So another day in Yangshou beckoned and the weather was still on the chilly side with plenty of moisture thrown in for good measure. We had heard about some Tai Chi lessons that Trippers could organise for guests with a local tutor, so we booked ourselves onto a course to see if we could remember anything from our previous lesson in Beijing. The tutor was really good at explaining what to do and helped you into the positions but wasn’t overly fussy if you could not manage it each time. This made the class go far more smoothly and it was very enjoyable. It’s amazing at the power that can be generated from simple moves and relaxed muscles when defending yourself. Dave got tested on a few times again to show what the motions were used for in self defence. It was freezing on the rooftop even though we had many layers of clothes to try and keep us warm!

After the two hour lesson we headed to the cafe for some warmth and food. We opted for more ginger and honey tea, which is so good, but so sweet, and some lunch. We had heard from other guests that the dragon eggplant was a good choice so we opted for the non-pork option and some tofu. We have eaten our fair amount of eggplant over the months in China, but this dish blew them all out of the water! It was amazing. Slightly fried like a tempura batter with a great sauce and veggies on top. Really great, we loved it.

We decided to head into the main town to walk off lunch and see if we could find bargains on sunglasses and some nice cushion covers that Helen had her eye on in a funky little shop on West Street. They were costly and they wouldn’t budge on the price, so we bought just the one and decided to see if we can get it replicated either back in the UK or maybe in Vietnam. On our way back to the hostel, playing on the public exercise machines by the river, we bumped into Maayke and Alex who were staying at Trippers and decided to have a walk down to the river. More often than not you’ll find a very picturesque place that in areas tends to lend itself towards being a dumping ground, this is the case we’ve seen across China. It is a case of the beauty and the beast at times.

Evening meal was again back at… you guessed it… Trippers! Comfort food to the max, soup, cheese burger and the amazingly tasty apple crumble with ice cream! Not the most classic “Chinese” of meals but you have to have some tastes of the west every so often. After some cards and a few drinks we headed to bed in the knowledge that we would have the dorm all to ourselves that evening. As soon as we had closed the door to the room a bunch of four Irish lads burst onto the scene but exited for food pretty quickly as they’d just got in from Shanghai. Misfits it was!

There were a few snores that night, but it wasn’t too bad for Helen sharing a room with 4 other lads!!

The next day was our final day in Yangshou town and along came the wet and cold weather. We had more editing and writing to catch up on so the crappy weather was a good excuse to stay inside, drink ginger and honey tea and keep warm. We finally had enough of work and decided to head out for a walk into the countryside which got the blood pumping and warmed us up no end. There are some really interesting walks and exploration to be done around China and you will always come to a little village where photograph opportunities just jump out.

For food we headed into Yangshou to find something cheap and not the hostel food, even though it was lovely, we wanted something else and some new scenery. We found a place and order our food. The food was very average and we were both disappointed. Helen’s vegetable noodles soup dish came with chicken in it and had very little flavour. We even asked for some chilli to make it more interesting but all we were given was Tabasco sauce! Not very Chinese in style or flavour.

Back at Trippers we proceeded with yet more writing and relaxing in the cafe/bar with hot chocolate. Pizza was required to forget the taste of lunch and Trippers duly obliged again. The Irish boys were having food, drinks and they cracked open the game Risk and asked Dave if he wanted to join in. Some good quality lads time was taken up, along with beers and world domination. Helen went to bed and Dave almost conquered the world, but he was too nice to the opposition! The bar closed up at 11pm and that was the end of that! We hope the lads made it to Hong Kong on time, we are sure that there train took longer that the one hour that they were told by someone in the hostel! It takes at least 10 hours we would guess!

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Well we can’t all say that we’ve spent Christmas in Hong-Kong…but WE CAN!! He he! Although to be fair we could have been anywhere in the world and still made this a day to remember. It was a slow start to the day with our customary oats, yoghurt and fruit breakfast followed by some prancing around in our Christmas hats. Dave slept in a little longer and enjoyed the cosyness of the apartment. We got ourselves a little pack up so we could go to Victoria Park for a Christmas picnic. We were also downloading a Christmas film that we would watch later in the day; Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and strolled out with our Christmas hats still on.

The park is just around the corner from Causeway Bay and was packed full of the local overseas contingent mainly from Indonesia and the Philippines, we’re pretty sure they are mostly maids and restaurant workers and had read prior to going that it’s a very common sight to see them all to get together in public spaces, hanging out with each other on their days off. We assumed this was the case. We walked around and found the central open air swimming pool which is an Olympic-sized pool left empty in the park. Its really eerily located right at the foot of sky-rise apartments and office blocks and left us with a great photo-opportunity.

Moving on from this we continued to walk and found a nice quiet spot in the park where we would have our picnic. For Christmas brunch we opted for the much anticipated and longed for hummus and carrot, a good tomatoe relish, rivita crackers, posh crisps, dark chocolate and cider. Oh how we enjoyed this sipping cider with the local monks passing by and just simply enjoying our little moment.

After this satisfying and overpriced picnic we went back to the apartment via the shipping area, photographed more of the locals and went back to settle in for some Ferris Bueller action. This was Dave’s first time…Can you believe it?? It was enjoyed along with a bottle of white wine and dark chocolate…oh how the other half live!

After the film we got ready for our Christmas meal we had booked the previous day. Most restaurants offer a set menu from day to day and they tend to be good value for money. We had noticed a little pub underneath our guesthouse offering a Christmas menu that didn’t look to shabby at all and was at a relatively good price considering the cost of other things on offer. So we didn’t venture very far at all, we did get a few Christmas presents to enjoy with our meal of which you can see us modeling the best below! The meal started off okay, but it just went from bad to worse and by the end Helen felt like it was the toilet that was calling her rather than the local dessert. Hmmm! You can’t win them all!

So after a slightly disappointing meal (although the picnic did make up for this!!) and a good Skype call to the Roscoe’s we went off to Victoria Peak via the metro so we would take in the Hong-Kong skyline by night. It was a good little journey, packed with many other tourists waiting to go up to the Peak, and the tram ride up was fun. Once we were up there it was really cold, so it was a good job we’d put on some extra layers. We experimented with slow shutter work on the Leica which provided us with an alternative view take of the skyline. Helen’s dinner didn’t do her many favours so she was not a happy bunny but after a good hour or so we got the tram back down and made our way back to Causeway Bay.

You can walk down from the Peak and on a nice evening this would have been a good option and alternative to getting the tram. We didn’t buy tickets to the highest viewing platform and the main building contains a lot of shops which we more or less bypassed to get outside and photograph the views.

Back in Causeway Bay we walked around a little longer, took in some more neon and then went back to our little room to enjoy the rest of our Christmas evening together.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)