Hong Kong- Rugby 7s

I decided to visit Hong Kong after meeting some people in the Philippines. Back during our first trip of the semester in Boracay my friends and I met 2 different groups of exchange students studying in HK. They told us we had to visit and that it was a great city. One group went to Hong Kong Baptiste University the other HK Univeristy.

After some quick researching of when to visit we realized that RUGBY 7s is a huge party weekend and we should kill a bird with two stones and go for that weekend in particular. After booking our flight we messaged two people who actually are players on the Canadian Rugby team. They said they would try to get us tickets and would be so excited if we could watch them play. Our one friend Conor who we know from school and my Vancouver friends know from home is not only on UWO's rugby team but in engineering and on the Canadian Team.... impressive!

The Hong Kong Sevens is considered the premier tournament on the IRB Sevens World Series in rugby sevens. The event is held annually at the last weekend of March in Hong Kong, commencing on a Friday afternoon, and concluding on the Sunday evening. According to one website it states that "40 000 people gather in the stands to watch the best of the world's players play.The celebrations are carried on all over the city and well into the night as well. Truly a wild weekend!"

THURSDAY

We arrived late on Thursday night taking the city bus right downtown to our neighborhood in Kowloon which is beside the main island. To check into our hostel we had to go upstairs in a small elevator on top of a black market of cellphones and Indian restaurants/halker stands. One night the police emptied out the whole market and had search dogs who knows why, maybe not the safest location.  But that is what you get when you don't pay very much for accommodation and you want to stay downtown.

Here is a map of Hong Kong:

We met up with some of our Hong Kong university friends in LKF ( or Lan Kwai Fong) to go to the bar. This particular area is really popular with tourists and ex-pats. There are over 100 bars and restaurants and its not that far from the Central Business District so many people gather here for after work drinks too.

We bought some cheap alcohol from 7eleven (which are everywhere) and sat on the street to  "pre-drink" for the bar. Little did we know, that was unnecessary as the drinks were free for ladies all night. The club we went to was upstairs (you take an elevator) of another club. In HK everything is so condensed that they really do make efficient use of all spaces.  All night I could just walk up to the bar and order whatever I wanted because I was a girl! It was even better than Singapore where there are sometimes restrictions on Ladies Night as to what you can order. As our friend Sam from England said, "in HK every night is ladies night."

 Indian prata bread as an after bar snack at 4 or 5 am.

FRIDAY

We woke up rather early to meet our friends on the Canadian team and to pick up our game tickets. We had no idea that we would be getting 3 day passes, or that they were worth nearly $500 dollars. The Marco Polo hotel that the Canadian Team was staying in was also hosting all the other athletes. The lobby was filled with people carrying equipment and players walking around in short shorts. We felt very out of place but we loved seeing the behind the scenes and what the players lives are like. Our friends on the team showed us their schedule, it was so packed and detailed that it even explained what polo or team shirt to wear. 

We wanted to stay and hang out longer in their rooms because they were so much nicer than ours but we decided to go out exploring. We walked around Tsim Tsa Tsui (the neighbourhood we were staying in) and had Mcdonalds breakfast. TST [prounced - tschim cha tschewy] is a really high class area with lots of great shops all of which were very expensive. We of course ate McDonalds and bought groceries from the supermarket instead of dining out here.

We spent a little time in our room making our shirts for the first game, at 4 pm that day. Arts and crafts time paid off as our outfits were a hit. I am really glad my mom and sister made me bring a Canadian flag, it was my cape and sweater for the whole weekend.

We arrived at the stadium to the rowdiest fans I have ever been in contact with. We met up with our friends in the South Stands and everyone there was in costume. A lot of people were dressed up but few people represented their country. We were called out a lot as the Canadian Girls, even later that weekend being recognised at night without our national pride get-up. We made signs that said "Proud Canadian" (with an arrow pointing down) and others with our friends numbers. We were very proud Canadians.

What is Sevens? Or Why 7s?
Sevens is a cut-down, sped up version of traditional rugby. Far quicker, higher scoring and with less rules, Sevens has a far wider appeal than the original fifteens version. The Hong Kong Rugby Sevens is the main event in the larger Sevens tournament which tours the world, with the ultimate champions decided on points earned from all of the tournaments. The Sevens game is often used as training ground for players to prove themselves, before moving onto fifteens.

Google Rugby 7s and you will learn that the south stands are infamous for this type of behavior.
"The legendary South Stand is home to the most boisterous supporters and the singing, shouting and Mexican waves are generally kicked off by the South Stand crowd. South Stand supporters also doll themselves up, donning costumes from ghost busters to cheerleaders, as they cheer the teams along. If you’re team isn’t making an appearance, you’ll be encouraged to pick an adopted country and shout them through to the final. Be warned; the South Stand is also the headquarters for the tournaments most dedicated drinkers, and while convivial, the atmosphere can be a little too raucous for some."

 With our HKU friends [dressed as cowboys and Indians]

The Canadian women won the tournament on Friday night. Ghislane Laundry, one of the players even went to my high school!

SATURDAY

Saturday we spent the whole day in the south stands. We drank the biggest beers I have ever seen and had classic sports spectator food like hot dogs and nachos. The crowd was so incredibly wild. Everyone was dressed up and enjoying the weather (it was about 20 degrees, much different than the 35 we are used to in Singapore). It was a nice change to not have humidity although I didn't like that we never saw the sun because it is so smoggy. We decided our Canadian pride would be our costume again today, and it was a great decision. We were on the jumbo-tron about 8 times as every time our team played we snuck our way down to the front row (where the camera and media crew also are). We would later learn that it was Saturday that got us in the sport's sections of nearly 10 newspapers and who knows how many other rugby websites.

After the games our friends walked around the stadium giving autographs. We felt like huge fans knowing the players personally especially because we had come "all the way from Canada and all" (as we told naive people) . The guys were really happy to see our team spirit had not faltered and was wild again today.

 

SATURDAY NIGHT



That night we took the tram up to the peak of HK. The view of the city at night is incredible. During the day it can be nice although smog usually ruins it. Our photos turned out great however.

 

It was my first time feeling cold in nearly 3 months at the top of the peak, a weird yet refreshing experience.

Holding our warm drinks for dear life

Just a little info on Hong Kong:
HK ( 香港) is one of two special administrative regions (SARs) of the People's Republic of China (PRC), the other being Macau. Situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour. With a land mass of 1,104 km² (426 sq mi) and a population of seven million people, Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated areas in the world.

 We went back to LKF that night and saw the biggest gathering of people I have ever seen. It was like the olympics. It was awesome.To walk one block it took us nearly 20 minutes!

Blonde hair stands out in a sea of black.

Sunday we explored around Times Square and Chrissy and I had huge cheeseburgers (something we had been craving) for lunch. We had wanted quality beef but had not found it in a long time, so it was very exciting. In Singapore, after nearly 3 months of rice the novelty has worn off and I am getting a little bored.

Sunday afternoon we watched the final matches of the tournament unfortunately missing the ceremony for our flight back to Singapore. We didn't know when we booked it that we would have these tickets or that we should have stayed for Sunday night because all the athletes can finally celebrate.

 I found an incredible candy store as we were leaving, allowing me to spend my last HK dollars.

 7eleven even sells sushi in HK how cool!!!

Although at the airport while we checked our emails, we noticed we had made the Globe & Mail and other newspapers back home. I felt like a celebrity but felt awful from too much beer and screaming. It was a great weekend and I would love to go back and see more of HK other than just the stadium during the day. All in all however, I could not have asked for a better weekend, truly a once in a lifetime opportunity and atmosphere.

If you Google HK rugby sevens, fans rugby sevens, Canada ect.. my friends and I show up in the images as top results because so many news sources used us for photos! I think the most entertaining place we managed to be placed in is the India Times, I never would have guessed one day that I would be in their newspapers.