Here is what I meant about the special program on December 4.
http://www.happyvalleyracecourse.com...mpionship.html

I assume it is on December 4 - the Wednesday before the HK International Races are held at Sha Tin which is Dec 8 this year.

thanks again, mrwunrfl.

<<<I passed a flower market, a few shops with flowers out, front on my way to a bird market. An animal rights activist would have an issue with the bird market, but I enjoyed it. A bird market is not something you get to see every day.>>>

Both the bird and flower market are amazing (although I'm phobic around birds, so although I went in the entrance, I made a beeline out of there pretty quickly). The thing is a lot of the people at the bird market are just bringing their pet birds to show off and talk about. Creepy to me, but as I said, I HATE BIRDS.

Thank you Ann. I hope you enjoy HK as much as as did.

Hi Ann, so glad that you're in the middle of planning another trip. Sorry I missed this thread, but you seem to have a lot of great information to work from. I was in Hong Kong for three days myself back in 2009. While it was not enough to see everything, I felt I had a good overview of the city and saw plenty. The city is very easy to get around, by subway, ferry, buses, and trams. I'd be happy to answer any specific questions as you continue to plan and think about your trip.

Like you, I'll be visiting Australia and NZ at around the same time you are, and will be hitting up Singapore and Indonesia as well. Where in Australia and NZ are you visiting? I'll start out in Darwin, then head down to Uluru and Sydney, before flying to Auckland. Auckland is my only stop in NZ.

Good to see you here.

Hi tripplanner,

our itinerary looks something like this:

Nov 11 - arrive HK
Nov 14 - fly to Brisbane. visit GBR [somewhere] for DH to do some diving, then
Nov 20-25 - in Brisbane itself for the first test match
Nov 26 - fly to Auckland. Tour north then south island for next 17 days.
Dec 13 - fly to Sydney - 5 nights
Dec 18 - fly home.

will we be co-inciding at all?

Ann, our dates overlap, but unfortunately we won't be in the same areas. Here is our itinerary for the Australia / NZ portion of our trip:

Nov. 28 - arrive in Darwin
Dec. 1 - fly to Uluru
Dec. 4 - fly to Sydney
Dec. 11 - fly to Auckland
Dec. 15 - fly out of Auckland

Have you been to Sydney before? It's my favorite city; there's so much to see and do. I last visited in 2006 and have wanted to return ever since.

hi tp,

shame that we won't be able to meet up! toucan2 is also going to be in OZ but she too is following a different itinerary.

Not been anywhere in OZ or NZ before so we are looking forward to it very much.

Ann, hopefully there'll be another opportunity for us to meet up during another one of our travels. I haven't been to Brisbane or NZ before, so not much help I can give there, but I'm happy to share my past experiences in Sydney as well as my planning for later this year so feel free to ask.

certainly will, tp, thanks!

Ann... We are going to be in HK at the same time as you, and would love to get a drink or lunch or something with you. If you're up for it, we can discuss off-thread. Are you on Facebook?

Hi Mr go - that would be great!

i am on FB as Ann Higgins and also on the fodors friends group as annhig. [there's original!]

see you there!

Okay, I just sent you a "friend" request. We'll talk.

In the meantime, we're both getting some good tips in this thread. Thanks to everyone!

Mr Go - are you Chris?

I have quite a lot of friends' requests [I'm not on FB very often] and I'm not sure which is you!

Yes...sorry, should have mentioned that before!

found you, I think!

Ann: Looking forward to a refreshing something-and-tonic with you on Nov. 12 or 13! We can tighten up the details as the time approaches. Till then... we have a ton of planning to do!

True Fact: Nov. 12 will be our 25th anniversary.

premature congrats, Mr. G!

Thanks... but congrats are surely due to ms_go, for her continuing forbearance.

Thanks... but congrats are surely due to ms_go, for her continuing forbearance.>>

that remains to be seen, Mr_Go.