This week I've been working on my topic for my Chinese arts study group. I did a bit of work, submitted my first choice...and it was rejected, someone else had already chosen the subject.Back to the library, then.
I've been reading Sea of Poppies for one book group and Death comes to Pemberley for another. I've joined a third book group, this one's a spiritual literacy book group, sounds like my old philosophy class, looking good.We haven't met yet, but I've ordered a couple of the titles from the booklist.
I LOVED the Mah Jong session, I even bought a book about it on the way home. I'm going again on Tuesday, this time for real, not a lesson. I can't imagine why it took me so long to get around to trying it. I think it could be quite addictive. Next thing I'll be geting my own table and set of tiles. Though nowadays they are plastic and have a sparkly back and are kept in a metal or plastic case, ivory being illegal and all that.
I went up to Shenzhen with two friends the other day, they were having dresses made. First of all we visited the seamstress, who listened to their requirements then made a rough sketch of the basic design. Next she measured every aspect of their bodies; apart from the obvious waist, bust, hips and length, she measured tops of arms, elbow to wrist, bust to waist. Then she made a more detailed sketch, asking questions about jacket length, sleeve length and making suggestions as to the best neckline, width of shoulder straps. Every tiny detail was discussed.Next we went wih her to the fabric market where she whizzed through to her preferred suppliers and in no time at all the girls had selected silk for dresses, contrast silk for jacket, cuffs and piping, cotton for day dresses. We went back to the seamstresses and she toted it all up...roughly, each girl paid a total of about £100. For that, one got: 2 silk dresses, a jacket and a wrap and the other got a silk dress and wrap and two day dresses.All made to measure and will be ready to collect next Thursday. So I'm going back next week with ideas...Whilst there,I bought two pairs of linen trousers with a nice Chinese knot detail on the leg.The return train fare was the most expensive part of the outing for me and that was only because we travelled first class!
On Friday, Les was off so we went for a wander round Aberdeen. It has a fish market but there the resemblance to my old Uni town ends.We wandered in and out of the market, with fish, meat, eggs and veg on sale as well as towels, shoes, wood, tiles and bathroom fittings. I bought a really comfy pair of sandals, not a big name brand, just what locals buy. They are great, no sore feet...yet.
Saturday was the usual round of supermarket shopping, then we went to the flower market where I spent the princely sum of £8 and got 3 huge bunches of flowers: red gerberas, white ranunculas and some fluffy yellow thingy to fill it out. Looks good, but in this heat, it won't last more than a few days.
Tomorrow, we are meeting with a crowd for Sunday lunch, there will be 15 of us altogether, should be good fun. Les is working 3 days again next week, off Monday and Friday,so we are in no hurry to get home after lunch.
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Past present future
When I was a wee girl, I remember my Gran had a fancy chest, with ornate doors and tiny velvet lined drawers with beautiful carved tiles inside. Many years later I discovered that they were Mah Jong tiles and my Gran had been a Mah Jong champion, in Paisley, of all places! So far as I know, she had no Oriental influences at all, I also don't recall ever hearing about Mah Jong in Paisley, or anywhere else, until I came to live in HongKong. Here, it is a national pastime and everyone I know plays. So now I've decided to try it. I'm having my first lesson on Wednesday after lunch with friends.
Yesterday we went to an exhibition in Kowloon Heritage Centre in Kowloon Park. It told of the history and development of Tsim Sha Tsui and had fabulous tableaux of Kowloon all made in Lego. The Star Ferry teminal, Kowloon clock tower, Peninsula Hotel and all the other buildings perfectly rendered in Lego. Piece de resistance for us was seeing our building, The Masterpiece, towering over all the others.If you've been here, you'll know which is our apartment, if not, it is the tall white building, about a third of the way down, just under the higher, thin dark area.
Today (Sunday) we are going to Sai Kung for a walk along the prom and a look at all the dogs out for their promenade with coats all brushed and ears and tails dyed neon pink. Yes, really! It's fascinating to watch, especially to see the doggie restaurants with special little high chairs for the dogs, right up at the table.We don't eat there though!
Tomorrow Les is off, so we are going to see Brave, after my morning coffee meeting for chat and catch up.Tuesday it is the monthly Kowloon Coffee meeting, always fun and on Thursday I am going up to Shenzhen for shopping with Katrina and Lynn. One friend is having something made, so I might think about getting a dress copied, although at present I still have I think three, no wait, four dresses from UK I haven't had on yet.
So I'm busy every day up to Friday, when Les will be off again. He's doing well, going into work three days next week, Tuesday Wednesday Thursday.
This computer is steadily becoming obsolete, first all the cable troubes, now the battery is not charging, also the keys are sometimes unresponsive, so I miss out letters, that is, I type them but they don't appear. It's all very frustrating, so I am looking at replacing it. Trouble is, with what? I am leaning towards an iPad, but then I worry about using that for writing, also the display is so small. Then I looked at various notebooks and ultrabooks. I need something more portable than this thing, as we do travel a lot, but as I write a lot I need a keyboard, hard drive and a big display for skype. Any opinions would be most welcome!
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Tourists at home
We had a lovely meaty dinner at our favourite Aussie restaurant on Thursday with the guys from Les office. One is from Singapore, so I picked his brains about what to see and do when we get there in October.
Since Les is still off work, we've been tourists in our own (adopted) home city. On Friday, we went to Stanley, wandered round the market, had a nice lunch and sat in the sun for a while. Very relaxing and restful day. On Saturday, we did virtually nothing, just shopping and went into some bookshops for a browse then off to our local pub for a teatime pint.Later we skyped Janie and Peter and saw their newly finished ensuite, it is lovely.
Today (Sunday) we skyped Martin in the morning then took 2 ferries to Lamma for a seafood lunch, very pleasant. The big temperature gauge at the harbour said 30. We had a spot of rain just as we boarded the ferry but by the time we got back to Central it was sunny so we sat on a bench like proper tourists for a while, watching all the ferries coming in from the various outlying islands.
We have just finished the evening exercise programme, I actually enjoy it, I started to encourage Les and keep him company, now I really look forward to it. We have gone from 50 reps of each unit to 95, in about the same time, so we are getting better!When my NIA class resumes in September, I'll be fairly skipping round the hall.
Tomorrow I am meeting some friends for coffee and will make arrangements to go and see Brave, which has just opened here. Les is still off, so we will try another couple of tourist trips this week. I need to keep my hand in for future guests! I had a wee hint this week I might have some at Easter next year! Fingers crossed.
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
More calamities
Since yesterday's post, the following things have happened: the bedroom a/c was making a dreadful noise, so the maintenance team had to be called. All they did was adjust the setting, so we're not convinced, but at least it has stopped rattling, albeit momentarily. Next, the microwave, which conked out and was "repaired" in April, failed again when I was reheating some food. So I tried to reheat on the stove, where I had cooked it only an hour previously. The stove refused to light, gas coming out but no ignition. I guess the maintenance team will be back pretty soon. The food was a delicious vegetable curry to fit in with the doctor's recommendaton of 2 meat free nights a week. Much to Les dismay, it was still hot enought to eat without the reheat! He'd have been delighted had I had to abandon it and go out to dinner, to let him eat meat.
Better news; Les managed to get the Singapore hotel and flights booked. It wasn't easy, there are travel agencies around for a reason. However, he succeeded and we fly to Singapore for 5 days on 30th September. As a bonus, his hotel loyalty points got us a free trishaw ride round the city. We will be such tourists!
This morning, I was up early as Les got up to take a conference call at 7.00am. So much for sick leave, he lasted all of 3 days back here in HK before work beckoned. We did our exercises and now I am about to go out to meet some friends for coffee and catch up. It looks like a hot one today!
Better news; Les managed to get the Singapore hotel and flights booked. It wasn't easy, there are travel agencies around for a reason. However, he succeeded and we fly to Singapore for 5 days on 30th September. As a bonus, his hotel loyalty points got us a free trishaw ride round the city. We will be such tourists!
This morning, I was up early as Les got up to take a conference call at 7.00am. So much for sick leave, he lasted all of 3 days back here in HK before work beckoned. We did our exercises and now I am about to go out to meet some friends for coffee and catch up. It looks like a hot one today!
A Chapter of accidents!
So here I am at last! Most of you will know of the unfortunate illness Les suffered whilst in the UK, which caused him to be in hospital for two weeks and still off work now, seven weeks later! But the good old NHS (with a little help from BUPA) got him on the road to recovery. Now, so long as he sticks to the diet and keeps on taking the pills (seven different kinds!) he should be OK. But he won't be climbing mountains anytime soon!
We had a relaxing time in Scotland, going out for the prescribed 2 half hour walks daily, rain or shine and we also managed to catch up with family and friends once Les had recovered sufficiently from his surgery. It was great to see the boys, Callum is so grown up and Jamie is almost walking! Janie and Peter came up for a long weekend to see Les, not quite as spectacular as visiting him in Hong Kong, but we all enjoyed our time together at Eyemouth and they have vowed to return to HK next year so we can finally do the helicopter trip.
Meantime, at Calamity Central... I hired a car to visit him in hospital, parked it in a quiet corner of a car park and came back to find someone had run into it and driven off without leaving details. £500 to pay. Next, I bought a nice tea towel for our Eyemouth flat, then decided it was too nice to dry dishes, so I framed it, first ironing it flat on the carpet ( I know, I know!) Burnt carpet needs renewing. What else? Well, I came back to HK, plugged in my computer and BANG!...Remember that new cable I had to to replace in April, well, it blew up, damn near set the apartment on fire! Burn marks on the side of the (rented) sofa (thankfully came off with leather cleaner) New cable purchased this morning. Oh,and Les left his reading glasses on the plane.
On the positive side, I am following Les diet and exercise programme, so I have lost some weight without even trying. I hope to keep at it now we are back in HK. It's very hot and we are having to get used to it all over again.
Things change rapidly in HK: we noticed a complete revamp of our shopping centre, including the removal of the lift, its as if it had never been there. Sadly, my handy Dymocks booksellers has gone too, so I need to source another one as I just signed up for their loyalty programme before I left.
I have not yet caught up with any friends as this is the quiet season for expats, many are still in UK, Canada or US for the summer. However, tomorrow (Thursday) I am meeting three friends for coffee, leaving Les to his own devices for a couple of hours. Then in the evening we are meeting up with a work colleague and friend from the US who was recently in our holiday apartment in Eyemouth, so we are looking forward to hearing his experiences. Hopefully he had a couple of days without rain!
Next week, Les will start a slow return to work, with one day at the HK office and one in Shenzhen.He promises to take it easy and follow the doctor's advice of going in for two, then three, then four days before graduating to a full week by September. Whilst he is off, we will combine R&R with a couple of day trips to see places when they are a bit quieter during the week, as usually he only has time at the weekends when things can be a bit crowded.
By September, the expat calendar will be filling up and in fact I already have a booking to go to a local "ghost festival" and Les is coming with me to a talk about "Pirates of the China Seas" Ahrr, Jim lad!
As I write, Les is busy trying to sort out details for our October week holiday, when we hope to go to Singapore. I'll keep you up to date with progress on that, and all the other details of life in Hong Kong.
But for now, I'm away to collect the laundry and then have a cuppa before we do our exercises!
Hup two three!
We had a relaxing time in Scotland, going out for the prescribed 2 half hour walks daily, rain or shine and we also managed to catch up with family and friends once Les had recovered sufficiently from his surgery. It was great to see the boys, Callum is so grown up and Jamie is almost walking! Janie and Peter came up for a long weekend to see Les, not quite as spectacular as visiting him in Hong Kong, but we all enjoyed our time together at Eyemouth and they have vowed to return to HK next year so we can finally do the helicopter trip.
Meantime, at Calamity Central... I hired a car to visit him in hospital, parked it in a quiet corner of a car park and came back to find someone had run into it and driven off without leaving details. £500 to pay. Next, I bought a nice tea towel for our Eyemouth flat, then decided it was too nice to dry dishes, so I framed it, first ironing it flat on the carpet ( I know, I know!) Burnt carpet needs renewing. What else? Well, I came back to HK, plugged in my computer and BANG!...Remember that new cable I had to to replace in April, well, it blew up, damn near set the apartment on fire! Burn marks on the side of the (rented) sofa (thankfully came off with leather cleaner) New cable purchased this morning. Oh,and Les left his reading glasses on the plane.
On the positive side, I am following Les diet and exercise programme, so I have lost some weight without even trying. I hope to keep at it now we are back in HK. It's very hot and we are having to get used to it all over again.
Things change rapidly in HK: we noticed a complete revamp of our shopping centre, including the removal of the lift, its as if it had never been there. Sadly, my handy Dymocks booksellers has gone too, so I need to source another one as I just signed up for their loyalty programme before I left.
I have not yet caught up with any friends as this is the quiet season for expats, many are still in UK, Canada or US for the summer. However, tomorrow (Thursday) I am meeting three friends for coffee, leaving Les to his own devices for a couple of hours. Then in the evening we are meeting up with a work colleague and friend from the US who was recently in our holiday apartment in Eyemouth, so we are looking forward to hearing his experiences. Hopefully he had a couple of days without rain!
Next week, Les will start a slow return to work, with one day at the HK office and one in Shenzhen.He promises to take it easy and follow the doctor's advice of going in for two, then three, then four days before graduating to a full week by September. Whilst he is off, we will combine R&R with a couple of day trips to see places when they are a bit quieter during the week, as usually he only has time at the weekends when things can be a bit crowded.
By September, the expat calendar will be filling up and in fact I already have a booking to go to a local "ghost festival" and Les is coming with me to a talk about "Pirates of the China Seas" Ahrr, Jim lad!
As I write, Les is busy trying to sort out details for our October week holiday, when we hope to go to Singapore. I'll keep you up to date with progress on that, and all the other details of life in Hong Kong.
But for now, I'm away to collect the laundry and then have a cuppa before we do our exercises!
Hup two three!
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Art and Culture
Yes, dear readers, I've been to still more cultural events. I visited H K Museum of Art to see an exhibition by a famous Chinese cartoonist, Feng Zikai and bough two tiny prints. He looked at the world through humanistic eyes and captured everyday happenings in a humourous yet thought provoking way. He was also a philosopher and there were quotes of his round the walls. Funny yet serious. Anyway, I enjoyed it.
I had a morning at the US Consul General's home...he was out of town, so we either had permission or we gatecrashed! The occasion was the presentation of grants from our organisation to charities in Hong Kong. A very heartwarming morning and of course another outing for a posh frock.
I am taking on a role on the Board of one my societies, so I had to attend a morning of training which was interesting and hopefully will keep the brain cells from withering.
We had an outing this week to see the big summer exhibition of Picasso's works. It was amazing. First of all, our group of about 30 was only one of say 10 groups of that size waiting outside well in advance of the 10.00am kick off. I've never seen anything like it. You can't just turn up, tickets are sold out for weeks in advance. We had a guide who was so knowledgeable. It made a big difference when she explained how Picaso painted "layers" and "planes" of faces. And here's me thinking he just gave them all 3 eyes.
Les and I went out for dinner on Thursday before he flew back to the UK to see his mother who sadly is ill in hospital.We hope she improves soon. On Friday evening I atended the AGM of my group attached to the Chinese Uni Art Museum. It was an AGM with class. We took a coach out to the venue and had champagne and savouries en route. The meeting was conducted outside in a beautiful courtyard with fish ponds and huge illuminated dragons.The wine was plentiful and the canapes were fab. Oh yes, we did conduct the business too, then had a tour of some of the collection . I chatted to an elderly lady whose name tag proclaimed "Jessie Stewart", a good old Scottish name. She was born in Shanghai to a Chinese mother and Scottish father and has lived most of her (very long) life in Hong Kong. However, she still has relatives in Scotland and has visited them...in Uddingston, of all not-so-picturesque places.
Saturday morning was a little drizzly with a slight breeze, still very hot and of course the ever present Hong Kong humidity. An early start, 8.30am to meet friends to share a taxi over to Sai Kung where 30 friends boarded a boat for a cruise round some of the fantastic geological sites on the islands. We boarded at 10 ish and soon realised the water was choppy. Er, very choppy. Within the first hour, I had been sick, one lady had to lie down in a darkened cabin and at least 3 others were a tad peaky to say the least. However, we all recovered in time to see the amazing caves and arches caused by the sea. We saw blue herons, huge sea eagles and kites too. The island are now protected and it is not possible to walk on them due to danger from falling stones . The formations originated from cooling lava after a volcanic eruption and as it cooled it formed hexagonal columns, a bit like the Giant's causeway, but pale yellow in colour. The guide was amazing and I now know all about the release of magma, the formation of the caldera and so forth. Meantime I had my own volcanic eruptions to deal with. When we disembarked at 1pm we were all ready for lunch. First though we visited an exquisitely ornate Tin Hau temple. Tin Hau is the Taoist goddess of the sea and protector of fisherman and sailors. I bet I was not the only one to toss her a quick prayer for a less choppy afternoon's sail! We then walked on a steep path for 20 minutes to reach the restaurant. We passed an amazing number of strange bugs and beasties; huge black and yellow spiders on webs the size of tablecloths, 2inch long grey hairy caterpillars, bright orange catepillars with big red eyes, shiny blue black beetles the size of , oh,say a Millars black currant liquorice sweetie? And birdsong everywhere.
Lunch was delicious, although I mainly stuck to rice and vegetables, I didn't think scallops and clams would last long if the water was as choppy! However, Tin Hau did the business and we had a lovely sail back, first mooring in a sheltered bay for half an hour for swimming. The back of the boat had a platform, complete with steps into the water and they also supplied "noodles" and a couple of lilos.
I don't do that. I enjoyed watching, though. Next we disembarked at Yim Tin Tsai to visit a Hakka village and one of the few Catholic enclaves among the Chinese. The church is dedicated to an Italian monk, Joseph Freinademetz who was beatified by Pope Paul VI in 1975.
We got back to terra firma around 5pm, then a hour transfer to Tsim sha Tsui, so I finally arrived home around 6pm.A wonderful day.I thought a bit of TV would round off the day, but all the English stations are still showing programmes about the Queen. The concert was on ...again, so was the St Paul's gig and I've aso previously seen the stuff about Diana, but I finally managed to find Homeland and caught up on two episodes, now at 8 which I think is halfway. Superb.
I had a morning at the US Consul General's home...he was out of town, so we either had permission or we gatecrashed! The occasion was the presentation of grants from our organisation to charities in Hong Kong. A very heartwarming morning and of course another outing for a posh frock.
I am taking on a role on the Board of one my societies, so I had to attend a morning of training which was interesting and hopefully will keep the brain cells from withering.
We had an outing this week to see the big summer exhibition of Picasso's works. It was amazing. First of all, our group of about 30 was only one of say 10 groups of that size waiting outside well in advance of the 10.00am kick off. I've never seen anything like it. You can't just turn up, tickets are sold out for weeks in advance. We had a guide who was so knowledgeable. It made a big difference when she explained how Picaso painted "layers" and "planes" of faces. And here's me thinking he just gave them all 3 eyes.
Les and I went out for dinner on Thursday before he flew back to the UK to see his mother who sadly is ill in hospital.We hope she improves soon. On Friday evening I atended the AGM of my group attached to the Chinese Uni Art Museum. It was an AGM with class. We took a coach out to the venue and had champagne and savouries en route. The meeting was conducted outside in a beautiful courtyard with fish ponds and huge illuminated dragons.The wine was plentiful and the canapes were fab. Oh yes, we did conduct the business too, then had a tour of some of the collection . I chatted to an elderly lady whose name tag proclaimed "Jessie Stewart", a good old Scottish name. She was born in Shanghai to a Chinese mother and Scottish father and has lived most of her (very long) life in Hong Kong. However, she still has relatives in Scotland and has visited them...in Uddingston, of all not-so-picturesque places.
Saturday morning was a little drizzly with a slight breeze, still very hot and of course the ever present Hong Kong humidity. An early start, 8.30am to meet friends to share a taxi over to Sai Kung where 30 friends boarded a boat for a cruise round some of the fantastic geological sites on the islands. We boarded at 10 ish and soon realised the water was choppy. Er, very choppy. Within the first hour, I had been sick, one lady had to lie down in a darkened cabin and at least 3 others were a tad peaky to say the least. However, we all recovered in time to see the amazing caves and arches caused by the sea. We saw blue herons, huge sea eagles and kites too. The island are now protected and it is not possible to walk on them due to danger from falling stones . The formations originated from cooling lava after a volcanic eruption and as it cooled it formed hexagonal columns, a bit like the Giant's causeway, but pale yellow in colour. The guide was amazing and I now know all about the release of magma, the formation of the caldera and so forth. Meantime I had my own volcanic eruptions to deal with. When we disembarked at 1pm we were all ready for lunch. First though we visited an exquisitely ornate Tin Hau temple. Tin Hau is the Taoist goddess of the sea and protector of fisherman and sailors. I bet I was not the only one to toss her a quick prayer for a less choppy afternoon's sail! We then walked on a steep path for 20 minutes to reach the restaurant. We passed an amazing number of strange bugs and beasties; huge black and yellow spiders on webs the size of tablecloths, 2inch long grey hairy caterpillars, bright orange catepillars with big red eyes, shiny blue black beetles the size of , oh,say a Millars black currant liquorice sweetie? And birdsong everywhere.
Lunch was delicious, although I mainly stuck to rice and vegetables, I didn't think scallops and clams would last long if the water was as choppy! However, Tin Hau did the business and we had a lovely sail back, first mooring in a sheltered bay for half an hour for swimming. The back of the boat had a platform, complete with steps into the water and they also supplied "noodles" and a couple of lilos.
I don't do that. I enjoyed watching, though. Next we disembarked at Yim Tin Tsai to visit a Hakka village and one of the few Catholic enclaves among the Chinese. The church is dedicated to an Italian monk, Joseph Freinademetz who was beatified by Pope Paul VI in 1975.
We got back to terra firma around 5pm, then a hour transfer to Tsim sha Tsui, so I finally arrived home around 6pm.A wonderful day.I thought a bit of TV would round off the day, but all the English stations are still showing programmes about the Queen. The concert was on ...again, so was the St Paul's gig and I've aso previously seen the stuff about Diana, but I finally managed to find Homeland and caught up on two episodes, now at 8 which I think is halfway. Superb.
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Here I am!
I hadn't realised that it had been almost three weeks since my last post. What's very flattering is that some of my readers did notice! So I'm back. I've had a very interesting time in between posts. Let me see... I won a raffle! Yes, I won the lucky ticket draw at our very posh afternoon tea and got $500 M&S vouchers. Since we all looked so pretty in our tea dresses, I suggested some of us go on for cocktails at a top class hotel. It was expensive, but hey, we're worth it. I've also attended a Book Group, a film about the handover of HK to China, saw "Best exotic Marigold Hotel" What a cast! These women are fabulous, and not a trace of botox or surgeon's knife to be seen. Their faces have so much character. If you haven't seen it, I'm talking Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Celie Imrie et al. Go! After the cinema, a friend and I went for a few drinks as both our husbands were out of town. It is a pleasant experience to walk home in the balmy air at 11.30 with no fear of anything scary happening.
I spent an interesting morning in Kowloon City where there are lots of Thai shops selling unusual vegetables and fabby take away lunches; home made curry in a plastic bag like a goldfish at a fairground. Afterwards, our hostess provided a wonderful Thai lunch and what with the walking, the food and the wine, I didn't get back until 4pm. Just time for a quick nap and shower then I went to meet friends for dinner. I only managed a salad.
I went up to China for the weekend as Les was incarcerated there for two weeks whilst they checked out his work and residency permits. (That's a year we've been here! )We went to revisit some of the spots we saw last November when we did the fact finding trip for Les' company. We found a butcher shop selling all sorts of UK pies and cheeses and bought some black pudding! We also spent a day shopping and each bought two pairs of shoes. Unfortunately despite best advice and my own prior knowledge, I wore mine for a whole day and my feet were torn to shreds. But when they heal, I just know they will be the most comfortable shoes imagineable!
I went from Shenzhen to the HK airport on Monday to meet a friend who was passing through HK enroute from Vietnam to New York. We spent 3 days and had a wonderful time together. She is an ace photographer, has had an exhibition, so I can't wait to see her photos. She took over 1,000 during her ten days away. I was intrigued by her subject matter here in HK; also how she would notice something, then get down close to it, or take the picture through a window or doorway opening,etc.
Last Thursday I nipped up to China just for dinner!On Friday Les got home and we lazed around on Saturday then went out to Lamma Island on Sunday before watching the Queen's Jubilee River Pageant live on TV at night. I saw the wee harbourmaster vessel from Eyemouth! The Biscoe Kid looked great, freshly painted in bright red and was fairly skelping along the Thames.
This coming week looks to be just as busy as the last two. As we approach the summer break, a lot of people go back to their home country so right now there seems to be a flurry of activity; boat trips, art exhibitions, coffee mornings...So I better get my skates on or I'll be late for this morning's lecture, which is on "sounds, crystals, mantras and scarves" Hmm. Will report back afterwards!
I spent an interesting morning in Kowloon City where there are lots of Thai shops selling unusual vegetables and fabby take away lunches; home made curry in a plastic bag like a goldfish at a fairground. Afterwards, our hostess provided a wonderful Thai lunch and what with the walking, the food and the wine, I didn't get back until 4pm. Just time for a quick nap and shower then I went to meet friends for dinner. I only managed a salad.
I went up to China for the weekend as Les was incarcerated there for two weeks whilst they checked out his work and residency permits. (That's a year we've been here! )We went to revisit some of the spots we saw last November when we did the fact finding trip for Les' company. We found a butcher shop selling all sorts of UK pies and cheeses and bought some black pudding! We also spent a day shopping and each bought two pairs of shoes. Unfortunately despite best advice and my own prior knowledge, I wore mine for a whole day and my feet were torn to shreds. But when they heal, I just know they will be the most comfortable shoes imagineable!
I went from Shenzhen to the HK airport on Monday to meet a friend who was passing through HK enroute from Vietnam to New York. We spent 3 days and had a wonderful time together. She is an ace photographer, has had an exhibition, so I can't wait to see her photos. She took over 1,000 during her ten days away. I was intrigued by her subject matter here in HK; also how she would notice something, then get down close to it, or take the picture through a window or doorway opening,etc.
Last Thursday I nipped up to China just for dinner!On Friday Les got home and we lazed around on Saturday then went out to Lamma Island on Sunday before watching the Queen's Jubilee River Pageant live on TV at night. I saw the wee harbourmaster vessel from Eyemouth! The Biscoe Kid looked great, freshly painted in bright red and was fairly skelping along the Thames.
This coming week looks to be just as busy as the last two. As we approach the summer break, a lot of people go back to their home country so right now there seems to be a flurry of activity; boat trips, art exhibitions, coffee mornings...So I better get my skates on or I'll be late for this morning's lecture, which is on "sounds, crystals, mantras and scarves" Hmm. Will report back afterwards!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)