Out and about in Phuket

Wat's the Story - On Tour in Temple Town, Chiang Mai, Thailand

Like a Hurricane

I don't believe it!

After months of looking forward to finally getting away on our summer holidays, a typhoon (hurricane) has hit Hong Kong, just a few hours before we are due to fly. What makes it even more annoying is that the typhoon had already gone past Hong Kong once and missed us, heading off on it's way towards the Mainland, when it decided to suddenly about turn and have another go, picking up strength on the way.

The typhoon warning signal T8 has just been raised, which means everyone can now go home (or to the pub - depending upon your inclination), which at 3:00pm on a Friday afternoon would normally be very well received at any other time of the year. Our flight is supposed to take off tonight at 8:45pm, and we are already checked in, so we will just have to wait and see how things go. Ahhhggghh!!!

I've Waited Hours for This.......The Cure Live in Hong Kong

Excellent performance by The Cure last night, just a shame that they played at the Asia World Arena which meant a half hour train ride out to the Airport to see them, whereas if they had played the Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai it would have meant only a 5 minute walk from my apartment.

Robert Smith, (looking rather uncannily like Dawn French), led the band through what he said was their longest live performance ever (around 3 hours), featuring most of their hits as well as some very old and rare tracks. Quite surprisingly keyboards did not feature in the set up, just good old guitars, giving them a bit of an edgier sound live. Here's what they played (if I remember correctly):

Open
Fascination Street
alt.end
The Blood
a Night Like This
The Walk
End of the World
Lovesong
The Figurehead
Kyoto Song
Hot Hot Hot!
A Strange Day
Push
In Between Days
Friday I'm in Love
Just Like Heaven
Primary
If Only Tonight We Could Sleep
The Kiss
Shake Dog Shake
Pictures of You
Lullaby
Never Enough
Edge of the Deep Green Sea
Wrong Number
One Hundred Years
Shiver and Shake
End

1st Encore
Let's Go To Bed
Close To Me
Why Can't I Be You?

2nd Encore
A Forest
Boys Don't Cry

Lamma Day Out

No words, just pics from our trip to Lamma last weekend on a hot Sunday afternoon!

3 Nights in Bangkok

At the beginning of the month when most of Hong Kong was preparing to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the Handover, we decided, rather unpatriotically, to make the most of the extra day’s holiday and headed off to Bangkok for the weekend. Darling very kindly cashed in some of her UA air miles, for two return Business Class tickets on Thai, whilst I booked our favourite hotel for the weekend – The Oriental.

The flight down was very pleasant, nice and comfortable and the first I have been on with a massage function set into the seats (trust Thai Airways to think of that idea). Apart from the ridiculous queues at immigration, and a little more hassle than normal to find a taxi driver prepared to use his meter, our transfer to the hotel was uneventful. On arrival at The Oriental, we learnt that the main swimming pool was closed for renovation works, which, to be honest, I was not happy about. (Darling, on the other hand, I’m sure was rather pleased with this news at it would mean more time for shopping, however, bless - she hid it well, and did her best to look disappointed).

To compensate, the hotel upgraded us to a Deluxe room on the top floor of the River Wing. Alas, not a suite but still rather nice all the same with a great view of the Chao Praya river.
















So after checking in we headed back down to The Bamboo Bar for a night cap. We ordered a couple of cold beer Chang and settled down to listen to the jazz band who were playing - we could not see them due to the thick cigar smoke.

Next morning we ate breakfast, sat on the terrace, looking out on to the river and across to The Peninsula Hotel. After breakfast came the serious issue of choosing the spa that we would visit for our massage that afternoon. A couple of calls later we were booked in for an afternoon slot, so we then headed off in the direction of the shuttle boat to the sky train, from where we could reach Siam Paragon.

After shopping for shoes and cosmetics (it would appear that women cannot have too much of either) it was time for lunch. The food court did not seem to have much offerings in the way of free samples this time (nothing to do with my last visit I’m sure), however I still managed to find a few things of which I had no idea what they were. All was well until I sampled some reconstituted fish sausage (at least that’s what I think it was after I had tasted it), which put paid to my free food quest. For lunch we settled on Chiang Mai Sausage, with the extra hot chili sauce, and an accompanying Papaya Salad (absolutely bloody gorgeous), all good and spicy. Lunch over, it was time for our massage, so we ventured off to the Spa, a new establishment we had not tried before. The massage was OK, (I’ve had much better) and is probably best enjoyed not straight after eating very spicy Chiang Mai Sausage with extra Chili. For dinner we decided to dine at the hotel as it was raining, selecting our choice of food by the number chilis shown next to each dish (only picking the hottest of course). This, in retrospect, was probably not overly wise considering that we were sitting outside (under cover) on a very hot and wet evening, with no aircon for assistance.

Thanks to beer Chang, we made it through dinner, before heading back to the Bamboo Bar.

The next day was pretty much a repeat of the day before, opting to visit a different spa and a change of location for dinner. Having learnt my lesson from the day before we skipped lunch, which made for a more comfortable massage experience. We ate dinner at a rather good restaurant not too far from the hotel, somewhere we will head back to the next time we are in town. After eating far too much, I only had room for a couple of beers back at the hotel, before retiring hurt for the night.

The next morning we ate a rather leisurely breakfast before it was time to return to Hong Kong, alas all too soon.

I'm Not A Plastic Bag!

When I left my office late on Thursday evening (well actually, it was around 1:00am Friday morning), I noticed a group of people were camped oustide Harvey Nicholls opposite my building. Thinking not much of it I jumped in a taxi and headed home for some sleep. When I went into the office on Friday morning, the traffic was a lot worse than normal, even for Hong Kong, so I jumped out of the taxi by the HSBC building and walked the rest of the way to work. As I approached the office I noticed hordes of people queing patiently everywhere outside Harvey Nicholls and The Landmark Manadarin Oriental Hotel.

The excitement, it transpires, was not caused by some canto pop superstar staying at the hotel, it was in fact due to the scheduled release of a bag (not a plastic bag I hasten to add) which retails for around US$30, and which apparently is in high demand. The environmentally friendly bag, designed by Anya Hindmarch, apparently is a limited item and is so sought after that it can be resold on EBay for up to 10 times the original purchase price. This was enough to send scores of Hongkonger's out on the streets overnight throughout the city, in the hope of being first through the door the next day to secure a purchase.

On Friday morning, the crowd of around 2000, became so rowdy with people jostling for the best position, that none of the stores which were due to sell the bags could open due to safety concerns, forcing the hordes to head home tired and empty handed.

So if anyone reading this happens to have one of the said bags and finds they no longer want it, I am quite prepared to take it off your hands - for a good price of course!

Tumble and Fall

Whilst I was away over the weekend the racing season for this year came to a dramatic close at Shatin on Monday. There were, unfortunately plenty of tumbles on the day, not from the horses I may add (thankfully), but from the punters queuing for their free gifts from the Hong Kong Jockey Club. This year's giveaway trinket attracted racing enthusiasts in their hoards, and when concerns grew over the availability of the free gift, the crowd took things into their own hands.

During the non uncommon scenes at such events, many were trampled in the stampede for a free souvenir. Fortunately no one was seriously hurt, apart from the HKJC, who have now banned such free giveaways in the future.

Oh, and I'll buy a beer to the first person who names the band from who I lifted the title of this post from.

10 Years Later

On the 30th June 1997, I was sat in the living room of my rented house in Wolverhampton, watching the proceedings for the handover of Hong Kong, where sovereignty would be passed from Britain to China at the stroke of midnight. I had been at Glastonbury for the previous 4 days, enduring what remains one of the wettest and muddiest festivals on record, and recall thinking whilst watching tv, that the rain in Hong Kong at the time looked like a light summer shower in comparison to what we had been subject to over the weekend.

Martin, one of my housemates and colleagues, also had the day off work and we chatted about our respective jobs and the fact that we both wanted a change in direction. It was at that stage I decided that I was finally going to resign from work and go off on a round the world trip, the focus of which would be an overland journey down the West coast of South America, and then all the way up the East coast to Rio.

I advised Martin of my plans and we decided to head off into Birmingham so I could buy my ticket. Now my intended itinerary was not really something that Thomas Cook could take care of, so we went into the specialist travel agents - Trailfinders, for their assistance. In the shop they also had a television on showing the scenes in Hong Kong live from the BBC. I outlined my intended route to one of the agents whilst she jotted down notes. When I came to enquiring what was the best way I could get from New Zealand to Quito in Ecuador, and what would be the best way to get out to the Galapagos Islands, the women glanced up, gave me a disbelieving look, and asked me to repeat my request. It was at this stage I realised that she thought I was joking and had no intention of booking anything, so I left, determined to book my trip with another firm, perhaps down in London at the weekend.

The next day at work I was called in to see the Project Director - who offered me promotion. When I told him that I wanted to resign this was obviously not the answer he was anticipating. Over the next few days I had a number of calls from various managers from within the Company, and was offered a role with the International Division in Kuala Lumpur, as a Section Manager on the rail link from the new airport into the city. So I thought I would postpone my travel plans for a couple of years and head on out to Malaysia.

2 months later I was in my new apartment in Kuala Lumpur, with the same housemate (Martin also went out to work on the same project), and from there, as they say, the rest is history (well not quite, Asian financial crisis, job stopped, new job offer in Hong Kong, you get the picture).

So this weekend I again found myself watching the historic events in Hong Kong on television, this time for the 10th Anniversary of the Handover. I was watching with a different perspective as I am now a Hong Kong permanent resident, (and from a different location - Bangkok, not Wolverhampton this time). Where I find myself in the next 10 years, we'll just have to wait and see.

Angkor Wat Pics Uploaded

If you have been checking out the photos section of my blog you may have noticed that I have a ‘thing’ about visiting ruins and temples. In this vein, I have now uploaded within the links section on the right hand side of this page, some pics from our trip to Cambodia a few years back, where we visited the magnificent Angkor Wat, not too long after Angelina Jolie and the Tomb Raider crew had finished filming there.

Comments Welcome

Since setting up a statcounter on my blog which lets me know how many hits my site is getting, and where from, it is encouraging to see how many visitors I am getting from across the globe. Thanks to all for visiting and please feel free to leave comments on the posts or within the Guest Book located in the sidebar on the right hand side of the page. Please note that I may miss comments posted on older pages from time to time so apologies if it takes me a while to respond!

Bad Hair Day

After some general clearing up of rubbish scattered across my desktop I stumbled across this photo, kindly forwarded by Reedy Boy a while back, taken on a ski trip to the French Alps (Val d'Isere I believe), during the early 1990's. As you can tell I was going through a bit of a bad hair phase at the time, which thankfully I soon grew out of. Thanks for the photo fella!

Ski Condo for Rent in Big White, Canada

Unlike many other blogs my site remains free from advertising and it is my current intent to keep it that way, however, the one exception that I will make to this is in promoting my own ski condo for rent, in Big White, Canada.

As we are now nearly half way through the year, the 2007/08 ski season will soon be upon us, and in this respect I am now taking bookings for my condo for this coming season. It is a stunning apartment (even if I say so myself), with direct ski access to the front door, located in the Happy Valley area of the resort, at the base of the gondola to the Village.

Big White is an up and coming resort, the second largest in BC (after Whistler), approximately a 45mins drive from Kelowna airport. Big White has been voted the best North American resort for families the past few years, with a good mix of skiing and entertainment.




My condo sleeps 8, is fitted out with all mod cons (42” flat screen TV, Bose DVD/ stereo, Playstation 2, X Box etc.), as well as having an outdoor hot tub to sooth those aching muscles after a hard day on the slopes. If you would like to know more or are interested in booking, please click the title of this post or the site within the links section.

Here Be Dragons

Dragons have featured in Chinese folklore for thousands of years, revered for their auspicious power, and can be seen throughout Chinese culture, art and myths. Along with the Phoenix they were the symbol for Chinese emperors and are the only mythical creature to be represented on the Chinese Zodiac (if you were born after Chinese New Year in 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, or multiples of 12 years thereafter - you are a dragon!).

Similarly here in Hong Kong, dragons are just as important to local culture and can be seen throughout the territory. Kowloon was so named after the 9 dragons (gow =9, lung= dragon), that are depicted by the 9 peaks around the area. Even with new buildings, considerations with regards to dragons were thought to be taken into consideration. A famous residential development in Repulse Bay was built with a large hole in the middle which some believed was done to allow the dragon from the hills above to fly down to the sea unobstructed to drink - which of course is ridiculous, as dragons do not drink seawater. However it underscores the importance that dragons play even in modern day Chinese culture.

Today, dragons, or dragon boats more precisely, could be seen all over Hong Kong, out in their full glory to celebrate the Tuen Ng (Dragon Boat) festival. All the months of hard training today paid off for the hundreds of teams taking part in the races being held across the Territory. Having failed in our endeavours to get a company team to enter the event (the other original company participants all cried off early on in the training regime as it was too hard going), I turned up in Sai Kung at 7:00am to support the Hong Kong Amatuer Dragon Boat Association (with whom I have been training with these past few months) in their pursuit of honours over the 500m long course, in various classes.

I ended up paddling for the mixed 12's, coming in 4th in the final after a photo finish. All I will say that it was extremely hard going, through very choppy water over a very long course (they race over 275m at Stanley), - we were not even allowed a swim afterwards as sharks had been spotted in the area.

Despite our performance in the mixed 12's, the HKDBA did well all in all, enough to win several roast pigs and a few crates of San Miguel which were soon polished off afterwards!

So it is the international races at Tsim Sha Tsui this coming weekend. I have been invited to come along, however, this is serious stuff now so I do not fancy my chances of getting to race, anyway we shall wait and see. Will post some pics of today's event when I get them.

A Clear Day

On the rare occasion that the wind is blowing from Hong Kong towards the factories in China, instead of the other way around, the pollution levels drop and I get quite a good view from my window up on the 39th Floor - as caught here on Darling's new camera. (I know, if I had photoshop I could have done a better job with aligning the shots into the panoramic pic - but I don't, so I had to make to with Microsoft photo editor).

10 Years On

With just over a couple of weeks to go till the 10th Anniversary of the Handover of Hong Kong from British to Chinese rule, excitement levels in the City are rising in eager anticipation of the fun and festivities planned to mark this event.

Hong Kong’s biggest and most expensive fireworks show ever is planned for the evening of July 1st , with 31, 888 (auspicious no.) fireworks due to be launched from four barges moored in Victoria Harbour. The fireworks will be launched to explode in time to a number of songs, both old and new, comprising 10 themes, the first of which is titled “Salute to our Motherland” - an event not to be missed!

Visitors to Ocean Park will be able to see Hong Kong’s 2 new giant pandas, Le Le and Ying Ying, who will be on show to the public for the very first time, providing a special treat for both tourists and locals alike.

Visitors wishing to travel on the recently opened cable car service from Tung Chung to the Big Buddha on Lantau, however, will be disappointed. The service is currently under suspension until further notice, due to an unfortunate incident occurring on Monday evening where a gondola car fell from the support cable, landing on it’s roof, approximately 50m below. Fortunately the car was empty at the time and nobody was hurt, as the incident happened after the cable car service had closed to the public for the day. Speculation abounds as to the cause of the problem, with early rumors suggesting that the failure may be due to metal fatigue, which would be rather worrying after less than a year’s operational service.


Darling and I, however, will miss out on all the fun and excitement as we will be celebrating the 10th Anniversary of the Handover relaxing by the pool at The Oriental Hotel in Bangkok, (probably after a full morning of shopping at Siam Paragon).

Tokyo and Hakone

In 2001 we went to Japan for a short break over the Christmas holidays, heading to Tokyo for a couple of days and then on to Hakone, which is famous for it's onsens (hot springs) and views of Fuji San - weather permitting.

In Tokyo we opted to stay in Shinjuku, a 'lively' district, which at night resembles something out of Blade Runner with its garish neon signs, musical vending machines and non-stop Japanese commercials, combining in a full on assault on your senses, 24 hours a day.

After a couple of days in Tokyo, the peace and quiet of Hakone comes as quite a shock to the system - no neon in sight and everything closed by 8:00pm. For our first night in Hakone I had booked us in to a small guest house with its own onsen attached, so after checking in, we change into our yukata's and head off to the outdoor hot springs, which is separated into into the male and female sections.

Now taking a relaxing soak in an outdoor, near scalding hot pool, is not as straightforward as you may think. There is a certain etiquette to be followed, with definite do's and don'ts attached, before you get anywhere near the water, and to be honest, I was a little nervous at this point, not wanting to commit a social faux pas.

After passing through some curtains I entered the changing room, which was square in shape, with 3/4 height partitions on all sides, above which, was open to the elements. Being late December, and about 7:00pm at this time, the temperature was only just above freezing. I selected a basket into which I placed my towel and all of my clothes, before returning it to the shelves, then made my way towards the hot pools with only my small 'modesty' towel for company.

Now before entering the water, it is essential that you scrub every inch of your body clean beforehand, which is done sitting on a small stool at a low level shower. After scrubbing myself for the second time (just to make sure), I thoroughly rinsed off all traces of soap and made my way to the nearest pool(soap suds must never, never, come anywhere near the pools, so it is important to make sure you are properly rinsed off beforehand!).

I look up and notice how busy the place is, just about the same time that I putting my foot into the pool and realising how hot the water is. Determined, I continue to make my way into the water, trying not to show any signs of pain on my face, and sit down. After a while, I get used to the water temperature and the whole experience becomes rather therapeutic. I try out a few more pools before it is time to get dressed back into my yukata and go for dinner.

Having successfully mastered the rituals associated with visiting an onsen we try out a few more hot springs over the next couple of days. On Christmas day we decide to make our last visit to an onsen, before catching the train back to Tokyo.

We settle on a rather rustic type of place just across from our hotel, set somewhat down a hill and surrounded by trees. Being a dab hand at all of this now I change, shower and make my way outside to the hot pools (this one had the luxury of indoor changing facilities). I look around and decide on one of the first pools set a little higher up from the main bathing area. I put my foot in, rather tentatively, and conclude that although burning hot, I can probably cope if I get in nice and slowly.

Just as the words nice and slowly pass through my mind, my foot slips off the wooden seating area under the water, and I fall, arms clutching in desperation into thin air. I hit the water flat on my back, arms and legs akimbo, somehow managing not to crack my head on anything on the way in. After briefly going under the water, I am aware how hot it is and actually manage to exit the pool quicker than I fell in.

This whole process of course manages to create a cascade of hot water down onto the bathers in a pool below. I would have apologised but just did not know where to start.

I have not been back to an Onsen since.

Within the photos section I have uploaded some of the pics from our trip. I have, you will be please to know, left out the photos of me in my undersized yukata and jacket, which are not particularly flattering, trust me.