Africa comes to Hong Kong

The African diaspora seems to be propping up more and more in Hong Kong. With the main African bar in Hong Kong being Makumba, but due to its recent closure,ther hasn't been much for us to hold on to, or places to go where we can hear some makossa or afrobeats. A good friend of mine Alex Nguema who is an African dance teacher in Hong Kong started her first event with her good friend Hitomi called ' Africa Soul Party', where she appointed me as the MC. Yay! This new event will be taking pace every other month, the first was a great success which took place in Insenses on Lyndhurst Terrace. Full Capacity! This Africa Soul Party involved a fashion show full of lovely ladies hailing from all over the world; Canada, Guyana, St. Vincent, France and England. The designs were by Maisha Concept by Rakhee. The prints are amazing, and take me back to my trip to Africa.

Lan Kwai Fong Carnival

Coming from London, I feel blessed to have grown up with people of all different backgrounds and cultures. Thus, Nottinghill Carnival is the place where you can see everyone from all walks of life having fun, getting together and simply having a boogie. When Lan Kwai Fong announced it would have a carnival. Hmmm...I was a bit skeptical. What kind of carnival will Hong Kong have? and Lan Kwai Fong ( Party district) is not particularly that big either. Interesting, LKF was just filled with food and drink stalls with lots of people. Not much different from lkf at night. Also, a few people were there too....Ladies dressed scantily clad in Carnival wear, gyrating and getting the crowd going, dancing to the beat of the drums. Not quite NottingHill, but a good try LKF!

Dim sum in Mong Kok

In Hong Kong, if there's one thing you must do, besides visiting the beautiful harbour of course, is go for dim sum. Dim Sum is just an assortment of typical Chinese food, ranging from pork buns to sui mai to chicken feet. My friend Theresa, is a God send, the perfect person to have in Hong Kong. Not only is she from an obscure part of South London, but speaks fluent Cantonese. So for me a taste of home and she prevents us from getting ripped off wherever we go. We headed to Tim Ho Wan, one of the best dimsum places in Hong Kong, its also a one starred Michelin restaurant. I ordered the glutinous rice wrapped in banana leaf, however the texture of the rice was just to sticky! Yes, I knew it was glutinous, but it was quite unbearable. I daren't try the chicken feet, the texture and the thought of it...eeeekk...just not for me. Theresa did though!

Since my arrival in Hong Kong, I've developed a new found love for the outdoors. Hong Kong  is quite the opposite of what most people would think. The two main islands are Hong Kong Island ( more expats live here) and Kowloon ( which some expats like to call the dark side, as it is very local). I live on the dark side! Then you have the New Territories which is basically the outskirts which have village houses ( as HK is full of tall storey apartments) , more space and green areas.

I've had it in mind to go camping and having the time off for Easter, it only made since to go as the weather was looking great! Scorching hot day off we went. I called the lady Carol Lai who owned the 'campsite'. She explained that you just rent the tent on the beach...in a place called Sai Wan.

The journey took a while....from my apartment, it was a MTR (metro) ride, about 30 minutes to a place called Choi Hung, then a mini bus ride to Sai Kung. Due to the rapid speed of minibuses, they are also known as flying coffins, so I guess that part wasn't too bad! Then we headed on another bus from Sai Kung to Wong Shek Pier, where we got a speedboat....then.....we hiked for an hour and a half, having to take care, as it was hitting 5m; meaning it would get dark at any given minute.
Trekking through the meandering never-ending forest and eventually being greeted with a sandy beach nestled by jagged hills was the best part! We made it!!!

We still had yet to past some derelict village houses and a message from 3 saying ' Welcome to China' made me realise just how far we actually were!

Yet, the difficult part was to come....you ever set up a tent? Cos' I haven't!!

We spent two nights here and hiked to Ham Tin Beach which was nearby, it was delightful to wake up and hear the clash of the waves against the cliffs instead of a ringtone or alarm. Nature at its best.

The journey home wasn't as pleasurable..scenic views were in abundance, but it was spoilt ..by the rain!!

Korean BBQ

One of the things that I've learnt from Asia, despite the small frame of many people here in Hong Kong. They sure can eat, wish I could say the same about myself!! I enjoy eating...but the pounds pile on. Anyway, today I decided to go for Korean BBQ. For 100HKD - £8, you can select all the meat you want and create your own bbq. I quite like the idea of it, and the meat was seasoned really well. ( I'm of Jamaican heritage, sorry can't help it - live by the seasonsing, die by the seasoning!) I'm stil not very keen on kimchi....but I did realy enjoy the meat.

Leaving Bangkok

Bangkok has been great but slightly hectic, so what better way to celebrate Christmas ( a part from with family of course) than to head to Koh Phangan for a bit of sun, sand and party. 

I headed to get my bus and waited at the place ( more like a shack) where I got my ticket from...no one else was there. 

The place was closed and I had been waiting over thirty mins. A random boy of about 13 years old comes along and says ' Koh Phangan'. I nodded...carrying my 15 kilo backpack on my back..I was taken through alleyways...seedy...pungent...it was around 7pm. Where is he taking me to? 

Eventually, we pulled up to a car park, which had a small bar besides it and to my reassurance in a way...about 40 other people looked as though they were waiting as well. My 12 hour journey commenced...got on the coach...luckily had a seat all to myself. Unfortunately there was  a really loud drink guy making a lot of noise....but hey...it's Thailand! it was forecasted rain..... :-( for the entire week. 

Arriving at Surathani, we got a ferry over to Koh Phangan . It was soo wet, rain scattered on the ferry windows everywhere. Yikes...came all the way here for this??

 When...I eventually found my hostel....to my surprise being a No 1 hostel on Hostelworld...it was gruesome...cramped and smelt really bad. The bunks were claustrophobic too. The staff was quite unprofessional, as the sister of the owner kept allowing people who weren't staying at the hostel to come and use the toilet in our room. Feaces was once left floating around in the toilet. It definitely would have been worth it staying in one of the many bungalows they have on the island. The vibe in the common area/bar was lively though....this was the only plus point I guess. 

 After seeing my room and chilling in the common area,it dawned on me that it's Christmas day the next day...and I have nobody to spend it with. Until?...I heard a distinct London accent checking in. It was a girl from Elephant and Castle, South London! I also befriended a couple others who had also just checked in. Another guy who'd been living in a jungle in Malaysia for the past month on a gap year and another guy from Hong Kong who sported an Afro wig. Guess we kinda looked like a Benetton ad!

Thailand

One of the first visits I had to do was to Ayutthaya. When you arrive in Bangkok, there are little stalls o the streets everywhere selling cheap day excursions. The visit to the tger sanctuary seems to be the most popular, yet not so ethical, as the tigers are sedated and not treated well. I'm not a believer that animals should be caged up for photo purposes either! Ayuthaya was a short journey away from Bangkok, our first visit to the Wat Phra Si Sanphet. Wat means temple in the THAI language. It was very serene and calm. I was in awe, similiar to the calm ambience of TEOTIHUCUAN in Mexico. Everyone knows if you are going to visit Asia, visiting Thailand is a must. No matter your age. I have often conjured up images of a bohemian place filled with travelers wearing harem pants, bare footed , and a signature dreadlock dangling at the back of their neck. Well...this is kind of what I saw I guess.

 On arrival I was greeted with an almost stifling heat and and the overwhelming sound of the tuk tuk engines. It was truly what I imagined. I stayed at Nap Hostel on Khao San Road and off I went the next day to explore one of the numerous sights of Thailand.
I decided to buy a day tour package that would take us to some ruins. My favorite was the temple which had Buddha statues with silk wrapped across them like a sache...surrounded by the crumbling ruins...magical.