Feeling low but seeing Hong Kong on high

Ohhhhhhh the comedown. I am in a hotel in Hong Kong, and all in front of me I can see the harbour and my lovely ship - which is sailing tonight without me! Booo!

The Grand Hyatt is on Hong Kong Island, looking over to Kowloon and the Ocean Terminal where my other address when in HK, aka the Seabourn Odyssey, is champing impatiently to head off to Vietnam.  If only the pollution were less thick, it would be the most perfect view. The locals say that it is getting worse every year as mainland China builds yet more factories manufacturing flat screen tvs and plastic toy guns.

So all the cruise-ship white is packed and it's back on with the city black wardrobe.

Yesterday was a whirlwind of packing, a quick trot through Mongkok's Ladies' Market, where market traders mutter, "Hello cheap designer handbag watch sunglass look look this way lady look look ," in one breath as you pass, then dinner in the hot highrise restaurant atop the gleaming Upper House hotel.

Can I say three words, people: pear & rosemary martinis. Hong Kong's new drink of choice. Sensational. Worth a 10-hour flight (or a 12-day sail) from Australia.