Its been pointed out to me that all my entries start with either allusions to some form of alcohol induced disability, or an admission that my navigational prowess is comparable with that of the famous, if misrepresented, lemming. Lets set the record straight. Last night and today I did not touch a drop of the Devil's drink and occupied myself with emotionally balanced and well adjusted past-times. It all began on Saturday, when I woke up with a hangover at 3pm (DAMN!)...
Actually, this particular story goes back to Friday night. I went to dinner with Dave and Neil (Booth, not Mochan) to celebrate financial year end. We dropped into a place called Tengo, which serves Izakaya style food. It was surprisingly good and pretty cheap too. The interior reminded me of a tribal hall, and brought back memories of Beowulf and the LOTR films. We chomped down our food and one of my other colleagues turned up. A couple more beers to celebrate year end and Neil and I went off to Bauhaus. Bauhaus is the local rock bar/club. Actually, I'm not sure what sort of venue it was but it was laid out with very American style diner tables that faced towards the back corner. In the corner was clearly the set up for some band to play. Also, on our tables was a menu of songs. This sounded interesting. The disconcerting aspect was that we were the only patrons. Neil assured me it would liven up a bit. It turns out there was only one band, but boy did they rock. The selection of tracks came from the classic rock eras: 60-80s. There was one Nirvana track thrown in for good measure. I was really impressed, and this is a band that had honed there skills. I was further surprised when the waitresses started to get up to sing. They were both pretty cute and had pretty awesome voices for that kind of music! By the end I managed to get them to play my selection - Immigrant Song - and its the best version I've ever heard. As the Wraggster might say: Fuckin' A. Afterwards I met up with Dave again but we were both worse for wear. We staggered into 911 (one of the many local meat markets) and danced like idiots for a while. At that stage, a game of pool seemed like a great idea. One thing I love about Japan is its 24hr convenience. In this case we went into a fairly packed pool hall at 3am and racked up a few. We played darts too. The less said about that the better. Suffice to say, rubber dart boards suck. The night was polished off with a lovely bowl of Ramen and we left for home around 4.30 am.
So, now you understand why I woke up at three on Saturday. I really hate it when you wake up and it takes about an hour before you find the strength to do anything. Feeling slightly ashamed at my guitar skill level after the previous nights' rock fest I thrashed out a few of my favourites. Around about six I got a call reminding me I was supposed to be at a movie night in Shiba-Koen. D'oh, I got there about 7 but couldn't find the apartment for about 30 minutes. Anyway, they'd ordered me KFC (or Kentuck as Japanese like to call it) and I broke fast. Mmm, chicken and biscuits to start the day. I have to commend our host on his choice of Movie: Anchorman - The legend of Ron Burgandy. Its the funniest Will Ferrel movie I've seen. And the funniest movie I've seen in a while! "I would like to extend to you an invitation to the pants party." Nuff Said. This was followed by Appurusheed. Or Apple-seed for English speakers. A really cool Anime/Manga but no English subtitles. I was pretty lost so just sat back and enjoyed the graphics.
On to the main event. Today was spent in the pleasant company of six of my work colleagues and one Non-work colleague. The plan was formulated on Friday to go to Kawagoe. Kawagoe is a beautiful town that still has many Pre-Tokyo era buildings, plus many pre-war buildings. One of the main attractions is a beautiful temple called Kitain. It has many buildings that were transported from the original Edo castle (Edo is the town that became Tokyo) before Edo castle was burnt down during the war. The former site of Edo castle is now home to the Imperial place. Hopefully the snaps will go up tomorrow, but this place was beautiful. Thanks to Steph for picking it. Oh, lest I forget: I got lost on the way there. I was meant to go to the office to check out the directions but didn't have time so jumped on the subway. Big mistake, I should have got the over-ground train which would have taken 20 minutes. In the end I had to get a taxi to the tune of 2,800 yen!
Its now late Autumn around Tokyo which means the parks and towns are bedecked with the warm colours of Autumnal leaves. Kitain temple is especially beautiful. We were fortunate to get such a clear bright day. I think my fondest memory was sitting in the West porch of the temple with the crew and watching the sun play through the leaves. At that moment a woman in full kimono garb sat down by herself on the opposite side of us. It was such an anachronism - like something from 350 years ago being replayed for our benefit. The mood was broken when everyone started taking photos of her (including me). Like I say, the lighting was perfect, so I've managed to get a few photos I'm really proud of.
Today was also Children's Day. So the temple was very busy. Children's day is a special ceremony for 3,5 and 7 year olds. There were lots of you kids in very well done Kimonos. It must have taken hours just to get them all done up. Also, the hair on the girls was perfectly coiffed. We were standing behind the shrine watching one of the ceremonies when an old lady tapped me on the arm:
"Excuse Me!" - I instantly assumed she was trying to get passed so backed up and smiled.
"Excuse Me!" - This time she tugged on my sleeve. Ooh er, she was a bit crusty but probably sane. I replied "Hello."
"Where are you from?" I answered but she didn't understand.
"Where are you from?" (Remember - just keep nodding and smiling) "I'm from Scotland." "Neee!?!".
Before I could get over my shock and return the polite enquiry she backed off - smiling and waving the whole time. I couldn't do anything but smile and wave back. I'm told this is fairly common outside Tokyo, but apart from a five year old kid on my flight to Yunnan a couple of months ago, I'd never experienced any kind of interest in my origins. Apparently the further you get from Tokyo, the more fascinating white people are. I could faintly make out her exclamations to her travel buddies: "Su-kot-o-lando-jin ga!". Cue gasps. I almost expected one of them to faint. I was officially freaked out at all this. Fortunately the zen like qualities of Kitain temple soon put me at ease.
The day was finished with my first proper experience of Nabe (see photos). Its a kind of hotpot type soup dish. I opted for the Tofu Nabe and supplemented it with grilled whole fish and fried Chicken. Nothing left to do but go back to Tokyo and write this blog... Ahhh
Sunday, November 27, 2005
Thursday, November 24, 2005
Damn! We're in a tight spot!
Also known as "Cows! I hate cows worse than coppers!"
So, two weeks to report on. I'm nursing a hangover right now so I'm not getting anything serious done... may as well do me blog.
First up - Karaoke last Friday. We went back to the big Shibuya Shidax for some more K. The big surprise (well for me, not for the locals) was one of my work colleagues' dulcet tones. This guy was reaaally good! Anyway, after screeching my way through California Dreamin' and Champagne Supernova I called it a night. Or rather, tried to. Dave tricked me into downing the last couple of beers. Of course I was sitting next to an attractive intelligent woman. So I had to try to impress her by demonstrating how much of a man I was by drinking beer as fast as possible. Hmmm. The result can only be measured in hammer blows. I was running at about three every ten seconds when I woke up the next day. A real side to side headache with up-down thrown in for fun. If you don't know what I mean, next time you have a head-ache. Try shaking your head and then try nodding. Usually only one direction elicits a pain response.
Next - Yokohama and the Raumen Museum. I took a trip to Yokohama to visit the large warehouse style furniture store called Homes on Saturday Morning. It turns out they've got loads of other stuff... in fact they have everything you could possibly want to set up a place. If only I'd known about it when I was _actually_ furniture shopping. Sigh. Anyway, I did find the coolest sofa and armchair set I've ever seen. The idea is that there are speakers built into the chairs above the shoulders, as well as a sub-woofer under the seat. You can get a pretty decent volume without disturbing the neighbours due to the proximity of the speakers, and you also experience pleasurable vibrations. One concern is whether or not having a big electro-magnet under your ass will leave you sterile and wipe all your credit cards. Anyway, I'm thinking of getting the arm-chair with my bonus. Argh, no I can't - it costs over 500 quid! I'll go ON HOLIDAY instead. (I need to keep reminding myself that... I'm soo tempted!) To polish off the afternoon we went to the Ramen Museum. It has a pretty cool diorama of a 1920s style Japanese street. There are a number of pretty famous Ramen shops in the museum and you can sit down and have some of the best noodles I've ever tried. They also sell a bunch of authentic traditional sweets and snacks. Awesome. Upstairs is a "Make your own Cup Noodle" factory. You can pick any ingredients and they'll make a cup noodle for you on the spot. Awesome!! We didn't have time, but if I go back I'll be sure to get some. In fact, if anyone comes to visit me we'll go there for a day trip.
Saturday Night - Party in Mita. Another work colleague was having a party. Unable to resist the lure of Pizza + Beer I turned up a little ragged from the previous night's excess. I'm yet to find a proven hangover cure, but the Ramen I ate at the museum was putting up a brave attempt. We ended up laughing our asses off to Dodgeball and indulging in that proven student baiting game of building towers out of beer cans. Thumbs up to Yoka who managed to knock it down seconds after taking a photo of it ("it was the flash that did it!" - yeah right).
Wednesday- Yasumi! (Yasumi == holiday). I somehow ended up drinking again on Monday with a couple of guys from work, discussing what to do for the coming holidays. I ended up eating in La Jolla, my local Mexican restaurant. Mmmm, Chimi Changa. I took a night off on Tuesday because I was feeling sick and slept in yesterday because it was a Holiday!! Awesome, I had a looong bath, went to buy an electric heater (its frickin' cold now), picked up a couple of books, and ended up going to a really cool bar. In Shibuya there is this little street near the station with a bunch of tiny little pubs (I'll try to get the photos up soon). The door is almost too narrow for me to get in, there is an almost vertical staircase that I couldn't climb properly because I kept hitting my knee on the next step up - there wasn't room to go up sideways, and four bar stools. That's it. The bar (called "Tight") could legally fit 17 people, but we had six in and it felt cosy. There was one couple sitting at the `far' end of the bar, then me and Dave, and then two random punters who had to stand on the stairs, and on the banister whilst hanging over the staircase. To go to the loo, we had to climb under the guy's legs! The decor was modern, and there were two 14inch LCD TVs behind the bar playing the latest Director's Label DVDs. The sound system was a decent Bose set up too so the tunes were pumping out. The locals ended up trying to teach us various swear words and bad English to Japanese translations. My top three where
1) Hold Me - Sounds like "Ho Mi". Which means c*ck.
2) First Kitchin - an American style diner - gets shortened to "Fir-Kin". Phonetically - "Fuh King"
3) Little Policemen - These guys didn't like the police and told me a sure way to insult them (and get arrested) was to call them Chotto Police ga.
There were more, including how to call someone a bitch, but to me it was just a random string of syllables that I can't remember... Dave'll post it if anyone asks.
Anyway it was all fun and games till we realised Dave had been robbed of about $100 :-(
I got home at around 2am. Hence my need to go for Curry at lunch today. Mmm... I think I'll round it off with a tall Mocha from Starbucks. Yummy...
So, two weeks to report on. I'm nursing a hangover right now so I'm not getting anything serious done... may as well do me blog.
First up - Karaoke last Friday. We went back to the big Shibuya Shidax for some more K. The big surprise (well for me, not for the locals) was one of my work colleagues' dulcet tones. This guy was reaaally good! Anyway, after screeching my way through California Dreamin' and Champagne Supernova I called it a night. Or rather, tried to. Dave tricked me into downing the last couple of beers. Of course I was sitting next to an attractive intelligent woman. So I had to try to impress her by demonstrating how much of a man I was by drinking beer as fast as possible. Hmmm. The result can only be measured in hammer blows. I was running at about three every ten seconds when I woke up the next day. A real side to side headache with up-down thrown in for fun. If you don't know what I mean, next time you have a head-ache. Try shaking your head and then try nodding. Usually only one direction elicits a pain response.
Next - Yokohama and the Raumen Museum. I took a trip to Yokohama to visit the large warehouse style furniture store called Homes on Saturday Morning. It turns out they've got loads of other stuff... in fact they have everything you could possibly want to set up a place. If only I'd known about it when I was _actually_ furniture shopping. Sigh. Anyway, I did find the coolest sofa and armchair set I've ever seen. The idea is that there are speakers built into the chairs above the shoulders, as well as a sub-woofer under the seat. You can get a pretty decent volume without disturbing the neighbours due to the proximity of the speakers, and you also experience pleasurable vibrations. One concern is whether or not having a big electro-magnet under your ass will leave you sterile and wipe all your credit cards. Anyway, I'm thinking of getting the arm-chair with my bonus. Argh, no I can't - it costs over 500 quid! I'll go ON HOLIDAY instead. (I need to keep reminding myself that... I'm soo tempted!) To polish off the afternoon we went to the Ramen Museum. It has a pretty cool diorama of a 1920s style Japanese street. There are a number of pretty famous Ramen shops in the museum and you can sit down and have some of the best noodles I've ever tried. They also sell a bunch of authentic traditional sweets and snacks. Awesome. Upstairs is a "Make your own Cup Noodle" factory. You can pick any ingredients and they'll make a cup noodle for you on the spot. Awesome!! We didn't have time, but if I go back I'll be sure to get some. In fact, if anyone comes to visit me we'll go there for a day trip.
Saturday Night - Party in Mita. Another work colleague was having a party. Unable to resist the lure of Pizza + Beer I turned up a little ragged from the previous night's excess. I'm yet to find a proven hangover cure, but the Ramen I ate at the museum was putting up a brave attempt. We ended up laughing our asses off to Dodgeball and indulging in that proven student baiting game of building towers out of beer cans. Thumbs up to Yoka who managed to knock it down seconds after taking a photo of it ("it was the flash that did it!" - yeah right).
Wednesday- Yasumi! (Yasumi == holiday). I somehow ended up drinking again on Monday with a couple of guys from work, discussing what to do for the coming holidays. I ended up eating in La Jolla, my local Mexican restaurant. Mmmm, Chimi Changa. I took a night off on Tuesday because I was feeling sick and slept in yesterday because it was a Holiday!! Awesome, I had a looong bath, went to buy an electric heater (its frickin' cold now), picked up a couple of books, and ended up going to a really cool bar. In Shibuya there is this little street near the station with a bunch of tiny little pubs (I'll try to get the photos up soon). The door is almost too narrow for me to get in, there is an almost vertical staircase that I couldn't climb properly because I kept hitting my knee on the next step up - there wasn't room to go up sideways, and four bar stools. That's it. The bar (called "Tight") could legally fit 17 people, but we had six in and it felt cosy. There was one couple sitting at the `far' end of the bar, then me and Dave, and then two random punters who had to stand on the stairs, and on the banister whilst hanging over the staircase. To go to the loo, we had to climb under the guy's legs! The decor was modern, and there were two 14inch LCD TVs behind the bar playing the latest Director's Label DVDs. The sound system was a decent Bose set up too so the tunes were pumping out. The locals ended up trying to teach us various swear words and bad English to Japanese translations. My top three where
1) Hold Me - Sounds like "Ho Mi". Which means c*ck.
2) First Kitchin - an American style diner - gets shortened to "Fir-Kin". Phonetically - "Fuh King"
3) Little Policemen - These guys didn't like the police and told me a sure way to insult them (and get arrested) was to call them Chotto Police ga.
There were more, including how to call someone a bitch, but to me it was just a random string of syllables that I can't remember... Dave'll post it if anyone asks.
Anyway it was all fun and games till we realised Dave had been robbed of about $100 :-(
I got home at around 2am. Hence my need to go for Curry at lunch today. Mmm... I think I'll round it off with a tall Mocha from Starbucks. Yummy...
Friday, November 18, 2005
Classic Spiff
I've added a Classic Spiff section under my Links - this should make accessing those favourite posts easy peasy. Just leave a comment if you would like any entry added.
- SAB
- SAB
Sunday, November 13, 2005
Atari!
Spotted on Saturday after taking a wrong turning on the way to Shibuya from my place. I was tempted to go for a closer look but the place was closed :-(
Hong Kong? Phoeey... (China pt.III)
I landed in Shen Zhen on Thursday at about 6pm-ish feeling a little groggy from the flight. Before we even left for China Dave and Raymond had been teasing me relentlessly about the kind of thing that can happen to a lonely white guy in Shen Zhen, especially if they have a large golf bag with them and the shiny aura of a bewildered traveler. However, it seems getting through domestic Chinese flights were not a problem. Also, when I landed, there were actually plenty of English signs pointing me towards the Hong Kong bus companies. So it was a simple matter of buying a standard ticket to Kowloon, jumping onto the bus and hopping over the border when I got there. Border control between China and Hong Kong was a little odd. I had to fill in a form to get through the China side of the border, then another form to get through to the Hong Kong side. It was essentially the same form too, so I've no idea why they think its necessary to manage it this way. And since I was the only tourist and I was carrying loads of baggage, that meant I held the bus up and annoyed everyone. Its not as if there was anything I could do though. I eventually arrived at my accommodation (the Kowloon YMCA - I can see Nev's comments now...) at around 11pm and dropped straight into bed.
Friday started with the cleaning lady barging into my room. This happened every day I was in Hong Kong apart from that one time I remembered to put the "Do not disturb sign" on my door. It was the same cleaning lady every time too. Its fair to say I wasn't impressed at this. However, it did have the fortunate side effect that I got out of bed before breakfast finished. One odd thing about the YMCA was the fact that it seemed to be mostly couples staying there. At breakfast I was the only person sitting on their own. Its not pretty to watch to newly weds spoon feed Greek yoghurt to each other whilst making not very subtle jokes about the similarities between Greek yoghurt and well, I'm sure you can guess. At the other end of the spectrum were the crusty old couples (variously smelling of urine) spoon feeding eachother Greek yoghurt and making not so subtle jokes... you get the picture. Some things aren't worth considering over a bowl of cornflakes and Greek yoghurt.
Anyway, my plan for Friday was to head up to the Peak (which I didn't make) after visiting the office and looking for some cheap PSP games. I dropped into the office at around 11 and met the HKG crew. They took me out to lunch at a local noodle shop where I had my first taste of genuine HK noodles. Yummy. Afterwards I got some advice on socket converters (annoyingly, Hong Kong runs a UK electrical setup. So all the converters I'd bought for china didn't work), and went out to find the knock off psp shops. I ended up buying Burnout for the PSP which I am yet to play. I don't know why I do this - buy a game/console and never actually work up the patience to sit down and use the bloody thing. But anyway it gave me a chance to walk through the financial and shopping districts of the main island. I was fairly impressed. Although the buildings are ridiculously tall and crowded together, the quality of architecture generally surpasses that of Japan and China. This is for two reasons. Firstly they don't have to worry about earthquakes so the buildings can be extremely tall without worrying about structural expense. Secondly, there is a lot of money floating around out there so they don't cut corners. Another aspect that helps make HK attractive are the abundance of old colonial style buildings. Some of them could have been lifted straight out of Bank in London. Later that day I also stumbled into a couple of VCD and import DVD shops. I was sorely tempted to splurge my cash but I really didn't have room for much beyond the VCD of Kung Fu Hustle I bought on my last day.
Friday night was another matter. I met up with Alex from London who has moved out to Hong Kong permanently with the firm. She is getting on well and should be renting her own place by now rather than staying in Corporate Apartments. We ate in Lan Kwai Fong (there was still no sign of Nev's illustrious lady boys) and chatted about relocation etc. Eventually we met up with one of her mates from the UK who also happened to be in town and went for some drinks. Alex seems to know all the cute barmaids (from being stranded out there with no one to hang around with) which meant her mate and myself had a nice time enjoying the view! Also, towards the end we just stood on the street and watched the girls go by. After about eight or nine pints I hit the road, the ferry and eventually the sack.
Saturday was that one morning where I was blessedly spared the attentions of the cleaning lady. That was fortunate because it took till midday to unglue my eyelids. My plan for the day was simple: Get to the Peak. I didn't know what I'd do when I got there but by Jove I'd do it old boy. Anyway, I got ready and put some needed fuel down the gullet. The tram to the top leaves from the main island so I hopped over in the ferry and walked up to the tram station. It was a fantastic old fashioned mountain tram that creaked and bumped its way to the top. It also slows down near the top so you get an awesome cross bay view. At the top is a couple of observation points, a path round the peak, and a shopping mall. Still feeling squeezy I decided to limit my wanderings to the polished colonnades of the shopping centre and grabbed a book to read whilst sitting in the sun. One of the nicest aspects of sitting up there was the fact that the sounds from the city didn't make it all the way up....
Later that day I met up with some work folks and went for a meal in a plush restaurant near my hotel. I can't remember the name of the place but I do remember they served sweet crispy noodles. Mmmm. The evening was completed by a tour of the main island and a brief stop in Stanley. A little fishing village that reminded me of ye olde British sea side towns.
My last full day was spent enjoying Lan Tau island with my Boss and his Wife. First stop was the awesome Buddha - biggest I've ever seen - near the central peak of the island. This spot is isolated and beautiful. The monks at the monastery live a life of quiet service and ask only that we respect their peace... its a pity then that a hulking cable car service is being constructed right next to it... sigh. We also visited another fishing town called Tai O on the far western point of the island. This was a rustic little affair with genuine weather-beaten locals and shanty town style plywood huts. It was a little weird to see this kind of poverty so close to the hubbub of the airport and on such a small island too. Its like the government doesn't really care about these people... Anyway, you can see the photos on flickr. Oh, lest I forget. I had some fantastic Char Sui pork courtesy of Raymond at one of his local restaurants. Mmm
Then it was Monday and I was on my way back to Tokyo... What had I achieved in China? Lets recap, in order of importance:
1) A nice tan
2) Eating Dog
3) Eating Frog
4) Eating Sweet Crispy Noodles
5) Eating Crazy sweets in Tai O
6) Seeing a hyuge Buddha
7) Buying import PSP games
8) Meeting cute Locals
9) Losing lots of money at golf
10) Getting my worst recorded score at golf.
Hmm, next time I go on holiday, I think I'll hold off on the Golf.
Friday started with the cleaning lady barging into my room. This happened every day I was in Hong Kong apart from that one time I remembered to put the "Do not disturb sign" on my door. It was the same cleaning lady every time too. Its fair to say I wasn't impressed at this. However, it did have the fortunate side effect that I got out of bed before breakfast finished. One odd thing about the YMCA was the fact that it seemed to be mostly couples staying there. At breakfast I was the only person sitting on their own. Its not pretty to watch to newly weds spoon feed Greek yoghurt to each other whilst making not very subtle jokes about the similarities between Greek yoghurt and well, I'm sure you can guess. At the other end of the spectrum were the crusty old couples (variously smelling of urine) spoon feeding eachother Greek yoghurt and making not so subtle jokes... you get the picture. Some things aren't worth considering over a bowl of cornflakes and Greek yoghurt.
Anyway, my plan for Friday was to head up to the Peak (which I didn't make) after visiting the office and looking for some cheap PSP games. I dropped into the office at around 11 and met the HKG crew. They took me out to lunch at a local noodle shop where I had my first taste of genuine HK noodles. Yummy. Afterwards I got some advice on socket converters (annoyingly, Hong Kong runs a UK electrical setup. So all the converters I'd bought for china didn't work), and went out to find the knock off psp shops. I ended up buying Burnout for the PSP which I am yet to play. I don't know why I do this - buy a game/console and never actually work up the patience to sit down and use the bloody thing. But anyway it gave me a chance to walk through the financial and shopping districts of the main island. I was fairly impressed. Although the buildings are ridiculously tall and crowded together, the quality of architecture generally surpasses that of Japan and China. This is for two reasons. Firstly they don't have to worry about earthquakes so the buildings can be extremely tall without worrying about structural expense. Secondly, there is a lot of money floating around out there so they don't cut corners. Another aspect that helps make HK attractive are the abundance of old colonial style buildings. Some of them could have been lifted straight out of Bank in London. Later that day I also stumbled into a couple of VCD and import DVD shops. I was sorely tempted to splurge my cash but I really didn't have room for much beyond the VCD of Kung Fu Hustle I bought on my last day.
Friday night was another matter. I met up with Alex from London who has moved out to Hong Kong permanently with the firm. She is getting on well and should be renting her own place by now rather than staying in Corporate Apartments. We ate in Lan Kwai Fong (there was still no sign of Nev's illustrious lady boys) and chatted about relocation etc. Eventually we met up with one of her mates from the UK who also happened to be in town and went for some drinks. Alex seems to know all the cute barmaids (from being stranded out there with no one to hang around with) which meant her mate and myself had a nice time enjoying the view! Also, towards the end we just stood on the street and watched the girls go by. After about eight or nine pints I hit the road, the ferry and eventually the sack.
Saturday was that one morning where I was blessedly spared the attentions of the cleaning lady. That was fortunate because it took till midday to unglue my eyelids. My plan for the day was simple: Get to the Peak. I didn't know what I'd do when I got there but by Jove I'd do it old boy. Anyway, I got ready and put some needed fuel down the gullet. The tram to the top leaves from the main island so I hopped over in the ferry and walked up to the tram station. It was a fantastic old fashioned mountain tram that creaked and bumped its way to the top. It also slows down near the top so you get an awesome cross bay view. At the top is a couple of observation points, a path round the peak, and a shopping mall. Still feeling squeezy I decided to limit my wanderings to the polished colonnades of the shopping centre and grabbed a book to read whilst sitting in the sun. One of the nicest aspects of sitting up there was the fact that the sounds from the city didn't make it all the way up....
Later that day I met up with some work folks and went for a meal in a plush restaurant near my hotel. I can't remember the name of the place but I do remember they served sweet crispy noodles. Mmmm. The evening was completed by a tour of the main island and a brief stop in Stanley. A little fishing village that reminded me of ye olde British sea side towns.
My last full day was spent enjoying Lan Tau island with my Boss and his Wife. First stop was the awesome Buddha - biggest I've ever seen - near the central peak of the island. This spot is isolated and beautiful. The monks at the monastery live a life of quiet service and ask only that we respect their peace... its a pity then that a hulking cable car service is being constructed right next to it... sigh. We also visited another fishing town called Tai O on the far western point of the island. This was a rustic little affair with genuine weather-beaten locals and shanty town style plywood huts. It was a little weird to see this kind of poverty so close to the hubbub of the airport and on such a small island too. Its like the government doesn't really care about these people... Anyway, you can see the photos on flickr. Oh, lest I forget. I had some fantastic Char Sui pork courtesy of Raymond at one of his local restaurants. Mmm
Then it was Monday and I was on my way back to Tokyo... What had I achieved in China? Lets recap, in order of importance:
1) A nice tan
2) Eating Dog
3) Eating Frog
4) Eating Sweet Crispy Noodles
5) Eating Crazy sweets in Tai O
6) Seeing a hyuge Buddha
7) Buying import PSP games
8) Meeting cute Locals
9) Losing lots of money at golf
10) Getting my worst recorded score at golf.
Hmm, next time I go on holiday, I think I'll hold off on the Golf.
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
Birth Anouncement
-----Original Message-----
From: Neil Mochan
Sent: Tuesday, November 01, 2005 12:34 AM
Subject: Great news!
Hi everyone,
Today at around 5pm, my fiance Teika give birth to our son, who is as yet unnamed. He weighed 2.5kg (about 5.5lb) at birth. This will probably be a surprise to some of you, and also to me as he was due to be born in December! Regardless he is very healthy, as is Teika (albeit very tired), and is probably the biggest baby in the ward!
Regards,
Neil
From: Neil Mochan
Sent: Tuesday, November 01, 2005 12:34 AM
Subject: Great news!
Hi everyone,
Today at around 5pm, my fiance Teika give birth to our son, who is as yet unnamed. He weighed 2.5kg (about 5.5lb) at birth. This will probably be a surprise to some of you, and also to me as he was due to be born in December! Regardless he is very healthy, as is Teika (albeit very tired), and is probably the biggest baby in the ward!
Regards,
Neil
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