There’s little to say about another trip to an airport
except this one seems very crowded and over extended especially trying to get
through security and passport control. On the air side of Brisbane airport
there’s very little to it, so not much to do when the plane is delayed by an
hour. The plane eventually arrives and we leave Australia behind and head for
Hong Kong.
Gary and Steph meet us at the airport and warn us we’re on a
very tight schedule tonight as they plan to take us to some music bars in Hong
Kong. A short ride over the Island of Lantau to their village of Mui Wo, the
Chinese drums are beating, it makes for a great welcome to Hong Kong. We now
have half an hour to get ready and back down to the ferry, the next one is in
an hour and a half! That’s enough incentive for us, shower, change and out in
25 minutes. The ferry ride to Hong Kong gives us enticing glimpses of the Hong
Kong and Kowloon skyline at night, hopefully we’ll see more in daylight.
Our evening of music starts in Lan Kwai Fong at Gary and Steph’s
local for a drink, Rula Bula. It’s a great spot on the corner of the street to watch
everyone milling around, the procession of people parading around the strip.
We’ve arrived on great weekend to be going out in Hong Kong as the rugby
seven’s tournament is on, consequently the streets are full of men in fancy
dress – officers uniforms, surgeons, police complete with plastic chickens and
men obviously caught short so making do with hotel bath towels. On to the first
venue, Insomnia, the band plays a few numbers before going to a break, this
seems to happen to us so many times.
We move on to another area of the city by the MTR, it’s another
efficient underground system. The second pub is Amazonian in Wan Chai, it looks almost
traditionally English with honey coloured sand stone on the walls and mullioned
windows. Its packed full of people enjoying the band’s music and jigging up and
down, they can’t do much more because of the press of people and the fact that
their feet are stuck to the floor! After all this beer it’s time to fine the
toilets, now I’ve never experienced crowd control on the toilets before. There’s
a suited and booted guy complete with bouncers mike standing in the doorway to
both toilets directing when to go in and when to wait. I wonder what he shouts
over the mike to his colleagues – pee incident, man needs help?
Our evening ends with a cab dash back to the ferry to catch
the midnight ferry back to Lantau. It’s been a great introduction to life here
in the islands of Hong Kong. I have the impression of a life ruled by ferry
times and a huge contrast between the rural quiet of Lantau and the Hubbub of
Hong Kong.
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