Here come the Heavenly Horses

So-Ho Market

We then headed back to the escalator, and studied the many little restaurants along the way up and walked back down to one we liked the look of for lunch. In this area the streets are very steep and many are lined with stalls and street vendors, however these are slowly being cleared away to make room for modern restaurants and buildings. After lunch we headed back down the little narrow pedestrian streets, through the produce market.

The weather had remarkably cleared to a fine and rather humidity free day, so we decided to investigate going to Macau. We headed down to the ferry terminals, and while standing around studying which one we should be on, a man came and asked us if we wanted two first class tickets to Macau for free, as his friends had not turned up. He assured us the tickets were valid, but the boat left in 20 minutes. It was then a bit of a rush to get through passport control and find the right boat, but we made it and had very fancy seats up stairs for the 60 minute trip.

View from the Church of St Paul

Macau Peninsula is 65 kms west of Hong Kong and was settled by the Portuguese in the 1500’s. In 1999 Macau was handed back to the Chinese, but remains a Special Administrative Region of China in the same way as Hong Kong. To enter and exit Macau is like entering and leaving any other country, having to go through passport control and customs, but I do not think they are too fussy who they let in, as this is the only place where casinos are legal in China. There are now 27 casinos in Macau.

It turned out our boat was a special boat that took people to the island of Taipa and home of the world’s largest Casino, The Venetian. This is the most enormous place and there are queues of people checking in to the hotel. We wondered through the “labyrinth-like complex” including the throngs of gamblers from the mainland and then headed to the taxi

Entrance to the The Venetian

stand to go and explore the little village of Taipa. The original little town has many pastel coloured colonial villas and baroque churches and buildings, but is rapidly becoming urbanized with major casinos/hotels and highrise apartments. From here we caught a taxi across the bridge to Macau.

Macau is an odd place with a old European city feel, Las Vagas style casinos and tens of thousands of Chinese. We wondered up the cobbled back streets to the ruins of the Church of St Paul, a Jesuit church built in 1602.. In 1835 a fire burnt it down but the façade and fantastic steps remain. There is a wonderful view of the city from here with the contrast of

Portuguese egg tarts

old and new. Our next quest was to find a place selling Portuguese egg tarts and also tea. We could find many stands selling the famous tarts and many places selling tea but we could not find a place selling both, so we returned to the best looking tarts and just settled for that. After our exploring we headed for the ferry back to Hong Kong Island to meet friends for dinner.

Sunday morning we packed then went for a final stroll around the streets of Monk Kok. It was starting to get hot again and there were 1000’s of people out shopping as usual. We have really enjoyed our time in Hong Kong but look forward to going home and smelling roses rather than steamed chicken.

Using an umbrella is difficult in a typhoon

The Hong Kong Olympic organisers gave a 70% chance of a typhoon during the event and therefore had three reserve days on the program. Someone must have done a deal with the weather gods as a typhoon pasted the coast of Hong Kong two days before the Games started and today, the day after the Games have finished, Hong Kong is in line for a direct hit from Typhoon Nuri. Hong Kong is only directly hit by a typhoon about every 8-10 years but many pass very close. There is a warning system, first a T1 is issued saying a typhoon is in within 800 kms (this was issued Wednesday night), then a T3 meaning it is moving closer (this was issued last night during the jumping final), then a T8 which was issued this morning. A T8 means all public transport is closed except limited train travel, all schools are closed and the ferries stop running. The typhoon before the Games got to a T8 but then passed by. During a T8 many flights are cancelled or delayed.

This after noon a T9 was issued which closes all business and people just prepare for a direct hit which is predicted to hit about 8 pm tonight, then becoming T10. Today there are 188 flights canceled out of Hong Kong including a number carrying Olympic horses. At home the destruction from a typhoon (Northern hemisphere cyclone) would cause incredible damage, however here there is so much concrete that things are a lot less dramatic but tomorrow may tell another story. Due to the three reserve days we were not booked to go home until Sunday, so today we are just taking refuse in the hotel. However, I did go out side to photograph some people trying to walk up the street with their umbrellas. It was windy, warm (26C with 91% humidity) and lightly raining and spookily quiet compared to the normal hustle and bustle along the street. It is now about 4.30pm and the rain has stopped and the wind has settled, so we will keep you posted.

View to Stanley Beach

We had heard a lot about Stanley, which is located only about 15 kms from Hong Kong Central but takes about ½ hour to get there. Stanley to Hong Kong is the equivalent of Sydney’s north shore beaches, a place were locals escape the concrete jungle. At Stanley there are beaches, good restaurants and an attractive market, selling both clothing and local arts and crafts (something, which is missing from the more city markets). We tried to catch the bus from central to Stanley but were finding it extremely difficult to find where the bus left from, in Hong Kong there are a number of major bus depots, so you need the bus number plus which depot it leaves from. As it was very hot we caught a taxi. The trip starts by heading out of Hong Kong through the Stanley tunnel, then the road hugs the coast, high up above the sea, it then drops down through Repulse Bay where many of Hong Kong’s riches residents live and there is a very popular beach. Then the road heads back up the hill to Stanley, where the main street starts at the top of the hill and runs down to the water front.

Stanley Market

Stanley is like another country compared to Hong Kong central, there are a number of large apartment buildings but there are also the jungle covered mountains. There were not so many people at the market it may have been because it was mid week and very hot. The market winds its way up and down little narrow pathways with tiny shops lining each side. We had read about a restaurant in Stanley called Lucy’s and it happened to be the first one we saw, a tiny little entrance as you walk into the market. Lucy’s was excellent and after eating Asian food for nearly three weeks, it was nice to eat some well cooked French/English cuisine. After lunch we wondered down to the beach then back up the hill to catch the double decker bus back into town, sitting up on the top deck gave some wonderful views of the coast line.

Entrance to Lucy

On returning back to the hotel we headed for the venue for a special press conference. At this meeting it was confirmed that four of the showjumping horses has tested positive for a banned substance, capsaicin. It was a shame as in today’s papers there is very little about the great jumping final or the well run event but it was all about the failed drug tests. It seems like we have been here for months and the eventing final was a long time ago but these Games have been good and full of drama from start to finish.

Cartoon in todays paper

It was a very late finish by the time we had said all our good-byes to the our international friends, that we only see every two years. However, with typhoon Nuri approaching there was a lot of discussion about when people and horses were going to be able to leave.

Louis Vuitton on of the many shops in Harbour City

On our day off from Olympic competition we headed to the harbour edge of Kowloon, Tsim Sha Tsui. Here you will find the wonderful view back to Hong Kong Island, the famous Penisular Hotel and one of Hong Kong’s largest shopping centers, Harbour City. This enormous complex is on four levels and sprawls across over 2 million square feet. It also houses the leading designer

View from Harbour City back to Hong Kong island

labels and products from around the world. Like in so many cities, there is a lot of contention about these mega complexes being built, as many old building and streets, rich in history, are just demolished. We were looking for a book on Macau, (which we want to visit on Satuday) and finding a book shop has proved difficult near us, so we had been directed to Page One in Harbour City, an excellent book shop.

Sancai Figurine of a Horse in Mid-air with a Female Rider, Tang dynasty (AD618－907)

Our next stop was the Hong Kong Museum of History for the exhibition, Heavenly Horse, The Horse in Chinese Art and Culture. This was a wonderful exhibition tracing the history of the horse in China through artifacts found in tombs that date back to 400 BC. There was also a large section on the stirrup, which the Chinese invented around 400 AD. The life size Terracotta figure of the rider and saddled horse from 206 BC was one of the most amazing exhibits.  http://www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/Museum/History/en/ex_special.php

We then moved on to the Olympic Piazza by the harbour. Here you find a display of information about the

In Olympic Piazza you could learn what horses eat.

Olympic Games, the Equestrian events, what horses eat, interactive games, photo taking corners and tourist attractions. There were also lots of large screens for watching the Olympic action and a souvenir shop; it was all free and well done.

After all this we headed back to the hotel to change before going to the Foreign Correspondents Club along with about 20 other photographers and journalists from around the world, as invited guests on the Hong Kong Tourism board, it was an excellent night.

So far the weather has been as good, as it can get here during August in Hong Kong, but there is another typhoon approaching, with yesterday a No 1 typhoon signal being posted. This means tropical storm Nuri is within 800 klms of Hong Kong. Today’s forecast is very hot with squally thunderstorms expected tonight and the typhoon moving closer to Hong Kong tomorrow, so the exciting showjumping tonight may have even more excitement with the added weather conditions.

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Washing out the window.

Hong Kong is really divided into three parts, Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories. The main island is where most people want to live and trade, however every inch of space seems to be fulled with either people or concrete, with the Happy Valley racing course one of the major open spaces in the center of town. Across the harbor is Kowloon which is made up of commercial areas and huge apartment complexes, virtually no one lives in a house in Hong Kong/Kowloon. In the paper yesterday an article reported on a new public housing apartment development, winning an environmental award, there were 40,000 people living in 21 towers. When walking under these towers it has been a concern of ours that someone’s undies that are part of the washing hanging out of the 30^th floor may drop on our heads but according to television ads , falling windows is more of a problem. Out from Kowloon are the New Territories, which are sparsely populated with small fishing

A quiet street in Kowloon City, for the number of people in Hong Kong there are very few cars due to the excellent public transport system.

villages and jungle covered hills. A day bush walking in the new Territories is a popular activity of Hong Kong residents.

On the outskirts of Kowloon is Kowloon City, a walled city within a city. After World War II the area became a den of iniquity filled with drug lords, prostitutes and petty crooks, in 1993 there was a major clean out. Over the past decade, the area has started to gain a new reputation as a foodie haven, so we decided to check it out. Kowloon City has a much slower pace than other commercial areas, with a large food market and lots of little old shops and restaurants. Cere Boulangerie et

Cere Boulangerie et Patisserie

Patisserie is a tiny French bakery and from the outside looks like it has just landed in Koowloon City like Dr. Who’s Tardis. In Hong Kong it is difficult to buy bread like we know it, as a lot of the bread is very sweat. Inside the little bakery we were able to buy some nice rolls but their specialty is really the cakes. Our next stop was Kanamizu Sushi, a modern chain of sushi restaurants around Hong Kong, we sat at the sushi bar and it was fantastic. For some reason it was half price, so for a combined total of $10 AUS we were able to eat a huge lunch. Our final stop in Kowloon City was Hop Shing Desserts, a highly recommend

Hop Shing Desserts

dessert restaurant run my Mr. Fong. It was a tiny little place but it has over fifty different desserts on offer but virtually nothing we would normally eat for dessert at home. Anna was brave and had a Mr. Fong specialty, sticky rice with coconut and lotus seeds, while I had frozen pineapple, pieces of pineapple floating in a bowl of water and tiny ice cubes. Unless you are into Asian desserts this may be one to miss but it was an experience.

After our gourmet tour of the walled City we headed back to our hotel, before heading out to Sha Tin for the excellent night of jumping.

View from HKJC of some of the work arenas

We have now started a sort of nocturnal existence in Hong Kong. For the last few days and for the duration of the equestrian events, no competition starts until 7.15 pm and finishes about 12 pm, if there is a medal presentation this takes about ¾ of an hour and then there is the press conference. So we do not get back to the hotel until about 1.30-2 am, we then download the photos and put up the results and a couple of photos on the Horse Deals website before going to bed. The following morning is spent finishing off the Horse Deals work and then in the afternoon we go for a wander around Mong Kok/Kowloon. We were told yesterday by a local, that there are more people living per foot of space in this area than anywhere in the world, with so many people it is surprising how clean and orderly things are here. We have been very lucky with the weather it has been hot, but with so much rain just before the Games started, all the evening competition have been dry however humid.

With the dressage competition well under way it is interesting that it is not Anky or Isabell getting all the

Lots of Australian press coverage

publicity but he Australians. The local press here think Heath is just wonderful and he has been quoted endlessly, Heath has been described as, “Ryan, a hard man to stop talking once he gets into his stride”. In yesterdays paper there was a half page interview with Heath about Australia importing frozen stallion semen and the day before there was a 1 ½ page article on Hayley and Heath, then today there is a half page article on the Australian showjumpers. When the equestrian events only get about two pages of coverage you would think we in the running for the gold medals but maybe Heath needs a gold medal for PR, he certainly has won the applause meter so far.

Not such a good photo of Charmaine and Princess Haya

Yesterday we had a bit of a change from our normal daily activities to attend a media lunch at the Hong Kong Jockey Club. There we two guest speakers, Charmaine Cook and HRH Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein. Charmaine Cook is a five time Olympian and Silver medalist running for Canada, she is now a member of the IOC, she has a BA in psychology, has been a freelance television personality and does extensive charitable work. Her talk on her role in the IOC and the Olympic movement was great and Charmaine is really inspirational. Princess Haya is President of the FEI and comes across as friendly and charming. She spoke on her role in the FEI and changes that are being taken to make the FEI move open and transparent. These two talks were followed by an excellent lunch.

We also had a bit of a drama with a new camera lens I had bought two days earlier, that was better for

View from the HKJC back to the Olympic venue

taking photos under lights. Cameras and lens here are much cheaper than in Australia and there are 100’s of shops willing you sell you the gear, so it is hard to pick which shop is best. However, we only found two shops that had the lens I wanted in stock, so we paid considerable money to the China Crown Company 100-102 Fa Yuen st, Monkong. The lens was perfect the first day, then just stopped working, it was under warranty but we dreaded taking it back to the shop where they did not speak much English and then trying to work out a solution. Andrew at the shop was just fantastic, he tested the lens on a couple of other cameras and it did not work, so he ordered another lens from his ware house which arrived in an hour and he just swapped them over, it could not have been easier. If you are looking for camera equipment or ipods etc I could not recommend this shop more highly.

Even with the best horses in the world competing in the dressage, the locals are not impressed, at the start of each dressage evening the stands are nearly full and over the competition the numbers whittle down to mainly international supporter, however they do seem to like the showjumping. Tonight is the first round of the teams showjumping competition, so it should be a packed house.

Shopping is popular in Hong Kong

The biggest recreational activity in Hong Kong is shopping and that is also the same reason many internationals visit this city. There are literally thousands of shops ranging from large department stores to the tiniest little dug out. The shops cater for every budget and taste, however most of the really fancy shopping complexes are on Hong Kong Island and we are on the opposite side of the harbor in Kowloon. As with some of the streets on Hong Kong island, in Kowloon there are a number of themed shopping streets. Very close to us we have five themed streets, Victory Avenue is all shops with puppies, kittens, vets and grooming parlors. Even though

The ladies market

virtually all Hong Kong residents live in apartments, dogs are very popular and not only small dogs, we have seen rottweilers and golden retrievers being walked around the streets. In Victory Avenue your dog can also have a full hip replacement. The next themed street is Yin Chong Street which is the produce market, selling all types and fruits and vegetables along with meat and fish from tiny little market stands, this street is not so busy. We then move onto Fa Yuen Street which is the Sporting Goods street with shop after shop selling runners and outdoor clothing. The next street down is Tung Choi Street or the Ladies Market, here the market stalls sell predominately items for ladies including fake designer hand bags and watches. This market is popular with the tourists but not so many locals. The following street is Sai Yeung Choi Street South and

One of the many shops selling mobile phones

this is the electrical good street and this is very popular with the locals. Every second shop is selling mobile phones, some are specialist phone shops while others combine the phones with cameras and electrical goods. It is crowded, mainly with young locals who have a fascination for new technology. This street also has a department store selling

Festival of the Hungry Ghost, food offerings and burning of “hell money”

purely computers, camera equipment and related items. With the Australian dollar high at the moment, generally the shops are much cheaper here than at home especially on this side of the harbor. In all these streets there are restaurants and street stalls selling food dotted between the other shops, there are also LOTS of people.