Hong Kong windup, and only a week late!

I would love to say that I have had this crazy hectic week, and it has stopped me from posting until now, but it would be a shameless lie. I've had the week off work, and apart from the occasional odd job around the house (paint touchups, fixing the holes in the doors etc) I have spent most of my time playing Baldur's Gate 2, cause I'm just that cool!

So rather than saiting the curiosity of you, my non-existant readers, about the mysteries of the orient and the results of the Hong Kong Rugby 7s, i chose instead to play a computer game. So sue me!

Even now, I can't be bothered loading the pictures up, that is how committed I am feeling right now to my blogging experience!

So anyway, where did I leave off? Ah yes... Mark and I were still suffering under the questionable effects of the blah-tastic burgers and we were off to the Sevens! I worked it out, and I hadn't been there since 1992, so this was my first sevens in 14 years! It was even a new stadium, since '92 was the last time they used the old stadium, and moved into the current one (which still looks extremely nice 14 years later!)

The sevens is a three day event, with the 5 pools (of 4 teams each) battle it out to decide who goes into which division on the sunday. The divisions are the bowl (third), the plate (second) and the cup (first).

Apart from the new stadium, there is one other thing that was missing 14 years ago, and that was the South Stand. More than just a place to sit, it has clearly become an institution with the young and young at heart, and the place-de-jour for anyone who wishes to drink beer while watching rugby (the other stands were alcohol free zones). Naturally this means it gets packed out with all the drunken louts and lasses, but beyond that it has become a place for groups to get dressed up and party. We saw cheerleaders, wallace and gromit, x-men, beefeaters, uma thurmans from kill bill, to name but a few. It looked like a lot of fun, and something I definitely would have been a part of, if I still lived in HK and went with a group of friends.

In some ways, it made me feel a bit robbed as the sevens was always a social event, and even more so now than then, so it was sad to see hard evidence of something that I missed out on as a result of moving to australia.

The actual rugby was good too, I've always prefered sevens since the games are so fast! 7 minutes per half, and 10 per half for the big final. It is like mini-rugby... I want to pick it up and pat it, and give it a smacko for being so cute!

The games were a mixed bag, the main problem being that some teams were so far ahead of others, that more than half the games were totally one sided. It really wasn't until the quarter finals (the friday and saturday games were not knock-out) that it got interesting, as things even up a bit once they are split into the three divisions.

China beat Hong Kong for the Bowl, in what was an excellent game. It would have been cool to see Hong Kong win, but then... noone wants to piss off China :)

Wales beat Kenya for the Plate, but that was kind of a case of big fish in a small pond... wales really deserved to be in the Cup division, but thanks to a monster win (the highest in HK7s history) by scotland earlier in the comp, wales were just nudged out.

And in the Cup division, I had high hopes for Australia, but sadly they were thrashed by New Zealand in the Quarter Finals. Fiji and England both looked strong (between them having won the last 6 sevens, and Fiji in particular having won more times than anyone else) and indeed they met at the finals. It was an incredible game, with England pulling off a balsy win at the last second.

The instant the game was over, Mark and I had to run off to get to the airport so we didn't miss our flight. Nine glorious hours later, and it was 8am monday morning back at Sydney, and I hadn't had a wink of sleep! Good times :)

It was wonderful to go back to Hong Kong, and I hope I will be able to go again sometime in the next few years, and take Suzy to show her where I grew up. And who knows, maybe catch the sevens again!