brave creatures audentis fortuna iuvat

Originally built by Alan Bond at the height of the Greed is Good 80's, these twin monstrosities were taken over prior to completion by the Lippos corporation due to Mr Bond's financial difficulties. The horrifying part of them is that if you look closely you can make out the giant glass Koalas that make up the design on the outside.

There are some people who should just not be allowed out of the house without a minder - you just don't know what sort of terror they are going to inflict on the world.

By Contrast, at the bottom of the picture is one end of the Hong Kong Botanical Gardens which run through the centre of downtown Hong Kong Island and provide some relief from the unending business of the place.

After staying at the Bishop Lei on Robinson Rd for 2 months, I moved into my own apartment in Chancery Lane. Between Midlevels and Central it was great and allowed me to walk to all my usual haunts.

My apartment was a duplex on the 15th and 16th floors (3rd and 4th highest) and I was put on to it by Suzanne who was a close friend of Sharon. Sharon I met when share house hunting, we decided not to live together but got on quite well so stayed in touch. This is very typical of Hong Kong. The "expats", or gwilos as the locals call us, tend to stick together and help each other out.

Chancery Lane was quite a find because it is right in the middle of Central but has a lot of clear air around it. Buildings in HK, particularly on the island tend to be crammed together so that you look out your kitchen into someone's bathroom. My place had a view.

The reason for this was that it was build behind the city jail - an old Victorian era building that was quite grand and only 3 stories high.

I had a maid or Amour, Mrs Ng who came every day and "straightened up" - although it was a better idea if I got in first. I would NEVER know where to find things if I didn't.

Mr Ng was the doorman and kept both Suzanne and I safe from intruders, although the consensus of my friends was that an unhappy poodle could have taken him out in short order.

All in all, it was a great place to live particularly since the Asian economic crisis of '98 had caused the price to drop by a good 25% from Astounding to simply unbelievable.

Speak of the delightful and they will appear - Sharon and Suzanne. Two of the nicest English lasses in the Far east.

12 Hours, 9 Margaritas and a pizza later - none of us were looking our freshest. Mr Jones had done his worst.

Mel, Darryl had made quite a night of it, a Friday night to be precise - but that's HK for you. Drink or go home.

Let me say that the Margaritas at Cafe Deco are not as good as I Carumba - but they are not bad. The scenery however is straight out of Titanic.

I am going to get in SO much trouble for this one. My beloved Oonie WILL not stand still for photos - result I have a handful of her with silly faces.

This was taken in my apartment in Chancery Lane. We used to go shopping on a Saturday - which is like having a hobby in HK. You can move from designer store to designer store, from district to district, from Central to Wan Chai to Sha Tin without leaving air conditioning. The MTR is an underground, refrigerated, people moving wonder.

We would maybe see a movie and then get something to eat then back to my place where we would keep talking and she would whoop-my-ass at Tekken 3 on my Playstation. All this screaming and fuss - very off putting.

Come to think of it, Mel used the same strategy - maybe its a girl thing.

I would get ready to go out and then pop her in a cab and go Disco. Apart from a memorable birthday (hers), Oonie isn't much of a raver - but when she does - boy can she dance. And clean - but that is another story.

The Peak Tower is kind of a must do on Hong Kong Island. Situated on the highest point of the island (the famous Victoria Peak) and designed by an Australian it has excellent Fung Shui (apparently) it also has the Peak Tram depot, a Moven pic (don't ask) and a Ripley's believe it or not.

Classy huh.

It also has a fantastic view of Hong Kong Island and Harbor as south to Stanley. A great place to bring people on their first trip to HK.

Alice and David (Cath's parents) visited on their way back from Israel. We ate dinner at the Peak Cafe and had a wonderful time. Cath was concerned that they would be imposing, but she has wonderful parents and I really enjoyed the night out.

This seemed to worry her more! Not sure why.

Mel and Brawny. Mel is in the traditional HK pose - on the phone. Understand that this is a city where everyone has 2-3 mobile phones (on average, no joke) and they have put reception cells in the subways. It makes for an interesting if noisy trip home.

Ross appears to be playing with his nipple here - it had nothing to do with me! Mel on the other had looks to be in trouble. She can handle herself though.

If you go to Hong Kong for a period of time, there is one thing that you HAVE to be aware of. You have to get out of the place at least once every three months or you will go mad. HK is exciting and busy and dynamic and wonderful and all of that - but the pressure of people just gets to you after a while.

I had been there for almost spot on three months when I started getting all weird and depressed. I didn't want to go out, I didn't want to train, I was cranky and no fun. Then Sharon said "luv - you need to get off the Island - go to Macau if nowhere else".

So I did.

Good move. A day off the island and I felt 50% better. Good enough to call the travel agent and book a trip to Bangkok the following weekend. I went and lay by the pool at the Sukka Thai and did NOTHING.

Macau however was really interesting. Owned by the Portuguese and being handed back to China in a few years it is all of the cultural melange that HK is without the teaming hordes. Just the place for a rainy Sunday.

Randy was a pilot from Miami who flew into HK once every couple of weeks. He was the only romantic interest in the six months I was there. A lovely guy and the reason why I came back from Asia with a thing for Latin men rather than Asian.

Call me perverse.

This was taken on the steps of the Po Lin Monestarys Budda on another of those short outings to escape from the masses. This was a fine day but note the haze in the sky. Late (northern) Autumn and the factories in Guangzhou are burning coal and it is all blowing south. Delightful!!

Again at Po Lin - this time me on the steps with the worlds largest, outdoor, bronze buddha behind me. Pretty big huh!!

While we were trying to get away from the masses, it appeared that day that they decided to come with us. The place was packed, but all in all a fab day out.