Pictures so far

We are getting lots done and after one whole day it already feels like Dad and Jack have been here a week!

bx

Two in, two out

Robyn and Hannah have gone and my brother and dad have arrived!

Their arrival and leaving day crossed over, so for the first time Rob and Han got to meet my brother which was nice! Things done so far with Jack...

• Visited the Bridge pub
• Eaten at the flying pan
• Eaten at the revolving restaurant
• Gone on the star ferry to the Avenue of Stars

Then dad left for bed and Jack joined a big gang of eleven friends to

• Say goodbye to Robyn and Hannah at the Arabic Habbibi Restaurant
• Go to 'Le Jardin' bar (where a cockroach fell from the ceiling and crawled all over me)
• Visit to the secret 'Feather Boa' bar
• Go to an African bar
• go to the Scottish 'Canny Man' bar

Jack ended up falling asleep in the last bar, head back and snoring, so I had to get him to bed. It was very funny but also 1 AM on his first day in Hong Kong. So we will let him off :)

Ah yes, the US Navy are also in town so dad is getting first hand experience of how their visit can change the feeling and atmosphere of Wan Chai!

bx

Back Home

Well I am back in Wan Chai!

The flight was pretty average, there was a child two rows back that was screaming for most of the flight, other than that it was not too bad.

I managed to be in my flat 50 minutes after my airplane touched the ground, not my record but still pretty good timing.

Hannah and Robyn have been staying in my flat whilst I was away and so my small little abode now seems like a tiny box. Everywhere I turn there are high heels, newly purchased electronic gadgets or large suitcases. Hannah stayed at a friends house last night, but Robyn is currently semi awake watching me type at 6am. What will be great about this situation is when they both take everything back to the UK, this flat will seem gigantic!

My brother and dad should have just landed in Hong Kong now so they will be round here visiting pretty soon. Pictures will be posted later! (i'm thinking of taking one of Robyn in a minute but fear she may kill me)

bx

Last night in Canada

After 3 time zone changes, 6 plane journeys and 19 days I am now in my final hotel in Vancouver! I arrived today from Toronto and have just finished packing for my journey home to Hong Kong tomorrow.


Staying in Toronto was a welcome break from the cockroach pit I found in New York. The view from the window was fantastic, but I still prefer the one from my place in Wan Chai!



Toronto itself was nicer than Vancouver. This opinion could be because I was not chased by prostitutes for my entire stay, but it also helped that I have a friend who lived in the city as well.



Early evening in Toronto I had the urge to be a tourist, so I visited the CN Tower. It was originally created to just just be a giant signal antenna, but during creation it evolved into a tourist attraction as well.





The views from the top were spectacular, but the most frightening thing was the glass floor.







There was a large section of the building floor that was made of glass. I never thought I had an issue with heights but to stand on glass and look down 1,122 ft made me feel dizzy and nervous. I learnt from the information panels that the glass can take the weight of 12 adult hippos. There were none of the large water dwelling animals up there with me, but there were some large Americans, which these days is practically the same thing.


So thats it then, the big trip is now over! It has been fantastic fun and I have met some interesting people. In New York I learnt about a new type of yoga called "Laughing Yoga". Next time I am in New York I have been invited to go to a hall with a regular participant and just laugh with strangers, about nothing ...

... just one of the many weird things to look forward to on my next visit!

bx

Done!!!!!!!

I just had my last meeting at a university!!!

I am done! DONE DONE DONE!

And now I want to sleep for 2 weeks!

bx

Toronto

I am in Toronto!

There are Canadians everywhere!

bx

Pope Problems

I never thought that the Pope would cause me any direct problems, but today gods representative caused me a serious hindrance.


Annoyingly the Pope has decided to visit New York at the same time as myself. This clash in timetables could have been avoided if he had just had his people check with the office and my schedule.

This check never happened though so I was greeted at 9AM with this scene



THOUSANDS of people lined the 5th Avenue area and they were excited on almost a hysterical level in some cases. People were singing, dancing and crying! It would seem that I had discovered the route the Pope was going to be driving down.

I had no real urge or interest to wait the four hours to see the Pope drive past and wave, so I headed into the shops.

After hitting a few shops on the avenue I thought I would try to be clever and take a side road out of 5th Avenue to avoid the ever increasing crazy crowds.


But as I started to walk away from the Catholic hysteria, coming towards me up this side road was another large group of people. (Who at that moment did not look suspicious.)

Halfway towards the Catholic crowd though, these plain looking people approaching my planned exit route whipped out a series of signs, costumes and suddenly started shouting. They were the anti Catholics.




The police reacted ultra fast and set up a barrier blocking the protesters from reaching the Catholics, but at the same time they also blocked the Catholics from reaching the protesters. And I was left in the middle!!!

After ten minutes walking around like a sheep in a pen I asked a cop if there was any way I could get out from my religious no-mans land. I was told that I could, but it would involve crawling under the protest barriers and through the crowds standing at them.

So that's what I did! My hand was stood on once, but the anti god people were very nice about letting me through.







bx