Hong Kong & Macau!

14 Feb.

Arrived in HK very early (before 6am) from NZ. Caught a shuttle bus to the hotel in Kowloon - very posh bus. Got an upgrade on the room as the one we booked was not ready. Although the room we got still looked quite old and I wondered if not getting an upgrade might have been better. Never mind, its just a room for sleeping. We crashed and eventually got up later that morning. Headed across to Hong Kong island on the MTR, after purchasing our Octopus cards, for some reason the underground systems seem to like naming their cards after seafood e.g. Oyster Card in London. Got some lunch at a cafe selling traditional Cantonese food, yay I got my wanton noodles! Walked towards the mid level escalators - which are the longest series of escalators in the world, and made our way up the 20 odd escalators and a few travelators. At the top we walked to the lower peak tram station via the botanical and zoological gardens, to catch the tram up to Victoria Peak. It was quite a steep ride in parts. At the top, we went up the Peak tower which looks like a semicircle. Unfortunately the day was misty - probably partly contributed by the pollution - so the views were not great, and it was rather cold too. After that we decided to walk down the Peak to HK park and check out the Flagstaff Museum of Teaware. We got lost a few times in the maze of roads going under and over each other because it is very hilly. The museum had displays of the recent teaware competition with very varied and interesting designs. There were also interesting displays on tea making and different ways of making tea ware. We then headed down to the pier to catch the Star Ferry back across to Kowloon. At the terminal in Kowloon, I spotted a little shop selling eggs cooked in a herbal concoction, so we had to have one - brought back reminders of childhood in Malaysia. As we were feeling rather tired by this point we caught a bus up Nathan Rd to have dinner at a famous (according to LP) Cantonese restaurant in Kimberley Rd. Restaurant felt upmarket and standard of service was high (which was a surprise to me) e.g. serving our fried rice for us off the dish, and forcing us to use the lift to go up/down only one floor. After a good meal we headed back to the hotel and crashed for the night.






15 Feb

We woke up early and eventually got up. We were still tossing up whether to go to Macau and eventually decided that we would. Went to our local MTR (Jordan) and picked up some breakfast at a bakery and headed to Tsim Tsa Shui and walked to the China Ferry Terminal where as the name suggests ferries depart for China. After walking past it the first time, we eventually found the place. Unfortunately we couldn't get onto a sailing until 11am (it was just after 9.30 at this point and the ferries run every half an hour). We decided that we would go tomorrow instead, so we got some tickets and headed towards Lantau island to check out the Tian Tan Buddha which is the large outdoor Buddha well known in HK. We walked to Kowloon MTR from the ferry terminal (a rather long way away) and hopped on the line out to Tung Chung. At Tung Chung we queued to get tickets to catch the cable car up to Ngong Ping where the Buddha is. Nearly an hour later we got on the cable car. We were lucky we got to the terminal when we did, as not long after we joined the queue, it became rather busy and the queue rapidly extended. Weather was cold and once again we were not very well dressed. On the ride we had good views over the island and airport though still slightly misty. Had lunch at Ngong Ping village and then headed towards Po Lin monastery where the Buddha is located up some 200 odd steps. This is one of the largest outdoor Buddha's in the world. At the top we had a good view all around and the statue was certainly impressive. We headed back to the village where we decided to check out the Walking with Buddha audio visual show which was about how he became the Buddha - it was ok. After that we decided it was time to head back down to Tung Chung. Once again we queued to get on the cable car back down. It was fairly orderly and the queue moved reasonably quickly. Off the cable car and back on the MTR to Prince Edward station where we were going to do a walk described in the LP. We went in the wrong direction out of the MTR station but found our way. Along the way we saw the flower market which is a street filled with flower vendors selling all varieties of flowers - roses, orchids, carnations, lilies etc. Some of the flowers, mainly roses, had been painted/dyed into some odd colours - blue, bright green, some even had sparkles! We walked through the bird market and around back towards where the flower market started. We then walked down a street filled with markets followed by the fish market - a street filled with shops selling fish in plastic bags. Fun to see to begin with until we realised that it was cruel for the fish. After that we walked through the ladies market basically markets selling everything with people selling "copy watches" which they yelled out every time they saw a white person (Andrew). This went on for several blocks. Along the way we found a bakery selling egg tarts (which Grace was craving for) so we picked up a couple. After all that walking we had had enough, so headed back to the hotel for a rest. For dinner we headed to Temple St night markets which was across Nathan Rd from the hotel. We walked through the markets and eventually found a couple of restaurants with guys standing around harrasing you to eat at their place. We had prawns, claypot rice and it was so cheap! We picked up some things at a few shops and then headed back to the hotel as we had a fairly early start the next day for our trip to Macau.








16 Feb

Early start today to catch our ferry to Macau at 9.15am. Breakfast once again was picked up along the way at a bakery. This one didn't have any English, so I had to guess by looking at what others had picked up. Checked in at the ferry terminal, went through immigration and proceeded to the boarding gate. At this stage it felt like we weren't in HK anymore, people were less orderly and more pushy, much like what I would normally expect in an Asian country. People were crowding around the entrance to the walkway to the ferry, we waited until the crowd died a little before boarding. There were allocated seats anyway so we weren't exactly going to miss out on a seat if we weren't on the ferry first. The ferry ride lasted just over an hour, for which I mostly slept as I'm not great on boats. Off at the other end and through immigration. Outside we decided that we would walk to the centre of the town where the LP had a walk lined out. Along the way we walked past the casinos and on the grand prix route. This part of the city felt like a miniature Las Vegas with lots of buildings in different forms e.g. one which looked like a volcano. We also saw the long bridge which connected to Taipa. The most impressive (or ridiculous depending on your point of view) was the Grand Lisboa hotel, this building towered over all the other buildings and was gold in colour. We eventually got to the start of our walk which was in an area with old colonial style buildings. As Macau was colonised by Portugese for a significant period of time, all signs still has Portugese as well as Chinese written on them. We walked past a couple of churches and then up a really steep street to the fort which contains the Museum of Macau. We were going to check out the Museum but wanted some lunch first, so we proceded to the ruins of St Paul's (check) church which only has the facade remaining. At this point, there is a place nearby which the LP recommended for lunch but trying to find it unsuccessfully we gave up, and ended up having food from a local side stall. We then headed back to the museum to check it out. I was fairly tired at this point and didn't really absorb too much of the museum. After the museum we continued a bit further on the walk, but decided that we were too tired to finish it. So we went shopping instead! After a significant purchase at Esprit, it was time to get some dinner before catching our ferry back. We went to a restaurant featuring Portugese and Macanese food (once again recommended by LP) where we had a baked duck rice and a stew both apparently Portugese style, and delicious. We managed to get on an earlier sailing back to Kowloon and back to the hotel, where we spent some time packing everything up, and hoping that we weren't significantly over the weight limit.

17 Feb

Our flight was at 8.15am, so it was an early start back on the shuttle bus to the airport. After the long 12 hour flight we were finally back in cold, but surprisingly sunny & clear, London.

A lot of food places have plastic models of their food on show to entice you in to eat. We saw this very impressive one at the Airport (see below)! Also, here's our plane and the (very cold) landscape of China or Russia (or somewhere like that).

Crowded House - Great Aussie band of NZ'ers!

Haven't been to many concerts recently, but this makes twice in four weeks! The concert was at the beautiful Royal Albert Hall. The opening act Duke's Special was pretty good, we actually knew one of the songs they played. Crowded House was great, especially Neil. Halfway through the concert, he got us to make paper planes with pieces of paper that had been pre-located on our seats, that was most amusing, and there were some really good planes made, something about the hall which makes it good for paper planes. They played a fair amount of new stuff from the new album Time on Earth which unfortunately we didn't know but they played some good old favourites too. Overall a great night very much enjoyed, so much so we have bought the new album!

Foo Fighters!!

Awesome concert at the O2 Arena in London.

They played a variety of their old and new songs. They lowered a small stage from the ceiling into the middle of the arena and played a sort of acoustic set for much of the show. This was closer to us than the main stage which was good. The guest guitarist Kaki King was fantastic, as they played Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners and she did a solo piece.

Barcelona

Got into Barcelona about mid morning.
Got into town and had breakfast with A & P
Checked into hostal and then went on a walking tour by the LP - saw La Cathedral, ??? Santa Maria del Mar, a large market hall with fresh food
Stopped halfway for tapas and then finished tour and had gelato
Then it was time for abit of shopping but unfortunately (or fortunately?) no purchases
Went for a drink and then siesta before heading out to dinner
Really salty paella, wine bar and back to tapas

Nearly had camera stolen. Sunday, breakfast at same place. Went to La Sagreda Familia and then lunch - more tapas. Then headed to Parc Guell.
Bus back down into town. Walked to waterfront, and then dinner time before it was time to head home again

Cambridge

Today we caught the train to Cambridge to see a friend from Auckland Uni who has just finished his PhD here. The first thing we noticed was the number of bicycles. This place would have to rival Amsterdam (per capita) for bicycles!

We wandered through the streets, past markets and beautiful old buildings to Trinity College (founded by King Henry VIII in 1546), which is where our friend is a resident. It has amazing courtyards, architecture and is full of character. Even though there weren't many students about, it had a lot of atmosphere and felt very prestigious and like a place with much history. We were very lucky to have a guide to show us around (and get us into places for free :-) especially those not open to the public.

The Great Court and the Wren Library (from the river)

The Wren library is a magnificent old library full of very old books, some of which are on display.

We walked further through the college, past some residences, and back through Clare College, to King's College (yes, this place is full of Colleges - 31 in fact) where we visited the King's College Chapel.




Lunchtime, so we went student style and ate at the dining hall, overlooked by portraits of Isaac Newton and Ernest Rutherford (among many others). Trinity has had some famous undergraduates such as Newton, Rutherford and several Prime Ministers. Good service from well-dressed staff and decent food made it feel very posh. Then we realised that there were undergrads everywhere. Had forgotten that they belonged here too!

After lunch we went punting with our expert punter (or whatever you call them) Dr James!

Andrew had a go too, and nobody fell in! We went past more Colleges, St Johns and Magdalene, in addition to the ones we'd already seen and under low trees and bridges.

From there we strolled through the markets and then visited Jesus College which also has a very nice Chapel. After all the punting and walking we needed a break, so had tea at a cafe by the river whilst laughing at the tourists punting (or trying to). This place must be crazy in the summer!

More markets (art markets) then a look at St John's chapel and back to King's College Chapel for Evensong. Before the service we had another wander around the grounds as the sun was going down.


Because we were with a member of a college we got to sit near the front of the chapel, not far from the choir. The service was very traditional and solemn (very unlike the service we were to attend the following day), but it was a great experience.

We had a nice Vietnamese dinner, followed by French dessert (well, it was Cafe Rouge - the service was French).

After that it was time to head home. Engineering works meant that the first 10 minutes of the train journey was replaced by 30 minutes on a coach and waiting for the train, but we finally made it home after a great day.

Stockholm

This weekend was the first weekend we had been out of the UK & Ireland for the past 8 months or so. We had booked some cheap flights ages ago to Stockholm and the day finally arrived to go. Kirsty and Dan joined us for 2 out of the 3 days that we were there.

After the flight and long bus ride we finally made it into Stockholm central station. Eventually after sorting out money and our Stockholm card we got to our accommodation which was on a boat. All 4 of us shared a room, and it was tiny. It barely fitted the 4 bunks and there was just enough room for two people to move at a time, but it was clean and was fine as it was just a place to sleep.
After sorting out bedding etc, we made our way into Gamla Stan (the Old Town) for
somelunch. We found a homely cafe and had some good food - a nice large chai latte and my pasta salad was amazing (full of olives, gherkins, sun dried tomatoes, grilled caps etc on top of the pasta). Once we had filled up, we went to check out the sights. We walked along cobbled streets with colourful buildings and saw the royal palace.





From there we headed into the main part of Stockholm where there was some event on with snowboarders and lots of prizes being handed out. Soon it was time to find a place for dinner and we headed back into Gamla Stan where we had previously seen lots of restaurants and found one which was serving elk meatballs with mashed potatoes and lingonberrys (traditional Swedish food). Which three of us had and was yummy.

As it was the day the RWC semis were being played (All Blacks vs France), we found an Irish pub to watch the game, to our horror and disappointment, as the All Blacks lost. Even I was upset and this is someone who's never been a big fan of rugby!

Next day we headed to the Vasa museum which is a museum containing a salvaged warship (The Vasa) from the 1600s which had been built for the king but sank because it was top heavy. It was retrieved in the 1960s and has been restored and located within the museum. It was a beautiful ship with lots of carvings. There was also a display showing the remains of some of the survivors and it appeared that there were alot of malnutrition and dental problems in those days.



After that we headed back to Gamla Stan to go through the royal palace, unfortunately there was a function on, and most of the royal apartments were closed. When we arrived we saw the changing of the guard ceremony.



We went through the Treasury and initially started with a guide but found that she wasn't great so we left the guide and went through the rest of the Treasury on our own - which wasn't that big and to be honest a little disappointing. We saw some of the royal apartments which were open and these were also a bit disappointing as they don't appear to have been maintained very well.
Anyway, following that we had tea and cake in a cafe (yum, more food :-). As Andrew & I had our Stockholm card, we were entitled to a free boat cruise, so we decided to check it out. The cruise left from the mainland and went around Djurgarden island (which is where the Vasa museum and Skansen are). It was a nice cruise and we got to see parts of Stockholm we wouldn't have seen otherwise, along with a commentary. We then joined back up with Kirsty and Dan for dinner in a nice Italian restaurant before they had to catch their flight home.



As it was now just the two of us, we had to check into another room. This time the room was on the boat next door. It was bigger than the room we had previously even though it only had 2 beds in it! There was a couch and a wardrobe too. Unfortunately the facilities on this boat weren't as clean as the last one, but we made do. Below is the view from our room.



After an early night with lots of sleep, we awoke to a brilliant sunny day. We got breakfast on the run and stored our bags at the bus station before going up the Katarina lift which had some nice views of the city. Then we checked out the Skansen museum which is a large open air museum with buildings from several parts of Stockholm over a range of years, which was interesting. There were some very quaint buildings. We also saw some wolves, a large elk, bears and lots of squirrels running around.






Then it was time to get back on the bus and head to the airport for our flight home.

Grace's last day at BCHF!

So, after over 4 years with Beca, I've decided that it is time for a change/break. I'm taking some time off just to chill out and figure out what I want to do. It feels weird to be finishing but I am also glad to be leaving. So watch this space...