21 December 2014. Last day before the night flight

I packed, checked out and took my bag to the Central check in to get of of it. Then I set off back to Kowloon, repeating and expanding upon yesterday's tour. I went up to Mong Kok and had a look at the various market streets off Nathan Road. I gradually walked back towards the harbour, passing the Yau Mau Tei theatre on the way. It looked worth a visit on a future holiday. Then I was back in the Gascoigne Road area and I spent some time visiting the large Tin Hau Temple, which was thick with smoke.

Carrying on down, I went past the King George V Memorial Park. It seemed a bit incongruous in this very Chinese part of Hong Kong; and also a little sad and cramped. On a larger scale is the Kowloon Park. The border flowers looked splendid in the sunlight.

I was attracted by the noise of drums. Investigations led me to a children's martial arts festival.

I took the ferry across to Wan Chai and decided to see if I could find the Cricket Club. I started off going past the race track, reached via a long pedestrian subway, which was sheltering about a dozen homeless in a strange cardboard shanty habitation. The walk from the race track was all uphill and at a certain point I could see the cricket club was still a good way off and I called it a day and decided to head for the airport. To be resumed!

20 December 2014. A sprint around Lamma and a tour of Kowloon

I got going reasonably early as I was meeting a couple from my talk who had volunteered to show me a bit of the 'real' Hong Kong in the afternoon.

For the morning, I decided to take the ferry to Yung Shue Wan on Lamma Island, then do the easy walk to Sok Kwu Wan for the ferry back. It was a pleasant if undemanding walk in bright sunshine that included seeing a selfie taker almost falling into the sea to get her picture. I also came across the beehive of Lamma..

Once back in Hong Kong, I went to meet the couple who had kindly volunteered to give me a small tour, starting with lunch at the famous Tsui Wah restaurant, a 24 hour restaurant near Lang Kwai Fong (LKF). We then crossed to Kowloon, alighting at Jordan and had a wander around, taking in the Temple Street night market that was just setting up as well as the dense housing estates by Jordan Road.

That evening I went back to LKF for a drink and a bit of people watching.

19 December 2014. Rainy day at the art gallery

It was a dreary day weatherwise and so I went to the arts centre in Kowloon. A lot of the rooms were closed but there was an interesting exhibition of sculptures as well as a room of randomly selected works from the modern arts collection.

Taking the ferry back to Central, I came across a group of determined selfie-takers as well as a Henry Moore sculpture.

In the afternoon, I met a couple of local psychologists for what seemed like a TGI Friday early glass of white wine. My first wine since BA on the way to Bangkok!

That evening, I made my way in the rain to a small restaurant a bit beyond Causeway Bay. No-one spoke English, so ordering was a bit of a hit and miss struggle.

18 December 2014. Stanley excursion.

I got the bus to Stanley and essentially repeated my day there the year before. It was a quite chilly day but that didn't seem to put off a man with his new drone which he was trying out on the pier.

At the time I was at the prison museum, they had a parade on the drill ground. It was slightly surreal, taking me back to days of the CCF at school!

I got back to my hotel mid-afternoon as I was giving a talk to a group of psychologists in the evening and did not want to be late. As it turned out, the meeting was in a very nice restaurant and I would gladly have just carried on eating rather than having to get to my feet and talk for my meal!

17 December 2014. Tackling the Hong Kong Trail

It was a beautiful sunny day and so I set off to the Peak to the start of the 50km Hong Kong trail. I did the 12.5 km of the first two stages. The start began with beautiful views of Victoria harbour before becoming more rustic and ended at Aberdeen - the fishing harbour.

Some of the signage along the way was less than informative!

In the evening I went to Dimdimsum  - a highly rated restaurant just down the road.

16 December 2014. Last leg to Hong Kong

I was up relatively early this morning for what the hotel kept telling me was my 'last breakfast'. It made me slightly paranoid. Anyway, as it happened, we landed safely in Hong Kong and I made the easy journey to Wan Chai.

It was a beautiful sunny day in Hong Kong; very different to the grey skies of Ha Noi. But, what with unpacking and catching up with a faster internet, I didn't get out until the evening. I decided to go to the Din Tai Fung restaurant in Causeway, passing another with a rather over-exotic menu for me!

15 December 2014. West Lake

My final day in Hanoi was warm and sunny. I went for a walk in the West Lake area and rediscovered the ultra cool cafe that was still playing its very laid back music.

I was also taken by the (literally) yardstick applied to decide if someone was eligible for cheap entry to the Hanoi Club

On the way back to the hotel, I passed by the President's Palace and Uncle Ho's mausoleum. A very pleasant relaxed outing with all the traffic almost forgotten by the lake.