Sculpher.com

MOG (Man of God) / Freedom Life Church

2010-05-28T06:24:00.003+01:00

Christmas Runner

2008-12-11T18:23:00.003Z

Today we received a special Christmas Runner from Kelly's Mom - adding festiveness to our dining room. Here Buxton poses with it to show off it's beauty.

Buxton

2008-07-28T21:23:00.000+01:00

Originally uploaded by Christian Sculpher Photography.

I'd like to introduce to you our new cat, Buxton (or Sir Buxton). We went to a local no-kill shelter and picked him out (or rather - he picked us out!) and returned on Monday after he'd had all his checks done and a few little things taken care of. He's currently Lord of the Master Bathroom - and is a loving and inquisitive fellow.

All systems go!

2008-03-28T14:21:00.004Z

Time: 7:15am Central

As you can see - Kelly's positioned outside the test center with Olaf, her lucky Viking. Sadly he's not allowed in - as he has already passed his Series 7 and knows all the answers.

Everybody - keep praying!!!!

Update: She passed!

Exam Day

2008-03-28T02:44:00.001Z

Three alarms were set to ensure we woke up at 6am sharp. It was the first time since we gave up working at Bloomberg that we had to wake up whilst it was still dark outside. We dressed and were out of the house by 7am, to give ourselves plenty of time to get to the testing center in Dallas. Rush hour wasn't as bad as we had anticipated, so we showed up at Prometric at 7:32 (still fairly dark outside). We entered the exam center and I signed in with Gloria at the front desk, who was lovely and inviting. Just what I needed as my heart was beating so hard I thought it would vacate my chest.
I was allowed to bring nothing into the actual exam room but my drivers license, so my pocket book, bottle of water, and Olaf went straight into a locker close to the front desk.
Christian sat with me for a few minutes, but around 7:40 Gloria advised me I could go in early if I so desired, rather than wait till 8am. I felt it was better to get the whole sordid affair over with, so I sent Christian away, with the agreement that he would meet me back there at 10:30 for my mandatory half hour break in 3 hours.
To go into the exam room, they checked my ID and made me sign in with the exact time. Behind the sign in desk I saw each desk individually on the monitor, in color. They watch you closely there. The penalty for cheating on the Series 7 is severe; you are permanently blocked from ever working in securities and get the privilege of paying a meagre $250,000.
There were about 15 stations in the testing room, and I was the first one in. Gloria led me to my station, where I was freshly armed with 2 pencils, some pink scrap paper, and a calculator; standard issue.
I went through the online tutorial then proceeded onto the exam. I went through each question as best I could, with a few others filing in and taking their respective tests (nursing, citizenship, etc) around me. I finished part one and collected my things to sign out for my mandatory break. What was supposed to take 3 hours took me less than two. I called Christian who was still at home, as he wasn't supposed to leave for another hour yet, and told him to just come back and get me around 11. I was back inside taking my exam at 9:50, and part two was by far harder. I started to panic around question 80, just wanting it to be over. When I finally clicked FINISHED it took a good 20 seconds to collate the answers and return a score. The word PASS was the first I saw and I relaxed my shoulders for the first time in 2 months, in a tremendous moment of relief. I've kept my job!
I signed out and Christian was waiting in the car for me outside. It was 11:50. The exam is supposed to be finished by 3pm.
Now we had the whole day. We went straight to Lewisville Furniture in Addison because we had a coupon, and I called everyone I could think of along the way. We bought a cute side table for the media room, then headed back home. It was cold and dreary out, so our plans to go to the arboritum to celebrate were put on hold.
I spent most of the afternoon speaking to family about the exam, then we got dressed and Christian took me out for my surprise meal. I had no idea where we were going. We drove to a REALLY posh area of Dallas to a restaurant called Celebrations (he covered my eyes but I sneaked a peak).

We entered the restaurant and I immediately heard Alex. I turned to Christian and said "My family is here?". We turned a corner and there at an enormous table was the entire family! Aunt Bell, Uncle Ed, Barbara Jones, the Jones Family and the Settles. Sue showed up right after us. We all had dinner together and it was wonderful.

When we returned home we went straight to Jay and Devalekha's house. Marlene and Chris and Charles and Christina, our other neighbors, all came over to give their Congratulations. We all sat together laughing and drinking Devalekha's amazing Sanghria that I love so much. We all then watched a video of Charles as James Brown on his cruise video, then we watched our wedding video.
I was so blessed to be surrounded by such supportive people throughout the entire ordeal.

Springtime

2008-03-26T23:37:00.000Z

It looks like springtime is here. The picture says it all. This was taken at 9:22pm today

Finally finished!

2008-03-07T22:22:00.009Z

It's been a long time coming - but the study is finally finished. Terry Bussing, carpenter extraordinaire just left after putting the finishing touches to the stained edging and it's finished.

It went from this....

...to this!

The Snows of Texas...

2008-03-05T11:55:00.003Z

Surprisingly for Texas - we've experienced a 20 degree drop in temperature over the past few hours - the winds are really starting to blow and this is the view outside our bedroom window... (it may look like daytime - but this is around 11:45pm)

*update*

So - it's several days later (Thursday mid-morning) and the snow is REALLY coming down - I'll just quickly run outside to snap a piccy of the snow...

And here it is - snowy Texas. We're holed up in the study (recently finished) Kelly studying for her exams and Christian job searching.

For contrast - here is a picture of our street taken just 2 days before...

Arrival in Texas

2007-11-15T14:41:00.001Z

Having grown up in the north, I always knew that birds flew south for the winter. We learned about it in school and each autumn in my youth I would watch the ‘V’ shaped patterns of the birds as they flew to warmer climes. Perhaps once or twice I wondered where they went, but never for long, imagining sparrows on a bough overlooking a carribean beach, or bluejays frolicking around the Amazon River. However, now I need ponder no more, because I know where birds fly for the winter. They come to Dallas, more specifically the corner of East Hebron Parkway and North Josey Lane.

We arrived in Carrollton on Saturday, November 10, driving straight to our new home. It was locked for the weekend, but we were amazed at how different it looked from when we had last seen it in April. There were more trees; the big Grand Homes sign had been removed, as had the flagpoles, but the grass had not yet been laid. We peered in, seeing our shiny new floors devoid of furniture. The house would remain locked for the entire weekend.

We arrived at cousin Sue’s house immediately after, and we all went to lunch at Sonic together. Our presence was still unknown to anyone else, as we decided to surprise everyone. Sue had been invited to dinner at Aunt Bell and Uncle Ed’s before the show tonight, but had declined. Driven by the thoughts of Aunt Bells cooking, we encouraged Sue to call and advise she had changed her mind. Dinner was to be steak and, yes, mashed potatoes (Kelly’s favorite). We showed up at the house within a few hours only to see that the table was set for us as well. “How did you know?” we inquired. Aunt Bell admitted it was when Sue had asked about the mashed potatoes. We were caught!

We all drove to the theatre at 7 for the show, seeing in the lobby the Kathy and Evan, Mark and Mrs. Jones. The show was The Miracle Worker, which Lindsay was starring in as Viney, and she was amazing, as she is at everything she tries.

The next few days we found ourselves caught in a web of governmental red tape, as we endeavored to get all the paperwork done for our move. We had to register the car, pay the taxes, get our licenses, plus supervise the progress of our new home. As of now, Christian has his provisional license; he pretty much sailed through the written and driving tests. Kelly still awaits hers, as the car was in her name (which oddly complicates things) and she has misplaced her social security card in the move. Who on earth knows where their card is? We went to the Social Security office yesterday and after waiting an hour learned that she cannot easily change her name as it’s been over two years since the wedding. I mean, my gosh! Monday night was a joy though. All the family went to Aunt Bells for a ziti dinner; even Nathan who has been suffering from pneumonia recently. They literally showered us with gifts. We received an enormous basket filled with Texas necessities; chilli sauce, corn chips, tour book; several gorgeous cookies we cannot wait to try, two Dallas Cowboy t-shirts and a calendar, much to everyone elses dismay, since the Settles didn’t beat them to it with Eagles paraphernalia. Aunt Bell also gave us a bag filled with toilet paper, paper towels, tin foil, and everything else one needs in a new home. The icing on the cake was the flowers she gave us. Lovely flowers from her garden in a vase that is a little cowboy boot. Unbelievably apt and adorable.

So today is the day; November 15 is when the builders finally vacate our home and we can take it over. So tonight we should be sleeping in our own home, on an air mattress Aunt Bell and Uncle Ed graciously lent us. We are so excited!

On the Road to Nowhere - Texas Trip Day 1

2007-11-09T02:33:00.000Z

This morning at 10am we departed from Kelly's mothers house on a one way trip down to our new home in Texas. We stopped in East Hanover briefly to visit Lori & Madison, then set off down route 287. We travelled today through New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia and Virginia, and about 100 miles north of Roanoke we pressed the little blue button on our OnStar unit to get signed up. We spoke to Stacy, who took all of our information and registered us for our one free year that came with the Buick. We were signed up for a free service that emails us monthly diagnostics on our car, which is amazing. In addition, she advised us that we could extend our handsfree phone service by 100 minutes for only $14.99. That sounded absolutely wonderful, so we signed up. Due to a clerical error, she gave us 130 minutes instead, which was just fine by us. She also booked us a hotel in Salem, giving us a price of $89.99, which included breakfast. She downloaded the route straight to our car and we decided OnStar was just about the best thing since peanut butter.
We made it to Salem in about an hour, about 8:30pm, and the car lead us directly to the Days Inn that Stacy had booked for us. Prior to going in, we ran across the street to grab some dinner to eat in our room. Christian got Subway and Kelly, of course, grabbed sushi next door. When we entered the hotel lobby, dazed and exhausted, Front Desk Tim advised us there was no reservation for us. We were bitterly dismayed, but he made it much better by booking us one of the last rooms for $71.00 (noticibly less than the $89.99 OnStar had advised). Because of the mixup, OnStar also agreed to extend our annual subscription till February 2009, so a further 3 months. We were very happy about that too.
We actually love the hotel, where we get a full breakfast and everything, not to mention the free WiFi which I am utilizing right now to post this entry. And on top of ALL of this, Law & Order was just starting.
Productive Day.

New Car!

2007-10-31T15:20:00.001Z

For those of you who can't see our FLICKR page - here's some photos of our new car!

D-Day

2007-09-06T13:32:00.000+01:00

Today was a culmination of months of planning and emotional turmoil. The movers have been and gone, and on this day we had to finally leave our jobs; losing the financial security we have had for 9 years (Kelly) and 11 years (Christian). To complicate things Christian has not yet even received his Visa confirmation yet, so we are relying a great deal on faith alone, although we have been doing just that for some months.
Our plans have been kept strictly confidential all summer for fear of losing our jobs prematurely, but now we can tell what happened from the very beginning.
In April 2007 we went to Texas to visit Kelly's family, and whilst there fell absolutely in love with our dream home. We had spoken a million times about moving back to the US, but until then it had only been talk. Christian immediately saw the benefits of taking this leap, although Kelly as always was sceptical and paralysed by fear. However, every fear we had was addressed in turn, making us think Someone had plans for us, and we found ourselves writing out a check for the deposit.
In the ensuing months we proceeded to put our home in Biggin Hill on the market, at a time when the UK housing market was slowing for the first time in 4 years. Luck was still with us however, as the 20% deposit we required since we were from overseas was sent over the day the pound hit the $2.00 mark in over 17 years.
Otherwise, it was a great deal of waiting, as we continued with our lives, going to work, going home, seeing friends and family. It started to come to a head in August when our buyers disappeared without exchanging contracts. In England, the buyer is in no way obligated to buy the home till that day, when they leave a 10% deposit. So as they were missing we feared we might have lost them and even relisted our house for a few days. Luckily, they reappeared and finally exchanged in the afternoon on Tuesday 4 September.
Then on Thursday we could delay the inevitable no longer. We went into work around noon, as we had an appointment in the morning, and resigned. Although I had known it was to happen it was still one of the hardest things I had ever done, especially because we didn't have the absolute assurance of future employment anytime in the very near future. Christian was out in minutes although for Kelly it took longer. At 4pm the HR rep walked Kelly down the escalator, she badged out at security, handed her badge over, and walked out the door for the last time.
We had not eaten a thing all day and immediately went to a McDonald's, as it was the only thing by the station. We ate a little as we waited for the train, both with massive headaches from the strain. Then hand in hand we got on the train and said goodbye to our daily commute from London.

Christian's Birthday Weekend Day 2 - Airbourne

2007-08-18T13:08:00.000+01:00

Up early, we were in the lovely dining room by 8am. Wendy, in the kitchen preparing breakfast, greeted us with a warm smile, bringing out tea for me and decaf coffee for the Birthday Boy.
We started off with fresh berries and yoghurt, followed by a large Full English much to Christian's delight. As usual, I had a more vegetarian option of toast, an egg and tomato. All the bread and the large selection of jams are homemade, and it was lovely. We were just finishing up when the other two couples arrived; a group of friends also visiting Eastbourne for the airshow. We spent the remainder of the meal chatting till we realized at 9:30 it was time to start our day.
We finished getting ready in the room, leaving ourselves plenty of time to walk the mile+ to the seaside, considering Christian's back. David, our host, would have none of it and insisted on driving us the distance instead. What a lovely, lovely thing to do! Christian, and his back, are eternally grateful.
When we arrived at the sea, vendors were still setting up, including the Officer's Club on the bandstand where we were to spend our day.
They allowed us to leave our enormous umbrella with them, and we wandered amongst the street vendors for an hour. They actually allowed us into the Officer's Club early, and Isabel showed us to our table. The Club is an incredibly exclusive manner of watching the show. It is positioned on the large balcony behind the bandstand, so having a direct view of the entire English Channel and truly the very best vantage point in all of Eastbourne. It consisted of three small marquees; each of the two having four couples and the centre marquee holding 25 mayors from all over the southeast. A quick word with Peter, one of the council organizers, and were having a lovely chat with Mary Pooley, the mayor of Eastbourne; standing there in all her Mayorial bling and still so warm and inviting; holding my hand and telling us about how Eastbourne is growing.
Our marquee had two tables, each one with four place settings. Christian and I were by far the youngest people there, probably due to the cost, but everyone in our tent was wonderful. The waiting staff served us champagne, tea and pastries, and we could elect to sit either in our tent or just outside on the balcony. It was overcast but luckily not raining, nor did it rain for the entire show. The first attraction on the agenda was the Red Arrows at 11:30. Even before they came out we questioned why they would go first. The Red Arrows are arguably the greatest air acrobatics team in the world, and we queried the fairness of making everyone else go AFTER them. Their show was stupendous, as expected, although the ending was a bit of a wash, and they flew off. We expected more of a bang, but oh well.
During the day the lot of us were able to enjoy the air show in the comfort of our tents; a welcome feature as it was so very windy all day. The programme included the Blades, the Guinot wing-walkers, the Hurricane, Spitfires, and the Sea King, to name a few. Also included were American aircraft the Blue Eagles, Kitty Hawk and the P-51 Mustang. Only once did I have to leave the comfort of the oasis we had paid dearly for; when Christian's hat was taken by the wind to the beach below. Otherwise, we never left the Club. We enjoyed an incredible meal, starting with a tomato and basil pastry followed by steak for Christian and a phenomenal stuffed pepper for me, all thanks to Alexander's the caterer.
Later on came Christian's surprise. We were joined on the balcony by several of the pilots and trainers. They were delightful young men who just chatted with us and were happy to have photos taken. They even gave us goody bags! Including a gorgeous baseball cap each with "Royal Air Force" written on it. You can't even buy these! It was so cute to see Mayor Pooley gleefully wearing her hat. She came over to us to ensure we were having a good time. We assured her we were having the BEST time!
Christian elected not to wear his hat due to fear of losing it to the wind. To my delight, Tom, one of the lovely gentleman we shared our tent with, showed me a roll of toilet paper he stole for me from the private lavatory. He had been standing with Christian when I bought over a sheet saying I wanted this high quality paper decorated with the posh fleur de lis for the house, so he liberated me a roll, that dear man.
The show ended just before 5pm with the RAF Falcons. We said goodbye to our new friends and walked back the mile to our B&B. To our delight, several people pointed out our hats, wondering aloud where we got them. Wendy and David were in one of the living areas and we told them all about our terrific day. It was cold by then, so we were happy to retire to the room for the night. Wendy came up a few minutes later to tell us that Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves was on; notable because the scene we turned to was when he and Azeem land on British soil, which was filmed at Pevensey Bay, very near where we are. We watched the movie, shared some champagne we had with us, and snuggled in for the night.

Christian's Birthday Weekend Day 1

2007-08-17T12:27:00.000+01:00

Christian stayed home today with a bad back. My boss let me go an hour early, so Christian picked me up at Petts Wood station a little after 5pm. After that, we let the GPS lead the way to Eastbourne, where we are to celebrate Christian's 39th birthday. It took about two hours, due to massive traffic at Tonbridge Wells. We arrived at Ocklynge Manor at 7pm exactly. Our hostess Wendy Dugdill opened the door and greeted us with a smile. She helped us unload our luggage from the car and showed us around. The house, a large, adorable structure painted pink outside, is actually built on the site of a Commandery of the knights of St. John. Interestingly, the resident monks would have seen the Norman Invasion of 1066 from these very walls. The property changed hands several times, including amongst its residents the Governor of the Falkland Islands and Mabel Lucie Attwell, known for her illustrations of the early Peter Pan books. Wendy explained that they have resided here for 20 years and decided to open as a bed and breakfast once the children had left home. Considering the incredible charm and calmness of this house, with all its nooks and crannies, it would have been a crime not to share it with the world.
She took us to our cute little room, showing us the amenities and how to use the plumbing, which is different in older houses like this, and recommended a few places nearby for dinner. Not wanting to get back in the car, we elected to try The Lamb, a pub within about 10 minutes walk.
We strolled along the streets, passing one adorable cottage after another, and up through a green towards the Lamb Inn on the high street, which is positioned beside the Ancient Parish Church of St . Mary's, both buildings date to the mid 12th century. Looking at the menu, plus hearing the amount of children inside, (and noting a queue) we decided to walk up the road a bit more. We are so glad we did. Whilst passing the church we smelled a most wondrous smell, and happened upon the Spice Garden, an Indian restaurant. We had no reservations, but they found us a table anyway. We spent the entire time there enthusing about everything. We could not fault one thing about the place. Our papadoms and sauces came out like clockwork, followed shortly after by our dual chicken tikka barianis and na'an bread. Everything was absolutely outstanding and we couldn't have had a better meal. Mental note, if we come back to Eastbourne, we're eating there. Incredible.
Very satisfied and very very full, we strolled back to our room to prepare for the big day tomorrow.

Le Touquet, France

2007-08-04T16:06:00.000+01:00

So going to France was a bit of a last minute idea. Mum mentioned she was going with her friend Pamela Stanton-Smith and we decided to gate crash. The four of us joined the other revelers at Green Street Green in Orpington for our 6am departure. We were sat in the front of the coach, and headed out east towards Dover.
It isn't hard to tell when you are in Dover, as its famous white cliffs dominate the coast. There was no customs declaration or checks, instead the bus headed straight onto the ferry, Deck 3, and we simply alighted from the bus and headed upstairs for our ride, which departed the docks at 7:55am. We made ourselves comfortable on the red, leather seats and enjoyed the 1 1/2 hour ride to the French coast.
We landed in Calais, but never stepped foot there, as we entered the coach whilst still on the water and simply drove off, leaving us wondering why we needed to have brought our passports at all. Speaking of which, I regretted not being able to obtain yet another stamp; although it's probably for the best as I am very short on space. We still had a bit of a drive, going past what is apparently the largest shopping mall in Europe, and through the emerald green fields of the French countryside. We hadn't been driving long when we realized that we were not the only ones enroute to the seaside resort of Le Touquet that morning, as we smacked into unforgiving traffic for the next hour.
We slowly passed by Le Touquet airport, a small airport that caters to the wealthy elite of the area, and is frequented by, of all things, pilots from Biggin Hill. I hit the window. We have been traveling nearly 5 hours and all we had needed to do was walk up to Biggin Hill airport and we could have flown here in 25 minutes? For the small sum of a few thousand pounds? Oh fiddlesticks!
We were finally dropped off just along the beach of the resort. Le Touquet is historically a posh playground for the rich, not unlike Eastbourne in England and sort of like the Jersey Shore, in ways. We were advised we were to be back to the coach by 4:30 London time, so, being noon, we had a little over 4 hours to ourselves.
The four of us walked along the boardwalk and turned left onto the high street. It was cute and narrow, filled with tons of Nifty Gifty shops and best of all, restaurants. The driver had recommended a particular seafood eatery and we made a beeline for it. It looked amazing; with a fish market right outside. They sat us in the back outside dining area, under an enormous parasol, while we pondered the astonishing menu. It was incredibly seafood-centric, but there was hope for Christian yet, for at the bottom there was a very detailed description of the non-seafood option: "Piece of Meat". At least it was in English. After asking, we discovered that meant steak.
Mum, Pam and I all ordered the same; it was a platter of four langastine, 1/2 crab, prawns, shrimp, oysters and "sea snail winkle". We didn't even ask what that was, instead opting to get extras of everything else and drop the oysters and winkle.
They came out with Christian's steak and an enormous platter for the remaining three of us. We dove right in, with bottom-feeder flying everywhere, till we just couldn't eat any more. The meal came out to EU126.00, including water and tip. You cannot dine on fresh fish like this in London for anything under a fortune.
After lunch, we really needed to take a walk to burn off some of the sheer magnitude of it. We left mum and Pam to spend some quality girl time together and wandered off by ourselves, heading first to the beach. It was hot and sunny, but with a sea breeze that made it absolutely delightful.
They were having an Egyptian sand sculpture exhibition on the beach, and we went to check it out before we realized they were charging entry fees. Funny that, since we could see absolutely everything from the higher level of the board walk, and for free, so hooray for us.
To get out of the sun we wandered back up the high street, getting to the very opposite end where the posh, historic Westminster Hotel is located. As regulars to our blog can attest to, in order to avoid having to pay 30 euro cents for the use of a facility, one must find a hotel where one can do such for free, and as such, why not find the fanciest, nicest hotel there is? I mean, really.
Charmingly set out in a 40's style, with a magnificent antique lift dominating the front hall, we quickly made use of the facilities, decided against tea, and left. We headed back down the
Avenue du Verger with the intention of getting an ice cream, but upon seeing a grocery store we had a much better idea. Yet again, blog regulars will remember that Christian and I have a habit of getting coffee flavoured yoghurt when in Europe. It's a "thing" we do, because it's so available and so enjoyable. So nixing the ice cream idea, we instead grabbed a few coffee and crème brulee flavoured yoghurt's, an apple/pear juice, and headed back to the park across the street from the Westminster. We found a great spot up a hill overlooking the woods, and had a romantic semi-picnic. It was a beautiful day, and the trees shaded us from much of the sun, so we were in our element. Initially we congratulated ourselves for saving so much money by getting our dessert from the grocery store, till it hit us that we could easily of had a similar picnic at a park back home for free, without having paid £31 each for the privilege.

After leaving there, we bought a postcard for our niece Chalice, as we send her one from every country we visit, even if for only a day. By then the time was nearly up and we met everyone else at the coach. We jumped on the coach and headed back on the long, long ride home at 4:30pm. We soon discovered that getting into England is far more difficult than leaving it; as we were stopped in Calais and had to leave the coach to personally go through customs. For the first time since going to Britain, I was actually given the third degree. The customs official queried the validity of my workers visa stamp. One can hardly blame her; when I entered the UK 4 years ago the official messed up my visa stamp, accidently writing 2006 first, so he changed the "6" to an "8". I had made him initial the error but apparently that wasn't enough. She closely inspected the stamp with an ultraviolet magnified glass; presumably to see if the error was corrected using the same stamp. By the time Christian and I got out, the entire bus was ready and waiting for us patiently in the carpark, and we headed to the ferry. By the time we got home, it was just after 10pm, and we realized that although France is technically just 22 miles from our shores, it takes a devil of a long time to get there.

The Woman In Black

2007-07-26T11:59:00.000+01:00

After a long day both of us were very much looking forward to our Date. Note the capital "D", because it consisted of dinner and a show. We hitched a ride on a double decker bus to the West End, where we walked along Oxford Street towards our ultimate goal. Enroute, we decided to check in a few camera stores, as our insurance company is demanding estimates for repair of my new mini-camera, rather than just replacing the thing which would be so much easier for everyone involved. Our foray through several shops served as a reminder that good customer service and pride in ones job do not come naturally to most young people. I question why I still get frustrated with shop attendents, as I should be used to this by now.
Leaving there, we had a brief stop in Chinatown to pick up some pot noodle for work, as you do, then headed over to the theatre which was just past Jubilee Market on Russel Street in Covent Garden. We were actually running out of time, hence why we didn't stop to eat in Chinatown but instead opted to eat at one of the overpriced restaurants in the Theatre District. We did however find a lovely Italian looking place called San Francesco, where we had a meal that ticked all our boxes: Romantic, Reasonable, and quick. For £10.95 each we had more than enough to fill us up. Christian started off with a divine fried camembert followed by a chicken dish; whilst I opted for the mozzeralla salad and veggie pasta. We were perfectly sated when we exited the restaurant and headed past the Lord of the Rings to the Fortune Theatre to see the riveting "Woman in Black". We had obtained a 2 for 1 voucher last week and since we both love thrillers, decided to make some use of the London Theatre that we tend to take for granted.
The theatre was very small and traditional in design; slightly smaller in fact than Ford's Theatre in Washington DC that we visited in 2003. We had exceptional seats; 3rd row aisle.

The play began at 8pm. It is a ghost story about a lawyer who tries to uncover the truth behind the home of a deceased client. Absolutely gripping, I accidently cried out during one of the more engagine scenes, much to the ongoing amusement of my husband. The play was done in the minimalist style now popular in plays; it consisted only of two actors, two chairs, and a large basket. They attempted to reawaken the imagination in us that our I-pods, TV's and the internet are slowly trying to kill off. They were successful in their task, using lighting and sound to intensify the experience.
After we left, we walked to Charing Cross Station and made our way back home by midnight.

KL, Malaysia Day 17

2007-07-07T13:33:00.000+01:00

The doorbell to our room rang promptly at 7:30, ripping us violently from our slumber. Christian, dazed and disoriented, staggers to the door. "What is it?" he queries. "Housekeeping, Laundry?" What? Not again! I yanked the phone to me and promptly dialed 0, "Manager Now!" I seethed. Jania answers. "A person stays in a hotel mainly for one reason, to get a good nights sleep. This has been vehemently taken from me and I will never get that back!". After much heated discussion, I received free breakfast, plus free transfer to KL Sentral (sic) station at 10:30am for ourselves and the Wangs, staying in room 1517.
We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast on the 9th floor, overlooking the pool, then went back to finish packing. We met the Wangs in the lobby and, after checkout, we each got into our hotel sponsored taxis and were quickly taken to KL Sentral.
Christian immediately saw a guy that has a machine that wraps your luggage in cling film for 10 ringgit. Perfect as we would like to keep the new bag as pristine as possible. Ricardo and Christine showed up right behind us, having come direct from her brothers house, and we waited as they quickly rearranged some wedding gifts and other items for Christine to bring to her new home.
We arrived at the Cathay Pacific check-in counter, conveniently located at this rail station. The plan was to check in our bags so we don’t have to worry about them as our flight isn’t for some hours and we planned to go back into town to run some errands.
We arrived at the counter, with 16 bags all told, and were advised that check-in isn’t for another 2 hours. That set both Ricardo and Christine off, since they checked twice yesterday and today to ensure we could check in at 11am. The manager kept saying there was nothing they could do, but the newlyweds would not be dissuaded, and after calling the airline we were all checked in and our baggage taken away.
We had about four hours to kill, so we walked through the Station Market in the stifling heat to the tram, which took us back to the Saigei Wang mall where we all visited the sticker shop and had a delightful lunch at Hot Mama's, where we had eaten yesterday.
Much to my joy I had time for a much needed manicure as well.
We got so caught up in the mall and transport to the airport that we were going through security at final call. I immediately started to panic and we were perplexed when we seemed to have lost the family. I ran to an Info desk to ask them to hold the flight, and I got on the shuttle into the next terminal with only 6 minutes till the gate closed. Christian had me go on ahead so he could find the family, and I rode, panic stricken, on my own. It must have been pretty obvious, since the Saudi Arabian man beside me with his two wives told me to relax, life is too short to worry.
I made it to the gate and needn't have worried, since they were still boarding the stragglers, then Christian and Ric arrived just behind me. Apparently Christine's parents had driven up from Muar to see her off at the airport as a surprise, but since she didn’t know we didn’t alot any time for that.
Luckily, we made it and arrived in Hong Kong after 9pm. Enroute Christian had seen orange explosions on the ground, even photographed some of them. However, it turned out they were most likely fireworks set off to celebrate 10 years since the handover from British rule to China. Nothing can really prepare someone for the magnificence of Hong Kong at night. I have flown over many world cities and few can rival the superb beauty and elegance of this city, with the billions of lights all shining like jewels on the Hong Kong Harbour. We both adore this city.
Ric's auntie, who met us there, arranged a cab for Christian and I, and came with us to ensure we made it to our hotel ok. She also gave us her daughters mobile so that we would be in constant communication with the rest of the family, who would stay in the Northern Territories. It was HK$200 for the cab ride, and we drove up to the hotel that Henry had arranged for us. Slight nervousness when the white-gloved doorman welcomed us in; tiny bit of fear when we walked upon the marble floors and beheld the magnificent chandeliers up above. Full blown panic when we were advised at the reception desk that we are actually Club class members and need to check in in the special first class Club check in on the 36th floor. One of the smiling, smartly dressed staff escorted us up there. Our panic stemmed from the fact that the hotel had not been picked by us, but it will definitely be paid for by us, and it was super elegant and posh, with magnificent views, free internet, free access to the fully stocked food lounge at any time. We sat at the check-in desk and were advised we had been upgraded to a deluxe suite due to lack of rooms. Being Handover this week meant that the city was full of tourists and people returning home for the festivities, and we were lucky to get any hotel room at all. Our suite was unbelievable. It opened to a full kitchen and living room with enormous flat screen television; another in the bedroom, with a large, beautiful bathroom. The tub had a glass panel beside it adjacent to the bedroom, so with the shades up, we could watch the television from the bath. There were enormous floor to ceiling windows with little leather window seats. We decided it was far too late to go outside, so we checked our email, grabbed some drinks and cookies from the lounge, and cuddled up in the plush hotel robes.

KL, Malaysia Day 16

2007-07-06T13:32:00.000+01:00

Free Day. So happy! Christian and I went down to the Megamall to do some last minute. He couldn’t find a phone charger to buy, but he found a phone store that was kind enough to charge his phone for free, so we left it with them for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, we walked around looking at electronics and luggage. One of the electronics stores seemed to have my Canon Ixus75 for a good price, till they let us check it out on Amazon and we saw it wasn’t much less than buying it in England. We haven’t been able to speak to the credit card company since it happened, so I don’t want to buy another just to find out when I get back that they will not compensate for it.
After picking up our phone, we visited Land of Leather luggage store and Christian saw the bag of his dreams. Its a shiny white ABS hardback case with black lining and little geometric grooves in it. He suddenly had to have the cute Stormtrooper bag, more than anything. He was giddy. My 4 year old green case from Target had pretty much fallen apart the day before, so the timing was perfect. And the price; RM520, or less than 80GBP was pretty ideal as well for a case of that quality. It is 4 wheel drive so you can push it in any direction. Christian happily pushed it, with one finger only because he could, back to the hotel room.
We dropped it off and measured two of the grooves, as we thought it would be cool to have personalized stickers made up at that friend of Rics we visited in our first days, at the Saigei Wang mall in KL. We went down to concierge and caught a taxi into town for RM8.
The mall is enormous, but more for locals and so supposedly cheaper. We visited the sticker guys and Christian advised them precisely of what he wanted.

KL, Malaysia Day 15

2007-07-05T13:32:00.000+01:00

Again Christian awoke for a sunrise that didn’t happen, due to the cloud cover that my tormented skin gratefully welcomed. We went to breakfast with the family at the buffet, and this time ate very little. It was our last meal at Leguna Redang.
We went back to the room to pack our two large suitcases, then visited the pristine beach one last time for some necessary photos together, since we have actually very few from this trip. I frolicked in the water up to my knees, but some of the waves broke a little high and the bottom of my dress was soaked. Check-out was at 11 for some reason, so we sat with the Wangs in the lobby whilst waiting for Ric and Christine to come down. It was hot and we had no idea what to do for the two hours until the boat departed for the mainland. We ended up remaining in the lobby catching up on the blog and enjoying some freshly squeezed juice, while Christine and Ric visited the internet room.
At 12:30 we boarded the little wooden transport vehicle to the boat, which took off for the mainland promptly at 1pm.
For some strange reason they played rap music, of all things, in the cabin, although it was far better than the cheesy western lounge music they played going out. The ride was a fairly turbulous 50 minutes, and once we disembarked we jumped onto the bus to the airport. Unfortunately, Christian stepped on my tortured, just healing toe. Because it is bandaged, I had no idea what condition it was in. The bus guide, Alan Won, advised us that they would first take us for lunch before getting us to the airport for 4:30pm.
The bus traveled along the road passing many cows and goats, casually grazing exposed on the roadside. We saw coconuts as numerous as the flowers strewn along the ground. Some homes were in fair condition, but many were little better than shacks built with tin and old wood, many on stilts, presumably to protect them come monsoon season later in the year.
We stopped at a roadside "restaurant" called Mat's Keropok Losong, and disembarked the bus enmasse to overtake the establishment. Christian was feeling tummy achy, so he only had a lime ice cream while we had more substantial fair. I settled on nati goreng (fried rice) and an iced coffee. The sight of the muslim waitresses with their headscarves assured me that pork wasn’t on the menu here. For some reason, a gaggle of Indonesian women started hoarding boxes of peanuts, buying some legitamately and pocketing the packets left out for diners on the tables. We paid for the lunch, which amounted to RM21 (£3.05) for 6 people, all of which had a proper meal except for my delicate husband. When lunch was over, Christian and Ricardo decided to get some icecream for the road. Christian took one look at the Hello Kitty Wonder Cup with free toy and couldn’t resist. He thoroughly enjoyed the fluffy chocolate ice cream inside and started to play with the little Hello Kitty figure on a train that nestled at the bottom.
We reached the little, dinky airport at 4, forced to wait in the stifling heat till 4:30 check-in. A single, unsubstancial fan only served to move the heat about the room. A passenger had left their bag unattended and Richard reported it to two bored, disinterested security guards, who handled the situation by walking away and nesting under a fan. Meanwhile, I asked the service desk if I could borrow a pair of scissors so I could re-bandage my toe. She handed me a large razor blade and was happy for me to walk off with it. Instead, I used it within view and promptly returned it.
We were the first to go through security which was blissfully air conditioned, and proceeded to wait almost two hours for our 6:30pm departure. Today we did a lot of waiting and traveling.
I sat complaining about the sheer level of ennui felt while sitting in the utterly uninteresting departures area, and Christian replied 'You can’t even earwig on other peoples conversations because its all in clatterbang.' which tickled me.
My boredom was complete and only relieved somewhat when Ricardo started playing some of Apacalypto on his laptop. The moment we saw the plane land everyone stood up and waited at the gate doors. We were some of the first out, so all got to sit near each other in the front. It was a brief flight back to KL, and Christian amused himself by reading the McDonald's Times, which he found in the seat pocket in front of him. It was one big ad, but with pictures which kept him occupied.
Once the plane landed in KL we disembarked via the stairs and reclaimed our baggage at arrivals. We had decided to get a bus to KL Sentral Station for 9 ringgit, rather then hire a private car which was far more expensive. We had to wait a bit, but finally boarded the bus and headed about an hour to the rail station near Little India. We jumped off the bus, and got into three cars; Christine went off to her flat, Ricardo and his parents, and finally Christian and I.
Because of the many hours of travel, we only arrived at the hotel for 10pm. That left us precious little time to get dinner. The first room they gave us was not acceptable, as it smelled smokey, so they moved us to another, 2118. We raced down to the Midvalley Megamall, and since everything was closing went to the Jusco grocery store on the Lower ground floor, which was just closing up. We grabbed some ice cream, some 100 Plus, and teriyaki chicken, rice, and fried chicken for Christian. Whilst we were checking out at the till, the power in all registers went out. Bugger. We waited so long that I grabbed the nice British store manager and he personally reheated all necessary items for us. Funnily enough, he was from a town about 10 miles from us.
We finished the day picnicking in our room.

Radang, Malaysia Day 14: Yes - We Have No Bananas

2007-07-04T13:31:00.000+01:00

Christian arose before the sun to hit the beach, MegaCam in hand, and capture the sunrise. I stayed in bed. We met the family and had a leisurely breakfast in the buffet area upstairs, then visited the recreation centre to plan the activities of the day. They had many; archary, jungle walk, massage, scuba diving. We all decided to do the fishing trip at 6 in the evening. Christian and I were concerned about my toe, so we visited the resort doctor, who advised us that there was no way I could possibly come to the beach and not get my toe wet, so he suggested I enjoy myself in the knowledge that it will probably be fine. For some reason, the nail appeared to be re-fusing to my toe. Hence, we jumped straight into the aquamarine water of the South China Sea, which was incredibly warm and relaxing, for a half hour frolic. That was all our skin could take, and we returned to the room, where I was struck with a mega headache. It was so bad that we stayed in the room, curtains closed, till lunch, where we met Ricardo's parents and enjoyed posh lunch in the ala carte restaurant. I had an enormous sea bass that was literally just plucked from the sea. It was one of the most expensive things on the menu, but it was still only 5 pounds. Incredible. Richard ordered a banana split, which Christian had never tried before, so he got really excited about trying it as well. Then the waiter came out and said "there is no more banana sundaes". What? We vehemently gesticulated to Richards lovely concoction before him. "No more bananas" the waiter added. No more bananas? We are on a tropical island and they’ve run out of bananas, of all things. How, did the ever present monkees that we have yet to see liberate them? No problem, we asked for a banana split, sans bananas.
After lunch, we grabbed some drinks from the More More Tea Inn beverage center (named after the Inn in the Hong Kong movie Summer Holiday, which was filmed here and thus played 24 hours a day on channel 7).
We then returned to the room. My headache was so severe we missed our 2:30 snorkeling appointment. I was incredibly disappointed but we consoled ourselves with the fact that we were to have an incredible fishing trip that evening. Until at 5:30 then we received a call from the Recreation Centre saying our trip was cancelled due to "Inclement weather". We advised Ric, who addressed it with management in such a way that we received a limitless dinner in the ala carte restaurant and free drinks at the bar.
But first, we decided to go back in the water, even though the red flag was flying, since there was only a meagre gale, hardly a zephor. Only Christian, me, Ricardo and Christine went in, and we had a blast dodging the breaking waves. We were standing very near a gaggle of Malaysian muslim women, wearing long sleeved shirts and trousers, and one of them, charmingly in gloves as well.
All 6 of us met for dinner and feasted from the sumptuous menu, enjoying drinks and cuisine we wouldn’t ordinarily pay for. In fact, Ric ordered 4 main courses alone. And everyone had a banana split, this time, with the previously absent bananas. We eventually left the table when we were fully sated. Our feet were under constant attack by a barrage of mosquitoes, and no number of citronella candles placed under the table seemed to have any effect. And as pleasant as each meal is, one must keep constant attention or else any one of the many flies wandering about will land on your food.
Afterwords, we went to our reserved table on the beach bar, where we enjoyed interesting and expensive cocktails, courtesy of the management. Mine was in a hollowed out papaya. There was a group of girls onstage singing a variety of popular western hits, all well known, romantic, and incredibly boring. That is why when I submitted my request, Money Money Money by ABBA, they ignored all the previous requests and went straight to that right away, although they did a whole ABBA Compilation. That was their last song before break, so everyone else who had made a request can go suck an egg.
By this time it was quite late. We borrowed a pc in the headoffice so that we could book the next two nights at the Boulevard, and returned to our room to spend our final night in paradise.

Radang, Malaysia Day 13 - Trouble in paradise...

2007-07-03T13:30:00.000+01:00

The incessant beeping of Christians alarm clock could mean only one thing - 4am and the start of a long day travelling. As we'd (Christian this time) packed the previous night all we needed to do was shower, gather the bags together and head down to reception for checkout. Our laundry that we'd been promised for 10pm the night before was still a no-show - so that was the first order of the day. By the time we'd got that done (apparently still lost in the cavernous bowels of this hotels ovbiously Rama-esque laundry) Ric and family showed up and checked out - and we were out in the (relatively) chill night air and on our way to the airport (after the driver decided the SUV he'd chosen would not fit all our bags and reverted to Mini-bus style kung-fu). Most of us slept in the bus for the 50 minute drive to the airport - which - given the speed and enthusiasm of his driving - was a good thing. Soon we were checking in and it seemed like an ideal opportunity to take a photograph with Kelly's new camera... It's first. - the picture was taken. the camera went tumbling to the floor - after one picture! A big crack on the screen - but the thing still works. Ah well - that's what credit card insurance is for. More drama as we were at the gate - as we were a big group the gate staff asked us to stay behind and board last. Thus we did - and of course boarded a full plane with only a few pairs of seats scattered about. Our protestations were met with the now customary non-comprehension and total lack of sympathy. A smooth 50 minute flight later - we were sweeping in low just 30 feet above a beach to land at Terengannu airport. After claiming our bags in the odd smelling baggage 'hall' (small room) we fought our way through hordes of chattering, pushy, middle-aged Japanese women all clad in identical blingy name brand handbags, sunglassees and horribly tacky gold jewelery (who, surprisingly enough, all have tattoos and are the rudest people on earth), and we were on the bus for the ride to the boat. Sadly we were not allowed on deck throughout the 50 minute voyage (the same duration as our earlier flight), but it was heavily air-conditioned and we all got some well earned shut-eye. Soon the endless South China Sea made way for some very Lost-esque coastline and then we were at the island resort jetty. It was suprisingly cooler here, but not by much. We entered the Welcome Room where we were briefed on the necessary info on our stay by the resort PR representative. We were then all bussed to the main building through sand covered track; it reminded me a lot of summer camp, with the various wooden buildings all around. We joined the hoard of new arrivals in the open air lobby, where we received our complimentary drink and registered. We had to wait another half hour for lunch, which was a buffet spread upstairs overlooking the beach, but thankfully, consisted of a roof so we were sheltered somewhat from the oppressive sun.
We took our time with lunch since check-in wasn’t till 1pm. We seperated then and all retired to our rooms, where I am sorry to say we all fell promptly asleep, not awakening till dinner. We had elected to get the super supreme room, with an enormous balcony which was meant to overlook the sea, but our view was somewhat hindered by about a dozen palm trees. There was an arrow on the ceiling, which we surmised was to indicate the direction of Mecca for the Muslim guests. It pointed towards the entrance of our room, which was also the direction of sunset, reminding us that in this part of the world, Muslims face west.
During dinner, Ric found a wire in his food, and after some heated words with management, we received vouchers for the remainder of our stay in the ala carte restaurant, where you are served, rather then self serve, and you can have better quality food that is freshly prepared, rather than heated for hours.
After dinner, we enjoyed some freshly squeezed watermelon juice, courtesy of the hotel, on the veranda, then I talked Christian into returning the camera to the hotel room so we can enjoy a romantic beach stroll without that distraction. We walked, just the two of us, hand in hand in the darkness as the water lapped at our feet (although I was careful to keep my right foot dry) , as the resorts along the sea had various parties going on, some with strobe lighting and disco music. This detracted somewhat from the romance of the moment, which was worsened when the moon came out; low in the sky, enormous and bright red, so magnificent I actually regretted, for an instant, having Christian leave the camera behind. But sometimes, you need to enjoy a moment when it happens, and not later on film, and we slowly walked back to our room.

KL, Malaysia Day 12

2007-07-02T13:30:00.000+01:00

Today Kim spoiled us rotten. Last night she was kind enough to offer to take us out for the day. She picked us up at 10 in her SUV and took us to a cute outdoor café, very rundown and traditional, in town. It was brutal hot and she, like us, prefers air conditioning, but admitted its hard to come by during the breakfast hour. She ordered various noodle dishes for us that were excellent, and we filled up very quickly. She also stopped in a shop and ordered us some dried turkey, both teriyaki and pepper flavored, for us to have as a snack the following day should we need it.
She took us straight to her family doctor, Doctor Tan (no relation to her or Agnes) and he was somewhat keen to remove the toenail to ensure it didn’t get infected. I advised him that to do that, he would either have to knock me out or get me very very very drunk, so he bandaged it and prescribed an antibiotic for it. Much to my chagrin, he advised I keep it dry. "But I’m going to the beach tomorrow! Oh the humanity"
We then returned the rubbish Nikon S50 camera I had bought a few days before. It just didn’t do what I needed it to do, and bought a Canon Ixis75. Christian fell in love with the thing. She took us around to various malls in the area, where we shopped for luggage and sunglasses, then she treated us, yet again, to lunch at a beautiful chinese restaurant in SuperPoshExpensiveMall.
We then left KL, headed to Midvalley where I returned a shirt I had bought that kept having wardrobe malfunctions (the plastic clasp in the strap kept breaking and stabbing me in the shoulderblade). So I saved 89.90 ringgit for that. I bought a magnificent pair of leather pumps at my new favorite store, Bonia, which masters in Italian style shoes and handbags. I then decided I would go for it and buy a pair of Gucci sunglasses I had had my eye on. They were incredibly expensive, even in Malaysia they were about £124. They took them out for me, cleaned them, then took out the case.
What the devil is that supposed to be?
The case was a huge leather monster, incredibly bulky and awkward to open. They said it was necessary to protect the glasses, but I know me. There is no way I can carry such a bohemoth in my typical handbag. As such, I bailed on the glasses, much to the stunned amazement of the staff.
Christian talked Kim into taking us to Chinatown, where he proceeded to buy another 3 watches. She then wanted to take us for dinner, bless her, but we were still so full from lunch. So was she, but she was so worried that we would starve in our room. She was so incredibly accomodating and welcoming, we had the best time with her, and assured her we could easily survive for months on the fatty deposits we have built up in the last week.
She dropped us off at the hotel, with a gift of a large cannister of tea and some pineapple cakes from China.

KL, Malaysia Day 11

2007-07-01T13:25:00.000+01:00

Super Big Reception Day
We awoke at 7am, and were ready for our checkout at 8:40. Much to my dismay the internet wasn’t working on the two terminals in the lobby, which I was kinda hoping for. We met everyone down on the ground floor for 9, but didn’t actually get going till after 10, since there were so many people to organize and everything is done by committee.
Christine's parents met us all there and we went in 4 cars to Restoran Bao Gong, where we dined on dim sum at 4 separate tables. The waitress was kind enough to point out the pork dishes, so I knew exactly what I could eat. It was not air conditioned, but instead it was cooled by fan only. Interestingly, Christian saw a girl go to the bathroom, Chinese style. The toilet was behind our table,and she must have not noticed that the curtain was too short, leaving a 3 foot gap to the floor. I of course missed the whole thing, but Christian had a new appreciation of my experiences with Asian toilets. We all jumped in our cars, a good 20 something of us, and rode in a 5 car convoy back to KL. Christian drove one of the vans. We stopped at a rest stop part way and all hung out in a little shelter off the parking lot. The adults brought durian fruit and that tortoise jello for snacks. We however had a Nescafe, since we had tried them before and didn’t feel the need to relive that experience.
We arrived in KL at around 2:30, and parked up in the carpark under our hotel, the Pacific Regency, which is adjacent to the KL Tower, where we will go tonight. Whilst we were all waiting for the lifts to the lobby, I rather stupidly pulled the suitcase too quickly over my foot; scantily clad in my toe-exposing Teva's, it ripped the toenail off my right big toe almost completely, totally starting to bleed. I wasn’t in any way worried about the pain, I could deal with that. It was the incredible fear of infection, since my feet were dirty. Visions of losing my foot to some Asian flesh-eating bacteria filled my head. Not to mention that in 4 hours we have the big wedding reception and I only have open toed shoes to wear. Luckily, there was a paramedic and a police officer in our party from Hong Kong, and they used the hotel medical kit to wrap it up all snug. I kept asking them if they were going to smother it in alcohol, but the consensus was that a simple wrap was best.
We checked in and I limped up to our room 2411. This is a 5-star hotel and it's easy to see why. The room was immaculate, with a stunning view of KL below us, and a full kitchenette. Although I had been sitting in the car all day and was desperate for a polish change, Christian made me lie down with my foot up whilst watching Backdraft.
Then Ric called and told us we had to be in the lobby for the wedding by 6:30. Oh my gosh, that’s fewer than 2 hours! We ran downstairs and took a cab to KLCC, the mall at the base of the twin towers. It cost a mere RM2.80. First stop was the pharmacy, where we had the pharmacist rewrap my toe, this time using antiseptic. Then up to the 4th floor, where I had my makeup done and hair blow dried for RM150 (£21.80)
Its now 5:50, we race downstairs to Ikesan, a posh department store, for a shirt, trousers, and tie for Christian. It took about 15 minutes since he needed the pants hemmed. Altogether, we paid through the nose since we didn’t have time to shop around.
We had 20 minutes to take a cab back, get dressed, and meet some of the family in the lobby. Although KL Tower is very close, it’s not really advisable to walk to it, especially in heels and me with a booboo toe.
I took a cab with several family members, and Christian was meant to follow after due to lack of space. It was only when we were approaching the tower that I realized I had all the money! Christian ended up running the whole way, passing several monkeys playing in the trees.
The reception was on one of the upper decks of the KL Tower, aptly named Mega View Banquet Deck (they’re really into “Mega” here). We entered an amazing room with a stage, 14 tables of 10 laid out beautifully, and photos of the bride and groom displaying on several projectors on the walls. There was a large ice sculpture of two swans with their names on it, and an enormous, pink multi level cake on display. The curtains were drawn, which was peculiar, so we sneaked into the adjacent room, currently used only by staff, to look out over the entirety of the city of Kuala Lumpur.
Our assigned table was lucky number 13, so we were not sat with Henry, Lucia or Raymond, who were all at 14. We were initially bummed, till we were joined by two lovely, fun girls, Wendy and Cherie, then Agnes Tan, who we both knew slightly through our company, as she used to work in the Singapore office before leaving. Then, oh my gosh! It’s Kim!!! Kim Tan (no relation to Agnes) came in with a friend of hers. Kim is a very good friend of ours who used to work in our London office till she left about two months ago. She is currently taking time off visiting her family in Malaysia. We hugged and tried so hard to catch up on everything. Kim, Agnes and I couldn’t help but discuss the latest goings on at the company.
Our table ended up being the funnest, and we had the most wonderful time. Around 8pm they opened the curtains so we could see the beauty and the vastness of the city below us. Then, goodness gracious, there was the bride and groom waving at their guests. Something had possessed Ricardo and Christine to load themselves into a large window cleaning crane, and it slowly passed by all of us, outside. They both had safety suspenders on, and Christine was wearing a blue gown. However, with his white shirt, the suspenders looked more like lederhosen on Ric.
After they passed by, we didn’t see them again till they entered at 9pm. It turns out that due to a fault they each had to leap from the crane, as it got stuck in one place and couldn’t be moved. Ric was still recovering from the fright of that hours later.
The first course was introduced in a fabulously cultural way. A group of men in gold vests and shiny balloon pants marched in carrying a large, stone clamshell, with woman in ornate dresses following along carrying the initial dish. They placed the clamshell down before the bridal table, where a tiny girl emerged and presented them with the first course. She then got back into the clam and was taken away.
The food was very typical of a Chinese wedding, and very similar to what we had the previous night in Muar, only slightly fancier. The menu, which I liberated from the event, was as follows:

Deluxe Hot & Cold Combination
Braised Shark Fin Soup with Shredded Scallop & Seafood
Thai Style Crispy Chicken
Steamed Hong Kong Style Promfret
Two Combinations Prawn
Braised Vegetable with Dried Scallop & Mushroom
Hong Kong Style Fried Rice in Lotus Leaf
Rich Chocolate & Hazelnut Cake by Chef Jerome

The whole time, the MC spoke constantly, only this time mainly in Cantonese, so we couldn’t understand anything again. Agnes did however and translated everything for us. There was the expected Kareoke, then more speaking from the MC, interviewing the couple and other guests so it was very much like a gameshow. The bride and groom, along with the fathers, came over to our table first for our yum sing moment. The other guests at the table didn’t know what was coming, till Christian and I leapt up and, drinks raised, joined the party..."YUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUM SING!"
The rich chocolate cake was present thanks to Ric, who hates the typical Asian dessert with its bright colors. We were loathe to leave, but Kim and her friend were kind enough to take us back to the hotel. It was time, since my toe was throbbing in my high heels and started bleeding again. It was one of the greatest weddings we ever attended.

Muar, Malaysia 10

2007-06-30T11:59:00.000+01:00

Wedding Day
Up at 6am, we all met on the ground floor of the hotel at 7:30. There were 3 cars worth of us. We drove directly to the rented bungalow, which is ostensibly the grooms house, since his family isn’t from this region. We were only there long enough to photograph the bridal car, a brand new black Toyota Camry covered in pink ribbons.
At this point, the groom & his attendants were to go to the brides house alone, but at the last minute a few of us women jumped in the car with Richard, Ric's dad, so that we could experience it as well.
We arrived at the bride's parents house, where we dined yesterday, and saw the bridesmaids & family waiting at the front door. At this point, the groom and his men are meant to convince the girls to let him in to claim his bride, currently hiding out of sight in the house.
The groom is meant to perform any tasks asked of him. He had to wear a belt of string & dangling bananas and oranges around his neck. He was obliged to sign a contract written exactly as below (spelling errors included)
Memorandum of Love
L. Ricardo Wang. Passport No.
Would like all of you to witness my Memorandum of Love to my precious women Christian Chua,
1, All my love are devoted to her, and only her
2, I shall respect ALL her advises, and ALL her decisions
3, I shall be more creative to spice her up everyday
4, I shall give her all my money
5, I shall have a lot of babies with her
6, I shall change diapers and milk all of our babies in the middle of the night
7, I shall listen to her when she said “NO”8, I shall always remember: Christine will never be wrongThis memorandum valid till 9999/12/31

He finally made his way amongst the gaggle of sentry girls to her bedroom door, where he was forced to pay an entry fee to get in. But it was all worth it when the door was opened and the group beheld the radiant beauty of ... The brides brother...in bed...naked. It was the wrong room.
As such, the men set their sights on the opposite door . As the groom was reaching deeper into his pocket to find more money to get that door open, he had the horrific realization that he had forgotten the ring. Henry raced out of the house and quickly drove to get it, however Christine, absolutely stunning with a strapless white wedding gown & veil and pearl tiara, came out anyway.
I was outside with the other girls
from the grooms side who technically had no business being there. We had watched the spectical through the windows & front door. I sat with the grooms male relatives & cousins outside and ate tofu soup while the photographs continued indoors. Christian than called me into the house. The groom had to perform one more feat before they were married. The girls demanded he get his leg waxed. He wasn’t about to do that, so Christian, as one of his men, was able to take his place. He sat down and lifted his pantleg. He never flinched.
After the newly married couple visited the Respect Receptical, the grooms people all piled back in the car, with bride, and headed over to the grooms house once more. We all got there before the bride and groom, and a large string of fireworks was setup by the front door. When the bride and groom arrived, Christian barely had enough time to say "You will not believe how loud this is going to be" before they were set off and I was literally floored by the din. They are meant to frighten evil spirits away and I cannot comprehend how they could ever fail.
There, we witnessed the tea ceremony, where the bride and groom served cups of tea to the honored members of the family in exchange for red envelopes containing money. After we took tons of photos, the couple went into one of the bedrooms. Now, tradition states that at this point the couple undress and then spend 3 days in the grooms house. As we had only that day, Ric symbolically just removed Christine's veil, she his jacket, then we all got back into the cars. Back to the brides house again, where we ate Pancake with a peanut buttery texture, heated soy milk, cake with pink & white frosting, and white dumplings with fried mushrooms, oranges. This trip was to signify the third day, when the bride returns to her parents home to advise them that she is happy in her marriage. Then back once again to the grooms house,where we were finally taken back to the hotel at midday. We had done a lot of back and forthing due to the fact that we had to fit 3 days worth of festivities in about 3 hours, and the heat was crippling.
We were given 15 minutes to change then all drove about 1000 feet to an open air eatery down the street. The meal consisted of a bowl of rice and various kinds of pork dishes, including two separate kinds of pig intestine. As such, Kelly ate her rice very very slowly so it wasn’t too obvious that she wouldn’t touch anything else. It was enough. That much pork rendered me with little appetite.
Afterwards the family wanted to go shopping. Christian, Raymond and I preferred to go back to the hotel to have some respite from the heat, so we elected to walk back. We actually fell asleep for hours till we were to prepare for tonights dinner.
Not knowing quite how to dress, I wore a blue dress I had bought in London the day we departed, and Christian wore a shirt and proper trousers. We arrived at the reception hall and were led upstairs to an enormous banquet hall with more than 200 people. We sat amongst the family from Hong Kong at a table nearest the front. The evening was surreal. The dishes came out one after another. A seafood platter, followed by sharks fin soup. Raymond had warned us it was coming, and we ate it even though we felt so strongly about what it was. It was pleasant, but Tom yum soup would have been just as nice and no sharks had to be harmed.
Much to our amusement, someone wandered around selling newspapers and another guy was selling scratch cards. We were later advised that it is very important to show oneself at social functions, but they like to read to help pass the time.
The MC spoke only in Mandarin, which was incredibly amusing since our table was full of Cantonese speakers, so they were as lost as we were. After the MC sang his bit, there was a professional singer who did a few songs until the karaoke started. The whole evening was filled with middle aged accountants getting up on the stage and surprising us with pretty good renditions of their favorite songs; none of which we ever heard of.
The evening was magical; with each dish that was served we chatted with the family members at our table, who often explained what several dishes were for us.
When Christine and Ric finally came out, the bride was wearing the white wedding dress we had seen her in earlier. During the course of the night, she would disappear for a short while for several dress changes. The second was a spectacular pink ball gown with matching pink bling in her hair; the last a stunningly beautiful aqua blue evening gown, again with matching bling. I nearly hit myself for not thinking about doing the same thing at my wedding.
When the evening was over, it was over in a flash. We were chatting and generally having a wonderful time, when all of a sudden the florescent lights came on overhead. We turned around, and realized the majority of the guests had left, and they were sweeping the floors and putting chairs up on the tables. We remained long enough to take family photos of ALL the family, both sides, then headed back to our hotel.

Muar, Malaysia Day 9

2007-06-29T09:57:00.000+01:00

Up at 8:30, we packed our stuff up whilst watching the Discovery Channel and set off for breakfast at the Arab 24 hour place across the street. It was absolutely packed with people, but we decided today to sit in the separate area, which was air conditioned. We were the only diners in there. We later found out why. I ate a rice bundle that they had set out at all tables, then my apple juice came out. I ordered a roti telur planta, thinking it was the roti with fried banana (there were no translations on the non-western options, and thinking planta was similar to "plantain", which is a type of banana, one can see what we were thinking). It turned out telur planta is egg, so it was roti with egg. The waiter, of course, coughed directly on the meal as he delivered it. I ate it anyway, since you get used to that sort of thing here. Considering the food preparation areas are hardly sterile, and lord knows what the health and safety standards are here. I ate as slowly as possible, but was still finished before Christian got his chicken burger and fries, since they apparently kept forgetting. He finished that and his cappuccino frozen drink, and the waiter delivered the bill. It came out to RM18 (£2.61), and we noticed the food was all slightly more expensive. We thought it was tax, but the gentleman at the register helpfully explained it was a surcharge for sitting in the air conditioning. That makes sense. That privilidge added £0.14 ($0.30) to our bill.
We crossed the street and entered the Megamall. Failing a sync up at Starbucks, we exchanged GBP100 for RM680, and used 2 RM5 Jusco vouchers I had for 4 large bottles of 100 Plus. It is a water drink filled with electrolytes, incredibly refreshing and what everyone drinks here; somewhat like gatorade but without those vile colorings.
At 11 we still hadn’t heard from anyone, so we went down to check out and met Ric's parents in the lobby, Henry & Lucia soon arrived as well. We went in 3 cars straight to KL International airport, where we met Raymond, who had just flown in from London, & several relatives of Ric's from Hong Kong. Once they picked up their rental car, we all left in a 4 car convoy on a 3 hour journey to Muar, Christine's home town. We were in the rental truck with Henry & Lucia, and it didn’t seem very long till we left the highway and saw a part of Malaysia that tourists rarely see.
Locals in wooden lean-to's heaped with durian fruit sold their wares on the roadside. One kilo for 3 ringgit was prominently displayed several times. Durian is a tree fruit with a sharp, spiney outershell which is often banned from hotels due to the strong aroma it emits. Houses ranged from little wooden shacks to cute, dainty bungalows vibrantly painted in pastels. Many had a large red and gold box outside the front door that we briefly mistook for a mailbox, till we figured out it is a type of alter box used to pay hommage to the spirit that watches over the home.
We crossed the bridge over the Muar River and drove through the small town to our hotel. It is a new build and the tallest building in the town.
All of us staying there checked in and met back in the lobby on the 6th floor to set out for our new destination. It was 4:30 when we drove about 10 minutes away to a cute 3 bedroom rental bungalow, set as part of a quad of bungalows. Christine had picked up bags of take-out rice & noodles and we chowed down as she left for her parents house to plan the evening festivities. There were about 15 people in the holiday home, all of us basically the grooms side.
We hung out for awhile till we were beckoned to the brides parents house by phone. We all jumped into the various cars and headed over there, about a 10 minute drive. It ended up being a massive house party. Her one story home is on a cul-de-sac, and apparently most of the people living there are family. They had huge canopies set up over the front garden and road, decorated with yards of pink material. About a dozen tables were set out with people already enjoying their dinner. We walked in and were immediately greeted by the brides charming and handsome father, Mr. Chua. He owns a farm that consists of over 350,000 chickens, and he provides all chickens to KFC for the Asian region. He welcomed us to their home with open arms and sat us down at two tables in the front. There was a huge buffet table spread by the front door covered with dishes brimming with rice, noodles, various curried chickens and fish. For dessert, there was jellied mango, oranges, watermelon, and some multicolored gelatinous cakes. The food was absolutely wonderful. We later went into the house, which was quite spacious. We added our shoes to the growing mound at the front door, and entered a large living room. The master bedroom was off of there. Through the next doorway, there is a large kitchen, dining area to the left, and three other bedrooms to our right. There was also a long room addition at the back of the house, consisting of a little pond with fish and the cutest little turtle.
We went inside, and Ric gave Christian a type of black jello. He explained that it is made from the shells of tortoises, and it is best eaten smothered in honey. He advised it served as a very refreshing snack in the oppressive heat. Personally, I thought a 100 Plus worked just as efficiently and no tortoises needed to be harmed, but Christian dutifully tried it, as did I. Honestly, we have no idea what it tastes like, since the honey flavor pretty much overpowered it.
Next the durian fruit came. Known as "the king of fruit" it is a large round fruit with a very prickly outerskin, known for its very pungent aroma. In fact, most hotels ban the stuff. Ric's uncle broke a few open and the smell is quite unmistakable. Inside is a yellow, fleshy type of substance. Mr. Chua handed me a piece and I took a bite into it. I suppose the look on my face was very amusing, since the Chinese people around me started to laugh, as it is very much an acquired taste. It really has no similarity to any fruit I know of. The flavor is almost savory, with a meaty texture. In fact, it is usually around a large pit that is more like bone. After trying it, I gave some to Christian, so now we've tried it. I don’t want to try it again.

KL, Malaysia Day 8

2007-06-28T09:56:00.000+01:00

9am found us packed and in the 'Rainforest cafe' for our buffet breakfast - the usual curried chicken and sausages, rice, 'meaty' (origin uncertain) and coffee, local and strong. Just as we were finishing up Sonny breezed in and chatted to numerous guests, confirming our suspicions that he is no newcomer to this route. 'Watch out - he talks a lot' we were warned by several parties. Like we needed telling!

Checkout gave Kelly another excuse to reinforce her opinion about the previous day's shennanigans, and then we were on the bus and underway.
The route back down the mountain was as twisty and turny as it was going up, but, as Lady Gravity had chosen to smile upon us, our descent was a little more frenetic than the obverse. The thrilling ascent, with all eyes on the new environment of the forest has somehow transformed into a headlong hurtle around nerve-wracking bends, a nausea inducing white-knuckle ride that Kelly thankfully missed most of due to sleep from the sheer exhaustion carried over from the day before. Thankfully the mountain was soon at an end - and we were back onto the main roads - still at breakneck speeds. Pretty soon we passed an entire city built to house the workers for the Proton car factory, Malaysias largest car producer. Shortly thereafter we stopped so our driver could pick up some breakfast - and thence to the city. Sunny dropped us off at the hotel - after checking in we checked in also with Ric, who we caught in transit out to perform a shopping list of chores. Fortunately Christian was able to help by downloading photographs for him - and we were soon free, after changing, to jump in a taxi to Chinatown - and the street market. Hot, crowded and noisy - Kelly was in her element. The haggling started, and six exhausting hours later we were heading back to the hotel, several hundred ringit lighter but our hunger for all things shiny and expensive looking sated. Christian was extremely hot and tired - but neither of us had eaten (the food at the market was expensive and tourist-esque). Fortunately, as we neared the hotel we spotted an Arabic café almost opposite that we'd never spotted before. There were some translation problems - but Kelly eventually enjoyed her Nasi Goreng (spicy rice with vegetables) and coffee ice drink. We hit the hay at around midnight - we had an early start the next morning.

Malaysia Day 7, Cameron Highlands

2007-06-27T09:56:00.000+01:00

Up early for breakfast at the hotel, we went into the Rainforest Café to enjoy the buffet they had there. No rice, they had only vegetarian meats and some western food, which we wouldn’t touch. Instead, we had some roti and steamed dumplings filled with red bean, and some orange and mango juice. We were in the lobby at 8:45am on the dot for our tour. We went to the front desk to confirm it, but there was so little English spoken amongst them that we couldn’t get out of them if the tour had started or what. 9am came and went, then 9:30 and Kelly went up to the desk demanding to know what was going on, when they dropped a bomb. They explained that the tour would begin at 1:45pm. "WHAT?? But we've been sitting here for 45 minutes. You KNEW that! No, we want our tour NOW!" and demanded they get our travel agent Kat on the phone. While they were dialing her, two indian drivers walked in and started speaking quickly with the receptionists. He then explained that he had only just been advised about us, and that we were to go with him after paying him. We explained that we wouldn’t pay one cent, since our entire break was paid for in KL. More debate with reception and it was apparently sorted out, and we got into the broken down truck with the nonexistent seatbelts and headed off onto our tour.
In the village the main driver, who had spoken to us, left the car, leaving the little Mini-me guy to drive us. He took us to some god forsaken place on the edge of a valley, which was beside a "Rose Centre" which was apparently part of the tour. However, they explained again that we had to pay. We called Kat from our cellphone and were compelled to sit in the van looking at some stray cats sleeping on a large pile of garbage while she called around to sort it out. About 10 minutes later a group of tourists exited the rose centre and joined us in the van. We all headed off to the strawberry farm, and it was there, while we were sampling strawberry jelly and a strawberry shake, that Kat sorted everything out with our driver. They would take us on the rest of the tour, then take us on our own to the two centers we have already missed due to the mess up. Kelly explained how annoyed we were by this since we had plans for this afternoon, but suddenly at that point Kat ceased to know English.
The Strawberry Farm was anti-climatic. We were primarily in a shop, as the you couldn’t really walk amongst the strawberries and there were so few of them near us anyway, due to a recent harvesting. Hence, 30 minutes was too long, and we left there and headed to the Butterfly farm, which was outstanding. We were given 30 minutes there as well, which wasn’t nearly enough. We started out looking at their vast exotic insect collection. Kelly actually held a giant horned beetle (4 inches), several mantis's, 2 scorpians, a swamp frog, several lizards, and a 40 year old tortoise, not to mention various leaf insects. We had 3 British gap year students with us, all 19 who had been touring the world for the last 5 months, and they were a lot of fun. Absolutely fascinated and yet horrified by the bugs we were looking at, however, Kelly insisted on holding every one. However, she screamed several times while the scorpians were placed on her arm.
The bugs were so amazing that it left us only 6 minutes to walk amongst the butterflies in their enclosure. They were lovely and the smell of the flowers was so beautiful.
Next was the best part, that we were all looking forward to. We drove up to the Boh Tea Plantation. As we manuevered up the winding drive through the lush green valley filled with acres of tea plants, the driver explained that the plantation was owned by a Scotsman, and that an experienced tea harvester working a typical 9 hour day would make about 44 ringgit daily. Of course, our first thought was that even this difficult, laborous job is fewer hours than we work.
We were given only 40 minutes here, which was cruel and hateful since it wasn’t nearly enough. The first part involved a tour through the small factory. Upon entry, you are overcome by the overwhelmingly magnificent scent of freshly crushed tealeaves. Fewer smells in the world compare to this, and unfortunately, you cannot bottle it. Before us was a large processor that crushed the leaves, which were then passed by belt into the next room where they were further processed and shoveled by hand onto another belt, where they were taken into another room, and further refinement. Fermentation and the level of processing dictates the quality and flavor of the tea, which is only of the black variety at this plantation.
After that, we were led through the tea shop, where we didn’t buy anything because my current tea collection is already too vast, and then into the café, which had a dining area that overlooked the entire plantation. We ordered a pot of Palas Supreme (their highest quality produced) and a piece of chocolate cake for just over 1 pound. The only way to drink it is sans milk or sugar, and it was actually a very pale, light type of black tea. We were sitting, chatting with the 3 British teenagers when we saw the van was ready to go, and we all had to drag ourselves back. It just wasn’t nearly enough time!
After that, we went to a honeybee farm, which was about as interesting as the strawberry farm, since all the honeybees were busy in their hives. They didn’t have anything groovy like a cross section hive so you can actually see the bees, or find the queen for that matter. Hence, staring at some boxes in a garden just didn’t do anything for us. We couldn’t even buy any royal jelly, since it has to be refridgerated, so we bought a small jar of farmed honey for 10 ringgit.
They drove us back to the rose centre, where we said our farewells to our fellow tourists, as they were taken back to their hotels. We went in on our own, and were advised that they would send another car for us in an hour. We told them to make it 35 minutes, because we didn’t need to go in to know we didn’t need a full hour in what is only an expensive garden center. The Rose Centre was actually quite nice, protected from the direct sun and rain by huge sheets spread overhead, making it an enormous greenhouse. Even 35 minutes was too long, and we just sat waiting for our ride. When it did come, we were given glaring looks by the workers for not buying any of the low quality tourist rubbish they were trying to peddle.
Our driver was a young Indian woman, who took us to our final destination, a Chinese Buddhist temple. She was playing lively Indian music on the radio, and was surprised when we asked her to leave it on.
We were the only patrons to enter the Buddhist temple, which was far more garrish in décor than we have seen in the past. We removed our shoes when necessary, and made a donation before leaving. We were there only 15 minutes and it was more than enough time, since nothing was really happening. What we really wanted was to see a Hindu or Muslim place of worship, as we have seen many Buddhist temples, but that wasn’t on the cards this trip.
Our driver than returned us to the village at the foot of the hill of our hotel, where we went back for some more Indian from that guy. We then returned to the hotel to rest. We have been waking up early every morning and perhaps it has something to do with being almost 5000 feet above sea level, but it takes it out of you. Luckily, Star Wars Revenge of the Sith was on cable. We also wrote out our first postcards of the trip at this point as well. We prepared some hot water in the electric kettle and made some honeywater to help us relax.
Shortly thereafter we received a call from Yes Optical letting us know our glasses were ready, and we went to pick them up. We each received a free gift; a cheap blue backback which would be ideal for carrying around little tidbits as our luggage was already starting to feel overstuffed.
Deciding against dinner, we just picked up a little coffee chocolate icecream and called it a night.

Malaysia Day 6, Cameron Highlands

2007-06-26T09:55:00.000+01:00

We awoke at 9am and started to pack up our things. At 10 we went downstairs and each had a beef rice bowl at Yoshinoya, done in time for a 10:30 checkout when our driver Sonny arrived. The three of us got into his van and headed out of town towards our next destination, the Cameron Highlands, where we will spend the next two nights, only the two of us. Ric's parents were originally going to accompany us, but they changed their minds so that they could visit local friends, which meant this would be a nice romantic break.
Sonny was chatty and full of information, and he fillled us with knowledge about the local area and vegetation during the four hour ride to the mountains. He pointed out rubber trees, durian trees (apparently the fruit smells bad), and the many, many palm trees that were originally imported from Nigeria by the British colonials.
We started on a highway at first, before stopping at an enormous reststop halfway along our trip. It was seperated into two areas; one that had western food like Baskin Robins and Duncan Donuts, which in no way interested us, and another foodhall filled with local cuisine and produce. This was far more packed with diners. We were still fairly full from breakfast, so Sonny ordered some local coffee for us to try. Heavily sweetened and slightly bitter, it was delicious. We never would have thought to try it if he hadn’t suggested it. This is the benefit of centering ones holiday around locals. You experience the country as the locals do.
Once we hit the road again we veered off and started on the narrow, winding mountain road. This would take the majority of our trip, as we passed by ramshackle old huts made of wood and bamboo. Sonny advised us that Malaysians go crazy for British Football, which is an essential for them. Hence, we saw many dwellings that were little more than shacks, but each one had a satallite dish.
Everywhere along the winding road we would see dogs; lounging or wandering aimlessly. Every once in a while we would see locals selling fruit from little wooden stands, while behind them they enjoyed a magnificent view of the emerald green valley. There were some spots of brown which indicated trees were being cut down within the valley, which is supposed to be protected, so Sonny said he would contact his sister, who is a journalist, so that this can be made public. It was quite obvious that although he lives in KL, he adores the Cameron Highlands and doesn’t want anything to mar the beauty of this area.
Along the way we stopped on the roadside to walk along an ideallic waterfall and take photos. Along the road were about a dozen shacks selling all manner of fruit, fried bananas, and various local-made goods for the tourists that no doubt always stop here. We weren’t pressured to buy anything at all, but Sonny did walk along with us to show us what the various things were. He pointed out how they built piping to relocate the water from the falls for bathing, he picked up an open piece of durian fruit, covered in ants, so that we could experience the smell. He introduced us to various herbs widely used in the region; encouraging us to smell the eucalyptus and the cinnamon.
We bought nothing, and proceeded to the car to continue along our way. We stopped at a tea shop along the road that overlooked one of the tea plantations in the region. It was an amazing panaramic view of tea trees in luscious shades of green. Kelly had to visit the bathroom facilities, which were totally fly infested. In fact, being up here in the mountains you get ALL aspects of nature. The good and the bad. Lots of bugs.
We took a bridge joining two mountains, and drove through the first moderately large village we have come across in hours, called Ringlet. It was simply a run down town, neither Muslim, Christian or Bhuddist, but a combination of all, which is the standard in this region.
It wasn’t long before we came upon the town in the Highlands where we would stay. We drove up a winding road to the Heritage Hotel, in Pahang Darul Makmur. The hotel is quite old, built by British colonists in the Tudor style, so like back home, but with an Asian twist. Exiting the car we immediately noticed it was so much cooler than in KL. Christian was in Heaven. We checked in and gave Sonny a big, fat tip, since he had taken such care of us. We took the lift to the second floor, and noticed certain sections of the corridor were open to the outside. Hence, we noted the construction works going on directly outside of our room. A huge crane making major noise was powered on, and the door to our room was two steps away. We entered the room and, realizing we could still hear the thing, called the front desk for a change. Since Christian promptly fell asleep within minutes, Kelly went down to obtain the key and inspect the new room before disturbing him. Deciding it was moderately better, she collected the bags and husband and entered room 231. It had a small balcony overlooking a lovely courtyard and a view of the mountains beyond that. The room itself was old and decidedly one star, but this is still the best hotel in the area. It was quite large, and did have a small refridgerator and electric kettle, two necessities for when we travel, but it was lacking a third; an inroom safe we usually demand. You just can’t get that up here. Christian has been running himself ragged for days so we napped for an hour before heading down the street to the small town. It is an incredibly small tourist town consisting mainly of restaurants,with a few small foodstores tourist shops. We put 10 ringgit only in Christians phone so that we could make phonecalls if necessary. We noticed an eyeglass store across the street. Since we've gotten here, Christine, Ric, and even Sonny have suggested we purchase second pairs here since they are so much cheaper than in the US and UK. Both of us received an eye exam and purchased new glasses; complete with UV protection and diamond coating, for RM1180 (about 173 pounds). We couldn’t buy one pair back home for that little.
Because Kelly was wearing contacts, they instructed her to remove them and told us to come back after dinner, so the eye exam wouldn’t be distorted.
We left there and walked along the boardwalk till and Indian man grabbed us and sat us forcibly at a table. So indian it is then.
Our waiter was an absolutely adorable 8 year old Indian boy, complete with pen and pad. Cute as a button, he efficiently took our order. Kelly had rice and chicken with 3 kinds of vegetables served on a large banana leaf, whilst Christian had boneless chicken tikka with spinach rice and garlic na'an. Along with freshly squeezed juice (watermelon and carrot) the whole meal with tip came to RM26 (4 pounds) and we were superstuffed afterwards.
We returned to the opticians and completed our eye exams. They were incredibly professional, pointing out problems with our current prescriptions that cause us headaches.
Once done, we strolled back through the cool, night air to the hotel; hearing the amazing mountain sounds all around us.
Returning to our room, Christian found a salamandar attached to our window curtain. Where did its tail go?

KL, Malaysia Day 5

2007-06-25T13:23:00.000+01:00

We were picked up at 10 and drove through a completely derelict town to a little hole-in-the-wall called Fatty for breakfast, in Jalan Kelang Lama. Menu: Bak Kut (pigs trotters (hooves)), Pork intestine with wine, Curried fish heads. Hua tiew wine steam chicken, freshly squeezed apple juice, chinese tea with ice. Christine ordered for us, everything but the fish heads. As our policy is to try everything once, we both tasted the intestine, even though Kelly doesn’t eat pork. We love Malaysian food, but next time, we'll pass on the guts. We've done it, we don’t have to do it again. And come to think of it, Kelly never wants to see a pork product again) Dessert was soy milk jello with dragons eye lychee, and it was quite refreshing. In total the bill came to 138.50 ringgit (£23.08)
We then hopped in the cars and headed into the center of Kuala Lumpur. Along the way we came upon quite a few run down, delapidated buildings. Ric explained that due to the market crash of 1997, many companies were forced to abandon development and left the partially built structures to rot where they stood.
It wasn’t long before we parked beneath the Twin Towers (KLCC) and ventured up, entering a large, modern mall. While the boys went to the restroom to change from shorts to trousers for our visit to the office,
Christian noticed two giant moths, brown and white with a four inch wingspan in one corner of the mall. We of course got photos.
We went up one lift to the midpoint on the 41st floor, which literally took about 15 seconds to ascend. We switched lifts and kept going to the 61st floor. Since we work for the same company as Ric, we thought it would be an ideal opportunity to visit the KL news bureau, as it has one of the best views of the city.
The moment we badged in we felt completely at home and proceeded to raid the kitchen, make a long distance phonecall (called mum; it was far too early to call NY), and check our e-mails.
Leaving the office, we returned to the mall and walked around for a short while to digest breakfast. Of course, the best way to do that is with pastry, so Christine and Ric led us to Rotiboy Bakeshoppe, where I was instructed to order "saku Roti" (one bun). It is about the size of a hamburger bun; slightly chrispy outside with a very soft inside and a slightly coffee flavor. Amazingly good but we were still very full from morning meal.
KLCC mall is very big and western and not at all interesting so we bailed and jumped into both cars to head for more traditional shopping; where the Malaysians go. Enroute we saw a lot of motorcycle riders, always wearing the jackets backwards as a clever way to avoid drag. We drove to another large shopping complex, but not as fancy and oodles cheaper. We did pretty well on the electronics front. Christian needed a portable harddrive and case, which we got for 276 ringgit, and we brought a new Nikon Coolpix little digital camera (since Kelly's Sony has just about had it) for 1076 ringgit (£206/$400). It's worth twice that at home, and he threw in a 2gig memory card for £6. Time to head back to the hotel, as we had a large evening planned and all of us at the Boulevard hotel (Mr & Mrs Wang, Henry & Lucia, and us) were all checking out tommorow.
The two of us used the time to get a Big Mac from downstairs in the Megamall, since Christian has to taste one in every country we visit (good, but in China they're better). We exchanged some more cash and harvested some wifi from Starbucks. Unfortunately the rain meant our much anticipated plans of visiting the street market were shot. We all decided on a proper dinner in the mall, but as Christian wasn’t felling well we left the group, went to the Jusco market on the ground floor; bought rice bundles (steamed rice packed in a banana leaf with a little, dried fish), coffee flavored ice cream, and three large bottles of 100Plus; all for 17 ringgit (£2.87).
We picnicked in the room whilst watching The Majestic on cable.

KL, Malaysia Day 4

2007-06-24T13:22:00.000+01:00

Sepang GT
Woke up promptly at 7, got dressed with meters of sunscreen and met the gang in the lobby. Us, Henry, Lucia, Old Man Wang, & Ric all piled in the van and headed off. We drove through a rather run down neighborhood filled with extremely derilect flats and houses that were only slightly better. Oddly, we noted pretty decent cars in the driveways; mercedes and BMWs. Henry explained that people in Asia will often prefer a blinged up car over suitable housing. We parked up outside an extremely nondescript little building with plastic tables and chairs. Christine & Ric's mum met us there and we had a traditional Malaysian breakfast as in the distance we heard the Call to Prayer from the local mosque. The first course was roti talor, thin pancake with egg that you dip in curry sauce and sweet & hot fish dip. It was incredible. The second course was also roti (pancake) but with fried banana instead of egg. With drinks, the whole meal came to 40 ringgit (£6/$11). Mind, that’s for 8 of us.
We said our goodbyes to Christine & Mrs Wang as they headed off to some pre-wedding celebrations, and the rest of us headed to the main reason we are all here this week, the 2007 Super GT International Series Malaysia. (I'm being facetious). It is the biggest autorace outside of Japan. Ric entered through the press entrance and we were able to park up and walk along the back of the pits, and, press passes in place around our necks, we entered the main press center. It was an enormous room with rows of desks facing large monitors. On the entire right side of the room were enormous tinted windows that overlooked the starting line and the pits below, where the cars are serviced midrace.
As we were "Media persons", in that room only because of Ric's connections in the racing circuit, we had to suppress the married couple act. We did our best, but still bickered constantly whilst referring to each other as "dear" and "sweetheart".
During a quick sojourn to the ladies Kelly beheld her first "racing queen". They are models hired by each racing team to promote the team by being unbelievably enchanting and adorable. She was applying her lipgloss in the mirror. With a waist that's circumference matched her age (both about 17) she stood their with her itty, bitty mini skirt and 4 inch high white leather go go boots. When Kelly said Hi, she repeated it back in a little girl, cartoony, sing song voice which was far too impossible to be faked. She was cute as a button.
We enjoyed the wonderful air conditioning till it was time for the raceway tour at 11. We ventured into the oppressive 110 degrees outside and headed to the buses. This is quite a treat reserved only for media. Only the race photographers and Kelly (journalist) were priviliged enough to experience this. We were sent to the "kids" bus and soon discovered why, as about 20 japanese school children over on exchange all loaded on. They were laughing and their enthusiasm was infectious. Soon the bus started up and entered the track. We did the full 3 mile ride twice as the racing cars competing that day whizzed by us. It was incredible.
A short rest back in the comforting coolness of the media room was followed by the pitwalk at 1.
They laid out some Roti (oiled bread, kind of like na'an) for all the media, wrapped in newspaper with little plastic baggies of currie, and we wolfed that down pretty early in the races. At 1pm we went down for the pit walk. All the cars are out with the relevant drivers, although the hundreds of media personel and the freelancers that paid to be there were interesting in only one thing; the beautiful, leggy Japanese models that every team possesses. You can tell the more successful teams by the beauty of their team queens. They just get prettier, taller, and bustier as you head up the line. We had about an hour walking up and down the pit taking pics of the cars, of the girls, and of Kelly with the girls. Then, one of the races began so we all left the lane. We took sanctuary in the Press Centre for a short while till it was coming on time to head down for the big race; the Super GT. We were the first down the Pit Entrance hallway and were allowed through the gate, but we were only there for a few minutes till the technicians pushed us back behind the gate. It was then we started to hear the fanfare, the crowd, and we saw the girls marching up the track holding banners indicating their teams. There we were, watching this through the exit of a hallway when we should have been out there. Ric became furious, called one of the event organizers and forced his way in. They weren't going to argue with him, but we had to stay put. Then another technician advised us we were in the wrong place entirely! We were to go further up the track, but of course being at the front of the tunnel meant we ended up in the back of the que of photographers heading to the starting line. Kelly ran up to the press centre to get Christian's long lens, and we were able to walk up and down the starting line examining the cars and meeting those involved until the race started. It is an endurance race, which took about 3 hours. We visited different parts of the track to catch good photos, however, both of us just didnt have the stamina in the unforgiving sun and watched the lion's share from the press centre. Number 24 WoodOne Advan Clarion Z driven by Joao Paulo Lima De Oliviera and Seiji Ara won the race in the end.
We got to enter the press interview room where the drivers in first and the drivers in 2nd (due to the length of the race, there were 2 drivers for each car) were interviewed. Except for Joao Paulo, the other drivers all spoke Japanese.

KL, Malaysia Day 3

2007-06-23T13:22:00.000+01:00

Christian was out at 8:30, to go with Ric and Mr Wang to the Super GT pre-carshow. Kelly on the other hand stayed in, trying this new tea that she acquired which is REALLY bitter!
She spent the day under the hotel at the Midvalley Megamall, getting a mani & pedi, and necessary shopping done. Luxury goods are quite expensive, so she took it easy on the spending front. She did however buy a lovely glass tea set to add to her growing collection of tea sets. This is perfect for infusions (flower teas) so the lovely gentleman gave her a large cannister of chrysanthemum tea as well. Being a Muslim country, over half the women wear head veils.
Meanwhile, Christian spent the day with Ric and his father Richard photographing the racetrack as it was prepared for the Japan GT taking place tomorrow.
He received severe sunburn on the back of his calves of all places, although he has no recollection of how. The quote of the day for him was spoken by one of the beautiful Japanese team queens, dressed in skimpy leather to best show off her itty bitty figure..."You yum...yum...Yumerican?"
They returned to the hotel at 9pm with several others in tow; Sean, Christine's brother and girlfriend; and Henry & Lucia; friends of Ric's who just that afternoon flew in from Hong Kong. All 10 of us went for dinner at a local seafood restaurant, not at all fancy, but we feasted on 3 different kinds of fresh crab and it cost £20 for the lot. 10 people! We FEASTED and it was amazing.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Days 1 & 2

2007-06-22T11:59:00.000+01:00

Arrival
It's all kind of a blur at the moment. It started off like any other day; drove to mum's, parked the car, took train to work, all with our luggage in tow. We had a normal day and then our car picked us up promptly at 2:30pm GMT outside the office. It took about an hour to get through London to Heathrow, and because there was oddly no queue for our Cathay Pacific flight we sped both through check-in and Security pretty quickly. Our gate number came up fairly late, but we soon headed off to gate 34 and waited to be called. We needn't have, as it is pretty much a free for all with no one bothering to queue, nor was anyone able to decipher the garbled announcements overhead. We got on and luckily the lovely girl who checked us in, Justine, ensured that we had a row of three seats to ourselves.
It didn't take long to realize that the family of three sitting behind us were quite loud and chatty, and we weren’t looking forward to dealing with this the whole plane ride. Also, the gentleman at the window seat kept grasping the back of Christian's seat and shaking it, all the while laughing. We don't pretend to understand people. To Christians surprise his seat went straight back. Apparently when he was trying to adjust it the gentleman pulled back on it really hard. "Please stop doing that!", Christian exclaimed and all heck broke loose. Well, the family summoned two flight attendents and all screamed for 20 minutes in Cantonese at the same time. The flight attendents calmly listened and would then come to us for our version of events. Neither of us were looking forward to 11 hours of their belligerence, when the attendent stated to us "The thing is, he believes you pushed the seat back intentionally and wants an apology". Is that all?
Christian turned around and, carefully never using the word "Sorry", stated that he certainly didn't mean for the seat to go back so quickly. At that point, the man went from howling lunatic to smiling friendly neighbor, shook Christian's hand, shook the attendents hand, the attendent shook Christians hand, and we never heard another peep out of them the entire flight.
Our flight was actually delayed an hour due to massive tail winds up there somewhere, and we didn’t leave till about 7:15pm, but we luckily arrived at Hong Kong airport with about an hour and a half to go till our connecting flight. It was still as clean and exciting as it was last time we were here in September 2006. For some reason the plane was directed to park on the tarmac, much to the pilot's displeasure, and we were forced to disembark using the stairs, and took a bus to the terminal. We went through the SARS checkpoint (little thermo-imaging cameras that check ones body temperature) and continued on the long trek to the adjacent terminal where we were to catch our next flight to Kuala Lumpur.
We were also to meet the groom's parents, Mr & Mrs Wang, as they were taking the same flight with us to KL, having spent the last week in Hong Kong, but they were no where to be found. We finally ran into them on the plane, it wasn’t hard as Mr.Wang is the spitting image of our friend Ricardo.
This flight to KL is a little over 3 hours long as I write this. Mind, it is now 10:56am on Friday morning in London (5:56pm HK time). As we left our office over 20 hours ago we are feeling decidedly crumpled. Kelly is sick unto death of what she's wearing and wants to now burn the lot. As we came close to landing there was an announcement that they were about to spray the cabin (for parasites) and so we were advised to cover our mouths! Ric and Christine were at arrivals to meet us, and Kelly used about 2 minutes to change out of her now-hated trousers into a sundress, much more appropriate as it was still 80 degrees, even though it was 7:30pm, and, since we are so far south, already past sunset.
Ric hired a van and we took off with him whilst his parents went in Christine's car with her, and we drove for about an hour through palm-lined highways before arriving at the Boulevard Hotel, in Mid Valley City, Lingkaran Syed Putra. We checked in, went up quickly to our room 1219 and immediately jumped in the shower to remove nearly 24 hours of travel from our bodies. About a half hour later Ric came by and presented us each with a Starbucks frappuccino, in flavors indiginous only to Asia, green tea and red bean. We picked up Christine and his parents in their room. They had recently been to China and his mother gave Kelly a large bag of tea she had acquired there. It consisted of dried tealeaves wrapped up into little one serving braids. It supposedly assists with weightloss, and everyone kept warning it was bitter. "Sure", Kelly said "How bitter can it be? I have yet to find a tea I don't enjoy" and threw it in her bag.
We all got into the van and, at about 10:30 that evening, headed off to dinner. We went to a large outdoor market serving all sorts of different local cuisine. We walked in past a large internet café filled to capacity with online gamers. We sat at a table in the market that had a little stray kitten sleeping underneath it. As Kelly has learned in several other countries, she can look at strays but can’t touch them. We walked around with Ric whilst he ordered various foods from various stalls and gave our table number to each. Within minutes, we were all dining on chicken, beef, and lamb satay, deep fried mushrooms, mussels in chilli sauce, and a large, fresh whitefish (with edible bones). To drink, Christian and Kelly shared an enormous pitcher of freshly squeezed watermelon juice. Behind us, the sky frequently filled with lightning, but it didn’t rain while we were there.
When we thought we were done eating, Rics father ordered some more; consisting of sticky rice, dumplings, and some sort of sonething else that had shrimp in it. Only then were we done and we returned back to the room by 1am the following morning.

London Pride & the Olympic Games

2007-06-06T15:24:00.001+01:00

6 July 2005 was a Red Letter Day for anyone in the UK. It was the day we found out we beat France and were chosen as the host city for the 2012 Olympic Games. The city felt something it had not experienced in a very long time; National Pride. It was only strengthened when the next day, four suicide bombers attacked the tubes and a bus, slaughtering dozens of commuters on their way to work.

Fast forward to now, 2007. The Games are still five years away, but they have come up with the symbol of our Pride, our Heritage, our Dynamicism. The logo was designed by Wolff Olins for a mere $800,000. Yes, you heard that right. Instead of the fanfare they expected for the "new, innovative, modern" design, they have been slammed with a backlash of gargantuan proportions. What were they thinking? Modern? Are you serious? Heaven forbid they hold a competition amongst our nations schools, or amongst British artists, both of which would cost a fraction of the £400,000 pricetag. This logo is meant to capture the "essence of London" (oh sorry, I mean london, with a small "L", because that's modern and appeals to young people, apparently).
On a lighter note, they had to remove the video that goes with this Logo from the Games' website over fear it would cause epileptic fits. Charming.

Rome-antic Weekend Day IV

2007-05-28T16:16:00.000+01:00

We took our time getting out across the Tiber River back to Vatican City. We decided that we had no idea when we'd be coming back to Rome, and we HAD to do Vatican City. We entered the square and gazed with regret at the very, very, very, very long queue of pilgrims, hundreds of them waiting in the unforgiving sun to enter St. Peter's Basilica. We trekked to the end of the queue and waiting about 8 minutes till an American girl approached the people ahead of us and asked them if they were interested in joining a tour that would take alot of the queue out of the equation. They didn't, so we piped up and asked her what the catch was. She said there wasn't any; we need only pay to get into the museum, and the tour was another 20 euros on top of that. We were apprehensive about losing our place in the line, but we eventually walked away with the stranger and she took us to meet "Dan", who was to be our tour guide.
We waited quite a while whilst his assistants tried to recruit more tourists. People from all over the world, ready to take a risk so as not to wait in that god-forsaken line joined us and within about 20 minutes, we were a formidable group. "Dan" was an American as well, and his passion for the home of the popes was fascinating and contagious. He filled our minds and our imaginations as he told us about the Dome in front of us, and about the history of the place. He advised us that in order to avoid the queue, we would go to the Vatican Museum first, then head into St. Peters from there. Apparently (and we didn't know this), you can only get to one from the other with a proper tour. Otherwise you leave and have to queue up again. no thanks!
We walked out of the square on the right side along a road and joined another queue. It too was long, but all the while Dan kept telling us about the city, warning us to keep our bags closed and our pockets protected. He advised that the women would have to cover there shoulders in the museum so I, wearing a tank top, walked up the queue till I found some Philipino women selling pashmina's. It had taken me a good 10 minutes to walk up the queue to the front, which concerned me, it was that long. I bought a magnificent green silk scarf (well, silk food anyway), and rejoined the group. At this point some police were "talking" to Dan, and we in the tour started to whisper. At one point I asked him if everything was ok, and he said "No, it's not, they don't believe I am an official tour guide". By the time we got to the front of the queue, about 40 minutes from the beginning, they were speaking quite vehemently to each other in Italian, checking and rechecking his papers. Slight panic when we started to enter the museum as they began to drag him away. As the doors closed behind us, he pushed against the police and yelled "In the Sistine Chapel, take a right, whatever you do, DON'T GO LEFT", and he was gone. We never saw Dan again.
We entered the museum, checked through security, and headed in. The moment we entered it began a horrid downpour outside, and we realized we'd be out in that if we hadn't gone with Dan. As we hadn't paid him, we weren't out anything. We followed the legions of people through from room to room, coming quickly upon the greek statues. I found out later that the museum was founded upon one statue, that of Laocoon, the priest who, according to Greek mythology, tried to convince the people of ancient Troy not to accept the Greeks' "gift" of a hollow horse, was discovered 14 January 1506, in a vineyard near the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. (Wikipedia). It has always been one of my favorite statues, as I studied it in college. There are many galleries within the museum, including a full Egyptian gallery, Gallery of Statues, Bust Gallery, etc. We came upon a long, magnificent corridor and realized that the hoards were converging; it became nearly impossible to pass. We headed straight down a relatively ignored passageway rather than following the crowds, and found ourselves entering the Sistine Chapel itself. A security guard immediately advised Christian to pack his camera away. We obeyed immediately but were annoyed when we saw constant flashes as others scoffed the rules. It was heaving with bodies, but still beautiful, especially in its detail and colors. We looked above and beheld the famous ceiling Michelangelo spent 4 years on his back painting. The "Pull My Finger" bit (Creation of Adam) was relatively small amongst all the other Genesis stories surrounding it, but still stood out magnificently.
As we made our way out, we passed through a wooden screen and were following the crowds to the left. That is when Christian remembered Dan's final warning, and we spun around and headed to an unassuming door on the right labled "Official tours only". We had a story prepared should we be stopped, but the guards ignored us as we walked down a long flight of stairs, completely devoid of people, and found ourselves outside again. However, we were within the structure of the complex, standing between the museum and St. Peters, and a few steps to our immediate right found us in the Crypt of the Popes, located underneath St. Peters Basillica. We passed the tombs of all the past popes, including the relatively new one of Pope John Paul II, and the magnificent St. Peters Crypt. We came upon a flight of stairs and found ourselves smack dab in the middle of St. Peter's Church. It is beyond words. So much so I will not try to describe it, but it is magnificent. Vast and spectacular.
We exited after about an hour. We had to run back to the museum to get Christian's tripod, which we had to leave with Security. The guards let us return back through the Sistine Chapel and through that left door we previously rebuffed. That's when we realized what happens to those that go to the left. We came upon miles of corridors till we exited the museum; in the square. Had we gone that way we would have had to go back to the St. Peters queue where we initially started. The way we did it, we went straight in.
Our flight was later that night, so we took our leave of Vatican City and re-entered Rome one last time. We returned to our hotel, packed our bags, and hitched a bus back to the airport.

Rome-antic Weekend Day III

2007-05-27T13:46:00.000+01:00

Up at 1:45am. Why? Because the people in room 516, which is joined to our room by a common door, obviously fell asleep with the television on. So we got to listen to psycho Italian advertisements until we got the front desk to address it. They did, quite quickly, but we were still up for hours.
We went to breakfast relatively late, around 8:30. We returned back to the room because we were still exhausted from yesterday, and napped for some hours, only leaving at 1:30pm. The weather was supposed to be thunderstormy, but it was actually blazingly sunny, muggy, and yet just as hazy as yesterday. We limped down the Via XX Settembre, past the Piazza della Repubblica, past The Opera Theatre, all the way down to the Colusseum,which dominated the landscape before us. We definitely wanted to go in, and it was the first attraction in which we had to pay to get in. We went through the security line with relative speed, but the queue to buy our 11 Euro tickets took much longer. In fact, we use the word "queue" quite loosely, because it was more of a free for all as the massive hoards converged on the ticket stands. Tickets in hand,we entered through one of the doorways that the spectators would have entered 2000 years ago. The structure is enormous, and so very ancient. An incredible amount of work has been done to stablize the structure and keep it from crumbling more than it already has. There is a tremendous amount of brickwork recently laid; most obviously newer so that the viewer can tell the old from the new. Upstairs, there was a special exhibition on Eros (better known as Cupid) the little God of Love,which was very apt as this is our anniversary trip. There was a great deal of artwork; statuary, pottery, stele's, dedicated to the Roman concept of love.
Leaving the Colusseum, we walked past the Arch of Constantine up into the Roman Forum. When walking past the Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II,we came across a Roman woman dripping in blood. She left her packages, quite hysterical, and started running to an alley. At that moment there were about 9 of us who had witnessed it, all tourists from Britain or America. A British woman picked up the packages and walked them over to thewoman in the alley as the police, who had been summoned by her husband, arrived. Apparently, she and her husband had had an argument and he obviously hit her, hard. As the police were there, he continued arguing with the hysterical woman and even poured water from a bottle onto her head. We gave the police a pack of wet wipes, all we had, and continued on our way.
Getting back to the hotel with the last of our energy, we washed then headed back to the same restaurant as yesterday. We were soon joined by a lovely British couple and had a charming conversation throughout dinner.
We took our leave and decided to walk some of our dinner off, while looking for a shop that would sell us Diet Coke, which we really fancied. We ended up in a very unsavory part of town somehow and quickly made our way back to the more safer area of our hotel on Via Flavia.

Rome-antic Weekend Day II

2007-05-26T13:45:00.000+01:00

Up at 7am, we rushed up to the rooftop balcony for a buffet breakfast. It was the ordinary faire, similar to what we had in Naples of fruit, break, eggs, various meats and cheeses. Afterwards, we actually went back to nap, and didn’t leave the room till just before 11.
We decided on heading towards Vatican City, which is on the opposite shore of the Tiber River. We walked west, decending the Spanish Steps yet again, through the major shopping district on Via Borgognana. We passed Fendi, Gucci, Valentino, Armani, of course never going in but amazed at the amount of tourists that were. We crossed the Via del Corso and went over the Ponte Cavour bridge. Along the river we came across the Piazza dei Tribunali, covered with stunning statues of angels, and also passed the Castel Sant' Angelo, which apparently was featured in the book Angels and Demons.
From there, the top of Saint Peters is highly visable, even on a hazy day such as this, and as we walked towards it it continued to dominate our skyline. Along the Via della Conciliazione we found a street painter (here there are many) and fell in love with one of her works featuring 3 paintings of the Colloseum, St. Peters and the Spanish Steps. Kelly christianed her down from EU15 to 11.50, and we were all happy.
From there, the road leads you straight into Vatican City. Once we got to the plaza, we were taken aback by the thousands of tourists queuing to get in. With a potential 4 hour wait in the sun, we decided the church will have to wait for another year. We spent about 2 hours at the base anyway, taking photos of various objects around us, especially pigeons in flight, and finally headed back out to discover more about the city. Crossing the Ponte Vittorio Emmanuele II Bridge this time, we found ourselves on the ... incomplete (never got around to finishing blog)

Rome-antic Weekend Day I

2007-05-25T13:43:00.000+01:00

Up at 3:30 this morning, TomTom led us straight to the offsite parking for Gatwick airport, and we took a shuttle straight to the south terminal. Check in was relatively painless, as was security, and at 6:20 we were boarding the easyJet airbus flight EZY5253. As an airbus, there is no assigned seating, and we certainly didn’t pay to get on earlier, but for whatever reason when we did get on the very front seats were still vacant, so we got pretty much the best seats on the plane, with all the leg room we could use. Much to Kelly's delight, the flight attendant allowed her into the cockpit to meet the pilots, something of a rarity in today's world of air terror.
The 2 hour flight went by way too slowly, even though we slept a little, and with nothing to read we amused ourselves by thumb wrestling the whole time we were over the Alps. We landed just around 10am local time. The door right beside us was opened for our departure, and we were immediately struck by a wall of heat. We went down the stairs and across the tarmac, quickly whizzing through security, and waited for our one bag to come through. Our first glimpse into the mediteranean psyche occurred whilst trying to depart the Arrivals lounge. While the British tourists all queued as usual, people from other parts of Europe saw it as a free for all and just mowed through.
We had totally budgeted for a EU30 taxi ride, but we saw a sign for a bus service for EU6 each straight to the city centre and, once again, fiscal sensiblity won out over Kelly's hatred of buses. We needn't have worried, we were on a good luck streak seat wise, and yet again got the best seat on the bus, right in the front so we can see everything.
We drove out of the airport at 11am, and saw immediately the maniacal way Italians drive. Christian joked that we would probably see an accident at some point, and wouldn't you know it not 6 minutes later a truck in front of us knocked into the car in front of him, and didn't bother to move even though he was blocking ALL traffic behind him. He moved about 10 minutes later, and we continued into the heart of the city. Amused and bewildered, we watched a woman ahead of us park her car in the middle of the road, put her hazzard lights on, and got out to look at shoes in a shop window! When in Rome.
Arriving at the city centre, we fired up the TomTom which lead us straight to our hotel about a 15 minute walk away. We did stop enroute at a cute grocery store where we picked up beverage, coffee yogurt (we tend to eat it on all trips to Europe, for some reason) and this groovy bread with whole olives baked in it. Shoving that in our faces, we checked into our hotel, dropped our stuff in room 518, and headed out to the cute restaurant the manager recommended.
It was authentic, which was made apparent by the lack of any hint of an English speaking person. We were sat by the window, and were immediately given a basket of bread, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Christian recommended getting something different from our ordinary fair, but we ended up with Linguini with clams and spagetti and meatballs anyway. Superb. (...not complete)

Our 4 Year Engagement Anniversary

2007-05-22T13:52:00.001+01:00

So today is the 4 year anniversary of our engagement. I won't rehash that memory, as most of you read it last year here. For Special Lunch Kelly skipped the gym and we went instead to Brick Lane for a curry. I know what some of you are thinking. "Curry, hmmm, is that romantic?" Well, it's substantial, comes with a lovely walk in the sunshine, and is far less expensive than the rubbish we have to contend with near the office. So yes,it was quite romantic.

I know we haven't been writting in the blog that often. There's so much to tell that we can't say - and so much to do and so little time to do it, it often gets shoved to the backburner. Working on improving that though. Those of you in the know understand what that means.

A romantic Curry.

Champagne Reception

2007-03-02T14:27:00.001Z

Kelly at the helm of the Starship Enterprise
Originally uploaded by Sculpher.

Last night was the culmination of months of hard work. In December her manager asked Kelly to organize a champagne reception for our various clients in the financial markets. It was a little overwhelming at first, but as the months went on she gradually got everything sorted; getting the invites made up and sent out, organizing the venue within our building, catering company, DJ, photographer (She didn't have to look too far on that count), getting Security sorted, decorations, choosing the canapés and what types of champagne to serve. All whilst doing her usual job.
We had a wonderful turnout last night of 140 people from various aspects of the market in London. The food was amazing, the service second to none, and from the feedback she's getting, it was a resounding success. Thank goodness. Christian did all the photography for the gala, and several people commented on his professionalism and attention to detail.
This morning she received a lovely bouquet of roses for the effort, and the knowledge that she was able to make something work. "It's sort of like planning my wedding, and I never wanted to do that again".
When all the goody bags were handed out, and every last caterer and waiter had left, we finally left the building. We stopped at All Bar One across the street where the festivities continued through the night, but only to poke our heads in. It was time to head home. Even back in her sneakers, Kelly's feet were screaming anguish from the pain of the pumps she wore all night. All in all, we had about 3 hours sleep before we had to be back in the office for 7:00am. TGIF!

Oldie but a goodie

2007-02-26T08:23:00.000Z

In my continued attempts to amuse family and friends state-side - I present you with this extreme example of the British obsession with signage. Sadly - this is not a fake.

(As usual, there is a rational explanation here)

Valentine's Weekend Day 3

2007-02-18T18:19:00.001Z

Mermaid Street, Rye
Originally uploaded by Sculpher.

Along with our hosts Diane and Robert, as well as Colin and Robin, we were joined by another young couple from the south of London for breakfast. We enjoyed another social beginning to our day, then retired up to our rooms to complete packing. Check-out at 11, we elected to visit the ancient nearby town of Rye.
We had driven through Rye several times, but although it was very close to the B&B we had never actually stopped there. Driving through, there is nothing spectacular about it. It was evident it had at least once been a fishing town, but driving through the town centre, seeing a bland looking fish and chip shop Kettle o’ Fish, some motorcyclists congregrated in a small parking lot, and not much else. I couldn’t believe there was anything ancient or charming about it.
We parked anyway, and walked through a field and across a train track to the centre of town. Hanging a left, we found the well hidden gem that is the village of Rye.
We came upon a cobblestone hill called Mermaid Street, which was older than medieval. It was narrow, with large cobbles, and even though naming houses is very common in England, the names of these particular houses were noteworthy. There was “The House With the Seat”, with a tiny seat built into the front stairs, “The House Opposite”, across the street from The Mermaid Inn, and “The End House”, at the end of the street.
We followed the street to the right, passing Lamb House, which once belonged to novelist Henry James, up to St. Mary’s Parish Church, which was in the centre of over a dozen small cottages. The doors were closed as Sunday Morning Service was still going on, however, as we made our way around the nearby streets we could hear the commotion suggesting church had just been let out. We were met at the door by the vicar, and entered the lovely, medieval church with enormous stained glass windows as the organ music played all around us. We saw the village community chatting and visiting with each other, and felt so great to be a small part of that.
As it was Sunday, many stores were closed, but we were able to walk around and experience a great deal of the town. The very narrow, cobblestone streets with the small, medieval homes on either side, the church bells in the distance, the many tea shops offering cakes and scones, the antique shops, was so quintessentially…English, in every way.
We really did mean to eat a charming lunch there; there were so many excellent places to choose from But being honest with ourselves, we were both still full from breakfast, so we elected to head back to the car. Keeping to the country setting, we programmed the GPS to take us on the non-highway route. Hence, we found ourselves on the Pilgram’s Way, which was the same route the pilgrims in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales travelled from London, in reverse.
On the way back, we passed by Bodiam Castle, kicking ourselves since we had left our National Trust passes at home, so we had to contend ourselves with a view and a photo from the road.
We drove home through the magnificent green countryside, beautiful despite the overcast day, and made it home by 2pm.

Valentine's Weekend Day 2 / Married 1,000 Days Today!

2007-02-17T18:17:00.000Z

Champagne & Chocolates by the fire
Originally uploaded by Sculpher.

This morning we awoke at 7am, and luckily breakfast wasn't till 9, so we had a lovely, much needed lie-in and a cup of tea. At 9 we headed down to the gorgeous dining room, all set out, and we were the first ones down. We chose the same seats as last time, closest to the window, and shortly thereafter, another set of guests joined us, Robin and Colin. Like us, they had met at work, and they were absolutely delightful. The guests in the third room had left prior to breakfast, so once our hosts came in, we had a wonderful, social chat over a myriad of subjects.
About and hour later we embarked on our day. Deciding against the train this time, we instead drove to the small, seaside resort town of Hythe, which we had visited last August. A camera shop had had tripod on sale last time we were here so of course that was the highest priority on our romantic weekend.
After we brought the tripod, we wandered around the town centre for a few hours, buying a fleece for Christian and a few bits for our neices, then headed back to the car.
We opted next to take a driving-tour around the countryside. At Dymchurch town, we took a left and found ourselves on the Romney Marsh country tour. We drove through miles of amazing countryside, emerald coloured fields peppered with grazing sheep, poultry farms, ancient churches and castles including Lympne.
Within an hour we decided to stop at a relatively large town called Tenderden. We parked in the Waitrose Car park and headed out on to the high street.
We made a beeline straight for the 12th century church, St. Mildred's, where we walked hand in hand through a cemetery that spanned a thousand years.
Returning again to the high street, we saw the mish-mosh of old versus new. There was an aged pub whose second floor zigzagged as the building settled, nestled beside modern boutiques catering to the tourist crowd.
Down the street, after purchasing a pair of Thai silk trousers for Kelly, we found ourselves situated at a table in front of Porter's' Tea Shop, which our hosts had recommended to us earlier this morning. Unbelievably charming, we basked in the unseasonably warm sun as we feasted on apple tart and coffee flavoured ice cream.
On the way back, we were led by the smell to a small, unassuming fish and chip shop up the street. We bought one small order to share, and headed back to the car.
We easily met back up with the tour, and continued on our way through the stunning countryside as the sun began to set.
Still fairly full from breakfast, we decided against having proper dinner this evening. Instead, we went straight back to the B&B to have a well deserved evening in.
We didn’t mean to, but we immediately fell asleep for a few hours. We went down to the living room and poked the dying embers of the fire place so we could bask in the warm glow before it got too late. We brought with us a bottle of champagne and a box of Belgian chocolates, and Kelly ran upstairs and invited Colin and Robin to join us. We sat on the comfy chairs for about an hour, chatting and laughing, until it was time for us all to retire to our separate rooms.

Valentine's Weekend Arrival

2007-02-16T19:03:00.000Z

Our Room
Originally uploaded by Sculpher.

A spinning chair was all that remained to show Kelly had ever been there at 5pm, as she rushed down to meet Christian in the kitchen. We were going on our romantic Valentine's Day weekend and to heck with work for two whole days!
We walked to the station and took the train back to the car, where Christian fired up the GPS unit and we set out. Despite the excellent technology available to us, we still veered off the path getting to the Olde Moat House B&B in Ivychurch about 14 minutes later than previously intended.
We were warmly greeted by our hosts Diane and Robert, who remembered us from our last visit in August, and thoroughly enjoyed the roaring fire within the enormous hearth that takes up the entire left side of the room. They showed us up to our room, just as elegant and cozy as we remembered. Knowing we brought champagne with us, they lovingly left out 2 champagne flutes and a small pink box of candies for us. We didn’t stay long though, as we both required dinner.
We left, keys in hand, and headed to New Romney nearby. Not particularly interested in Pub food, we found ourselves at the Gandhi Tandoori house on the High Street. Each time we eat Indian food we are reminded of the spectacular flavours it encompasses. We started off with papadoms with varying sauces, followed by a chicken dish each, pilau rice, and a na'an bread. It was an absolute feast for £17 only. We both left incredibly full but very satisfied.
We hurried back to our beautiful room where we filled the claw foot tub and Christian watched a programme on nuclear arms dealing while Kelly washed her hair.

Joint Celebration

2007-02-11T12:38:00.001Z

Triple Trouble
Originally uploaded by Sculpher.

10 February was Caroline's Birthday, and it was also the night we celebrated the celebration of Amy & Kevin's engagement late last year. Because Christian was still feeling poorly, Graeme picked Kelly up whilst Caroline finished getting ready in her phenomenal red party dress with the Betty Boop matching corset. Kelly's hair was a trainwreck but Caroline magically transformed it into a fun & funky updo.
Enroute we picked up Heather and Peter and headed out to Battersea. On the way there we drove past the ice skating rink where a young boy was shot down by strangers; it was in all the newspapers.
We arrived at dusk bar at 20:30.
We had a section to ourselves in the back, and we enjoyed our drinks and canapes throughout the evening. Kelly and Marc took tons of photos of the evening; for about an hour they amused themselves in their corner with a friendly competition of photo taking, most of the while tracking Amy's dress movements.
Later that evening the birthday cake came out for Caroline; a lovely chocolate that we handed out to the guests.
Kelly returned home to her loving husband around 00:40 the next morning, where it took us both about an hour to remove all the pins stuck in her hair.

"Funnier than the Black Death" - Brother Maynard, Friars Weekly incorporating Nuns Illustrated

2007-02-06T23:30:00.000Z

Today we went to see the ultimate of musicals in the West End, Spamalot, a direct rip from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Witches need not apply, instead it would behoove them to try their hand at Wicked, since witch burnings were deemed too expensive for this lavish production. We grabbed a quick dinner at a nearby restaurant and arrived at the Palace Theatre at 7am, one of the first few in the queue. We were directed upon entry up the winding carpeted staircase, surrounded by marble walls, and shortly entered the theatre. We had what were undoubtedly the best seats in the theatre, front row center in the dress circle, so we looked down slightly at the stage, rather than having to look up at it.
The production was brilliant, with some dialogue and music from the movie but otherwise it took another direction entirely. Simon Russell Beale was amazing as King Arthur, however, by far our mutual favourite was Hannah Waddingham, who played the Lady of the Lake. Part Fairy, Part Diva, she had an astounding voice and stage presence, not too mention an astonishing resemblence to Jessica Rabbit.
We thoroughly enjoyed the production and found it to be satisfactorily Pythonian.

Party Under Construction

2007-02-02T08:21:00.000Z

Kelly has been working with The Admirable Crichton, one of London's most prestigious catering companies on a reception we will be having at the office on March 1, so they in turn invited her to an enormous opening celebration they were having at a construction site called Number One Piccadilly, right off Piccadilly Circus. Very few people from our company were invited (only about 5) but she managed to secure Christian an invitation too, so right after work we started heading to the other side of town.
We arrived precisely at 6:30, and only had to wait in the line outside for about 10 minutes till we were shown in. The venue is in the process of being gutted and done up for parties, so the catering company, The Admirable Crichton, decided to do a party with a fun, construction-type theme to promote the new premises. The first thing we saw was two beautiful girls in tiny little outfits hanging on a rope from the ceiling, as we passed them on the ascending escalator. We checked our coats whilst Marilyn Monroe and Gwen Stefani's love child swung elegantly on a ring, inside of a giant birdcage. All around us buff male models with hard hats on but no shirts showed us the way. Inside, the place was buzzing and quickly building up pace. Actresses dressed as showgirls mingled with the crowd as we were invited to try the many different canapes that the company specializes in. The first floor we were on had a wide open space above our heads, with the band and magnificent soul singer looking down upon us from the second story. We tried little nibbles of beef, swordfish, tuna, and cheeses, and were inundated with offers of different kinds of champagnes and cocktails. With his enormous camera around his neck, most people believed Christian to be one of the official photographers and as such the entertainment paid him particular attention, as they basked in the knowledge that the pictures showed their diamond studded eyes and sparkling gowns off to perfection. We chatted briefly with one of the organizers, who was delighted with our positive feedback, then ascended the spiral staircase up to the 2nd floor, where we were able to sample little packets of the best chips (as in wide french fries) we have ever had. We decided they did not require accompaniment by the cavier, fois gras sauce, or lobster mayonnaise they offered.
After seeing alot of the hosts, entertainment, and wonderful food we met up with our dear friend Heena, who was also invited from our company, and found ourselves spending much of the time lounging on giant cushions on the 3rd party floor, with a giant crystal chandalier above our heads, contrasting so much with the building site around us but somehow seeming to fit right in, whilst the blue lights decended upon it in such a way that a thousand stars sparkled on the walls around us.
At one point Kelly was lounging on her own while both Heena & Christian would talking to other guests nearby. At that point an enormously attractive body European builder wearing nothing but a tiny pair of briefs and covered head to toe in chocolate strode into the room. In her mad struggle to get up from the fluffy cushions, skirt hiked up with nary a care, Kelly kicked over two
champagne glasses. The sound of glass shattering permeated the room but nothing mattered but getting over to that fine speciman of a human being for a photo opportunity, which Christian was happy to oblige. For much of the evening we were content to lounge on those wonderful cushions whilst the party continuously came to us. Entertainers and the servers never missed us once as they ensured our champagne glasses stayed full and that our every need was met. We finally left around 11:30, goody bags in tow, agreeing that that was a magnificent evening spent. Going for free really is priceless.

2006-11-06T13:09:00.000Z

Friday night we attended Lester & Henrietta's Fireworks Party in celebration of Guy Fawkes night. All of their parties are amazing, and this one was no different. Lester gave Kelly one drink early on, and it was enough to get her socially inebriated. Christian had a beer early on but, being the designated driver as always, had to settle for orange juice for the remainder of the evening.
They served really good sausages throughout the evening, and Lester made an incredibly spicey chilli with white rice, so spicy in fact that Kelly was sure it would cancel out all the calories she was ingesting.
Saturday we had to drive out to Reigate to get a new part for our juicer, so we'll have to go back out there next week to pick the spare up. Why we couldnt do it over the phone we still don't know. It's quite a trek out to Reigate & there isn't reallyl anything there.
Sunday we took it easy; Christian went out in the morning with Paul to photograph stuff while Kelly straightened the house. Our friend and massause Alex came over to get our backs into line, and we spent the rest of the day watching movies. It was good to catch up on our sleep.

Evelyn's Celebrity lookalike

2006-11-02T08:51:00.000Z

Australia-Day 19 & 20 The Flight Home

2006-09-26T23:55:00.000+01:00

Kristen & Damien once again met us at the hotel, and with our flight not leaving until mid afternoon we took this opportunity to experience (and photograph) Sydney from one of the many available vantage points. One of the benefits of the tickets for the bridge climb that we hadn't yet utilised was the inclusion of tickets to the bridge Pylons, the 4 massive stone pillars that flank and support part of the structure. The reason these tickets are included is that cameras are not allowed on the bridge climb for safety reasons and this allows climbers to take their own photographs from over halfway up. Needless to say, the views were spectacular and we spent some time exploring the vista and the museum inside. Once down we returned to the car and drove to Botany Bay for a fish and chip lunch (eaten on the beach overlooking the airport) and thence onwards there to catch our flight. We were surprised to Find Kristen's parents there to see us off. After check-in we enjoyed a drink and nibbles in the bar before saying our farewells and sadly heading for the gate. Our favourite seats (the 'honeymoon' seats - last 2 on the left in the back of a 747) were waiting for us and we quickly settled in. Take-off went without a hitch and we were soon enjoying the unfolding Australian landscape, including the bushfires that had started around Sydney. Soon the firey sunset was upon us - and then the deep night preventing us from seeing Ayers Rock - the darkness only being punctuated by occasional township lights. Pretty soon after take-off it became apparent that the entertainment system was having issues - so our viewing was limited and we got the first of some very welcome sleep. 8 hours later we were flying over the light bespeckled islands of Indonesia, passing flaming oil-rigs and numerous flotillas of illuminated fishing boats. With little warning Singapore was upon us and we landed with little fuss. We had to vacate the aircraft whilst there to allow for cleaning and some maintenance (I overheard that the entertainment and emergency announcement systems were one and the same). We spent just over one hour airside at the airport only able to peruse the tourist shops there. Luckily Kelly discovered that Mac cosmetics were cheaper there than anywhere else on Earth - so a little spendage was made there. Soon enough it was time to reboard - we did so and found ourselves sitting for ages with very little happening - only a very harried engineer running continuously up and down the plane - and the A/C didn't work at all. This continued for about half an hour when suddenly a booming voice came over the intercom...

"THERE IS AN EMERGENCY SITUATION! PLEASE USE THE OXYGEN MASKS! THE PILOT IS DESCENDING TO A LOWER ALTITUDE BUT YOU MUST USE THE OXYGEN MASKS!"

This repeated about 5 times with various flight crews heads popping comically out of their enlosures to add to the surreal nature of this experience. The engineer rushed past us and disappeared round the corner. We heard a curse in an undefined language and the announcement stopped suddenly - only to start again at a lower volume but slightly crackly and distorted. Another curse and the sound of cables being ripped out of a panel and the announcemnt winked out - as did all the lights on the plane. Seconds later the lights came back one - as did the A/C. A feeble cheer went up from those passengers still retaining a sense of humour - and ten minutes later we were under way again. Another 13 hours saw us pass over Afganistan (!), Russia, Poland, Western Europe and soon we were starting our descent into London. Our good friend Graeme dogstand was there (eventually!) to meet us - se wended our weary way home after having been 'on the road' for more than 30 hours. The short sleep we had got on the plane set us up for the rest of the day which we spent unpacking and resting - ready for work in the morning NOT!)

Australia-Day 18

2006-09-24T10:30:00.000+01:00

We didn't get the anticipated lie-in we're expected due to a pleasant surprise: One of Christian's old work colleagues picked us up at the hotel at 8:30 and drove us to Bondi Beach for breakfast. There we sat on a beachfront cafe sipping chilled fruit juices and heard the story of her life since she made the decision to emigrate. Behind her, the waves crashed against the curving coastline (Bondi is a LOT smaller than we expected) and early morning surfers strived to mount their boards on the occasional large wave. Pretty soon our hour or so was up and we reluctantly drove back to the hotel - just in time to get ready for our next pickup. At 11am Damien & Kristen were once again at reception - this time with a stretch limo to drive us to Kristen's parent's house in the suburbs for a barbeque (the quintessential Australian social activiy). Sadly, the oppressive heat and enthusiastic wind forced us inside and we had a splendid time away from the elements eating lamb, steak, chicken and an artery-hardening array of cakes. Pretty soon the sheer weight of carbs (and the odd beer) had reduced the assembled throng to the slumped-in-an-armchair position, at which point Kristen and Damien opened their wedding presents. Kelly took this as her cue to introduce our antipodean hosts to an American tradition of making a hat for the bride from the ribbons and other decorations from the gifts - which Kristen then gleefully wore. Pretty soon the assembled relatives had to depart, as most of them had long drives ahead of them. We took that as our cue to visit the Newlywed's apartment - a modern but cute spacious 2 level home in a secure development nearby. Kelly and Kristen got time to catch up properly whilst Christian and Damien adjourned upstairs to talk Star Wars, computers, Star Wars and... Star Wars. Sadly, the evening drew all too soon to a close and we once again found ourselves dreamily anticipating the flight back home.

Australia-Day 17: WEDDING DAY

2006-09-23T11:19:00.000+01:00

We awoke early and went back to Myer's department store for breakfast and a last minute attempt to get Kelly's makeup done. The MAC counter offered to do it for about A$100 worth of products, so she immediately sat down with the make-up artist Natalia whilst Christian went to get food. He returned with a lipstick friendly smoothie Kelly could eat with a straw, and about an hour later we were off to Trump's Salon beside the hotel for hair.

Christian left Kelly with Christophe the Hair Magician while he did some other preparations for the wedding. At 12:45pm, Kelly was paid up and ran upstairs to be told by a very undressed Christian that the driver was already downstairs waiting for us. We finished dressing in about 5 minutes and made it down at 1pm on the dot; scheduled pickup.

Our driver Ed drove us to the church; St. Pauls Anglican Church in a suburb called Burwood. It was a spectacularly beautiful day; sunny and so far not too hot. Luckily, we arrived at the church fairly early, in about 1/2 hour. Only the groom, groomsmen and his family were there thus far. The Church was absolutely gorgeous; fashioned in a medieval style with deep red-brown beams on the ceiling and stunning stained glass windows allowing the sunlight to come cascading in in a rainbow of colors. There was a red carpet down the aisle and the bride's cousin was practicing her singing with the organist.

Christian set up the video camera on the tripod at the front of the church with the help of the vicar Reverend Pettigrew, with Kelly standing in for both bride and groom to ensure spacing was correct.

We were placed in the 3rd row, bride's side, with Christian on the aisle to ensure maximum photo potential.

The Mother-of-the-Bride, Robin Cooper, was walked down the aisle by one of the groomsmen, Nathan, the bride's cousin. Then the bridesmaids came down one at a time in their brilliantly colored cranberry gowns, first Marijana, then the bride's sister Amanda.

Kristen finally followed on her fathers arm; absolutely stunning in a pure white gown and long lace train whilst Arrival by ABBA played all around us.

Reverend Pettigrew conducted a lovely service, interspersed with charm and amusing wit to relax the participants. Twice during the ceremony, Kristen's cousin Lisa Cooper sang to the congregation. She is an opera singer who works at the Sydney Opera House, and it was absolutely beautiful.

At the end of the service, we all went outside for photos, then the bridal party packed into cars and we joined Robin and Ern Cooper (bride's parents) in the Photographers car and headed off to Angelo's on the Bay, which is where the reception would take place. Kelly walked along the water to an enormous boat with Robin. We joined the bride and grooms parents on an enormous boat as we sped off to the Opera House, all the while chatting and drinking wonderful champagne. It was such an honor for both us of us to have been included in this very small group, and we had such a wonderful time. Kelly gossiped with the mother's while Christian spent time with the fathers outside taking photos. We docked at Campbell's Cove to pick up the bridal party and the photographer, as they had taken photos with the bridge and Opera House.

After consuming some delicious nibbles inside the hold, the trip back to Angelo's was spent mainly on the bridge of the boat so we could all take in the amazing views. We sailed past multimillion dollar homes, including those of the Australian Prime Minister, Russell Crowe and Nicole Kidman.

Enroute back we hit what Christian calls Magic Hour, and got some wonderful photos of the bride and groom on the bow, as the sun set behind them.

We arrived back at Angelo's where all the guests were already waiting, and quickly found our seats. We were seated with the bride's cousins; another great honor indeed. The meal was immediately served: the first course either calamari or ravioli, the main was lamb or chicken, both prepared so tenderly and accompanied by vegetables.

What ensued thereafter was one of the best weddings we'd ever been to. Much to Kelly's dismay though, the photographer ushered the bride and groom out for photos at a critical time; when the DJ put Dancing Queen by ABBA on. Kelly and Marijana found themselves on the dancefloor alone as the majority of people followed the couple out onto the porch. We still rocked though.

The speeches were amusing and diverse; from the brides father to the best man Andrew (That's Gold!) to Damien and then to Kristen herself. Kristen mentioned us in her speech which made Kelly almost burst into tears; the thought of her expensive eyelashes the only thing holding her dignity in place.

As the night wound down, the song Pink Cadillac by Natalie Cole began to play, as we all followed the newly married couple out to their waiting vehicle; a 1959 pink Cadillac convertible.

They left in a flurry of cheers and laughter, as our driver Ed arrived on cue and took us back to our hotel; where we both endeavoured to relieve Kelly of a hundred or so hairpins.

What an incredible day.

Australia-Day 15: Sydney

2006-09-21T14:18:00.000+01:00

Up early and in the lobby by 7:40, where Kristen and Damien met us promptly. D arranged to have the car parked under the hotel and we headed out on foot for our surprise morning.

They took us through an area on the bay called The Rocks, this is pretty much the birthplace of Australia. This was where the original workhouses for British criminals were placed; the beginning of a nation. Literally a 4 minute walk from our hotel is an archaeological dig where they are excavating one of the original prisons.

Within 7 minutes we reached our destination, the BridgeClimb offices. We ate a light breakfast from the café and looked at photos of all the many celebrities who had climbed the bridge in the past; Nicole Kidman, Matt Damon, Prince Harry, Jody Foster, Sarah Ferguson, Will Smith, etc.

Soon, we were ushered in, filled out some forms, and were given our jump-suits to put on. They were grey and blue, and we were given hats, radios and headsets. The only thing we could bring with us was our sunglasses, but they had to be attached with lanyard, just like everything else.

Once our belts were on, we looked just like astronauts heading to the space shuttle, so of course we had to walk in slow-mo as we all lined up and connected our belts to the line, which we would now be attached to for the next 2 hours. We went through the tunnel, and started ascending the bridge. We were blessed with a very small group. As well as the four of us, there were a father and son from Aberdeen, Scotland and a lone gentleman from Ireland, who's wife refused to accompany him on this exploit.

It was an amazingly beautiful, sunny day, and because it was so early it wasn’t too hot at all. We started climbing up the stairs, between lanes 7 and 8 of the Bradfield Highway which crosses the bridge, up, up, up to the arch, where we climbed to the summit. Every few yards we would stop to take in the grandeur of the outstanding 360 degree panoramic view. All of the bay and the Opera House, but also with the view of Sydney on the west side of the bridge, which we cannot see from our room.

They took photos of us during the climb. Edwina and Kerry, our climb leaders, regaled us with horror stories of when the bridge was built, and the deaths and injuries of the many men who took part in building this amazing structure.

At the summit we took in one of the most wonderful views in the world, whilst the Australian Flag flew above us in the strong wind.

At the top, we crossed to the Westside and descended back to the bottom, where we changed back into our streetclothes and were given a climbing certificate as well as a group photo. In addition, we decided to buy several other photos that we really loved; one of the two of us and one with Kristen and Damien.

Damien had to depart in haste straight after to visit the printers regarding the wedding programs. Kristen walked us back to the hotel, but had to leave shortly after to get some things from her parents house.

This left us with a few hours, so, starving by this point, we hastened to the foodcourt beneath Myer for some lunch. Then we picked up Christians suit and did some more shopping, although we were still absolutely exhausted.

We returned to the room just long enough to change and drop off the suit, then we met Kristen and Damien at the Arthur Murray dance studio off Margaret street, where they have been taking lessons in preparation for the wedding (we still wonder why we didn’t do the same).

We spent the next few hours at the Sydney Opera House and the Botanic Garden behind it photographing the bride and groom with pre-wedding shots as the sun set over the bridge. As Christian was photographer, Kelly had a good chance to take in some of the smaller wonders around her. She saw bright green parrots as well as some stunning black & white birds. This place is an ornithologists dream. We briefly stopped at the hotel so Kristen and Damien could see our incredible room, then piled in the car and they drove us to her parents house in Riverwood, near Beverly Hills (quite amusingly, they inserted palm trees along the main boulevard).

Her parents house is on a cul-de-sac in a lovely neighborhood; with a pool and large backyard. They also have an impressive Lladro collection. We started putting the programs together with ribbon when her parents came home, and we went straight out to dinner at Ryan's. It is a local pub that does amazing steak and mashed potatoes. They insisted on treating us. We love her parents, they’re fun and wonderful to be with. By 10pm we jumped in the car and D&K drove us back to the hotel. The doorman promptly opened the car doors for us, and another ensured the door to the hotel was open as well. In fact, we cannot remember opening a door for ourselves since we got here. They really treat us like royalty at this outstanding hotel.

Australia-Day 14: Sydney

2006-09-20T14:14:00.000+01:00

Around 2am Hong Kong time Christian advised that we had just done what neither of us had done before; we had traversed the equator and entered the southern hemisphere. The next few hours were pretty uneventful; we sat in our seats facing front, but Christian did notice that there appeared to be more stars in the sky, and they shone brighter somehow. Then, the first traces of gold and orange lined the horizon, and from our vantage point on the left side of the plane, we got to watch sunrise over the north of Australia. Kelly quickly retrieved the mega-cam so Christian could document this on film. In your face People On The Right.

Breakfast was served one hour prior to landing, at 7:30am Sydney time.

We came in late today, at around 9:30, and went through customs. Australia has very strict quarantine laws so rather than have our items x-rayed Kelly insisted we go through quarantine properly because of some dried plums Christian had bought with him. Luckily, they said they were ok, so we breezed through ahead of everyone who tried to scupper quarantine by getting x-rayed.

We expected a family friend of Kristen's to pick us up, but we were given the most wonderful surprise when we saw Kristen and Damien waiting for us in Arrivals. They both look great; Kristen exceptionally beautiful as usual.

They gave us a big Finding Nemo balloon to welcome us here; which means so much more since we both saw the movie with Kristen in Leicester Square, London in 2003. We exited the airport into the Sydney morning. Spring is in full swing here now and it was as warm as summer.

We loaded all our luggage in the car and literally, before we knew it, we were in the city of Sydney. It is similar to London in structure and make up, but cleaner and people didn’t seem so rushed.

They drove us to our hotel, the Four Seasons, which Kristen had arranged for us through her many contacts in tourism. Lauren, the receptionist, efficiently checked us in. We had been upgraded to a Full Harbour View Room and she even said she thought we would be pleased with it. Kristen and Damien had to leave us then so they can do their own preparations, so we headed to the lift and pressed the button for the 33rd floor.

Now, there are few times in a persons life when they can honestly say that they have been given the best room a major world city can provide. This is one of those times.

We were given a corner suite, on the second to highest floor (the hotel goes up to 34). It has an enormous bathroom with a full bath and separate shower. It has a work area, living area, and large bed. However, the thing that makes this room so special is the view.

There are two landmarks that make Sydney recognizable in photographs. That is the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. Our hotel is situated on the seafront, directly between them. We have 3 large windows, including one covering the entire corner, that displays both in their glory.

Because of where our hotel is located, and as we can clearly see where others are located, we are certain we have the best view possible in this city. The bay is too wide for those across it to enjoy the intimacy with the Opera House that we have been given. This room could not have been better.

Within moments our luggage was delivered. Whilst we were preparing to bathe the doorbell rang and a maid delivered a large, complimentary bowl of fruit, with a letter welcoming us to Sydney.

We did take a short nap of about an hour, since neither of us had really slept on the plane, but we had to leave at 12:30 to ensure we do what we have to do in ample time.

We left the hotel, still groggy and exhausted, and headed down George Street to Myer Department Store. There, we quickly found Lord's Formal Hire on the 4th floor and ordered a suit for Christian for the wedding. We didn’t want to carry a suit all over Asia, so thought we would rent one instead.

Afterwards, Kelly checked out the women's section, but didn’t find any dresses we liked. She finally bought a terracotta colored formal dress at David Jones Department Store down the street near CentrePoint.

On the way back up George, we found a food court for a very late lunch. Christian wanted to try true Ozzie Barbie, so he had a bbq chicken sandwich with fries, whilst Kelly got some sushi. Here, they do not cut the sushi up but instead you eat it as you would a wrap, which we thought was rather brilliant and very convenient. Although she couldn’t figure out why the guy gave her chopsticks anyway.

After lunch, it was hot enough for us to go back to the hotel, where we rested for a few hours (remembering we hadn’t slept at all the night before). On television we watched the Memorial Service for Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter, who died shortly before we left for our trip. Watching his daughter Bindi talk about her father was incredibly moving and emotional. He was a cherished figure to the Australians and we can see how his death has affected them.

Around 8pm we set off again in the opposite direction, towards the bay. We walked under the Cahill Expressway along to Hickson Road, where we settled down alongside Campbell's Cove and looked across Sydney Cove to the Opera House. The Sydney Harbour Bridge was almost exactly above us. We did notice thousands of birds hovering over the bridge, and the Opera House, illuminated by the fixture lights.

It is an incredibly romantic and beautiful location. We feel so blessed to be in such a wonderful place, so near to people we care about.

Shortly after, we headed back to the hotel to get a good nights sleep.

China-Day 13: Hong Kong

2006-09-19T14:09:00.000+01:00

Last day in Hong Kong. We awoke around 8:30 to a stunning, sunny morning. We took our time getting ready, and packed most of our stuff before going to meet Sou one last time. There was a young couple who had just arrived that was keeping her busy, and after about 20 minutes there were several Kuoni clients like us waiting to see her. Kelly sent Christian down to the concierge to see if they could help with the one little question we had. We wanted to pamper today and needed a locale in which to do so.

Once the gentleman was satisfied that Christian wasn’t seeking a "Men's Massage Parlor" (wink wink) he notated a place on the map to try to we took our leave of the line for Sou.

It didn’t take long to decide where we wanted to have breakfast, and we headed for the much loved Yoshinoya once more, where we partook of their wonderful breakfast menu for HK$30.

After almost 2 weeks on holiday, and a lot of sun, Kelly was beginning to feel she looked "well travelled" and didn’t want to show up in Sydney looking so dishevelled, so we went to the building in Times Square that the concierge had mentioned, which featured over two dozen spa's and salons.

Unfortunately, each elevator trip took us to spas that all offered more of the same; treatments aimed at Chinese women obsessed with looking more western. However, the last thing Kelly needed was a skin whitening treatment or a method for making her eyes appear rounder, so defeated, we went back to the hotel.

Poor Sou was still there even though she should have left an hour before. She said that the best spas were across town in Central, but we didn’t fancy travelling that far. She said the hotel spa 2 floors up was excellent and not too expensive, and we decided to give it a shot.

We kicked ourselves for not trying it first, since it was just what we needed. After running up to our room to grab our things and do a hasty checkout by noon, we went back up to the fourth floor, leaving our luggage safely in the hands of the concierge.

By 12:30 Christian was undergoing his first of the three treatments we chose for him (Detoxifying Destressor Institute Treatment Facial, Active Eye Contour, and Stress Release Massage). Meanwhile, Kelly made ample use of the gym and sauna/steamroom facilities for the two hours she had. By 2:30, she was deeply ensconced in the most amazing Hydroptimate Facial followed by a Lymphatic Drainage Massage. By 5pm we were done. After purchasing an eye cream, the cost of the 4 1/2 hours spa day was a whopping £259, for both of us. In London, we would be lucky to obtain one treatment for that price.

Having only one hour till our ride came, we hastened across the street to the World Trade Centre Mall to feed a starving Christian (Kelly was still in a Zen-like trance). We quickly purchased some rose tea the therapist had recommended to Kelly, but didn't sell, and then raced up to McDonalds of all places, as it was the fastest option. Whilst Christian stuck with his trusted favorites, Kelly tried a product otherwise unfamiliar to any Westerners, the Fan-tastic. It is strips of steak and onion nestled between two patties made of rice. Extraordinary.

The bus arrived promptly at 6, and after having our luggage loaded we settled down into plush leather executive bliss. This was the first First Class bus we had ever seen, with curtains and everything. Our contentment would soon turn to horror when the driver turned up the volume on the CD he was playing. For the entire hour the trip took across the city to the airport, we were forced to listen to easy listening songs and cheesy oldies sped up to match a mono-tone beat. Horrific inclusions were Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree and Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini. We suffered in our leather upholstered hell till our arrival at the airport.

We went through check in fairly quickly, and much to our delight were once again not cited for going a little above the 40 kilo limit. We also made it through security unscathed, even though there is a strict one carry-on per person and we had 5 pieces between us. We really weren't the only ones.

We shared a quick plate of noodles before our flight, and Kelly was finally able to buy contact lens solution, which had evaded us throughout China.

We boarded Qantas flight 128 a little late, and discovered that our assigned seats were actually in the very last row of the 747. So this is what our travel agent meant by "Honeymoon seats", and again, we had Jyoti to thank for this. Since we are in row 73, our row narrowed from the normal 3-4-3 formation to 2-4-2, as we are in the plane's tail. This way, we get to sit near the bathroom and open area and don't need to worry about putting our seats back. We also get the window and aisle so Kelly didn't have to worry about disturbing a passenger each of the 15 times she gets up during a flight. Meanwhile, Christian was comfortably settled in his window seat.

Our flight was delayed a whole hour due to air conditioning difficulties, so we took off after 10pm. Dinner was served almost immediately and we settled in for our next 8 hours we would spend in the air.

China-Day 12: Hong Kong

2006-09-18T14:09:00.000+01:00

At 8:30 this morning we met with the Kuoni rep Sou Chan in the lobby of our hotel, and she gave us a few ideas on how to conduct our day. Then we took our leave of her, so happy to go about things without a guide for once.

We headed straight to the tube station, Causeway Bay to Admiral. Both one way tickets were HK$8 (£0.59/$1.09). Once departing Admiral station, we headed up the hill towards the Peak Tram. Personally, we don’t know why they bother, because we had to follow a maze of roads and walkways for about 15 minutes till we found it. Victoria Peak and the surrounding environs is considered the Uppercrust part of town. Not only are the streets immaculate, but we experienced a long line of luxury vehicles and nothing else; Ferrari, BMW, Mercedes, Jag, Mercedes, Mercedes, Mercedes.

We jumped on the old-fashioned wooden tram train which would take us to the top of the mountain which overlooks all of Hong Kong. The train climbed the hill at a constant 45 degree angle, all the while showing the magnificence of the city below.

Within 15 minutes we had reached the top, which was a suprisingly vast amount of stores and restaurants. The highest viewing area didn’t open till 10, so we walked around the lower area that showed the opposite side of the mountain. Having discovered a McDonalds nearby, we decided to share a cappuccino McFlurry, since we had never seen it before, and it was already very hot on the hill.

At 10am sharp we were at the foot of the escalator to the high viewing area. Hence, we were the first up to the top to take some awesome photos. The view from the top of Hong Kong Island, and Kowloon across the bay, was simply spectacular.

The viewing area started to get crowded in about 20 minutes, so we caught the tram back. For the rest of the day, we decided to see what the other side of the bay was like, so we walked past the magnificent buildings to Central Ferry Pier, and took the ferry to Tsim Sha Tsui East ferry station on Kowloon.

Immediately upon leaving the station we were set upon by men on the street offering tailoring services, and they would proceed to plague us throughout the day, everywhere.

Regardless, we finally found Nathan Road which headed precisely north, through the Jade market (although we didn’t stop) and had lunch at a cute restaurant we discovered on the main road, serving Hong Kong cuisine. It was full of Chinese students in their adorable school uniforms, which told us two things:

A) it was inexpensive

B) it was good enough for Chinese people.

We had a wonderful lunch for exactly HK$60, including drinks, and headed up to the Ladies Market, where we spent the next few hours. It is an enormous street market that features things like watches, handbags, scarves, cell phone accessories, and pretty much everything else you could think of, including stuff for guys.

We spent a small fortune but acquired between us 4 rings, 3 watches, a passport holder, wine accessories, a belt and a fabulous handbag. Because of the strict anti-counterfeit laws in Hong Kong, many of the street peddlers carry no stock in-market, but instead try to lead you to their local store, which is never on the ground floor. We have a strict policy of never going upstairs to a hidden location, as it's simply not safe, so we received a lot of pleas but never gave in, and we never saw the hundreds of items they promised.

We had a wonderful dinner at another Yoshinoya (the same restaurant we had dinner yesterday) and found ourselves visiting the Temple Street Night Market.

We didn’t buy anything though, having really exhausted our resources during the day.

It was about this time that Kelly's Teva sandals began to give out and her feet were killing her, so we took Nathan Road back to the bay. Quite awhile of frustration whilst we were lead through impossible impasses, closed roads and pedestrian free zones, but we did finally make it to the Hong Kong Space Museum and Cultural Centre precisely at 8pm as the music started. We then experienced a spectacular light show as we were introduced to all the major buildings across the bay on Hong Kong Island. Over the loud speaker, a female voice welcomed us to this show they have each evening at 8, and as each building was named; ING Building, Wan Chai Tower, The Centre, Cheung Kong Centre, Grand Hyatt, Exchange Square #1 and #2, and the multi-faceted spiked peak of the Bank of China to name of few, they lit up in hundreds of colors and shone lasers from their roofs. The laser show went on for 13 minutes, with music and all. It was incredible.

Afterwards, we took the ferry back, this time to Wan Chai so we could walk back to our hotel in about 15 minutes. It was a beautiful summer evening and we took our time walking back through streets lit up as bright as day.

Hong Kong is the most unusual and wonderful city. It is a perfect combination of East meets West. Cantonese is the most widely spoken language but most speak at least a modicum of English, to our relief. It has many of the charms of China, as well as the low cost of goods and services, but with much less poverty then we saw on the mainland. Not having any of the Communist influence of China, people enjoy a much higher standard of living, with some living in affluence on and around Victoria Peak. Most buildings in the skyline on both sides unabashedly display their company names in vibrant lights on two hundred foot high signs at the top, so the entire skyline is awash with virtual advertisements. This is the city that New York, London, Paris aspire to be; clean with little crime and providing a good life for its citizens. This is the futuristic metropolis we have so far only seen in movies. Having never been to Tokyo, we wonder what that must be like in comparison.

China-Day 11: Hong Kong

2006-09-17T14:08:00.000+01:00

Being our last day in mainland China, we had all morning to ourselves. It was the first day so far we didn’t have to wake up early for an excursion or a flight, so we had a wonderful lie in for once.

Around 8:40 we went down to breakfast, our last included meal on this trip. After this, we're on our own. While waiting for the lift we saw out the window that they were doing heavy construction behind the hotel. This made our lovely view of the lake all the more precious, since everyone across the corridor had to look at a building site.

We spent quite a lot of time at breakfast, grateful that it was not crowded this morning. We also needed the meal to last us most of the day so we took it slow and steady. We returned to our room with a good two hours to spare. We rested a bit more, then proceeded to repack our stuff, as checkout was promptly at noon. We ended up running a bit late but still took a hurried photo of us on our lovely balcony.

At 5 minutes to noon, Kelly realized she couldn’t find the airplane tickets, or the passports for that matter. Christian ran down to check out whilst Kelly panicked and turned the room upside down. Luckily, the necessary documents were found in a pocket in Christian's suitcase.

We proceeded downstairs and left our luggage with the hotel staff in the lobby, as our guide wouldn’t be picking us up till 3pm. We then went out to explore the beautiful lake across the street.

The day was absolutely ideal, although quite swelteringly hot. There was a path that encircled the lake, where many local Chinese passed away the summer afternoon. Along the path were little pig shaped benches, with the occasional pagoda as well.

We walked over a white marble bridge in the shape of a perfect bell curve, past a zig zag pathway going over the water to a lakeside restaurant (zig zag because Chinese believe big ghosts can only walk in straight lines. The small ones can't jump - hence the high step-over into most old buildings).

We ventured off the path long enough to find a little convenience store, where we bought 3 bottles of cold drinks for 9 yuan total.

While walking we saw a beautiful little girl of about 5 with adorable pig-tails in a tiny motor boat with her father. Christian tried everything to get a good photo of her, but she became shy when she saw us on the bridge.

Once we had circumnavigated the lake, we realized that the other side was a completely dead end. We were 20 feet from our hotel but totally blocked by the lake, so we headed back around again.

By this time it was incredibly hot and so we went back to the hotel to recoup. While there, we purchased a few necessities and played around with the camera, filming ourselves being silly. There was a cleaning attendant we both really liked; a 30 something woman of about 4 foot 3. We watched her while she quickly and efficiently cleaned up EVERYTHING, down to picking up dust with little silver tongs and putting it in her basket. She was always ready with a smile and a 'Good Afternoon' throughout our stay, so we offered her 5 yuan, for no real reason. She became flustered and tried to refuse, but we insisted and she rewarded us with a lovely smile.

John arrived around 2:50, and our driver a few minutes after that. It was a new driver this time, apparently Mr. Long had had technical difficulties with his van.

The trip to Guilin's Liang Jiang International Airport took about 45 minutes. John obtained the necessary forms we needed to fill out to depart China. We left John with a fat tip, and proceeded to check in. Our luggage was 3 kilos overweight, but thankfully the check-in assistant let us go through without paying a penalty this time. We were two rather than eight because Kelly was carrying the excess weight in a groovy Nike gym bag she bought in Xi'an for 50 yuan.

We passed through customs without incident, although as usual Christian set off the security alarm and had to be physically searched, much to his delight by a cute female attendant.

The boarding area was pretty sparsely populated when we arrived, but started to fill up quickly, and at 5:05pm we boarded China Southern Airlines flight CZ3031. Much to our amusement, when they announced boarding, the western tourists all formed a neat line, and the Chinese just got into the line where ever it suited them.

We were seated in 10A and 10B, which was supposed to be a window and middle, but much to our dismay there was no window there, but a blank wall. A brief word by Kelly with the flight attendant had us moved to the very first row, with a great deal more legroom and the desired window view for Christian. One of the attendants sat next to Kelly for take off, and in true Chinese style, didn’t wear his seatbelt.

Not expecting a meal, they gave us some bread and marble cake for the brief 45 minute flight, and Christian received a free beer as well. Now on carb overload, we headed Southeast, descended through the clouds and the next thing we saw was the sea.

Hong Kong airports runway juts out into the water, so we flew alongside fishing boats in our descent and before we knew it were touching down. Disembarking was easy and the new airport at Hong Kong gently guided us to our bags and out onto the vast concourse. Hmmm. No smiling rep with our names spelt incorrectly on a board. We waited. And waited. And waited some more. Kelly quickly visited the restroom and noticed Western style facilities. No Hole! God Save the Queen.

Realising there were 2 arrivals halls we trekked the 15 miles to the other end - to find.... No rep waiting for us. Kelly eventually spotted 'TourEast' in 1 inch high letters on a board - we went over to speak to the man disinterestedly gazing into space. He leafed through his voluminous list of names slowly. Oh so slowly. Then another lost passenger sidled up. Suddenly Mr Disinterested is leafing through the list of names looking for the newcomer. Then he asked Kelly for the front page of our itinerary... Which he immediately put down and then started writing something down for the other guy. Then he asked us something. Then back to the other guy. Then back to us. The three of us played poor-multitasking-tennis for a further 5 minutes, seemingly getting nowhere. Then, suddenly, we're all following him into a remote corner of the airport. Ten more minutes and we're wearing coloured stickers and being pointed to a lift down to the bus departure area. We emerged from the lift into what can only be described as bedlam meets a chimp's tea-party. One Chinese woman is shouting at newcomers to sit in seemingly arbitrary places. Other men are barking hotel names and destinations in broken English - broken in fact to the point of being Chinese. We sit. We wait. Our hotel name is shouted out. Kelly jumps up - no - that was the Sheraton. Yeah - sounds just like the Excelsior. We're told 8:30pm. Sure enough - we're on our bus - at 8:50. We were initially struck by just how...familiar everything was. The white/yellow license plates, the blue street signs, driving on the left, all just like home. 99 years of English Democracy made for a very Anglo-centric experience here in the heart of the East. The drive through the outskirts of Hong Kong in our ancient, rattly old bus was somewhat surreal - then we see the city. Or so it seemed. Mile after mile of soaring interestingly shaped towerbocks all lit from within. We were wrong. In the distance a bridge came into view - and just kept coming. An immense suspension bridge... no... 3 suspension bridges. No... That's 3 - all joined together. We traversed what is apparently the longest suspension bridge in the World for what seemed an age - and then Kowloon came into view. Nothing quite prepares you for the sight of a famous skyline in the flesh. The rest of our ride took us past more and more towerblocks - through Kowloon and onto Hong Kong Island. We stopped at several plush hotels - ours was last.

The Excelsior sits right on Causeway Bay, and we were promptly escorted up to our room; our luggage shortly followed.

We had a deluxe room with a vast view of Victoria Bay and the city across it. No view of the famous skyline, however, as we are actually part of it.

We couldn’t stay in our room for more than 5 minutes, knowing the city was waiting for us. We walked out of the lobby and past the World Trade Centre (its a big mall) into Sogo and Yee Wo Street.

Having absolutely no local currency, we stopped in a Bank of China branch to use the ATM machine. A quick balance check showed we had six figures in the bank all of a sudden. What a delightful surprise! We took out HK$1500, having no idea how much that was. Assuming an exchange rate of HK$13.55 per £1.00 (that was the exchange rate at the airport), it is about £110.00. To our delight, we were to discover that the handover back to China in the late 90's would work to our financial favor, since the weakening Hong Kong Dollar compared to the burgeoning pound gave us an edge when buying anything.

Hunger was our prime motivator at this point - almost everywhere we looked were sights (and smells) we'd never encountered before. Unfortunately - all the interesting (and seemingly cheap) places were only marked up in Chinese. We walked on - the challenge now was a good cheap meal (economy is ALWAYS a driving factor - Kelly can't resist). We came across a Japanese place - the prices looked in our ballpark and the dishes intriguing. We headed in and ordered beef and rice and a chicken dish with drinks - $4 US. One fantastic meal later we were filled and ready to explore. We walked around soaking in the crowds, lights and, well, just sheer nice safe Englishness of things. The street markets started to close at around 11pm - we headed back to the hotel - hot, weary but happy.

China-Day 10: Guilin

2006-09-16T05:21:00.000+01:00

Waking up at 7am, we headed down for breakfast. We stopped briefly at reception to let them know that the guest staying in room 1921, right next to ours, smokes constantly in his non-smoking room and the smoke has been entering ours through the crack under the adjoining door. She spoke English, but just smiled and nodded so we eventually gave up and went to go eat.
The breakfast room was already packed by the time we got there, and once we got a table we had to fend people off with sticks. Twice Kelly had to ask for tea, but when they came out with Lipton we decided it was time to go. The opium wars were begun because of China's expertise about tea and they end up serving us Lipton at breakfast. Unbelievable.
We met John in the lobby at 8:40 and jumped in the van to head out to today's excursion to the pride of Guilin, the Li River. It took us about 45 minutes to reach Zhujiang Wharf, and John led us onto one of many, many boats. The place was packed with tourists from all nations, and we were the last 3 on our particular vessel. John seated us at a table with six Chinese men. He didnt sit with us, so it was not as if we could converse with them. We pulled out at 9:30 and both raced up to the top deck.
The cruise took about 4 hours, travelling east along the river, weaving through the hundreds of the limestone mountain peaks this area is famous for. As they disappear into the distance the conical shapes take on countless shades of gray that resemble a watercolor painting.
We stayed upstairs in the direct sun whilst Kelly dutifully applied sunscreen to Christian every hour to ensure he didnt burn. We saw what we thought were fishermen on little boats made of 4 large beams of bamboo tied together. The men balance on them whilst rowing with a long, thin paddle. They were in fact peddlers, who approached our boat and latched alongside the edge, yelling out "Hello Hello", selling plastic Buddha figurines, little fisherman, and fake crystals, which lose their color in water, as per our guide.
It didnt take long for us to notice that a) we were the youngest people on board and b) there were a lot of French people on board.
An approaching lunch caused Kelly some consternation, since it was a buffet set-up on the second floor, and our table was on the first floor all the way in the front. We were afraid there would be a large queue filled with grasping tourists. We needn't have worried though, our guide John got the 411 on lunch time so we were the first in line.
We dined on various dishes of soba noodles, spiced meats, vegetables, fried aubergine, and french fries. The meal came with a glass of Chinese beer per person, so Christian got two whilst Kelly drank water. Christian's University of Virginia t-shirt attracted the attention of an American tourist who was also an alumni, so he and Kelly discussed how the school had change since he went there, way before she was born.
They did have soda on board, which Kelly really fancied, but at 20 yuan per can, we were shocked by the liberty. By comparison, we paid only 3 yuan in the convenience store near our hotel in Suzhou for a large bottle. Also, we were able to dine to the point of extreme fullness in Xi'an for 20 yuan each, so that price for the one small can is just shocking. They also were going around with very small platters of fried shrimp or crabs, but when we discovered they were 100 yuan each, we gave it a pass. We didnt ask what the snake wine costs.
We docked around 2:30 in Yangshuo County and were immediately set upon by hundreds of locals selling all sorts of tat, approaching with the ever popular "Hello hello". We weren't interested, and proceeded to ignore them. China has become greatly commercialised as we have read and experienced, but this was a shining example of when tourism can kill the charm of somewhere. The persistence of the street peddlers was annoying and pathetic, and we just wanted out. It reminded Kelly of the Jersey shore, but with poverty and crippled beggars thrown in.
Mr. Long, our driver, had not anticipated such a hasty departure on our part, so we waited by the roadside, next to a fruit seller, till he picked us up. The trip back to Guilin took about an hour, taking us past rice fields, dilapidated shacks, and the ever present Guilin mountains.
Upon entering Guilin, John asked if we wanted to visit a local art museum. We are trying to avoid any "add-ons" and have kept it to shows mainly, but when he advised it was free, we decided to give it a shot. We should have known better.
We were driven to the Mountain People Painting Society, filled with paintings by local artists. When we entered, we immediately saw price tags on every one, and prepared ourselves for the hard sell. It was complicated by the fact that we were the only tourists there, so, just like at the Pearl Factory, all eyes were on us.
They introduced us to a local artist who proceeded to paint a peach tree on some rice paper. It was very good, then we took part in the obligatory tour of the "gallery", where every piece was for sale, all the while being followed by a "guide". The works of art were lovely, but the pricetags absolutely shocked us; 5000 yuan, 32,000 yuan, 220,000 yuan. Each moment trying to think of the least offensive moment to leave, we did see a spectacular oil painting of the Li River, and were both amazed by it. Kelly showed it to John, who disappointed us by saying it would probably look wonderful hanging on our wall. Kelly countered by saying 8,800 yuan is way out of our league. He replied saying it only amounted to about 1,000 US Dollars ($1118 actually). Smelling a fat commission, Kelly said "I dont know how much you earn, but where we come from a thousand bucks is still a lot for a painting". He started going on about how it is an investment and will most likely grow in valu!
e, so we walked out and back to a waiting Mr. Long. We were incredibly annoyed by the blatant attempt at yet another hard sell.
We were brought back to our hotel to rest for the next few hours. We had gotten a lot of sun during the day and were both suffering from headaches. It was about 4pm, and we agreed to meet John back in the lobby at 7:30pm for a show we had booked in town.
We returned to the room, rested, bathed, and watched the movie Timeline on HBO (the book was better).
At 7:30 we were in the lobby on schedule, pausing only to mail off 5 postcards for 20.5 yuan (£1.41/$2.61). Yesterday John had recommended a show for this evening, since we had it free. Trying to keep the extras to a minimum, we mm'd and ah'd, but decided to go for it. We purchased the more expensive seats at 180 yuan (£12.36/$22.87) each, and they were worth it. We were sat in the front row aisle, arguably the best seats in the house. We reclined in green easy chairs whilst the rest of the audience sat in hard back seats.
The show began at 8:00pm, and was absolutely wonderful. No photography was allowed, but during the show Kelly punched Christian's arm enough to convince him to take a few surreptitious shots. It is called the Fantastic Dragon's Nationality (A Grand Epic of Minority Nationality Song and Dance, as per our ticket), a stunning display to show off the main four minority tribes of the Guilin region (Yao, Guang, Dong and Miao, I think). The costumes, music, and dance were absolutely lovely. In addition, it included the acrobatics that the Chinese are known for, and which we feared we wouldnt get to see while we were here. They had girls who we swear replaced their spines with wet spaghetti and they moved in ways the human body isnt meant to move.
Afterwards, Kelly had her photo taken with some of the dancers and then we met back up with John to go back to the hotel.
On the way back, we advised John that we decided not to go on another extra excursion to a Chinese village to see how the villagers live. We were afraid that we would be paying 120 each for the privilege of having a bunch of remote Chinese people trying to sell us unnecessary trinkets. He tried convincing us, but we told him we had other things to do in the morning.
He then presented us with a pickle. We were given a feedback form to fill out about our stay in China, and we have to give it back to John tomorrow. In truth, he was not our favorite tourguide but we feel a little uncomfortable putting that on a form he'll be given. We'll fill it out diplomatically.
Now we are back in the hotel room watching CNN's Katrina Killings.

China-Day 9: Guilin

2006-09-15T16:46:00.000+01:00

We had to awaken at 5am this morning to ensure we were checked out and ready to meet Kevin in the lobby by 6:40. We packed up our many bags and checkout was a 30 second affair, then it was done. They allowed us to leave our bags by the front desk and we headed up to the second floor to try to squeeze in a very quick breakfast. Much to our dismay, breakfast did not begin till 6:30, potentially leaving us with a short 10 minute window, however, they took pity on us as we sat on the stairs and let us in 10 minutes early, doubling our time.
We ate to the cheesy western easy-listening music they insist on playing in every hotel; even China is not exempt.
Kevin was waiting for us in the lobby exactly at 6:40 and we met a smiling Mr. Lu outside. The drive to Xi'ans airport took about 45 minutes. Much to our dismay, our baggage was still too heavy and no amount of pleading on Kevin's part would get them to drop the penalty charge. We were 8 kilos over, and at 16 yuan a kilo it was worth it to us to remove some of the stuff from the only bag we had left (the other two had already gone through). Unfortunately, we could only reasonably remove 3 kilos from the bag, considering we still needed to carry this on the flight. This left us with an 82 yuan (£5.62/$10.41) fine. We quickly paid it and said our goodbyes to Kevin. We passed through security pretty quickly and arrived at gate 19 to await our flight to Guilin. At 8:30am, they boarded us onto a bus that took us to our plane, flight HU7879. The flight attendants had beautiful blue dresses with gold flowers embroidered down the front. Our personal attendant was named Li Li. We were quickly in the air and were suddenly greeted with the most amazing sight. The misty fog that had thwarted our view for most of our trip now filled each valley with only the mountain peaks showing - much photography ensued. One hour 30 minutes of flight saw us descending a little too rapidly toward the verdant hills of Guilin - our landing was less gentle than we'd hoped for - but we got down safely. We met our guide John after we were reunited with our luggage - he is a less confident fellow than our previous assistants - but amiable nonetheless. The drive from the airport was peppered with information on population, flora, fauna and so forth - but the narrative lacked a cohesive plot and the dialog was frankly unconvincing. We dropped our bags off at our hotel, the Guilin Bravo Hotel - an elegant 4 star affair on the banks of the lake. Our room was not yet ready so we walked in on the maid cleaning it. Despite being a non smoking room, we couldn't help but notice several cigarette butts in an ashtray beside the bed. Nevertheless, we were undoubtedly given the best room they have; spacious with a balcony overlooking the lake outside. Without pause we headed for another hotel for lunch - a curious but splendid buffet where most of the items were provided raw - and chefs were on hand to cook them immediately in front of us. Crab, shrimp, duck and tofu and a wide variety of locally grown vegetables made for a great lunch, followed by numerous fruits, cakes and delicacies. Suitably sated, we drove to Elephant Trunk Hill - an area by the river where natural erosion of the exposed limestone has carved two tubular tunnels in opposing hills - leaving the rocks looking like elephants drinking from the river. A brief walk around the adjoining park revealed a number of sculptures with numerous Chinese people being photographed amongst the 'romantic' statues. A van ride (our Guilin transportation, whilst not being a leather-upholstered sedan is a very clean and air-conditioned minibus) through the less salubrious side of town next took us to the Reed Flute Caves - a connected series of caverns with amazing natural stone sculptures imaginatively lit and named. The pressure from the gift-shop girls drove us back to the bus - at which point Kelly received her first real taste of something Christian had hitherto only described. We visited the 'South China Seas Pearl Exhibition' - a shameless 'factory tour' as experienced frequently on Christians' previous visit. So far on this trip - we've been shown various methods of production of tourist related goods - with the inevitable shop at the end. This time - we were given a 5 minute talk on how superior pearls were from this supplier to all others on the planet - and were then unceremoniously ushered into a vast shop - where the assistants outnumbered us 15 to 1. Fortunately - this time - the sales pressure was incredibly light - we got away unscathed. A little more pressure in the van from John to attend an 'Ethnic minority' show - which we resolutely resisted - as were were on our last legs energy-wise - and found ourselves back at the hotel mid afternoon for a well deserved sleep. All intentions of an evening meal, walk or sight-seeing excursion were cancelled, partly from fatigue and partly from John's parting warning to us - that security in this city is not very good - and that we shouldn't venture from the bright lights of the lakeside. We opted for an early night, a glass of Champagne and a movie. 'Troy' was a must-watch - if only to remind us that a big budget and good intentions do not a good movie make.

China-Day 8: Xi'an

2006-09-14T16:44:00.000+01:00

After a splendid late(ish) breakfast, we met our guide Kevin in the lobby and headed out to start our day. Our first trip was to the Small Wild Goose Pagoda (Xiaoyan Ta), in the Jianfu Si just outside of the city walls. This amazing old landmark lost it's top in an earthquake in the middle 16th Century - leaving 43m of this structure intact. Originally built to house the Buddhist scriptures bought back from India in AD 707, it is now the centrepiece to a series of tranquil gardens frequented early in the morning by Xian's older inhabitants - there to perform their morning Tai Chi, sword dancing or just plain old moseying around. It was in this idyll we came across a photographically ideal older lady in white practising Tai Chi. Cue Kelly's obvious enthusiasm and we were quickly being taught the basics of the art - with many smiles exchanged and photos taken. The lady indicated to Kevin that she thought Kelly was very good. That ended all too soon and we were happily went on our way to find the source of the music that everyone was doing their morning activity to. This turned out to be 4 old men with Erhu (a kind of single stringed violin) flutes and an instrument that looks like a cross between a machine gun and a pipe organ. When the flute player asked Kevin if Kelly was a student, she promptly made him ask the man to guess her age, as she was still dizzy from the high of 24 she received yesterday. When he guessed '23', she clapped happily.
Walking along the tranquil grounds, we came across an enormous bell, that for the mere sum of 5 yuan (£0.34/$0.63) one can ring 6 times for luck and prosperity. Kelly rang three times, then handed off to Christian for the remaining three, the lot of which we filmed for some reason.
Since we had time and had shown such a fascination for Chinese art, Kevin decided to take us to the Tang Dynasty Arts Museum (Tangdai Yishu Bowuguan), that is located right beside the Big Wild Goose Pagoda (which we didn’t visit). We were greeted by our museum guide, Rose, who was 5'2 and just about the cutest thing. She spoke wonderful English, and with a charming wit and wonderful sense of humor taught us about the rich history of the Tang dynasty, which ruled from the 7th to the 10th century AD. She also instructed us on the ancient art of Chinese calligraphy; introducing us to the brush, ink, and rice paper, which isn’t made from rice at all but from elm and bamboo.
Whilst looking at the spectacular works of art on display, Kelly fell in love with a set of four paintings, done by master artists of the area, that represented the four great beauties of Chinese history: Xi Shi, Diao Chan, Zhao Jun and the magnificent Lady Yang. At 400 yuan each, they were way out of our budget for any one item. However, Christian knew Kelly couldn’t be happy without them, so we bought all four for 1600 yuan (£110/$203). We double-checked with Kevin to ensure that Rose received commission from this sale, as we were so happy with her and wanted her to benefit from our visit.
Satisfied with our purchase, Mr. Lu then drove us to the Xi'an Art Ceramics & Lacquer Factory. This is where many of the lacquered wooden screens, tables, dressers and artpieces are produced. It also is the main producer of Terracotta Warrior replicas. There, we were led through the factory by a guide who showed us the difference between the warriors (General, Officer, Cavalry with horse, and the archer.)
We were then driven to lunch, which was in a large building were many tourists are taken between excursions. Luckily, we received a table for just the two of us as usual, and feasted on mushroom broth, beef and onion, vegetables, rice, and the most astounding caramelised potatoes.
We finished lunch early, and because we didn’t buy anything from the shop set out for our next destination: The Terracotta Warriors Museum outside Xi'an. We drove past miles of pomegranate trees, with many people at the roadside with baskets full of them. Each pomegranate is painstakingly wrapped in plastic bags, on the tree, to ensure that the insects don’t get to them first. The drive to the museum takes you through quite a depressed area of Xi'an.
In 1974, farmers digging a well discovered a clay head in their bucket, and the Terracotta Warriors were unearthed after 2000 years underground. 6000 warriors were created to forever stand guard over the tomb of the ancient megalomaniac Emperor Qin Shihuang. All but destroyed in antiquity during a peasant revolt, they are continuously being skillfully reconstructed by dedicated archeologists. Seeing them standing there, forever vigilant, it is easy to see why they are classified as the 8th Wonder of the World. When Christian first visited this site in 2001, photography of any kind was forbidden. However, they have relaxed this rule so he took a few hundred to catch up.
In one of the shops, we were advised that to have a life sized reproduction shipped to our home, with full insurance, would cost 15,000 yuan. They eventually came down to 8,000 yuan (£550/$1017), which is actually a great price to own something this grand. However, we really do not need a life-sized Chinese soldier in our house or garden so we decided against it (meaning, Kelly dragged Christian away kicking and screaming).
Whilst walking back through the enormous carpark, we were accosted by about 9 women selling baskets of pomegranates and persimmon. Much to our amusement, Kevin finally cracked and bought 5 pomegranates for the meagre price of 2 yuan. He quietly mumbled "It's a pretty good price" while we got into the car.
Around 4pm we returned back to the hotel in the exact city centre just long enough to drop off our lovely artworks and freshen for the remainder of our day. After Kelly changed into her blue silk Chinese blouse, we met Kevin in the lobby and walked out to the underground tunnel that goes under the street. We emerged by the giant Calvin Klein Trouser Ball, the area we dubbed Pants Plaza, walked up an alleyway, past the Drum Tower (Gu Lou), through a street market with many fruit vendors. Several of them had head scarves, which clearly indicated to us that we had entered the Muslim Quarter of Xi'an. Before we knew it, we were in the Grand Mosque, a fully functioning place of worship for the cities fairly considerable Chinese-Islamic population.
While we quietly pondered the beauty of the calming scenery, we were enveloped by an all too familiar sound. It was the Muslim Call to Prayer, and we had not heard this sound since our honeymoon in Morocco. We walked through the grounds quickly following the many men in white caps who raced to the far end prayer hall. After they left their shoes at the door, they hastened in to join their comrades in the age old tradition of prayer towards Mecca. We didn’t ask, but we would imagine that in this case, they face West.
Much to Kelly's chagrin, we had to move quickly through the market to ensure we got back to Mr. Lu at the hotel by 5:30. We arrived exactly on time, and jumped in the car for our evening entertainment. Christian had arranged with Kevin to ensure we attended a dinner show as a surprise for Kelly, so she really had no idea what to expect. We arrived at the Shaanxi Grand Opera House where we were absolutely dumbstruck by the magnificence of the Tang Dynasty Song and Dance show. It is a spectacular display of Chinese music and dance technique the likes of which Kelly had never before seen. We sat comfortably at our table drinking green tea and rice wine (which tastes suprisingly like warm apple cider). We could not recommend this show enough; it is breathtakingly beautiful. When the show finished to an enthusiastic ovation, dinner was then served at our table. We had a feast of dumplings, so many dumplings, chicken dumplings, shrimp dumplings, bean dumplings, pineapple dumplings, vegetable dumplings, corn dumplings, until we were dumpling'd out and had to go. We met up with a waiting Kevin who took us back to Mr. Lu. He went home via bus from the theatre, so Mr. Lu returned us back to our hotel. We exchanged £55 for 800 Yuan, and went out one more time to re-explore the market by the Mosque we only caught a glimpse of earlier. Dessert for Christian was a chocolate sundae at McDonalds, and we were back at our hotel by 10pm to pack. This was by far one of the most amazing days we have had here.

China-Day 7: Xi'an

2006-09-14T16:41:00.000+01:00

Early rise this morning. We awoke at 6am and headed down for a large breakfast alongside the lake. After packing all three bags, we met Jan in the lobby of the our hotel. Since we couldn’t bring them with us, we gave Jan the lovely bouquet of roses the hotel had given us. We also tipped her ¥100 (£6.91/$11) for her services. Much to our delight, StinkyVan was replaced by GorgeousBlackBuickWithCreamColoredLeatherUpholstery and a whole new driver.
We left the hotel and headed out to Shanghai at 7:30am. There we would catch our flight to Xi'an. We passed by hundreds of adults on bicycles with children on the back, all being taken to school. About an hour later we started to enter the outskirts of Shanghai. Cities in China cannot be compared with western cities; they are so totally different. Beijing was far too big to appear like the cities we're used to, it's such a sprawling metropolis. Suzhou was more familiar, with the small shopfronts, sidewalks and decorative bus stops. Shanghai is in a category of its own. After Tokyo, it is the largest city in the world, built on various levels. We were trapped in horrible traffic as the many highways converged. The ironic thing was that both of us were thinking in our heads that it is so amazing there aren’t more accidents, since the Chinese drive so recklessly. Of course, at that moment our car was rear-ended by a blue truck. Luckily, the driver advised us that the truck sustained greater damage than our car.
In the 3 hours it took us to get to the airport, we spoke to Jan about Chinese life, marriage, work, and children. We discussed the one child rule that was imposed by the government in 1978. They are finding that now as the children reach their late 20's there is a tremendous burden on them to support their parents and grandparents, with little aid from outside. We asked what the penalty was for having more than one child, and realized that it was so steep that only an abortion is possible should a second pregnancy occur. More than one child results in a fine of 3 times the families annual salary.
At 10:30 we finally reached Shanghai's Pudong airport, and Jan helped us check in. Our bags were over the permitted size, but the attendent allowed us through without paying a surcharge. At the security checkpoint, we said our goodbyes to Jan and headed towards gate 4. The departures lounge at Pudong is absolutely enormous. We wandered around the several shops while waiting for boarding at 11:50. Much to our delight, they had fresh crab (and by fresh we mean alive) in refrigerators, ready to buy for between ¥33 & ¥88, depending on size. They had furry legs and were foaming at the mouth area, and they were all tied up in multi-colored string. We saw no means of actually cooking them so decided this would be a crab free ride. Once we'd got past the expected boarding confusion (there was an open gate so we went down to the jetway - eventually realising we needed to show our boarding cards - so we went and lined up at the gate - only for everyone to then start boarding at the next gate!) Eventually we found ourselves onboard - just in time to see our suitcase marked 'fragile' being thrown onto to the conveyor. Oh well - with a 30 minute delay we were on our way. With one of the tightest climbouts we'd experienced we were at altitude within 5 minutes - and thus settled into our seats and within 30 minutes from takeoff we had our inflight meal in front of us - a compact but filling chilli chicken on rice with vegetables and a curious cold tofu salad - and Sprite so sweet it made our teeth sing. You'd think that selecting an airline would be your last commercial choice whilst flying. Think again! The new market economy of China means that everything is plastered with advertising - from the headrest of the seat in front of you to your tray table - touting wares from cars to travel agents. We dozed lightly during the remaining 2 hours of the flight - cloud cover below prevented us from enjoying the hoped-for views of rural China - waking as we were on final approach to Xi'an. More airport confusion on arrival - luggage conveyor signage whilst being terribly accurate is inevitably on the wrong conveyor - leading to the comic sight of 2 plane loads of travelers trying to cross the busy baggage hall to find their suitcases. We found our guide easily - Kevin is an easygoing 28 year old fellow with great English and a second - so far unspecified - job. The hour long ride from the new Xi'an airport saw us traveling through the rural outskirts of the city. Along the way we told the story of how we met and came to be married - and discussed what lay ahead for our visit to Xi'an. Christian had contemplated surprising Kelly with a meal and a show - but to arrange it he needed to discuss this with Kevin - so the cat was out the bag. Our journey took us through massive fields of maize - and past enormous piles of cobs being packed for distribution (almost everything in China seems to be able to be accomplished at the side of the road). As we had so much booked for the next day - we decided to visit the historic city wall's north gate. This dates back 600 years and most of the original wall still stands in perfect condition - near enough 14 km encircling the city that can still be traversed. The view from the top of the gatehouse would have been more astonishing if the mist and haze hadn't cut visibility to less than a mile - nevertheless the effect was quite eerie and photo-worthy. Christian was stopped by one of the store-girls on the way out - 'how old your wife?' she asked. I answered her. 'Nooooooo!!!!' she replied in wonder. 'She at least (6 years younger than what he'd specified)!!!' To say this made Kelly's day is an understatement - she was in the state referred to in China as 'double happiness'. From the gate we could see the city's famous bell tower - and it was there that we headed next - as our hotel faces this landmark. After check-in we were shown to our 'superior suite' - which is indeed superior - with a view out across the bell tower in the very centre square of the old city - and a splendidly modern bathroom. We ventured out to find some food - a bizarre chotzke market in a seemingly abandoned department store yielded a Korean / Chinese café where we eat for 43 yuan (£2.97/$5.50). A visit to McDonalds (it's the cheapest place for ice cream) concluded out tourism day - and we retreated to the peace and tranquility of our 6th floor eyrie for a well deserved night's rest (if only somebody would stop ringing that bell!!!)

China-Day 6: Suzhou

2006-09-13T16:41:00.000+01:00

We awoke at 7am, and while hanging out the window to assess the weather Christian hit his head quite spectacularly, causing a rather deep gash and a flurry of sympathy from his doting wife. Then down to breakfast, which was a delightful spread of a mixture of western and asian dishes, including spagetti for some reason. Once done, we met our CITS city guide Jan in the lobby, and headed out into the awaiting van. For some reason, the Chinese haven’t yet caught on to rear seat belts, and the van wreaked of cigarette smoke, thanks to our driver. To his credit, he never did smoke when we were present in the vehicle.
Our first stop was the Garden of the Humble Administrator (Zhuozheng Yuan) in central Suzhou. The garden was built in the early 1500's, and was last owned by a corrupt government official. 5 hectares of streams, ponds, bridges and islands of bamboo cost a lot to maintain. When he died, he left the garden to his son, who lost it in a single card game. Even in the rain, the gardens were spectacularly beautiful; perfectly manicured and bordered by manmade rock formations and the occasional coi pond.
On the way out, Kelly found an attached shop selling pashmina's. The price the saleswoman was selling them for were far more then Kelly was willing to pay, and they became involved in a very heated argument over them. In the end, Kelly bought four for the price she wanted, and Jan mentioned to Christian that she never could have gotten them for that low.
Upon leaving the gardens, we got back into the smokey van and headed out to our next destination, the Suzhou #1 Silk Museum (Suzhou Sichou Bowuguan), which we must say was absolutely fascinating, which is why it is such a popular tourist spot. Upon entering, you walk past several growing mulberry trees, which are the only trees silkworms feed on. Suzhou's silk industry spans 4000 years, and in that time they have really perfected the art. We visited a room that showed silk worms in all stages of life, from egg, to pupae, to worm, then to their little silky coccoons. We were able to hold live silk worms at about 20 days old (about 1 inch long).
This is followed by rooms filled with large looms that separate the silk from the coccoon and feed it directly onto large spools. We saw how different decorative fabrics were produced on large machines and were given the opportunity to buy any number of items, although the prices were fairly steep. There was a fashion show going on and Christian was able to take many photos of the lovely Chinese models featuring various items made of silk.
Afterwards Jan led us through the parking lot to a large pavilion where we would have our lunch. The main hall was filled with tourists but we were led to a private room, where one young girl in a teal chinese dress was our dedicated waitress, whom we had exclusively.
Our lunch consisted of a large bowl of egg fried rice, a tomato and cabbage soup, fresh shrimp cooked with salt pepper (with eyes and legs, we mean FRESH, like, they were living 5 minutes before), fried calamari, beef and onion, and bok choi. It was way more than we could eat but we made a good effort. We kept trying to think of things we could ask our waitress to do, as she was waiting for any word from us, but we really were ok. This was chinese food as a Chinese person would eat it, not in any way westernized.
After eating way too much, Jan took us back to the icky smelling van with no rear seatbelts so we can head to our final destination. Our guides do not dine with us, so we asked Jan what they do when we're eating. They have a separate area where guides and the drivers eat together, and she did confess that they tend to talk about the tourists they are given charge over. She said we're actually great, since we show a great deal of interest in the artifacts we see and ask for nothing more then a little time to photograph everything. She said Americans can sometimes be quite difficult, since they often tire of Chinese food. We have seen tourists behave this way and were more than a little embarressed by it.
On to the Garden of the Master of the Nets (Wangshui Yuan); 1/10th the size of the Humble Administrator's Garden but in many ways far more elaborate. Originally designed in the 12th century, it was later abandoned and restored in the 18th century by a retired official. It also has large pavilions, including a reception room, a study, and an art studio. Each window has a view specifically designed to appear as a work of art on the wall. Absolutely stunning place.
Jan gave us some options of what to do next, like going to an embroidery factory, but she did confess it was quite expensive and after watching Kelly haggling several times in the last few hours, she understood that we don't respond well to expensive. We decided to return to KFC Square (yes, as in Kentucky Fried Chicken, they sponsor the square).
First, we had to go back to the hotel so that we could tell Jan what airport we needed to go to the next day, since Shanghai has two and our time of departure from the hotel was reliant on which hotel we needed to get to. StinkyVan took us back to the hotel long enough for us to check our flight tickets, than they took us to the Square, where we were left on our own. We desperately needed another suitcase to hold the stuff we had bought so far, and made a concerted effort for quality by going to the two department stores they had there, but to be honest, paying 80 pounds is just too much for a case, considering we can get one at Target for a lot less, so we caved and purchased a Swiss copy in the market for 200 yuan (15 pounds/$27). Sitting on a curb for a short while to rest our weary feet, we again attracted many curious looks and quite a few obvious stares from passersby. After awhile, Kelly just smiled back. Deciding Christian needed a belt, and seeing several in a shop window for 29 yuan, we entered the shop and looked through several till Christian found one to his liking. When paying for it, we realized that for once Kelly wasn’t the center of attention, but Christian, or rather his feet, were. The salesgirls at the counter rapidly talked and pointed, and one of them gathered the courage to approach and put her size 2 foot beside Christian's size 13, which caused us all to laugh. Foot binding was outlawed in the early 20th century, but they still come rather small.
Coming rapidly to the end of our money, we approached a long line of rickshaw drivers. One was faster than the rest and typed out 30 yuan on his cellphone for a trip back to our hotel when we showed him our roomkey. Kelly got him down to 15 for the trip and we were on our way. It was just as much fun as yesterday, riding the rickshaw in the rain, but halfway there the driver began to wane and appeared to struggle. At one light he looked pleadingly at us; we simply smiled and shrugged. When we arrived at our hotel, I gave him the 15 yuan we had agreed to. He looked upset. He would have been more so if we had docked him another 5 for making us feel fat. We are large Western people. You knew that when you approached us, Foo!
After dropping the bag off in our hotel, we headed back out one more time to the convenience store around the corner we discovered yesterday, where we bought some more diet Cokes and coffee gum for Kelly's dinner, as well as a Chinese beer and sugered figs for Christian. We stopped by another convenience store on the way back, which wasn’t as good, but the 8 year old girl in there was practicing English with her mother, who ran over to ask Kelly how to pronounce the words on the piece of paper she held out. "What is that on the desk? It is tape." Kelly read obligingly. "It is taypah" she repeated. Close enough. Christian had to draw a picture of a cassette tape on a pad of paper so they knew what they were saying. We must admit, they are leaps and bounds ahead of us in a foreign language. They're talking about desks and audio equipment, and we can still only say "Xie Xie" (thank you).

China-Day 5: Suzhou

2006-09-12T16:39:00.000+01:00

We woke up in our berth at 6:30 this morning. Our train was to arrive at Suzhou station at 6:55am, so around 13 hours after departing Beijing. However, from the commotion outside our room plus the slowing of the train, we surmised that we had reached our destination, and were still in our underwear.
We threw on whatever was closest and hastily packed our things together, then were the last to depart the train. Being in carriage 1, we were as far away from the exit as you could get.
Wendy, a Kuoni guide, was waiting for us outside the train,and led us outside the station. It was quite apparent we were out of the big city, as street peddlers advertised their fried pancakes and dumplings off of rickety wooden carts. Our car drove up, a spotless black buick that stood out like a sore thumb amongst the dusty world around us, and we jumped in.
The drive to our hotel was interesting since it was through the residential part of Suzhou, filled with people on bicycles and electric scooters speeding to and fro. They carried all sorts of things; we saw people carrying flattened boxes, hollowed out melons, rubbish, and many had children, some as young as 3, on the back. That is something you never see at home. We also saw a woman in a business suit carrying 4 bags of groceries, hanging from both ends of a wooden rod that she carried across her back.
We arrived at our hotel, the Bamboo Grove, around 7am. Thankfully they had a room available, so were able to give us a key right away. Today we have the day to ourselves, so Wendy wished us well and left, and we went up to room 2064. It actually has two beds, a full and a twin, which we put some of our luggage on, and overlooks the tennis courts.
Exhausted and feeling unfresh, we both bathed then fell fast asleep. We woke up around 12:30pm and started thinking about going out, since we hadn't eaten since lunchtime yesterday. The doorbell rang (we have a doorbell?). When Kelly answered it, it was a Chinese maid who handed her a crystal vase filled with a bouquet of beautiful coral colored roses. The maid smiled, bowed, and then left.
We finished dressing and decided to take a walk to find out what is in the area. We stopped first in a little shop in our hotel, mainly to look at the luggage since we need a new bag for the stuff we've bought so far. The two women in the store followed us everywhere, promising "best price". However, they wanted 880 yuan for a large suitcase, which is not going to happen. Kelly saw a champagne bottle cover that was 8 times what she had haggled for it in Beijing. So we left. We followed the directions Wendy gave us to the nearest market, but ended up on a residential street. Christian said that the majority of Chinese most likely live in places like this street. By Western standards, it would be best described as squalid. However, the wonderful smell of cooked dumplings filled the air.
We decided Wendy probably gave us the wrong directions so made another turn down a street that looked far more promising to contain a market. It was very local, filled with small bakeries, clothing stores, and little supermarkets. We walked all the way down the street, but except for a small noodle house (which had no chance of anything in English) we came upon no where to eat. At this point, an old woman in a rickshaw started following us, waiving a sheet of paper with a picture of the Garden of the Humble Administrator on it, presumably so she can take us there. As usual, we just shook our heads, and finally went into a small convenience store to get rid of her. We bought a bottle of Diet Coke, a bottle of Green Tea, a can of beer (Tai Hu Shui), two packs of sausages for Christian, and a pack of coffee flavored gum for 19 Yuan (GBP1.50/$2.90). We both drank the Coke whilst walking back to the hotel to drop the stuff off. Kelly absolutely adored the gum, and we decided we have to get more of this.
We returned to the hotel and asked the manager to arrange for us to be transported to the Flower Market, one of the places Wendy had recommended. He summoned a taxi and we made it there in about 20 minutes, for the outrageous price of 11 yuan (80p/$1.15). We alighted from the cab and immediately took out our pocket pc's in order to find WiFi so we could finally upload to our blog. We didn’t find wifi, but we were instantaneously surrounded by about 7 young men who, mouths agape, unabashedly looked over our shoulders at what we were doing.
The Flower Market was filled with all sorts of plants and different kinds of vases. It is a local market visited only by locals, so we didn't get any of the high pressure sales we got at the Pearl Market of Beijing. Adjacent to the Flower Market was the "Animal Market", the idea of which Kelly really struggled with. She saw cages filled with birds, hamsters. Jars containing turtles, tortuises, frogs. Huge vats filled with wriggling meal worms. When they saw the kittens and puppies, Kelly almost had to walk out, until they noticed leashes and pet care equipment. It appeared this market was more for purposes of adoption rather than food. Kelly walked up to crates full of the fluffiest puppies jumping up for attention, but she had to remember she couldn’t so much as touch any of them, since the threat of disease is still very real.
While walking back through the Flower Market, we came upon a stall selling various wooden stands for flower pots, and Christian mentioned one of them would be very good for a glass vase Kelly had bought in Beijing. The girl manning the stall was all of 4 foot 5, and she advised that the stand we were looking at could be had for 85 yuan. Kelly countered at 20, which she shook her head at and took out her cell phone so that we could type the numbers out. When she said 80 yuan, Kelly swooned and began to rigorously fan herself, which made passersby who were watching laugh. We finally got her down to 30 yuan (GBP2.10/$3.20), although as it is hand carved, it most likely worth far more than that.
We exited the market and somehow wandered into a local shopping street. There were absolutely no other foreigners there and we received a lot of attention. We stopped in a shop selling clothing, and we bought a cute little red outfit for our neice Morgana. They wanted 100 yuan for it, and Kelly got them down to 20. We also found 2 champagne covers we bought as gifts. They wanted 50 yuan each, we offered 10 for both, and they had to take it. The secret is holding the money out and not backing down.
We decided that, rather then eating out in a restaurant, we would eat from local stalls, as the locals were doing. We went past a stall we referred to as "Mutten King", but Kelly refused to eat anything called "gristle" or "stinky tofu". However, next door Christian bought 3 pieces of chicken on a stick for 3 yuan (21p/40 cents) and it was so amazing we bought two more. Then Kelly went across the street to buy a sticky rice ball; rice packed around a piece of chicken and wrapped in bamboo leaves. It was very good and only 5 yuan. Down the street, Christian saw a McDonalds and decided he HAD to taste a Big Mac (since he has one in every country he visits). We bought one big mac meal for 16 yuan (about GBP1). We both agreed it was the most wonderful big mac we had ever tasted. Leaving McDonalds, Christian noticed they had a hot fudge sundae for 5.5 yuan, but Kelly wanted to try the Haagen Dazs. But at 25 yuan for one scoop, it was way out of our budget and we returned to McDonalds.
It was raining pretty hard at this point. We saw a great terracotta colored t-shirt in a window, and at 10 yuan (73p/$1.10) we just bought it for Christian. It was getting cold so Kelly put it on. With the attention she was getting when wearing a tank top, the extra cover provided a bit of relief.
The rain picked up enough that, by 5pm, we were ready to return to the hotel. We approached a rickshaw driver and asked how much it would cost. He communicated back by holding up a 20 yuan note. It is about twice the price as the taxi, but in this rain we were willing to pay it. We jumped in, and did not anticipate how much fun the ride would be. Chinese people are kamakaze drivers, and often we saw our lives flash before our eyes. It took him about 15 minutes to get us back, and we decided to pay him 30 yuan for the ride, as it was so worth it. He graced us with a tremendous smile and blessed us both. We returned up to the hotel room for the night.
Whilst watching a documentary about elephants on the National Geographic channel, the doorbell rang again. A maid handed us a pink card which read: "Mr. Sculpher & Mrs. Ohlson
Congratulations and Best Wishis (sic) on your Wedding Anniversary.
The Management and all staff of Bamboo Grove Hotel
September. 11' 2006"
We should explain two things here:

Kelly travels under the name Ohlson since she never had her passport changed.
They think it is our anniversary because Jyoti, our travel agent, told them so as a way to ensure we get the best of everything. We love Jyoti.

During the evening, we watched Nightmare on Elm Street III, with Chinese subtitles, and a fascinating show about a Chinese performing arts troupe consisting entirely of disabled Chinese people, including deaf dancers, a blind orchestra, and wheelchair bound singers. At 10pm, we switched to China Central Broadcasting to watch the Tribute to the victims of 9/11, being filmed live in New York. We saw an aged Guilliani speak, although he was partially drowned out by the Chinese translation. Finally we found CNN which made it much easier.

China-Day 4: Beijing

2006-09-10T23:54:00.000+01:00

After a large breakfast, David came to pick us up promptly at 8:30. We checked out of the Hotel Lido that morning, but we still had a full days worth of stuff to do in Beijing, and for security purposes didn't want to leave our bags in the car, so the hotel was kind enough to lock them up for the day. We took off with David and our driver and headed straight to Tian'anmen Square. The largest road in Beijing runs from East to West and goes in a perfect straight line for 36 miles separating the Square from the Forbidden City. After much road shenanigans we arrived at the south side of the square and walked past Mao's mausoleum, the Monument to the People's Heroes and the enormous countdown clock to the opening of the 2008 Olympic games. Dominating the north side of the square is the imposing entrance to the Forbidden City - its vast terracotta façade tastefully 'improved' with communist slogans and a none-too-subtle portrait of Mao - which is a good 70 feet high. We were reminded several times during this walk that, despite having died in 1976, Mao still lives strong in the hearts and minds of the Chinese public. In these days of open markets and tentative capitalism - the communist rhetoric is less in-your-face - but still present. Once the sheer scale of Tian'anmen square had soaked into us we were ready to head into the real star of central Beijing - The Forbidden City. At 180 acres, the Forbidden City is not Beijing's largest attraction - but as it is in essence a single building, comprised of thousands of rooms (legend has it that a child sleeping in a different room every night from birth would be 27 by the time all the rooms were exhausted) it is a most impressive structure. Approached from the south, it is a series of ever increasingly sized couryards cintaining palaces (the smallest courtyard being the size of 3 football fields) leading to the central palace - the one you'll see in films. We explored many of the smaller courtyards and rooms - many containing the original furniture, clothes and ephemera used by the royal family between the 1600s and the late 19th Century. Like most parts of China there is extensive restoration work being performed in anticipation of the eyes of the world being on them. The central palace and several of the other smaller structures were covered in green sheeting and the almoost ubiquitous bamboo scaffolding. Once many more Chinese people had photographed themselves with Kelly and we'd had enough of the spectacle (and, more importantly, the heat) we left by the south exit again and headed to the northeast corner of the square to the National Museum where an excellent lunch was served in much more traditional surroundings. Upstairs in the restaurant a wedding party was underway and of course Kelly left a message of good luck in their book. Suutably fed and watered we headed out to the second of the days' attractions - the Temple of Heaven. It has a slightly larger area than the Forbidden City - but is mainly gardens and open areas. The main temple itself is an impressivly beautiful work - an enormous pagoda shaped structure with no central supports. Sadly, once again, it was being renovated inside so we were only able to glimpse the wonders within. On our way out of the gardens we were able to observe elderly Chinese people singing, playing endless variations or card and board games, practising fan dances and engaging in 'clapping' therapy. Despite the suggestion of David we opted for another visit to the Pearl market to finalise our shopping - and after an hour of this we headed back for our final visit to the hotel. With our cases back in our posession we made the journey to the larger of Beijing's 2 main train stations - and there waited for our overnight train to Suzhou. We said our final goodbye to David - and after a lengthy wait in the none too sanitary waiting area - boarded the train. Our berth was closest to the engine - but surprisingly quiet. Having been built primarily for Chinese passengers - the facilities were snug to say the least. Christian found he could easily touch both walls of the cabin at the same time. Each berth contained 4 beds, 2 on the floor and 2 above. We had bought all four so we could have the cabin to ourselves. The bathroom was shared and at the other end of the carriage - so we decided to turn in for the night - and the prospect of extinguishing the lights and watching China unfold by moonlight found us in bed by 7:30. We experimented for about a half hour with with sharing a bunk - but it proved impossible and we reluctantly retreated to our own beds and accepted comfort over romance. The mesmerising lights and gentle rocking of the train - plus more than our fair share of chocolate - and we were asleep by 8pm - and our iron leviathan propelled our sleeping forms ever onward to Suzhou.

China-Day 3: Beijing

2006-09-09T16:36:00.000+01:00

Today we started early with a most excellent breakfast- which included the usual bacon, eggs, waffles and so forth - but also noodles, red bean pasties and vegtable dumplings. After being suitably filled we met our private guide and driver - and we were on our way through the busy rush-hour traffic to Badaling - where the most completely restored section of The Great Wall is situated. We were spared the plethora of street sellers on the longwalk up to the entrance - as our driver was allowed to drive right up to the gates. We tackled the south branch of the wall - as opposed to the north one that Christian attempted previously. Fortunately the weather was better this time - with cooler temperatures and a pleasant wind - and what was anticipated as quite an ordeal turned into a pleasant climb with many excellent photographs taken. About halfway up we encountered a fearful logjam of tourists as the 20 foot wide wall suddenly narrowed into a single track tunnel for about 50 feet through one of the guard posts - seemingly mild mannered old Chinese ladys became snarling, spitting cobras. No - it wasn't really that bad - but the traffic came to a total standstill and it needed the assistance of our guide to get things moving. We climbed to the very furthest and highest point possible on this section of the wall - at which point Kelly discovered her movie star looks and flaxen locks garnered much attention - as there was suddenly a rush to have a photo taken with her - and a queue formed. If we'd had a limo there we would have bundled her into it and sped off - sadly no such conveyance was possible in such a remote locale - and she entertained her public bravely - and thus we started our descent. Of course, with gravity on our side - what was a 2 hour climb up turned into a 20 minute rapid descent. Once down we wearily tumbled into our taxi and headed off to a 'Friendship Store' where we were given our simple but voluminous government supplied tourist meal. A brief post prandial tour of the store revealed the exact same jacket Kelly had artfully haggled down yesterday for SIX TIMES what she had paid for it. Back on the road again - arriving eventually at the Summer palace. David, our guide showed us around the many courtyards and buildings that had previously housed and entertained many generations of Emperor, Empress, Princess and honoured guests. Sadly - the deposing of the hereditary ruler saw the summer palace become their prison - and the bricked up rooms and antique furniture remain to this day. We took a stroll partway around the immense artificial lake that was constucted for their pleasure - along the half-mile covered walkway featuring more than 40,000 painted panels expressly built for the dowager Empress to take walks in the rain without getting wet. Kelly discovered to her horror, however, that the 'personal facilities' on offer to honoured guests in the Emperor's absence had sadly NOT been updated (or even possibly cleaned) since the Princess had last enjoyed her 128 course lunches - ablutive arrangements FIRMLY still in the 19th Century (and paper definitely BYO).
With nothing more on our itinerary we had a choice of what to do with our evening - so with the assistance of our personal guide and driver we forwent dinner (having feasted already) and attended a Shaolin Monk extravaganza that made up for it's brevity with it's energy and sheer breathtaking spectacle, and the Beijing opera - with it's humour, strangely haunting music and singing, and outrageous costumes and makeup. Exhausted but happy - we finally made our way through the neon-lit highways to our hotel. Who knows what tomorrow brings!

China-Day 2: Beijing

2006-09-08T16:35:00.000+01:00

When they served breakfast we got to talking with the young man and woman sitting beside us in Business Class. Their names were Amelia and Jordon, and their dad works for BA, so they were able to fly standby like Kelly used to do with United. By some amazing twist of fate, it turned out that Amelia is starting at our company on the 18th. We landed about 5:20am local time, and went through customs. We met our personal guide, Lily, who was waiting for us at Arrivals. We then got in our car and were taken to our hotel. Since we got there before 7am, our room was not yet ready, so we had to wait in the beautiful lobby until they provided us our room key. The room is large and very lovely, and Christian and I promptly fell asleep. We woke up at 1:30pm, showered and dressed, and went out to experience Beijing. We were summoned a cab and went directly to a large indoor marketplace that Amelia had recommended, one of the most famous in Beijing. Kelly bought A LOT. We used the oppurtunity to purchase presents for quite a few people, plus a few for ourselves. Luckily, we ran into Amelia and Jordon there. We spent literally hours in one of the specialty shops, HappyTimeFunBuyNotExpensiveGoodQuality Store, looking at thousands and thousands of choices whilst having some pieces designed to our exact specifications. Bargaining in Beijing requires a good sense of humor, knowledge of the rules of the game, and a very very hard shell. Luckily, Kelly possesses all of these in droves. We were able to buy literally hundreds of pounds worth of stuff for considerably less. We found Jordon in one of the silk shops surrounded by young women who worked there. We wanted to buy 3 silk, hand embroidered shirts, but they wanted far too much for them. Kelly and the manager went head to head for 15 minutes, vehamently arguing over the price. In the end, Kelly got the exact price she wanted. At 7pm the market closed, so we all took a cab, with our many bags, to a gorgeous Chinese restaurant Amelia knew of called the Purple Vine, where we feasted, and we mean feasted, for about $50 (£28). Four of us. Neither of us could be more pleased with our first day then we are. We had the most amazing time, joking and laughing with the locals and having the very best experience.

China-Day 1: Beijing

2006-09-07T23:29:00.000+01:00

Graeme picked us up at the house at 8am this morning, and he got us to Terminal 4 at 9:26am, in plenty of time, bless him.
We had checked in online the day before, so we only needed to check our bags with the printed out boarding passes. There was no queue; we breezed right in ahead of a couple going to visit their daughter in Dubai. We did ask if there was any chance of an upgrade, but were quickly sent on our way, so didn't think too much of it. We had bought 2 bottles of water with us, however, you are not allowed to take them through security, so one whole one and our half drunk one had to go in the bin. Suprisingly, they didn't take Kelly's chapstick (the only luxury item she took in her bag). May have something to do with the fact that she didn't bother to tell them she had it.

Once through security, we wandered all around Terminal 4, which Kelly had never seen before. It had all the usual suspects (Harrods, Gucci, Fendi, Rolex), however, all we needed were some flight socks and a head pillow. We went to the World Traveler section which was having a 3 for 2 offer, so we each bought a pair of socks, a fluffy flight pillow, an extra just in case, an international adaptor, and 3 bags of chocolate. Because you get the cheapest free and we were buying 9 items, we of course insisted on purchasing them in 3 separate lots, so that we could get some of the pricier items free. There was a mixup though, because only when we were sharing a cheese sandwich at Pret a Manger did we notice that we weren't charged for 2 head pillows and the adaptor. However, they began boarding at that time so the clock took over our concience at this point.
While they were boarding, we put on our flight socks. Since Kelly was wearing knee length trousers and Teva sandles, the addition of the long black socks was positively bohemian. The flight was full to capacity. While we were checking in at the gate, the attendent advised us that we had been upgraded to business after all! We boarded the plane and were sat in the last row of business class! This way, we could crank our seatbacks down as far as we wanted and not worry about bothering anyone.
While we were getting situated, we heard something from the coach section behind us. At first we thought it was laughter, or a radio, but then we realized it was wailing. Being the type of person who can't go without knowing, Kelly approached the flight attendent and asked what the score was. Apparently, a young Chinese woman was being deported back, and from the sounds of her horrific cries, she really really didn't want to go. Each time they made an announcement it resonated through the cabin since the announcer thingy was in the back. She was apparently escorted by 2 marshalls. We believed there was some sort of law that prohibited them from sedating her when on the ground. However, after takeoff, we didn't hear her again.
Comfortably seated in our World Traveler Plus seats, with all the leg room Christian could use, we put our seats back, put down the leg rests, and got supercomfy. When handing out drinks, they gave both of us two medium sized bottles of champagne to celebrate our trip. We drank one immediately, and saved the other for when we get to our hotel. We should point out here that no one else in Business class was given champagne.
About 4 hours into the flight, Kelly realized she was further from her place of birth then she had ever been in her life. We both kept the world map up on our TV screens so we could chart our progress. Christian photographed sunset over Russia on our way, and you can make out the actual curvature of the earth. We write this now over Siberia. 3 more hours to go, we're going to put these fluffy pillows to use.

écurie25 open evening

2006-08-22T22:49:00.000+01:00

Tonight I photographed an open evening at the écurie25 headquaters in Old Street, London. They had a number of their supercars on display for the public (by special invite) to see and touch. Attendance was good - interest was high and a good time was had by all. Sadly - my Sony was playing up that evening - so the photos captures were not of the standard I'd hoped for - but it was good practice and an enjoyable evening.

Christian's 38th Birthday

2006-08-13T15:16:00.000+01:00

Christian's birthday present was a suprise, and Kelly worked very hard on keeping it that way. At 5pm we left work on Friday and took the train back to Orpington. Kelly took the GPS unit and plotted the course, by post code, to where we were going. We had nothing but the address, and Christian, who was driving, had no idea.
It took us about an hour to drive to the adorable Olde Moat House B&B Kelly had found online. The proprietors were out, so a kindly neighbor let us in, showing us to our gorgeous room with the enormous four-poster bed and charming, large ensuite bathroom. Kelly had bought a bottle of champagne, so there were 2 glasses left out for us, and a minifridge to put the bottle in for the next day. We loved our room.
After photographing it, we left to find something to eat for dinner. We drove about 4 miles where we found a quaint 15th century pub called the New Star Inn, where we had a fabulous dinner.
The next morning, we had a lovely breakfast in the dining room with the other guests. Unfortunately, the weather was not going to be any better than the cold, rainyness it was already displaying, so I downed about 14 cups of tea before we ventured out. The world was our oyster; we could choose between Canterbury, Hastings, Battle, Rye, the seaside, you name it, but Christian already knew what he wanted to do the minute we stepped foot in that part of England..."Choo Choo train".
35 years ago Christian's family took him on the Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway for his birthday. That was exactly what he most wanted to do this birthday as well.
We left the B&B and drove to the Romney Marsh railway station, which was unbelievably charming. We were both so inadequately dressed for the weather, so we grabbed the blanket from the trunk and got into this adorable steam engine train. It chug chugged up north for about 45 minutes to the end of the line. We were in the open part of the train, so we had the freezing rain beating down on us from all directions. But just seeing Christian's face made it more than worth it. By the time we reached Hythe, it was pouring outside so we had to stay in the station for a short while.
We walked around the village for a few hours, taking it all in. Kelly was wrapped in our lovely blanket to protect her from the cold. Whilst walking on the high street we saw an owl display, as they were raising money for the Hythe Owl Sanctuary. The owl guy let us hold any owl of our choice. Kelly got to hold a barn owl (her favo(u)rite), and Christian held a stunning eagle owl.
After that, we walked the streets exploring till we decided it was time to see more of what the train had to offer. We also decided against pub food for lunch, which was prevalent in Hythe, so we walked back to the station and got back on the adorable steam engine. We had to walk past all the people sitting in the lovely enclosed carriages and climbed back into the first open one.
We decided to return to where we started, Romney Marsh, for lunch. It was again pouring at this point and never let up. We walked about 10 minutes to the main road and finally gave in to the cold. We ducked into a charity shop and bought a few sweaters for the remainder of the trip, since the now wet/cold blanket wasnt cutting it. We bought a bunch of pasties at a bakery for dinner, then sat in a lovely tea room for a quick, warm lunch.
By the time we went back into the rain, now falling in buckets, Kelly had just about had it. We got to the station and got back into the train bound for Dungeness. Christian gave in and allowed an enclosed carriage this time, which, while it isnt heated, does cut the wind out.
Bleak is a word that describes Dungeness. It was flat, cold, gray. It consists of a lighthouse, a few houses dotting the landscape, all at the foot of an enormous power station. When we got there and realized that the next train wasnt for 40 minutes, we jumped right back on that train and returned to Romney Marsh.
We decided to nix dinner out and have a romantic evening in in our lovely B&B. We returned to our room, and Kelly's feet were so filthy from wearing Teva's in the rain that she used the conveniently placed Bidet to clean them. We then both took long hot baths, and put our fluffy bathrobes on. Christian popped open the champagne and we each enjoyed a glass in the warm. We then went downstairs, in our robes, and offered the remainder to our hosts, whom were kind enough to sit with us and we talked for over an hour. At that point we went back upstairs to bed. It was a lovely, lovely day.

Company Summer Party

2006-08-07T16:57:00.000+01:00

Sunscreen aptly applied and hat in place, Christian and Kelly headed out to London, back to the office. We boarded the first bus onward to Osterley Park, a National Trust property to the north of London where the picnic was being held. We sat in the far back of the bus next to two Dutch children visiting with their family from the Brussels office, who were spread out elsewhere on the bus. Incredibly chatty and excited, they fired a deluge of words at me for the entire 50 minute ride; discussing everything from fairytale houses made from snoop (candy) to their horse to their dogs to school and their family and on and on and on. Cute kids.
We made it to the estate at 1pm, and met our friend Nhu and her guest Simon at the front gate (near the giant inflatable Elvis, of course). We immediately entered the park, walking along the pond past the cajan brass band whilst costumed characters welcomed us in.

The party was a blast as usual. On the terrace of the estate house there was an Afternoon Tea setup, with little finger sandwiches and scones. The rest of the party was set up with a 1950's flair to it, with a British twist. Hence, we had the roller rink, the Ford Model - T's, the diner, the enormous barbeque in the centre, and dancers on the stage, alongside the "Bloom & Berg" pub and a fish and chip stand, which I must say served the best cod we have ever eaten.

Speaking of eating, we did more than our fair share. As such, we thankfully went on the bumper cars and the other scary ride prior to consuming anything.

The majority of the day was spent mainly eating. Kelly saw one of the National Trust representatives who gave us permission to go into the back of the house and gardens that was otherwise cut off from guest access. When we went past the security guard, he assumed Christian was press anyway, and we took some lovely pictures back there.

Kelly also had to go on the roller rink, or else it wouldnt have been a true party. No one else was in any mood so she went on by herself, for about 40 minutes. It was fun, but she hadn't been on rollerskates on for years (she's a hardcore rollerblader through and through). As such, she had several amusing moments of near death since the breaks on rollerskates are on the front, by the toes, rather than on the back, under the heel. When she finally alighted from the rink and went to hand her skates back in in exchange for her trusty Teva's, the girl at the counter said "Are you Billie Piper?" That's only about the 8th time this year someone has asked her that. She replied in a very American accent that no, she was not.

With the heat of the afternoon peaking, we spent a great deal of time reveling in the shade beside the gentle stream that runs alongside the house. The two of us, Nhu, Simon, and our friend Steve with his brother Paul just chilled for hours. We had several giggles and made the occasional trip back into the main part to pick up necessary nibbles.

We stayed till dark, and headed home vowing to never ever eat again. All that remains is to adequately explain this to our Weight Watchers leader tonight.

Corporate Comfort food

2006-07-27T23:01:00.000+01:00

He died that I might dine .

Well, it didnt start off too well. I arrived at Brussels Midi station, finally, at 8pm on the dot. Not having a clue how far the hotel was from the station, I began to look around in earnest for a much needed cash machine. I looked all over inside, and outside the enormous station, and couldnt find a trace of one. Not one bleeding cash machine. I finally, finally found a security guard, who directed me to the "gallery". I walked up and down that thing till I saw the sign "Cash Point" but upon looking at the machine I saw a dreaded piece of paper taped to the screen. I dont speak Belgian, but Out of Order is fairly universal. I stomped my foot.

Another 10 minutes go by with me and my little green rolling suitcase quickly losing patience with this city. As the cab in Luxembourg cost EU26, and that is a tiny city compared to Brussels, I had no reason to think that EU12 would stretch very far. I finally happened upon two taxi drivers smoking a cigarette and talking. I asked how far the hotel Conrad was, they said there was no way to get there by foot but about EU10, and I didnt give them a chance to blink before I jumped in the car. The driver, bless him,drove like a bat out of hell to get me there for under 10 euros. The display showed 5 euros 90 when we pulled into the hotel drive. I gratefully gave him the full 10 euro note and let him keep the change.
A cute little bellhop grabbed my bag from the trunk and led me into the hotel, which is magnificent inside. Checkin was all of 2 minutes, and although there is a bit of a trek to my room, it was worth it. Its incredibly beautiful, decorated in a classic style with marble and brass fittings in the bathroom. I explored the bathroom at length, since I hadnt gone on the train and anyone who read our Brugges blog in May knows I resent paying 20 euro cents for the privilege of using the loo at Brussels Midi Station.

I spent only enough time in the room to call Christian, then headed out to dinner at a place the receptionist suggested. La Maison du Pecheur. Because I had a really really bad trip in, I treated myself to the half lobster and pasta dish. Jackpot. Beside me sat two American businessmen going on about whatever. I kept my mouth shut as I didnt feel like speaking to anyone at this time. The restaurant is on Rue Jardin, a road of just restaurants, with outside dining, and they have an opera singer a few doors down singing for those of us sitting outside. Its absolutely lovely, and as the sun has just set, it has cooled to almost bearable.

Lux-Bru Journey

2006-07-27T22:46:00.001+01:00

Luxembourg Rail Station.

I wasnt going to write this till I got to my hotel in Brussels, or at least until dinner, but circumstances forced my hand.

This afternoon after a wonderful lunch, all the while being doted on by a very sweet waiter who said my accent was "lovely", I took a walk to the Luxembourg Stock Exchange to ensure I would get there on time for my 3pm meeting. I had some difficulty finding it, but ultimately, it is a 3 minute walk from the square and a 5 minute walk from the office. I went back to the office, changed again into appropriate attire, and headed back out into the unforgiving heat.
My meeting finished after about an hour, at which point I raced back to the office, changed my shirt right there at the computer (no bothering with going into the meeting room) and headed out to the train station. Christian had researched the directions perfectly, so it was just under one mile to walk. As usual, I didnt bother with a taxi. Couldnt find one anyway.
I got to the station at 4:15, and saw the next train to Brussels was at 4:24, not leaving a lot of time. I waited in line to buy my ticket, but they dont take Amex. I had to use some of my Euros, so my EU70 is now EU12.40. Ive only spent cash so far on the taxi to the Lux hotel, the train ticket, and a 2 euro bottle of diet coke. It goes fast.
I made it to the train by 4:23, but I neednt have run, because it left 20 minutes late. There is no business class, and there is no air conditioning, but I was grateful that the car I was in was pretty empty. My contentment wouldnt last long though. Within the first hour the stifling heat began to overwhelm, and halfway to Brussels a guy came on and for whatever reason insisted on sitting across from me, even though the train was empty and there were dozens of areas he could sit. He reminded me of a yodeler, for thats what he looked like. He spent the trip speaking to himself whilst playing Soduko, and breathing funnily. In between, he would stare at me. He obviously wanted to say something to me because he tried to begin a conversation after one of the announcements. Since this announcement was in German as well as French, I understood it anyway. In the end, I took out my pocket pc and keyboard so that he would stop talking to me.

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiicolaaaaaaaaaaaa.

Will this journey ever end? It is now 7:50 as per my watch and I just want to get off this horrible train. I feel as if Ive been on it for days, and Im sweating in places I didnt know I had.

Luxembourg Day 2

2006-07-26T22:38:00.000+01:00

This morning I preferred a lie in rather than a continental breakfast at 19 euros, so I checked out of the hotel around 8am and walked down the street to our offices in the Avenue Royal. There are none of our company's employees based out of Luxembourg, so the office is small, with 6 workstations and a conference room. There was another gentleman from London sales there, so he told me where I could get some water and how to make an outside call.

I spoke briefly to Christian, and did some last minute stuff before leaving at 9:15 for my next appointment. Unfortunately, Christian and I planned on the wrong Dexia, so I showed up at the wrong office. Not a problem, the receptionist gave me a map so I could find my way to the world headquarters (this office did look a tad small to qualify)

Taxi? At that hour,are you kidding. There was none to be found, so me and my high heels walked all the way (about 15 minutes). The office is large and impressive, and my meetings took a few hours.
Still, I have not yet eaten. One of the managers took me to their internal canteen, but it was too close to lunch to justify eating those large sandwiches, so I declined. He offered to get me a cab, but rather stupidly I declined that too, so I walked back to our office. The sales rep wasnt there,so I opened my suitcase and grabbed a light skirt, tank top and my tevas and changed in the conference room. That dress, while sleeveless, just didn't breathe.
I updated some stuff on the system, but by now it was 12:30 and really time to eat, so I set out. Found myself again in the square, this time at a cute brasserie named Café Francais. I ordered tomatoes farcias aux legumes et basilic (stuffed tomatoes) and a salad. I was seated outside, facing the band playing in the center of the square.
Because I have good wifi from this spot, Im going to post this now, and the rest later.

Table for one

2006-07-26T16:55:00.000+01:00

Table for one

Today Christian and I came into work for 7am as usual. I worked a bit, mainly last minute plans for the trip whilst reading through a VERY amusing website 419eater.com, when my car arrived at 10:30. I quickly threw my pocket pc in my briefbag, grabbed that along with my little green rolling suitcase, and went to meet Christian at his desk. He gave me my charged mobile phone,and quickly went through everything I should have, like a good husband should, and escorted me down to the car. My driver, Jean-Marie kindly put my case in the trunk and laughed with us as we forced him to take photos before I left. I got in the Mercedes and Christian waved me off.

Jean-Marie and I had a delightful trip to Heathrow. A very sweet man originally from the Congo, we had a long chat about living away from home. He dropped me off at Terminal 2 & watched to ensure I got there safely. I waved and ran through the doors.

This terminal is pretty alien to me, since I always fly international (inter-European trips arent exactly regarded as international). I found the LUXAIR desk, but since my ticket was booked only yesterday I wasnt in the system yet, so they sent me to the Alitalia desk to get myself registered or something. Whilst there, I overheard a heated discussion between an American family and the Alitalia manager. From what I could gleen, they had flown Alitalia from Italy to London to catch a connecting flight to NY on Virgin. Virgin had been called by Alitalia on their behalf when the flight was delayed, but they missed the Virgin flight anyway, and were annoyed that Alitalia wouldnt get them on another flight to the same location, on first class. Riveting stuff, but by then my ticket was ready.
Much to my annoyance, they made me check in my little green rolling suitcase, so my briefbag & I had 1.5 hours to explore the terminal. I found absolutely nothing in the bookstore that took my fancy, although I desperately tried,and I couldnt find one place that sold anything I even remotely wanted to eat. So I just wandered about till my flight was called.
We boarded LUXAIR from the outside, which is always nice. It's a wee 49 seater, with 1 seat on the right and 2 on the left. I check myticket, 11F, F is one of the two on the left. Damn.
Oh well, perhaps it wont be a full flight. I sit down and get myself situated, and a greasy businessman sits beside me. Damn Damn. He smells faintly like BO. Triple Damn. I snoozed a bit before we took off, late. However, nothing could have prepared me for the speed of the flight. We were past the Channel before I finished my chicken sandwich, and before I knew it we were landing.
We disembarked the plane and breezed through customs. Of course, the cabs dont take credit card, so I had to withdraw some euros before catching the cab to my hotel. My hotel, le 'Hotel Royal, is lovely. My room couldnt be better. It comes with a robe and slippers, a magnificent view of the park, and a bidet! No idea how you use it, but it's sitting there in my bathroom.
I immediately set out to explore the town. It was only about half past 4. This is a beautiful city. Quite modern, clean, and small. The buildings are no higher than 3 stories. I went through the market square, past countless boutiques, till I saw an opening in the buildings. The heat is oppressive here. I moved towards the light and came upon a vividly green valley below me. Apparently, they have an enormous park under the level of the city. I immediately set out to explore it further.
It was wonderful, a vast expanse of gardens; an oasis from the city. I walked along the paths for over an hour, listening to the church bells each quarter hour. I thought it doesnt get better then this, unless of course youre with someone, and I am very much alone today. Leaving that park, I came upon another, this one according to my map, is the one I can see from my room window. I sat beside a pristine lake and went through my photographs. I convinced myself I would get dinner and eat it there, but that wasnt to be.
I walked through the park, past the children playing, past the teenagers smoking pot (got a photo of that) and started heading back into the direction of the hotel. Having convinced myself I would eat asian for dinner, my mind quickly changed when I saw a vast array of different seafood in a restaurant window. The restaurant itself didnt interest me, but it planted that seed. It was in the market square I found the one. La Lorraine had lobster on the outside, and I suddenly really fanced lobster. I asked them if they accept Amex, they do! She scores! I take my leave and hurry back to the hotel to change, since I didnt want to eat fancy schmancy in my yoga pants. The sweet Canadian receptionist also suggested La Lorraine, so that clinched it. I went upstairs, changing into a tank & skirt (still wearing my tevas, its a bit of a walk you know), brushed my teeth, and headed back out. I thankfully sat outside, overlooking the square. It was absolutely lovely. The lob ster is 12 euros per 100 grams. Not too bad. A lobster averages 600 grams. Thats 72 euros. Even on the company dollar I cant justify that, so I ordered a dish of salmon, seabrean and sole with veggies in a butter/basil sauce. While I waited, I took out my pocket pc and keyboard so that I could A) write this blog and B) Look like less of a loser by making it look like Im working. The upshot was, I think they thought I was a restaurant critic, because they bought me this great fish appertif I didnt ask for and no one else around me got. Bonus! I can think of worse things then sitting in a European market while listening to band music and eating amazing seafood on your own, for free!
Upon my return to the hotel I came upon a message asking me to call my husband. So I touched base with my beautiful husband, then took a bath. There was precious little on tv in English. I thought I never saw anything weirder than seeing Don Knotts dubbed in German, till I came across Joe Piscapo overdubbed in French. Now I lie in bed finishing this off, while watching CNN. Early rise tomorrow.

Kelly departs on her business trip...

2006-07-25T10:50:00.000+01:00

Kelly makes it as far as the car...

Well - 10:30am rolled around - my only task was to ensure Kelly made it into her car with all her bags, phone and, most importantly, her passport. More news - as it arrives.

A Barbecue to remember!

2006-07-22T12:40:00.000+01:00

A last minute barbecue thrown by our ever-generous friends Caroline & Graeme allowed us to finish our lazy Saturday in style - the presence of a trampoline allowed us to relax with the children and enjoy the company of some new found friends. The peanut M&Ms and coke-floats come sundown were an inspired move - but I'm not sure our waist-lines will thank Graeme as readily!

Dogstand at the Clink Bar

2006-07-15T12:56:00.000+01:00

What better to do with a Saturday evening than to go support our good friends Caroline & Graeme (DOGSTAND) at the Clink Bar in Bromley. What started as a subdued audience enjoying an evenings light punk/pop quickly turned into a sweating, heaving mass of DOGSTAND fans as they began to fully appreciate the tunes, balloons and glow-sticks (and partially because the aircon didn't seem to be working). They played a great set - the crowd definitely seemed to appreciate the effort the band put in. Photos here.

Vietnamese BBQ for Charity

2006-07-08T22:43:00.000+01:00

Today we attended a barbeque arranged by our dear friend Nhu, where we had the most spectacular time. Being the amazing person she is, Nhu is actually planning to trek along the Great Wall of China in a few months, to raise money for the charity Help the Aged. The barbeque was a fundraising event and it couldnt have been more perfect. For more info on Nhu's mission, click here.

The event was hosted by friends of Nhu in their stunning home in Herne Hill, London. The people there were lovely and the food was absolutely wonderful. Nhu came well prepared with 120 Vienamese Spring Rolls, even Kelly couldnt finish them off. We can go on about the incredible time we had, but just take it as read that we had the best Saturday. Even the weather was perfect!

Click picture for photos from the day

July 4th, 2006

2006-07-04T21:24:00.000+01:00

Today, being Independance Day, the choice for our evening was left up to Kelly. As such, with the Harrods sale underway, her choice was to trundle over there and check out the 'bargains'. As a bit of a surprise we had been out at lunchtime to return the sorry excuse for an MP3 player we had purchased in February - and replace it with the new model Sony one that just hit the shelves. A pink one. I spend some time in the aftenoon filling (well - 30% full) with all the songs I'd been collecting for Kelly over the last year - so she was able to have a quick spin through these on the long hot bus and tube ride to Kensington.

Harrods (for those of you who don't know) is a grand old British department store, which seems to have been the first retailer to introduce the concept of charging the rich, vain, and pompous (and, of course, tourists) ludicrous amounts of money for buying things they could buy anywhere else at a fraction of the cost. Kelly's enthusiasm for 'picking up a bargain' quickly waned as she realised that - even at 75% off - some items were still ridiculously expensive (Strawberries, anyone? £2 ($3) EACH... corduroy pocketbooks for £350 ($500)...I think not...) We headed for the bedding department - the intended focus of our visit - but the style we were going for didn't exist in the right size for our bed. We despondantly headed for the exit (after finding that the 'stationary department' was mostly 'casino requisites' and fountain pens for $25,000) only to find (to Kelly's glee) the Origins counter, with some quite surprising bargains. Needless to say Kelly left the store a little brighter in mood (and I was £27 lighter).

A short tube ride later we found ourself on the outskirts of Chinatown - Kelly had her choice of restaurant and of course it had to be Vietnamese (the same restaurant we visitied with Lester some weeks ago). Duly sated we made our weary way home, happy in the knowledge that, whilst not being 'Harrods people' - we still know good food.

Biggin Hill Fete 2006

2006-07-01T19:27:00.000+01:00

On Saturday, July 1 we attended the Biggin Hill Fete up near the church on the High Street. We go to the fete every year; it's not particularly large but we enjoy doing things that are local and supporting the community.

We headed up around 11am. Kelly bought her little parasol because the sun was absolutely brutal and a baseball cap wasn't cute enough. We walked up and stopped in the library first since it's never open during the week when we're in town (it's probably been a good 2 years since we've been in there). Confirmed: neither of us had a valid membership. Kelly saw a book I've been eager to read (Martin Lewis's Money Diet) so we put that on hold and Christian rejoined as a member (Kelly of course had no driver's license with her with which to do so).
We then walked to the fete, which was in full swing even though it didn't technically open for another 45 minutes. We made a "bee" line for the honey producers tent, which is personally Kelly's favo(u)rite part. "Where are the kids!?" she cried, to which the beekeeper opened both sides of the glass enclosed beehive so that we could see all the thousands of bees wandering around in there. It's really amazing. He fed them sugar water through the top since he knows we get a kick out of that. We purchased 2 jars of local honey for Christian, which will hopefully aid with his allergies.

We walked around a bit more, and at one point Kelly was adjusting her parasol and whacked a woman (who was coming up from behind her) in the head. She apologized profusely but she just gave Kelly a bitter look, which made us laugh and she didn't feel so bad anymore. Christian got a cheeseburger, and then we walked over to where the classic cars were on display.

We quickly found Cedric, a friend from church with two antique cars which he always brings to these events. Kelly ran up to him and said "Do you know who owns the 1903 Renault?!" The previous week we were visiting Coolings Nursery when we saw this magnificent vehicle in the parking lot. It was one of the most beautiful vehicles Kelly'd ever seen, and we took a picture of it. We could confidently say THE Renault, and not A Renault, since we know there probably aren't many from 1903 wandering about. He had seen the car before, in Downe, but never met the owner, nor had he ever seen them at an event such as this. We were discussing the history of one of his cars when we heard a very distinctive motor in the distance. We turned around and there was that magnificent red 1903 Renault driving into the lot. We said brief farewell's to Ced and ran over to the car, where Kelly continued to enthuse about it to the owner and his grandsons. He let her have her picture taken in it, and invited us by to see his collection of other classic cars in future. I want that one.

Please click on image for more photos

Dinner with Katya

2006-06-27T23:30:00.000+01:00

We met up with our good friend Katya tonight to have a good meal and a chinwag - where better to do it than our new watering-hole the Tay Do Cafe in Shoreditch. Sadly Katya wasn't that hungry so missed out largely on the goodies - but did get to try the caramelised catfish. Boy is that good!

Kittens!

2006-06-24T15:04:00.000+01:00

Today we ventured forth with Heidi and Paul to visit a church friend of theirs whos cat has just birthed a litter of kittens. Kelly - all wide eyed and excited, Christian - dosed to the eyeballs (literally) with any alergy medication. There's not much to say about the experience that the photos can't explain - so I won't try - apart from the fact that we were (unexpectedly) fed lovely pie whilst there. A most rewarding afternoon.

Please click on photo to see more images

Christian's Leg

2006-06-20T10:47:00.000+01:00

Well - my fears were realised. The terrible occasional pains in my left leg that have been developing since the X-Men outing have become constant pains - and after a trip to the physiotherapist I now know I have mild tendonitis. It's no fun, and, as I've been trying to 'walk through it' - am probably in a worse situation now than if I'd just listened to my inner couch-potato and JUST SAT DOWN! Limping around now and generally feeling sore. C'est la vie!

X Men 3

2006-06-11T22:17:00.000+01:00

Of course - the inevitable happened. We met up with Lester in London at 2pm on Saturday for the third installment of the excellent 'X-Men' film saga. After enjoying (yet) another excellent Vietnamese meal on the outskirts of Chinatown, we ventured out of the sweltering heat to seek refuge in the air-conditioned sanctuary of the cinema, only to find our film was on the top floor (yes - London's like that) on a smallish screen at 4:30pm. "...But.." the assistant tells us... "it's just starting on the big screen downstairs"... 2 minutes later we're in the THX-accredited theatre being introduced to the previews. Bliss. I have to say - I was pleasantly surprised. With Brett Ratner's only notable previous outings being the Rush Hour movies and Red Dragon, and a stylish but vapid Austin Powers / Madonna video, I expected a hollow imitation of Bryan Singers' previous X-Men chronicles. What we got was a headlong charge through another X-Men storyline, with some reasonable glimpses into the past with flashbacks to Xavier and Eric as younger men. A wasted cameo (and I mean that in the worst way) appearance from the ever-disappointing Vinny Jones as Juggernaut, and the 'well-setup-but-then-dropped-for-no-reason-except-for-appearing-unexpectedly-at-the-end' mis-use of Warren Worthington III/Angel. Kelsey Grammer gives great value as the brooding-but-restrained Dr Hank McCoy, ESPECIALLY when he finally 'let's his hair down' and get's his 'beast' on! One top-tip for anyone planning to go see the film... hang around until after the credits (they're shorter than normal for just this reason). It's worth the wait.

Oh well. It was fun - and we got home much earlier than expected.

Dinner - Vietnamese style!

2006-06-07T23:36:00.000+01:00

For our regular readers who know our love of Asian food - it will come as no surprise that tonight we enjoyed a sumptuous feast a one of London's unsung watering holes, the Tay Do Cafe. Our good friend Nhu chose the venue -and helpfully selected the dishes too. We ate like Kings, dish after dish arriving hot and tempting at our table until we had literally lost count of the items. The damage? £15 per head (around $28) including tip and drinks! As pennance we waddled all the way to the station (just over 2 miles) which I'M SURE used up all those calories!. I'm too full to write any more - you'll have to settle for a picture!

Patrice is Great

2006-05-30T17:09:00.000+01:00

Until now, she was the only one I ever knew who had ever heard anyone speak Flemish. Now that I have heard it, we share so much.

Belgium: Final day in Venice of the North

2006-05-29T21:31:00.000+01:00

Last night it got colder than we expected as the sun started to set, so we returned to the room to add a few more items of clothing (mainly for my benefit). While there, we caught some more of the Pope's visit to Poland on TV. It was all in German; very interesting. We also watched an interview with Princes Charles, William and Harry by Ant and Dec. As loyal Britains it is important we know about our monarch y. ( Ie, it was the only thing on in English.)

I threw on some more layers and we ventured out for our final dinner in Bruges. We went to the restaurant next door to the one we visited last night, called Vivaldi.
We were both delighted with the meal, although I still think 4 Euros 50 is ridiculous for a bottle of still water. Christian got a 6 oz pepper steak with fries and salad, which he loved. I decided on the baby lobster with linguini and pesto sauce. It was amazing, and worth the price we paid for it; after all, we're on holiday, and Weight Watchers is waiting for us when we get home.

This morning we awoke bright and early at 8am, so we could get down to breakfast before anyone else. We had adopted a table by the window we really liked, and wanted to ensure we got that same table for our last meal in Bruges. We arrived downstairs just as all the food was put out, and feasted on eggs, fruit, and the most amazingly fresh bread. After eating more than adequately, we returned up to our room for the few remaining hours we had left, and had a little more of a lie in till we had to check out. We watched BBC news and Christian worked on his pocket pc, then at 10:50 we finished packing up and made it downstairs for 11am, final checkout. I wrote a complimentary entry in their guestbook whilst chatting to some British tourists who had stopped in for a cup of tea, while Christian paid up. The bill was 2 euros 40 in total (for the tea I had ordered yesterday) and that lleft us with 40 euro cents for the remainder of our trip.
We left our bags with Stephanie, the sweet receptionist, while we went to take a final stroll around the city. We went back to the lake of Love and spent about 45 minutes feeding the ducks with another breadroll I had liberated from breakfast.

We walked around town just to catch a few last glimpses of it. We went back to the Market square and were walking through a passageway between roads when we were accosted by a man in a Belgian Tudor costume. Amused, I allowed this fellow to kiss my hand, knowing I had been feeding ducks with it not an hour before and hadn't had a chance to wash them yet. He "encouraged" us into his seedy little storefront all the while talking...talking...asking us about ourselves, where we were from, classic method of obtaining trust and putting a person off guard. Ordinarily, neither of us give the time of day to such a person, but we were both curious about where he was going with this. The shop was threadbare (to say the least) with partially painted walls and little else. He had us stand against the wall and get close together, at which time he pointed an ancient camera at us (by this I do not mean a charming 19th century dealy) and took a photo of us that appeared as a grainy black and white picture on the 25 year old 10 inch screen he had. He pressed a button and a heartshape encircled the picture which made us both roll our eyes with the sheer tackyness of it. But it got worse! He then proceeded to type "Forever in Love" on the aged keyboard with the grimey, yellowed plastic cover. The words appeared on the photo under Christian (not even centered) within a white box, in that 1984 font we all remember. Because "Forever" was longer than the "in Love" beneath it, the box wasnt even, but a few spaces longer on the first line. UG! He then typed our names on it. Olde Tyme Photo this was NOT.

All of a sudden, he pressed another key and a sound I haven't heard in over a decade eminated from a device I haven't seen in just as long by the door. I immediately asked him what that was, since we hadn't authorized him to print anything. Soon, the old dot matrix printer that feeds through via holes down the side of the paper (you all know the kind) started pushing his product through. It had BRUGGE written in brown at the top, with a map of the city below it. This was preprinted. On the second sheet (which is of course attached) printed our grainy, security camera, heart-shaped photo with the "Forever in Love" in its uneven white box off center. All the while he is talking...talking...asking us when we were born, and telling us about ourselves (Capricorns are good students, they know what they want, yada yada. Leo's are firey, loyal, like to be in command, whatever). He then came to the end of his rather disconcerting spiel and said the part we were waiting for! He ripped the paper along the perforation, and put it up on an easel nearby and said "This is a very good souvinere, one you will treasure, not expensive, only seven euros..." "WHAAT??" I interupted. "You want 7 euros???? For THAT?" I then laughed and opened the door and walked out, still laughing, with a bemused Christian close behind me. The thing is, if this man was taking part in a reality TV show entitled "How tacky can you get?" he would have won first prize. The old technology, the grainy photo, the heart shape (which we both detest) the cheesy line and the stupid price tag made it for a very memorable experience. You cant buy entertainment like that; luckily, we got it for free. The best part was, the same guy had tried the same thing 6 years ago on Christian and his mother, however, he wanted 10 euros then.

By now it was time to go. We started back towards our hotel. We stopped at the Hotel Acadamie in town, which has free WiFi. Christian synced up while I went in for the 5th time this trip to use the bathroom (I swear they were sure I actually stayed there). Both of us were absolutely resolute that we would not pay anything to use the bathroom whilst on this trip. We then returned to the hotel, got our bags and wished Stephanie a final Adieu as we headed to the station. We only had about 20 minutes to wait before the train to Brussels showed up, and this time we got to sit together. To our dismay, Christian discovered that the bathroom was forever locked, and upon our arrival into Brussels Midi station to await the Eurostar in 3 hours time, we discovered that all available bathrooms are 30 Euro cents to use. Never mind that we only have 40 Euro cents between us and we both have to go, its the principle of the thing.

Now here we sit, in the food court so I can write this up in detail. Luckily, we have several coffee flavo(u)red yogurts on us that we bought in Bruges, so we neednt buy anything. I obtained two spoons from Haagen-Dazs and we're eating like kings for nothing at all. Security has come by several times but we just look too innocent to be loitering, even when they kicked out the drunk guy sitting directly to my left.

It is now 4:10pm Belgium time. The Eurostar departs at 5:56 and we should be back in London a little before 8. There is no WiFi here (its not free, anyway) so we'll have to wait till we get home to add this to the blog.
What we've learned on our trip:1) Free toilets are a luxury we enjoy in both the states and in England. It does not exist all over the world however. Keep spare change or better yet, learn how to walk into a hotel saying "No honey, we dont have to return to the room, Ill just go down here"2) Free water is a blessing, not a right in this country.3) Tips are not included, no matter what it says on the internet.4) Greasy con artists exist everywhere, even in a setting of charm with little crime. Mental note: Capricorns don't take kindly to scheisters and Leo's have long memories.5) Swans are mean.6) Everything costs money. There is no free breadbasket here.7) Plastic spoons are the best international currency.8) You can enjoy a free seat in the food court as long as you appear wealthy enough to buy food if you feel like it.9) Christians ability to guess WiFi passwords ends at the border of the English speaking world.10) Turning up early for a train is sensible, but make sure to use the bathroom before you get here, because an interesting seated dance will undoubtedly begin in the foodcourt. See #1.

5:14pm holds a special place in my heart now, for that is the time we were able to once again fulfill our god given right to go to the bathroom without having to pay a duty to an oppressive foreign regime. At 4:30pm we entered the Eurostar terminal, but they would not let us through until 5pm. As the time ticked by I wouldn't even sit down, just watched the adverts on the wall rotate through. At 4:50 we queued up, and at 5:03 they allowed us through. We passed through Belgian security, then baggage screening, then approached British passport control, where of course I had to fill out a landing card although we weren't flying anywhere. We parked our stuff and Christian left me with it while he went to investigate the facilities. Returning with a smile, I headed off with glee. I entered the door with the skirted figure, the universal symbol for "Women" and entered a bathroom with 7 stalls in it. All had red dots (meaning they were locked) except the one at the end whic!h was wide open. I walked over to it and straight into the back of the man conducting his business standing up, as they do. I had a moment of panic while I thought perhaps it was I who had erred, but it lasted only a split second before a young girl exited the stall directly beside his. Once finished, he realized his mistake and hauled tail into the adjacent facility.

When I returned back to where Christian was seated with our stuff, I realized I was at 55% battery on my IPAQ, and feared it would not be enough for the three hour trip. I saw an outlet about 10 feet from where we were sitting, so headed towards it with a charger cable and two bags, for cover. I plugged in my pocket pc, covered it and the wires with the bags, and proceeded to sit against the wall crosslegged, leaving Christian on the seats with our bags. I had nothing to do whilst waiting for it to charge, but that didn't matter, because Christian was entertaining enough. He had our large burgundy umbrella with him, and every time I looked at him he was doing something else with it; playing it like a flute, or a cello,or a sax, pretending it was a telescope, or a shotgun, gesticulating as if it was the pull for a slot machine. Everyone who walked past, who must have assumed I was a student or a busker, got even more confused when I would laugh outloud at what to them wa!s nothing at all. Upon returning to London Waterloo, we got on a fast train back to Orpington. No car planned this time, we figured we would catch a black cab from Orpington station to Biggin Hill, a journey of no more than 7 miles. We jumped in the waiting cab, and got pretty engrossed in our conversation until Christian said "Wait, why is the fare at £9 already?" Upon inquiring with the driver, we were shocked and dismayed to learn that the price is twice as high due to the bank holiday weekend. By the time we got to Biggin Hill, Christian had to ask the driver to stop on the high street. The fare at this point was £22.80, and we had to seek out all the change we had just to make the fare; as we hadn't accounted for such a high priced trip home. Here we were, having spent the last of our Sterling, and we still had to walk about a quarter mile home, with all our bags. We can walk down a hill that takes about 10 minutes, but if we had stayed in the car, it would have easily been another £4 since he would have had to have travelled further around the valley to get to our house. Scandalous! Oh well, these things happen. We are now at home, ready for a new day tomorrow, back at the office.

Belgium: Day 3

2006-05-28T16:49:00.000+01:00

Last night, after stopping for hot chocolate, we walked along the shopping street and found a posh hotel that hadn't locked its WiFi (pitiful fools!). Hence, both Christian and I hijacked on and synced up our Pocket PCs. I briefly went into an art shop and when I came out, Christian was no where to be seen. As any wife would, I immediately feared that he had been kidnapped by gypsies, but he had actually ducked into the doorway of the hotel to escape the onslaught of rain we were hit with. We sent yesterdays blog entry to the site, then started walking back towards our hotel. It was raining very very hard and before long we were absolutely soaked through and very cold. Of course, I had forgotten our umbrella in our hotel earlier, after carrying it around all morning with no rain to speak of. By the time we got to the hotel, I was miserable. We hung the wet clothes up and I climbed into the bed. Superman I had just come on the TV, in English with Dutch subtitles, so we watched the whole thing.

After 2 hours, Christian dragged me out of the bed and made me get dressed. Whining constantly as we huddled under our umbrella, we found a restaurant near our hotel that had an awning up with an enormous space heater, so decided to eat there rather than venture further into town. Christian had a wheat beer with the most amazing Flemish beef stew. I thought the penne with 4 cheeses sounded like a light option, but instead it was 2 gallons of cheese with some pasta thrown in. My arteries screamed as I ate the whole thing; as it made an exceptional comfort food in the cold and wet. It was 10:30 when we crossed the lake back to our hotel.

This morning, wonder of wonders, the sun had shown its happy face. For the first time in days I donned a tank top and tevas, and, learning from experience the day before, we liberated a large french breadroll from breakfast for the ducks. We again crossed over the Lake of Love into town, having a completely different view of the town glistening in the sun. I had a blast feeding all the baby ducks that came running my way.

Afterwards, we walked towards the town Markt square, thinking it would be fun to take a carriage ride today, but the line was too darn long. Hence, we decided to go back to the abbey where there never seemed to be a line. We were about to learn there was a reason for that, since that was just a reststop for the horses. 3 days we've been here and never knew! So we dragged ourselves back to the Markt, all 15 minutes, and queued up for a horse and carriage. As I waited, I sent Christian to take pictures of the British Morris dancers entertaining in the square. There was a lovely group of British tourists on a cruise waiting in the queue as well, so we all talked and laughed together, which helped the hour go by much faster. Before we knew it, it was our turn, and we jumped in our carriage and Boy, our horse, and our driver took us on a lovely carriage-ride throughout the town. It was 30 euros for 35 minutes, but well worth it.

After that, we realized that it would be a good idea to replenish our cash supply, as we were down to our last 10 euros, however, none of the machines would take our cards, not even our credit card. As it turns out, the three ATMs in this Burg are all empty because its Sunday, so we used our last 10 euros for a pasta lunch, which we took with us back to the Lake of Love and ate happily along its sparkling banks.

After this, we walked the long way back to the Markt, where we decided to climb to the top of the Belfort, a high bell tower in the middle of the town. It is 366 steps to the top, and for 5 euros (each) you get the privilege of walking up all those itty bitty steps without aid. It is a winding stone staircase that has been there for hundreds of years, and it didn't seem too bad at first. But as you go up and up they cease to become stairs and become more like many tiny shelves for a glass managerie. Christians gigantic feet forced him to take each step sideways, but we made it to the top (finally) to a 360 degree view of Bruges. While I was taking a photo of Christian, the bell behind me struck half past, which made me squeal and jump 5 feet in the air, much to the amusement of the other climbers at the top of the tower. Luckily, Christian had had the forethought to put the camera strap around my neck.

Now, I sit atop a wall alongside the Abbey Lake. An accordianist plays cheerfully for spare change and a painter sells the last of his pictures of the Abbey bridge. The sun is still out and it has been a glorious last day. Tomorrow afternoon, we depart once again for home.

As I was putting my Ipaq and keyboard back in my bag, a lovely bride and her entourage walked by.

This is a wonderful place.

Belgium: Day 2

2006-05-27T15:58:00.000+01:00

We finally caught up on our sleep deficit. We went to sleep last night at 6pm, I woke up around midnight to finish the blog, then we slept until 7:30am. We dressed and headed down for breakfast at 8am. We were the first guests to arrive and therefore got the best table, by the window. The restaurant is downstairs, so partially beneath water level. Ducks swam by our window as we ate a full continental breakfast. We headed out around 9am, crossing again the Lake of Love. The birds were very active this morning; we had a mother duck and her ducklings run right past us. We were kicking ourselves for not taking a loaf of bread with us from breakfast.

We walked through the abbey, seeing a little decrepid nun walking to her apartments. The streets were fairly clear this early in the morning. We walked around the shopping streets before deciding it would be a great idea to take a boat tour around the canals. We found the first one and jumped on the next boat with about 27 other people. It was a great tour, lasting about 1/2 hour, taking us all around the city. The architecture is so striking, and every view is a picture. Our guide spoke to us in Flemmish, French and English, but the speaker on the boat was so poor, that I still needed Christian to translate.

After leaving the boat, we decided to just walk the city and see where it takes us. We walked through churches, antiques street markets, past japanese tourists doing watercolors of the waterways. For lunch we decided to go with traditional Belgian food, since we haven't technically had any yet. We found an adorable restaurant called Miramar, which had outside dining. It was fairly cold, but we were the only ones outside and they put us in the gazebo with a candle; very romantic. Christian had 1/2 pint beer, chicken and fries. I decided on a Belgian waffle with ice cream and chocolate. While good, I must say it makes a pretty rubbish lunch, because I have been totally exhausted ever since.

During lunch the weather got even colder. We finished up and spent around an hour perusing the tapestry stores before heading back to the hotel (note: the 'city' is only about a mile from side to side - so it's not that big a deal). By this time Kelly was pretty cold so we got more clothes on and retrieved the keyboard and headed back out. After visiting 2 cathedrals ('Our Lady' and 'Saint Salvador') we ended up back at the market square (Markt) where a group of native americans in full leather and feathered garb were performing. Their music was incredibly beautiful; very ambient, done with various flutes and a rain stick. They had an amazing sound system as well. They were selling their CD for 15 Euros, but we decided not to buy it.

We left there and ended up in the café I mentioned yesterday, enjoying a warming hot cocoa while having arest. While I was sitting at the table typing out this entry Christian took the keyboard from me and typed the following:

These people across from us are on honeymoon - with HER MOTHER..

He was right! It was a young girl and her partner, both about 30, with an older woman with them. Good grief. Now we sit, drinking our hot chocolate and resting our very weary feet. Even with sneakers on, the most experienced walker is no match for cobblestone all day.