Gino Rea to Race in FIM Petronas Asia Road Racing Championship - his diary!

Gino will be sending us his account of his time in Asia - giving us an inside view as to what it's really like to be a racer, what he feels, thinks etc! Enjoy..

Day 1- Tuesday 8th December

I haven't seen much yet but it's been amazing so far! After a long 13 hour flight where me and Andy struggled to sleep we arrived in Hong Kong Tuesday 4pm (8 hours ahead of UK time). The team that I will be riding for- Yamaha Red Rooster Racing met us at the airport and took us to the ferry, which took us across the water to Zhuhai, mainland China. The first thing I noticed was how built up the area is, the buildings are huge and it’s fascinating to see.

We went back to the hotel with the team and got ready to go out for food. We turned up at a seafood restaurant, seafood has never been my thing but this was something special, something you don't get to see in the UK. Before going into the restaurant you walk to the end of the building, where there is an aquarium-like area.

There were loads of fish tanks, with every variety of fish you could imagine. There's a woman who politely asks you which type you want. You pick the fish you like and if you really want, you can watch them kill and cook it. That wasn't the big surprise for me, it was when I saw the other choice of food you can have, ranging from Crocodile, live Tortoise, live crabs, a choice of 6 chicken running about in a small cage, live eels, live frogs. You name it, it was there. I just opted for some rice and chicken! For an extra £1, a group of us (13) had a private room to ourselves to dine in. We finished up the meal and headed back to hotel for a good night’s sleep.

Lots for Gino to experience! more coming soon..