Okay, I think I'm lost...

#29: Home Again…

Days 269 and 270: Monday 18th and Tuesday 19th July

My last two days in Hong Kong turned out to be very busy ones; it was one of those kind of things that all happened a little bit too fast for my mind to keep up with!

On Monday, Lucas, Cita and I all went to Disney (again… it was free again too!).  We met up with Jun (who lives in Discovery Bay on the boat, remember?) and his kids Zak and Zoe.  We all went off and did our own things and met up now and then to check we hadn’t lost anyone and that all the kids were still alive!  We also got a chance to meet up with Chito, Jun’s brother, who is a Dancer at Disney.  (He was part of “The Golden Mickey’s” show which was really amazing!).  I also met up with Paul, Tracey’s brother, who works at Disney with design and that kind of thing.  He took me round and gave me something of a guided tour of the whole park - pretty amazing!

That night, Lucas and I went to stay the night at Fi and Jun’s in DB.  It was great and before I knew it, I woke up and it was Tuesday.  My LAST FULL DAY IN HONG KONG.  Wow.

A great thing about the Airport in Hong Kong, is that you can check in (depending which airline you are travelling with) up to 24 hours before your flight leaves, in town, so you don’t even have to go to the airport!  If I hadn’t spent the best part of four months in HK, I wouldn’t really feel comfortable giving my bag away the day before my flight to a man who is sitting about thirty miles from where the ‘plane is… But in Hong Kong everything is so efficient that there was no way you’d think twice about it!  So I left DB, got the ferry back to Central.  Got the bus to Aberdeen where I’d left my bag.  After a good ten minutes of sitcom-worthy attempts to get my bag shut (you know, when you stand on it, jump on it and sit on it in attempt to get the zip to shut.  I’m very surprised I didn’t break it!).  I then got the bus back to Central, checked my bag in and got my boarding passes, then took a tram and minibus to Happy Valley.

(When I check my rucksack in, I have to do up this zip on the back which keeps all of the straps in and means airport people can’t just yank on one of the straps to lob your bag across the room - it makes throwing it around all that more difficult.  But, because the main part of my bag was so jam-packed, I couldn’t do the zip on the back up.  Long story short, it took me, the very nice man checking me in (who didn’t charge me, even though my bag was 26 kilos!) and one woman from Cathay Pacific, and another from Quantas and four cable-ties to get my bag shut.  He was so helpful!)

I went to say good bye to all the other teachers (which was sadder than it should have been!), and Tracey and I got yet another bus back to Central.  (When I was at Woodlands, one of the teachers of the class I’d been helping with said one boy, Casper, had asked about four times a day “Where’s Mr. Joe and when’s he coming back?”. Too cute!)  Anyway, Tracey and I went to Central, met up with Jerry, met Lucas of the DB ferry, and they both said good bye.  Lucas and Jerry were going back to Lamma, and Tracey was coming to stay in Aberdeen with me, just because of the time of my flight the next morning, there was no way I would be able to take the ferry and make the flight!

After the good byes *sniff*, Tracey and I went to have dinner in Central.  We met up with Nickie and had Fish and Chips (a good, proper Chinese meal before leaving to come back to Britain!).  It was really nice, another good bye, and then we got another bus back to Aberdeen.

Day 171: Wednesday 20th July

 We got up at 5, and got the 5:45 bus from Aberdeen to Central.  When we arrived, we went to the airport express train, which takes exactly 23 minutes from in-town check in to the Airport.  Tracey and I exchanged quick good byes (partly because emotional farewells are never enjoyable, and also because the train was about to leave and if I missed it I’d be cutting it pretty fine!).

So I arrived at the Airport, got one final passport stamp from my trip, and went to gate 53.  The flight was delayed by about an hour, but we were on the ‘plane and in the air in pretty good time.  I was sat next to a very nice couple who, for your interest, were called Mr. and Mrs. Wai-Leung.  (In addition, they had two sons, one who lives in Brighton and teaches English and Science at a High School in Cambridge, has a German Shepherd dog, a wife and two kids - twins - who they had never met and were visiting England to see them for the first time - Ashley and Hannah they were called.  Their other son lives in Bali and they don’t much like visiting there because he has a very small house and it’s not in a very nice area, so they pay for him to come and visit them in Hong Kong once a year whenever he gets time off from the oil company he works for…)  So yes, we basically spent the whole flight talking…  I couldn’t rightly escape!  Anyway, she now knows my entire travelling story… poor her!

Anyway, after four hours, we landed in Singapore.  (It was a Singapore Airlines flight, did I mention that?).  Now hopefully I would never have to, but if I did have to, for some reason, live in an airport for any length of time, I would chose Singapore Changi International Airport.  It was BEAUTIFUL.  They had apparently just finished some big upgrade or something, and there was a sunken garden of orchids inside the airport, with a little stream and waterfall setting, with the most gorgeous flowers and the biggest (real) butterflies I have ever seen in my life - it was amazing.  I was told that the butterflies were only in the flight transfer wing of the building at the moment, but they were hoping to make it a part of the whole airport. (This was according to Mrs. Wai-Leung - personally I think she might have been making it up!

Anyway, after two hours in the airport, we got on another ‘plane that was enormous, and set off for Heathrow.  It was a sixteen hour flight from Singapore.  Unfortunately, I was sat next to the strangest guy ever - because that’s just my luck!  He didn’t speak to me once, even when I asked him questions.  If I needed to go to the toilet (because he was on the end and I was sat by the window (there was an empty seat between us)) and I asked him to move he would just totally ignore me, which meant I had to literally climb over him.  It was weird.  He also spoke to himself quite a bit.  When the food came he mentioned loudly to himself how ridiculous it was that they had the audacity to serve rice on an aeroplane.  It seemed to be of little importance that it was in-fact not rice, but an omelette.  Anyway, he was strange, but at least he didn’t attempt to talk to me the whole journey.

I watched many films - foolishly I watched a very sad one first which, in my defence, I didn’t know was sad!  So I was pretty emotional after that, and ended up crying in almost all of the films I watched (even Princess and the Frog!).  I can not sleep on flights, so I was absolutely exhausted when we finally got off the ‘plane in Heathrow. 

My bag was one of the first off on the carousel, and it didn’t take too long to get through passport control.  I waited at the airport, and Dave came to meet me.  I spent the night at Dave’s in Guilford (Jose made roast dinner in celebration of my not having to eat rice anymore!) and I fell asleep almost instantly.  Despite how tired `i was I woke up at five and couldn’t get back to sleep.

Day 172: Thursday 21st July

Next day, Dave was at work and Gabe was at school, so Jose dropped me at Guilford Station.  I got a train to Reading, then from Reading to Birmingham New St. then From Birmingham to Liverpool Lime St.

I got lost in Liverpool in finding the boat, and it took me about 20 minutes longer than it should have done!  I had to stop twice along the way as well because my bag was so damn heavy!  When I finally made it, I checked in, and got talking to the lady who was the person who watches the screen as bags go through the x-ray machine.  She was very interested and, because of how early I was, she spent an hour talking to me about my trip.  Bless her.

So, I got on the boat at 6:30, it left at 7, and arrived back on the beautiful Isle of Man at 9:23pm on Thursday, July 21st 2011.  The end of my amazing Journey.

       **

When I started out, everybody told me the usual things:

-Oh, you’ll have the time of your life

-You’ll love it! Really, you will

-You’ll meet loads of people who’ll be your friends for life

-You won’t want to come back!

I can, with joy, admit defeat.  They were all right.  All of the above proved to be totally true.  It was the trip of a lifetime. I really, really loved it.  I met loads and loads and loads of amazing people, and hope to stay in contact with as many of them as possible.  And coming home?  Well, It’s nice to be home… but I really miss being away.

The best things about coming back from a holiday, no matter how long you’ve been away, are using your own shower, and sleeping in your own bed.  I have slept in many different beds, in many different countries, across several different continents.  I want to thank all the people who let me crash at their homes… (and use their showers!).  As much as I would like to thank every single person individually, I can’t.  But I hope that they all know how grateful I am, and how much they helped me!

I would like to especially thank:

-Tracey and Jerry

-Sharon and Jim

-John and Dale

You guys all put up with me for weeks and weeks (and weeks) on end.  I truly can not thank you enough.

I had the best time and an amazing adventure.  Thank you for sharing it with me.

#28: Hong Kong (and not wanting to leave yet…)

Days 244 - 268: Thursday 23rd June to Sunday 17th July

Loads has been happeneing, as ever… 

I have been working lots - at Woodlands for the first two weeks of summer school (which is paid, unlike all the time I’ve been working prior to July and, although enjoyable, being paid is nicer!), and at the Japanese language centre (where I’ve been getting extra lessons), so all is well on the work front.

The weather has been going CRAZY.  There’s the heat; it’s always hot.  Sometimes it’s hot with no humidity and no wind, combined with scorching sun and no clouds, where you feel as though you are almost literally melting  (and usually look like it too!).  There’s humid hot where you go outside and are literally dripping wet after no more than a minute.  Then there’s the torrential rain that would easily wash away small children, combined with lightening and thunder the likes of which I’ve NEVER seen before!  Despitr the excessive rain, it’s still boiling hot out, and the rain isn’t even refreshing because it’s warm too!  Despite all this, which no-doubt sounds like complaining! - I am getting used to the hot weather and am genuinely starting to like it!  (Within reason, of course - I mean if you have to climb a very steep hill, and you’re at the bottom carrying something pretty heavy, it would be nice if it was less than 35 degreees - but on the whole…!)

And so begins the list (as remembering what day of the week it is is beyond me, let alone the date! - I’m blaming the heat!) of what I have been doing with myself!  (Feel free to just skip to the bottom and pretend you’ve read it - I won’t judge you, promise!)…

Disneyland

Okay, so depending on how well you know me, you will know that I am obsessed with three things, and that Disney is one of them! (The other two, if you’re interested are Harry Potter (TWO MORE SLEEPS UNTIL THE FINAL FILM!) and Zac Efron!)  Therefore, when I was offered FREE tickets to Disneyland Hong Kong, I didn’t say no!  I went with Jade, a girl who lives on Lamma, and we had a really great day!  People tend to make it out to be a “really rubbish” version of Disney but, in it’s defense, it has only been open five years, is a lot smaller, and is still, in my opinion, great!  The highlights (because I know you’re dying to know!) were Space Mountain, the Lion King show and the fireworks.  I loved it a lot, and am very glad I went. 

There was a small window of about half an hour, when it was the worst day ever, as my phone fell out of my pocket on the Space Mountain ride, and I realised about half an hour later!  (I know it’s not the end of the world, but it would be a MAJOR inconvenience, something I wouldn’t be able to afford to replace etc.  I would also object to losing both my wallet and my phone in Hong Kong, when I lost nothing else anywhere else in the world!)  Anyway, it was handed in and I am eternally grateful to whoever found it and didn’t steal it and try to sell it (and in HK, selling it would be easy!).  Possibly the funniest thing that happened during our whole day at Disney was the man who worked at “City Hall” (Disney’s version of customer services) who gave me my phone back, asked me if the wallpaper on the background of my phone was a picture of me.  The wallpaper on the back of my phone was in-fact not me (as if I would use a picture of myself?!), but was a picture of Zac Efron.  As if that wasn’t enough, it was a topless picture of Zac Efron.  I think it’s fair to say that, even in the best light, I look nothing like Zac Efron, and certainly do not have his body.  I think he’s either very stupid and thinks everyone has the body of a Disney character or has very poor eyesight and was just trying to make polite conversation!  Bless him!

Junk Party

A junk party is a very popular thing in Hong Kong.  Whopever is ‘hosting’ the party hires a junk (a type of boat) for the day.  It comes with a driver and picks up all the guests at once, travels to the chosen destination, then anchors for the day, until the journey home.

Our junk had thirty five people on it - thirty of whom I had never met before in my life.  We were all picked up at central, then travelled to Turtle Bay, around the other side of Lamma.  The deal is that everyone brings food and alcohol.  There were three very large cool-boxes filled with ice provided by the boat, which were then filled with an extortionate amount of drink. (Some of the ice had to be removed for maximum alcohol storage!).  Once the boat has stopped for the day, everyone jumps off and goes swimming in between eating, lying in the sun and, of course, excessive drinking!  Tracey and I swam to the beach and, unfortunately, there was a good 18 feet worth of floating bits of rubbish we had to swim through.  It was a horible experience, and the worst part was knowing we had no choice but to swim back through it on the way back!  After peeling bits of plastic and everything else you can imagine of ourselves, we climed on the rocks, walked along the beach looking at the washed up debris that consisted mainly of single shoes, plastic bottles and polystyrene pieces!  After a while we braved the journey back through the rubbish (it was far worse than we anticipated - going back was worse for some reason!), we got back to the boat and relaxed in the sun for the remainder of the day.  As much effort as it was to lie on the deck of a boat in the sun and drink, we managed it and had a great day!  The weather was beautiful and, to make it all even better, it was on bank holiday Friday (handover day - when HK became part of China again), so we had the whole weekend to enjoy before work again!

Work, work, work…

So, after finally getting work, it seems like it’s coming to an end so quickly!  I spent a good few months doing prep’ work at Woodlands (unpaid), and then was actually employed for a few weeks during summer school.  When term finished for the year (before summer school started) all the staff gave me an amazing bag of presents!  (They gave it to me early because not everyone was working during summer, and they all wanted to be there!).  I got a folder that was full of letters, one from each person, photos of me with some of the kids, and with a smaple of all the dozens The rest was little presents that made up a “survival kit” that should enable me to survive REAL LIFE after traveling!  It had everything from a mini bottle of vodka and condoms, to scissors and paper soap!  It was a brilliant present and definitely more than a bit of cutting-out warranted, so THANK YOU SO MUCH :D

Since the start of summer school, however, it has all been SO MUCH MORE ENJOYABLE!  I am no-longer reffered to as ‘that guy that does all the cutting out in the cupboard’ by the children, but instead Mr. Joe!  I’ve had a constant patch on both shoulders of the spit, snot and tears of children who really would rather be anywhere else than at school.  (In their defense, they’re only 2 years four months, can’t speak their own language, and they are dropped off with some scary white people who are all talking in a language they have never heard before, and have to wait three hours to be picked up and taken back home!).  Daniel (Monday, Wednesday, Friday) and Christian (Tuesday, Thursday) were the two main culprits responsible for the wet shoulders.  They both scream when they’re left, and I then spent the rest of the lesson being cried on.  And, despite all the crying, screaming and biting (I was only bitten once…), I loved it.  Friday 15th was my last working day (and pay-day!), but I am going to go in on Tuesday to say goodbye.

Friday was also my last day at Speakeasy.  I had final lessons with all the kids (playing scrabble and snakes and ladders!).  When it was all over, Mika game me a bag of presents as well! It included Japanese corn-food-things, a tee shirt of a famous Japanese cartoon and a booklet made by her (and the kids) with photos of me with the kids, and they’d all written a little thank you note inside - it was just the nicest thing to get!  I will definitely miss the kids as they were all so lovely, and teaching them was so much fun. (And I’ve just remembered all their names and how to spell them!).

‘TAKU’

Japanese kids are lovely.  I’m sure Japanese people are lovely too.  And Japan itself.  Japanese food however, is not (in my opinion).  For christmas, from work, Tracey was given something called a ‘red-packet experience’.  It’s a thing where you decide from a list of things around Hong Kong that you can go and ‘experience’.  We chose a meal at a restaurant in Central called ‘TAKU’.  This was my first experience of Japanese food. And my last for quite a while.

We went in, sat down, moved tables, sat down again.  The main problem may have been that we weren’t allowed to chose what we ordered.  As it was an red-packet thing, it was a set meal.  We had an extortionately expensive glass of wine each that was served in a pretentiously enormous glass with about a thimble full of wine inside. Very nice though!  Then they brought us food.  The portions of everything were tiny.  Except the bean-curd.  There was masses of bean-curd.  It did NOT look nice.  Then it was raw fish.  Fish that was not cooked.  In any other restaurant, you would complain.

“Excuse me, waiter?  My food.  The chef seems to have forgotten to cook it.” 

“Oh, I’m terribly sorry sir, I’ll get him to get you a fresh one and tell him you want your food cooked. Won’t be a moment…”

But apparently, in Japan, raw fish is how they roll.  Well, anyway.  I tried it.  The Tuna steak thing was nice.  Nothing else was.  It was slimy and wet and tasted like the beach.  The worst part was when the waiter came and put cooked meat on the table.  It looked really nice, smelled really nice and probably tasted really nice too.  We will never know.  He took it away.  Apparently it wasn’t for our table.  So they brought some more raw fish instead.

It was an experience, anyway.  I got fish and chips on the way home.

Bowling 

To commiserate my leaving (and just because ‘why not’?!), Bettina, Gasha, Virgie, Jade and I all went bowling.  I am shocking at bowling, it has become apparent, but it was so much fun.  The only slight problem was that you’re only allowed to borrow four pairs of shoes.  and there were five of us!  So Gasha and Virgie (the only two with the same sized feet) had to swap every time!

After bowling, we went into Causeway Bay and got food.  We went to a chinese street place.  The tables and chairs were all on the street, and if you leant backwards you’d be wiped out by one of the busses speeding along the tiny alley.  Despite the casual, we don’t care ambience, it was really nice, and the food was so good.  The only slightly off-putting thing was the chicken we got still had the head in tact.  And when the guy came and took the plates he looked at the head and asked us “why we no eat-a?!”  Maybe because it’s a chicken’s FACE? 

It was a brilliant evening and I had a really good time!

HARRY POTTER

As I previously mentioned, Harry Potter is one of my three things.  The release of the new film, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part two” is the most anticipated film ever.  Certainly in my world.  Hong Kong, being Hong Kong, had a huge model of the Hogwarts Express in Times Square, had re-created King’s Cross Station and, inside, had created Diagon Alley with all the shop fronts (Flourish & Blotts, Olivanders, Madam Malkins, The Magical Menagerie)…  It was truly Epic.  They went all out!

Also, the film came out here on 14th July, as opposed to the 15th in the UK, which was GREAT!  When we went into the cinema, there were people in front talking. Talking!  In Harry Potter!  After some serious ‘shh!’-ing from the whole cinema, Tracey leaned forward, grabbed the guys shoulder, and shouted “SHUT UP” in his face.  It worked.  NEVER mess with the cinematic magic of Harry Potter, even if you have just spilt your popcorn - WE DON’T CARE!

The film, it so happens, was unsurprisingly phenomenal and despite my crying for the majority, was as epic as expected.  End of an era…

The Centipede Episode

Living on Lamma, you can’t escape frogs, snakes and enormous flying insects, none of which bother me really.  The one thing that DOES bother me, are centipedes.  I was lying on my bed, reading, and I thought I saw something move out of the corner of my eye.  When I looked I couldn’t see anything, but all of a sudden there was this noise.  I then saw, on my pillow - LESS THAN TWO INCES FROM MY FACE.  I panicked, ran out of the room and upstairs.  Luckily, Jerry was still up, so with the help of him (help? Please - he did it all - I just whimpered in the corner!). Jerry, a barbecue fork, a pair of tongues, a shoe and some insect spray later and my room was safe once more.  I moved bedrooms, and now sleep upstairs.

A night out in Hong Kong

As I am leaving, I need to say goodbye to all the people I have met and gotten to know.  So Tracey and I went to rat alley to have dinner with Simon and Tay.  We had what I think was Thai food, which was nice, and then “going for one drink” turned into a late night, way too much alcohol, not remembering the whole evening and the 2:30 am ferry home! A thoroughly good night (let’s leave it there!)…

In other news, Jerry has been to the UK. Spam, one of Tracey and Jerry’s dogs bit a hippie. I got post from New Zealand. The weather is as crazy as ever.  I go home in THREE DAYS TIME…

Wow.

#27: Hong Kong (and sunshine, free tee-shirts, Vodka and being employed!)

Days 216 to 243: Thursday 26th May to Wednesday 22nd June

As if it is (almost the end of) JUNE already.  The weather has been so gorgeous, it’s seemed like a bit of a crime to sit inside on the computer!  Today, however, a typhoon signal three has been put up by the government.  Therefore, not only is there torrential rain and driving winds, there was little point me going to work at Woodlands, as the kids have all be told to stay at home and “not risk the journey” to school.  SO, I have also stayed at home, and it seems like a good day for typing up the best part of a months antics from Hong Kong…

Well, again, it’s going to be a list of what I’ve done because, as I’ve left it so long, there’s loads to write and I’ve not remembered what days were which, and when everything happened!

Well, here goes:

Hong Kong Asian Art Fair 2011

The Art fair was amazing.  It was an exhibition from 26th to 29th of May of art from around the world.  It was mainly Asian artists and galleries, and some of it was breath-taking.  As always with these things, you need to see it to appreciate how amazing it was, so I’m not even going to attempt to explain any of the art itself.  

The hall however, was enormous.  It was in the HK Convention Centre which is massive.  I went with Simon and Tay, and we spent hours and hours and hours there, and still didn’t get to see half of it. (I did however get a “Where is Ai Weiwei?” teeshirt, which helped my dwindling number of wearable clothes!  Unfortuneately, through excessive wearing, excessive washing and crazy sun exposure (that probably isn’t a reason, but a lot of these are from Topman, so you’re lucky if they survive a month at home… therefore I’m factoring in sun exposure!), the majority of my clothes are disintegrating, coming apart etc., so the tee-shirt was a highlight!)…

According to the ART HK 11 website…

“ART HK, confirms its position amongst the world’s leading art fairs as regional and international collectors and museum directors assemble at ART HK 11

Strong sales of work by artists from around the world including Liu Wei, Zhang Enli, Yan Pei-Ming, Jeff Koons, Andreas Gursky and Louise Bourgeois to collectors from Asia, Europe and America reconfirmed ART HK’s status as Asia’s premier art fair. The Fair, which ran from 26-29 May at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC), attracted 260 galleries from 38 countries presenting works by more than 1,000 artists – with a record numbers of visitors attending, 63,511, a 37.7% increase on 2010.”

So there you go - if you EVER get the chance to go it is well worth it!

(Click HERE to go to the website and see some of the work from this years fair)

Tuen Ng Festival

Reading through the last few entries of my time in Hong Kong, it does seem like there are a lot of bank holidays… I think most of them have just happened to have fallen while I’ve been here.  Anyway the Tuen Ng Festival is a Dragon Boat festival; the festival occurs on the 5th day of the 5th month of the lunar calendar (Monday 6th June 2011), from which the Chinese calendar is based.  The day is officially a public holiday, and is celebrated by the eating of rice dumplings “Zongzi”, drinking a wine called “Xiónghuángjiǔ”  (which you’d have a lot of difficulty saying even before you started drinking!) and racing Dragon Boats.

The festivities are held in all different places throughout Hong Kong (although not on Lamma), so Tracey, Lucas and I went to stay with Fi and Jun in Discovery Bay on Lantau Island, and stayed the Saturday and Sunday nights.  It was great because the weather was so fine, and it was just nice to do nothing (you know, after my difficult nine months of traveling the world and all!).

Jerry came to join us on the Monday, and we watched the Dragon Boats in DB (carefully avoiding the rice dumplings and strange wine).  It was really nice, and we met up with Jun’s brother Chiko, who races for Team Mushu - the Disney Team.  (He is in fact, a Dancer at Disney, and is currently training to become Tarzan.  If he wasn’t such a great guy, I’d hate him on principle.  He is, however, lovely, and it was impossible not to like him!).  I also managed to get another free tee-shirt from the girls giving out (what must have been half-pint plastic cups-worth) free cocktail ‘samples’ for you to try.  So I got a good few ‘samples’ and another item of clothing! 

I stayed another night in Discovery Bay because it was just so lovely, and got back to Lamma on the Tuesday evening.  A very good Bank Holiday weekend, consisting of a plentiful supply of sun, sea (attractive, semi-naked dragon boat men who were also Disney dancers), and free vodka.

Woodland’s Night Out

As I’ve been spending so much time working at Tracey’s School, they all agreed that I should come on their annual night out.  I was pleased to be invited but imagined it would be some kind of “lets discuss the staff meeting we’ve just had” (as the night out was on the same day as the big staff meeting, where everything for the following year was worked out).  I was, however, wrong.

We all left school at the same time, and clambered (illegally) into two taxis (there were twelve of us!), and went to a pace called Fat Angelo’s in Wan Chai.  It was a really nice Italian restaurant, where the portions of everything are HUGE.  As we were never going to eat everything, Ada (one of the Ama’s from school) had brought along plenty of empty Tupperware containers to bring home any leftovers!  There was also a free supply of bread, one of which went straight into her bag before any of the waiters could see, and it was soon replaced by a full basket.  Genius.

Well, the meal was great.  Afterwards, Tracey gave out the awards she (I) had made, and there was one each for every member of staff (excluding Tracey and I, as we’d come up with the ideas and made them!).  Then, and I can’t remember who started, so I can’t think who to blame, but someone started a game of charades.  I felt very sorry for the rest of the restaurant. Whoever go it was got up, went to the top of the table and began acting out whatever they’d been told to do, with the rest of us shouting “FILM!”, “THREE WORDS!”, “FIRST WORD!”, “FOUR SYLLABLES?” “LYING DOWN? DEAD? ASLEEP? NAP? BED? NIGHT? DARK? MOON? DEAD?”, and things to that effect. 

Half our group seemed to know what was going on, whereas Mimi, Colette, Vergie and Jessie had no clue.  We tried to explain the object of the game, and they all had a go, and did pretty well (except they seemed to chose films none of us had seen or even heard of…).  It was very successful, considering they were all playing in English, which is their second language. (Abby and Ada didn’t have a clue, and just watched us, the looks on their faces confirming that they thought we were all absolutely mad! And we are - let’s face it, who plays charades in the middle of a quiet restaurant?!)

We left pretty late, and Tracey, Jane and I (who all live in Pak Kok) got a Sampan back to Lamma, as we’d missed the last ferry, and didn’t feel like walking over the hill!

Lan Kwai Fong

Okay, so I’ve been in Hong Kong the best part of three months now, and still only been ‘out out’ once.  Pathetic, I know, but at least I’ve been out!

The night before we went out, I met up with some people who are around my age who live on Lamma - there’s not that many! - we met up at a girl called Jade’s house, and played cards and drank cheap Vodka (which smelled a bit like paint-stripper, and tasted not much better (although I don’t know what paint-stripper tastes like…)).  I got on with Jade really well, as she’s lived in Hong Kong less time than I’ve been here, and is from Australia, where I’d been, so we had lots of things in common! The drinking games we played were really good fun, but very hard when you’ve never played them before and everyone else knows the rules and you don’t!  But you just get drunk along with everyone else and you don’t really care anymore!

I walked home about 3am, so I was pretty tired on Saturday.  However, everyone else had made plans the night before to go out in Lan Kwai Fong.  So I went with everyone, feeling a bit ill and not planning on staying out late.  This plan did, of course, fail miserably!  I had a great time however, and the more I drank, the less ill I felt!

It’s pretty phenomenal coming from the Isle of Man and having just the odd bar here and there, and where you have to get a taxi to get from one to the other, to come to Lan Kwai Fong.  It’s a long street that goes up hill, and every building on both sides was a different bar.  All had neon lights outside, all had people dancing inside and standing smoking (or throwing up) outside, and different music was blaring out of each one.  No-one cared what you looked like, what you were waring, or anything about you. It was amazing. (wide-eyed realization moment over).

We went to the beer bay at the ferry pier first, then walked up to Lan Kwai.  I was wearing jeans, and it was BOILING, and everyone else was really hot too, so we went first to the Ice Bar. (Big box, made of ice.  Pretty much it!).  It was so cool though which was brilliant, until you came back out again, and the heat felt even hotter than it had before!

We went to another bar where you got Vodka jelly shots in syringes.  They were really nice, and cheap compared to drinking at home.  The orange-flavoured ones were the best, but it was only fair to try a couple of each flavour, just to make sure!  After that we went to Wan Chai and went somewhere where Jade and I drank several Jäger shots from test-tubes and then danced on the bar itself to the Grease Mega-mix (I’m not even embarrassed!).  It was great fun.  We then went back to La Kwai, had a few more Vodka syringes (just to confirm again what the best flavour was…).

Our group of six (Andy, Me, Jade, Lian, Bryce and Yolanda) had somehow split in two, so with the beauty of mobile telephonic communication, we agreed to meet at 4am at Aberdeen ferry pier.  I found a cheap Sampan and everyone clambered in.  It was the same price if there was one of you, or seven (there were seven of us - one person I didn’t recognize who was attached to someone’s lips - not sure who, had joined us!), so it was pretty good value at $150 (£12.50).  The Sampan Man (who seemed pretty drunk and steered the boat with his foot) dropped everyone else at Yung Shue Wan, and then went back on himself and dropped me (and only me) at Pak Kok.  I got home at three minutes to five (a respectable time) and woke up with a pretty impressive hangover and four test-tubes in my pocket (always the sign of a good night out!).

Work, Work, Work!

So, after months of looking for jobs, a few have attacked me all at once (Which is a good thing, don’t get me wrong!).

I had an interview at a very very weird French Bar, which was in a back street not too far from Central.  I went inside, you go down a spiral staircase to a very dark room lit with actual candle chandeliers (a real fire risk if you ask me!).  The floor was sand - like concrete covered in sand.  And all the people were French! (I’m kidding.  I mean, I’m not kidding - they were all French, but that doesn’t make it weird - I don’t have anything against French people!).  Anyway, I had an interview there to be a waiter.  We’ll see.

Kate has gone away now, so I am teaching all her classes, and some extra ones too.

I have Matthew (18) and Kazuki (13) on a Tuesday and Thursday for an hour and a half lesson.

I have two girls called Chisato (7) and Nakuri (10) on Wednesdays for an hour on ‘story writing’.

And on Friday, I have one class with Patrick (11) which is one to one.  One class with Hana (8) and Yumeko (8), and then one which, when I started teaching had three kids in it.  Since Kate has gone away, the class has increased to five!  And they are all at different abilities, which makes it extra difficult. Thats Shogo, Remi, Rina, Sayaka and another girl who I haven’t met yet!, all of whom are, I think 9.  

I have also got the first two weeks of Summer School (4th to 14th July) working at Woodland’s in Happy Valley.  (I had a proper class there the other day, and it was Jade and I.  The kids were in the Stepping Stone’s class, so they’re between two and three years old.  They were all adorable.  And I know you’re not allowed favourites (which is why I could never become a teacher!), but there’s a little boy called Shinji who is just the cutest child I have ever seen.  He’s Japanese and is just the best.  I told him to hurry up (hayaku), and whenever he looked at me he kept falling over, giggling and saying “hayaku” back to me as though it was hilarious!  He also taught me several more words in Japanese by way of, everything I said to him, he repeated back to me in Japanese!)

In other news, I have booked my flight home (“Yay!” and “Oh no, what? Already?!” in equal measure at them moment!) for Wednesday 20th July.  I’m leaving Hong Kong Airport early in the morning, and, along with the time difference, arrive in at Heathrow late at night on the same day.  18 hours in the air.  I’m going to be so cold at home - I’ve had 13 months of summer so far!  I’ve forgotten what cold feels like!

Well, the foul weather is still going strong, yet it’s 31 degrees none-the-less.  It’s too windy for an umbrella, and far to hot for a coat, so it’s looking like, go barefoot with no top, and bring a spare pair of shorts along with a top and shoes in a plastic bag, inside another one so you can keep them dry, and just resign yourself to getting soaked.  Oh, and a towel too.  Great.  Sorry this one was so long - You’ll only have to read a couple more and it’ll all be over… :(

#26: Hong Kong (from losing my wallet, to Mexican waves on the ferry!)

Day 199: Monday 9th May

I’ve already done the day, but in the evening…

I went out in Central with Simon (who hosted the Royal Wedding Party) for the evening.  It was so much fun, I had a great time.  We went to a place called “red” which (when I found it), gave a great view over Central Hong Kong and Kowloon.  It was beautiful with all the lights, and the atmosphere was great - everyone was wearing suits and rejoicing that they didn’t have to go to work tomorrow (as it was a public holiday next day)!

After we left, we went to a place to have noodles (very near the stupid restaurant that rejected me that I’m not holding any kind of grudge against…) and then went to another really nice bar called Club 71, then Time, which was right next door.  On the whole I had a great night, and managed to make the 12:30 ferry in time, enabling me to get back to Lamma!  And despite being slightly drunk, I was still able to navigate Taxi, Ferry and the walk over the hill and into bed.  Success!

Day 200: Tuesday 10th May (Public Holiday - Buddha’s Birthday)

DAY 200!!!  It’s just crazy and, despite the fear of sounding old: It’s gone SO FAST!

Anyway, public holiday, meaning no work and no school for anyone.  Hooray (not that I had work or school to go to anyway!).  Tracey, Lucas and I went with Suzie and Graham and Viv to Discovery Bay for the day.  We met up with Fi and Jun (who have the house boat - I mentioned them when I was in HK in October…) anyway - we had an amazing day!  

They’re members of the Discovery Bay Marina Club (!), so we had use of the amazing swimming pool and all the facilities there.  We had lunch in DB, then went for more swimming and ended up not leaving ‘til half nine!  But it was an amazing day which was great fun, and the best bank holiday!  The weather was beautiful (of course!) and we very much didn’t want to leave!  But, we had to, so we did!

Day 201: Wednesday 11th May

I can’t really remember anything that happened, except a minor drama involving a frog and a spider.  I went into the bathroom and two frogs appeared.  One I managed to catch and put outside, but the other one was too quick.  While I put one out, the other one made a beeline for my room.  I saw it go in, and could hear it croaking, but none of us could find it anywhere.  Getting to sleep becomes somewhat more difficult when you can hear the croaking and the squelchy noises as it moves, but not being able to see the frog you’re sharing your room with.   Anyway, there was also a spider in the bathroom which seems to have taken up residence.  Luckily it’s not that big, but it’s just too high for anyone to reach.  I felt the least the frog could have done was eat it. (We did find the frog two days later, back in the bathroom.  We put it outside.  It had still failed to eat the spider.)

Day 202: Thursday 12th May 

What started off as a good day just got increasingly worse as it went on.  I was going to meet Tamar and Anna (who I met in New Zealand).  They’re two Danish girls who are on their way back to Denmark via Hong Kong and Thailand.  They were here for a few days anyway, so I was going to meet them.  I got the ferry from Yung Shue Wan to Central at lunchtime.  Unfortunately, half way to Central, I realised I didn’t have my wallet.  This didn’t add up, because I needed my wallet to get through the barrier onto the ferry pier.  As it happens, the shorts I had on had had about as much of travelling as they could cope with.  Sporting seven holes, three of which were in three seperate pockets, everything had to be put in one pocket.  My wallet, however, being too big to fir in the only working pocket, was on my lap with my camera.  I must have obviously left it on the seat on the pier (which is hugely ironic, baring in mind I hadn’t put it in one of the useless pockets to avoid losing it in the first place…).

Anyway, on arriving into Central, I went and spoke to the office lady who was in charge of things like that.  She was very good at English, and very helpful.  Despite her friendliness, she still didn’t find my wallet.  Annoyingly, I was now stuck.

In Hong Kong, you don’t need chip and pin or signature to pay for things with a card, which is rather worrying.  I not only had lost several bank cards, but also all the money I had on me.  I therefore couldn’t afford to get ANYWHERE.  I couldn’t afford the ferry back to Lamma, I couldn’t afford the bus to anywhere…

I met Tamar and Anna, and we decided to meet up on Saturday instead.  I then went back to the lady and explained my problem.  She got me onto the ferry for free and I headed back to Yung Shue Wan.  I tried to explain to the man there what my problem was.  He was very poor at English, and kept looking at me blankly saying “ticket?”.  I decided to go and look for myself, vaulting the barrier and searching the pier.  My wallet wasn’t there.  

Then I had to walk back to Tracey’s, telephone New Zealand to cancel my ASB Bank card, and then wait around for the rest of the UK to be awake, so I could phone to cancel my Isle of Man Bank cards.  (I realise that there is a 24 hour number for these sorts of things.  But the ‘useful numbers’ thing you’re probably s’posed to put together before you go travelling?  Yeah, I didn’t have one.  So I had to ring someone who had a ‘phone-book, and was able to find the number for me. )

All that done, I spoke again to my parents and John and Dale in NZ, asking if they could send my bank cards to me in Hong Kong.  The day was, it was fair to say, somewhat ruined.  I appreciate how lucky I am to have gotten this far without losing anything of much significance, and realistically, how lucky I was to lose my wallet not my passport or camera. Still, it does put something of a downer on an otherwise good day!

Day 203: Friday 13th May 

As I had work in the afternoon, and I needed to go to the police station to report my wallet, I went to work with Tracey for the morning, amidst thunderstorms and torrential rain!  I went to the Police station in Happy Valley which is less than five minutes walk away.  I filed a report to the lady police officer, who made me write down certain words she didn’t understand.  The report doesn’t really relate to my wallet!

Anyway, that afternoon,  I went to Causeway Bay for work.  Kate was caught in traffic, so I had to start the lesson by myself (baby steps!). It was good and went well.  All three lessons went well, and the Kids have started to remember my name now!

Day 204: Saturday 14th May

I spent the day with Tamar and Anna.  We went to Ocean Park, which is a theme park on Hong Kong Island with everything from rides to a pretty awesome aquarium.  The park is built on one side of the hill, and you get a cable car over to the other side, where all the rides are (unless you’d rather take the stairs and walk it… It’s only expected to take four hours!).  It was both good and bad in equal measure.  It was very badly sign-posted, and everything was miles apart, so it was pretty difficult to get to the places you wanted to go, and there was a lot of walking involved (It’s a hard life, eh?!).  But it was a good day, and nice to see them again.  They’re off to Thailand for 3 weeks, and then come back to HK for a day or two before going back to Denmark, so I’ll hopefully meet up with them then too.

At Ocean park we went on several roller-coasters which, seeing as I’m not very well educated in the roller-coaster world, I thought were great fun (if not a little bit scary!).  The rides were, for the most part good, and despite the rain, we had a good day out!

When I came back to Lamma after our day out, and the girls went back to their room in Kowloon, I went up to Suzy and Grahams (who live up in Tai Peng, which basically means everything in every direction from there house is downhill!), where Tracey and a few other people were having a meal and drinks and stuff.  Tracey and I left at midnight and walked the long walk back to Pak Kok (which always seem like a lot further than it actually is… which is not very far!).

Day 205: Sunday 15th May

Dragon boat day!  

The “Lamma 500” is an annual dragon boat festival held on Power Station Beach on Lamma.  It wasn’t a hot hot day, so it was perfect weather for sitting on the beach.  There were tents without walls (gazebos?) set up all along the top of the beach, and each one was a different dragon boat team.  There were loads of teams, and loads of races and, as you would expect, loads of dragon boats.  The highlight for me was, however, the “eye-candy” aspect of the event.

It was great fun, swimming in the sea, lying on the beach, trying to pay attention to the racing through the alcohol that was being copiously consumed…  A great event that was brilliantly organized.  We came home having caught the sun (I never think to put sun-cream on when it’s cloudy and trying it’s best to rain, but in Hong Kong, it is always necessary (apparently!)) and with seven free hats and eight stubby holders…  Free stuff is still, and always will be, the best stuff!

(As a side note (if you’re interested) the most attractive team was called ‘Mushu’.  Aside from being very beautiful, they were also the male dancers who worked at Disney Land, Hong Kong (!!).  I realize this is of very little interest to most people, but the fact that we were sitting, coincidentally of course, right next to their tent was the highlight of the day!  It was a shame they lost every single race they were in… but I guess you can’t have everything!)

Days 206 to 210: Monday 16th to Friday 20th May

I spent the majority of the week helping at Woodlands Pre-school in Happy Valley (Tracey’s work).  It’s really good fun and, despite the fact they’re all crazy, I love it!  Their current theme is “beach, sea and underwater”.  I have been the “prep boy”, preparing (I’ve only just realised where the word prep actually comes from…!) activities and what-have-you for summer school.  This involves activities such as drawing 50 submarines and cutting out 70 octopus bodies and, you guessed it, the 560 legs required to go with the octopus!  The attaching is the activity for the kids (who are only just over two years old, to give them their due!), meaning someone has to do the cutting out.  ME.  Anyway, I am ‘on-hand’ for any sea-themed cutting out/drawing.

On Thursday I had my first lesson (at work work) with the two boys who are 17/18 (scary much?!) called Matthew and Kazouki (totally guessing with the spelling…).  They were really nice though, and it wasn’t half as scary as I thought it would be!  They found the fact that I live on the Isle of Man “amazing” and couldn’t quite fathom the lack of sky-scrapers and more grass than concrete!  

Friday was also work work.  I took more of an active part in leading the lessons, and Kate took something of a back seat.  This gave me a bit of a chance to get to grips with actually teach them.  It went pretty well, I thought.

After work, I was going to meet Tracey and Gad (one of Tracey’s other friends who used to live on Lamma, and now lives in Wan Chai.  He’s 18 (I think) and I never got to meet him properly when I was here last time, so it was a good chance to catch up and get to know him!).  I asked Kate is she wanted to come along for dinner too, and we both met Tracey and Gad at a place in Central.  It was a very British fish n’ chip shop, and it was pretty amazing to have proper, Gran-style chips.  (As a side note, as nice as Asian food is, I do miss having dinner at Grans, as her chips are by far the best.  Even the “best ‘fush and chup’ shop in the world” (in New Zealand) ‘s chips weren’t a patch on Grans… anyway, I digress - these chips were pretty close though…) We also consumed a bottle of wine before even eating dinner, and then bought three enormous sombreros (one yellow, one green and one pink), as Nickie was having a Mexican party on Sunday.

Gad then had to go, and Tracey, Kate and I made our way to the ferry pier to head back to Lamma.  We had a drink on the pier bar where a woman who looked the spitting (asian) image of Maria Sharapova (seriously) served us the wrong drinks twice.

The ferry journey back was… eventful.  (If I haven’t mentioned it before, Tracey is a VERY VERY FUN PERSON. Seriously, she’s great.)  As we were equipped with Sombreros, I should have expected it…  Well, I went to the toiled, and when I came back (after like TWO minutes!), Trace was standing at the front, wearing a Sombrero (having given the other two out to random ferry-goers), explaining how the Mexican wave was going to work.  In fairness, everyone seemed up for it, and it was great!  The whole upstairs of the ferry was in Mexican wave mode, and anyone who wasn’t was singled out and told to join in (or go downstairs!).  Almost everyone did, and everyone left the ferry feeling rather more high-spirited than before.  

We (that is to say Kate, Tracey and myself (not to mention half the ferry after Tracey’s promise of “free tequila” - a tad too far!) were heading to Cath’s bar in Yung Shue Wan for Claire Furness’ birthday (Lian’s mum?  Sorry, there are loads of names - just go with it!).

It was a good night and I managed to get pretty drunk without buying one drink!  (Mainly thanks to Kate and a guy I didn’t know…).  I met a few people my age too, a guy called Josh, and another guy called Srivas (Gad’s brother).  Tracey went home at 1am, and I left with Kate at 3.  I got home and felt pretty good the next morning…. not bad!  9I’d also like to point out that, despite the fact that the Sombrero’s did the rounds and were worn by everyone at least once, they did make it home in one piece!)

Day 211: Saturday 21st May

A pretty easy day on the whole.  The sun WASN’T shining, and we didn’t do too much.  I lay in (I did get in at three, after all!), and then walked to the Village (Yung Shue Wan) to meet Tracey and have lunch.  Just after we left the Man Kee to walk back over the hill to Pak Kok, the heavens opened, and we arrived looking as though we had just climbed out of a swimming pool.  Going out after that was pretty much out of the question.  A thoroughly rainy day!!

Day 212: Sunday 22nd May

The day of Nickie’s Mexican party dawned dull and wet.  She had invited 30 people and decided NOT to cancel. Thus, Tracey and I went round and spent the morning fashioning what turned out to be a very Mexican-styleé shelter.  It consisted of rolls of blue and white striped tarpaulin, bamboo poles, rope, a stepladder, a rusty clothes rack, several breeze-blocks, more rope, two old brooms and more cable-ties than you can shake a stick at.  It worked…. for about twenty minutes.  we were VERY impressed with ourselves, and nothing shatters your sense of achievement and pride like a big gust of wind that blows the step ladder off the wall it was precariously balancing on and almost ruining the whole thing. Luckily a dozen or so more cable ties, a few bricks and a bit more rope (for good measure) later, it was all sturdy.  Well, sturdy enough.

The party was a huge success.  Everyone came and brought something, be it rood, alcohol, or a bit more rope to add extra security to the expert rain shield.  Sangria was consumed by almost everyone and, once that ran out, A lady called Helen (who was a t the Royal Wedding Party) and Tay (joint host of the Royal Wedding Party - Simon’s boyfriend) decided to make Margaritas.  This was VERY dangerous.  They got stronger and stronger and then even stronger, until it was almost straight tequila.  When the Margarita mix ran out, it WAS straight tequila…  Also, the salt to go around the rim of the glass?  The only salt available was rock salt (the chunky variety), and made the whole experience a bit more Mexican.  (Tay and Helen also experimented by adding strawberries into the margarita mix - DO IT - it’s amazing…)

Mid afternoon, the festivities were punctured by the enormous tree outside Nickie’s house falling over.  It wasn’t even windy anymore.  It just decided it had had enough of life and uprooted itself.  It fell out of the blue, and blocking the exit - it seemed like we might be stuck for a good few weeks - good job there was a lot of food (and tequila, of course!) to keep us going - it really was a huge tree!

The fire brigade were called, and everyone carried on drinking, watching the tree, as though expecting it to do something else exciting.  It didn’t.  (A quick note about the Lamma fire brigade:  The fire station is situated between Yung Shue Wan and Tai Peng.  They firemen aren’t retained, so are always there.  That is their permanent job.  They never seem, however, to have anything to do.  The fire-station is also equipped with a Volleyball court. The fireman, with nothing to do ever, have a lot of time to play and are, thus, very good. (The only downside is that they play in their underwear.  They are not the type of people anyone would really want to watch playing Volleyball in their underwear.  That picture of a buff, toned guy you have in your head?  Maybe late twenties?  Yeah, add a good forty years, and twelve stone to that guy.  There, you have it. Anyway…)  As they had been called out, they were all very excited, and they all came to the scene of the accident.

I realize I’ve bigged up the tree, but it was only a tree and no-one had been hurt.  None-the-less, all 10 (TEN!) of them came on their Quad Bikes (the smallest fire-engines in the world - genuinely - they’re in the Guinness book of records; look it up.  Interestingly, this is because the ‘roads’ on Lamma are only perhaps a yard wide?!) and proceeded to stand around surveying the scene.  For THREE HOURS.  Then they all decided that it was time to do something.  The most popular idea was to move the tree.  So, with one chain-saw (as they only had one) they began, painstakingly slowly, to chop up the tree and throw it to the side of the road.  If you walk past Nickie’s house now, there is just a huge pile of tree on the opposite side of the lane, just thrown into the undergrowth.  Professional!

Anyway, the party (tree drama and all) was a success.  It, apparently, went on well into the night, but Tracey left at four, I left at five and Jerry at six.  Mexican Fun was had all round.  (Oh, it was also supposed to be a costume party, but the only Mexican-ness was our three sombreros, that were passed around and worn by everyone!)

Days 213 - 215: Monday 23rd to Wednesday 25th May

Another week (so far) of cutting out starfish, sharks, and scuba-divers, and two of Tracey’s Teachers - Bettina and Gasha - have decided I am as much of a perfectionist and just as anal as they are.  Hooray - acceptance!  Not much else has happened besides the odd SHOCKING storm that makes the house shudder, with lightening that lights up the whole house.  It did feel a little bit like the world was going to end… but it didn’t.  And then the sun came out.  Panic over! 

I apologize that this one has been so long… I have no excuse, just slackness…!  Hope you made it to the end!  If you did, congratulations, you deserve a chocolate biscuit… As I managed to writ it all in one sitting, I think I deserve a whole packet! :)

#25: Hong Kong (and 199 days of traveling…)

Days 191 - 199: Sunday 1st to Monday 9th May

I can’t believe it’s May already!  It’s crazy.  Time really does fly when you’re enjoying yourself!  I’ve been in Hong Kong for over a month, and it feels like I only just got here!  It’s crazy…  It is noticeably getting hotter, however, as summer really seems to be setting in with no sign of going anywhere…  It’s really nice to have hot weather, but it’s also horribly humid - and it;s not technically summer yet!  I’m genuinely quite surprised I don’t yet have Malaria, as I have been bitten by SO MANY mosquitos… I seem to attract them from miles around!

Anyway, what have I been doing…

I did a few days work for Brian and Moyreen, another couple who live in Pak Kok.  They were going away to Macao for a week and wanted their Books, DVD’s and CD’s cataloging… which I did.  They seriously have more DVD’s than anyone I have ever known.  There were hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of them.  The only problem is, when I’ve never heard of/seen the film and don’t know the genre (yes, they wanted them ordered by genre!) I can’t read the back to see what it’s about because it’s all in Cantonese or Mandarin!  So after a lot of guess work that came from deciding whether the picture on the front looked thrilling or funny etc, They were genre-fied and then alphabetised and now they have a very tidy DVD and book collection (although they’ll never be able to find anything because of my ineptitude at guessing the genres!  They were pleased none-the-less, and I’m slightly closer to being able to afford to come home!

 I also had my first session at the Language School.  Although Kate hasn’t gone away yet, and isn’t going for a while, we agreed that it would be better for me to go in and meet the kids and have a look at how it all works (as I’ve never taught anyone a foreign language before!).

It was really interesting and really good fun!  The kids were all really nice and really adorable:

The first lesson was one boy on his own named Patrick, who was Cantonese.  He’s 9 (I think) and very hesitant.  He’s really good when he’s not thinking about it, but when he thinks about actually having to say something specific, he panics and gets it wrong.  But he was good and corrected my grammar once or twice (pretty embarrassing when ANY nine year old corrects your grammar, but when it’s a child who doesn’t natively speak your language… anyway, we did nouns, verbs, adjectives and the ones no-one except english teachers seem to know (like pro-nouns!)

Second was two six year old Japanese girls called Hana and Yumeko.  They were both really sweet and checked everything with each other in Japanese, before saying anything in English.  They were really advanced with their reading - as good if not better as your average english six year old…  We  were working on telling the time, and the whole lesson was devoted to seeing how many times we could do a certain thing in sixty seconds. Everything from writing your name, putting your socks on and taking them off again and reciting the alphabet as many times as possible.  I joined in and standing up and sitting down 24 times in one minute, with two small Japanese children shouting “Faster! Faster!”, and Kate stood with a stopwatch helpless with laughter is harder than it looks…  

The third lesson was three children, all Japanese and all aged seven: two girls, Remi and Rani and a boy called Shogo.  Shogo was the most adorable child ever, and I really wanted to steal him.  He wasn’t that good at English, but genuinely seemed like he wanted to learn, and wasn’t afraid of trying.  It was a good lesson and we did parts of the body, with a boys (Shogo and I) versus the girls (Kate, Remi and Rani) in a variety of different games.

It was great fun, and I’m in love with all the kids already!  After the lesson had finished Mika (the lady who owns the school) gave me a ‘Lai See’.  Lai See is a red envelope or red packet, and translates as ‘Lucky Money’ (I think).  The red symbolizes good luck and is supposed to ward off evil spirits.  Usually given at Chinese New Year, the red packets contain ‘lucky money’ and are given by married couples to relatives or employees who are single.  This brings luck to the single person who has received the packet, and blesses the marriage of the couple giving the money (newly wedded couples are expected to be extremely generous with the amount they give in the red packets, so as to be blessed for a blissful marriage (this obviously wasn’t thought through, as the fact that they’ve just paid for an enormous wedding isn’t taken into account!))

Also, the amount of money in the envelope, usually ends with an even digit (in accordance with Chinese beliefs), as odd-number amounts are associated with funerals.  Money is also not to be given in fours, or the number four shouldn’t appear in the amount (40, 400, 44 etc) as the pronunciation of the word ‘four’ is the same as the word for ‘death’, and signifies very bad luck for Chinese.  

Isn’t that interesting?!  Well, aside from the “sorry you’re single” aspect of the red packet, they are also used to deliver payments for a favourable service to Lion Dance performers, doctors and teachers.  So I’m hoping it’s a “Thank you for putting your socks on and off 35 times in one minute” rather than, “Here; sorry you’re still single”.  But it was still a very generous gesture and not something I was expecting.

Aside from all that, the weekend has been gorgeous weather and I’ve been swimming in the sea both days!  Unfortunately, the first time I stood on (in the water) what I think was a piece of glass.  It’s right on the ball of my foot and makes walking both difficult and painful.  It also meant that when we went to the beach on sunday I had to wear one sock (to avoid getting sand in it) and basically looked absolutely ridiculous, especially coming out of the water wearing swimming shorts and one sock!  Even I was judging me!

Well that’s me done, really…  199 days of traveling behind me…

#24: Hong Kong (more job hunting and being a royalist!)

Days 180 - 190: Thursday 21st to Saturday 30th April

I’ve decided to group all the days together again, and for the same reason as last time…

The job-hunting aspect of things has still been the main theme of the last couple of weeks.  It looked up momentarily when I had an interview at an Italian Restaurant on Hong Kong Island (in Central) called “Borolo”. I spoke to someone who worked there who, in turn, spoke to the boss (apparently)…  He was told I had no visa, I was only here for a few months, but I did have experience and a reference blah blah blah…

He told me that I should come in and see him the next day.  Which I did, tentatively, reference clutched in hand.  On time (pretty amazing considering I got lost!).  I walked into the restaurant and asked if I could speak to the manager please.  The man behind the bar pointed at an Italian man at the far side of the restaurant.  I went over to him.  ”Hello, my name is Joe Partington, I spoke to one of your employees on the phone yesterday, who said you had three vacancies.  I was told that I could come in and speak to you today about…”  He took my reference, holding up a hand.  I stopped talking.  Not having looked at the reference once, he looked me up and down, handed the reference back and shook his head.  He turned and walked away.  

I tried to be persistent, but he just said “no, sorry” not looking remotely sorry at all.  I’m not totally convinced that it was an ‘interview’, as he asked me no questions, didn’t look at my reference, and only said two words of rejection.  I was shocked more than anything that I was so quickly sent away, as I had been inside the restaurant less than one minute.  There wasn’t really anything I could do, as he had just gone through a staff only door.  I didn’t think following him and demanding anything was going to get me any further, so I left, looking forlorn. 

I half-heartedly went into any other Italian restaurants I walked past on the way back to the tram, but all three said “no thank you” in a nice, friendly sort of way.  So, to sum up, if you get a chance to go to “Borolo” restaurant in Hong Kong, don’t would be my advice.  Just sayin’…

Anyway, so the only interview I had was not only a failure, but was barely a conversation, let alone anything else, and certainly not the question-and-answer session I had been expecting.  Ah well, I had come to the conclusion that I was unemployable.  

HOWEVER, on Friday (29th) I had another interview at a place called “Speakeasy”, a place where Tracey’s friend Kate works.  It’s a language school that’s about the size of a small cupboard-under-the-stairs sort of area with an even tinier (obviously) room inside it for the lessons that resembled a shoe box in roominess…

Anyway, I went along with Kate and spoke to the lady who runs it called Mika.  She was very nice, although very shy.  Apparently, Kate is going away for six weeks or so and needs someone to cover her lessons.  So I had an interview which went very well (with questions and everything).  She went through my CV and highlighted the bits that she thought were ‘beneficial for the job’.  In conclusion, she thought it would be perfect, she was willing to pay me in cash, she was also going to look into getting me more students who want extra practice and more hours, as well as summer school programmes.  She liked my miss-matched socks (you had to take your shoes off and leave them outside before going inside, as it was a Japanese school), told me that I looked “so so young” (coming from a woman who looks about twelve) and told me she’s call me sometime.

So HORAY, I got a job!  I don’t think it’s going to start until June, but still it’s a success, worth at least three exclamation marks!!!

Also on Friday the 29th was, of course, the Royal wedding.  Not a public holiday in Hong Kong, but a reason to drink none-the-less.  Lucas was at a friends house, and Jerry wasn’t feeling the celebrations, but Tracey and I went to Simon and Tay Her’s flat in Central for a party.  Crown/tiara wearing was compulsory, so I had made Tracey a pretty amazing tiara from blue white and red sequins.  It took me literally hours (three to be precise), and no words can quite describe how amazing it was - The Queen herself would have worn it, had I just been there to make her one…

Anyway, we watched the excitement unfold from 4pm (HK time), criticizing the outfits (the HATS) and just having a good time.  There were also red, white and blue feather boas flying ‘round everywhere!  There were cucumber sandwiches (white bread, no crusts), prawn cocktail and bangers ‘n’ mash (courtesy of Simon) to add to the ‘Britishness’ of it all, not to mention plenty of alcohol. We got the 11:30 ferry back to Lamma, and I woke up without even a trace of a hangover.  It was a brilliant night and we all had good fun.

Aside from all that excitement, I decided to (try to) learn Cantonese.  I can so far count to ten, and, in theory, ninety nine (if I’m not under too much pressure.  When we’re in a shop and the person serving us says the amount Tracey puts me on the spot, getting me to work out how much it is and how much change we should get when there’s a queue of Chinese people behind us who are almost definitely in a rush, I can’t do it… but I’m getting better!)  I can also say “Thank you”, “Good Morning”, the days of the week, and “iced coffee”.  So almost fluent, then!

Well that’s me done.  I would go outside now, but it’s about 98% humidity, so I’m going to go and stand in front of the open door of the fridge! 

#23: Hong Kong (and Job Hunting)

Days 167 - 179: Friday 8th to Wednesday 20th April

I’ve decided to group all the days together, because although I’ve done quite a lot, It’s all been a bit of a blur.  A very enjoyable blur, but I can’t remember what happened on what days, so I’m just going to make a sort of list of everything I’ve done!  It’s not really in any order, but here goes…

First of all, Job Hunting.

Initially, I decided that it would be nice to get a job when I came back to Hong Kong.  The more I travelled, however, I realised that I needed one more than I wanted one.  So I arrived in Hong Kong with the intention of getting a job, and earing some money (enough to get me back home, at least!) There are, however, certain issues surrounding my ‘employability’…

Unfortunately, since Hong Kong is no longer British and has become part of China, a visa is required by anyone who is not a resident, in order to be legally employed.  Originally, pre-1997, you could come to Hong Kong on a British passport and work without needing a visa.  Now, however, visas are necessary.  The only issue with this, is you can’t get one.  The only way you can, is if a company sponsors you and fills in all the paperwork required.  As I have no-such company, I can’t get a visa.  A rather major hurdle fairly early on in the job-hunting - I can only work illegally.  Great.

So, after deciding breaking the law was the only way forward, I tried applying for jobs.  I say applying for jobs… I went round to all the cafe’s and bars on Lamma Island, asking if anyone had any work.  No-one was going to employ me, it seemed, because as of the first of May 2011, a minimum wage law is being introduced in Hong Kong for the first time.  Therefore, there will be lots of ‘important looking people in uniforms’ going around everywhere to check that everyone is being paid correctly etc.  The same uniformed people are also incharge of deporting illegal workers - people like me.  So anyone I worked for would lose their license and be heavily fined if they were caught - so, not surprisingly, no-one is willing to take the risk!  If the bars and places to eat on Lamma aren’t willing to employ me (and they are less likely to be quite as rule-conscious than places like Hong Kong Island, Kowloon or the New Territories) then I have no chance anywhere else!

So, instead of sticking with work I know how to do (carrying plates from the kitchen to a table), I needed to think of something else I can also do.  Sadly I can’t speak Cantonese or Mandarin (potentially problematic when trying to work in China!), but I can speak English.  Everyone in Hong Kong (who is Chinese) wants to be able to speak English (apparently), so there is a pretty high demand for tutors for kids and grown-ups alike.  Parents who want their child to speak english start tutoring as early as 2 years 8 months… so roughly three!  Well, I would rather teach children than adults, as not many three year olds would ask (difficult) questions about semi-colons and sentence structure! (Let’s pretend I’m not going to study English at Uni!).

Therfore, my nationality and ‘mother tongue’ (things that tend to just be formalities and taken for granted in the UK) have been bumped up to the very top of my CV, more important and higher than my name even, and in big letters!  I’ve never really taken my being British, white-skinned and the ability to speak fluent Englsih to be much of a ‘skill’, but it’s “what people want” apparently.  If a language school has a white face (even my gormless white face) wandering around looking as though I belong, parents are more likely to be impressed, and want their children to go to that school.  Crazy, I know, but true.  And if that will get me a job, then hoorah for that idea.

Anyway, I have applied for dozens of jobs in language schools all around Hong Kong, and people requesting private tutors to come and theach their children at home.  I have sent my in-your-face British-nationality CV to everyone I can think of!  I have two main webistes called AsiaExpat. and GumTree that I was advised to use, and am reasonably hopeful…  The other main issue is that I’m here for three months.  Whenever anyone hears that or asks me when I’m leaving, they always say “Oh wow, that’s ages”… and although it is, why would anyone hire a language tutor for two or three months?!  It doesn’t make sense, but oh well - someone might!

So I have applied to every language school I could find (except the “Christian International Pre-School” who, in their advert, were seeking a National English Speaker who shared their love for “Teaching children about life through the word of Our Lord, Jesus Christ”, and was happy to read “Bible Stories” to teach the children how to be “Proper and good”…  I doubt they’d think I was an…er… ‘appropriate’ applicant anyway, but I didn’t bother applying, even though an interview might have been amusing!).

Whilst waiting to be rejected as a tutor, I am also doing ‘manual work’ for some of Tracey’s friends on Lamma (I know - Me?  Manual work?  I may as well be preaching to kids about Jesus!) But yeah, it’s money, and I need it - so I’m all for it!

Aside from Job Hunting, I have had a few snake dramas and a spider incident…  I have been staying at Tracey’s friend Nickie’s house (also in Pak Kok) while she was away in Mexico, and while Tracey’s Dad was staying with Tracey.  I had to walk to Nickies each night, in the dark, from Traceys.  Prior to Hong Kong I have never really seen a snake much, and only touched one when Lucas sneaked up behind me and draped his snakle (that goes by the name of “Gorgeous”?!) over my shoulders without any warning and ran away, leaving it to coil pretty quickly and tightly round my neck and down on the inside of my tee shirt.  Other than that incident when I was being both tickled and strangled by the snake at the same time and trying to keep calm and not run around in panic because it was trying to kill me, I have never really had any contact.  I had seen a snake on the paths on Lamma (as there are no roads, remember) twice before, once in the light, and once in the dark - both within the last week.  One evening, however, I was walking to Nickies in bare feet and I stepped on a snake.  Foolishly, I stopped and wondered what it was I had stepped on, as I had never felt anything like it before,  I looked down and got out my phone to shine a light on it, when it moved and slid off the path into the undergrowth.  I ran, figuring it would be pretty pissed off at being stepped on and then blinded by some tourist… 

Anyway, I survived and am not sure if I am more or less scared of snakes… but I’m certainly not in a hurry to come into contact with another one… especially not Lucas’ one which feels you up inappropriately, gets comfortable ‘round your neck and will not let go…  The spider incident was luckily an outside one, much the same as the “getting close to see what it was” snake drama. Luckily I didn’t get too cose, and it wasn’t too big, but I ran all the way to Traceys without stopping none-the-less - no more bending down and investigating what things are - just carry on walking, and assume it doesn’t want to hurt you…!

In other news, I have gotten drunk once, had one pretty epic hangover to prove it, spent a lot of time at work with Tracey, filing health and registration forms for kids who are starting the school in the next few months, and the ones who are changing classes - so basically, everyone!  It’s interesting, and they all have great names, like ‘Audrey Ka Hei Won Chow’, ‘Rishi Quig Yan Chang’, ‘Wisdom Het Chit Sze Ng’… and the best one by FAR, ‘Skooby Woo’. (I’d like to point that they are all real children - I’ve not made them up!). 

The weather’s been great, and I’ve loved it so far - bring on the next few months! (but not too quickly, please!)

#22: Hong Kong Again! (via Malaysia)

Days 161 and 162: Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd April

So, the day of leaving Australia finally came.  As I was at Kathy’s house, I didn’t have to leave until quite a bit later, as they live so close tot he airport.  The previous night (I’m still blaming the Lychee liqueur) had cause a substantial hangover, therefore the morning was spent nursing my head.  Sam was at Scuba Diving lessons and Kathy had gone away with Jim and Sharon.

I spent the day taking stuff out and putting it back in my bag, double and triple checking I had the correct pieces of paper to check in with, checking I had the time, day, month and year all correct and that my passport hadn’t some how vanished since I last checked it five minutes before. I rang the Malaysian Embassy in Australia to double check I didn’t need a visa for Malaysia if I was only stopping between flights.  I rang the Hong Kong Embassy to check I was allowed in without anything Visa-related. All was well.  THIS TIME, I wasn’t going to have any major airport dramas.

At 5:30, Alex gave me a lift to the International Airport.  I was four hours early (through choice) and I waved goodbye and said, a rather awkward, “Okay, so… I’ll see you in a, err… few years then, yeah?  Thanks, Bye!”.  I lined up with all the other super keen people who were queueing at the check in desks an hour before they opened.  I got checked in and it all went smoothly (except for the woman who started crying when she was told her flight had been the day before, and wasn’t with Malaysia airways…).  I went through customs, security and bomb-screening (they always pick me - always!) without any hassle, and then waited in the departure lounge for two hours.  I was pleased to be two hours early though, because I knew I wasn’t going to miss the ‘plane, and that was all that was important!

On the ‘plane (I was flying with Malaysia Airways) I was sat next to a very nice Malaysian Family who spoke no english except “yes” and “thank you”.  The ‘meal’ on the ‘plain was Omelette.  Eggs in all forms make me want to be sick, so I refrained and just had the bread roll.  I did ask if I could have another one.  The answer was no, there weren’t enough.  So he gave me an extra packet of peanuts instead. So, instead of eating, I drank alcohol.  Wine, to be more specific.  Several glasses of wine.  It still didn’t help me go to sleep.  I can not sleep during flights, no matter how hard I try!

Anyway, I read for a while, but then all the lights went off so people could sleep.  I put my light on, but the Mother of the family next to me leaned over me and switched it off on my armrest with a sleepy, “Yes, Thank you”.  So, I watched a film instead.  I watched “Marley and Me”.  Now although I love Jennifer Aniston, I don’t like dogs very much.  The film made me cry none-the-less, and it wasn’t even really that sad.  The Malaysian lady, who had woken up and turned her own light on, handed me a tissue.

I then passed the time by colouring in with the little girl sat on her mothers knee next to me; I taught her the words ‘snake’, ‘cat’, ‘cow’ and ‘apple’.  When we got off the flight it was 3:05 am Malaysia time.  We got off and everyone went there own ways.  I was the only one waiting at gate 17b.  There was, after a while, no-one else around except me and a cleaning lady.  Bizarrely the poorly named ‘lounge’ area had nothing to sit on.  No chairs, no benches, no nothing.  Just the floor.  Which was made of granite and wasn’t the most comfortable.  So I awkwardly lay on the stone floor for roughly eight hours.  I slept for a grand total of 16 minutes, and woke up when the cleaner hit my legs with the mop “accidentally”.

On the next leg of the journey I was not surprisingly tired, but again, not able to sleep.  I was sat next to a man who was Chinese, who slept for most of the way.  Unfortunately in my case ‘breakfast’ was regular omelette or curry omelette.  I again opted out but had a roll.  and some more alcohol (I should be a bit abashed, as it was 9 am in the morning, but I’m not - not even a little bit!).  

I then watched the film “My Sister’s Keeper”.  As anyone who has seen it/read the book, it was not a wise choice.  It was so horrifically sad, that I was genuinely inconsolable for the whole thing after about 15 minutes in.  When it finally finished I was absolutely exhausted and felt so emotionally drained.  I realize I sound very dramatic about the whole thing, but this was after two tiny bread rolls, six glasses of wine and no sleep for the last 26 hours, so I’m allowed!

Anyway, got off the plane, got my luggage (I tend to worry that it might not make it when it has to change fights in the middle by itself…).  Went through customs, immigration, changed the money I had from Australian Dollars to Hong Kong Dollars, and got the airport express train to Hong Kong Island, where Tracey met me.

It was so nice to see her again, and just be back in Hong Kong.  We then got the ferry back to Lamma Island from Central, then went to Sri Lanka Day, which was being celebrated in Yung Shue Wan.  After a while we got the ferry from Yung Shue Wan round to Pak Kok Village (as I didn’t feel like walking over the hill with my bag which was exactly 3 stone (19.3 kg))

We got  back to Tracey and Jerry’s house and I think I fell asleep not long after, I was so tired!

Day 163: Monday 4th April

It was just nice to wake up somewhere I knew and was comfortable with.  Lucas was off school for the day, as Tuesday was a bank holiday, so the schools were closed.  We just did not much in the morning, Lucas and I went to Mrs. Chan’s for noodles at lunch time (the best noodles ever), and then I got the Ferry to Aberdeen (mainland HK) to get a sim card for my phone in the afternoon.  I was pretty happy that I could remember my way ‘round and knew where I was going, even if only vaguely!  

I got back to Pak Kok and Tracey came home not long after, as she’d been at work.  Everyone was pretty happy that it was a bank holiday on Tuesday, meaning no work and no school!

Day 164: Tuesday 5th April - Ching Ming festival, Public Holiday

Ching Ming is a traditional Chinese festival were families flock to the graveyards of their ancestors to pay their respects and make offerings such as meat, flowers and (paper) money.  Because of this, it’s a bank holiday throughout all of Hong Kong and China.  In the morning, Tracey and I walked over the hill into Yung Shue Wan to pick up some extra groceries and stuff, and there were people EVERYWHERE!  There were lots of people who come over to Lamma specially to visit grave sites of relitives and every other person you saw was carrying a whole roast pig!

Tracey and Jerry decided to have a party come BBQ as everyone was off work. It was nice, and there were lots of people there who I didn’t really know, and somehow (unintentionally) avoided getting introduced to! It was a beautiful sunny day though, and nice to see certain people I knew and met up with from last time I was here.  On the whole a very nice day :)

Day 165: Wednesday 6th April

As I currently don’t have a job (yet), I was going to work with Tracey at her pre-school, just for some experience and because it’s something to keep me busy.  I went in in the morning by myself (I never cease to amaze myself! (kidding!)) and managed to get from Pak Kok on Lamma, to Happy Valley (where the school is).  I was pretty impressed with myself that I remembered how to do it and where to go and everything!  (Not that amazing, I know, but I’m easily amused!)

I did a variety of things throughout the day, including a rather messy sticky-backed-plastic incident and making the lady in the stationary shop bring out from the back room all the folders they had in stock because I needed six the same colour (don’t blame me, I had just been given the orders!).  In the end she found six lime green ones (nice). I also bought myself an Octopus Card, something everyone in Hong Kong seems to have.  You pay for the bus with it, for the tram, the train - everything.  You just brush you wallet, coat, bag (wherever your card is) up against the machine getting on each mode of transport and it deducts the stupidly cheap fare. (You can get the tram from one end of HK to the other and back, and it will cost you the equivalent of 18p.  It crazy (but in a good way!).

Tracey and I left school later than she normally leaves, and missed the 5:40 ferry, so we went and had won-ton noodles in Aberdeen before catching the 7:15 ferry back to Pak Kok.

Day 166: Thursday 7th April 

Today, I was planning on going to school with Tracey, but she has something on and didn’t really need my help.  It is however, a glorious day, so I’m going to abruptly end this without really finishing it off, and go and do something outside - it’s far too nice to be indoors! :)

#21: New Zealand (and Rotorua, and then back to Australia!)

Day’s 146 to 158: Friday 18th March to Wednesday 30th March

As I had my flight to Hong Kong booked, I had to find something to do with the two weeks between coming back from Melbourne and leaving for Hong Kong. As Hostel accommodation in Sydney was so expensive, not to mention the cost of food, I didn’t much feel like kicking ‘round there for a few weeks. I also had exhausted the ‘things to do’ aspect of Sydney, and therefore decided it would be both cheaper and more enjoyable to go back to New Zealand for two weeks. So I did.

I had a really enjoyable time in Auckland, not really doing much, but very enjoyable none-the-less! I did spend a few days down in Rotorua (Tuesday 22nd, Wednesday 23rd and Thursday 24th) with a guy called Herbie. (Remember the bar man who gave me the dreaded tab when we went there with Kiwi Experience? Well, he was ‘repaying me’ for the tab issue by letting me stay with him. And not one to turn down free accommodation, I agreed…)

It was a really fun few days, and we had a great time. I travelled down on the Naked Bus, and when I got there he met me and took me to his house. That evening we went to the Cinema (to see “I am number four” - highly recommend it) and then went and met up with some of his friends at the bar. As he works in the bar, all the drinks were free, for me as well - score!

We were there until after it closed (they all had a set of keys, so they just locked up when we left) and then we walked a few people home before going back to his. We got back in about four and decided (for some reason) to watch a film. We did, and ended up going to bed at 7am.

We got up at 2pm (later that day), and Herbie took me all ‘round the sites of Rotorua (The thermal parks, the lake, the government gardens) which was really interesting, as we’d only spent a few hours there with Kiwi, and didn’t gat a chance to see anything really! We went and bought food for tea which we made. (Lies - he made it, I watched and offered to help. I was told to go away and sit down, as I was “on holiday”). After tea, he was going out for a bit with a friend, and I decided to stay in and watch “Avatar” (which I’d never seen - it was pretty amazing…). He got back literally just as the film finished.

It was about 2am, so (for some reason) we decided to watch another film?! Anyway, about ten minutes in we both fell asleep and woke up a couple of hours later, deciding it was time for bed! Got up next morning just in time for my bus back up to Auckland. So on the whole, a very enjoyable few days. In hindsight, I should really have stayed a few extra days, as I wasn’t there for very long, but I know for next time! I am so grateful to Herbie as well, for letting me stay at his house and not letting me pay for, literally, anything. I had an amazing time…

I spend a day or two with Sharon and the kids, and a day with Emma as well whilst back in Auckland, and it was really nice to spend some time with them. I can’t thank them all enough for putting up with me, entertaining me and generally being so good to me! I am incredibly grateful to them all (especially John and Dale), and hope I wasn’t too much trouble! On my last night everyone (Sharon, Jess, Jack, Hannah, Kate, Gareth, Emma, Lily, John, Dale and I) all had a fish and chip (“fush and chups”) party, which was great! For the first time ever I had a sausage, battered, on a stick (like a lolly stick), something I have never even heard of before, let alone eaten. Anyway, it was pretty good, and a nice way to say goodbye (the evening, not the sausage alone) *sniff*…

Day 159: Thursday 31st March

So I was leaving the land of ‘Jandles’, ‘fush and chups’, earthquakes and where everyone says “Sweet as, bro” all the time, and “eh?” at the end of every sentence. New Zealand was by far one of my favourite places, and certainly the place where I’ve done the most, had the most fun, and spent the most money! I hope to go back there in the not-too-distant future, when I’m rich (It’s ambitious, I know, but we’ll see…!)

The airline I was flying back to Australia with was called ‘Aerolineas Argentinas” and was, funnily enough, Argentinean. I checked in no problem (hooray!), and got on the ‘plane and everything – all went surprisingly and unexpectedly well (I don’t know what it is, but airports make me nervous. It’s not like I’m smuggling drugs or anything like that (I’m not, really!) and I don’t know what it is, but they make me uneasy and I always expect something bad to happen or something to go wrong…). So nothing of major importance happened, and we got on the plane. I was at the back – row 40 out of 42. I was in 42a, and luck had it that there was no-one in 42b, so I had a free seat, which is always good. The ‘plane, however, had stupidly large amounts of leg room (don’t get me wrong, it was great, but strange!), which meant I didn’t really need the free seat, but I used it anyway! You were also given a weird, circular pillow (that may as well be made of cardboard for all the comfort it gives you), and a set of headphones to listen to the in-flight movie on the big screens. 

The in-flight movie was, for some absurd reason, ‘Snakes on a Plane”. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen that film, but it’s basically a film about (you guessed it) snakes that are on an aeroplane. You don’t show that movie on a flight! That’s like showing Titanic on a boat trip, but worse, somehow… Anyway, it was in Spanish, so I couldn’t understand it, but you still had no choice but to watch the screens – they were pretty big! What made it all slightly scarier, was the fact that they didn’t do a safety briefing. You know how they always do – seatbelt fastens, unfastens like this, oxygen masks will fall from above your head, lifejacket under your seat, exits here, here and here, please not your nearest exit may be behind you, for more information look in the safety card in the seat pocket in front of you… – there was none of that. No briefing, and even though you never really pay that much attention to it, it’s a reassuring regularity when on a plane… Not only that, but there was no safety card in the seat pocket in front of me, just a magazine, in Spanish. All the announcements were in Spanish, so I had no idea really of what was going on!

But we made it and survived with no snake-related, or any other dramas for that matter, en-route. I made my own way to Jim and Sharon’s (again, by myself - again I was amazed I managed it!) and tired to sleep (as I’d woken up at five to get to the airport in time and, in Australian time that was technically 3am!). That night we didn’t do much, but I had to pack up any stuff I didn’t want to carry ‘round on my back and/or didn’t need until I got home. I packaged it all up, ready to ship it sea-mail home which was rather worryingly, due to my financial crisis, more money that what the contents was worth! (That’s probably because it was 1st 8lb (10kilos) in weight (!!)… not quite the $10 in had cost in Vietnam to send a suit, five shirts, two ties and two pairs of (heavy) shoes home… but anyway…).

Day 160: Friday 1st April

For the first time since being away I TOTALLY emptied out my bag.  Literally took everything out.  It’s amazing how little stuff I actually have… I thought I had loads of stuff, in a “Oh crap, there’s no way this is all going to fit in the bag again…” sort of way.  Sharon, however, thought I had hardly anything, in a “It’ll fit… And if it doesn’t fit we’ll make it fit!” way…

Luckily it did all fit, but it took me a lot of strategical folding and stuffing!  Sharon and I went to the most amazing place after packing my bag had all gotten too much for the both of us - we went to a chocolate factory cafe place.  It was AMAZING - the NICEST hot chocolate ever!

That afternoon, we had a Barbecue because it was my last night in Australia.  There was Sharon, Jim, Harry, Hugh, Me, Kathy (Sharon’s sister), Sam, Alex, Illy and Mia.  It was really good, and A LOT of fun.  At 9 we all left.  Sharon and Jim were going away for the weekend with the kids, so it was easier for me to go and stay at Kathy’s, because she lives much closer to the airport, and it’s easier and cheaper for me to get there.  So I said good bye to everyone else, and went with Alex, Sam and Kathy back to Coogee.  I dropped of my tightly packed bag, (after digging my jeans out from the very bottom!), and Alex, Sam and I went out to a bar called The Regent.  It was really good fun (Alex bought all my drinks, as I couldn’t afford to go out, but she made me anyway, telling me she’d buy all the drinks!) and I had a great night.  After a good few hours and a good few, very questionable shots (Lychee flavoured liqueur, for the record, is VILE), I walked home with Sam (who insisted on going via McDonald’s and buying four double cheeseburgers!) and went to sleep on their sofa - THE most comfortable sofa in Australia!

So my last day in Australia was a pretty damn good one, and I’m already looking forward to coming back (even though I haven’t actually left yet!)  I bid goodbye to the land of ‘Thongs’ (flip-flops), ‘Doona’s’ (duvets), ‘Snags’ (Sausages), Kangaroos, Koalas (I still haven’t hugged one), Josh Thomas (not hugged him either), hat’s with corks on (never seen anyone actually wearing one), where every woman is called ‘Sheila’ and the word ‘Grouse’ means ‘Awesome’!

I also want to say a HUGE MASSIVE ”THANK YOU” to Sharon, Jim, Harry and Hugh for putting up with me for SO LONG - It was amazing.  I loved it, and can’t thank you enough!

SO LONG AUSTRALIA! (It’s been great!)…

Phototastic!

I would just like to apologise for the fact that I’ve just uploaded 33 photographs from my Kiwi Experience in both North and South Island, New Zealand and my trip down the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, all at the same time!

I should really upload them more often, so that the photos match up with the writing… but you’re an intelligent person, I’m sure you can work it out for yourself! (If you need a clue, take a look at the caption!)

Enjoy :)