Macau Day Out

After spending the last 6 months of 2007 working in Macau I have not been overly fussed recently to use a valuable day off to visit the place, however when I had some friends overe recently from the UK a day's sightseeing was in order. With my tourist guide umbrella firmly in hand, we headed off round the city to see the sights, on what was probably the hottest day of the year to date. The tour took in the usuall must see sights (well of the PG13 rated tour anyway) stopping at Centro, the ruins of St Paul's Cathedral (why only one wall ever remained standing is still beyond me), the Fort, Tin Hau Temple, Fernando's (for what turned out to be breakfast, lunch and dinner), Macau Tower for the world's highest bunjy jump (not me - this time), and finishing off with a look round the Venetian and MGM Grand (there was no way I would let them get away without a vivit to the latter). Assorted pics are posted below and a fuller collection will be uploaded to the photo blog section when I get the time.

Only came outside to watch the nightfall in the rain….

One of my biggest passions (obsessions) in life is music, always has been, and since the early 80’s this has been further fuelled by going to see bands play live. From my first gig (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark at the Hammersmith Palais) onwards I have been hooked, and witnessed hundreds of performances since. These have included some truly memorable occasions such as U2 at Wembley Stadium, Red Hot Chili Peppers (supported by Moby) at the Brixton Academy, Foo Fighters at Wolverhampton Civic Hall and a number of years at Glastonbury in the mud and occasional sunshine.

Since moving to Hong Kong live performances tend to be few and far between (although this has got better in recent years) and I have tended to get tickets to whatever shows are on whenever I could. Well, just recently, I have to confess I bought tickets to see Duran Duran live – something in the past I would never have considered doing. I booked two tickets the day before the show, which turned out to be front row seats (oh dear, how embarrassing). Surprisingly the venue was outdoors which is not normally allowed here due to noise complaints from nearby residents, and, noise aside, considering Hong Kong’s unpredictable weather especially from April onwards, outdoor gigs are very few and far between. (Before I arrived in here there was one famous incident where ironically Wet Wet Wet had to cancel an outdoor show due to heavy rain!).

As the lights went down the crowd all rushed forward and we found ourselves a nice little spot up against the barrier. Duran Duran opened with a new song before going on to play some old favourites. After the second song, Simon le Bon quipped that the crowd had a better backdrop than the band, before launching into Planet Earth, when, just after he sang the opening line “Only came outside to watch the nightfall in the rain…” the sky’s opened and it started to pour down - right on cue. Darling, doing her best to hide under her cardigan, gave me the forlorn ‘shall we go?’ look, to which I responded with my ‘I’ve paid so were staying’ glance.

After 45 minutes or so, the rain stopped, and, by the end of the 2 hour show, I had more or less dried out. To be fair, Duran Duran were very good live, playing most of their hits mixed in with some new songs. The 4 out of 5 original band members gave it a good go (only Andy Taylor was missing), and I do admit that I enjoyed the show.

Motorcycle Madness

After 11 years of living in the Far East, I am not quite sure why I had never got around to visiting Vietnam up until just recently. It has not been a conscious decision to not visit, perhaps just that there has always seemed to be somewhere else that I have wanted to go, or perhaps, without realizing it, I have been a little put off by the ‘traveler snobbery’ often hearing people say how Vietnam is ‘the place to visit’ and that in comparison Thailand ‘is past it’s best’. Being quite fond of the Land of Smiles, Thailand has always had my allegiance.

So it was not until the Ching Ming holiday earlier this month, we found that there was no way we could get flights to Bangkok (Darling left it far to late to try and book anything), that we were forced to reconsider our options, and settled on a long weekend to Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) instead. Darling booked the flights, I got the visas, and we were off.

The first thing that strikes you upon arrival as you head towards your hotel is the traffic, which is generally comprised of motorcycles, thousands of them, and quite often heading in the wrong direction and straight towards you! As they are the main mode of transport in the city (there are over 3 million of them in Ho Chi Minh alone), it is not uncommon to see the whole family on a moped weaving their way past you as you snarl your way along.

Another observation with the motorcycles is that they very rarely stop, for anything, even traffic lights, including letting you cross the road. After the first couple of goes you soon get the hang of stepping out into the traffic, fingers crossed, hoping that you do not get knocked down at any moment. As you steadily make your way across the road, with eyes fixed firmly towards the oncoming traffic, the sea of bikes part either side of you (thankfully). A very sensible option is to adopt the safety in numbers approach - keeping your self as far ‘downstream’ as possible.

Motorcycles, and searing heat aside, Ho Chi Minh is a great city to explore on foot, with hidden gems of places to see which you would miss in the air conditioned comfort of a taxi. The food is excellent, particularly bowls of steaming Pho Bo (beef noodles) accompanied by a cold beer. The old style coffee shops are great, and I thoroughly recommend the ice cream to be had at Fanny.

We did the obligatory tour of the ‘Reunification Palace’ (where back in April 1975 the tanks rolled in to depose Duong Van Minh of power), visited the Ben Tanh market, took in a temple or two, traipsed up and down Dong Koi street and even managed to fit in a couple of well earned spa visits (well – we had done a lot of walking). By night, the number of motorcycles seemed to drop, just a little, and, noise aside, made for an interesting spectacle when viewed from a roadside bar. We ate at very good Vietnamese and French restaurants (no, not on the same evening) and tried out a few of the bars and clubs. Q Bar was rather cool and quite good for a more relaxed beer, whereas ‘Apocalypse Now’, complete with the ‘Charlie don’t surf!’ inscribed board above the door, was a more riotous place – much more to my liking (but unfortunately not to Darling’s).

I found Ho Chi Minh a great place to visit. I liked it from the moment we arrived and found it got better the longer we were there and the more we explored. The people were very friendly; no one tried to rip us off, the food excellent and the beer cold -what more could you ask for?

Roosters beware!

I am not an avid follower of astrology however I happen to find that Chinese Astrology tends to be spot on (in my case) - quite often. Full of useful advice in general I found today's outlook I considered it was worthy of reproducing here. The comments regarding avoiding alcohol and spicy food are appropriate (perhaps they know I was at the 7's over the weekend), as well as resisting my tastes for luxury and avoiding the urge to spend all my money! (All valid points which are likely to go unheeded).

Ka Mate..Ka Mate..

Another sevens is over and I have to admit that I have been feeling rather unwell all day today (perhaps it was something I ate). After 10 years of going to Hong Kong Rugby 7's I really should know better by now. I certainly should know that it is unwise to carry on into Wanchai afterwards after the day's activities - never mind. The stadium bore witness to the usual goings on, with the odd game of rugby sometimes distracting the crowd from the general partying and drinking.

Darling decided to give the event a miss this year, having been to several now, admitting that she has only gone along in the past on the off chance of seeing streakers would you believe. She was rather disappointed when I told her that there were three such incidences this year on the Saturday. Perhaps that will mean she will want to go next year now!

On the topic of disappointment, the 'wheels' well and truly came off England's chariot once again in the cup quarter finals - this time to Samoa (who they had beaten the day before). I somehow suspect the glory years of 2002 - 2006 may not be seen again. Fair play to the Kiwis though, impressive throughout and deserved winners of the tournament.

(photos nabbed from the Apple Daily)

Go Greased Lightning........

Up bright and early on Sunday morning I decided to make use of the facilities at the Mandarin Spa – which are free before 9:00am, and headed on up for a steam, sauna and soak in the vitality pool to try and restore some feeling to my legs, which were aching a touch from all of the walking the day before.

Fully refreshed, and after a light breakfast we headed out on foot to take in the sights of the Imperial Palace – well, the outside anyway as you cannot get anywhere near the actual building itself. From the Imperial palace we made our way into Ginza (again) for some more shopping. This time we had a deal – every hour spent in Seibu would be traded for an hour in the Sony building, which kept the time spent shopping down a little.

After queuing for a well deserved waffle, we left the upmarket shopping area of Ginza and headed on over to Shibuya. The first thing that you notice when stepping off the train at Shibuya station is that the place is absolutely packed, particularly if you leave at the exit by Hachiko’s statue, along with everyone else. (If you have ever seen pictures of thousands of people crossing a busy junction in Tokyo, that will be Shibuya). After a final purchase of the day walked on up to Shibuya park to take in the sights. Here, on a Sunday afternoon, a whole selection of rather eccentric types gather to do their ‘thing’ in the park. This ranges from live band performances, juggling, dance acts, Rockabilly routines, parading around in your finest cosplay outfit, through to the rather more regular activities such as badminton in high heel boots. It is quite an intriguing site all in all which reminded somewhat of being in the outer fields of the Glastonbury festival.

From the park we continued on down (and up) through Omote-Sando, stopping momentarily at the novelty condom shop (no – I did not buy anything), before finally staggering onto the Ginza Line train back to our hotel, fortunately waking up a couple of stops before we needed to get off.

After quick freshen up, it was time for dinner. Again avoiding any recommendations in the Lonely Planet we checked with the concierge for any good places to eat Japanese food. A tapenyaki restaurant was soon booked and we were on our way (by taxi this time as we were both shattered), to Roppongi.

The dinner was one of the best meals I have ever eaten (and I have eaten a few). It was, without doubt, the most expensive meal I have ever had – by a long way (even in comparison to booking the Chef’s table at Gaddis in HK). It was rather excellent and all cooked right in front of you by a team of chefs working a large semi circular hot plate. Food done, and completely broke, we managed a quick beer in one of Roppongi’s less upmarket establishments, before heading back to the Mandarin for a final nightcap.

So to close the Tokyo trilogy, a couple of points to note – be careful when asking for a good place to eat (you may be wise to mention your budget). And sadly the Sony building is now rather disappointing – gone are the Playstations and rooms full of ‘toys’ for you to try out, only a few Vaios, flat screen TV’s cameras and stereos remain for you to play with.

Sakura, Sakura......

Well, that's how the song starts....but I cannot remember how anymore of it goes.
Although still early in the year, the first of the cherry blossoms have started to bloom, which has brought the crowds out to Ueno park with their cameras. Not to be outdone, we also joined the hoardes for some cherry blossom viewing, after starting our day at Tsujiki market.

We had good intentions the night before (and even set the alarm clock) with a view to getting to Tsujiki early on to see all the action, which was to be followed with a breakfast of sushi at one of the surrounding stalls. However, by the time we had eventually go out of bed and made to Tsujiki, we were just about in time for lunch.

Without a clue where to dine (and certainly without any intention of following any recommendations within the Lonley Planet), we chose a spot that had a long queue of locals waiting outside (and no tourists). After about 20mins the hostess called "Simon-san", and we were in. I settled on a selection of fatty toro, salmon sushi and raw prawns over rice, whislt Darling went for a Sashimi set of raw scallops and salmon. The sushi was excellent, although I do admit to ordering a large Kirin for assistance.

Once comfortably sate, we walked on into Ginza, where Darling shopped inbetween asking me whether I was bored! Shopping done, we were off to Ueno for cherry blossom viewing, and then on to Asakusa (with everyone else apparently that was not at Ueno Park), for a walk through the stalls and quick look at Senso-Ji, before heading on back.

Tomorrow sees more shopping (I fear) in Ginza, Shibuya and probably Shinjuku. If I get my way we may make it over to Odiaba and the Onsen Monogatari - but we shall wait and see.

Hello, Hello - We're in a place called Tokyo!

I love Japan. Well, in fact I love a lot of places to be honest, but I have always had a soft spot for Japan and enjoyed my previous visits here. Darling absolutely loves the place (mainly due to the extensive shopping opportunities and her liking of sushi), and is always suggesting that we 'pop' over here for a holiday weekend instead of heading off to Thailand. So, for a change, this Easter we decided to head on off to Tokyo for a few days to 'relax'. Despite only being a 3-4 hour flight away from Hong Kong (depending on how windy it is), it ends up being quite a trek in the end, when you add on the 2 hour transfer from Narita to downtown Tokyo. So after about 8 hours travelling we finally checked in to the Mandarin Oriental Tokyo.

As it was getting late we headed on up to the bar for a quick beer before venturing on out to Ginza (where unfortunately the shops were closing ;)) in search of a BBQ restauraunt. After seaching several side streets we eventually managed to get a table at what, turned out to be a rather popular place. After a few minutes of conversing they worked out that Darling is not japanese and managed to find someone that knew some English. Baffled by the menu, and rather hungry by this stage, we let our server choose our dinner.

After several beers and a touch too much food we headed on back to the hotel for a nightcap before retiring for the day, which finds me writing this post from the comfort of our room and courtesy of the free wifi. Tomorrow sees us head on out early to Tsujiki fish market to catch the trading in action and a spot of very fresh sushi - breakfast of champions!

So, time to sign off and get some well earned rest. I'll leave you with one piece of advice - do not try navigating the Tokyo metro system after several beers, otherwise you may find out that what should be a 10 minute journey takes you well over an hour!