The People

One of the most remarkable things about the Cantonese is how accommodating they are.

We were at Ocean Park (a theme park built on a mountain) and because it was the end of the day, a ride we wanted to go on was closed. You'd understand that the ride operators would want to go home after working an eight-hour day in the sweltering heat, while everyone around them was having fun, but instead they took pity on us and allowed us on the ride, waiting patiently as we were thrown around, screaming and laughing stupidly.

Numerous times we'd ask strangers for directions and instead of giving us a half-hearted, barely comprehendable explanation, each time they'd drop what they were doing and take us there themselves; or else be interrupted while some other helpful stranger came to our aid.

Getting lost seemed to be a regular occurance for Sophie and I, and whilst being frustrating at times, it actually worked in our favour occasionally. Like when we stumbled across Louis Koo (a Cantonese celebrity who was nominated for 'Best Actor' at an award ceremony that was being held that night) near the Avenue of Stars.

For the Cantonese, going the extra mile seems even to be paralleled in their architecture. They construct all of these impressive buildings (such as The International Finance Centre - with 88 storeys, it's the tallest building in Hong Kong and the seventh tallest office building in the world) then they go one step further by adding lazers and flashing lights so they can put on a spectacular light show every single evening (see The Sights section below).

On the tube we saw numerous people with masks across their mouths to prevent the spreading of their colds and flus. This considerate nature was enforced further by adverts on the trains that were not in fact attempting to sell you something, but asking you to sponsor an animal.

During our stay in Hong Kong we were lucky enough to have our own personal tour guides (Sophie's Cantonese old school friends) with whom we spent most of our trip.

We're not sure whether it's because we can both be more than a bit dippy sometimes and so they were laughing at us rather than with us, but Sophie and I felt like comedians in Hong Kong . One night we thanked Joanne's parents for taking us out for a delicious dinner and in return her mother thanked us for entertaining her! It's fair to say that for the majority of our stay, our comments were met with smiles, laughs and lots of giggling. Which only makes the Cantonese even more endearing.

Our only issue with the people was that by comparison they made us feel rather unglamorous. There they were in the 25 degree heat looking fresh and pristine in a pair of heels with poker straight hair…and there we were, red-faced and sweating, feeling like Michelin men with frizzy hair. But none-the-less we appreciated them being there to show us around.

The Sights

The guide books reckon you can do Hong Kong in a day, but we found it a struggle to see the sights in five days. Other than the Dog Café (a café where - funnily enough - dogs randomly run around) and the afore mentioned Ocean Park , here are some of our highlights:

The Peak

Probably the most beautiful sight I've ever seen is from The Peak. You can view the whole of Hong Kong lit up at night.

Lantau Island

Lantau Island (famed for its giant Buddha statue) is a must, if only for the cable car ride to the site.

There's something about The Buddha's eyes which is mesmerizing, but the site has cashed in on tourists. With its overpriced gift shops and construction digger (presumably to build more overpriced gift shops) we were left feeling that the spirituality and serenity of the place had been lost forever.

When Sophie first visited the site seven years ago there was one authentic gift shop and none of the garish flags; but then she did have to endure a two-hour bus journey to the island instead of a luxurious cable car ride.

Sik Sik Yuen Wong Tai Sin Temple

Located in Kowloon , the colourful temple and surrounding gardens (where turtles swim in the water) is situated near numerous fortune tellers.

We walked around the site and found that the further we walked the cheaper the rates became. For $100 we had our palms read by an English-speaking lady whose first words to me were "stop drinking wine or you'll suffer with heart problems later on in life". Was she psychic or could she just smell the alcohol on me from the night before?

The Lazer Light Show

At 8pm every evening Hong Kong 's most famous buildings attempt to outdo one another by flashing their built-in lazers and lights in an impressive sequence. They used to be accompanied by a firework display too, but this was stopped for environmental reasons.

The best view of the show is from Kowloon Star Ferry terminal, where a voice over and some music make for a dramatic effect. Personally I think that instead of the Walt Disney's 'Fantasia' type music, some banging trance would be better suited to the event (try reaching for these lazers).

Shopping

Markets

Stanley Market: Although very touristy with its British bars and pubs, this was by far the best market we visited in Hong Kong . I would, however, advise anyone to look around the entire market first without buying anything as most of the stalls have exactly the same merchandise at varying prices. I learnt the hard way and bought an unsigned painting of the Hong Kong skyline and promptly sent it home via the nearest Post Office, only to come across an even more beautiful, larger, signed painting of Hong Kong lit up at night from The Peak later on.

Ladies Market: We had high hopes of finding designer clothes at stupidly discounted prices at the Ladies Market, however we were extremely disappointed. It was a case of same tacky s***, different stall.

Temple Street Night Market: Open from 5pm until midnight, Temple Street Night Market gives you the opportunity to find some hidden treasures (although we are suspicious that the Buddha we bought Debs is cursed as all it's brought her is bad luck…) as it caters more for the Cantonese. The stall owners aren't pushy and the cafes and restaurants which line the streets are packed with local people (and according to Joanne, the leftover food which is thrown in the streets is what the 'real' Hong Kong is all about).

Shopping Centres

They say that Hong Kong is where East meets West and you certainly get a sense of that when you compare the back street markets to the huge American-style shopping malls, packed from wall to wall with expensive designer shops.

Even though almost everything is unaffordable to the average backpacker, window shopping will keep you entertained for hours. On reluctantly entering yet another shopping mall, Sophie turned to me and said: "Once you've seen one, you've seen them all." But we still proceeded to spend another hour and a half in a toy shop crammed with merchandise without realising the time.

The Food

Before arriving in Hong Kong I'd heard some pretty gruesome horror stories about what the Cantonese like to eat.

But luckily it wasn't until the fourth day that we were presented with a duck's foot floating in a bowl of soup and what was described as "it's something rude...I don't know how you say it" (please not testicles) by Joanne's friend Iris.

By that time we'd already been introduced to the more delicious side of Cantonese dining by Joanne's mother. She took us to a restaurant called Sheung Wan, Northern Garden for dim sum, where we tried kong chau ngau ho (beef noodles), cha siu bau (barbeque pork) and ja leung (some sort of meat wrapped in rice noodles).

After this first taste of authentic Cantonese food, my confidence grew and I became excited about trying new food.

I knew that later I'd feel ignorant for passing up the opportunity to taste such things as crabs' legs (whereby you cut out the meat using a pair of special scissors), squid, raw tuna and snapper and foie gras (which I still feel guilty about eating, but as it was offered to me it was only polite to accept and to be honest it did taste rather good).

I was even tempted to try octopus with the suckers still on, but I still couldn't bring myself to eat a mussel.

But having said all of that, the Cantonese do like to eat some really strange stuff.

Some examples of dishes we saw on menues include sea blubber (whatever that may be), shark's fin soup, eel and jelly of turtle shell, and we walked past numerous cooked birds hanging in restaurant windows with their heads still intact. In Hong Kong there's no pretending that the meat on your plate didn't come from a living creature.

Dessert isn't amazing, but a couple of notable dishes are: Osmanthus and Red Bean Pudding with Golden Foil - a very Chinese dessert which is served in the palace for the King and Queen and Taro and Glutinous Dumplings in Sweet Soup - a traditional Chinese dessert which is enjoyed at festivals and warm family get-togethers.

Drinking

It goes without saying that the Cantonese aren't as big drinkers as the English (and the lack of pubs in some districts certainly proves this) but for Sophie and I, after all that tea drinking with dinner, we felt the need for a proper drink on more than one occasion.

We eventually stumbled across a couple of bars and had an outrageously expensive glass of red in a place called 'Hit Pub', but the fact that they were playing Orjan Nilsen's 'La Guitarra' - a trance tune you won't often hear being played as background music - made up for the $100 drink.

Persevering in our drinks mission we sought the expertise of our Cantonese friends, who took us to a strip of bars and pubs on Knutsford Terrace, off Kimberley Road in Kowloon, where we were treated to a vast choice of watering holes.

Summary

Although I personally prefered the more traditional Kowloon to the westernised Hong Kong Island, the efficiency of Hong Kong Island is a culture shock in itself.

The high-tech city is how I imagine Tokyo to be, only on a much smaller scale. Everything is designed to make your life as convenient as possible - escalators in the streets, flashing lights on the MTR maps to tell you which stop you're at and being able to use your phone on the underground.

Apparently there's a guaranteed time of three minutes between each station on the MTR. This fact really brought it home to me that Hong Kong is a tiny island with a population of seven million. So the only way to build is up. The danger for tourists like us, though, is that we were so consumed with looking up at the dizzying heights of the buildings that there's a real risk of getting hit by a tram.