Memoirs of a Munners

No more iPhone

2012-02-09T07:16:00.001Z

It sounds like a rather dramatic headline, but it's true. I have indeed swapped my iPhone for an HTC Sensation XE. It has taken a but of time to get used to Android and such, but so far it seems to have been a good decision. We shall see...

Until next time

Happy New Year!

2012-01-03T10:59:00.001Z

Whoopee! Christmas and New Year have just gone by and it's been great. A few long weekends in quick succession always helps. It does, however, mean that it's pretty tough to get back into the working groove! No worries.

Christmas was awesome - Judy showed her little known prowess in the kitchen with some super dumplings and Thai style pork lettuce wraps. Not a turkey in sight, but fantastic all the same. We even had a tree this year!!

New Year's resolutions:
- work out more
- dress better
- spend less (conflicts with above)
- stay happy

How about you?

Until next time.

My new friends: The Gypsy Queens

2011-11-28T11:54:00.001Z

It's been a funny few days, exhausting but peculiar indeed. I guess this run of days started ultimately when Sebastian agreed to helping out with a tv show for Fasion One.

Cue a couple of weeks of madness at work.

And then the party came along. It probably wasn't a roaring success, but definitely good enough for us anyway. But the best part of it came because Judy and her chums met a couple of tourists during dinner time and dragged them along to the soirée.

Little did we know that Manuel and Anders would become 2 of our best friends for the next few days. Absolutely top lads, they're part of a band called the Gypsy Queens and basically travel the world performing private parties for the rich and famous. And there we were partying with them! I also had the privilege of interviewing the whole band a couple of days later and it was a genuine honour. I'm not starstruck!

Look out for them because they deserve some great success! You heard it here first. Safe travels guys and see you again soon.

Until next time.

And here's what the British Consulate said

2011-11-19T11:17:00.003Z

Here's the response from Barbera after I pointed out the price differences between sending HK to HK and UK to HK. A bit cryptic?

Dear Mun Yin Liu,

Thank you for your email. I am sorry that you are unhappy with the delivery charges. As changes to the passport renewal operation overseas, specifically the return of new passport from the UK, have been introduced, new contracts for the delivery of these passports have also had to be setup. These contracts have been introduced at different times to the contracts for the delivery of items from the passport processing centres, and the rates can vary. We are aware that delivery needs to be both secure and cost effective for the customer and we regularly review the service provided by the contracted couriers.

Thank you for your feedback which will help us to identify areas for improvement to our customer services.

Yours sincerely

Barbara

Correspondence Officer

Overseas Passport Management Unit

My little rant to the British Consulate

2011-11-18T08:26:00.004Z

I'll make this quick. Instead of writing a whole new post, I thought I'd share the email I wrote to the British Consulate after being charged what seems to be far too much to receive my old passport back when you take into consideration how much it cost to get my new passport. All is explained below...

Hi,

I have recently applied to renew my passport in Hong Kong. I'm very happy with the process, it seems to have gone very smoothly. The guy who phoned me up to ask a few questions was very patient and polite, and nothing out of the ordinary has appeared to have happened. Just a couple of days ago, I received my old passport back, via DHL, as expected. Included was also a receipt for the charges to my credit card. However, this is where I have a slight issue.

I had it delivered to my office in Central, which is not particularly far from the Consulate here in HK. I was a little bit shocked to see that it cost HK$6 more to be delivered from one part of Central to another, than it will cost for my new passport to be delivered from the UK! This seems to be a bit strange. Would it not have been possible for me to pick it up in person? Or to have found a cheaper alternative? It just doesn't seem to make sense at all that shipping something from half way around the world costs less than it does to ship something about 2km. I know the amount it cost is hardly bank breaking, but even so, I feel that it's a bit off. Anyway, thanks for delivering it back, and I look forward to receiving my new passport soon.

Regards,

Mun Yin Liu

The blogger app!

2011-09-16T19:08:00.001+01:00

Maybe this means I'll post more regularly. Probably not though.

Post parents' visit

2011-02-13T08:42:00.002Z

Well, it was only 2 weeks, but it certainly felt longer - yet at the same time, it just flew by as well.

It was very odd, although we were living together in in each other's pockets, I didn't actually get a lot time to spend with them. Maybe my job got in the way of that one. However, they also didn't demand that I accompany them everywhere too, as they would have done a few years ago. That's great! I think that a large part of me wasn't expecting to have that luxury.

Still, Chinese New Year meant that there was a lot of family time, with my parents and the extended family too. Very nice indeed, being able to see them all, but there were definitely times when I would be wishing I were somewhere else. It was a great 2 weeks with Ma and Pa though. Admittedly, I'm now feeling a bit lonely now they're gone!

And now HK's crazy weather is at it again - after getting a lot of sunshine last week, it's now extremely cold and rainy!! It's really annoying how the weather changes so suddenly, and without much warning either. Such is life.

Until next time.

Running out of excuses

2011-01-17T13:49:00.003Z

Flippin' 'eck. I actually cannot believe that I've let this gather digital dust for so long before writing another update. But that's the truth that I'm faced with, so I'm afraid that it'll have to do.

What has gone on since October? Christmas and New Year stand out the most. Had a barbeque on the rooftop, it was cold up there, but as I was chef, I was able to sit in front of the grill and keep myself a bit toasty. All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

New Year was fun too, as expected, it was also a bit of a rowdy one. Starting at 6PM, it was always going to end up a bit loud, I suppose. Towards the end of the night, I was getting a bit tired of holding Robin up, but never mind! I got to witness his pulling technique of staring aggressively at girls whilst scratching himself. I hope he succeeded!

And what about now? Well, I'm here, still in HK, still enjoying myself and still working hard. I bought a heater, that keeps me warm during this winter, and an iPhone that keeps me entertained on my commutes. I still don't fancy the camera one bit, or the numerous apps that supposedly make it better, but I've made my bed and I shall indeed lay in it. And that applies to many aspects of my life so far, and what is currently a very testing period with regards to relationships.

Until next time.

Slacking....badly!

2010-10-30T09:30:00.005+01:00

Clearly, I have been slacking somewhat with keeping up with my memoirs. Terrible, I know, and I shall not make any excuses for it other than that I am lazy. Well, maybe that I'm busy too, but hey, how often does that wash with people?

Admittedly, there isn't a great deal to talk about since my last post. Biggest things I suppose were that I went on a quick trip to Macau, and finally took some money out of the place! Oh, and friends Ash and April, from my time at Loughborough, came out to HK as they started their world tour. Great stuff! It's been so long since I saw them, and it was great to catch up and do a few more touristy things.

Myself and Judy took them around a couple of the markets in Mongkok, Ladies Market and Temple Street. We also had a good dinner somewhere in Jordan too. I didn't get much time to spend with them, but saw them on their first night and also their last night, where we introduced them to some bubble milk tea. I think they liked what they saw of HK!

Macau was a great little side trip too. It was a pretty relaxed and chilled out long weekend, and ended up finding some pretty cool graffiti too! That's me with Mario on a random wall.

Also managed to find some space in Macau that doesn't have a casino for miles around. A lovely, sleepy village in the southern part of Coloane Island. It was a great little place and worth the long trip out there. Here's a photo of what we saw there:

Stunning, I think you'll find! Seriously, it was a gorgeous site, and catching the sun going down was an absolute bonus.

Oh, I forgot - it was also Mid-Autumn! I opened up the rooftop and had a few people round. I spent a lot of time decorating the roof too, dangling a load of lanterns from the washing lines, before picking everyone up with the pizzas. Need to get a few more photos, but thanks to the line up, in no particular order: Maggie, Willie, Tim, Eddy, Vivian and Judy. Jenga is played with one hand too.

That's it for now! Until next time...

All junked out...

2010-09-12T08:49:00.003+01:00

Oh dear, it looks like I've seriously slipped back into bad habits and not blogged for quite some time. Super sorry. I'm not sure how sincere that apology sounds, but it's said with a lot of heart!

Been most busy with life, both work and play. I've had to sort a few things out in my head and heart, it just takes a few moments of quiet reflection and a level of maturity that I'm slowly getting near to. Honestly, I'm on an even keel right now, and very much looking ahead rather than what's left behind.

This week, I found myself surprisingly turning down an invitation to go on a daytime junk trip. Those who know me in HK well enough will also know that I happen to be obsessed with hanging out on the top deck of a boat in the middle of one of HK's glorious bays. However, after doing 2 daytime ones, and my first nighttime one, I was officially all junked out! Just needed to be busy doing nothing for a couple of days to recharge my batteries.

Speaking of which, I will have plenty of time to be doing that soon. I have a week off work to just switch off. Whilst I won't be going anywhere in particular, I will be keeping myself entertained in a number of ways. The Doorwatchers should also be getting together for a few sessions, and I'm looking forward to having a right old sing and jam session with Ed and Timmy. Maybe we'll pick up some fans too!

Right, I need to tidy a few more things up around the house. I will leave you all with a photo of some rather soppy cloud formations that Maggie spotted in Ma On Shan last week when I caught up with her after playing football there. Feel free to photoshop your's and your beau's faces in there!

Until next time.

Building the tower

2010-07-20T16:24:00.007+01:00

Woo...it's been a long time since my last post, but never mind. Anyway, instead of rambling on about what I've done and what I think, here's the beginnings of building the toy that Virginia N and Adaline gave to me as a gift!

I was a bit daunted when I first opened the box up, because there were a lot of grey pieces. I don't have an aversion towards the colour, but purely because there were so many and I wasn't sure how I was going to start building the thing. Wisely, I decided to follow the instructions. As you can see in the pic on the left, the first part involved quite a few bits and pieces to snap into position together. Not a problem for an engineering genius such as myself, I think you'll find! I jest. Most people would be able to work this bit out without too much trouble. After putting it all together, the following is what you get:

So far so good, right? Right! Next up, a few more fiddly bits and pieces to give this tower some feet, and then adding some rather shiny balls on top too. These didn't seem to fit on properly, so they're a bit up and down and uneven, which sort of annoyed me for a while, but I got over it.

So there you have it! Step 1 complete! Look out for the next part in this thrilling series! Until next time.

No more public holidays until September!?

2010-07-05T14:54:00.003+01:00

It is sad, yet true. We no longer have any public holidays from now until mid-September. Whilst there was indeed a purpler patch where we seemed to be getting plenty of days off, it feels almost wrong not to have a random mid week day off for a good 2 months. How very strange.

Lately, the weather has been absolutely top quality - which is perfect considering I spend most of my life indoors! Well, at least it was gorgeous on the day off. The 1st of July is the anniversary of Hong Kong being handed back to China by the British. And the SAR (Special Administrative Region) was born! So, I got the day off - and promptly ended up going outside seeing as it was a nice day! Below is the view that I had from my vantage point on the Ma Liu Shui pier in the New Territories.

Rather beautiful, don't you think? I certainly think so! I went fishing for the first time ever with a friend and it was an enjoyable time indeed. We bought some fishing wire from a store in Tai Wai, along with bait and hooks, and ended up spending the best part of about 3 hours sat in the sunshine with our bare feet dangling off the side of the pier. After that, we headed along to the Science Centre Promenade for a stroll, with more glistening sea views for company before heading off. I loved it!

I've also been building my birthday present model kit. It's now complete, but with a few glitches. I'll get round to uploading it all along with blow by blow commentary later. Look out for it!

Until next time.

A birthday blog

2010-06-28T14:37:00.002+01:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!!!

Seems a bit sad that I'd wish myself a happy birthday, right? Wrong! I don't care! Somebody has to wish me a happy birthday, so it might as well be me! And I needed to start this post somehow, didn't I?

Today (Monday 28th) may be my birthday, but small celebrations were held yesterday (Sunday 27th) with some good friends of mine at the Excelsior Hotel's pub, Dicken's Bar in Causeway Bay. Now, I was stupid enough not to take any photos of the occasion, so I do not have anything to share with you all. Nevertheless, I had a super lunch buffet with some of my nearest and dearest, many of whom are slowly becoming the vital support network I've been missing since I left the UK. We also had special guests Mun Heung and Annie who are only in HK on holiday! So good to see them again and I must admit that I was a bit baffled when they gave me red envelopes - it's still not really clicked that they're married! Anyway, a huge thank you to the following who joined me (in alphabetical order!):

Adaline, Amy, Annie, Ed, Jason, Mun Heung, Samantha, Tania, TIMMEH!, Virginia N and Willie

Today, I celebrated my birthday by going to work :) It was a good day, and I had the honour of serving my colleagues a lovely cheesecake from epoch. Also had some kind words on the daily call, too, so that was very nice. Thanks for the cake, CNNGo!

So that was my 2nd birthday spent in HK. And the second one running that hasn't involved me being legless in a bar or club. Or throwing up from undercooked BBQ food. So at the grand age of 26, maybe I'm growing up?? I'll leave that for you to decide. Watch out for some new posts on me building one of my birthday gifts, a rather spiffing model kit of a marble roller track thing - cheers to Adaline and Virginia N for giving that to me.

And let's not mention the World Cup. Until next time, eh?

Hi-Def World Cup from China

2010-06-23T15:54:00.006+01:00

Perhaps it isn't 100% legal or legitimate, but it appears that I am able to receive TV signals from China. This means that I get to watch the World Cup without having to pay for a monthly cable subscription fee for 18 months, plus I get to watch it all in super sharp HD glory! Huzzah! This is indeed my reward for living in the hills!

However, I must admit, that it isn't all 100% perfect. The image that you see above, that's pretty much what I see. Looks nice, but no sound! At least I don't have to listen to the vuvuzelas buzzing away.

Anyway, this is just a quick post. I was a bundle of energy and decided to write a post during half time of England vs. Slovenia. Thankfully, the lads saw it through to the end, 1-0, a win is a win and they'll take that. Hopefully they can build on it. Goodnight for now!

Until next time.

dot com-ed myself

2010-06-20T16:41:00.002+01:00

Oh, how clever is that? Some of the more eagle-eyed of my readers (yes, I'm hopefully assuming that there's more than just 1 reader) will have noticed that these very memoirs now have their very own domain.

OK, this is the first step in something that will hopefully get a bit bigger. Please bear with me as I continue to evolve this and make it look pretty and populate it with more interesting stuff. Well, I guess that last point is subjective, but it'll be interesting to me anyway!

My technical powers appear to have left me, but I did manage to spend the whole weekend trying to work out templates and CSS, I think I've made some progress, so look out for small changes to this site! And let me know what you think about my new beautiful header at the top here! It features Emily! Isn't she cute? I'm not entirely sure if the Chinese that I've put on there makes any sense. So, if you are indeed a Chinese reader, then please let me know if it's correct.

Until next time!

World Cup woes

2010-06-14T05:37:00.003+01:00

Argh! Well, I tried my very hardest to keep my emotions in line with the World Cup coming up, but, as expected, I ended up getting very excited about it. My bad. Nah, nothing wrong with that at all. However, I was looking forward to seeing England roll over the Americans, but it never happened in the end. A 1-1 draw... all I can say is that I hope there's an improvement from the lads, because we're not going to win it playing like that. And as for Robert Green....well, I feel for the guy, but he really shouldn't have made a mistake like that. I just hope that the English press haven't built him up only to tear him to pieces. If anything, they're responsible for giving most of the nation hope in the first place. so it just smacks of injustice to then lynch him if they've painted him as a good, solid, steady, reliable keeper in the first instance.

Whilst the game itself was a let down, it was great to be in a pub watching it with a bunch of lads again. Though, SoHo bar in Tai Po really needs to sort out its TVs/cable reception. Following the game on those screens really did my head in. And, the worst door in Hong Kong can be found there too - it won't make sense to anyone other than Tim, Ed and myself, but it was very funny at the time, particulalry when we went outside for a bit of air after the first half, only to find ourselves queueing up because they couldn't work out how to operate the automatic door!

As is typical of many Hong Kong public establishments, they haven't actually banned smoking indoors either. Now, this really does piss me off. For anyone that does smoke, I would ask that you are a little more considerate towards those who do not smoke, if that isn't too much to ask. I spent the last weekend being trapped in a karaoke room full of smokers and that wasn't very nice at all. Even being on a balcony, in open air, I had to put up with smoke whilst eating my dinner once. This, I didn't complain about, as people quite rightly can smoke out on a balcony. But indoors in a pub, this isn't right. Hong Kong's pubs and bars must bear responsibility and actually clamp down on this, but it'll just fall upon the argument of losing out on customers who are just used to smoking. I would love to see how a karaoke bar deals with police who actually turn up to check on people smoking. Surely running around all 300 rooms to spray air spray would not be possible, right?!?!

Ah well, it's a real shame that Hong Kong is too spineless to actually enforce the smoking ban. Please correct me if I'm wrong, and point me in the direction of non smoking pubs where I can happily watch the football. Maybe karoake bar rooms are considered private too, in which case, I shall be more picky about who I go to 'sing' with. One place where they didn't allow smoking (or drinking) is the Hong Kong Coliseum, where I went to watch Mayday in concert. It was a great evening out, thoroughly enjoyed it. So, I leave you with a photo of the night, my first concert in Hong Kong, and I didn't even buy a bloody light stick!!!! Schoolboy error!

Until next time!

Learning to finance

2010-06-06T17:10:00.002+01:00

This post is dedicated to Jason and Virginia N. For pointing out that I haven't updated in a while. Satisfied? Hmmmmm???? ;-)

I may have been quite guilty in the past of not paying much attention to this rather important aspect of life. I always figured that leaving money in the bank was marginally better than leaving it under one of the slats under my bunk bed. However, the penny dropped that I might as well have been doing that by leaving it in my account, seeing as inflation meant that my hard earned pennies were just depreciating in value.

So, I've decided to take matters into my own hands, and have spent the past few weeks trying to understand one of the greatest mysteries I'll ever be faced with. Investing in funds and all that sort. I must admit, I now have an idea of what I'm up against, but after trying to understand as much as I can in order for me to make the best decisions possible, I'm not entirely sure that I fully grasp all of this. Might need to sit down and have someone smash it all into me. It's just all a bit confusing...

One good thing that's come out of all of this is that I've discovered that I have many friends who actually work in this line of business. All of them, have been very helpful indeed, offering me their time to warn me about the pitfalls and potentail gains of investing. Very handy, I appreciate it all, and I hope that I can turn your sharing of knowledge into my own knowledge too. I'm getting there! Rome wasn't built in a day!

Until next time...

Confessions of a Munners

2010-05-16T11:31:00.006+01:00

Umm...yeah, not sure where to start with this. I guess I should begin with explaining my brief previous post, about escaping to Borneo. But, to give a bit more clarity to the past few months, maybe I should recount a bit more. To make things a bit clearer, I'll make a frank admission - that I am an emotionally volatile child at heart with a wild imagination, who does not do very well when left alone for long periods of time. As such, the events that have occurred have been somewhat difficult to deal with at times. So, let's begin.

Borneo happened because I was feeling very confused, concerned and, to some extent, angry. For a month and a half, I'd been desperately trying to maintain a relationship. Without seeing any progress, I decided to clear my head by looking for a change of scenery, and Borneo became a stunning option and resulted in possibly the most expensive weekend trip I've ever taken. Never mind, I wouldn't change it for the world. It was a super duper break away and exactly what I needed, but just not long enough. Jackie, my friend and tour guide in KK, was a brilliant host and went so far out of her way to keep me company. Thanks so much!

I came back with a clearer head, even if it wasn't quite 100% clear, but enough to keep my sanity. I also finally managed to get an audience with Carrie, the first I'd seen of her for 2 months. I wasn't sure how to feel about it, I was really happy that I could get to see her, speak to her and just be in her company, but I kind of knew what was going to be the outcome of this meet up. It turns out that I was expecting too much from her and had put her under more pressure than she needed to uphold our relationship. For that, Carrie, I am sincerely sorry, it was never my intention to make you feel obliged to see me, I simply assumed that you would try to move mountains to spend time with someone whom you wanted to spend time with. I apologise for how I made you feel, but not for what I did - I just wanted to be with you as much as I could, even if it was for just a short time at your place, cooking or cleaning for you to make your hectic work schedule easier. But, as it transpires, I suppose this is very much for the best. Even as friends, I'm struggling - I haven't seen Carrie since that day. I'd love to spend time with her again, just to hang out, going for an aimless walk and just shooting the breeze. However, finding a bit of free time to meet me is still difficult, and, I must admit, it's upsetting that I can't deal with that very well. I just want to know if she's well and want to hear about her day.

I have mainly been spending my time with friends who are a little more accessible, or ones who just want to actually see me, I'm not sure which! But they're doing their best to keep my spirits up, bless them all. Auntie T, Kellie, Samantha, Bonnie, Willie, Calvin, Virginia N, Benson - thank you for lending me an ear when I've needed it, I'm sorry if I've burned them a bit, but I really appreciate it and I'll pay you back one way or another. The irony of the situation, though, is that despite having a number of friends I can turn to, I find myself lacking in the one thing I now believe I took for granted - a firm, tight group of pals that I could count on. Stamford crew - Ben, Mark, Michael, Chris, Simon - how are you guys doing? It's been too long, let me know if you're alive! Cometeers - Unit, Omar, Barbie, Coro - miss you loads, hope you're well. I'm pretty sure that I will find myself a group of chums to belong to soon enough. Until then, I will continue to do what I can.

On the work side, things look like they're taking care of themselves. Sure, I've had a few turbulent moments. "Regular" readers of this will notice that I don't often talk about my work, but I will shed a bit of light here. For some time now, I've found myself questioning whether or not I've got what it takes to survive in Hong Kong. Considering that I am very much a realist (not a cynic), I'm aware that a crisis in confidence is never far away. However, I'd always felt that I was destined to go as far as I wanted, that the only thing holding me back was myself. And my resolve has been tested very sternly of late. I've since had the life shaken back into me. Trying to leave my personal life outside of the work place has proved very difficult, and I'd be lying if I said that it hadn't affected me. I've tried my best, and I feel that I've turned a corner in this respect, so am looking to crack on. Team Go - thanks for your patience during these past few months, please look forward to some renewed vigour from me. At least, I hope you'll see improvments!

So, I think that sums it up. If you'd like me to elaborate a bit more on any of this, I'd be happy to do so. Just get in touch with me, and I'll tell it to you in exactly the way that I see it. Whether that is accurate or not, I can't say, but it is purely what I believe in.

Until next time.

Borneo

2010-03-20T02:47:00.003Z

Right. It's been about 3 months since I last posted anything on here. Bit of a shame, I have been very slack and I'm sorry. I won't try to cram in the last 3 months' activity into one post. But I will summarise it here:

"It has been eventful, with plenty of ups and downs. So much so, that I've ended up escaping to Borneo for a few days."

So for now, that's it. But I will leave you with a photo I took this morning. Until next time.

UK 2009 Tour - Day 7

2009-12-30T08:35:00.002Z

Today was the first day that I have driven a car for almost a year! This was always going to be a bit tricky, namely for 2 reasons. 1) the adverse weather conditions will always make it harder and 2) I would be driving the Civic. I have absolutely nothing against the car, I think it's pretty good actually, but it is my Ma's car and after driving the Silver Frog for so long, anything with a bit of guts under the bonnet feels like an absolute rocket.

Anyway, we made it to Peterborough and back safely and soundly, where we joined in with the masses that make John Lewis' sales so rammed. Lucky us, I think you'll find. My Ma thought it was a success though, as we walked away with a couple of bath towels. Well worth the trip then, eh?

Spent a bit more time on the Wii Fit today, and it believes that my age is 22. Brilliant! Even by computer standards, I am young. I started out as being over 30, so this is a marked improvement!

Anyhoo, my sell out UK tour will be coming to an end very shortly - all that's left to see is London and a few old chums down there. Stay tuned.

Until next time.

UK 2009 Tour - Day 6

2009-12-29T16:34:00.002Z

OK! What did I do today? Umm...not a great deal actually. With my sisters gone, I had the house to myself a bit more. But, that's not really the reason why I didn't do much. No, I had to wake up early to do some work from my home office - my room! Unfortunately, I also woke up with a bit of a cold...which really annoyed me.

Welll, I spent the morning working in my pajamas, before popping around to Sally and Peter's again for a proper chat about life and the universe. Was good to get some more advice, debate, tell and listen to a few stories and be happy.

Early evening, I met up with a friend of mine who I have not seen for some time - Amy! Now, I've probably known Amy all my life, and outside of my family, she's probably the person that I've known the longest as we used to hang out a hell of a lot as nippers. Was great to catch up on recent times as well as old times! This was simply a prelude to a smashing curry in the evening with some of my old school pals at the Voujon. Ah, yummy lamb curry!! No photos I'm afraid, although Chris and Alice should have some.

That's about it. Like I said, not a great deal to talk about. Until next time!!

UK 2009 Tour - Day 5

2009-12-28T10:53:00.002Z

It's certainly still icy out there! The bite in the air is as nippy as it has been since my time out here, and I struggled during my walk back from the corner shop. I did intend to buy some Refreshers, but alas, they didn't have any for some reason. Hope they haven't gone bust.

Today, I didn't do a great deal. Apart from swapping suitcases with my sister to ensure that I don't have to lug around a great suitcase on my travels, the highlight of the day was certainly going around to Sally and Peter's house for their drinks party. We arrived well before starting time and rolled up our sleeves to dig in and help out with preparations! Oh yes, we had a lot of fun!! I managed to stick around for a glass or two of bubbly whilst enjoying fine conversation with new people I met too, as well as tucking into the nibbles I helped to prepare. After that, I walked home via the corner shop as I mentioned, and took the opportunity to record my dangerous trek home!

Well, you will be glad to hear that I survived! As the sun is out today, I should imagine that the ice has thawed somewhat, so now I'll have to contend with some muck to walk around in instead. Lovely.

Until next time.

UK 2009 Tour - Day 4 - Boxing Day

2009-12-27T17:02:00.003Z

Ah, it is Boxing Day (or, at least it was yesterday). Not entirely sure what Boxing Day means, but I'm sure a quick search around on the Internet will reveal much more. I'm a bit too lazy to do that, my apologies, but please enjoy the rest of this post, won't you??

Boxing Day never holds much for me. We joined a few other crazy people in Queensgate, Peterborough, in order to do a bit of shopping as well as going for dim sum with the whole family. Whilst the food was not that great, it was nice to be with the whole family again.

I managed to get hold of a couple of books - Jonny Wilkinson's latest autobiography and Stephen E. Ambrose's "Band of Brothers". Regular readers of this blog will be aware that I love the TV series, so I could not resist the book when I spotted it. I also did see the series in Blu-ray format, for just £25!!!! Very tempted indeed to buy it, but alas, I already have it on DVD, so maybe not worth it? Then again, I might just regret it....

The rest of the day was spent playing some more Wii Fit and then we finished it off with a bit more Mahjong. I don't really like playing too much, it tires me out, but it pleases the parents, so happy to do so for them.

Well, the first leg of my holiday is coming to an end. I will be starting work again on Monday, whilst everyone else has a bank holiday... boo hoo - at least I can get to work after rolling out of bed :D

Until next time.

UK 2009 Tour - Day 3 - Christmas Day!!

2009-12-26T16:18:00.009Z

Hohoho!!! Merry Christmas!!! Ah, Christmas Day...I love it, I really do! I don't mind getting up early for this special occaision at all! And that's what I did. At least, I was up out of bed before 9. I think. Anyway, it's Christmas, and we did a lot of eating. But not a turkey in sight....or tree for that matter, but nevermind.

So, I tore open my presents in the morning and was very chuffed indeed with what I received. A mug, chocolate, filofax thingy, photo frame (photos included) and a couple of DVDs - grand! I arranged them neatly for a photo op right here:

Anyway, today is all about eating, so I'll get to the point. We stuffed ourselves silly. Ma and Pa had been busy and we had a grand feast at lunch time! All home made food (or out at our takeaway), we had aromatic duck, crispy roast duck, and sticky fried rice with chinese sausages. All in captured in glorious photoness. Just see them dotted around this page! YUMMY! My parents are uber talented chefs, so it's no wonder it all looks so good! It tasted great!!!!!!

That was lunch. For dinner, we had good old hot pot, all sorts of meat and veg and noodles. However, I got a bit caught up in eating and forgot to take any photos. I'm sure you'll all survive!!!

Well, the rest of the day was spent playing on Ma's new Wii Fit and a bit of old fashioned Mahjong too. I walked away about 70p up, so not a big night for gambling at all. But, it's more about spending time with the family more than anything else. I'm happy XD

Ah, forgot to mention too - it was a white Christmas for me too, my first one!! It was gorgeous, maybe I'm just getting sentimental? Who knows, but I really thought it was a special day. It was well worth traveling back for!

I might just squeeze in my Boxing Day update tonight. Until next time.

UK 2009 Tour - Day 2

2009-12-24T21:00:00.002Z

After yesterday's exertions, I didn't really fancy doing anything today. Other than writing a proper post on day 1, I achieved absolutely nothing today - which means that it was a successful holiday day!

I snapped a few more photos of Emily, who is turning into something of an expert poser. Never thought a 3 year old could be so accomplished at being a model. Otherwise, today was very much uneventful. I played on the Wii, sorted out the VPN on the work MacBook, and watched a couple of episodes of Gavin and Stacey series 3 (very amusing indeed).

Also managed to find some time to do a bit of MSN chatting with Carrie. Emily decided to pop in for a visit, so we did some 'typing' and introduced the two as well. Was lots of fun, I think the little one really enjoyed it!

Ah, I know what I did do today - I wrapped all the presents that I had so carefully brought over from HK with me! This took me a while, being a bit out of practice, but I wrapped them all! Very successfully too. I really can't wait for tomorrow morning, Christmas Day has always been the best day of the year! It's so exciting and fun. Best to explain it in simple words - I LOVE IT!!!

Right, no interesting photos to speak of. Look forward to me recounting a 'not very English Christmas in England' tomorrow, if I get the chance. Now I'm going to settle in to watch 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' and then get my head down, as I'm still feeling a bit tired. Until next time.

UK 2009 Tour - Day 1 UPDATED

2009-12-24T10:44:00.006Z

OOOOOOOO!!!! Right, I have had a good night's sleep and am now feeling much more human than I did before! So, I can now recount a few tales of what I got up to...

So, I landed at about 4.30AM at Terminal 5 after the strike threats etc on BA, but found the flight agreeable as well as the cabin crew very helpful! Too bad about the tart in HK Airport that decided to charge me HK$350 for 2 extra kilos....bah! Well, I arrived and found my luggage and then when I made it out....my sister was nowhere to be seen!!! She was late! How dare she!! :p

Anyway, we drove back up the A1 and stopped off to say good morning to Emily! We were given hugs, kisses, as well as plenty of snow!! So cold, so very cold! I also managed to get a sausage sandwich thrown in to the equation too, and that was delicious! Thanks to Steve for helping me with that, was good and very much needed!

Next stop was home. I was very happy to finally make it in and see my parents! So nice to be home, even if it is just my parents' home now. Anyway, my room is still my room, it appears, so here I am again. Feels great - Ma has really kept it clean! After lunch, I went for a walk to drop a letter into the post box on Caithness Road - and trekked through the snow............this was nostalgic!! Hadn't experienced being out in the snow for so long! Although it was nippy and snappy, I was really happy that I got outside and made a few footprints in the snow. Good times! Well, afterwards, I took a powernap, only to be woken up by Emily about an hour later, demanding that I go play with her. So, being the World's #1 Uncle, I could hardly say no!

That evening, I got to put Emily to bed. I have to say, she is much more well behaved with this routine than before! So, she went to bed without any issues, and then I was able to go out down into the town centre for a few drinks with some old chums. Our driver for the evening, Michael, was late - as always. Good to know some things never change.

Kevin, Katie, Tom, Hannah, Richard, Michael, Mark, Rob and me gathered around a couple of tables in 2 venues that evening - the Tobie Norris and then All Saint's Brewery. I managed to stay out for a few drinks before heading back home - my body was very much still on HK time....but it's safe to say that it was a small price to pay to enjoy the evening in the company of good friends.

So that is that! I have more photos about, and will look to upload them when I get a chance. For now, satisfy your eyes with the selection around this post. Until next time!!!

UK 2009 Tour - Day 1

2009-12-23T23:42:00.001Z

OK - it is almost midnight UK time. HK time, that is 8AM. My body is fully awake, even though my mind is broken and shattered. I'm very tired. I have not slept properly for a while. My afternoon powernap appears to have done me no good. I can't really function properly, so will provide a full update tomorrow of what I got up to. In the meantime, just look on Facebook for some photos.

Until next time.

Coming home this Christmas...

2009-12-20T07:26:00.004Z

Yippee!! I can't believe it's come so soon! I'm going back home to England and just in time for Christmas! Really can't wait, it's going to be so cool! A bit of a shame that I will be working from home, but I'm extremely grateful that I can even make it home! Wouldn't know if I'd be able to handle spending Christmas without my family.

Anyway - I've been a very busy bunny indeed. Work was getting really busy as we were doing our 'Streets of Your City' event. That took up a lot of time, and I think it's fair to say that we learned a lot from the process! Very important that I make notes of what we could have done better. I'm just really gutted that it had to rain! No rain for weeks, and then just on one night....our big night!! Gah!!!

In addition to this, it was also Mun Hueng's wedding to Annie! Welcome to the family, Annie! It's a bit odd, they had the Chinese style wedding in London and then held a church ceremony in HK....haha! Whatever, I thought the whole day was a roaring success and both bride and groom looked perfect! Keep an eye on my Flickr photostream for a fuller set of photos, but I've uploaded a pretty cool one of my and my (tong) bruvs (Mun Hueng, me & Mun Woun) - do we look alike?? Until next time!

Visitors from England

2009-11-28T09:52:00.005Z

In my last post, I mentioned that I would be having visitors from England. Jon and Mike turned up as they promised, and it was a great time to have spent with them! It was so good to see them both after such a long time and I'm glad they came as I got to see a few more places that I might not have not bothered to see had it not been for tourists.

Well, they arrived after changing planes at Beijing and as soon as they landed, we carted off straight to Macau! After crossing over by the ferry and filling out more health declaration forms (much to Mike's delight) we eventually made it to our last minute hotel and then onto the Grand Waldo Spa. Bargain prices in here, we got to swim around in the jacuzzis, play a bit of ping pong, get some foot and body massages and eat an all inclusive buffet twice. Jolly good show.

The next day, we wandered around Macau, seeing the tower, The Venetian hotel again and, of course, St. Paul's ruins. We also got to visit the museum, which is free to enter on the 15th of every month. How convenient!! Luckily for us, there was also a food festival on near the tower, and seeing as the weather was less than agreeable, it wasn't a wasted trip. Also managed to witness someone bungee jumping too. Wicked.

Managed to also see the 'Symphony of Lights' show at TST side of the harbour. This was quite cool as I'd never seen it before, but it really is a see once thing. Never the less, managed to snap some cool views too with my trusty phone. Later that week, we also ate at Wan Chai's "Tai Pai Dong" area, visited the Happy Valley racecourse where Mike won less than a pint before heading up to the top of The Peak, for some more photos and views. All in all, it was a nice break from the mundane for me, and hopefully a smashing holiday for Jon and Mike!

Job's going well.

I'm really excited about going back to England for Xmas still!! Can't wait! Still got a load of stuff I need to buy, and not made it too far on my lists of things to eat and do. So far, I've decided that I must go eat at Morrison's and that's about it. Too bad. I leave you now with a few pictures I snapped of our food in Wan Chai, and also a promise that I'll blog again soon. Until next time!!

Making a list...

2009-11-11T15:52:00.002Z

I am indeed making a list, but no doubt, I will be checking it more than twice. In fact, I am making a number of lists. The reason for this is because I am thinking ahead for my return to the UK, where I will then need to work out who I'm going to see and where! Then I need to work out what I'm going to eat, what I'm going to buy, what I'm going to watch, what I'm going to read - basically, what I'm going to do!! However, I shouldn't let my mind wander too far ahead, I have to focus on my super job too.

Enough of that. More immediate actions, my house will again be pimped out for guests. Special guests this time though! Jon and Mike, 2 of the old block 13 members will be making a rather long trip out to Hong Kong to visit!! I can't remember the last time I was this excited, it'll be great to see them again and catch up. I will be taking them to Macau along with Carrie (who is doing a brilliant job of finding information and organising things, so THANK YOU!) for some spa type pampering and then I will be forcefully taking back the money I lost with interest! Push the furniture back, here I come!!

Right, it is late, so I had better get back to bed. I spent a minute today thinking about those who bravely fought for the future of the world, Remembrance Day will always be special for me. We will remember them.

Until next time.

Coming home!!

2009-10-23T16:37:00.002+01:00

Yippee!!! I get to come back to the UK for Christmas and I am dead excited!!!! Really EXCITED! Looking forward to driving a car in the countryside too if I'm lucky! Otherwise, just can't wait to see my old chums, from back home and down south too. God, so many stories, so much to catch up on....push the furniture back, UK, here I come!!!

Otherwise, I must apologise for my lack of blogging. I have been hectic busy!! Crazy....mainly because of my job. It's the biggest challenge I have faced professionally, and I'm really glad that I landed in the job. A large part of me is still unsure as to whether or not I'm out of my depth, but I've full confidence in my ability to prove to myself that I can do it. If I do what I've done in the past and work hard, the result will not be in doubt!!

Nothing else to report, really. I will be attending a Halloween party next Friday, and I'm planning on going as a mummy! Lots of bandages then. Oh, Monday is a public holiday, so I will be going up the mountain to pay my respects to ancestors and clean tombs. If I'm allowed to take some photos, I will.

Look forward to my next post, which hopefully will not be too far away! Until next time.

Early Halloween

2009-10-01T08:33:00.003+01:00

Oh, yes, Halloween certainly arrived early in Hong Kong and, in particular, Ocean Park and Disneyland. I went to attend the bash put on by Ocean Park last night, and it was FANTASTIC! We decided to dress up as army soldiers to get into the mood and you can see a most delightful photo at the end of this post. Anyway, it was more than worth it, we were even asked by randoms if we were having a break as they thought we were the park's staff!! Which is not really believable as our fancy dress was somewhat below the standard that the staff had set!!

Oh yes, it's also National Day today, celebration of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the People's Republic of China. What this means is that I get the day off, and I'll also be going to the harbour to see the fireworks too. Grand!

I've also started working for CNNGo.com, a fabulous website dedicated to recommending the best places to hang out in Asia. I make no apologies for the plug, take a look and enjoy everything that's on there. You will not be disappointed!

Since starting work, I am getting accustomed to commuting with the rest of the rat race. It takes about an hour and a half to get into work from home, but it's not too bad. I'm lucky because I'm able find spots on the trains that are less crowded, so not too crushed. And luckily, the train and tube system over here is nothing short of efficient! Bonus.

Ah, I am also reading "Yes Man" by Danny Wallace. It's hilarious!! It's also encouraging me to say yes a bit more too, or at least carry positive attitude even when things are getting a bit tough. Those who know me will say I'm already a positive person, but there are times when even I struggle. However, whilst the book won't change my life too much, I'm grateful for the enjoyment it's bringing me and I can see how easy it is to climb out of the troughs you're in. So, I'd recommend reading it!

Until next time.

Slow progress, but not complaining!!!

2009-09-24T15:58:00.004+01:00

OK, I couldn't hang around long enough to wait to start my new job before I made another post, I just have too much time to kill! But instead of moaning about it, let me tell you of a few of the things that have been happening during this tedious period...

Those who know me, will be aware that my hair 'style' has always been fairly basic. It was pretty easy at school, it was usually some sort of crew cut with an upturned fringe. Then it went a bit spikey on top. Then I added a fringe that went to the side and stuck with this for a while. It was pretty low maintenance, just rub the stuff into my hair and hope for the best really. Now, I appear to have found an even lower maintenance hair do! I have yet to take a picture of it, but will be doing so soon enough! I didn't think it would be so quick and easy to style....but it's essentially a David Beckham-esque mohawk....not the one when the back and sides are shaved, I still have a bit of hair there. It needs to grow out a bit more and then get re-trimmed on top to get it to what I really want it to be, but we need a bit of time.

I've also been watching "Band of Brothers" during my time out. It's so good!! Really, the whole thing is an amazing story and the way it's told is just perfect. It took me a while to distinguish one grubby soldier from the next, but as I'm towards the business end of the series now, I'm more familiar with them all. If you haven't got round to seeing this yet, please do!!! It's simply outstanding...

Next week, I shall be tagging along with Kellie and her friends to Ocean Park for the start of their month long Halloween bash!! Very excited! We're going in fancy dress, too, so should be interesting! Keeping it quite simple, going to go as soldiers, so we can fight back against the ghosts....so camo trousers have been purchased from the market, and a vest too for the John Rambo look. I'm just as built too!! Now all I'm missing is dog tags, camo cream and fake blood. And maybe a toy gun, but I'm not really sure if they'll let us take that into the park. Never mind, I will be sure to take photos!!

So, that's all for now. I shall leave you with the drink that I have recently become hooked on. It's beautiful, liquid gold!! Apple and mango....yummy! Until next time!

Another week of kickin' my heels

2009-09-21T18:34:00.002+01:00

I must admit, it's been a most frustrating few weeks....for some reasons only known by members of CNN Asia's HR department, I'm still sat at home instead of in an office!! Well, we're taking it one step at a time and there is improvement, so hopefully I will be working my magic and back on the work trail this week. If that isn't too much to ask for, O gods of HR....

I don't mind having time off, in fact, I'm appreciative that I have it. It's just that I have time off and nowhere to go! Purely because I'm waiting for a phone call/email, so it's not like I can just wander off abroad for a few weeks. Never mind. As a result, there isn't much to say really. The weather out here was crazy hot, it felt like I was going to melt almost every day, but now the rain has come and things have cooled down somewhat. It's good. I have also been making the most of the sunshine by spending a lot of time outside in my flip flops, so much so that I have been admiring my mostly brown feet, save for the V shape of white that I have from the straps! Beautiful!

OK, well, it's getting quite late here and I'm slipping into bad habits of staying up late and then not getting out of bed until midday. So, I should look to turn that around before I start working properly. Else I'll be in trouble. Well, it wouldn't do to go into a new job a falling asleep now, would it?

Hopefully my next post will rave about how great my new job is!! Keep your fingers crossed that it all gets sorted out!! Until next time!!!

Bitten by Macau, banana boat trippin'

2009-09-12T17:32:00.004+01:00

Good grief, I'm going to burn myself out with all this fun I'm having! I take great pleasure in recounting some of my fun adventures....and some of my less fun ones, but they're character building aren't they?

Well, earlier in the week, I headed off to Macau to escape from busy Hong Kong to quieter climates. Myself and Kellie were dead excited about the whole shebang, and it proved to be a fun couple of days. The highlight was either the free minibar in the hotel, or the fish pedicure. After a brief discussion with the executive board, the fish pedicure wins it. Photo is below. This basically involved dipping your feet into a tank full of fish, who were hungry as hell! Anyway, it didn't feel so bad, just like a load of people poking the soles of your feet, so if you are ticklish, I don't recommend it, but my feet are so smooth now...

Macau was also good because I got to wander around and be a tourist. Although, I did feel that it was too hot to be a tourist and take more photos, so most of what we saw was inside the Venetian. It's quite a man made miracle there, pretty cool, I must admit. Unfortunately, the casinos did not treat me very well, and I was not able to make the trip pay for itself. Indeed, after winning dinner back, I then contrived to lose that, plus another night's stay in the hotel. Kellie's fault, she should have stopped me sooner.

Today, the Erwinator and I headed out for a boat trip....this time with a load of British Born Chinese people. With a huge capacity of 150 people, we were on the good boat Angus. This time, I did no wakeboarding (boo!) but I did get to do banana boating instead (hooray!). This was so much fun, insane amounts, to be precise. I really enjoyed it and I'm glad that Erwin got to take back some good memories from HK. It must rank as his best holiday back here, ever. Have a safe flight, Erwinator, you'll be back. Also discovered wind swept surf hair too. The results are quite good, I feel. What do you reckon??

So, I have about another week off, and I'm going to be waiting (im)patiently from my new employers. It's a bit of a pain, but I've got to roll with the punches afterall. Interesting story, the Chinese immigration department have only granted me a 1 time visit visa this time, as they're afraid that I'm going to be a journalist out to write bad stuff about them for CNN. Highly amusing, yet very annoying.

Until next time.

Excting times ahead

2009-09-06T17:58:00.002+01:00

Golly!!! That's an expression that's probably not used a great deal. However, I don't really know how to explain most of what's going on right now. It's been a very trying time for me over the past fortnight or so, and I've experienced some extreme highs and huge lows.

I guess the bigges piece of news is that I quit my job. Yes, I had my last day on Friday and now I am on holiday. The Erwinator has arrived in HK with his ma, so I've got a bit of company. I should also be starting a new job at some point over the next few weeks too!! It's still not 100% confirmed, but I can't imagine there being too many issues. More on that later, just keep your fingers crossed that I finalise everything!!

I will also be heading off to Macau for a couple of days for a much needed break. I'll have some excellent company in the form of Kellie, so there will undoubtedly be high volumes of banter and Scottish profanity. I'll also be taking the opportunity to take some decent photos. Apparently, ones of ladder and taps are a bit pointless! Who knows, some people are just hard to please aren't they??

Anyway, it's a bit late now, so I had better get to bed. Night all, and keep on waiting for my next post! Until next time.

Boat trippin'

2009-08-24T15:38:00.002+01:00

Wow, what a crazy action packed weekend I had then! I had the hottest BBQ known to man on my fabulous rooftop on Saturday night. It was brilliant, all sorts of different food, but really should have waited a few months ideally for it. I took the opportunity to take some photos with my new DSLR, I will have them uploaded onto flickr soon. Please be patient! The photos will look mainly crap, as I'm still getting used to everything....so hard!! But otherwise, it was indeed a lot of fun up there. BBQs in HK are different to the way in UK. Whilst I'm used to having 1 chef who cooks for everyone, it's every man for themselves over here! I was a bit surprised to see all the stools arranged in a circle around the BBQ grill!! You just grab a long fork, stick your food on it, and what you cook is what you eat over an open fire!! Not quite sure if I agree with it, but it was an experience all the same.

Then on Sunday, I went out to Sai Kung for some boat trip action!! WOOOOHOOOO!! This was a whole lot of fun! It was a stupidly hot day, lovely weather, and the beach was piping hot!! After being driven out to a beautiful bay, we had a bit of time to play around on the sand (I forgot to build a castle!!!!) and in the sea before swimming back to the boat for some lunch. It's pretty hard to swim when you are trying to keep your Ray Bans out of the water! After that, we played a few card games, getting to know a few more people, and then I headed out to less crowded waters for some wakeboarding action!!! Now this was truly awesome! It's such a shame nobody managed to get any pictures of me in action, other than looking like a prat in the water each time I fell. Well, believe me, I was stood up for quite some time! Also, the trip out there on the speedboat was cool too - I had the Baywatch theme tune thundering through my head!! Well, you can check out a few pics I took with my phone in my flickr feed on the right, but I'm really not sure if it's done it justice. Ho hum. I'm sure there will be more opportunities to head back there. Also, a special mention to Bonnie who invited me out there - THANKS!!

I also picked up sunburn for the first time ever!! It's not too bad, more annoying than painful, but still, I guess I can feel why people always moan about it!! I'm going to be more careful in future, learning from my mistakes. Good man.

Autumn's creeping upon us now, but it's still scorching weather out here. A quick moment's thought for all the people suffering in Taiwan is appropriate too....I hope they are able to rebuild their lives as best as they can.

Until next time.

Lots to do, learning new tricks

2009-08-14T18:07:00.002+01:00

Ah ha! Yes, I need to go back to school it seems. Well, not school, but I will be learning all about photography! I have been impulsive and invested in a digital SLR camera. Canon Rebel XS/1000D to be precise. I like it anyway. Nice and entry level, but now I need to make the most of the decent(ish) weather and get out to snap some sexy scenes! Keep an eye out on the flickr feed on the right...

I've got a few action packed weekends coming up....tomorrow night, I will be heading down to the Cultural Centre to watch a friend in action on the theatre stage. Not entirely sure what the play is about, as I could not read enough of the Chinese, but I'm there to support Bonnie anyway. Break a leg!

Then on Sunday, I believe I will be volunteering at the Young Apprentice Workshop again. Looking forward to it, but just need to get it confirmed. I will give one of my Dragon Bros. a call to find out.

Next weekend will be most exciting....depending on the weather, I will be hosting a rooftop BBQ! Really quite excited about it, I will be investing in a BBQ this weekend to prepare. Then, the day after, I will be heading out to Sai Kung for a day's worth of boat tripping! Look out for photos of banana boats and wakeboarding. The fact that I'm not so confident in the water might prove to be a bit of a problem, but I'm a brave little so and so aren't I??? I'll let you all know how it goes!

Right, this is just a quick one as I'm staying up far too late considering I have work tomorrow. I went out to Central, Lang Kwai Fong for a few drinks with some BBC chums. A couple of lazy drinks later and I had to make my way back to the Chinese border. Too bad!

Until next time, my faithful readers!!

Panic like a local

2009-08-05T07:52:00.003+01:00

Oh, woe is me!! Something has happened to me since I have been more exposed to Hong Kong's peculiar outlook on life in general. I find myself now overreacting to just about every mole hill and turning it into a massive mountain! Well, with all things considered, maybe it's quite justified. I developed a cough a couple of weeks ago and then a few days later, had a slight fever one night. Needless to say, I made a bee line for the local GP surgery, prepared to hear the worst about swine flu. Luckily, I had no fever and all other symptoms seemed to be OK too. But, it was still a bit scary....the other time I was poorly was due to the food poisoning and I realise how frightening it can be when I'm on my own and ill. Well, at least I was fine. The doc gave me a bunch of pills to swallow for a couple of days. Can't say I really felt their benefits, but they did make me very sleepy at work. The last week was not so productive!!

I also did a bit of night hiking at the weekend! This is like normal hiking. Just at night. It was still really hot and muggy though! Well, off we went and we tackled "The Dragon's Back" trail on Shek O Country Park. Saw a few nice sights opposite TST harbour and it was pretty lovely. Well worth the effort, I'd say, but I did wake up the next day with terrible cramp in my left leg that felt like someone ramming a pitchfork through my calf! Oh the pain!!

I did something else new, too - some voluntary work! As part of my commitment to the Junior Chamber I'm a part of, I helped out with a business workshop for young folk looking to learn a bit more about the business world. This was good fun! The kids introduced themselves and their teams, did a few role play exercises and then the team building part was most fun. Picture this: a playground full of 40 blindfolded teenagers wandering around trying to find one another. They were not allowed to speak, just communicate with noises. So, we had about 40 zombies - arms outstretched, small steps and lots of groaning and moaning! To us observers, it was genuinely hilarious!! Can't wait to see what they get up to in the second workshop...

Well, it's heads below deck for the next few days. Another typhoon is coming, so I won't make the same mistake of hanging my washing out this time. I've got a play to go watch, too, so that should be fun. I'm making good progress with my running too, and I'm putting in a few more evenings to gather some momentum. I'll keep you posted.

Until next time...

Surprise!

2009-07-24T03:25:00.002+01:00

Wow! Well, who would have thought, based on recent form, that I'd be doing another post so soon?? Ho ho ho, sucks to the disbelievers then!

You might be wondering why I'm writing this now. Well, I feel inspired to do a quick post, that's all. Last week, I was working in China again, having to deal with the life threatening action of crossing roads, the dirty, smelly bogs (can't explain just how grotty they are) and the long hours....but, I went back to the super Brazilian grill buffet for lunch! Being the boss, I decided to take my bunch of ruffians out to lunch, and without thinking too much, just started tucking in. Whilst scoffing on all sorts of cuts of meats, I noticed my team were not digging in with quite so much gusto....it turns out that they're not so good at using a knife and fork!! Now isn't that a thought? So, for most of my readers, using a knife and fork is second nature, using chopsticks is not. It never occurred to me that either would be particularly difficult (muhahaha), especially knife and fork! I thought at one point we were going to have smashed plates due to over strengthed prodding with the forks. Next time you are at a Chinese restaurant, spare a thought for the Chinese who struggle with your more familiar tools whenever they're out for a Brazilian!!

OK that's enough for today. I will see what else I notice to tell you about next time. Incidentally, I have also been here for 6 months now! A full 6 months, wow, time flies!! Until next time.

FAAAAAAAAAR tooooooooooo long

2009-07-14T17:09:00.002+01:00

Hello. I shan't even boter apologising, it wouldn't be worth it.

So, other than that, what's been happening over here then? Well, I had my 25th birthday, a very toned down affair it must be said. However, it was an enjoyable day. I just went for lunch with a couple of relatives and then met up with a couple of friends for dinner. Oh, I also went to a tourist hot spot for lunch the day before with my local tour guide Sharon at Knutsford Steps in Tsim Sha Tsui. Highly recommend the place, especially if you're not Chinese. Even the waiters spoke less Cantonese than me.

I have recently been amazed by the courage of cyclists. There is definitely no highway code here, I may have touched upon it before. But the other day, I saw some dude just happily cycling along down the wrong side of the road at a busy set of cross roads whilst the lights were just changing. The honking of the horns!! Give it horns! That was dangerous. However, no matter how bad HK is for crossing roads, China is on a totally different level! It doesn't matter what colour the lights are, they just go!! People, cars, buses....you name it.

Oh, my training is getting slightly easier, I think. I've started to be able to run a bit further, a bit quicker and recovery doesn't take quite so long either. However, running along the roads is a bit tough, you just breathe in shit from the trucks....yuk. Especially when a truckload of piggies go past. I don't mean cops neither, I mean farm yard piggies, oinking and stinking all they way home! Or to the slaughter house...

Well, that will do for now. It's way past my bed time and I only wrote this cos Sleazey G demanded I did. I will prepare more fully next time. Until then!!

Been too long!

2009-06-08T14:57:00.003+01:00

Almost a whole ruddy month if I'm not careful! well, it's been crazily hectic of late. so hectic, I can't even remember what went on. So I shall avoid the details.

It has been most hot recently! Which is good, because that's one of the reasons I left the UK for! It has also been very humid too, which is a bit of a bad thing, but nevermind. You can't have it all can you? I mention this because I have been very active of late. I have joined up with an athletic bunch of people who do this crazy thing called running. And we all run in very hot temperatures and it's flaming tough! It's so hard to breathe, no wonder Hong Kong hasn't produced any world class athletes, they all pass out when they train!! Well anyway, I am running with them and it's pretty good for the old health I imagine.

It was also the Dragon Boat Festival too! I didn't manage to make it out to go watch the nutters in action, but I saw a bit on the old box and it looked like a good riot. It also involves eating lots of food, sticky rice wrapped up in some leaves that you boil. The story goes that an important person was killed and thrown in the river, so to keep the fish away from eating his body, people drum and row to scare them away whilst throwing in these little leaf parcels as food. They do this once a year. So I'm not really sure how this corpse can survive for the rest of the year. Idiots. Well, it did mean that I had a mid week day off. Love public holidays!

So that's all I can remember. I also said that I had a picture of some monkeys. Here it is. Enjoy!!! Until next time...

It's ruddy boiling!!!

2009-05-13T15:31:00.002+01:00

Oh no! It seems that it has indeed been another 2 weeks or so since my last post. Well bugger. Quite frankly, I am disappointed in myself, as the only person I'm letting down is me. I'd apologise, but I reckon I'm turning into a bit of a broken record. So, I shan't.

Yes, temperatures have been rising somewhat in this tropical climate. We're creeping into the 30 degrees region now! And it is brilliant!! Only, it would be if I wasn't cooped up in an office for the best part of the day. At least it's nice when I'm out and about at lunch time. Though, I'm still only outside because I'm walking to a cafe and back. Nevermind.

Lately, my Auntie Mae and younger cousin Siu Laam have been coming over for English lessons. Although this requires me to wake up before 10AM on a Sunday morning, it's actually not quite as bad as you might think. Why? Because I get to go for a McDonald's brekkie, that's why!! Aint many things better than that. Plus, Auntie Mae also helps me clean up the house in exchange for borrowing my brains. Excellent value for both parties if you ask me.

Well, I hope you've enjoyed the photos from last time too. I am hoping to invest in a proper DSLR camera so I can take some proper snaps, innit. Arron has also sent me the pictures that we took with his when he was here, so I can't wait to see some of them! There's a particular series of photos with some rather cheeky monkeys that I want to share with you all!!

Is that what you do? Until next time.

Sightseeing..........and more freeloaders!

2009-04-30T16:46:00.005+01:00

Hello again! So, I've missed my weekly deadline again (groan) but let's not be too picky ok??? It has been a very hectic and busy few weeks for me, I shall attempt to condense it....

First of all, due to my enforced break, I went to see a few sights. Best of all, was the Thousand Buddah Temple in Sha Tin. There were lots (I didn't count) of buddahs, and nearly as many little monkeys jumping about. There were also too many steps and not enough lifts (none). However, myself and Arron made it to the top and took some rather splendid photos! You can see them on Flickr, but here's a taster for you too.

We also went cycling, from Sha Tin to Tai Po. One of my other friends, Sharon, invited us out to join her and her mates, so off we went!! Unfortunately for us, it well and truly chucked it down. When it rains in Hong Kong, it pours!!! Never mind, a bit of rain water never hurt anyone. Well, it was pretty horrible, but we survived like true heroes.

I also got back onto the work horse too, so I could no longer act as Arron's tourguide. Luckily for him, he went back to England, so just as well really. However, I have a couple of more freeloaders living with me!! On closer inspection, they're actually my parents. Very nice to see them again, and they have also got into the habit of sorting me out brekkie in the morning too! As it's the Labour Day bank holiday, I have tomorrow (Friday) off. So me and the parents are off to China for a day to visit ol' granma and the other relatives.

Right, well, it's about time that I got myself to bed. As promised, here's a gorgeous picture of the village. It's not quite my back garden, but it's not too far from my house! Looks lush, doesn't it?? Incredibly, these photos were all taken with my phone!! I ought to have some proper photos soon, as Arron lent me his DSLR for a few goes, so I will share those too as soon as I get them!!! Until next time.

No work for us over Easter here

2009-04-13T09:17:00.002+01:00

Whilst not being a influence in Hong Kong, Easter is still celebrated. More precisely, it's a public holiday, so that's close enough in my book. Anyway, as with what I'm used to before, I get a few days off work! Hooray!! Unfortunately, this has also coincided with the bad news that the company's struggling a bit. As a result, a decision has been made to temporarily lay a few people off for 6 weeks and this includes me. So, I'm having an enforced break for a while, which allows me to do a bit of sightseeing, but also means that I won't be getting paid. It's true that money makes the world go round, let's be honest, it's handy having some, so I'll have to come up with some ideas about how to spend my new found free time for as little as possible.

I've had a freeloader sleeping over my gaff these past couple of days. Arron from Spalding has been in town with his dad so he's taken the opportunity to catch up and hang out. Nice to have a bit of company about the place, but I've just located a bag of rubbish by the door - forgot to mention that, didn't you Arron??? I'll be disposing of that then! Pamela also dropped by in HK for a visit, so it was lovely to go have dinner with her and some of her old class mates too. We took a trip to Lang Kwai Fong for some drinks afterwards too.

I'm currently finding myself locked in a battle with a bunch of swallows. They've decided that they're going to try to build a nest above my front door. As a result, the steps are now covered in bird poo and mud. I don't particularly mind them building a nest, but it's a bit rude to shit all over the host's front door isn't it??? So I sweep on a far more regular basis than I'd rather be doing. It's such a harsh life.

Right, I don't have much time at the moment, got to nip out for dinner. But next time, I will post up some rather good pictures of the village! It'll give you a proper view of rural Hong Kong, none of the neon lights or high rise buildings in these parts. Please look forward to it.

Until next time.

Fun at HK7s and new curtains

2009-04-06T15:36:00.002+01:00

Again, apologies for the delay in blogging! I received some positive feedback on it and it spurred me into action (Sleazy G - this one's for you). Anyway, let's get to it shall we? You're probably very interested in what I've been up to over the past 2 weeks or so.

I managed to get my grubby hands on some tickets to the Hong Kong Rugby 7s tournament a couple of weeks ago. It was, as expected, a jolly good show! I got up at the crack of dawn, or rather, I didn't sleep much because of the excitement and made my way to Causeway Bay. There, I met my friend and we picked up the tickets and made it into the wonderfully crafted Hong Kong Stadium for about 10.30. The rugby was great fun to watch, as were some of the fancy dress outfits out there. I took the safe option and wore my Tigers jersey, which got a lot of attention. Met a guy from Kettering, a couple of Leicester locals and a Sri Lanken who wanted to swap it for his inferior looking one. I declined. I took a few pictures too, though I've misplaced my camera so won't be seeing them for a while. I'll get them onto flickr soon enough and will let you all know.

I have also had some new curtains fitted in the house here. It was a bout ruddy time too, as the old ones were well manky. Now, I have some smashing yellow ones to brighten the place up, though they're a bit pongy at the minute because they needed to be soaked first, or something like that. I'm sure the musty smell will go eventually, suppose it's a bit like new cars. Having said that, the Silver Frog didn't seem to lose its aroma. I miss driving that beast around.

At work, I now seem to spend my lunchtimes in a local arcade. We're usually shooting hoops for the equivalent of 15p, or racing cars for 10p a go. It's such good value for money, it's just rude to walk past without ducking in for half an hour. Well, I think so anyway. Oh yes, also saw the biggest cockroach in the world, so I took the liberty of taking a photo of it on my phone. Please see it below. They're white underneath, you know? Savour the bravery from myself when taking the picture and then wait until next time!

Cinemas are much better in Hong Kong

2009-03-22T08:38:00.002Z

Although a bit of a dingy place, the Broadway Cinema on Sai Yueng Choi Street in Mong Kok is far and away superior to the Showcase Cinema in Peterborough. Wider, comfier seats with more leg room, it makes you wonder why all cinemas aren't laid out the same way. Anyway, I saw Slumdog Millionaire and it was worth going to see. Not sure if it deserved so many Oscars, but it can firmly be put in the "good film" category at any rate.

Today, being a Sunday, I also did some house work. I swept and mopped up today, but in a 27 degree heat, it's really hard work! Actual beads of sweat were falling down my brow and the air conditioning will most certainly be used tonight. This heatwave is the beginning of the summer period now and things will really start heating up soon. Having said that, we're in for some rain next week, maybe some thunderstorms if we're lucky. The last time there was one, I got to enjoy the view from my rooftop, with the village being lit up just before the claps of thunder. I'll try to get some footage of sorts.

I also went up the China this week for a massage. Shenzhen's a popular place to visit, especially for Hong Kongers and the services provided are just as good as HK's massage parlours, but much cheaper, so I'm informed. Regardless, it was a nice, relaxing time and a great way to spend £20 in an evening. So I guess it's time to begin collecting passport stamps on my visa.

HK 7s next week, I can't bloody wait!! I just hope that the weather turns out to be a fine day. Until next time.

The only inefficient place in Hong Kong

2009-03-07T09:43:00.003Z

Believe it or not, there is a place in Hong Kong that is not efficient. Most places you visit are so hell bent on performing their functions quickly and properly, it's untrue. It always bothers me how everyone seems to be in a rush to somewhere around here, but I shall never again complain!

I went to the China Travel Agents in Mong Kok to pick up my passport today with a brand new visa to China in it. Although they have a dedicated counter for visa collections, standing there for 10 minutes doesn't necesarily mean that anyone will turn up to serve you. It wasn't only this counter, though, as looking through the whole shop floor, there were bugger all people behind the counters and plenty of people waiting to be served. Simply put, it didn't feel like Hong Kong at all! Where was the emphasis on service? The ticketing system was employed, but it didn't help if there weren't enough staff about to serve the tickets.

Never mind. I spent a couple of hours with a new friend today, Stine, a Danish lady who was in the same boat as me at the travel agents. Like me, she's been in Hong Kong for about a month to start a new job too. She wanted to know where the cultural centre was as she's hoping to plan some things for her friends when they come to visit. Having been there just a few weeks ago, I decided to accompany her there instead of just giving her directions. It's not as if I had anything to do anyway. Besides, I was just putting off doing my laundry.

I'm having serious issues with my washing machine now. After having to buy a new one because the old one would drain the water, it looks like my new machine's hose has decided to stop being able to take the strain of the water! I turned the water on, as I have been doing for the past 5/6 weeks and the hose just exploded off the tap!! So I've replaced it with an old hose that screws on very tightly to the tap, but now I just get dribbling at the other end, where the hose connects to the washing machine. Looks like I'm having hose/valve troubles, but I've no idea what to do to fix it, other than buying a new hose. I can handle a bit of dribbling, though it does make a bit of a mess.

Ah, all a bit rubbish, but not a disaster. Just stay positive and think happy thoughts!!! Until next time.

Hair cut in Hong Kong

2009-03-01T14:33:00.002Z

As uninteresting as it may sound, I today went for a hair cut in Hong Kong. This was my first hair cut over here and I was blown away by it in reality. It cost me about 15 pounds, which I thought was pricey, but I actually got a hell of a lot for my money. My hair got washed both before and after getting cut and they threw in a head and neck massage too! It was thoroughly relaxing. The stylist also put in a hell of a lot of effort into cutting my hair too and was in no rush whatsoever. Extremely detailed and even went as far as telling me the finer points of how to do my hair in the mornings.

This was a pretty busy weekend for me. I was introduced to a new group of people: The Junior Chamber International. Specifically, I was invited to attend a meeting with the Dragon Junior Chamber, where I met a lot of new people. The meeting was held in a restaurant, but the main event was wine tasting! This bit lasted for just 45 minutes (strict agenda) and involved trying 4 different red wines. I'm not sure how many wines other people have tried during wine tasting sessions, but necking 4 glasses of red in that amount of time meant I was a bit tipsy by the end of it. Those who know me well enough will probably ask how I didn't go blind. I now know a little bit more about the old charm juice!!

With regards to the Junior Chamber itself, I'm probably going to attend a few more gatherings before making a decision on whether or not to join. At the very least, I'm glad that I got to meet a few new people, though it was a bit frightening to see the induction ceremony. This including recital of the JCI creed and then answering a series of questions with "I do" along with your right hand raised. At least you got a certificate and badge at the end of it. I was also asked to introduce myself, too. This would not have normally been a problem, but I struggled somewhat with doing it in Cantonese! I was very concerned about making a fool of myself with my pronounciation and thus just ended up waffling about nothing in particular about myself and confessing I didn't have a clue about what the JCI was!! For those who were present, think back to my leaving speech from Comet, where I babbled and blubbed for 5 minutes about how I'd only done 3 days work in 2 years. Oh well, shit happens.

The weather's turning cold again, dipping below 20 degrees now. Nevermind eh? Until next time!!

One month in

2009-02-25T15:26:00.002Z

Wow, well time has flown by quite quickly for me. I don't know about anyone else, but it definitely doesn't really feel as though I've been away for a little over a month. I can still feel the emotions of saying goodbye to my family at the airport and the fatigue I was under when I landed.

Still, time waits for no man and it is true that I've been in Hong Kong for a month and been at work for just about the same time too. I'm firmly into a routine now, waking up at 8AM and sorting myself out to be out of the door by 8.45. A brisk walk to Sheung Shui station has now been altered to accomodate a couple of short cuts that trim about 5 minutes off my original route. I board whichever train I can get a seat on, though Mondays and Tuesdays are a bit touch and go, so leaning up by the door will suffice. A 35 minute train journey's then in store and I arrive at Mongkok East usually just after 9.30. Then depending on how much time I have left, I amble towards the office, past the markets (admittedly, the smell of raw meat in the mornings feels a bit much so that stretch of road is a bit rough) and onto the bridge over the West Kowloon Corridor. Now, I've been doing this trek enough to recognise the same hobos that live under the bridge. There's 2 usual suspects, one always seems to be asleep in the shade, and the other always seems to be contemplating his life at the top of the bridge. Once I make it to the New Kowloon Plaza where my office is based, I then buy my breakfast before tucking into it at my desk.

All in all, I'm usually in just before 10 and this is fine as it means I don't have to squeeze onto the train with everyone else getting in to work at 9. Going home is also pretty good. Clocking off sometime after 7 means I usually eat dinner around Tai Kok Tsui or Mongkok before boarding a train home at about half 8 ish. There's normally a space to sit, but then it's not as if it's a particularly long train ride home anyway. I've been informed today that I'm taking the wrong route into work from Mongkok East station and there is in fact a more direct way. I'll be investigating this, so I shall let you know if I get lost at all!

Until next time.

First experience of food poisoning

2009-02-17T15:27:00.003Z

Oh, I've had a weekend to remember, that's for sure. In fact, I might even put it down as the worst weekend I've ever had. Eurgh. It all started on a Thursday night, I went for sushi with my uncle, which is nice. I like sushi, all sorts of it and I've eaten it many a time without any problems. Again, things went well and it was just another meal. However, later that night, I awoke at 3AM, with a super bloated stomach and a feeling that something was wrong. After pottering about for about an hour, I realised that I wanted to be sick. There was no turning back now...

Yup, up came something horrible. Followed by more stuff. I didn't bother turning on the lights, as I really had no desire to see it (maybe I should have taken some photos LOL). I then proceeded to have a tough night ahead of me as I then had the worst sort of internal issues I've ever experienced. Without going into details, this lasted throughout Friday, Saturday and most of Sunday too. I recovered enough to attend work on Monday (yesterday) and it is only today that I've regained my appetite. Phew. I made it through the weekend on not very much to eat and I'm pretty sure that I've slipped back into the malnourished category on the body mass index charts. No matter, guess I'll just have to gorge myself on some lovely cuisines to put the weight back on!!

I plan on eating everything else, other than sushi.

Cultural festival of sorts and pictures

2009-02-08T11:37:00.006Z

I went on a bit of an excursion today. My younger cousin had to go watch a ballet (school field trip apparently) in Tsim Sha Tsui today, so I went to accompany my aunt as she was going to be a bit bored on her own. They're from an even more remote part of Hong Kong and had no idea where to go, so I was a bit surprised to end up as tour guide!! Nonetheless, it meant that I spent the day around Victoria Harbour and took the opportunity to take some photos, so lap these up with gusto! I did take more than two, but felt that these were the best ones...I should get a flickr account really to upload more...

It was a lovely day and it just so happened that there was a cultural festival too. I got to see some live music and a magicians perform too. All pretty good actually. I also took a stroll along the Avenue of the Stars, Hong Kong's equivalent to Hollywood's Walk of Fame. Nice to practice my Chinese reading too with my aunt. They also have a bronze statue of Bruce Lee there, but I didn't bother taking a picture of that.

I've also included another photo. Ten different flavours of instant noodles! The other night I ate in, and cracked open the satay beef flavoured one. Not sure if it quite tasted of satay, but it certainly did the trick. I must explain, that I don't yet have a rice cooker here, only a couple of gas hobs. There aren't any ovens in Hong Kong, so the 200 degrees & 20 minutes rule cannot apply here. I give the satay beef noodles 6.5/10.

I'm hoping to find a bit of time to get some photos of rural HK next. Will probably look to get a few taken of the village, or perhaps some of the small towns in the outlying islands. Anyway, until next time!!

Shopping's a bit different

2009-02-05T13:41:00.002Z

Ah, yes, shopping is pretty much what Hong Kong is about. Shopping is very much engraved into this country's culture and the shopping centres based on just about every street corner certainly verifies this. However, it gets very tiresome when you walk into a shop and instantly get pounced upon by the sales staff with shouts of "Welcome in, take your time to look around and if you like it, remember that you can try it on". Even if you tell them, "I'm just looking, thank you", they'll still persist, asking you what brands you like and what styles you prefer. You just get to the point where you think, "Shut up and leave me alone!!!" as it does become extremely annoying. Still, with everyone fighting for every sale, I suppose that's how they're told to do it.

Another thing, cashiers at the till also don't sling the receipt into the bag like they do in the UK. I wish they did, as soon as you pay, you're pretty much shoved out the door and you just don't have enough hands to sort out your change and your shopping bags. Busy, busy!!

Anyway, I've been at work for a week now, and I'm going to be completing a full working week tomorrow. It's been a long week if I'm honest, getting back into the swing of things, but I'm nailing down a routine now. I'm also making my way around all the best eating spots in the Mongkok and Tai Kok Tsui regions, so all's well on that front. I have surely put on a few pounds since arriving here. Not that I'm complaining, the food is really good, and it's so convenient here, not to mention cheap. I did spend $50 on lunch today, but that did include a drink, a bowl of pork noodles, and a side of battered prawns, so quite a lot considering it's the equivalent of a Big Mac meal. Much nicer too, I should add.

That's enough rambling now. I really should take some pictures. If the weather's nice this weekend, I think I'll take a wander around the village and get some nice snaps of rural Hong Kong, a world away from the high rise buildings you might associate with Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour. Cheerio!

Happy New Year!!

2009-02-01T05:57:00.002Z

KUNG HEI FAT CHOI!!! Chinese New Year has been in full swing over here and it certainly shows. The town I live in had its special new year market full of different flowers and decorations. it was like a fairground atmostphere, but no rides. they held it at the sports ground and it was totally packed out. in truth, I haven't lived up the new year in the right style as I didn't go to the popular busy places to see the fireworks and cool displays. There's always next year for that right? I didn't really fancy joining the crush on my own and didn't want to bother anyone as there's a lot of family stuff to be done. I've just about done my rounds too, and collected a great big haul of new year red envelopes stuffed full of crisp, new notes.

The village put on a bit of a show too, some amateur lion dancing could be heard for a few days. Lots of religious well wishing's been happening too, and this will generally involve offering wine and tea to ancestors as well as burning relics to be used in the next life (mainly burn fake money as well as lighting incense sticks). Firecrackers are also extremely popular and I'm sure I've lost a few lives already with all of these taking me by surprise. Not only do they go off without warning, but also during all hours of the day too.

I've also done 2 days of work too. it takes me roughly one hour to get to work door to door. From the village, it's a 10-15 minute walk to the train station before I sit on the train for just over half an hour. I then have a choice of taking the green mini bus or another 15 minute walk to the office. The bus takes ages as it takes some super long route around. i'll probably take it when it rains.

Well that's it for now, I don't want to say too much in one go as I might run out of stuff to talk about for later. Until next time!!

First imperssions of my new life

2009-01-24T10:32:00.002Z

Hello and greetings from Hong Kong!! Woo! I've made it out, and today was the first day that I felt as though I hadn't been dragged through some sewage as the jet lag appears to have worn off somewhat. A few things have struck me since I've arrived, a great learning experience so far.

First of all, I never actually thought that I'd need to wear the winter coats that I wore in the UK in HK. After touching down with glorious sunshine and lovely 24 degree temperatures, I'm now faced with 10 degrees instead. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem, but when you're in a country that's never heard of central heating, it becomes a bit trickier to maintain your enthusiasm.

Eating's never really been a problem either. But when you lack the basic white goods, it's starts to become a tad troublesome. They don't have semi skimmed milk out here either, it's either fatty or skinny. So if I look as though I've put on a few pounds, you can blame it on the fatty milk.

I still don't have the Internet conencted up in my house yet. I've not got any photos to share either. Though I am in the process of sorting all of this out. It's Chinese New Year on Monday, and everywhere is covered in red decorations. Things are going to be a bit boring as a result as I'll only have TV to watch and will be investing in some survival ration packs. No HD telly either, so PS3 is currently out of service (NOOOOOO!!!). I'm round my auntie's house at the moment, but it'd be a bit rude of me to just turn up, eats, blogs and leaves, so this is a quick one!

Until next time!!

Last post before I leave

2009-01-20T10:31:00.003Z

As the title would suggest, this is the last post before I jet off. Thanks one more time for all the messages of support from everyone, you've all been brilliant!! I don't know when I'll next be able to get to a computer to post any more, but I shall try to have some pictures for you too.

Take care of yourselves!

It feels like Christmas

2009-01-20T00:06:00.002Z

It's the night before I fly out and I am somewhat nervous. A mix of excitement and apprehension (is that even a word??) I think. Well, it's too late to do anything about it now, so I shall just jump on board the plane and see what new adventures await me there.

My new boss, Mo, called me today. Was very nice of him actually, especially as he called me at 11.30pm over in HK. We had a quick chat about how ready I am and he's even allowed me a couple of days off before starting work after Chinese New Year. Now, I know this makes him sound like a slave driver, but it was actually me who requested to start on the day after I arrived, so I should thank Mo for knocking a bit of sense into me. He even offered to meet me at the airport and drive me back to the village, but I had to decline as I would have no idea how to drive back to Sheung Shui anyway! So I shall be taking the bus back with my Aunt.

Packing is just about finished too. Just a few bits and bobs to make sure to include. Otherwise we're all set. A few kilos over, but nothing outlandish, and perhaps the weighing scales I'm using are wrong too. I hope not, as it would mean that I'm under 55kg again. Still trying to put on weight! But surely it's not fair that I still only get 20kg for luggage when someone much heavier gets the same? Combined, the aircraft would prefer to have 20 of me rather than 20 larger people wouldn't they? So where's the trade off?? It's a harsh world, I tell thee!

Leaving dinner and check in

2009-01-18T22:40:00.003Z

Well, you know what, I think that's the last of my goodbyes to non family members. Me and the "So Stamford Crew" went out for a lovely dinner at Mama Liz's (the ribs are especially nice) and then for a drink in the superb All Saints' Brewery. So grateful for everyone who came out, and I really will miss everyone. No matter, I'm sure we'll all get over it after a bit of time.

I've just checked in online and I'm afraid to say that it's the first time that I've ever done so. A bit embarassing considering my occupation as an online marketer. Oh well, I'll survive. So yes, that's done, I guess I have to turn up at the airport now!!

The world's full of good people!

2009-01-17T18:09:00.003Z

Well, being a bit of a wet blanket at the best of times, it will come as no surprise that I've been feeling a bit overwhelmed of late. I have been showered in generosity over these past few days and I can honestly say that I have been blown away by people's actions. I've had dinners, lunches and coffees bought for me as leaving gifts from such thoughtful people and it is really moving.

Those who witnessed my leaving speech at Comet will tell you that I'm emotionally volatile. To see all of these actions and the effort that's been put into it has been nothing short of humbling. Thank you everybody, it's really heartening to see that people are so supportive of this move that I'm making. I honestly wish that I was able to reciprocate everything, in one form or another if not materially. Until I'm able to do so, I'm going to struggle to express precisely how grateful I am.

Anyway, I'm a few kilos overweight on my luggage, which is a bit of an arse. I've already ditched the suit and a few items of clothes. Is my PS3 really that heavy??? My research on the Internet shows that it's only 5kg, which leaves me with 15kg to play around with. At this rate, I'm going to be going over with nothing but a PS3 and some socks.

One thing that I am pleased about, though, is the weather. In Hong Kong, for the 22nd (the day I land) it's forecasted for 21 degrees of sunshine. Lovely!

A few tweaks...

2009-01-16T17:26:00.002Z

OK, so I'm trying my best to be as productive as I can be whilst I'm not working. It not only distracts me from the unpacking that I have to do in order to re-pack, but it also means that I can present this blog. I apologise for the amateurish photoshopping on the header, but with my limited skills it really is the best that I can do at the moment! Anyway, I've had a play around with the style sheet too and changed the font colours a little bit too and now I'm pretty chuffed with it.

My break between jobs is quickly coming to an end and today was a landmark day. I sold my car. I fear now that the Silver Frog will be mistreated by some pervert or housewife. It may have been a bit rubbish, but it was mine and it got me everywhere I needed it to get me to so I shan't bitch about it too much. But it's gone now and I have a bit of money too as a result. Always nice.

I now need to pack my suitcase properly after slinging in the important stuff (PS3 and games, film poster, signed phot of Stevie G) to see if I need to put more in or not. It's not fun, but I ought to put some thought into it as it will also determine what gets packed into my hand baggage too.

Would someone be kind enough to do this for me??

One week to go...

2009-01-15T00:12:00.001Z

OK, so here I am, here's my online diary! It looks a bit shoddy, but I will be putting in a bit more work later on. So for those that aren't up to speed here, in essence, is why this blog exists:

I quit my job after getting a new one
Unlike my old job, it's not in the UK
My new job is in Hong Kong
I'm really excited and want to share my time out there with family and friends alike

So that's it really. I'm dead excited, and also a bit scared if I'm honest. Still, don't worry too much about me, I'm sure I'll survive. Anyway, it's late, I'm tired and I need a bit of sleep. So keep your eyes peeled on here and I will let you know about my adventures in Hong Kong!!