Hong Kong

I've never been one for "ticking off" tourist attractions, which may be why I rate Hong Kong more highly than some other travellers. There aren't really any tourist attractions as such. For me, Hong Kong's appeal lies with its visual treats and bizarre atmosphere.

Today I saw a woman at Wan Chai market catching live toads which had escaped and were hopping around her fish and vegetable stall. She scooped them into a plastic carrier bag and handed them over to a customer. Meanwhile the man next to her was slicing live fish diagonally in half with a huge meat cleaver. There is always something to shock the senses of a western tourist, from decapitations of various species of fish and fowl to the pungent mixture of drying seafood and over-worked drains. But whilst Hong Kong can be shocking, I always feel safe. The mix of harmonious contradictions is what I love about Hong Kong. The East and the West, the rich and the poor, the unspoilt countryside colliding with densely packed skyscrapers.

Five years ago when I lived here for six months, I never once felt the need to go and visit one of the few bona fide tourist attractions - the "big Buddha" on Lantau Island. Sonia and I ticked it off the list on Monday. It was rubbish.

The temperature has been pleasant, not too hot to walk around all day with a camera-filled daypack. Unfortunately it is constantly misty, which is not ideal for photography. I was glad to discover that the Ritz Carlton still does an excellent champagne brunch on Sundays. The Devil's Advocate bar still exists opposite Carnegies, although they don't seem to do the same deal on a Wednesday with Standard Chartered 20$ notes... Although a few new skyscrapers have sprung up (including one ludicrously tall one) in the last five years, happily nothing too drastic seems to have changed.