Day 23 – Hong Kong

January 16th 2009

Day of rest and relaxation...

Dim Sum for breakfast (plus a whole lot more) followed by some lazy reading before finally, after a few false starts, we hit the gym. The gym's on the 41st floor with panoramic views across Kowloon, I'm sure you would get used to the view eventually but for our short time here it's worth savouring every minute. An hour or so later, without pushing it too hard after a 4 week break from the gym, we go back to our room for some more lazy reading and a little room service to tide us over as we're not eating until 8pm tonight.

Next on the power relaxation agenda is our salt scrub and harmony massage. My first time on a massage table but it definitely won't be my last. The whole experience is amazing, we're in a couples room, i.e. our tables are side by side but there's not exactly any talking, too busy relaxing and just staying on the awake side of comatose. Overall our treatment lasts 90 minutes and it has to be the quickest 90 minutes of my life! We're then invited to rest in a contemplation room drinking jasmine tea while again looking out over the view, this time merely from the 40th floor. To cap things off we head up to the roof and have a dip in the outdoor jacuzzi. To be honest it's pretty chilly so we don't stay outside long. Back in our respective changing rooms and there's just time to savour the steam room, udon shower, and steam bath – a scorching 42 degrees with a warning to not stay in more than 15 minutes, I'm out after 10 anyway, lightly poached!

As this is our last night in Hong Kong we've decided to push the boat out for dinner and are booked in at the Fook Lam Moon restaurant which we understand to be one of the top Cantonese restaurants in Kowloon and after getting over the initial shock of the menu – cheapest bottle of wine £50 – we find some more reasonably priced and absolutely excellent fayre. As with Seasons of Hanoi, which seems a world away now, we end on a very high note. Sarah is also finally, on our last night, able to wear the dress she's carried all round S.E. Asia, so the evening couldn't be better. We get a taxi back to the hotel – after the driver takes us to the other Langham that is – and complete our last night with wine and jazz in the hotel bar.