This morning we woke up fairly late, today we were not going out in the morning and so after our hectic day yesterday we stayed in bed for a while, but were still tired when we got up!  After a light breakfast we got ready, for lunch today we were going out with a number of Clara's aunties (her mum's sisters) and her grandma for a buffet at the Hong Kong Football Club.

We set off by taxi about 11.30am and travelled down to the football club which is situated in Happy Valley, next to the famous Happy Valley Racecourse.  When we arrived the first thing we saw was a notice telling you to switch off your mobile phones.  If a phone rings inside the club it will cost you $200 fine!  The club is quite posh, and is really a throw back to British rule!  To call it Hong Kong Football Club is a bit strange as its not really that professional and more like a posh health club where people can play for teams such as football, rugby, tennis, basketball, bowling and many more.

When we entered the club the lobby is chique with marble walls and floors.  There are many plaques on the walls of past presidents and honorary members, none of which I actually recognised!  We went up to the second floor to the cafe bar.  The cafe bar led out onto a terrace next to a large outdoor swimming pool that looked very inviting!  We were seated at our table by waiters who were very attentive and a few minutes later Auntie Catherine and Uncle Edmond brought grandma along.  After we had said our hellos it was time for the buffet to begin!  At first we though we might have the whole buffet to ourselves as there were no other people in the restaurant.  The buffet runs from 12-2.30pm and has everything from starters to desserts.

We had a quick look around the buffet and this is what you could have:

• Many types of cold cut including smoked salmon
• Fresh muscles on ice
• Many types of salad including pasta salads and caesar salads
• Sushi - lots of different types
• Freshly cooked udon noodles with vegetables
• Numerous types of curry, popadoms and rice
• Roast beef sirloin (very nice)
• Potatoes, steamed veg, battered fish
• Many cakes as desserts including cheesecake and chocolate mousse
• Fresh fruit
• Tea and coffee including cappucchino

In other words, as you can see from this list, there was tonnes to eat!  All the food was immaculately presented and very well cooked!  For the next 2 hours we managed to get through many plates and I even managed to fulfill my craving for sweet desserts (although I'll get more tonight).

After lunch when we were feeling very stuffed, Uncle Edmond took us for a tour of the club.  He is a member (hence us eating here) and he plays Crown Green Bowling here.  We looked at the indoor sports hall, the fitness suits and many squash courts, plus outdoor (artificial) football pitch and bowling greens.  The club seemed to mainly have members consisting of rich English (or western at least) people.  They were the people who were sad to see Hong Kong go back to the Chinese.  When we were walking around I even saw the Jack Charlton had been made an honourary life member, but didn't recognise anyone else!

When the meal had finished and we had said our goodbyes, we walked to have a look at the Happy Valley Racecourse.  We wanted to go in the horse racing museum but unfortunately it was closed on Monday's, so we just had a quick look!  We had seen the inside of the track from the football club, which actually has its football pitch inside the race track!  Its worth noting that the Hong Kong Jockey Club is incredibly rich in Hong Kong, but most of their money is actually ploughed back into helping charities, although the racecourse looks pretty spectacular!

Next we moved onto Times Square for a quick look around a couple of shops.  We went to City Super where we had visited before to get some things Clara had wanted.  For the rest of the afternoon we decided to take a tram ride up to the terminus and back to see a little more of the Eastern Part of Hong Kong Island.  We got on the tram and it took us about 1 hour to get to the terminius in Shau Kei Wan.  We got off the tram there for a quick walk around the market where everything was for sale including fresh fruit and veg, meat and fish.  The smell around the market was quite strong, shame that we have no smellovision again! 

This area of Eastern Hong Kong Island is still built up like most of Hong Kong Island but seems much less commercialised than Central, Wan Chai and Causeway Bay.  There are more 'ordinary' people living here and the area is served by an MTR line making it an easy commute to the more commercial areas. 

We got back onto the tram and took it all the way back into Central.  The journey is quite interesting but gets a little boring at times if you happen to get stuck in traffic or when the tram goes very slow!  The best thing about the journey is that the cost is $2 each way (or less than 30p for both trips!) for about 2 hours entertainment!  When we got off in Central we were a bit tired from the journey and took the mid-levels escalator up to home for a rest.

Tonight we're off out for the dessert buffet (hence Buffet Day) at the Grand Hyatt Hotel (another posh hotel), so more sweet desserts to come and more weight to put on...

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