Andrew was offered the option of a set of new hankies for his birthday or a trip to Hong Kong. Not surprisingly he chose the latter option.
We arrived into Hong Kong about 8pm and headed off to our accommodationin Wan Chai: Apartment 218 which was good value and an easy base for getting around.
On THE birthday we went out for breakfast at a recommended coffee shop, the Cupping Room. Pleasingly, they also did a nice Eggs Benedict.

The excellent coffees and food on board we headed to the Central Piers to catch a ferry to Cheung Chau island.
We timed it well and were soon off on the slow boat into Hong Kong waterways. Andrew had a great time
watching the hydro foils, large container ships and other boats for the hour long journey.
watching the hydro foils, large container ships and other boats for the hour long journey.
We arrived about 11:00am so decided to do a short walk before heading to a beach bar for a beer an lunch. The island has no cars so there are plenty of bikes, which we could have hired. There were a few women riding covered from tip to toe like the picture below – note she also has stabilizer wheels, another common sight

It was very hot and humid and as we got to the beach bar it began to rain. So we parked up under an umbrella and had a couple of cold drinks to re-hydrate. We were still not hungry after the heavy breakfast, so decided to skip lunch and made our way back to the harbour for a return ferry.
In the IFC mall we went into Apple and got new batteries in the phones. It was the 1st time we had used the Genius Bar services at Apple and it was such a slick operation. The staff were easy to deal with and less 2 hours later the phones were returned to us. We had spent the time doing a little shopping and having a couple of Tim Ho Wan Crispy Pork Buns to tide us over until dinner – didn’t want to spoil our appetites before the birthday meal.
We turned up at Ship 22 Ships shortly after 6pm to get a seat, as there were no reservations. The dishes we selected were all very good and we enjoyed watching the tiny kitchen operation hum.

Saturday was a bus-ride to the Hong Kong Heritage Museum. It was good sitting on the top of the double-decker going through areas we had not seen before. At the Heritage Museum was the “A History of the World in 100 Objects from the British Museum” exhibition. As expected it was very good and we enjoyed the eclectic selection of items. The museum is also home to an extensive homage to the HK actor Bruce Lee. A good part of the 3rd floor was given up to exhibits on his life and movies in both Hollywood and Asia.
Exhibits covered 3000 years of human existence, and included a metal clubs made by the botanist Joseph Banks in London as gifts for Maori, but her never had the opportunity to bring them back to NZ

In the evening we got on another bus and headed for Central. We are lucky Andrew has a Seniors Hong Kong travel card, so our transport costs are significantly reduced. We specifically targeted a Moroccan restaurant, because it is one type of cuisine we don’t get in Laos. We met Sarah at Le Souk, and had a lovely meal and evening.
On Sunday we had some fantastic pastries at Gerard Dubois’ Passion bakery, followed up by some top notch coffees elsewhere.

We took the free hotel shuttle-bus back to the Airport Express terminal. It was interesting driving around the streets, that one week before, had been teeming with protesters. There was an obvious police presence this trip, but no problems for us. One week later the protesters, objecting to the proposed extradition to China law, returned to those same streets and stormed the Legislative Buildings.