Home Travel Diving Running Kids Mail us		Sunday 9th November 2003 (one year older) Vicky arrives for her birthday weekend and on Saturday morning we take a taxi over to Stanley on the South side of the island. Very different from Central you leave the skyscrapers behind for beaches, sea and green hillsides. Stanley market is a great attraction. A sprawling covered market of stalls running parallel to the sea front you can find everything cut price. Well known brands (and copies) made in China and fallen off the back of a lorry. We shop for Christmas presents with enthusiasm. A bric-a-brac shop sports a photo of Bill Clinton visiting and is full of all sorts of treasure. From old Mah Jong sets to busts of Chairman Mao crammed between Buddhas and dragons. On Sunday morning I leave Vicky in bed and head off at 5.30 to find a bus to the start of the Hong Kong half marathon. This starts early in the morning on a country course out in the New Territories. We are close to the Chinese border in a very hilly country park. The course is really tough and doubles back on itself 3 times. After 3 long hills I am thankful for the downward slope to the finish - as is Mike Louzado as he makes it to the end. In the afternoon Vicky and I brave the highest level of pollution that Hong Kong has experienced since measures began (!) to visit the Mong Kok ladies market. We are on the hunt for handbags. Inferior copies are found on the stalls but the 'good stuff' is advertised by photos and stall holders then take you up back stairs to stock rooms filled floor to ceiling with fake Gucci, Hermes, YSL and Burberry. There's something for the boys too with Rolex, Omega, Cartier and Brietling! We have splashed out and booked into the Mandarin. This is one cool hotel room. The other classic hotel in Hong Kong, the Peninsula, was full this weekend so instead of staying there we head off on the Star ferry for dinner in the Felix restaurant. Pollution mars the view but we have a fantastic meal looking out over the harbour. Monday is Vicky's birthday and we head up the peak for lunch. As they don't fail to tell you in Chinese and English the peak tram has been running FOREVER. It's still a pretty cool way for getting up here and escaping the crowds for lunch. The views from the restaurant are fantastic. The smog has blown away in the night and we can see across the harbour and Kowloon to the mountains behind. A short walk from the peak lookout and you leave the concrete and crowds behind. The peak has a number of walks through thick forest. The camelia bushes are in flower, birds sing and you could be 100 miles from central Hong Kong. Back in the thick of it we walk down one of the lanes between Hollywood Road and Queens Road. This is a street market with the freshest fish you have ever seen. The prawns are jumping out of their trays.