in a restaurent.
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Just along a bit from the hotel in the post below is the budget version of the Disney Hotel that visitors can also stay in. Typical two-tier Disney.
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On our way out we passed by the site of Disneyland Hong Kong. You can only see one of the tips of sombody-or-others magic castle from the actual park, but the large pale building with the reddish roof is the Disney Hotel. In the post above you can see the budget version.
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Stuart looking chilled at the front of the boat on our way out of the harbour. Pic taken at about 10.50am, note the beer. Mine is just out of shot.
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This was about the closest we got (mums head at the bottom of the pic)
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A bit closer.....a bit closer.....a bit closer.........and then a patrol boat comes scooting towards you so you cant get any closer. Friendly tho' gave us a wave and a smile. No guns that we could see. Apart from the HUGE ones mounted on the deck. It was also at about this point that someone mentioned that a carrier battle group usually comprises of the aircraft carrier, some destroyers (spotted one later, see above), some supply boats and..............a couple of submarines. Which were probably monitoring us as we were approaching the carrier.
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The USS Kitty Hawk near HK
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Yay! Its another Junk Trip. G-Force approaches.............transmute!
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Some turtles swimming in the waters below the bridge in the post below. There are loads of them in there, but every time I try to get a pic from further away to show the numbers they cant be seen against the green waters.
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One of the many covered areas at the temple where you can sit or stand. Stuart is sitting in the pic at roughly dead-centre writing.
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