Happy Valley

An evening at the races. I'm not a big sports fan at all, but one of the "must do" things for HK is to spend an evening at Happy Valley - a racecourse surrounding by high-rise accomodation. Naturally I got rinsed. I bet on the favourite in race one, cleaned up, and in a fit of enthusiasm subsequently lost every other single race. Ah well, easy come, easy go. The races were a sideshow, just being there was the main event. 

I met up with a Uni mate from many many years ago when we had shared some crummy digs in about 1995. He's now an ex-pat vet out there, and has been for donkeys (which is what I bet on.....) years. He is clearly loving it, and is a racing afficionado. I think he lost a pretty penny also, proving that experience means nothing. The track was completely packed, although it was apparently a quiet night  - Wednesday evening is race night. My first horse race, and I loved it. Walthamstow Dogs, step aside, Happy Valley is where it is at. Do you know what a Quinella is? I did, briefly, but could no longer tell you. I tried it, and lost. Again. And again. Horse racing in the upper twenties is quite something, and thankfully it did not rain, unlike every other day that I was in Hong Kong. A wonderful place, properly different from my day to day, and somewhere I want to go back to. And it would be so easy too - twelve hours from west London, truly the world is a very small place indeed. The problem is simply time. Time I don't really have, or at least not until next year. I've got a stack of airmiles, so potentially Mrs L & I could get there very reasonably. Anyone want any children?