My trip to Hong Kong

Bossanova

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I shall warn you now that this is going to be long, with lots of embarrassing photos and plenty of bragging about how amazing it was and how many famous people I met....!!

So my sister and I went to support Alex Hua Tian. When he first came to England aged 12ish him and his younger brother kept their horses in livery with us and my sister taught them until they moved to the Frederick's a few years later. We were invited by his family to be part of Team China for the 3 day eventing

Day 1

Due to a mess up with flight times, we missed the morning session of dressage but had a chance to get to our hotel which was at the golf club where the xc was held, a short train journey away from the stadium.
Went to the stadium where we were thrilled to learn we had VIP access wrist bands for the duration of the event as well as grandstand seats. At the stadium the VIP area is an air conditioned building at the C end of the arena with nice tables, food, drink and big screens
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It was where most of the riders came to hang out during the day, my sister and I had hours of fun trying to take pics of famous people without them noticing.... Really enjoyed watching the dressage and we were thrilled with Alex's test.

Chico about to go in-
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Team China after his test-
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Look in the background....
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Day 2

Up at crack of dawn for dressage which was very interesting to watch and we were mixing with the stars again (my heartrate shot up about 100 x when Mark Todd sat down at the next table.

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Then had the rest of the day by the pool before a team dinner back at the hotel which was a nice relaxed affair and a chance to meet some more people. We then went out to a local bar where we drank far too much and had a hilarious time- played some devilishly difficult Chinese drinking games.
Chef d’equipe doing his very serious job very well-

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And again (show off!)
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Anyone for Carlsberg?!
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Day 3

Xc day. The fun started!! Had a brilliant day- spent the first part wandering around and then retired to the VIP area by the 2nd water to escape the rain which had tonnes of screens, free food and alcohol! Obviously we were all bitterly disappointed that Alex had a silly fall but he handled it really well and they live to fight another day.

Mark Todd-
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We had all sorts of people zipping in and out of the tent, including Princess Anne. After the xc finished lots of riders came along so it turned into a very social affair with plenty of drinking and laughter. When it eventually stopped raining a few of us walked the course and then retired to the hotel to prepare for dinner.

Alex’s trainers, past and present (my sister is the short one!)
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Dinner was out to a cocktail party with the Aussie's sponsors at a posh hotel in town, followed by a nice chinese meal with some of the aussie team and their family, followed by drinks in the bar. Was a real laugh, the Aussies know how to party!! Pretty late night, got in about 4 am I think

The cocktail party-
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Day 4

Had a bit of a lie-in, a leisurely swim and lunch as the trot-up didnt start till 4pm. The trot-up went pretty much as expected- a few looked slightly short but everything was bright and well. We then had a few hours so there was a popular lunch in the VIP area with plenty of riders around and looking amazingly calm, considering!

Brits-
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I nicked a friend’s accreditation thingy (not sure how I got away with it as he’s male!) and went ‘backstage’ which was fascinating- watched a few warm up and even saw ‘those’ American boots.

The sj was, of course, thrilling- the individual competition was really exciting and the atmosphere was electric in there.
After it was through we moved down closer to watch the ceremony. I was with one of the medal winner's brothers so it was very emotional and very special to watch from so close up. Said brother then got us an invite to the rider's after-party so after a few more drinks at the venue a group of us went to visit Alex's horse and on a little tour of the stables (I'm not quite sure how as we didnt have accreditation and they had been very strict with security all week!) We then hopped into a minibus and were transported to the media hotel where we found a party in full swing. I wont describe it in full detail as some things are best kept private
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but suffice to say it was incredible and we didnt get home till 7am when the hotel finally managed to kick us all out!

The German and Aussie teams were there (I've now worn 2 gold medals and numerous silver medals which felt pretty special!) along with many other teams and individual riders (no Brits-boring lot) I spoke to and danced with many of my idols- Blyth Tait and Mark Todd being the best! Boy oh boy did the Germans let their hair down, they were all exceptionally nice and very trusting with their medals!
Didnt get any photos on the camera but I have tonnes on my phone which I will try to upload at some stage.

Day 5

Managed about 2 hours sleep before leaving to visit town and buy a few things in the market as we had been invited to an extremely posh party in the evening, organised by Alex's sponsor. This was a £400/head champagne meal with 140 guests including the whole British team, the Irish, the Aussies and many other representatives from the other countries. My sister and I were on a table with Sharon Hunt (and family) and 3 irish riders who were all absolutely lovely and great company.

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Pudding-
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Speeches-
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Especially for Jiffy-
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A view-
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Naturally, we then headed out with the Aussies to a bar and this time 3 brits came too which was fab fun. Had a fantastically amazing evening with much drinking and dancing and didnt get home till dawn (again)
Managed 2 hours sleep (again) before getting up to go partying *again*

Star struck!
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Dancing in the streets (Clayton about to fall over)
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Day 6

Guess who invited us to another party...... the Aussies
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This time it was a boat trip to a beautiful island beach with much alcohol, food, great company and music. Once at the beach we just had a great fun time- very much alcohol fuelled! Highlight was leisurely chatting to all sorts of people, including Peter and Autumn Phillips (which excited my mother greatly as theyre royalty!)

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Much fun on the trip over- I think this was to YMCA
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And this was Sweet Caroline....
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Sadly headed back home and said goodbye to most people as we were on the midnight flight home
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Back at the hotel we said our good byes to Team China and home we flew.

Still cant quite believe how lucky we were to just be a small part of this amazing event. It was so well run and everyone was really friendly and helpful. The camaraderie within and between teams was something I didnt expect- they were all very supportive of each other and very welcoming. There were plenty of fab rumours and much gossip flying around but I cant disclose anything here. Naturally
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Rachel_M

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What an absolutely fantastic time you must have had. What wonderful hosts you had for making your experience so special.


I am, of course, very jealous!
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How is Alex? What is he planning next?
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Bossanova

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[ QUOTE ]


How is Alex? What is he planning next?
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[/ QUOTE ]

WEG in Kentucky 2010 and then London 2012...... It all hangs on retaining the sponsorship and having healthy sound horses. Other than that, piece of cake
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henryhorn

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Now I enjoyed reading that more than watching some of the Olympics!!!
I reckon one of those holidays you will tell your Grandchildren about, and what a story...
Thanks for sharing, it really was interesting and some amazing pics, hope you still speak to us mere mortals
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Bossanova

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[ QUOTE ]
Now I enjoyed reading that more than watching some of the Olympics!!!
I reckon one of those holidays you will tell your Grandchildren about, and what a story...
Thanks for sharing, it really was interesting and some amazing pics, hope you still speak to us mere mortals
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[/ QUOTE ]

It feels like a total fairy tale, I'm very, very lucky
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Jiffy

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Aaaawww Boss!
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That sounds and looks like you & your sister had an absolutely fantastic trip. It's lovely to see some pictures from behind the scenes.
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That one of Clayton falling over looks it could be a photo from Weezy's party!
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...And those pic's of Alex were much appreciated.
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THANKS!
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Puppy

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[ QUOTE ]
It feels like a total fairy tale, I'm very, very lucky
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[/ QUOTE ]

It sounds like a fairy tale
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I am absolutely green with envy
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But thank you *so* much for sharing. I was gutted when Alex fell.
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he was riding *So* well. I really look forward to following his career
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H x
 

SecretSquirrell379

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WOW WOW WOW how jealous am I!!!

Looks like you had an amazing time, memories to last you a lifetime there.

Thanks for sharing your pics and story with us
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would love some gossip too!!!
 

Bossanova

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sounds amazing, now you cant leave out which irish riders you were at a table with?
Looks fantastic!

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Geoff, Patricia and Austin along with their chef d'equipe (I think) or he was a coach of sorts anyway. Austin was hilarious
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