Ben in Hong Kong

A very stress free Christmas

2011-12-25T20:06:00.001-08:00

Christmas this year saw the first time jack and I were not with the family. We started with a vodka at 9.30am and continued topping up throughout the day. Breakfast consisted of a fish finger sandwich and then late morning we went to see the new Sherlock Holmes film. For lunch we both went to a Thai restaurant and ate some seriously tasty food and then in the afternoon we went shopping and then back to the flat to play computer games, eat mince pies, watch films and drink more vodka. Oh and Friday we went to Disneyland so attached are some photos!

Jack singing

2011-12-16T07:24:00.001-08:00

With the gap students from England. In front of 50 people from the company. Oh dear.

When jack meets decorations

2011-12-14T21:07:00.001-08:00

I gave jack a budget for Christmas decorations and came back to find that the sofa looked like father Christmas has vomited on it.

The dragons back

2011-12-11T04:40:00.001-08:00

So today I took a trip to the dragons back. It is a chain of mountains that looms above Shek O beach and village. It took about two hours in all to complete the hike and it involved a lot of uphill walking, but the weather and views made it worthwhile. That and the amazing Thai food we had at the end.

Langham place

2011-12-07T22:32:00.001-08:00

Right next door to my flat is the gigantic building in the picture below. It is called langham place and it houses a cinema, gym, offices, shops, bars and some pretty good food places too. It is huge and where jack and I spend quite a bit of time. Below are some pictures.

Yesterday was the company pantomime and that meant everyone in the office put in three consecutive 11 hour days to get the final prep organised. The show was a huge success though, with jack working backstage helping change the set. I'm trying to persuade him to take a more leading role next week as the company party by dressing up as father Christmas. Not sure if he can be persuaded. Below are some pictures.

Jack and food

2011-12-06T06:10:00.001-08:00

Walked into the flat today and found my brother tucking into baby octopus.

Jack on campus

2011-12-05T18:28:00.001-08:00

One thing that has changed since my last long post is that my brother now works for the company. Here are a few pics I took today of his posters, desk and the large room where he usually works and teaches.

A change of pace

2011-12-05T07:17:00.001-08:00

This blog is going to change slightly. Mainly because I don't have time to update all the time I am now going to post shorter updates with pictures from my phone. This is the first test to see if I can do it.

When you misplace your property agent

2011-06-18T18:44:00.000-07:00

I started in the office on Wednesday, and within five minutes I had various projects and responsibilities handed over to me. My desk has moved, so I am now upstairs, and now my focus is more on staff and students rather than recruitment. In typical fashion the first day was unusual. We went to a Karaoke bar for lunch, and then from around 1pm - 4pm I was singing to such classics as Michael Jackson and Abba.

At the end of that day I left on the MTR and travelled back to Wan Chai. I had a couple of hours to spare before I had to be at the horse races, so I decided I might as well start looking for a flat. Living on Laura and Niks sofa is very comfortable, but I have my university dissertation to be getting on with and I have to focus on work too, so looking for my own place quickly is quite a priority.

I went to three property agents. The first one was not helpful at all, trying to get me to spend more than I was willing to in regards to my budget. My budget is similar to when I was last living in Hong Kong, though I could spend slightly more, my aim is to save money to pay off my MA course, save up for my eventual PHD and also put cash aside for a mortgage too. The second property agent was friendly, and showed me a couple of options on their computer system, but the locations were in Lockhart road and I did not want to live above lots of bars and loud music. The third property agent was more helpful, he immediately grabbed some keys and we looked at three different locations, but they were all terrible, one was half the size of my old studio flat and was located in Causeway Bay. The other two had potential, but the locations were not near either the tram lines or the MTR system and were still a little smaller and more expensive than I would like to pay. It was when travelling to the third flat viewing with the property agent that I lost him. We were crossing a very busy intersection in Causeway Bay, as soon as the traffic stopped the crowds surged across in both directions and amid the bustle the property agent vanished. I crossed the road and waited, but it was clear that he thought I was still following him. I stood there for five more minutes feeling slightly confused before he returned, looking equally perplexed and exclaimed 'Mr Ben, how did you misplace me!?'

I returned to Laura and Niks flat by 6pm and we then went to the horse races. A friend called Cain was singing with his band during the breaks between racing, which was the main reason we were going to show a bit of support. I did not even bet on a horse as I was too busy catching up with or meeting people who Nik kept introducing me to. It feels like she now knows half of Hong Kong!

After the races I decided to head home as I don't yet have the spending money for a big night out. Wednesday night though is ladies night, so bars generally give free alcoholic drinks to women. Subsequently at 4.30 am I was woken up by Nikki returning to the flat, just as I was dropping back to sleep she stumbled towards me on the sofa, slurred that she loved me, then slightly headbutted me, which I assumed was going to be a kiss goodnight. It was that point that I fully realised that I needed to find my own place as quickly as possible.

The next morning I sent an email to a friend who is a property agent in Central Hong Kong. He replied fairly quickly and also confirmed that it was not easy to find a studio flat in Hong Kong island at the moment within the range that I was looking for. At that point I began to consider something so drastic that I actually thought I might be still drunk from the horse races.

Maybe I should live in Kowloon....

bx

Who lives in a house like this?

2011-06-14T08:27:00.000-07:00

My first full day in Hong Kong has been mostly about sorting things out. I went to the bank and checked my account was still active (it was), unlocked my UK mobile phone, purchased a Hong Kong sim card, went shopping and sorted out my packing. Once that was complete I took a trip on the Star Ferry to the Avenue of Stars, which is a viewing point to look back on Hong kong island. The work to reclaim land on HK island has now progressed to them building on it. There is one new building that from a distance looks like it will become a version of this building in Beijing, but I can't be sure till I get a litle bit closer.

As I am now in the flat waiting for everyone to finish work, I have decided to share some photographs of the Nikki and Laura Hong Kong hostel.

The slightly dodgy looking stairs to their door

Their door, the metal frame outside is for security, but it is off its hinges, I am going to try and see if I can fix it, but lets face it, I will probably end up making it worse than it currently is.

As you open the door you have a hall that opens up to the TV room/sitting room/lounge/whatever else you want to call it. On the left is the door to the kitchen, on the right is the door to Lauras room.

The kitchen has all the important items you need.

Then if you go to the end of the mini hall and look left, past the kitchen, you get to the sitting room, and in the middle is the computer that I am currently using.

It is clear what the priorities are in this household :)

This is looking back towards the entrance of the flat.

That's it for now, i'm not going to start taking pictures of bedrooms because that might not be appreciated, but the bedrooms are quite large for Hong Kong, and I just found out that there is a door from Niks that takes you to a little balcony type area where you can hang your washing! (previously i thought it was a cupboard).

bx

2 Years Later

2011-06-13T18:20:00.000-07:00

Cantonese people love to shop, and on my flight to Hong Kong from London this became apparent because there was no room in any overhead locker for my hand luggage. I could see up the aisle that there was no room anywhere else either, because nearly every locker had a Cantonese person standing below it desperately trying to squeeze in one last Harrods bag. Eventually one of the air crew came to my aid and my bag was locked in a container at the back of the plane with some spare life jackets.

The journey itself was uneventful. The lady I was seated next to decided to raise the arm rest between our seats whenever she had a nap, which I thought was quite strange. I was more uncomfortable when I woke up and found her sleeping against my arm though. I kept moving around and waking her up, but despite this she kept returning to my shoulder, eventually I gave up and fell asleep myself. In total I slept for nine hours of the eleven hour flight, so I woke up just before landing feeling surprisingly good.

I landed at 1.30pm on Monday 13 of June. I collected my bags, passed through immigration, changed my money, topped up my Octopus card and boarded a train to Central Hong Kong. By 2.35pm I was on Hong Kong island and walking through the International Finance Center shopping mall towards Red Bar. My reason for going to a bar as soon ar I arrived was not just because I wanted a drink, (though I did), it was because a friend had arranged to meet me there to give me keys to Laura and Nikkis flat. As I stepped outside and walked towards the bar the first thing that hit me was the view of Hong Kong island and Kowloon. On one side I could see the Star Ferry making its way towards Tsim Tsa Tsui, and on other side I could look up at the peak and surrounding sky scrapers, I could even see the small viewing tower at the top of the mountain.

The second thing to hit me was the heat, it was 32 degrees with 84% humidity, it was such a shock to my system that it felt hard to breathe at first. I started to wonder how I used to cope with summertime in Hong Kong, sat down, ordered a nice cool Tsing Tao beer, then realised that perhaps I was dealing with it in the best way possible. Eventually I got the keys and address for Laura and Niks flat, grabbed my bags and jumped in a taxi.

I found the flat without much trouble, the building itself looked a little run down, but their flat inside is lovely and unusually clean owing to the cleaner having visited that morning. By this time it was only 4.30pm and I had two hours to spare before Nikki arrived back from work. I was feeling quite restless, so decided to go for a jog up on the Wan Chai gap in an attempt to adjust to the insane humidity. I arrived back feeling a little more awake and ready for an ice cold shower, so I got myself cleaned up and thirty minutes later Nikki arrived home! The evening then consisted of a few happy hour cocktails in soho, and then a nice Chinese meal of dumplings and noodles. Laura met us later on in town straight after work. By 11pm I was back in the flat and collapsed on the sofa after my first half day in Hong Kong.

The strangest thing so far, is that it does not feel strange to be back. I feel like I have only been gone for two weeks.

bx

FINISHED!

2009-08-01T07:46:00.000-07:00

This is the end of the blog. I am keeping a blog diary whilst travelling which can be found by typing http://www.hkbentravels.blogspot.com/ or by clicking here.

It's been a great 1028 days!

bx

Last Days

2009-08-01T07:03:00.000-07:00

My last days in Hong Kong have been quite relaxed. I had a leaving dinner at the Spring Deer Restaurant but most of my friends were still down with Swine Flu. I phoned them up the previous day and they were all saying that they were feeling fine but would stop mid conversation and start coughing. I sent a message to them all saying that unless they were feeling 100% then they should not come as I did not want to get sick whilst I was staying in a hostel during my travels.

There have been a few "last" things I wanted to do before leaving. I went to the Avenue of Stars, to the Bridge, I had sushi and I took some photos of Johnston Road. Mainly I have just been enjoying having a flat that I could call my own for a couple of weeks before living in hostels and guesthouses for 6 months. Today my post Swine Flu infected friends stopped coughing and went to Shek O Beach where the water was unusually clear. Nikki has a new underwater camera which we were playing with for a while. For dinner we all went to a really nice Thai restaurant and then took the bus through the mountains back to the north side of the island.

Now I am watching an old film called cocoon with Adrian, Kristy, Hannah and Nik. Tomorrow I fly to Malaysia. I have packed my bags and am ready to go. I don't fully realise i'm leaving yet though.

bx

Needles and Malaria

2009-07-29T08:53:00.000-07:00

I found myself at 3.30 pm today sitting before a doctor and explaining my travel plans. I was leaving this visit quite late and did not really want to be there. What prompted me to seek advice about vaccinations was a news programme I watched on Saturday about a new drug resistant strain of Malaria that has been found in Cambodia. My initial thought was that if there is drug resistant Malaria then there was not much point getting any immunisation for it. Then I thought about it a little more and realised that the sensible thing to do would be to go get lots of needles stuck in my arm and pay lots of money for protection against diseases with long exotic names.

The doctor went through a list of things I could catch whilst travelling which I viewed as similar to the over-the-top warning notes you see on packets of paracetamol. Then he showed me a map with areas of high risk in bright red. Everywhere I am travelling is bright red! So he listed the four injections I need and also prescribed Malaria pills called Doxycycline. I am very familiar with this medication because it's the exact same stuff I used to take for acne. He began reading out the rules for taking it and I finished his speech " No dairy products, no direct exposure to sun without high factor sun cream and beware of iron intake". "Are you a medical student?" he asked. "No, just spotty", I replied.

More impressive though was the cost of all this. Four injections and Malaria tablets for the duration of my trip costs under 50 pounds. For a country that does not have free healthcare that's really cheap!

bx

H1N1 Fun

2009-07-26T19:12:00.000-07:00

I currently have more friends with Swine Flu than without. It spread through the group last weekend and it's a small miracle I don't have it. I went to the beach on Wednesday with Adrian when he was infected and the previous Saturday night I was around five people with the virus and still never caught it!

This meant that everyone was in self imposed quarantine for seven days so Nikki and I decided to calm down the drinking this weekend mostly because we had less people to go out with!

We still went out though. Some people we know just started a new band and here is a picture of them.

They were really good and I would probably say better than any band I have seen in Hong Kong so far. One of their songs was in Korean which was pretty impressive and catchy. I asked afterwards what the song was about and was told that they were basically singing "Don't eat dog", over and over again. Less impressed once I knew that.

For the two pictures in larger size click here and here

We went to Lamma Island and Shek O beach for the weekend. We have been quite lucky with the weather this past week so i'm trying to get brown so I don't look like an albino when I start backpacking.

bx

Finishing

2009-07-24T18:29:00.000-07:00

This blog will end in one weeks time. Not sure how to end it yet.

On a lighter note, someone just sent me a video on youtube. It is exactly how i see the Wedding of Nikki to go down. Click here for the link.

click here and here for the above photos on a bigger screen,

bx

Mango Mania

2009-07-23T01:20:00.000-07:00

I am currently sitting in Cafe O drinking a Mango Mania because we are without internet in the Nikki Fowler residence. We are without internet because Richard has just moved out of the flat and taken the internet box with him. I don't think I would have helped him move if I had known I was assisting in causing myself such inconvenience.

Nikki also has recently had two other guests leave and Richard usually always has his girlfriend over. This means we have gone from a small three bedroom flat with 6 people to a three bedroom flat with two people... which is a welcome change! I now have Richards old room as a 'packing room', where I'm basically storing all my crap for travelling.

I have booked my flights and hostels in Malaysia now for the next two weeks. I was putting this off partly because booking them means accepting I am leaving Hong Kong. I know I will be back but it's still my excuse for delaying things till now. I also find myself busy getting other things ready too. I need China Visas, Russian Visas and a Typhoid jab (parents, please advise about the typhoid, was I jabbed with this as a child??) I also need to go to peoples leaving parties as many people are departing Hong Kong as well as organize my own party. Anyway, i'm jabbering and my battery is running out on the laptop. I leave you with some photos.

Jack, me and Jen (who I am travelling with for 6 months) at the Spring Deer Restaraunt.

Food at the amazing Spring Deer.

Jack realizing his true size.

Jack, Adrian and Jen on the skyline.

Sunburnt at Shek O

2009-07-21T06:56:00.000-07:00

clicking the photos should make them bigger.

Raining

2009-07-19T04:31:00.000-07:00

It's been a typhoon level 9 warning last night but this did not deter us from going out and getting quite drunk to celebrate a friends birthday. The wind is never that much of an issue in the city because we are surrounded by buildings but the rain still soaks you to the bone. I got home about 5am and was woken up by Nikki and two other friends at 7am eating kebabs and chatting on my bed! I admit that I am currently staying on the sofa but that is besides the point.

It is now a typhoon level 3 and I am bored in the flat. It's too wet, hot and horrible to bother stepping outside the building so we are not trying. This means that I am bored so thought I would share a view of the flat and a view outside Nikki's window.

My first panoramic attempt

2009-07-18T22:56:00.000-07:00

Just testing out a new nerdy photo thing on my camera

Rubbish

2009-07-14T17:17:00.000-07:00

I'm moving out of my flat this morning after two years of living here. Moving out has been quite a good way of getting rid of some of the crap I have accumulated over the past two years. Things like books and kitchen items I am leaving for friends or with the company to give to employees next year, everything else I am throwing away.

The problem I am having is that the items I am throwing away are not staying that way for very long. My neighbours are going through all my rubbish bags looking for things that are useful that they can keep. They are not even hiding the fact that they are doing it, two ladies were waiting in the stairwell for my rubbish bags yesterday as I was throwing things away.

I had a little bit of fun yesterday night when I found my halloween costume from last year. I placed the fake fingers and other bloody limbs in my rubbish bag and left it in my stairwell. I did not stick around for the reaction.

bx

Skyline shots

2009-07-12T08:39:00.000-07:00

And finally...

"If you aint got a ticket, your not going to the island".

Crab Attack

2009-07-11T09:32:00.000-07:00

Some photos from yesterday with Jack.

And no, he is not eating the crab in the last two pictures.

Going well till ...

2009-07-10T03:45:00.000-07:00

Kayaking was great fun till Jack spotted a crab in the water. He chased it and then in the space of 5 minutes the following happened.

Jack stood on a piece of coral and cut his foot
He grabbed the crab but it also grabbed him and made him bleed
He took his good sunglasses off and I used them to open the crabs claws
I put the sunglasses on Jacks kayak and he then got in the kayak
He fell out of the kayak and the sunglasses fell into the sea
He looked for the sunglasses and stabbed his hand on a sea urchin

Surprisingly he was in quite a good mood about it all!

Jacks first full day in HK

2009-07-09T20:29:00.000-07:00

The day Jack landed in Hong Kong we went to the Bridge pub, the Hay Hay restaurant and then the cinema. Jack was not very tired because he had slept on the plane however I gave him one of my allergy tablets and it had the effect of an elephant tranquilizer on him.

The next day we went to the revolving restaraunt and then Shek O Beach and the weather was amazing and really unusual for a month that typically has the highest rainfall.

We also went to the local arcades for a while too. Nikki said she has never felt like such a nerd.

Today (Friday) we are having Dim Sum and then going kayaking in Sai Kung.

Sunny

2009-07-08T02:14:00.000-07:00

My little brother has arrived in Hong Kong and the weather looks good for his short 5 day stay!

My travel plans are....

2009-07-05T03:31:00.001-07:00

Gifts

2009-07-05T03:06:00.000-07:00

A good friend of mine called Mariel has recently left Hong Kong to go to law school. She has a Chinese boyfriend and if you want to see Mariel and Chinese boyfriend posing and pouting then click here.

As Mariel packed her bags and cleaned her flat we all sat watching her and wondered what it will be like to pack our own bags and leave Hong Kong. We asked various questions, one of which was what the final dinner was like with the Chinese boyfriends family.

"Well it was really nice", she replied. "There was no weird shit on the table this time and everyone was really friendly. His mum gave me a cashmere shawl as a gift and I gave her some dried scallops to say thanks".

That's right, in Hong Kong the best gift you can get someone to say thanks are dried scallops.

bx

Multiple Markets

2009-07-02T01:57:00.001-07:00

Pictures from my trip to the flower, bird and fish markets in Hong Kong.

Tuesday night fun

2009-07-01T06:01:00.000-07:00

Tuesday night seemed like a good evening to collect our travel documents and board a boat to Macau which is basically a very extravagant country sized gambling den.

After spending the whole night gambling, Nikki and I returned to Hong Kong at 6am and this is what Kowloon looks like at 6am from the ferry port.

I decided very early on in the evening that I was not feeling lucky, so I did not gamble more than 200HKD the whole evening.

bx

Living in Wan Chai

2009-06-29T07:01:00.000-07:00

I have a new doorman in my building who is from Pakistan and he has a very thick English accent. Today was the first evening where I found myself waiting for a lift, which gave my doorman a good excuse to start a conversation with me.

Sometimes when I don't understand exactly what someone is saying I tend to just guess the general theme or subject and agree with whatever the person is saying. This approach has got me into trouble in the past. On one occasion I was the deciding vote to change a company policy and earlier this year I accepted to manage a project and then had to establish what exactly that project was.

So I found myself waiting for my lift and I was sure the subject of discussion was films and movies. My doorman asked if I like Chinese, Russian or Indonesian movies and I nodded, agreed and replied that I liked them all. Finally my lift arrived and I escaped to the tenth floor.

When I returned to my building later on that same evening I was again met by my doorman. He handed me a list of numbers and names on a piece of paper and also gave me a handful of name cards with colour photographs. The name cards were advertising prostitutes and the paper seemed to be direct lines to brothels.

It was at that point that I realized that perhaps the previous subject of conversation was not films but prostitutes. I returned the information and tried to explain how the mistake had occurred.

I'm not sure if my doorman understood my explanation, I might wake up tomorrow and find he has arranged a leather clad midget with a whip standing outside my flat.

bx

P.S in my doormans defence I do live close to the red light district and have run into prostitutes in unusual situations before.

Batman Mystery Solved

2009-06-24T23:50:00.000-07:00

Last year I was convinced that part of the Batman movie was being filmed on my street in Hong Kong. I took a few pictures and you can see them by clicking here.

It turned out that it was not Batman that i saw being filmed on my street but a Hollywood film called "Push". And the actor that I kind of recognized is called Chris Evans.

Look at the pictures I took then look at this clip from the film and the mystery is solved.

bx

Science, steak, squid and sea

2009-06-20T16:33:00.000-07:00

This past week or so has been quite busy. Last weekend I visited the Hong Kong Science Museum and it was pretty cool. It made me realize two things.

I have forgotten lots since my science class days
Hong Kong people receive a far better science education than people in the UK. I know this because my friend from Hong Kong could explain how all the exhibits worked when I looked confused.

The good thing about the museum is that most of the exhibits you could interact with, which made the science part more fun!

Other things happening this week was Jason visiting from Australia. A group of us went out on Friday night to welcome him to Hong Kong shores and it was quite fun. He had never met Laura before, so when he found himself dancing on the stage in a club with her in competition with another dancing couple he probably wondered what he got himself into.

I also took Jason to the Boston Steak Restaurant in Wanchai. Below you can see the before fire shot where he was not too sure what to expect.

And the after shot, where he had to move fast to save his own eyebrows when the steak was set on fire.

This week I have also gone night squid fishing! Did i catch a squid? No I did not.

Did I take a picture with a squid pretending I caught it?

Yes I did.

Did we eat the squid?

Yes we did.

And just to remind us that we were fishing at night in the middle of ocean surrounded by jungle, a giant moth decided to pay us a visit.

This past week has also seen a junk boat trip during the daytime. I have taken enough photos of junk boat trips over the past few years, so here is a picture of the whole group at the end of the day.

In other news Nikki has just purchased a shockproof, waterproof and freezeproof camera in an attempt to see if she can own technology that can withstand her general disaster prone nature. We are going to the Bird market, flower market and goldfish market to test it out today.

There is also a Typhoon fast approaching which could be the first of the summer!

Intruder

2009-06-11T04:38:00.000-07:00

Don has left Hong Kong, and he sure made a big deal of it! He had a total of four leaving events. The first event was his last gig with his band. I left the bar once they finished and my final comment to the lead singer was "Well done, you really sang in tune this time". It was not meant to be rude, and I had consumed a reasonable amount of beer, but I should watch my phrasing in the future.

Event three was dinner at the Spring Deer Restaurant. Words can't describe how amazing this restaurant is. I sometimes try to book a table two weeks ahead and find them full. It is probably in my top three Chinese restaurants in Hong Kong and I'm going to take my brother there when he comes to visit!

In other news I went kayaking on the weekend and was attacked by a bird in my flat. I was on my bed and watching TV when I noticed movement in the corner of my room. I did not have my glasses on and was worried it was a giant insect or something, so I stayed focused on the blurry shape whilst trying to find my glasses with my hands. Just as I put them on the bird dive bombed me and hit the window near my bed. I grabbed a pillow case and wrapped it round the bird then threw the animal out of my window. The bird dropped ten stories to the road and was run over by a bus.

Only joking, it flew away and was fine. In retrospect I should not have thrown a stunned sparrow from my window though.

The kayaking was uneventful.

bx

End of 2008 - 2009 Chatteris CNET team

2009-06-03T18:24:00.001-07:00

The Chatteris CNET team for 2008 - 2009 have left the building...

bx

Tram

2009-06-03T01:52:00.001-07:00

Today I am mostly...

Trying out new things with my camera...

bx

Waterfalls

2009-06-01T22:37:00.000-07:00

On the weekend I went on a hike that I was told would be 'easy' but turned out to be quite difficult.

The hike itself is directly up a steep mountain and the path turns from dirt track to rubble to just mud on occasions. This is quite different to usual Hong Kong hiking where the government places concrete pavement along the whole route. It was fairly dangerous at parts too, with 70ft drops next to some very small paths.

So far I have not really made this hike seem that fun but it was all worth it for 3 reasons. Those 3 reasons were the 3 waterfalls that are spaced apart at different heights of the mountain. There was also a pretty cool temple along the way too.

The water was apparently fresh but I decided not to drink any because knowing my luck there would have been a dead panda floating upstream. I did swim in the water though and it was really nice after the sweaty hike.

When we returned back down the mountain we had a BBQ at Adrians place.

Adrian lives right next to the start of the hike and has an amazing three level village house. It is technically his family house but they all live in England.

Anyway, next weekend it is Donalds leaving party which should be amusing as he is playing in his band.

Before I was born

2009-06-01T22:24:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of posts but the blog broke. You could still read it and everything but I could not add anything for some reason. Problem fixed now though.

Anyway, first off my dad was rummaging through boxes in the garage and found this picture of Hong Kong he took in 1973.

And here is the same picture I took in 2009!

In 1973 my dad had not met my mum, or accidently created me. So it is strange that he took a picture of the street (and building) that I would one day on.

bx

Did he jump...?

2009-05-23T06:12:00.000-07:00

I just came across a news article which quite easily sums up how different cultures act in situations. Click here for the story.

bx

Ideas

2009-05-19T18:24:00.000-07:00

So when I leave Hong Kong in July and travel Southeast Asia, then up through China, Russia and then Europe back to Britian I will be starting another blog. Possibly co-owned with Nikki and Laura as they will be coming with me for the China and Russia bit.

I need to think of a name for this new blog. Ideas would be appreciated.

bx

The great debate

2009-05-15T02:51:00.000-07:00

When I offered to be a judge for a secondary school debate I expected it to be a small deal. Let me now illustrate how wrong I was

I thought it would take place in a classroom > It took place in the massive school hall

I thought there would be only 40 students present > There was a 140 strong audience

I was dressed in jeans and trainers > My fellow judge was a government representative

I thought it would be easy > I needed a degree just to know how to fill out the score card

I thought I would leave at the end > I had to give a speech

To say I was caught off guard is the understatement of the week. I did knock out a pretty good speech at the end though. I spoke about how debating is not just something for the classroom but something that will benefit students in their future. I mentioned that I find myself debating everyday with my boss and that if you can be persuasive and structured in an argument then it will be a valuable life skill.

After I made my speech I proceeded to feel like wise old man and ran to the bathroom to check for grey hairs.

Then. As if my day could not get any weirder. I returned back to Wan Chai and found a woman in a wedding dress handing out packs of tissues. It was not a promotional event for tissues or anything else that I could see. She was just handing them out.

Haunting

2009-05-14T06:44:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my boss turned to me and asked if I would like her to visit me after she has died to let me know if there is an afterlife...I turned down the kind offer of haunting.

I visited an area in the New Territories of Hong Kong called 'Shatin' the other day. I was going to a school and on the way walked past some massive residential buildings.

It's not till you look at how everyone lives on top of each other that you realise that Swine Flu, Bird Flu or Man Flu would sweep the entire region quicker than fire.

Photo of the week

2009-05-12T01:47:00.000-07:00

This photo below shows Hong Kong from the sky taken from the West and looking East. It's a cool shot and is currently my computer wallpaper. Click the image to make it larger.

I can't take credit for this photo. It was taken by someone who only has a username: "Starspangled". Wish I could give more credit but that's all I know!

bx

When the girls get together...

2009-05-10T20:26:00.000-07:00

I came into the office this morning and found a CD on my desk. It contained a video. You can see the video by clicking here

bx

Birthday

2009-05-09T18:04:00.001-07:00

I am now 25 and am pleased to say there is no 25 panic to be found. Celebrations for my birthday started at work where I was treated to a dim sum lunch and given a cake.

I then had a dinner later that day near my flat in wan chai and after playing some drinking games we all headed out to Lang Kwai Fong where I got thoroughly drunk.

The next morning I went dragon boat racing. Sitting in the baking sun with about 15 other people and having to race against another boat whilst being shouted at by a Chinese instructor is just what I needed with a hangover.

It was my first experience dragon boat racing and it is much harder than it looks! The instructor was quite a character, he would walk up and down the boat shouting at us if our technique was wrong or we were not in unison with the other members in the boat. He also called one girl a "silly little white girl" told one guy that he looked "like a male prostitute" and told everyone to be careful not to splash a female member of the team because "she is a rich girl and will not be used to it". This made us all fall about laughing because the girl he was talking about was indeed a rich girl whose family is paying 1,500 quid a month just for rent whilst she takes part in the programme! It was a good observation.

At the end of two hours training I was in pain. I have two large blisters on my hand, my shoulders are stiff and I can't clench my right fist. I think that I will get involved in a dragon boat team one day but I will NEVER go drinking beforehand.

bx

Window

2009-05-07T00:49:00.000-07:00

After the comment made by Robyn in the previous post I thought I would now share photos I took from my window before bed and when I just woke up this morning. I woke up after dreaming that there was a giant rat in my room drinking out of my mug on my desk.

My stories are getting as boring as my pictures.

10pm

6am

New Camera!

2009-05-06T08:32:00.001-07:00

I now have a new camera which has 12.1 megapixel quality and takes high definition video clips. This purchase came as a result of my old camera dying quite soon after the boat trip last week.

My new camera means I am taking pictures of random crap. For example, here is a picture of what my office had for lunch today.

Amazing Long Weekend

2009-05-03T04:25:00.000-07:00

On friday we had the Summer Dayze junk boat trip which left from Sai Kung. It was perfect weather with blue sky and the unlimited drink and food went down well. I spent a good part of the day in the sea laying on a giant inflatable ring that could hold about six people. I wont write too much more about it because you can see a video i made on the previous post.

Saturday I went to Shek O beach and it was again a fantastic day. I sunbathed and slept/snored/swam most of the afternoon and then we all had Chinese food in the local village. That evening I went to the cinema to watch Wolverine and would advise anyone who likes that type of film to go and see it.

Sunday involved another beach trip but this time to Deep Water Bay. I swam and sunbathed then we all had a BBQ.

As a backdrop to all this is the swine flu. You might have seen in the news that Hong Kong has had a first case of Swine Flu and shut down an entire hotel as a result. Well this 'contaminated', hotel is about 4 minutes walk from my flat, which means that on Saturday morning Wan Chai was like a ghost town. The MTR was so quiet it felt like I was one of the only people in Hong Kong!

bx

Sneak Preview

2009-05-01T19:33:00.000-07:00

I have just made my first ever video about how I spent Friday (yesterday) in Hong Kong. Before I show anyone who is actually in the video I thought I would give you a sneak preview. I have to go to the beach now as it is amazing weather and friends are waiting for me at the Flying Pan for breakfast.

Click here for my video!

bx

You Swine

2009-04-28T21:22:00.000-07:00

Hong Kong is buzzing with talk of Swine Flu, and the melodramatic news headlines are not helping.

That's right, Swine Flu is 'creeping closer' like some type of evil fictional character in a childrens story.

On the train to work this morning I discovered that if I cough people look at me like i'm holding a gun to their heads. Previously, you would just get looked at with suspicion, now you get looked at with fear.

This fear is understandable if you lived in Hong Kong during the period when the SARS virus hit. I did not live here during that period though, so for now I am fake coughing to get past annoying people on the train.

This weekend I will be mostly... hurting

2009-04-27T22:30:00.000-07:00

Why will I be hurting I hear you ask?

Because I will be doing... THIS

again.

bx

A couple more

2009-04-27T19:24:00.001-07:00

OK, i will stop now

Photo editing

2009-04-27T01:27:00.001-07:00

I have some new photo editing software and I thought I would share the results with you. The idea of the software is that it makes pictures look like they are models. Almost like looking at a picture of a model railway. It's easier to just show you an example.

1) Hong Kong skyline

2) Wan Chai from the revolving restaurant

3) Golden Gate Bridge, San Fran

4) Times Square, New York

5) Toronto, Canada

6) Boston, USA

What I have learnt is this software seems better at editing city pictures more than anything else. And that my job has sent me to some cool places!

McFlurry

2009-04-21T21:52:00.000-07:00

Yesterday evening I went swimming in Victoria Park. I have never been swimming in Victoria Park before as it is a little further away than my local swimming pool. There was only about twelve people in the pool so there was no shoving, splashing or old ladies to avoid whilst doing laps. This made it worth the extra distance.

The pool is outside so I could float around and watch the bats zipping overhead eating insects. It was also nice to look at the skyline and feel sorry for the people in the office buildings having to work late.

After the swim I decided I deserved a McFlurry ice cream from McDonalds before watching a film at home. I went up to the counter and indicated what I wanted by pointing and requesting it in English, but this got me chicken nuggets. I tried again by repeating my request for a 'McFlurry' but this time the worker thought I said 'double cheeseburger'.

Finally after numerous attempts I pulled out my last resort idea. I put on the most over-the-top Chinese accent in the world and said 'Mcfloooooooooorieeeee'. The McDonalds worker looked at me as if I was mad and replied "Ahh, you want McFlurry, you just say so!"

I got my McFlurry but i'm now not sure if I have technically been racist in my actions to obtain it.

bx

Easter Weekend Part 2

2009-04-16T00:21:00.000-07:00

It is no longer Easter Weekend but I thought I should provide an update.

After nearly drowning on a speedboat on Saturday afternoon I returned to my flat, slept for a few hours and then consumed a massive amount of duck at a famous Peking Duck restaurant. We ended up eating two ducks which I named Donald and Daffy.

Sunday was also food themed. We went to the Jumbo Floating Restaurant and took part in their unlimited Champagne and food buffet. Unlimited food and drink might seem like a good idea but if you have a lack of self control it can only end in disaster. After drinking from 11.30am to 4pm we then all went to Lang Kwai Fong where even more drink was consumed. I went home at 8pm and luckily drank enough water before bed to feel ok then next morning. Nikki however was sick 3 times.

Monday was spent mainly recovering and relaxing and now it is Thursday and I am in the office taking a late lunch break.

This evening I am going rollerblading with Nikki in Victoria Park and am quite excited because I have never done it before. Hope I have not forgotten how to do it!

bx

Easter Weekend Part 1

2009-04-11T04:19:00.001-07:00

It is Easter weekend and so that measn we have Friday to Monday off as a public holiday. This meant that we returned to Tai Long Wan beach to go camping for the second weekend in a row.

My experience last week with buffalo and mosquitos should have put me off returning to the beach. However, this time the buffalo were harrassing someone else.

The beach was amazing as usual. In the first picture you can see Nikki and Kristy setting up tents.

And like all good campers we needed plenty of liquid to compensate the two hour hike we had just completed.

We ate lots of food round the fire.

And then by the next morning we woke up.

Watched the sun rise over the sea.

Then we came close to dying.

There is a somewhat illegal boat service that you can get to take you from Tai Long Wan beach to Sai Kung. Taking this boat service means cutting out the two hour hike. Kristy was the only person in our group who had taken the speed boat before and we were all looking forward to it.

Early on in the journey Kristy remarked "The sea has never been this rough before". Which turned out to be the understatement of the day.

The boat was soon hitting 4 - 6 foot swells and then dropping like a fairground ride before being lifted back up and the entire sequence repeated again. At first it was fun, then as the waves got bigger I started to wish that I had hiked instead.

Not long after this I began looking for the nearest land and working out where I would climb up if the boat got overturned. Then the boat hit a particularly big wave and water came gushing over the front of the boat and covered everone and their belongings.

When there was a brief break in the waves I grabbed my camera to take a video. You can just about hear Kristy giving Nikki advice of what to do if she falls overboard.

Click here for the video.

But we did survive and we did make it to Sai Kung. One friend had difficulty moving his hand he was holding on to the boat so tightly during the journey.

I will think twice about taking the boat in the future!

Old Egg

2009-04-08T23:07:00.000-07:00

Today I consumed something called a "Thousand Year Old Egg" at lunch with Chinese co-workers.

"Century egg, also known as preserved egg, hundred-year egg, thousand-year egg, and thousand-year-old egg, is a Chinese Cuisine ingredient made by preserving duck, chicken or quail eggs in mixture of clay, ash, salt, lime and rice straw for several weeks to several months"

Source

And it was not that bad!

Bright lights

2009-04-06T22:22:00.001-07:00

I realized that in the excitement of reporting how Nikki turned into the elephant woman I forgot to write about the best part of the camping trip last weekend

I don't know the technical name for it but the sea around the beach glows because the plankton in the water gives off an electric blue light. This is not my video but to see an example of what I mean click here .

When the tide had gone out the plankton was left in the shallow water of the beach and you could walk through it and set off blue puddles of light that glowed around your feet. It was pretty amazing.

Life is Swell

2009-04-06T03:01:00.000-07:00

As the previous post might suggest, we have been going very rural this weekend. A group of us went to Tai Long Wan Beach, which involves a two hour hike over two mountains to reach. When you get to the beach you are greeted by a small place which rents out tents and that's about it. No phone signal, no air conditioning no television. Proper camping.

And the reason you hike over all these mountains is because the beach is amazing

Even though it has the occasional jellyfish the size of my head.

And some locals in the jungle behind with little interest in the intrusion.

Firewood was collected

And we all had a good BBQ and drinks.

But this is where the fun and games ended. I will summarise as quickly as I can.

Nikki and I shared a tent. Nikki went to the toilet numerous times. Nikki left the tent open, mosquitos flew in. Nikki closed tent and we became a blood sucking buffet. I was asleep by this point and snoring quite loudly, so the combination of me snoring and the mosquitos biting meant that Nikki got hardly any sleep.

But it gets worse.

I woke up the next morning looking forward to opening my tent and breathing in the sea air. Instead I saw Nikki lying on her back with her jumper smothering her face. I thought she might be dead, so I moved the jumper and it was even worse than I feared, she looked like the elephant woman.

Nikki had been bitten everywhere. She had received one bite on each eyelid, making her eyelids swell up over her face and she was not happy. She wanted to go home and get medication, which involved another two hour hike back to the main road. She at first insisted on making the journey on her own, however I was concerned that the swelling might get so bad that she would go blind halfway home.

I eventually returned with her, which is good, because otherwise she might have had a collision with a buffalo.

fat cow

2009-04-05T07:52:00.000-07:00

Do you ever experience moments where a fat cow is coming towards you up a path and there is no room for you to get past?

That exact thing happened to me today. Click here for the video.

bx

World Domination

2009-04-01T08:39:00.000-07:00

Hong Kong is changing.

New buildings are shooting up faster than they can grow the bamboo scaffolding to hold them together. There are massive developments on the waterfront of Hong Kong too, with parks and walkways soon to be completed.

The weather is as changeable as usual for this time of year. I have recently discovered that I can create a wind tunnel in my bedroom if I leave certain window combinations open, so I now feel like I'm sleeping outside.

People are leaving Hong Kong too, which is also a big change. I think this summer marks the largest exodus of friends that I have witnessed since arriving here, even more so than my first year when Robyn and Hannah left me to join the circus.

Everyone now seems to have a plan of some sort, Nikki and Laura are travelling Australia for a year. Nikki is going to be working and partying and Laura is going to be holidaying, partying and trying to control Nikki. Their plan after this point is about as certain as my survival in my new wind tunnel bedroom.

Other friends are going back to school or to a different job or to a different country. Most though feel it's time to leave the magical world of Hong Kong, where turtles can be both pets or dinner. I am one of those people.

What am I doing when I leave? I'm travelling first round Southeast Asia.

And then from Hong Kong to the UK by land.

Now who wants to come travelling with me?!!

Fire! Fire!

2009-03-24T22:37:00.000-07:00

At 6.00 am this morning my alarm went off on my mobile phone. I hit snooze three times and was in a peaceful little snooze world curled up under my bed covers.

Then at 6.30 am I was thrown out of my bed, heart beating very fast and a loud ringing in my ears. Panic hit as I realized the noise that had scared me was the fire alarm in my building. It was the first time in two years that I had ever heard it.

I quickly threw on my clothes, closed all my windows and grabbed the following

Wallet
Keys
Camera

I forgot my phone in my room, which in a future possible inferno situation I should remember to bring with me. I am also still puzzled that my camera was a possession that I felt I could not live without.

I opened my door and the entire corridor was filled with water and the alarm bell was even louder. The water was dripping from the firehose in my corridor, it seems they switch on automatically when the alarm goes off.

I got to the stairwell and began my journey downwards from the tenth floor, water dripping down the stairs like a weak waterfall. I was on the street outside my flat in less than four minutes from the moment the alarm sounded. Soon the other 3 western people who live in my building joined me and we walked around looking for smoke.

We spotted no smoke. No other people exited my building.

After 15 minutes I decided that clearly the alarm was false because no Chinese people in my building had joined us outside. I ventured back upstairs to my floor and knocked on my neighbours door.

My neighbour is Chinese, but speaks good English. He opened the door and I shouted over the alarm.

"Is this a false alarm?"

"I'm not sure" he replied

"Has there been a sign written in Chinese saying they were testing the alarms"?

"I don' t think so" he replied

"Are you concerned there could be a fire"?

"No, I do not smell any smoke".

I'm not kidding, not one Chinese person in the building was even slightly concerned by the fire alarm. I arrived in my office this morning and asked my Chinese boss if Chinese people are secretly immune to fire. She said they were not, and that I did the right thing by exiting the building so quickly.

Road works

2009-03-22T16:43:00.000-07:00

I wanted to have an early night last night so was in bed by about 10pm. At 9.45 pm road works had begun outside my building and were so loud the building was shaking.

Being patient and British I decided to wait and see if the drilling and hammering would stop. By 10.45pm there was no sign of this happening though so I got dressed and went downstairs.

I found the guy who was in charge of the operation and I shouted over the drilling that I was trying to sleep and can they please stop drilling. The foreman looked at me and shrugged, then walked away.

Not being at all amused I then went back to my flat, grabbed my camera and returned downstairs in a far more angry state than I had been before. The good thing about Hong Kong is that the police are everywhere and it took me all of two minutes to find a policeman and make my complaint about the drilling. It turns out the policeman had already been contacted about the noise and so the combination of policeman and angry western guy taking photos and videos of the workmen made them stop pretty damn quick. Tossers.

bx

Rain is coming

2009-03-21T18:18:00.000-07:00

Typhoon season is fast approaching and Hong Kong is due to be hit by around 5 - 7 typhoons this summer according to the weather experts. The typhoon grading system has changed slightly so we now have either a typhoon, a strong typhoon or a super typhoon. I think calling the strongest possible level of death causing weather "super" is a little strange as it can be read two different ways.

So before the unpredictable weather hits I am trying to take advantage by going on some hikes and camping trips etc. The picture above was taken on my hike over the Wan Chai mountain last week and I have two camping trips planned over the next two weekends which should be cool.

My weekend so far has been event filled. I visited my physiotherapist who is making some serious improvements to my bad back on Saturday morning and had sushi for lunch with a friend. I then took part in the company "scavenger hunt", which involved rushing round Hong Kong looking for clues and completing tasks. One of the tasks was to lay on a bed in Ikea with my entire team and have someone take a picture of us, which got strange looks. Saturday night I went to a very famous restaurant that serves Peking duck, there were 8 of us there and we consumed three ducks with pancakes and it was seriously tasty stuff.

It's now Sunday morning and the plan is to go for a run then cook my lunch for the following week at work. Later today I am going to a house party where you have to bring a type of Cheese. Im going for some smelly cheese.

A mix of things

2009-03-16T23:21:00.000-07:00

I have been to see my friends perform in their band "Kowloon City Strike Force" for the third time this weekend. They are getting better with each show, which is good. The lead singer is going to cause himself serious throat damage though unless he goes to singing lessons of some sort, because he sings so loudly. The general feeling in the crowd seemed to be that he was really out of tune too, but I think that is because the band is too loud for him to hear himself sing, if that makes sense.

Watching the band perform though was only the middle part of my evening. Previously I was at a house party which was largely full of people I did not know. I seemed to overcompensate for this by a wholehearted involvement in drinking games and combined it with forgetting to consume any dinner. Earlier that day I had also been on a hike from Wan Chai to Aberdeen, walking over the mountain and becoming dehydrated in the Hong Kong sun.

So by the time I saw my friends play in their band I had no issue shouting full and vocal support at them, along with what could well have been a more subtle and quiet criticism of the lead singer. I then ended my evening returning to the houseparty, then to a club, then to another club and then home. Then to the bathroom, then bed, then bathroom, then bed, in a loop that lasted till Monday evening.

I am now not drinking till the end of the month. I have also learnt a very valuable lesson that I will take with me for the rest of my life.

Always make sure no one is recording a video of your friends in their band when you are drunk and loudly commentating on the lead singer.

On a more friendly note, look at a picture of me dressed as Father Christmas!

bx

Friday night with style

2009-03-07T02:17:00.001-08:00

On Friday during the daytime I spilt my lunch down my shirt, dropped a cup of water on my desk and broke my computer keyboard. I then went home and my key could no longer open my flat, so I had to call a locksmith. I then later slipped and fell whilst getting out of my shower.

Considering all this you would have thought that I might reconsider going gambling to Macau last night. But I did not, the theory being that with so much bad luck, I had to have something going for me in Macau.

When we arrived in Macau we got our passports stamped and headed straight to the best Casino in town. The Venetian.

Nikki and Laura had never been there before so it was a new experience for them. We did not go straight to the gaming tables though, instead we decided to ease ourselves into the evening by having a drink and watching the live music at the Bellini Lounge.

Then it was time to spend our money. I went straight to the Roulette tables, cashing in 200 HKD for chips and sitting myself down next to an old lady wearing big diamonds and betting big money. What is great about a Casino is the free drinks they provide if you are betting. The idea behind it is that you get drunk and spend more money, though with a little self control you can get your moneys worth of free drink by only making small regular bets.

I turned my 200 HKD into 500 HKD then lost it all. Which is fine because I had been at the table for ages and it was money that I had already decided I could afford to lose. We then went for a walk around the indoor canal area upstairs in the Casino. And the drink had clearly started having an effect.

After that we hit the electronic gambling machines, and I managed to make 20 HKD last me another few free drinks and actually won enough cash to go for dinner at 3am in the posh Chinese dim sum place they had in the center of the casino. After some very tasty food we returned to the Bellini lounge for a while before returning to do some gambling.

I won some money and then lost some, then won some again in a never ending circle.

And so by around 4.30 am we decided to call it a night in Macau. The entire evening of music watching, gambling, chinese food eating, drinking and travel had cost me 600 Hong Kong Dollars. Which is not bad considering the ferry is 300 HKD return in itself.

So I left Macau feeling quite lucky indeed, having had a good night and lots of fun.

I returned to Wan Chai at sunrise and found the entire district shrouded in smoke. A fire was burning in a building up the street and the smell of smouldering plastic and household material was swirling and clouding the streets. My widows in my flat had been left open, and my bad luck had returned.

Runners

2009-03-05T06:19:00.000-08:00

Rush hour in Hong Kong is an experience like no other. Whether it is the "soothing" music that is played to try and calm you down or the endless shoulder barging you receive, there really is nothing quite like it.

One aspect that always has me shaking my head in amusement is the 'runners' on the underground train. There is a transfer station between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon which requires you to exit one train then cross a 70 meter space to board the next train.

Just before you arrive at this transfer station everyone is calm and composed. Reading books, listening to music or chatting on the phone.

Then the doors open. And 30% of the passengers go mental.

They throw their hands in the air, they wave and scream like banshees and run as if their pants are on fire across the 70 meter space between the two train platforms. I swear I have seen children slip and fall and parents briefly consider leaving the child rather than miss the train. It's modern natures way of factoring out the runt of the litter.

Another common sight is to see men throw their heads downwards and run across the platform in a battering ram style. Old ladies on deaths door for thirty seconds are suddenly reborn, able to walk straight and dash across to the next train with the speed of a teenager.

If this was not enough craziness to witness, even more amazing is the following.

The 'runners' do it whether there is a train pulling into the platform opposite or not.
There are trains every 2 minutes during rush hour.

I am going to video the crossing sometime soon just to show you.

B x

The biggest loser

2009-02-27T08:35:00.000-08:00

The gym that I go to is the same one that I have been visiting with a varying attendance record since I first arrived in Hong Kong three years ago.

Whilst my own attendance has been sporadic, one continuous element has been the timing of my visits with that of an overweight, over-middle-age and over-tanned man. Whenever I am there he can always be seen on the treadmill, walking briskly and looking like he would rather be anywhere else than in the gym.

But his persistancy has paid off. He was at the gym Wednesday morning on the same treadmill as usual and he must now be easily 5 stone lighter than when I first started realizing that we shared a similar early morning schedule. But he still looked like he would rather be anywhere else than in the gym.

Then on Thursday night I was walking through the red light district of Hong Kong, in the general direction of our local pub. Just as I was about to enter I spotted over-middle-age and over-tanned man! He walked past me and then round the corner, having lost 5 stone but gained two prostitutes, who were hanging off his arms.

So when he looks like he would rather be anywhere else but in the gym, I am disturbed to know where he would probably rather be.

bx

I do it on the train

2009-02-26T06:44:00.000-08:00

Since arriving back in Hong Kong I have started to realize how much the place smells.

Like any city Hong Kong has it's own special smells and they have caused me numerous flashbacks.

For example, the smell of the street vendors selling mystery meat reminds me of first experiencing them hung over with Robyn. Walking past the laundry shops reminds me of when I used to have my weekly washing done with no communication between myself and the staff except hand signals and facial expressions. I have also been to Lockhart road a few times and there is nothing quite like the smell of prostitutes burning incense on the streets in an attempt to avoid harsh judgement from the gods.

I have also become aware of some habits I have adopted since my extended stay in Hong Kong. In particular stretching at strange moments in public places. People in Hong Kong stretch all the time, old people meet in the park and do group stretching and middle aged men wave their arms around like they are possessed. I stretch in the train. That's right, in the morning whilst waiting for the train I touch my toes, stretch out my back and even sometimes reach for the sky.

I would never do that in England.

If i did, I would be pushed under a train.

bx

In England

2009-02-07T06:45:00.000-08:00

I left Hong Kong at around 9am after not sleeping at all the night before. This was good because it meant that I slept for around seven hours of the flight and arrived not feeling too bad.

Then this happened.

The entire of the UK was hit by the worst snowstorm in 18 years.

England is not very good with varied weather. When it rains a bit we get floods, when it snows a bit the roads become too dangerous for travel and when it is summer we have hosepipe bans and drought. One constant guarantee in these uncertain times is that the people of Britain will moan and complain about the climate in whatever form it takes, as newspaper articles this week demonstrated quite nicely. To make matters worse many local councils are starting to run out of grit and salt to make the roads safe to drive on, which again is rather typical.

Surprisingly the snow has not caused my recruitment trip too much disruption. The first two days when the snow was at its worse I could not venture outside, but neither could the people that I would have been meeting. I could also reschedule those days to take place at the end of my trip so it all works out quite well.

Other than that my time in the UK so far has been quite boring. I have been travelling from university to university and have been doing presentations and interviews along the way. Annoyingly my back problem which has caused me issues for the last couple of months has resurfaced. I have also trapped a nerve which makes it impossible for me to raise my left leg if I am in a sitting position. This is not a movement that I make that often but it would be nice to have it back!

what we did not

2009-01-28T06:29:00.000-08:00

Nikki did have to sign a four page contract to secure the table on the peak, but we were not guaranteed window seats to watch the fireworks.

Luckily for us some friends were inviting a mystery Russian guy to the dinner. Upon hearing that we were not guaranteed a window table he made a phone call to his credit card company, gave them the details of the dinner booking and informed them to make sure we get a window seat.

We got the best seat in the whole place, and then decided that this mystery Russian was probably part of the mafia.

The food was fantastic, but the fireworks were not because the weather was a bit murky. it was still a really good night though and we got very drunk.

And so the Russian guy then tells us this story. I will tell it again.

One day Mr Russian took a walk round the very exclusive area of Hong Kong. This area was called the Peak, which is on a mountain overlooking the whole kingdom. Whilst walking past all the multi-million pound properties he came across an old derelict mansion. This mansion had paint peeling off, weeds and trees had grown so dense that clearly no one had visited it for a very long time. It was protected by a big black iron gate, but sat overlooking all of Hong Kong.

Mr Russian was curious about this building and contacted his personal assistant. Soon the investigation into the mystery mansion began and soon the mystery only deepened.

The mansion had been on the market for 15 years. With nobody taking up residence. It had been purchased by many different people, but then sold very quickly, without anyone ever holding onto it for more than a year.

Mr Russian was informed that the mansion could be his for 18 million pounds. A significant discount compared to other properties on the Peak. He was also told that he should not purchase the property, which is unusual advice for a property agent to provide. The mansion is haunted by the ghost of a girl it was explained, a girl who has never taken well to guests.

.And here the story ends.

This made us all very scared, yet at the same time curious. We were on the Peak, why not go and visit this haunted mansion?

So we all climbed into Mr Russians BMW jeep/tank/bus and made the journey to the gates of this lone mansion sitting above Hong Kong.

And here is where I explain what we did not do.

We did not climb over the mansion gates and open them up.

We did not all creep through the overgrown trees to get into the mansion grounds.

We did not go looking for the ghost of the girl.

We did not have to spend periods of time hiding as people walked past the mansion on the road above.

We did not marvel at the amazing views or in any way become scared.

We did go later to many bars.

Parade and fireworks

2009-01-26T22:11:00.000-08:00

Apparently New York, San Francisco and even mainland China look to Hong Kong to see how a Chinese New Year Parade should be done.

It was therefore with great excitement that I attended my first Chinese New Year parade full of expectation and anticipation.

We started the evening by going for a curry at Chungking mansions. Chungking mansions is a giant building on Nathan Road that is the home to refugees and budget hostels for young backpackers.

It is no surprise then that the building is famous for being full of refugees trying to scam young backpackers.

Once you get over the distinct impression that you have stepped into Baghdad on a bad day Chungking mansions offers amazing cheap and authentic restaurants. Probably the most well known establishment is named the "Taj Mahal". Chungking is such a maze of stairwells and corridors that we were soon spotted by a man who promised to take us to the Taj Mahal and instead took us to a totally different restaraunt. It would seem that whilst we did not have backpacks on our shoulders we were going to be scammed anyway. We eventually found the Taj Mahal and had a very tasty meal.

After dinner a group of seven of us waded through the crowds in search of a good spot to watch the parade. We eventually found somewhere and waited for the fun to begin.

And the parade was.....boring.

Well not so much the parade, the crowd was boring. Or perhaps it was a little of both. Watch this video and see the excitment and atmosphere in the crowd. You see? There is none. No one was waving, clapping or smiling. If the crowd was a patient and I was the doctor I would have classed it as being terminal, with euthanasia as the best medication.

So the evening ended with us all catching the Star Ferry home and going to bed.

Tonight though there are far different plans. Nikki has booked a restaraunt up the peak for 8 of us to watch the fireworks and consume a four course meal with unlimited drink. To secure the booking Nikki had to sign a four page contract. I consider this to be slightly excessive for dinner reservations but this is Hong Kong, and much like parades such things are taken too seriously.

bx

ps. On a totally different note click here for something that had me crying with laughter.

Gung Hei Fat Choi

2009-01-25T01:39:00.000-08:00

Happy Chinese New Year! I have been away from the blog for a little while partly due to writers block, partly because family have been visiting and partly because I am getting ready to go to the UK for my yearly recruitment trip.

Hong Kong is cold right now. It has dropped to about 10 and I don't think in the past three years I have experienced a winter quite like this one. I know that it is not cold in comparison to England or Alaska, but it feels cold to me!

So what have I been doing recently?

Well I have been hijacking a tram and flying through the streets of Hong Kong

I also took a trip to the Hong Kong history museum and learnt lots about Hong Kong that I did not know about. My head was filled with so many facts and figures that I felt it best to dispose of my head totally.

I have also been playing with the settings on my camera and learning to do new cool things.

The previous picture I took today (Sunday) at the Hong Kong flower market. I have been past the market and seen how busy it was in previous years and never had an urge to visit the place. This year Laura expressed a wish to go though, so after a morning hike from Chai Wan to Shek O Beach (yes that is as impressive as it sounds) a bunch of us went to check out what the market had to offer.

And the flower market offered crazy crowds and bright flowers. I have experienced crowds in my time in Hong Kong but this was without doubt the most extreme experience I have had. There were people pushing and jostling you from all sides, flower sellers shouting out their deals and the usual militant old ladies shunting and pushing like rugby players in a scrum.

bx

Family visit 09

2009-01-19T15:43:00.000-08:00

Click here for pictures!

bx

Video

2009-01-07T19:34:00.001-08:00

I am in a video!!!

Click here

bx

Hiking Pictures

2009-01-04T06:19:00.000-08:00

These are a few pics I have taken recently whilst out and about

Happy New Year!!!

2009-01-01T20:24:00.001-08:00

So I do have things to report including doing step aerobics with old ladies in the public swimming pool and New Year stuff. However for the moment please click here to see the New Year HK fireworks!

Ben x

Birthday

2008-12-30T19:36:00.000-08:00

H a p p y

Birthday

Mum!!!

Lots of love Ben xx

Wedding Bells

2008-12-29T05:19:00.000-08:00

Two Western friends of mine are considering asking their Chinese girlfriends to marry them. Whilst these are very romantic gestures the result has uncovered a new economic aspect to wedded bliss in Hong Kong that I was not aware of.

I call it 'paying off the parents'

One American friend of mine has already proposed to his Chinese girlfriend of 7 years. She comes from a very traditional family and it was therefore expected that my friend first seek the permission of her parents. What shocked me was not that people still ask permission to do such things, it is that a financial deal needs to be agreed between the boyfriend and the parents before anything is allowed to take place.

100,000 Hong Kong Dollars is the price my friend has to pay his girlfriends parents in order to be permitted to marry her. This can be paid by installments or in one lump sum. Prices are varied depending on the family and the girl. I have since discovered families that have requested one million Hong Kong Dollars or more for their daughters hand in marriage.

My friend being charged 100,000 HKD has caused conversation. Additionally it turns out he was already paying the family a considerable monthly sum since his relationship with the daughter became serious.

Another friend I know was dating a Chinese girl and also paying the family 5000 HKD a month for the honour. He told me that during the period where he was paying these monthly installments his girlfriends younger sister was also renting a room in their flat.
Frustratingly the girlfriends younger sister was receiving roughly the same amount of pocket money from the parents as my friend was paying them to date their eldest daughter. He said it was annoying to see his money going towards ipods, clothing and expensive makeup.

Since then that relationship has now ended, and I don't think he got a refund.

I am considering summing up this post by ranting about romance being dead in Hong Kong and the whole place revolving around money. Or perhaps I could take an understanding tone and recognize that this is a different culture and they have different customs and systems.

I am going to do none of these things though. Instead I will start taking bets on which of my friends girlfriends will have the highest price for marriage.

If you know the friends I am talking about you can place your bets....

now.

bx

We have a problem

2008-12-21T16:48:00.000-08:00

So i'm still in Hong Kong, slightly hung over, and not in the Philippines.

I did not arrive in the Philippines due to a series of unfortunate events. Which will not require too much explaining.

Firstly we arrived at the airport on time, two hours before the plane was due to take off. This made me happy because I like things to be on time.

We waited in line to check in with mostly Filipino people and more than a few ladyboys. The ladyboys kept looking at us and smiling which was made more amusing because they looked terrible. Like grown men who had applied makeup whilst drunk and on a rollercoaster.

We arrived to check in our bags at the counter, the bags were taken and then there was a problem. The credit card Richard used to pay for the flight tickets was not actually his, it belonged to his mother and whilst the money had been paid for the flights and our names were on their database they needed to see a copy of the card used for the transaction.

In a perfect world they would have told us all this information at once upon arriving at the counter, we would have phoned up the mother of Richard and she would have faxed us a copy of her credit card to the airport head office. However they did not tell us all at once, they sent us to see someone at a separate counter who was not there. We waited, and waited, and waited. I did not wait in a quiet manner but still my increasingly angry manner did not make anyone come to help us.

So by the time someone did come to help us we discovered it was too late for us to do anything. The flight had closed, the plane had boarded, the bags were on board (though we got ours back). We could not transfer to the next flight the following day because it was fully booked, and all flights were booked till Christmas. We will get a refund on the tickets, but our Christmas trip was not going to happen.

We were both pretty angry about this but there was nothing we could do. A guy was in the airport crying and in hysterics about something that I never discovered and we both decided that it could be worse, we could have a serious problem like he seemed to be having.

We had money in our pockets and were in Macau, so of course we went gambling and drinking at the Venetian casino. We watched a fantastic live band, drank far too much and spent hours at the Roulette table. I set my limit for gambling at 500 HKD as this was the amount of money I did not mind if I lost, I did lose it, but I had a great time doing so and enough free drinks at the table to make it an economic way to spend an evening.

The plan now is that Richard and I will be doing something different every day in Hong Kong during the Christmas break. Today we are going hiking up Lions Rock which is part of the mountains surrounding Kowloon. Tomorrow I think we are going to the beach.

bx

Philipines!!!

2008-12-20T06:47:00.000-08:00

I am leaving for the Philipines tomorrow morning (Sunday) at 11.30am. Our plan is to arrive in Manila for the first day then travel South to an area called Puerto Galera where will will stay a few days. Then depending on what we feel like doing the likely plan shall involve traveling back up to Manila then getting an internal flight to Cebu for another few days.

I am quite looking forward to the adventure. Last year I did not really take a holiday and ended up cashing in 9 days of my 15 days annual leave because I could never find the time to use it. I also deserve a holiday, I have not had the greatest health over the last few months and work has also been difficult.

On a positive note I was plucked from my office to go into a Primary school on Friday dressed as Father Christmas. The older children pulled at my fake beard and attacked me, the little ones thought I was the real deal though which was funny.

If I can get to the internet then I will update the blog, but until I return on 31 December I wish you all a happy new year and a very Merry Christmas! I will keep a daily diary and type it all up once I arrive back in HK.

bx

Christmas is coming

2008-12-13T02:46:00.000-08:00

This is a little bit of a ramble.

Hong Kong seems strange today. I can't quite put my finger on it but everyone seems to be even more militant on the streets in regards to pushing and shoving than usual. It might have something to do with Christmas but I don't remember it being this crazy.

Pre- Christmas sales have hit Hong Kong in the same way that they probably have in the UK. I walked past one shop on the way to the cinema today and they had actual real people in the shop windows modeling the sale clothes. This seems quite cool but is actually quite scary if you are not expecting them to move suddenly as you walk past.

We had our work Christmas party last night and it took place on the beach on the south side of Hong Kong island. I got slightly drunk and loud, which was probably not the best idea in the world but I did have fun.

And on a different note. The people I work with are very festive indeed.

bx

Be nice

2008-12-11T22:54:00.000-08:00

A good way of summing up Hong Kong is by looking at the signs that get plastered everywhere.

And these are just two of the current messages. Previous mind control has included "Take your grandmother to the dentist", and "be nice to tourists".

Panda Attack

2008-12-10T22:08:00.000-08:00

Below is an article from the Hong Kong Standard newspaper

"Ocean Park is trying to find out why giant panda An An bit the left leg of a female keeper who has been looking after him for the past seven years.
The unidentified keeper, who has been with the park for 15 years, remains in hospital after the November 30 incident and is said to be recovering.
An An - which means "peace" in English - and his female companion, Jia Jia, - which means "Go on, bite her leg" were given to Hong Kong by the central government in 1999 to celebrate the handover."

So i might have changed a little bit of the article, but you can read the full thing here

Merry Christmas! x

2008-12-08T21:59:00.000-08:00

click to make larger

Octopus

2008-12-04T05:16:00.000-08:00

On my way to work today I topped up my Octopus card at a local store. An Octopus card is right up there with sliced bread and the light bulb in regards to inventions.

So when I topped up my card I asked for 100 HKD to be added. But the woman behind the counter added 300 HKD instead my mistake.

Because I was raised well by my parents I pointed out her error but she gestured for me to leave the shop quickly and so I did.

The extra money on my card is the equivalent to

17.6 British Pounds
90.9 rides on the Hong Kong star Ferry
12.5 meals of BBQ pork, rice and vegetables

This has made my day.

bx

Sickness again

2008-12-01T20:47:00.000-08:00

So yesterday I was sick again for my third week in a row (with three different ailments). I am not exactly sure what is wrong with me but the doctor says i am basically very run down and catching whatever the sickness of the week might be.

This is surprising because I have for the past 6 weeks been drinking less, running more and increasing my intake of vegetables and stuff. Perhaps I need to stop all this and just return to being a binge drinking, fast food eating slob.

One good thing about being in bed all day though is that I get to see the sunset in Wan Chai.

And one remedy I will not be trying can be found below.

Weather this week

2008-11-27T20:17:00.000-08:00

Hong Kong is freezing. I am on my lunchbreak at work and wearing multiple layers and a scarf.

Cultural understanding

2008-11-26T23:35:00.001-08:00

I sat in the bus and saw that my stop was coming up. I looked up to the front of the bus and said "Yeow Loc Mm Goi", in my best Cantonese accent.

The bus did not stop.

So I tried again "Yeow Loc Mm Goi"

Still the bus continued, and we sped past my stop.

I considered that the bus driver could be deaf so I shouted loudly. "YEOW LOC MM GOI!"

This got my first reaction, the bus driver looked up at me in the mirror. But carried on driving.

By this point I was 100 meters past my stop and going downhill. Perhaps I was saying the Cantonese words wrong. Maybe I was actually saying "Ignore me please". It was time to switch to English.

"COULD YOU STOP THE BUS PLEASE!"

This got a reaction "You want to stop the bus?" The driver asked.

"Yes!" I exclaimed, "stop the bus!" The bus driver nodded in reply.

But he could not stop the bus, we were on a busy road. Up ahead was a bus stop though, so no worries.

But we sped past that bus stop and continued on.

"STOP THE BUS I NEED TO GET OFF!"
"You want to get off?"
"YES STOP THE BUS PLEASE"
"OK!"

But we sped past the second bus stop on the road. This was the point where I totally lost my cultural sensibility.

"STOP THE BUS HERE! LIDOW MM GOI, YEOW LOC MM GOI, STOP THE BLOODY BUS!!!"

The bus stopped. I left in a flurry or angry brit abroad attitude.

I walked back 20 minutes to the meeting, uphill. Frustrated.

bx

The 25 Panic

2008-11-25T07:10:00.000-08:00

Laura returned from her exciting four months traveling in Asia safe and sound. It was nice to see her again and it now feels like she has never left.

I don't think I fully appreciate how much Nikki and Laura gave up during their journey. Nikki can count on one hand how many places she stayed in that offered hot water showers. And it seems like they got into some pretty difficult situations at times too.

Still I did not fully appreciate their plight till after Laura returned home and opened up her wash bag at the kitchen table where I was sitting. Whilst she was getting ready to go to the Bridge bar for a drink, a very exotic looking cockroach crawled out of her washbag and towards my arm.

I'm not going to lie, I did jump up and scream a little.

But the cockroach was not the only thing that Laura and Nikki have returned home with. They seem to have also returned with The 25 Panic.

The 25 Panic is not hard to explain. It is a medial condition that I have witnessed taking place in Hong Kong every year and it goes in the following stages.

People realize they are turning 25
They then then realize that their life is not on track for the career/children/marriage/house/white picket fence they imagined they should have by now
They panic and do something drastic

I can provide numerous case studies that are examples of people I know hitting the 25 Panic but to do so would be unfair. So rest assured that I can think of at least 6 people I know who have caught the disease and quite often run away back to London looking for the cure.

Laura put it best when she realized that her list of "things I want to do before I'm 30" will take her to the age of 60 to complete, and how can you factor in living in Europe, learning a language, skydiving and visiting numerous countries with the additional issues of finding a career?

So this was the subject of conversation round the dinner table last night, and this is how those people deal with the situation.

Laura: Talks about the 25 Panic

Nikki: Avoids thinking about the 25 Panic

George: Does not need to think about the 25 Panic as he is 21 or 22 (i forget)

Ben (me): Has got a list of options regarding his 25 Panic but can't actually decide which one to take. Causing panic.

So on May the 8th 2009 prepare for my 25 Panic. I might shut down the blog, move to Indonesia, take up pig hunting and change my name. Let us hope that a 25 Panic pill can be found before then.

Kowloon City Strike Force

2008-11-23T01:20:00.000-08:00

"So why did you decide to be in a band if you are not really that great at playing the guitar"? I asked Donald a few weeks ago.

"Well, when you get older, you have to be able to say you were once in a band", came the reply.

Last night was the debut for 'Kowloon City Strike Force', a band consisting of four guys, three of which I have known since arriving in Hong Kong. It was an accident that they were even on stage last night, Donald got drunk and agreed to the band playing after another band pulled out at the last minute.

Well the location of the show was the first problem. It was in Kwun Tong which is further than we are used to travelling for a night out. The second issue was the location, it was on the tenth floor of a warehouse building that was in a quiet backstreet of a quiet area you would never think of normally going for a show. We knew that we were in the right place though because we got into a lift with a bunch of black dressed gothic looking Chinese music fans.

And the warehouse name was amusing.

So other than being the only Western people on the 10th floor of a warehouse building in a backstreet of Hong Kong... How did they do?

Well you can click here for a quick video of them playing.

And here are a couple of pictures.

And my opinion was that they were quite good, but the main focus was on Richard the drummer. He was in the middle of the stage and more of a showman than the rest. He was also really loud, kind of like a kid with a new drum set in a library. Kids should be seen and not heard, Drummers should be heard and not seen. Richard was both. Though he was good.

I think if they manage to get a balance sorted out then they would be better.

This is Ben, music critic with not musical talent, reporting from Hong Kong.

bx

Caption Competition

2008-11-22T18:41:00.000-08:00

Please no one tell her this is on here.

bx

Financial Crisis...

2008-11-21T18:02:00.000-08:00

Seeing as Hong Kong is a financial hub, and the whole world is currently gripped by a financial crisis, I thought I would write about how it is affecting me.

Well it is not really causing me any bother at all. The only slight personal change I have noticed is that some European yogurt I used to buy has gone up in price by about 20 Hong Kong dollars in one week. So I stopped buying it and instead now buy a Chinese brand that is probably laced with Melamine. I know some banking people who are at risk from losing their jobs, and I know that quite a few others have lost them already, but other than this Hong Kong seems to be business as usual.

If anything, the financial problems are quite good for me right now. The exchange rate for Hong Kong dollars to British Pounds last year was about 15.9. It is now 11.4. This means that saving money has beome that little bit easier whilst the cost of living in Hong Kong is basically the same.

I know that this is not going to be the case forever though. Within the next year I will be job hunting and then I will be likely facing some issues, till then I am not really bothered by the rise and fall of stock markets.

In other news Laura returns from her massive 4 month trek this evening and our other friend George is also visiting Hong Kong for a few days at the same time. Nikki has been sleeping on my floor for quite a while since she returned back from travelling and she has just moved out yesterday to go and stay somewhere else. I thought it would be difficult to have her staying in my small flat for so long but it has actually been really easy. Truth be told I quite miss her at the moment!

It is Saturday morning as I type this and I have no plans at all. We were meant to be going hiking and camping this weekend but it got called off. Instead I am meeting Nikki and George at the Flying Pan for breakfast in half an hour and then we will see where the wind takes us. We went to the Bridge bar last night so I feel we deserve a fry up.

bx

ps: For Hannah and anyone else interested, I found a video of Chris doing standup omedy on yourtube (Chris used to work for he company) click here

Pictures from the Sedan Chair Race

2008-11-18T05:36:00.000-08:00

There is quite a bit of focus on a girl dressed as a mouse. That is my friend Kristy and she was very funny.

bx

Philippines

2008-11-17T02:55:00.000-08:00

I am going to the Philippines for Christmas!!!

This is exciting because it is a new place in Asia that I have never travelled to. I am going with a friend who is very organized when it comes to planning trips etc, so it means I don't have to do too much organizing which is good.

I was at first a little bit concerned about the Philippines because it has mixed reviews and some dangerous areas. I did my research though and discovered that there are certain places you should avoid, but otherwise it is just as dangerous as parts of London.

The weekend has now passed and I spent it going to Sai Kung for an amazing bbq and also the peak to see a friend dress as a mouse and take part in a sedan chair race for charity. Pictures to come soon!

bx

Jumbo Goodness

2008-11-10T21:05:00.000-08:00

On Sunday I had a massive brunch consisting of spring rolls, eggs benedict, sushi, crab, beef steaks, mozzarella, curry, prawns, cheesecake, ice cream and topped off with a bloated sick feeling.

This came as a result of my visit to the famous Jumbo floating restaurant which does not float but actually sits on concrete in the middle of the water. I was slightly let down when i learnt this.

There was quite a few of us who went for brunch, but Nikki and I turned up first. This made me happy because I hate being late for anything. Nikki had been out the night before and had not slept, so she did not appreciate the food on quite the same level as we did, she also did not appreciate me making her rush to arrive on time. Especially when everyone else was late. Below you can see her looking all lonely at the end of the table before everyone arrived.

But soon the table was full

We also had unlimited drink during the brunch so it made sense to get very drunk.

In other news I have some friends visiting this week who I worked with in America. It is fantastic showing them around and will throw some pictures up here as soon as I get them. I have been giving them lots of tourist things to do.

bx

Winter is here

2008-11-10T02:57:00.000-08:00

Winter today has hit Hong Kong.

Winter in Hong Kong is not really winter by any normal standard. The temperature today is 19c, the sun is shining and there is not a cloud in the sky. What makes this winter though is that there is now a slight breeze and the humidity level has dropped to 23%.

This is a very big deal as It means that people in Hong Kong can now begin to look like Arctic explorers. Today I have seen people wearing coats, extra jumpers and even one weirdo wearing gloves.

It also means that people walk faster, which I always forget till I'm overtaken on foot by a grumbling grandmother. On the way back home today I felt like I was racing with a pack of crazed people in suits. I employed dirty tactics such as fake coughing loudly to get other people to disperse from round me. Everyone being paranoid about sickness can sometimes work to your advantage.

I'm sure it is not winters fault, but I also have a new neighbour who I managed to insult in spectacular fashion. She has moved in across the hall and rang my doorbell at 9am on Sunday morning to introduce herself. In my defence, the only people who ring my doorbell before 9am or after 9pm are annoying salespeople trying to sell me TV packages. I looked through the spyhole and she was carrying papers with her, so I opened the door, witnessed the usual shock that I was not Chinese, listened to her mumble something then said "I'm sorry, I'm not Chinese, try next door," and closed the door.

Amoment too late I realized that she was not dressed like a salesperson, looked through the spyhole, and saw her go into the flat opposite and close the door.

Hopefully I will undo this bad start with a nicely worded Christmas card.

bx

Hot and Cold

2008-11-03T23:45:00.000-08:00

I have Tonsillitis again!

I went to the doctors today and am now on antibiotics. This caused me to go to the shop, stock up on Ribena, water, bread and ice-cream then retreat to my flat. Nikki has gone to the beach, which is quite a good idea seeing as the whole place is now a contamination site.

Other exciting news is that my air-conditioner has recently been fixed after being broken for 3 weeks. I was not really bothered too much when it was broken because I like to sleep in the warmth, but Nikki likes the cold. To compensate for this we have placed the remote control for the aircon between us on a chair (Nikki is sleeping on a matress on the floor). We now have continuous battles when we wake up in the night and turn it on or off though. I think I will blame the tonsillitis on her and the aircon :)

Anyway, time for me to go back to sleep!

bx

A serious event in Hong Kong

2008-11-01T09:26:00.000-07:00

It is now 1am On November the 2nd, and I am watching TV with Nikki. She is staying with me for a week and then will travel to a different friends floor for a further week. This is a cycle that will continue till she can move back into her flat at the start of December. It's quite nice to have her back, so I don't mind having her. Plus I am basically providing a charitable service to a homeless person, so i'm sure good karma will result.

Halloween 2008 has now been and gone in Hong Kong. It is an event that is taken very seriously here and is one of the best nights of the year. My theory is that generally people in Hong Kong are quite uptight, the community consists of bankers and lawyers and a largely conservative local Chinese base. So on Halloween everyone seems to take advantage of an excuse to have fun on a large scale.

Whilst mentioning bankers, it was a banker friend of mine called Matt who offered to host a Halloween party at his flat. However, during the organizing of the event it became apparent that we might be inviting too many people, and needed a larger space. It was at this point that someone who knew Matt offered his flat as an alternative venue, which Matt explained as being 'quite a large place'.

Well large does not describe it. When I walked into the flat my mouth almost hit the floor, the place was massive on almost a ridiculous scale. It was possibly larger than my family house in England, but it was in the mid-levels of Hong Kong. A very exclusive area. I could not begin to put a price on the place but it was clear that the owner must have a great deal of money. Walking around the flat you could see some pictures the owner was displaying on electronic photo frames. At first they all looked like normal family pictures, they contained relaxed settings and images of children and a man who I later discovered to be the owner of the flat. Except that when you looked closer, you could see that there were additional guests in the photos. Tony Blair, Bill Clinton, George Bush Senior, the Chinese presidents and various other dignitaries all featured in the family shots. This guy was clearly well connected.

However, whilst the owner of the flat did seem to have an abundance of money and power, he thankfully did not seem to have an abundance of character or manners. This was something that the rest of the guests at the party did have, so I left the venue not feeling the slightest bit jealous.

And now, onto the pictures.

bx

ps I am aware I look pretty much the same as I did last year, my original plan was going to go as dead Steve Irwin but I was told that this would be insensitive.

pps I am trying something new with my pictures, if you can't view them you need to download software called flash player. Let me know if you can't see them

1964

2008-10-30T02:39:00.000-07:00

Have you ever woken up one morning and wondered to yourself what the Central District of Hong Kong looked like in 1964?

Click here to find out!

bx