Weekend!

Well,  it's Sunday night here - now 8 hours ahead of the UK with your extra hour in bed this morning!

I'll start with my trip to Jollibee on Friday lunchtime. I'd heard a lot about this place from Filipino colleagues - it's basically the Philippine equivalent of McDonalds and allegedly McDonalds haven't been able to crack the fast-food market over there due to the dominance of this place!

They promised they'd take me one day so on Friday lunchtime a few of us piled out of the office and into a taxi. It's only 2 MTR (tube) stops from work or 20 minutes on the tram but taxis are so cheap here, I think it cost £2.50 each way and that was between 5 of us! I'd had a quick look at the menu online before we went to see what I was letting myself in for, all looked good; burgers, spaghetti, fried chicken, rice dishes etc. However when we got there it appears it only has a reduced menu here in HK, none of which was really to my fancy (I had my eye on the shanghai rolls, sweet chilli sauce and rice dish). I'm scared of chicken on the bone, most of the pastas came with cheese and the burgers all had salad & mayo in so I played it safe and just got some chips! Did get a peach and mango pie as well though which I couldn't have had in McD's! Think my colleagues were a bit disappointed I didn't fully embrace the Jollibee experience but they enjoyed themselves tucking into Aloha burgers (burger, bacon and pineapple) and Pancit Palabok. Stephen and I will just have to take ourselves over to the Philippines for a long weekend on one of the many cheap flights available and try it properly! (And obviously enjoy the local culture and amazing scenery too!).

Friday evening saw us having a few beers, naturally. We both went out with our respective colleagues for a few bottles, met up in Paisanos (tasty pizza place I have mentioned several times!) and then went back to meet some of my colleagues who'd headed into Soho. Stephen had read about the bar they'd gone to due to it's extensive beer list and he/we were not disappointed - I was particularly pleased to discover they had the full range of Rekordelig, including one I'd not even seen before!

Tasty!

I should add we got a taxi to and from the bar, hopefully this will help you understand quite how cheap they are here, given we are total cheapskates and would never do this in England!! (We did try to get the 19p tram home but it was about 1am and I think they'd stopped running, boo!).

On Saturday we got the ferry to Discovery Bay. We'd both heard a lot about this place since it's supposed to be so different to the hustle and bustle of the island - also where the rich expats live and is known in my work as Delivery Bay.... people move there and have babies. This was an expensive ferry - £3 each way! Very luxurious though; comfy seats and wifi! There was a magazine in the seat pocket in front going on about 'DBay' and the 'DB-ers' and it very much enforced the exclusive club we were expecting it to be!

Ferry View - leaving HK Island 

Ferry view - arriving Discovery Bay

It was a very very nice place! Almost like a posh American town - no cars are allowed, only golf buggies and only a certain number are allowed so only the very wealthy have those. There were some lovely looking beaches which we'll definitely be heading back to with beach towels, kindles and picnic to enjoy a lazy day. There's plenty of bars and restaurants overlooking the sea and a nice square with shops. We went to a tasty bakery, bought snacks and sat in the sun and ate them - good times!

Tasty 

You see lots of good bakeries here! 

Square 

Beach 

 Beach again 

Heading back to HK Island

It really is beach weather even though it doesn't look it!!

On Saturday night we went to Western Market having not ventured this far west on the island thus far. Someone had mentioned a good Dim Sum restaurant to Stephen so we went to investigate, unfortunately it was closed for a wedding reception. The restaurant was on the third floor of the building and on climbing the escalators I discovered the second floor was dedicated to fabric stalls so I think we'll be back!! We were hungry and are getting braver so walked into the nearest local restaurant that had english translations on the menu. This was a good move - tasty tea for £7 total!

Stephen's meal, chopsticks poised! I had crispy noodles but ate it too fast for a picture!

Today I've signed up for a phone contract, wahey I finally have data on the move again! Or not, it doesn't seem to be working yet but hopefully soon. It's a two year contract so I guess we best stay now!  Otherwise we've mainly just been out and about locally or chilling here. We've discovered a good film channel so watched Castaway this morning and Casino Royale is on now, hoping to go see Skyfall next weekend.

I also went window shopping (temporary credit card failure, but I think Halifax systems broke rather than anything more sinister as I've managed to get some $ out of cash machine tonight) but think I might have to go back and buy this jumper after work tomorrow...

Loves it!

We may also have possibly maybe been back to Paisanos for tea tonight.... :)

Oh and hope you've noticed I've changed my name to Hannah Greene! It's on Facebook too, so it must be official now!?

Edit: I've also amended the 'comment' settings so hopefully anyone that's had trouble leaving one shouldn't be having problems anymore!