Hong Kong 7s

Hello again one and all!! And again i have to apologise for being quiet for so long.... so much to see, not enough time to blog, the world truely is cruel....oh and also i have to apologise for the state of the crocs in the picture, they did take a bit of a hammering over their time in Hong Kong!

So Hong Kong - a place i've been to only once before on the way to the 2001 Lions, where i spent 12 drunken hours before staggering back onto a plane to Sydney.... this time is was 4 days before staggering back onto a plane to London and my what a 4 days it was.....

Firstly, i've worked out why they call it the Hong Kong 7s.... its got nothing to do with the number of players in a 7s rugby team, but a reference to how many livers you need to get through the weekend. I think i can hold my head up high to say that i can sink an ale or two, but this really was something else. I arrived bright eyed and brushy tailed at 5.30 in the afternoon on the Friday ready for something to quench my thirst. As luck would have it my friend and guide for the weekend had been on an all day lunch and so i hottailed it to WangChai (i know that has to be spelt wrong) to go and join him and his lunch guests for a late afternoon beer. Beer, wine, more beer, we were then saved as his wife came to join us for a quick drink and to take us to dinner....Food was definitely a good idea as it didnt really feature again properly until the following evening (the late night kebabs in HK really arent as good as the real deal in Gizel on Clapham High St!) Dinner was a very grown up affair in a Chinese place not far from Lang Quai Fong (again i know this is the wrong spelling), all rather underground and red lighting, unusual but great (spicy pork in cabbage leaves... a must for any traveller from the UK!)

It was after dinner that things really hotted up on the drinking front... firstly a place called Waygu where we hooked up with a big old bunch of people before heading out into the night. I even bumped into some colleagues from MF which was an unexpected surprise, but it came in handy to know we had a box at the 7s that i could visit throughout the weekend. After some lemon drops (basically lemon vodka with a few other added ingredients just to spice it up) some expresso martinis (surely these need no explanation) and some vodka and ginger beers (a popular local tipple in HK) we then headed to the carnage that was the Fong proper. If youve never seen it its a steeply sloping road lined with bars and packed with drunken revellers. Infact it was so packed that you really couldnt move. (i'm told its like this alot of the time, not just when the 7s are on) Its was a bit like being in the middle of a rugby carnival, every single nation was there, everyone was exceptionally merry and there wasnt even a hint of trouble. Vodka ginger beer, vodka tonics, damn we even had our fill of vodka jelly (a bar called Als Dinner does a great line in vodka jelly so we felt it churlish not to have a few) Our ragtag and bobtail crew merrily squeezed its way up and down the Fong, until around 3am we then felt a) kebabs were required and b) we should go drinking somewhere else. I have to admit its around this time that i really did lose my bearings (being very much the worse for wear) and so i cant really tell you where we ended up, all that i can say it involved another heaving bar and yet more vodka..... Home time seemed to come around 4ish (or was it 5ish) where we staggered back to Repluse Bay and promptly woke up Alex's wife and 16 month old daughter (surely she wanted to cuddle Daddy stinking of booze at 5am??!!) - i dont think we were that popular to be honest.....

What seemed like a blink of an eye later i was being told that i had to be up as we had to be at the Stadium asap. Its was 7am, i had been in bed barely an hour or so. And was still rather drunk, and now even a little jet lagged... not a great combination, but when in Rome... i was up and at it. We were in the South Stand at 7.55. Now those that have been to the HK 7s before know all about the South Stand. A legendary place where one has their drinking skills tested to a new level. I have to say i did protest a little being given my first litre of beer at 8am in what seemed to be an exceptionally empty stand. This was so we could get in and get decent seats i was told... but theres no one here (except for a group dressed as Superheros and a couple of buxom wenches who really were grabbing a bit of attention and rightly so!!) Our new drinking posse for the day also promptly arrived, dressed as Frenchmen and as luck would have it a Frenchman outfit for me aswell. So i was going to be a Frenchman for the day... not a great thing in the South Stand where the chant "stand up if you hate the French" rings out all day. And it was at this moment that it dawned on me that the South Stand was now virtually full... every single fancy dress outfit in the world was there..... 12,000 drunken revellers, still reeling from the night before and all with beers in hand (or Pimms if you were being grown up) revved up and raring for Saturday at the 7s. It was 8.45. And thats how things progressed for the next 6-7 hours - beer, singing, throwing beer, getting told off for throwing beer, more singing, wondering who was playing rugby on the pitch but not really caring too much (all the real rugby action is on the Sunday) Behind our little enclave of Frenchmen some real Frenchmen had appeared. 40 of them. Dressed as Gendarmes (and also some rather delightful Gendarmettes) who were also drinking beer, singing (in French) and eating cheese. Lots of it, which as we were now French for the day they merrily shared with us. It really was a very enjoyable experience. Singing "Ou est le papier" and being drowned out by the real lyrics to the Marseilles and eating brie. Around 3pm i thought i would escape for an hour or so and head to the MF box. Welcome relief from the carnage of the South Stand (Caroline, Matt and Peter many thanks for letting me stumble in in my very descheveled state...) I quaffed a few more beers, some vodka redbull (as now was feeling rather tired) when the Lord smiled on me and i received a text from my friend and guide saying he'd been thrown out of the 7s. Thank you Jesus - it meant i could leave and try and put myself back together. Back at Repulse Bay and it was only 6pm so i could get a bit of kip before yet more drinking. I passed out, woke at 8pm to be told we were having a night in with pizza and some of my hosts friends. Thank God. Pizza, red wine, some good chat and was in bed at 2.30am (later than i would have liked but at last i could sleep and sober up) - perfect.

Sunday and up at a reasonable hour (10) and straight out for brunch. I always think youve got a good day in store when your first drink is a berroca and your second a G+T! Steak and eggs HK style and then straight back to the Stadium. We arrived just in time to see England knocked out in the quarter finals by Fiji. And instead of the South Stand, the MF box (thanks again for letting me and my chums in) - this didnt however mean less drinking, if anything probably more drinking, but in a more refined environment. Jugs of red wine and vodka and tonics were the order of the afternoon and we sat and saw some stunning rugby. Fiji deserved winners beating South Africa in the final. The afternoon drifted into evening and as the winners medals were handed out we ambled to the restaurant we were having dinner in, a mere 30 minute stroll from the ground. We hooked up with the rest of the crew and had a stunning roast, well needed after an afternoon of ales. A few bottles of red and a few amerettos and we made the decision that another night out on the tiles was the way forward. Arriving back in the Fong it became obvious that we were by far the most sober people in the rugby carnival that was now in full swing. Nothing 4 shots of lemon vodka wouldnt sort out. Back on the horse as one says! Another huge evening ensued, the highlight for me had to be stopping one of the England rugby 7s side getting into a fracar with some rather drunk and obnoxious fans. (same old Leicester, always fighting!)The evening passed by in another alcoholic daze and around 5am, kebab in hand i was on the phone to people in the UK telling them what an amazing place HK was. Not that i really remember. Bed at 6am again... funny how that happens over there.

Monday morning i awoke really feeling the side effects of 2 and a half days on the lash. Thankfully i didnt really have anything to do so at least i could recover. We spent most of the day walking the lovely Georgia (the 16 month old daughter) along the beach and chilling (and rehydrating!) returning to the flat for bbqed steaks and sweet potatos late afternoon. Heaven. I must say a huge thank you to Alex and Kate (and of course Georgia) for putting up with me for my time in HK - amazing hospitality, thank you very much. After packing and goodbyes i was back off to the airport for the long flight home. And i have to say i slept almost the entire 13 hours which must say something about what state i was in!

So now Miami and then onto Belize before Central America.... this trip just gets better and better... i just hope the crocs are upto it as even after a good scrub they still look a little worse for wear. Heaven knows what theyre going to look like in 2 months time!

Catch you all later

B