Lost Horizons

The Lost Generation

2009-02-01T17:05:00.000+08:00

Went out for a smoke and got caught up in a demo

2008-12-12T11:12:00.002+08:00

Outside our office this morning there is a demonstration against all the banks, from what I can tell.

An Assualt - post-script

2008-12-09T09:12:00.002+08:00

Returning to Central Station this morning, I noticed that the floor is really dirty. I am sure that it's not particularly more dirty than any other day of the week, but, shocking pink does tend to show the dirt up rather a lot.

This can't be doing much good for Coach Leatherware's image, after all they promote themselves as a luxury leatherware company. In my opinion, they must be trying to promote the grunge look.

Marketing campaign? Definitely a miss!

An Assault

2008-12-08T10:53:00.002+08:00

on my senses. My normal journey to work each morning, involves a trip mainly done on autopilot, where I just have to avoid colissions with various pedestrians, who seem to be expert at stepping into your path. Usually, I can complete this journey without to much effort on my brain, which can be left to its own devices.

However, this morning as I descended into the bowels of Central station, I was greeted by a sea of vomit inducing fuschia. The blood red tiles of Central were still there, but the walls and floor had been taken over to promote Coach Leatherware.

The floors were pink, and most of the walls were black and white apart from pictures of garish shocking ping handbags and purses. In this light everyone's skin took on the complexion of a blancmange.

Fortunately, once I reached the station proper the colours returned to normal.

Holiday

2008-10-09T05:32:00.002+08:00

With a financial tsunami rushing through the commercial world, what could be better than to take a short holiday and get away from it all? So that;s just what I am going to do. I am off to Phuket for a few days, so adios amigos.

Flight of the Valkyries

2008-09-25T05:58:00.003+08:00

OK there I was in Singapore and due to fly back to Hong Kong. Knowing that there was a storm brewing, I checked the internet and was grateful to see that my flight was scheduled to depart on time, so I hussled my bootie out to the airport and checked in.
At 8.11 I received a text from Cathay saying my flight would depart at 10:15, and that the weather in Hong Kong was thunderstorms, 24-28C.
We boarded the flight on time, and got settled. The ground staff departed, they closed the doors and showed the safety video. Then the Pilot told us that our take off slot was in an hour and a half. Groans all around. Switched mobile phone back on, got out my lap top, had a beer, switched on the in flight entertainment, had another beer. At 11.02 I received a text from Cathay saying my flight would land at 14.02. Craned my neck to see if airbus had retrofitted RR Olympus engines from an old concord or something. Had another beer. At 11L47 I get another text to say we would land at 15.40, which seemed a lot more realistic. At 11.48 I get another text saying we would depart at 11.50, which was only about fifteen minutes out from our time we pushed away from the stand.
The flight towards Hong Kong was uneventful, as much as the food was unappetising. Once we got within about 60 miles of Hong Kong we just went into a holding pattern. People were getting tetchy, because they had connections and no information. I was getting tetchy because on the info they had us disembarking at gate 0, which I took to mean that we would be bussed to the terminal.
When we finally got on the ground, we did go to a gate, number 68 about as far away from anywhere as you can get; but, of course we had to wait half an hour for the airbridge operator to turn up. To give them, their due the airport was coping pretty well with the chaos. Going through the luggage reclaim, there were so many flights landing that they had this huge projection screen with the flights and their belt numbers. After that everything went smoothly, got to the airport express three minutes before the train arrived and got to Central where there were plenty of taxis and no queues. Got home and it was in one piece - no food in the house, so I headed out to get something to eat.

A quick visit to Singapoops

2008-09-22T21:43:00.002+08:00

Had to come here for a day or two - we will have to see how the typhoon heading towards Hong Kong fares. First time I have travelled economy on Cathay for a while, and its a shame that the flight isn't half an hour longer, because i do prefer CX business class on their regional flights.
Met a guy at the airport waiting by the ATM machine who had flown to Singapore from London, via Hong Kong. It seems the grand prix is making the direct flights too expensive. Getting to the hotel was hassle free, and they have upgraded me to the garden wing. Its a non-smoking room, but no hassle because I have a balcony.
Because I often stay at Shangri-La hotels there is normally two bottles of beer waiting for me in the room. Nice touch here in Singapore they are in an ice bucket (Shangri-La Hotel in Dalian, please note, I like my beer cold). The only problem is there isn't a bottle opener to be found anywhere in the room. I suppose I could have called reception, but that would have been a hassle; then I had a eureka moment - the slot you put the chain in to secure the hotel door should do the trick. OK so its a little bit bent now, but I can enjoy a cold beer on the balcony with a cigarette.

Jessica all tied up

2008-09-20T17:29:00.001+08:00

This sexy ad featuring Jessica Abla is creating quite a vibration. The website Declareyourself.com a group that encourages young Americans to register and vote shows Alba in bondage, all tied up in tears. She does look stressed. I am sure there was no real torture here.
After the screaming and whipping the duct tape was removed from Jessica’s mouth, with tears running down her face she had this to say:

“I really don’t see the point in not registering to vote. We sign up for MySpace pages and Facebook pages, and download music off the internet. The least people can do is register to vote online, actually making a difference in their world, not just making their lives a little bit cooler. It makes more sense to spend your time making a change in society—and it actually doesn’t take that much time! It takes more time to make a music playlist than it does to register to vote.”

Better to think ahead

2008-09-17T13:15:00.000+08:00

A man lost in the desert, desperate for water, was trudging along when he saw something far off in the distance. Hoping to find water, he hurried towards it, only to find a little old man at a small stand selling ties.

The lost man asked, "Do you have water?"

The stall man replied, "I have no water. Would you like to buy a tie? They are only $5."

The lst man shouted, I do not need an over-priced tie! I need water! I should kill you, but I must find water first!"

"OK, OK" said the old man, "It does not matter that you do not want to buy a tie and that you hate me. I will show you that I am bigger than that. If you continue over that hill to the east for about two miles, you will find a lovely restaurant. It has all the ice cold water you need."

Muttering, the man staggered away over the hill. Several hours later he staggered back, almost dead.

"Your brother won't let me in without a tie!"

The doctor is to be feared more than the disease

2008-09-09T13:34:00.002+08:00

So after a weekend of painful elbows, I made an appointment to see my doctor, here in Hong Kong. I was fortunate to get an appointment the same day, and left work a little early to go see him.

When I went into his surgery he greeted me with, "Hello Mr O, how are you, today?"
Surely it is blindingly obvious that, having made an appointment to see him that day, I haven't come to tell him that I am perfectly well.

So I tell him that my left elbow is swollen and painful, but that the earlier proble I had with my knee is OK. So he looks at my elbow, moves my arm around, looks at other parts of me and asks me some questions. Then its time for the diagnosis, "well your elbow is inflamed".

No shit, Sherlock! This is a great job, the patient tells you what's wrong and you turn it into medical language, "doctor, I have broken my leg", "yes, you have a fracture of the femur, that's 700 HKD please"

Any way he is not sure why my elbow is inflamed, so he has given me loads of tablets and told me to come back in a fortnight. To give hime his due the tablets seem to be helping a little bit, but I am probably growing a massive stomach ulcer from all the anti-inflammatories I am shoving down my throat.

As Voltaire said, “Doctors are men who prescribe medicines of which they know little, to cure diseases of which they know less, in human beings of whom they know nothing”

Do you like fish? Yes, of course?

2008-09-05T17:29:00.001+08:00

Tucked away behind Renmin Square, in Dalian, is Gao’erji Lu. This tree-lined avenue is unremarkable. It consists of a hotchpotch of different styles of architecture ranging from Stalinist era, gothic buildings to more modern, urban housing. Towards the eastern end of the street is a strip of bars and cafes, which includes the Bavarian Beer Hall. This is where I had arranged to meet Wendy, last night.

I arrived there early, and spend a little time looking around the area for photo opportunities, but these where hard to find, so I entered the cavern. Quite naturally, for China, it resembled nothing like a Bavarian Beer Hall, but was more akin to a Parisian café with a B&Q pine floor and Ikean tables and a wrought iron, spiral staircase. However, it had many saving graces: a good selection of German style beers, a plentiful supply of beer nuts, pleasant staff and modern music, played at a volume that didn’t prevent conversation.

One of the girls, Yoyo, was extremely eye-catching. Fortunately they hadn’t tried to imitate Bavarian beer waitresses, as she didn’t have the build for it, but she was one of those beautiful girls that seem to be in abundance in Dalian. By the time she had poured my second glass of beer, Wendy arrived, directly from her dance class.

We moved to a table at the back, and ordered some food. Wendy had a plate of salad, and I decided to try the selection of German sausages with sauerkraut and mashed potato. I was not expecting a great deal from this order, but I was pleasantly surprised; it seems they order their sausages direct from Germany. The serving was far too large for me, but it was very pleasant to tuck in to decent bangers and mash.

The conversation turned to European food and different kinds of sausage. Some how I don’t think Wendy believed me when I told her about haggis. It may have been the part about it being a small Scottish animal that lives in the mountains, and because of the steep slopes, its front legs are shorter than its hind legs.

After this, the conversation did turn to more profound things. This is one of the reasons that enjoy spending time with her; we are able to have a good conversation together. Of course it helps that she is attractive, but on the other hand she is married, so I can’t see us becoming more than good friends. Of course that doesn’t stop has having good fun, and the evening was good fun. The time came, eventually, when she had to head home to her husband and I headed back to the hotel. I did go down to the F2 Bar for a couple of drinks, but it was not very exciting, so eventually I retired to my hotel room.

On the way through the security check at Dalian, today, the scanner operator spotted a lighter in my hand luggage, so the security lady asked me to give it hand it over to her, which, of course I did. As I left the security area, my colleague overheard her saying to the others, “Oh, he is such a handsome man”. Some of these Chinese ladies have very strange tastes.

I wonder what they do with all these cigarette lighters that they collect at Chinese airports? Two airports, which I am aware of: Xiamen and Shenzen are to be praised for giving away free lighters to arriving passengers. These have been collected at security and are just recycled into the public domain. I wished that more airports in China adopted this practice. Of course it doesn’t help when I am flying to Hong Kong. At least, there, the smoking rooms normally have people who will give you a light.

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it

2008-09-04T17:42:00.001+08:00

I suppose that when you write a journal and post it on the internet, you should expect it to come back and bite you on the ass some time in the future. I have not posted on this blog for some time, mainly because I haven’t had anything I feel worthwhile sharing with my readers. So, you can imagine my surprise, when in a dark nightclub, I am approached by a girl and she tells me that she has read my blog!

Fortunately, she seems to like what I have written, including what I have written about her. What is more surprising is that she has started to read the whole thing; going back to when I started it over two years ago. In typical direct Chinese style, she was asking me questions about Peanut, and the whole shebang.

Well Chrissie, I am glad you are enjoying this, and I hope you enjoy your fame on the internet, and I hope you get something from it.

I did ask her how she found my blog, and she said she was searching for something on the internet and found it with my photo, which she recognized. I wondered how my blog reached so far up the search engine listings – then I remembered that I used to spell Dalian as Dalain, and if Chrissie also made a mistake in her spelling then “Voila”

Planet Battle

2008-07-30T06:30:00.000+08:00

Hiding behind the Wall

2008-05-05T12:24:00.000+08:00

The Klu Klux Klan is the name given to a secret organisation in the southern United States, who, while hiding behind conic masks and white robes, used terrorism, violence and lynching to intimidate and oppress African Americans. The robes and masks were used to hide the true identities, and to provide anonymity as well as adding drama to their activities.

There are many reasons why a person may want to chose to hide their identity and become anonymous. Several of these are legitimate, such as gifts to charity or tipping off the police about a crime.

Anonymity in literature has a long history – before the advent of the printing press the namelessness of works was not unusual. Beowulf and Sir Gewain and the Green Knight, like most medieval literature, were anonymous. However, with the advent of print, it became an expectation of authorship.

Authors hide behind the mantle of anonymity for a myriad of reasons: diffidence, fear of consequences, or shame. Some authors wrote works, where, if their true identity were known, could have lead to personal attack or accusations of sedition, punishable by torture and death. To me this is a justifiable use of the nom de plume Anonymous.

In the age of the internet, most people hide behind a handle, which may or may not reveal part of their true identity; but at least with this handle you should be able to put an identity, true or perceived, to a message. To the person who uses the handle ‘Anonymous’, this is not possible. Of course, it is possible to find out part of someone’s IP address, etc. Having an IP address 218.xxx.xx.85 in Hong Kong, using a Mac and PCCW as an internet provider, tells me a little bit more, but I like the idea of a handle rather than an IP address. As Patrick McGoohan claimed in The Prisoner “I am not a number – I am a free man!”

The zeitgeist of blogging is that we like to have an impression of the author, however, misleading or wrong that impression is. Readers use their knowledge of the author as a kind of short cut to interpretation.

In 1968 Andy Warhol proclaimed that “In the future, everyone will be world-famous for fifteen minutes.” It seems, today, that people who hide behind the tag ‘Anonymous’ are deliberately eschewing this view.

One reason for this is that its easy to say the most scurrilous and unsubstantiated nonsense when hiding behind a non-name. In the same way that the kluxers wear hoods, to protect their identity and reputation, while they do their dirty deeds; on the internet too many people feel free to sling slander and lies while hiding behind the handle of ‘Anonymous’.

The working girls will be happy, tonight

2008-04-03T12:50:00.002+08:00

The US Navy, or what appears to be a fair size part of it has arrived in Hong Kong:-

Multi-mission Aircraft Carrier Nimitz, complement 5,680, arrived at 08:45,

Guided Missile Cruiser Princeton, complement 360, arrived at 09:25,

Guided Missile Destroyer Higgins, complement 338, arrived at 10:18,

Guided Missile Destroyer Chafee, complement 350, arrived at 10:22,and,

Guided Missile Destroyer John Paul Jones, complement 338, arrived at 10:35.

That's about 7,000 navy personnel to spend their money on shore - good for business. I think I will stay away from Wanchai for a few days. The navy guys are usually well behaved, but it does get crowded!

Black beer with a creamy head

2008-03-22T16:15:00.005+08:00

Next weekend, I will be attending the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens Tournament. Hong Kong's, self-proclaimed, most obnoxious expat calls this his "second-favourite occasion of the year, because every sweaty, blubbery gwailo in town has been interned in a stadium where they paint their faces, indulge in inebriated pagan chanting and watch hulking oafs run up and down a field, leaving the rest of the city a distinctly more pleasant place."
What will make it even more pleasant for me is that I didn't have to join the multitude, who queued up all night in December. I got mine by drinking beer. OK I don't normally drink Guinness, but since those kind people at Diageo have rewarded me with tickets, I may even change my tipple for the weekend, especially as G is now the official beer of the tournament for the next 3 years. So Mr H enjoy your pleasant city in the daytime, but watch out in the evening because the smell of b.o. and eggy-farts will be overpowering.

Some people would be modest

2008-03-13T22:41:00.002+08:00

But I say I told you so.

There is an international furror as Hong Kong has closed its schools to a flu bug; I mentioned it over a month ago here

Back in Hong Kong myself this weekend and looking forward to it.

OTOP gemstone scam

2008-03-09T16:34:00.002+08:00

I was in Bangkok today, and was nearly had by the gemstone scam.
Although it's widely known about, there maybe people around who haven't heard about it; so that's why I am repeating it here.
I had gone site seeing, taking the river boat from Saphan Taksin to Tha Tien. I spent a nice couple of hours wandering around Wat Po and the area around it.
I was walking past the Grand Palace (with no intention of going inside, I don't like the two tier pricing system: free for Thais, Farang pay 200 baht), when I was approached by an older Thai gent, who spoke very good English, who introduced himself as someone who worked in place security, going home at the end of his shift (alarm bell #1: this guy's English was just a little bit too good for a lower rank civil servant, I thought, but gave him the benefit of the doubt). He even showed me his ID card. (Alarm bell #2: The ID card was very poor. It looked like a photo copy of something that had been laminated and badly trimmed with a pair of scissors. he didn't give me any time to examine it; not that it would have meant anything as it seemed to be totally written in Thai). We started chatting and he asked me if I had been to see the Grand Palace (Alarm bell #3: why did he want to strike up a conversation with a sweaty farang, at the end of his shift? I would want to go home. I also thought that Thais do not normally strike up conversations with strangers). I told him that I didn't want to visit it as it was too crowded with Farangs. He laughed and agreed with me. He then suggested that I visit Wat Suthat, and that i was very lucky, as it was normally closed to the public, but was only open for a couple of days. (Alarm bell #4: What a coincidence that this wonderful temple is only open the day I arrive in Bangkok. Wat Suthat is open to the public [B]every[/B] day. OK I had to check on the internet for that one.)
He then drew me a map and said I should go to Wat Suthat, then go to the OTOP Centre to buy some gifts for my family, and then it was only a short distance to Victory Monument, where I could get the skytrain back to my hotel. All this sounded like a very good plan. The guy was very polite and seemed genuine.
I told him that I was heading back to the river to get a boat back to Saphan Thaksin, and he told me that it would be very busy, and I might have to wait 2-3 hours for a boat. (alarm bell #5: this sounded very improbable. As it happened I had to wait twenty minutes).
He told me about the OTOP store saying it was a royal factory and I could buy gemstones for my family. JACKPOT! Now I knew why he was being so polite, it was the old gemstones scam. He said i would be much better getting a tuktuk to the OTOP centre. He even offered to tell the tuk-tuk driver where to take me. I politely declined his kind offer and said i was going to sit in the shade and think of what to do next, he left and I avoided being part of a gemstone scam.
If you don't know what would have happened next you can find out here and here.
OK I was lucky enough to know about the scam and avoid it, but I feel sorry for tourists who might fall for it. Maybe its there last day in Thailand, and they get told the palace is closed for the day, and they miss out. Why do TAT, the Police and the palace allow these scammers to operate so blatantly?

Sunday

2008-03-03T19:09:00.000+08:00

On the following morn, our blogger awoke and stretched. Ah, the first full day of his adventure, and he didn’t have to do anything at all, if he didn’t want to. What a wonderful lazy feeling. He opened the curtains to see that the golden sun was high in the sky and beating down. He thought that it was beating down a little to strongly for his liking.
He pulled on his colourful shorts, t-shirt and sandals, because this blogger liked to wear colourful clothes when he was on adventures. He sauntered out, because this blogger liked to saunter, it had a lazy feeling to the word, and he was feeling lazy, so he sauntered, and found a place where he could get some food.
After he had filled his stomach he continued to saunter along the beach, and he thought to himself that he was right, the sun was beating down a little too strongly, so he sought shelter in a massage parlour, where he had his wooly feet administered to by a delightful elve, who wanted to give him an oil massage. Our blogger thought to himself, “where’s the harm in that?”; so after an hour they headed out the back to the room where the oil massages were administered, and our blogger enjoyed himself some more.
So now a couple of hours had passed and our blogger didn’t know what to do with himself. He wasted some time looking around a shopping mall, but that really didn’t excite him. Then he remembered he had stashed a couple of large bottles of magic elixir in his fridge. He headed back to his temporary hole, extracted the bottles labeled Singha and spent some time by the secluded swimming pool.
That evening, when our blogger returned to Walking Street, things were back to normal. Trolls, elves and goblins were crying out, trying to entice mere mortals into their emporia: “Come inside, beautiful ladies”, “Welcome to the Lobster Pot”. “Hello handsum man, come inside for a drink” were just some of the cries that reverberated around the street. Others were accosting people in the street, trying to get them to buy their cheap, tacky trinkets at grossly inflated prices. This all added to the cacophony created by the music coming from stalls selling bootleg CDs and DVDs competing with the sound systems of the bars.
Our valiant adventurer was pleased to note that people were drinking from green and brown bottles, esconsed in foam condoms. The elixir, called beer was back on sale. He headed into one establishment on the street and consumed a plate of flat noodles with pork and green vegetables, all washed down with a pint of cold, draught Heineken. He would have tarried longer, but this particular bar had chosen to adopt the smoking ban recently put in force by law, but not enforced by the government.
Wandering around without a clear plan in his head, our blogger spotted a go-go bar he knew from his previous adventures, so he headed up Soi BJ and into TQ2. He found himself a table in the corner and took in the room. In the middle was a stage, with the obligatory chrome pipes reaching to the ceiling. On this stage seven ladies lazily shuffled their feet to the heavy rock music belting from the loudspeakers. They appeared to be more interested in eaking out the last remaining flavour of their chewing gum, than in entertaining the half dozen customers around the room.
The uniform on the stage was, well, nothing. The girls were absolutely naked, but had their knickers close to hand in case the wrong person came through the door. The age and looks of the girls would prevent them from winning any prizes at a beauty pageant. C section scars, sagging bellies and buttocks were evidence of standards being lowered.
Soon two ladies came and sat with our blogger. It seems a common strategy here that one will speak fairly good English, whilst the other struggles to understand the simplest phrases, apart from “do you want a drink?” They all understand that one! Introductions were made and drinks were bought. Friendly, inane chit-chat followed that, thankfully, went beyond “What’s your name? Where you from?”
Although the girls were pleasant enough, they didn’t pass our adventurers “Do-I-Want-To-Wake-Up-Next-To-Her” (DIWTWUNTH) Test. So when the girls had gone back to dance on the stage, our blogger settled his bill and quietly, slipped out the door and into the night.
Our blogger decided to head for safer, if slightly more expensive ground, and ended up at Angelwitch. The mamasans remembered him from his previous visit, and soon he was occupying a prime seat, enjoying the show with a cold beer. A few new dancers and a couple of new routines meant that he wasn’t bored by the naked flesh cavorting across the stage.
Sometime during the first show, one of the mamasans came over and explained that she had a new girl whose first night it was, and could the girl come and sit with him? The blogger, being a gentleman, was hardly going to turn down such gracious hospitality, and this young girl was ushered over. “She’s not new! I have seen her before.” declared our adventurer. “Where?” asked the mamasan with a confused expression on her face. The blogger pondered this riddle for a while, and concluded that he may have been mistaken, so he said “maybe it’s the bikini I have seen before, its very catching, especially on such a beautiful lady” Blushes and face saved all around, the young girl planted herself bown on the bench next to our blogger.
Gloin introduced herself; she claimed to be twenty-one years old and from issan. She said she used to work at Coyotees, but had been on holiday in Phuket for the last few months. “Not working there; on holiday”, she insisted.
After spending some time with her it was apparent that she fitted the bill for our adventurer, so whilst she got changed, he sorted out the bar fine and settled the check bin.
A small issue when they tried to leave, was the waitress claiming that she given our questor too much change. Fortunately he was not so “mao” that he could tell the mamasan exactly how much the bill was, how much the change, and what tip he had given the waitress. He and his fair maiden were allowed to leave the cage unharmed; he did wonder, briefly if the waitress was trying to scam him, but decided to give her the benefit of the doubt, as he may want to go back to that treasure trove some time later on his adventure.
They returned to his cave, where the sexual tension was thick, you could have cut it with a knife. “Come on”, she said, “join me in the shower”.

There and Back Again Chapter One - Apologies to JRR Tolkien

2008-03-02T10:09:00.000+08:00

In a hole above the ground there lived a blogger. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a blogger hole, and that means comfort.
This blogger had lived in the neighbourhood for some time, and people considered him very respectable, not only because he was comfortably off, but also because he never had any adventures or did anything unexpected: you could tell what this blogger would say on any question without the bother of asking him.
This is the story of how a blogger had an adventure, and found himself doing and saying things altogether unexpected. He may have lost the neighbours’ respect, but he gained – well, you will see whether he gained anything in the end.
By some curious chance one afternoon long ago in the quiet of the office, when there was less noise and more green, , and the blogger was sitting at his desk after lunch, tapping away at his computer, because the smoking of enormous long wooden pipes that reach nearly down to his woolly toes (neatly brushed) is forbidden– when his boss Gandalf came by. Gandalf ! If you had heard only a quarter of what I have heard about him, and I have only heard very little of all there is to hear, you would be prepared for any sort of remarkable tale. Tales and adventures sprouted up all over the place wherever he went, in the most extraordinary fashion.
‘‘Good afternoon!’’ said the blogger, and he meant it. The sun was shining, and the grass was very green. But Gandalf looked at him from under long bushy eyebrows.
‘‘What do you mean?’’ he said. ‘‘Do you wish me a good afternoon, or mean that it is a good afternoon whether I want it or not; or that you feel good this afternoon; or that it is an afternoon to be good on?’’
‘‘All of them at once,’’ said the blogger.
‘‘Very pretty!’’ said Gandalf. ‘‘But I have no time to blow smoke-rings this afternoon. I am looking for someone to share in an adventure that I am arranging, and it’s very difficult to find anyone.’’
‘‘I should think so – in these parts! We are plain quiet folk and have no use for adventures. Nasty disturbing uncomfortable things! Make you late for dinner! I can’t think what anybody sees in them,’’ said our blogger, and stuck one thumb behind his braces, because he was fat in the stomach and had to wear braces to keep his brightly coloured trousers up.
Gandalf drew himself up to his full height, that wasn’t very tall, since he was a shortish wizard and started to explain to the blogger, “Across the see and over the mountains and still further over some plains there will be a great gathering at a place called the City of Angels. This meeting will be opened by a fair princess and I have to attend this meeting to cast some spells, but I need someoneone to attend the meeting as well.”
Well the blogger startled to chortle to himself, and declared, “I am your man”, because this blogger wasn’t going to pass up on a chance to visit the Land of Smiles, especially when a wizard was paying.
The blogger continued “Pray, tell me Gandalf, what is the name of this gathering?”. Gandalf replied”It goes by the strange name of Pipetech 2008, and it is a great gathering of people involved in our business that is held every two years in strange lands”. Of course the blogger knew exactly what the meeting was; he was stalling for time while he devised a plan.
“This seems like a worthy adventure for me,” he declared, “In order to prepare myself for this, I shall go and acclimatize in the Elysian Fields for a week before hand”
Gandalf told him that he was showing his true worth for the adventure by making such a clever plan.
So several weeks later our valiant blogger sets off on his quest carrying a lot more than three handkerchiefs, what is more he didn’t have to fight any trolls on his journey, and the only thing resembling a dragon that he saw was the airplane that carried him to Bangkok. To make his journey even better, the blogger was upgraded to business class for the journey.
Very soon he had found a nice concrete hole with a swimming pool to stay at for his week halfway between Jomtien and Pattaya. That evening he decided to head into town. When he reached the town, something was different. All the gogos were closed, with magical signs on the doors that our valiant blogger couldn’t read. There were some bars open, but the only lights came from above the pool tables, and the people in the bars were drinking strange concoctions such as sprite, orange juice and coke. And it was quiet, ever so quiet. The only music came from stalls that were selling CDs and DVDs.
Our blogger went in search for some nourishment, and quickly he was sat at a table wolfing down some pad kaprow, which wasn’t really spicey enough for him, but it filled the hole in his ample stomach. Now he was happy, a full stomach. He needed to find some entertainment.
Strolling down Walking Street, carefully avoiding the small children selling fluorescent bangles, old ladies selling flowers and swarthy looking men advertising ping-pong shows, he carefully looked around, and then down an alley he spotted a sign that he recognized. Hope at last for some company and entertainment. He turned down the side street and carefully avoided the sleeping troll, side stepped the speeding motorcycles and sauntered past the food stalls selling unimaginable bite size snacks.
He soon reached the door of the place he was heading for, and a mighty fine door it was too, made of blackened glass and guarded by two people. Our blogger suddenly recalled reading about a new smoking law in Thailand, so before he committed himself to entering he asked if he could smoke his long pipe inside, he was told that he could. He entered and looked around to take in the scenery. In the middle of the room was a bar and surrounding the bar were several Thai ladies, some quite beautiful and some not so pretty. He sauntered up and sat on a stool that was vacant between two girls. Very quickly a waitress approached and asked if he wanted a drink. Our blogger said that a little beer would suit him, but the waitress just shook her head, and our blogger settled for some coke light. Then he remembered, they were electing a panel of wizards the next day and the whole country had to stay sober in case an evil wizard was elected by mistake. The two girls next to him introduced themselves as Flori and Nori, and very soon they were all talking away about mines and gold and troubles with the goblins, and the depredations of dragons, and lots of other things which he did not understand. Well they may well have been, because our blogger didn’t really care, he was back in Thailand with a smile on his face and in the company of some beautiful ladies. He bought them drinks, nam som and mipo seemed to be the flavour on this tequila free night.
After a while our blogger got bored of sitting in a bar and asked Nori, or was it Flori? to accompany him back to his hole for the night. In a very short time they were back, wearing no clothes, roaring like lions, howling like wolves and romping on the bed like a stormy sea.

New, innovative, old technology

2008-02-21T12:47:00.001+08:00

Someone left a comment on my other blog, it goes like this:- "Fuel is the adrenaline of any car, truck or engine. Thus, it is every vehicle owner's wish to enhance the fuel of their car and save more of it as well. With this in mind, the most innovative fuel-saving tool in the automotive industry was conceptualized and created: the Tornado Fuel saver. An automotive air channeling tool that creates a swirling air motion, the Tornado Fuel Saver allows the air to move in a faster and more efficient way by whirling air around corners and bends. Hence, more fuel is saved."

Sounds like a turbo-charger to me.....

Monsieur Impoli

2008-02-19T10:38:00.002+08:00

Of course I have heard the stereotype of the rude French, and I have dismissed it. There are rude and polite people in every nation, and most of the French people I have met are far from rude, maybe a little distant to start with, but certainly not rude.
In a recent remake of the Mr Men series, for British TV, Mr. Rude was given a french accent. This was not intended to cause offence, and was meant to be light hearted and tongue in cheek. Unfortunately, it got blown out of all proportions when a French Embassy official decided to comment that a farting cartoon character with a Gallic accent called Mr. Rude will not improve relations with Britain. How petty, its a kids' TV series - get a life.
Today I met a rude Frenchman; I was outside our office block, having a cigarette, when I was approached by a Frenchman demanding to know if the building was numbber one one eight. So I told him that it was number 168. Then he demanded to know where 118 was. I asked him "Do i look like a postman? How should I know? Try over there" pointing towards Central. He then demands to know if its far, so I said that not only wasn't I a postman, i wasn't a guide either and that I had no idea how far it was - seems strange he just stormed off - not a please or a thank you. Yes i may have been rude, but he started it.

Methinks the lady doth protest too much

2008-02-19T10:14:00.002+08:00

Enjoying my stroll along Stanley Street, on the way from work, yesterday, I noticed in the window of Ultimate PC & Mac gallery large posters stating that they had nothing to do with the Edison Chen scandal, and that it was another shop with the same address. Of course it was eLite Media, next door. Though, I got to thinking having two large posters in the shop window, what does it achieve? Do they really think that if EC had bought his computer into their shop and they had found the photos that they wouldn't have done something similar?
Ultimate is a great shop, and I have bought from them before, but now, with their "holier than our next door neighbour" attitiude, I am thinking twice about going there. I would probably go to eLite, on the same premise that the cleanest restaurant is the one that was recently closed down by the health authorities and allowed to re-open.

The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner

2008-02-18T11:22:00.004+08:00

When I was studying English Literature at school, I was forced to read Alan Sillitoe's short story. It's not really about running, but more a socialist moral fable.
Still, the title is common enough to make people think of long distance runners as solitary, bona-fide introverts, obsessive individuals who don't mind pain. This is contrasted by the fact that nearly 43,000 people took part in the Hong Kong long distance races, yesterday. It seems to me that long distance running is quite a social affair.
Respect though to one of my colleagues, Ken, who despite being in his seventh decade, took part in the ten kilometre race, and finished withing fifteen minutes of the winning time. Even more respect to the fact the race started at twenty past five in the morning, and after the race, he went off sailing. Of course I only have his word that he took part as he lost his timing chip, so he won't be receiving a certificate. But knowing Ken, he took part - he's too honest to lie about it. Me? I couldn't even get up that early, let alone run in a race at that time.

Leica Mate

2008-02-17T04:38:00.002+08:00

As you may be aware, I am a bit of a shutterbug. I have acquired a frightening amount of camera gear, since I have arrived in Hong Kong. Most weekends will find me weighed down with a camera bag, tripod and all sorts somewhere in Hong Kong taking photos.
Last week I acquired a new digital camera, the Leica M8. It's a rangefinder camera, which is quite different from the SLRs I normally use. One of its advantages is its size; not only is the camera smaller, but the lenses are too.
Yesterday, I went around Central taking pictures. Its a great camera, not easy to use. Focussing is a pain in low light situations, but overall I was impressed. There are situations where the SLR will beat it hands down, but it definitely has a place in my armoury.
During my walk I noticed that the old Central Police Station was open to the public, as it was hosting an exhibition, so I took a look. The building, especially the jail, was very interesting. It was a little bit difficult to get a true feeling of how the place was, as the exhibits tended to dominate everything. Some of the exhibits were very interesting. Its a sort of cross between an architecture/design exhibition and a protest against modern decay in Hong Kong and how to preserve Hong Kong's heritage.
There were several people there with large camera bags and tripods, and me walking around with my camera which fits into a baggy pocket on my jacket.

Phoenix

2008-02-16T07:40:00.002+08:00

Like a bird rising from the ashes, I have decided to resurrect this blog. I bumped into Spike last night in Lan Kwai Fong, which sort of reminded me that I had neglected this and my other blog. Some of the reasons for this is due to being busy, being distracted by my photography, and really living a pretty dull life. And I don't want to bore you to death.
So what has been happening in my life since October?
I have joined a gym, well California Fitness on Wellington Street. I go there three or four times a week for some cardio, weights and kick-boxing. I am really enjoying the kick-boxing. The last time I did any pugilism was at school, when normally I ended up with a bloody nose. Although the idea of this is to get me fit, and I am not supposed to land a punch on my instructor, he does sometimes get in the way of my fist. Its got to the stage where I think he is running scared of me! He cancelled yesterday's lesson on the flimsy excuse of having to go to the doctor.
The goings on of a minor Hong Kong celebrity are only there to distract the public from much more frightening news. There is a virus spreading through Hong Kong like wildfire. I know several people who have had it, or whose children have got it. No one seems to know where it has come from and it seems unstoppable. Now, I am not saying that SARS is making a comeback or anything horrific like that, but if I know several people who have had it then there must be a lot more out there suffering from diarrhea and fever. Why doesn't our government tell us?

The Man of Law

2007-10-20T10:39:00.000+08:00

Now, don't get me wrong, I don't have anything against lawyers as people - one of my oldest friends is a lawyer; but, the other night I met a lawyer (or at least someone who professed to be one) who I would not want to be a friend of mine.

I was sat in Carneggies, enjoying crazy hour, and entered into a conversation with this stranger, lets call him A. We were engaged in the sort of casual banter that might happen in any bar between strangers - pollution in HK, teenagers today, internet chatting, girls who work the bars, etc. It was a fairly pleasant chat, although it was mostly one-sided, as I found it hard to get a word in edgeways sometimes.

After a while another legal johnny, lets call him B, comes in and sits next to A, and buys A a drink. The conversation carries on, and I notice that B buys A a couple more drinks. He did offer me a drink, but I declined, not wanting to get into a round situation with a couple of strangers. A never bought a drink.

After three drinks or so, B leaves to go home. After he has left A turns to me and starts telling me stuff about B that, a) is none of my business, b) I don't really want to hear about, and c) for someone to buy you drinks and then to turn round after he has left and slag him off behind his back, is in my opinion, pretty low behaviour.

So, A, if perchance you read this blog, and you recognise yourself in this story. It wasn't big and it wasn't clever, and I wasn't impressed.

Bad, Mad and so Sad

2007-10-09T02:37:00.000+08:00

The project I am working on is having some construction work done in China. The company doing thet work, for us, employs many contractors, and on Friday morning, three of them were killed. The work they were doing, involved them having to wear hoods, to which an air hose is connected, providing them with a continuos supply of air to breath. It appears that, somehow, someone had manage to connect the air hoses to a supply line of argon, a gas used for welding.
Needless to say, this just shouldn't be possible, but it did happen. We have warned the construction company about their safety practices so many times, and still there doesn't seem to be any improvement, and now, three people will not return to their families.
I can't really put into words, how I feel about this - angry, disappointed, frightened for the safety of other people, bitter about the construction company's attitude, amazed at the stupidity shown in the accident, just so many different emotions. Needless to say we have pulled all our staff off that worksite, until we can be assured about their safety.

The holiday continues

2007-09-26T10:23:00.000+08:00

The lack of a recent entry for the trip report is due to the internet being down in the hotel, not from my lack of willingness to write. This is Thailand afterall, and we can not expect 24hour a day internet access.
Sunday evening, and I headed out about eight thirty, and had a very disappointing meal at the open air seafood restaurant near Coyotee’s; the service was mediocre to poor, the food was not inspiring even though it was spicey, but, hey for a couple of hundred Baht, what do you expect?
The original plan was to go to Angelwitch, have a couple of drinks, give K her photos and to move onto somewhere else.. This was a great plan, but of course it didn’t happen like that. A crowd of onlookers blocked Walking Street, watching the filming of a pop video or something. Got totally hacked off by this so I walked through the middle of the set (security was appalling), but I did wait for a pause in the filming. Got into Angelwitch and grabbed a seat and ordered a beer. K was talking to another customer, and I could see she had a drink in front of her, which was fine. A little while later she comes over and sits next to me, explaining that this man was an old friend who buys drinks for anyone. I told her it wasn’t a problem and gave her the photos which she was happy about, showing all her friends. I made the big mistake of buying her a drink then, so of course she is all lovey-dovey. She offers me an out by asking which of the ladies dancing did I think was sexy. Like a total prat, I told her that she was the sexy one – my only excuse, in hindsight was that she was stroking my todger at the time.
As the night wears on, I get more drunk, buying her drinks, etc. and eventually I pay her bar fine and she goes to get changed. I am thinking, “Great, we can get away from here at a decent hour go to a couple of bars have some fun then go back to the hotel for some sanuuk. But it seemed that she had other plans, and found excuses not to leave, like wanting to sell a basket of ping-pong balls, etc. There was a couple of times I thought about cutting my losses and going, but I never did. Finally, all the shows finished and I managed to drag her out of there. Walking along the street and the filming is still going on! K said that she new who the Indian singer was, and that in K’s opinion she smelled. Mmm, it seemed that K was starting to show her true colours.

We ended up at the Country Bar, the one run by her brother, and we had a really good time. I played 5 games of pool, and during one game I even managed to sink three long shots in a row. I ended up winning three of the games I played so felled pretty good. K’s brother comes over and asks something along the lines of “How was the farang in bed last night – pretty useless seeing how pissed he was, right” K was straight on the offensive, telling him I was a fantastic lover who had made her orgasm five times. It was a crock of bull, but made me feel good. Then we got playing connect4, and I was doing pretty well there as well. Very soon it is passed four o’clock in the morning and I tell her I want to go back to the hotel. I pay the check bin and we head up to where the taxis hang out which means we have to walk passed Club Insomnia. K says she wants to go in there, and tell her that it wasn’t happening. She gets all whiney, and says she only wants to go in there for a short while, and I old her if she wanted to go there she could go there on her own, but I want to go with you, she says. I told her I was going back to the hotel, no questions, no negotiating, full stop, she could either get in a taxi with me or she could go and do what she wanted on her own.
Anyway we go back to the hotel and she is all sweetness and light, letting me take some more photos of her.

She had probably had a few too many drinks, because she was really adventurous in bed, and as a result the sex was, for me pretty damned steamy.
I woke early and woke K at the same time, although we stayed in bed for a while longer, I did manage to get her out of the apartment at a reasonable time.
Monday was very uneventful day, mostly taken up with a two hour foot massage in the Bamboo Massage Parlour not far from the north end of Walking Street. When I went in it was fairly quiet and we were all have a good bit of banter going on, you know the sort of chit chat foiled with harmless innuendo that goes on in these places. Towards the end, whilst the girl was working on my neck and shoulders, the place starts to fill up, and this huge American sits in the chair next to me. He looks across at what the girl is doing to me, and asks what I am having done. I felt a bit silly telling him I was having a foot massage, but we all saw the funny side of it.
The rest of the day was uneventfully filled with beer and food.
In the evening I planned to go out and stay clear of Angelwitch, and my resolve held. I started off the evening very low key with some food at a place I can’t remember the name of, which shows how remarkable the food was!
Wandered on to Walking Street, and the bloody film crew is still there, blocking the path of everyone, so I cut down one of the alleys. I thought about going to Diamond a gogo, as I hear there are some stunners there. Problem is, I couldn’t find the way in!
Carried on wandering around, with none of the bars appealing to me, and I found myself dangerously close to Angelwitch, so I popped into Secrets, which was quite busy. Got chatting to P, a half Thai/Chinese girl, who spoke good English, but had one of those high pitched giggles that really gets on my nerves. Really nice face and body, good conversation, and the by now, infamous “I have a degree in marketing” claim; so, I buy her a drink. Everything is going fine, and then she says she needs to talk to her friend. She goes over to talk to another girl who is sat next to this guy, and blow me two minutes later they are all off upstairs together. As I sat there drinking my beer, another girl came over to chat, but, she was a real woofer.
After another beer, I left. Wandered into the next Soi, and was dragged into another gogo, the name escapes me, but, I thought it ws going to be a waste of time. Four girls, of which one was shaggable, lazily shuffling there feet on the stage. One was even picking her nose! I planned to stay for one drink, when all of a sudden the girls started to get all excited. One of the younger girls, who was there to drag customers in had taken all her clothes off, she then proceeded to streak around the bar, flicking water from a glass on the walls, floor and on the path outside the gogo. I felt that such gumption meant that she had a bit of character, so I bought her a drink. S didn’t have such good English, but came from Changmai and had a fit body, nice face. We are getting on fine, when all of a sudden she ups and goes to sit next to another customer, who has bought her a drink! Tonight is looking like it will turn into a disaster. I was thinking to myself that I would try one more place, and if struck out there I would head to Angelwitch. The place I decided to try was Sisters, mainly because of one of the girls had a placard outside which said “More fun than Blackpool in November”. This grabbed my attention, and made me wander. I have never been to Blackpool in November, but imagine a windswept Lancashire beach, then of course there is the illuminations, so it might be OK.
When I first went in there I didn’t hold out much hope for the place. There was a long stage in three sections. At the far end was the show stage with a sort of climbing frame set up and chains hanging from the ceiling. A couple of girls were dancing there. The next part of the stage was a turntable with three girls doing their thing – I later found out that this section can also raise up another metre or so. The section nearest the door was just a few poles with a handful of girls doing the gogo shuffle. At first glance, none of the girls appealed to me. As I sat there nursing my beer three of the girls came and sat on the bench near me, and they were having a bit of sanook together. One of them a tiny little thing kept smiling at me, so I gave in and bought her a drink. She probably didn’t have any more English than “What’s your name?” and “Where you from?”, but she was fun and could talk well enough with her hands and body. Soon it was time for her to take a turn on the stage, after that she came back with her friend and sat on my lap. She obviously had a problem because she had to go to the toilet a couple of times, I asked her friend if she was OK, and it seemed that she had a poorly stomach. Well, I didn’t want to end up with someone who was going to spend the night crouched over a toilet, so I started talking to her friend, and bought her a drink. J’s English was a little better, and she had a slightly nicer body, so, bar fine paid, costs agreed and we head up to get a taxi. The taxi driver wanted two hundred baht to take us to the hotel, and J thought this was too much and said something to the driver who said something back, which J didn’t like, so I quickly butted in in my pigeon Thai and we agreed a price of hundred and fifty baht. I was getting worried that the driver was taking the wrong route, but we got back to the hotel in one piece, and at a reasonable time, as well.

So, we are still having problems with the internet at the hotel, because of this it could be a long post especially if they don’t get it fixed until Saturday, but if that’s the case I could very well take my ‘puter to Secrets and use their free wireless.
I went in there this afternoon and Larry came over and introduced himself. He seems like a top bloke and told me about a party they are having this evening. We will have to see if I make it there or not.

The night I fell in love with a gogo dancer!

2007-09-23T11:37:00.000+08:00

I headed out last evening, down to Walking Street. At that stage I wasn't really hungry, so I thought I would grab something at a food stall later on. Wandering around I soon found myself sitting down in Angelwitch.
Almost as soon as I sat down I was hit upon by this dancer in a red outfit, nice body, but her face let her down big time, so I let her go off and dance.
Very soon another girl came to sit next to me, K was a little bit pompoi, but in all the right places. We got chatting and were having a good laugh with the waitresses. If I remember it was to do with the flashlights the waitresses had, and comparing them to the men's tools they like. "Oh look she likes small ones", "She likes fat ones", and of course one of the girls had a black flashlight which caused much hilarity.
After the second show Ibar fined K and we went off to the Rolling Stones 2 bar, where I managed to grab some very mediocre chicken and pork sticks off a food stall. Its a shame because the guy really looked like he knew what he was doing. After a game of pool, we headed off to another bar - God knows where, but somewhere off Walking Street. Where K had one of those arab pipe things, and we were generally mucking around for half an hour or so before we headed back to the hotel, for a night of ... well I will leave that to your imagination.
As i said K, was nicely pompoi. I told her that I liked a bit of sauce with my chicken. Like most girls these days she sprted a tramp stamp, and she also had a scar from when she was small where they had put hot wax under the skin on her shoulder - why do they do that?
She had a really nice personality, and will I go see her again - well, who knows?

And the good luck continues....

2007-09-22T20:05:00.000+08:00

When I presented my boarding card to get on the plane, the girl at the gate said that they had re-assigned me to a different seat, on the upper deck in business class. OK, it was too early in the morning to make full use of the free champagne, etc. but, at least I was treated to another serving of dimsum and some half decent coffee, plus I got off the plane quicker than I would have done if I was in row 57, that I was originally assigned to.
So a quick walk to the nearest available smoking room, to top up my nicotine levels. Then, on to immigration. Trust my luck to get the conscientious immigration official. Two people in the queue ahead of me got intensely scrutinised before being hauled off to the 'special' counter. When he saw all the Thailand Immigration stamps in my passport he looked even closer ( I think he may have mistaken the Indonesian ones for Thai, as they are very similar). Finally he asked how long I was staying so I told him and showed him my return ticket and he let me through.
By now, my suitcase was waiting for me, so I whizzed through customs and jumped in an airport limousine to Pattaya. The journey south was uneventful, they do seem to have made some progress on the highway, but its still pretty rough. I got to the hotel and didn't expect to be allowed to check in, until later, but they were kind, so soon I was in my suite. But not for long, as after I changed I headed down to Pattaya Beach.
First on my list of tbhings was a plate of pad-kaprow gai washed down with a couple of Singhas. Very tasty indeed, and the cute/shy waitress was flirting outrageously. Then a quick stroll round to Soi Post Office for a foot massage. The girl in there was trying very hard to persuade me to go round the back for an oil massage, but I was having none of it. After an hour, I headed to the Bodega cafe for a couple of sun downers before heading back to the apartment.
So, I am settling in well. Now its time for a shower before I head out for an evening's jollification.

I have a good feeling...

2007-09-22T08:16:00.000+08:00

... about the week ahead, I really think I am going to enjoy it. I have a week off work and have decided to spend it in Pattaya. Got the accommodation and flight sorted and the rest will surely fall into place. I am not going to have Peanut in tow this time which will be different, but hopefully cheaper.

It was an early start this morning, to catch the 9 o’clock flight, but a taxi was easy to find, and as we drove to Hong Kong Station every traffic light turned green in front of us. I said to the taxi driver, that with this luck, he should buy a lotto ticket, as he would surely be a winner.

I got to the airport just in time to pop into the Cathay lounge for some dimsum, then off to the smoking lounge for a quick cigarette before heading to the boarding gate, where I am now, about to get on the flight.

The Wonderful World of Wallydom

2007-09-18T16:47:00.000+08:00

So, the Sex Pistols are to play a one off concert in London in November to mark the 30th Anniversary of the release of Never Mind the Bollocks. At the same time four of their singles are to be reissued:- God Save the Queen, Anarchy in the UK, Pretty Vacant and Holidays in the Sun will be re-released on vinyl (has anyone got a record player?).
NME is running a campaign to get God Save the Queen to number one in the UK charts.
One of may favourite comments by John Lydon, aka Johnny Rotten came in a recent Wired interview, where he says:"Punk, when it started out -- we were open for everything from anyone all the time. It very, very quickly mellowed into this tragic misrepresentation of studded leather jackets and arseholes spitting left, right and center and being rude for the sake of it. The wonderful world of Wallydom".
That about somes up the Sex Pistols for me.

Wanchai Weekend Warrior

2007-09-15T09:25:00.000+08:00

After I got home yesterday, I lay down for an hour or so, then had a shower and felt like a million dollars. Having no food in the apartment, I decided to head to Lan Kwai Fong for some food. I couldn't get near the Bulldog Bar because of some Canadian society party, so I headed to the piece and quiet of the back bar at Bar George, where I started on the reasonably priced Heineken.
How nice it was to sit at the bar, supping a cold pint and smoking. Another pint quickly followed, and, of course, I completely forgot to order any food. After about four pints, the girls started to turn up there, which put me in the mind to head down to Wanchai, so I jumped in a taxi and headed down to Neptune II.
It was still quite early so i was able to get a seat at the bar. Quickly I was approached by a pretty young thing, who started to chat me up, but I wasn't really attracted to her. I turned around and two Thai firls hat sat next to me. The one on my immediate right was a double-bagger, but her friend seemed very pleasant. Quickly we rearranged our seats so I was sat next to G, the prettier of the two.
The story she span me was that she had taken a fortnight's holiday from work and come to Hong Kong to get a large some of money together, and I can't remember the reason why she wwanted this money. After buying her and her friend a few drinks, I suggested that we head back to my apartment, so the negotiations began, her starting price was HKD3,500 - I nearly fell off my stool, either from shock or laughter. Eventually we agreed a price that was far more reasonable, and headed off in a taxi.
In bed she was not very experienced, or a very good actor at not being experienced, but that was good because she was willing to try many more things to make me happy; which she did a few times. There was definitely some confusion in her mind, because she kept on getting mixed up with G the name she had told me and Sassy, so at the end of it all I don't know what her name is.
So today will be a boring day with shopping for food, laundry, ironing and stuff. Maybe I shouldn't have been so hasty in chucking G out this morning, I could have got her to do some of the work.

"Please hold the handrail and mind the step"

2007-09-14T16:15:00.001+08:00

What music to my ears, to hear that announcement. Having been away from Hong Kong for four weeks I new I had arrived home.

There were very few highlights to the trip, and many disappointments. This has strengthened my resolve to try and make my life in Asia. Some of the highlights: visitting old friends and renewing acquaintances, drinking real ale, meeting up with Rick Parfitt and Francis Rossi (Status Quo) in the business class lounge at Heathrow Airport, going to see a stage production of Stomp!, drinking real ale, going to see the ex and the kids, and drinking real ale.

Some of the disappointments were 5 quid for 1/2 litre of beer in Copenhagen, British Airways cancelling my flight from Copenhagen to the UK, getting a flat tyre on the hire car and finding the spare was useless, 5 pounds 60p for a packet of ciggies, not being able to smoke anywhere,

One of the surprises was my daughter, who is now 12 years old. Me and my ex seperated when she was very young and my ex soon re-married, So both my kids see him as Dad, whereas I am just an 'uncle' who visits every now and again. Now she is 12, K is going through the stage where she knows absolutely everything, and is always right. She was telling me about her super mobile phone, and asked what I had, so I told her that it was a boring old Nokia. Shortly after my phone went off, and when she saw it she was very impressed, "Thats not a boring, old Nokia, that's one of their best phones!" Soon she was trying to transfer all sorts of files via bluetooth, which left her mum gobsmacked. "How can she do that when she doesn't have your phone number?" Mum asks.

I don't know whether to be worried or amazed that a twelve year old girl knows all the mobile phone models.

2007-09-03T12:48:00.000+08:00

I know that posting has been non-existant for a while, but have been tied up in Europe (no, I haven't got into S+M).
Won't be back in Hong Kong for a couple of weeks yet.
I hadn't realised how expensive Europe has become, e.g. a half litre of beer in Copenhagen HKD75, a packet of cigarettes in the UK HKD90.
The weather is shite too!

Siden blev ikke fundet

2007-08-19T01:18:00.000+08:00

Why the hell does Blogger do this. I am not Danish, I can't understand Danish, although I do like to partake in their beer and bacon. So just because i am using a computer in Copenhagen why is everything in Danish? I have logged in, Blogger knows where I come from, why write everything in Danish? i have no idea what "GEM NU" or "UDGIV INDLAEG" mean. So I think I will go and have a beer.

The Little Red Dot

2007-08-16T17:40:00.000+08:00

My flight to Singapore, yesterday was made almost tolerable by the fact that I was flying business class, only because it is part of a much longer flight that the company will pay the extra dosh for. Usually Singapore is under the four hour rule where we get more leg room and the wine is almost palatable.
Arrived here in the evening, and the change from Hong Kong was immediately noticable, more so than the similarities; such as far less pollution, people are slower, the traffic, even on the busy roads doesn't seem to me as snarled up, and its cooler.
Arrived at the Shangri La and they were their usual service at any costs smiles. Had a smoking room, and the girl who came to turn my bed down asked if there was anything else she could do for me. I was sort of tempted, but no.
I took a stroll down to the four floors. It was early, but the main problem there is finding places where you can smoke, so I ended up in Ipanema, which seemed to be full of girls from Vietnam (who looked old), katoeys and girls carrying a lot of silicone (obviously been around long enough to earn the dosh required for the op). Apart from that it was like the arctic in there, which didn't relly enhance my pleasure. The smoking room there is signed up that you can't take food or drink in there - which seems strange, but most people were ingnoring te signs and taking their beers in there with them. After three beers I headed back to the hotel; on the way, I was propositioned several times by some pretty ladies from China and a katoey (I didn't have to be sober to realise this).
My meetings today went well. Pipe Welders & Flange Fitters International have moved their HR department for my project to Singapore, recently. So it was worth going in there. They were kind enough to treat me to lunch at an eatery called Garuda, which was pleasant.
Another quick meeting in the afternoon, then back to the hotel. The hotel then phoned me up to ask what I wanted as my free gift for being a Golden Circle member, and she ran through a list of things like beer, coke, coke zero chocalate, milk and cookies, and said I was allowed to pick three gifts. I said, "That's easy. Beer, beer and beer, please" "Cannot sir, they must be different" I thought about this for a while, and said, "OK, just bring me the beer, and forget the other two gifts." "But Sir you must pick three!" "I did pick three but you said that wasn't allowed, so now I am picking the only gift I want"
Sure enough the young girl comes around with two bottles of Tiger, which i am supping as I write this missive.
Back to the airport soon to catch a flight to "the seat of Mars"

"Escalator Safety is easy to learn"

2007-08-07T13:02:00.000+08:00

So the MTR is running its annual escalator safety campaign, deploying Escalator Safety Ambassadors to remind passengers how to use escalators safely, with corny messages, such as, "Stand clear, keep your toes away from the edge", and "Grandparents to please use the lift for a safe trip".
As well as Escalator Safety Ambassadors, dressed in bright green uniforms, they are using platform assistants to stand near the escalators with megaphones spouting recorded safety messages, which they will occassionally interupt, as they hurl abuse at some poor person who has violated the Escalator Safety Code. The people who police these wonderful stations will be concentrating on the escalators - always being mindful, not to stand in the way of several hundred passengers who are rushing for the train or the exit.
Meanwhile in other parts of the station, other passengers will be able to transgress all sorts of rules, because there is no one there to tell them what to do, and they always ignore tannoy announcements anyway. Like, yesterday, as I tried to get off the train at Central there was a mother and son sttod on the green arrow on the platform, blocking my exit from the train. To add to this heinous crime, the young lad was eating a butty. It was really his misfortune that his head was at the same height as my knee, so, when the mother tried to barge onto the train, dragging her offspring along, my knee struck the young lad causing him to cry out.
Wake up MTR! Control the crowds on the platforms, the escalators don't need your attention. I now have a sandwich stain on my trousers.

USS Huckleberry Finn

2007-08-06T09:58:00.001+08:00

For those of you who breathed a sigh of relief when the US Navy left town, last week; being able to get a seat in your favouritre watering holes, my sources tell me that they will be back latewr this month with a different set of ships. A very reliable source (i.e. someone told me in a bar) that 5,000 American sailors would be getting 4 days shore leave from the 20th August. They couldn't tell me the name of the ships, so I will call it the USS Huckleberry Finn.
I am OK about this as I won't be in town, I will be in Denmark on my mini business trip for four weeks visitting Singapore, UK, Denmark, UK and the Isle of Man, before coming back to Hong Kong for a week, and then I am going to Pattaya fofr a week to getr over all that travelling.

To watch a grown man cry, you soft git!

2007-08-05T18:03:00.000+08:00

On Friday evening, I was trying to enjoty a quiet drink at one of my favourite watering holes, but there was someone there who, without direct contact was doing just enough to thoroughly piss me off. I didn't know him so it seems he was visitting the Hong Kong Office, fom abroad; but I do know what company he works for: a company that has an office in Quarry Bay on the 12th Floor of one of the buildings in Taikoo Place. Not only was he being an obnoxious prat, but he was ready to communicate the fact with anyone in the bar who was willing to listen to his foul language, watch his drunken antics, such as swinging girls around on his shoulders, and smell his stinking feet as he put them on the bar.
He was just one of those guys who was bound to ruin your evening for you. Then Fate intervened, on my behalf, to save the evening from being a complete disaster. He had obviously just invested some hard owned rupees in a new Blackberry whilst he was in Hong Kong, and he put this on the bar, while he decided to have an arm wrestling contest with one of his colleagues. And I was offered a similar revelation to Sir Isaac Newtoon with the apple, as he knocked it from its, not-so-safe place on the bar. Gravity took hold and it landed on the stone floor nex to the bar.
Now this was not one of those, 'when the irrestible force meets the immovable onbject moments". I guess that Blackberries are not meant to be knocked on the floor, so when it struck the granite slabs it sort of disintegrated into a useless pile of plastic and more plastic. The lout got really upset about this, and started to behave as if his brother had died or something. I have to admit that I mutterd to myself, my favourite Thai phrase, "Som nam na, you twat!".
Thankfully this event caused tne owner of the smashed blackberry to leave the bar, and I was able to enjoty the rest of my evening, by getting thoroughly sozzled.

Thai Sausage

2007-07-30T09:51:00.000+08:00

On Saturday, I ventured to the Lan Kwai Fong July Fest, LKF's version of a beer festival. Although it hardly matches similar events in Dalian or Qingdao, its a very pleasant way to spend an afternoon.
Of course it was hot, damned hot, so after a couple of hours of walking around I stopped at a stall run by the Thai Lemongrass Restaurant; where a delightful Thai girl persuaded me to buy a bottle of Singha, not htat I needed much persuading. Then, she asked if I wanted some food. Thinking they might have some nice, Thai nibbles, I asked what they were offering. It seemed their main stay was sausages. I commented that this was not very traditional Thai food, and were they Thai sausages?
The girl quickly responded with a knowing look and a dirty laugh, "Thai sausages aren't that big!". Oh, how I like a Thai girl with a dirty laugh.

The calendar that's right once a year.

2007-07-17T15:48:00.000+08:00

As a Mac user, I have a very useful calendar called iCAl, and it shows in my Dock. The thing that annoys me, though, is that if iCal is not running the icon shows a standard date of July 17th. If iCal is running the icon shows todays date. OK I know that its easy enough to start iCal automatically when I switch the machine on, but it can't be that hard for the icon to show today's date even if the program isn't running, can it?
And why did they choose today's date to go on the icon? What's so special about today?

Camera Workshop

2007-07-16T10:41:00.000+08:00

On Sunday, I was invited by Canon to their store in Kowloon to try out the new Canon Powershot S5 IS. Although its not really my kind of camera, I thought I would go along for a bit.
First of all its not an easy place to find. Finding the building was no problem, especially as it has a massive neon sign on the roof, but trying to find the lifts, well that was quite a challenge.
Next stage was to try and avoid all the pushy salesmen. Actually it wasn't too bad, but everytime you looked at something for more than a few seconds, someone would come and try and sell you something. Finally got into the studio, where they had set up some displays to show off some of the new features of the camera: there was a model food display to show the macro 0cm feature, a model railway, to show how you can still get image stabilisation whilst panning and a model to show the facial regognition.
The model was getting most of the attention, as the other displays were naff, and she was a pretty girl! I have some of the photos below.

As for the camera itself - I personally didn't like it. It was neither fish nor fowl mixing some attributes of a SLR with the convenience of a point and shoot, and as such it fails in both camps, being too large for a P&S and lacking a lot of the benefits of a SLR. Even sitting where it does, I have some misgivings, for instance the lens cap comes off far too easily, and really there have been to few improvements on the S3 model. If I was in the market for this kind of camera I would opt for either the Sony H9 or the Canon H7.

But I would like to thank Canon for their hospitality and time, and the free photograph prints they gave me.

Evening photography

2007-07-11T16:10:00.000+08:00

Last night after work, I went for a couple of drinks. Nothing unusual there, I suppose. Whilst I was standing outside, smoking, my ex-hair cutter came up to say hello, with her friend. This was a surprise as I thought Angie had gone to Australia.
It was a little bit embarrassing as her friend was supposed to take over cutting my hair, but I had to change after her first attempt, but I didn't let anything show. It was nice to see Angie wearing something that wasn't black - the uniform colour they had to wear when working. I asked them both to join me for a drink, but they had to go off and eat.
After a few more pints I decided to go around Central and take some photos; not a brilliant idea, as I didn't have a tri-pod with me. Despite that i did manage to get a few reasonable ones, shown below.

Bus on Queensway

Cotton Tree Drive

Bank of China Building

Explain the offside rule? Not a hope!

2007-07-09T19:18:00.000+08:00

So there I was enjoying a quiet pint after work in the bar. Minding my own business, reflecting on the successes of the day.
They happened to be showing a soccer game on the television: Australia against Oman, but I wasn't really paying any attention to it.
One of the waitresses must think I am being too quiet, so she comes up to me to make idle conversation. She asks, "Who is playing on TV?"
I reply, "It's Australia versus Oman"
"Oh", she says, "Who is playing in the yellow shirts?"
"That's Australia." I inform her.
"The guys in black are Oman?" she asks.
There was only one guy wearing black on the TV screen. "No. That's the referee," I tell her.
I decide that trying to explain the intricacies of the offside rule would be wasterd on this charming young lady, and I go back to drinking my beer in peace, and solitude. Bliss!

It's a blow job!

2007-07-07T21:37:00.000+08:00

Following on from my earlier post about the London Olympics logo; someone mentioned to me that it looked like a blow job.

I can see the similarity, and I can imagine the designer letting everyone in on the big joke in 2012.

Lee Tung Street

2007-07-03T10:17:00.000+08:00

Whilst walking around Wanchai, on Sunday morning, I found myself in Lee Tung Street. For those of you that don't know, this street, also known as Wedding Card Street, is due to be torn down in the near future as part of an urban development project. The street was once famous for its printing shops, and it was THE place to get your wedding cards, name cards and calendars printed.

In the fifties the government decided to encourage printing industries to move into this street, rumour has it to be able to better monitor illegal publications. The shops are all very similar and joined together. However in 2003 the government decided to acquire this street.

Today it is a very sad sight, all the shops boarded up, windows taped over and trhe street is deserted. About halfway down I had a very cold feeling on the back of my neck, as if the place was haunted.

Now, I am not in favour of preservation for preservations sake. But if you are going to redevelop somewhere, then please get on with it and put up the new hotel, shopping mall or office block. Don't just leave these empty buildings standing there as a monument to Hong Kong need to kick people out of their business premises.

Re-Unification Day

2007-07-02T09:18:00.000+08:00

So with today being a holiday, I broke away from my lazzy Sunday routine, and went out early to take some photos.
Started off by heading to Wanchai to watch the flag raising ceremony, but it was far too crowded and I couldn't get near the place. As a result I headed up to Queen's Road East and took some pictures of the older part of Wanchai.

After that I headed home for some lunch and to download my photos. After that I headed out again, and went to the bridge over Hennessey Road to watch the rally. I got there early and got a good spot, before the media and other onlookers arrived. I took loads of photos. Here's a couple:-

After that I needed some refreshment, so I headed for the Devil's Advocate. After a couple of libations, I headed off to the waterfront to watch the fireworks. Not too early this time, so I couldn't get a prime spot but found a place where I could set up my tripod and managed to get some more photos:-

I joined the throng after the display, and deciding that getting a taxi for an hour or so would be impossible, I went to another of my favourite watering holes in Wanchai and had a couple of pints before heading home and going to bed.

"I think we are dead already!"

2007-06-28T13:21:00.000+08:00

OK these three clips cracked me up. But, you have to watch all three, in order and completely. No cheating.

Quick trip to Dalian

2007-06-25T12:52:00.000+08:00

The other week, I had to go to Dalian for a couple of meetings. I made the mistake of leaving the arrangements to my Chinese colleague; who made a complete and utter balls upo of it. I arrived at the Shangri-La Hotel to find there was no reservation in my name, and the hotel was full. My colleague rushed to get his briefcase to show the hotel booking, and, lo and behold, he had made the booking for the following week. There was nothing else for it, but to go next door and pay the walk in rate at the Furama Hotel. On the way there I was kicking my colleagues backside for not using the company travel agent to save a few pennies, had now resulted in us paying more money and me being totally pissed off at his inadequacy.
Last week, I had to go there again, but it was a last minute deal as we had to wait for someone to fly in from Korea. By the time the meeting was fixed, our company travel agent couldn't get a room at the hotel, nor could I using the Golden Circle website, but of course my colleague could using his Chinese website. Having double checked that he had booked the room for the correct night I set off to Dalian.
When I got to the hotel, everything was in order. The hotel was full, but they gave me a free upgrade to a suite (which pleased the company bean counters, as the suite came with a free breakfast), and because I was returning there for the nth time they had a present for me; a small panda toy dressed in a Shangri-La chefs uniform. Of course they had to get a photograph of the receptionist handing me the present.
The bar at the Shangri-La, F2, seems to have made a few changes - there is a quite good band from the Philippines, other entertainments, but they seem to have cleared out the working girls. The girl who comes round with the humidor of cigars, used to be dressed in a pin stripe skirt and jacket; now, she wears jeans and a superman t-shirt. There is a new girl on the desk, Sabrina, who seems to be one of those party all night and sleep all day girls.
So finally I have Dalian sorted out. Its a city that is certainly getting busier and more expensive. Probably the Shanghai of the future.

Jokes and the News

2007-06-19T16:04:00.000+08:00

It has always amazed me how, so soon after a newsworthy event, the jokes, most of them sick, spread like wildfire; and that was even before the WWW became so widespread. The latest ones seem to be about Michael Barrymore. For those who are not au fait with British popular entertainment; Barrymore is a lanky, comedian/actor/entertainer, who has always beenat the fore front of the entertainment news with his alcoholism, "coming out of the closet" in a pub full of gay skin heads and of course the death of Stuart Lubbock.
Some of the jokes that I have heard so far, include:-

Micheal Barrymore was asked if he was doing Pantomime again this winter.......
"No chance of that " said Barrymore......., "I did Aladdin , 6 years ago and have never heard the last of it !"

Micheal Barrymore was asked if he was doing Pantomime again this winter.......
He won't have time. He's recording his new BBC sitcom - "Only Pools And Corpses".

Q:-Why doesn't Michael Barrymore own any ashtrays??
A:-He does'nt need them....He puts his fags out in the pool.

Don King has just signed Michael Barrymore up for a championship fight...
He's heard Michael was shit hot with his fists in the ring...

This post is about the speed that jokes go around - I have no interest whatsoever whether he is charged, found guilty or whatever.

Chicken or the Egg?

2007-06-16T09:09:00.000+08:00

Having had a run in with a loud German lady the other week at the Bulldog Bar, you would have thought I would have learnt my lesson and steered well clear of ladies drinking Chardonnay. But, no, last night again I got laid into by a loud, wine swilling, middle-aged Australian lass.
We had actually met the previous evening when she told me her life story and how she was going through a rough patch with her husband. So last evening, I was a tad surprised when she comes to the bar with her husband, who came over on the ferry to take her back to Macau. He turned out to be a thoroughly decent and nice guy completely unlike the picture painted by his wife.
Anyway she was on her second glass of Chardonnay, when she turns to me and says, "I bet you can't tell me the answer to something." I asked her what, and she replied "What came first the chicken or the egg?". I said, "That's easy. The egg came first, naturally." Her reply was, "You can't prove that".
So I tried to explain my logic that at some time in deep history two non-chickens mated and produced an egg that contained, through a slight mutation, a chicken as we know it - therefore the egg must have come first. Her reply was that I wasn't there so I couldn't possibly know. I replied that you don't have to be at a particular time or place to know that something exists.
Now, her voice starts getting louder "But you haven't answered the question", she screeches at me.
This carries on for a while with her voice getting screchier and louder. I was very thankful when her husband dragged her away for a meal.
Of course, I was wrong; neither came first, as the egg contains a chicken embryo - so they both arrived at the same time.

Bold and Dynamic? More like street graffitti

2007-06-06T10:08:00.000+08:00

So the organisers of the 2012 Olympics have announced their logo for the games, and I hate it - not that my viewpoint really counts. I am not sure whether it resembles a broken down swastika or a window that a football has been kicked through; but, I think this would not disgrace a subway as a piece of aerosol art.
First, of all the Olympic rings are white. OK there is a precedent for this (Sydney olympics), but I thought the rings were all about the colours. Of course, I may be a cynic, but by having the rings in white, the rest of the logo will be easier to change colour for brand products and mobile phones.
Second, London is written "london". Now, again this is probably to appeal to young people in England, where the schools, probably, don't bother to teach that the first letter of a proper noun shall be a capital letter. To me it's just sloppy.
It seems that £400,000 (US$800,000) was spent coming up with this design. I remember reading somewhere that the lady who came up with the Nike swish logo got $35. That figure seems more appropriate to this emblem.
Sitting here, several thousand miles away from this, I am reminded of the last major event in London marked by this sort of great planning - the Millenium and the Dome which Tony Blair claimed would be "a triumph of confidence over cynicism, boldness over blandness, excellence over mediocrity". About the logo he has said, "When people see this new brand, we want them to be inspired to make a positive change in their life." Well all this inspires me to do is throw up.

We Didn't Start the Fire

2007-06-05T14:17:00.000+08:00

is a dreadful song by Billy Joel that chronicles 120 well-known events, people, things and places that happened between the year he was born and 1989 when the song was released.
During the 2-3 minutes of this "song" 56 individuals are named. Could this be some name dropping record? Last Sunday afternoon I met someone, who could almost beat that record - or so it seemed to me.
This guy was the most tedious, twisted and egotistical person I have met in a long time. I can allow him some leeway for being jet-lagged and drunk; but, what is it about me, that seems to attract these sociopaths? I mean I had gone up there for a quiet Sunday afternoon drink, and possibly some food, and I end up having my ear bent by this ex-Rupert, with him dropping names like falling leaves in a gale, and regaling to my uninterested ears his problems with his multi-millionaire father-in-law, and how he was going to get his retribution - yawn. By the time I had finished two pints I knew so much about his circle of friends and his family that I needn't have to go to Debretts for any reference to the peerage; I had already heard it.
And it wasn't big and it wasn't clever - it was tedious.
The pop video was a blessed relief.
"Rock and Roller Cola wars,
I can't take it anymore!"

MTV here I come

2007-06-04T13:03:00.000+08:00

After a brief excursion into the halls of shopping hell in Causeway Bay, on Sunday; I was in dire need of some libation, so knowing that several bars in Wanchai don't open until later in the afternoon I headed to Lan Kwai Fong for a few beers at the Bull & Bladder.
Being one of those establishments that has decided not to apply for an smoking exemption, I went outside to enjoy an intake of nicotine - when I was approached by two ladies, who encouraged me to go to the Cavern, and take part in the making of a music video. Being a complete and utter tart, I willingly followed these two ladies to take part in what was bound to be a VMA winning film.
There were about fifteen people sat at tables around the dance floor, whilst on the stage sat a solitary male singer with his guitar. In the corner was the producer, who welcomed us, and told us to just sit around pretending to be in a bar - which as a piece of acting wasn't that difficult.
Then he decided that he didn't like us sitting down, and wanted some of us to move around and talk to other people. After about half an hour he was satisfied with what he had filmed, thanked us and we were allowed to leave.
I talked to the singer for a couple of minutes, and it seems that this video wasn't destined to accompany the release of a record or anything - it was going to be aired on Youtube, in about six weeks.
What a disappointment; so, I headed back to the bladder for some more beer.

Shekou for a bit

2007-06-01T13:45:00.000+08:00

I had to go to Shekou, yesterday afternoon for a meeting. I haven't been across there for a while, as I dread our hosts taking me to the restaurant in the office block where thay always serve the wrong kind of food for me.
Well, surprise, surprise, they took us to the restaurant at the hotel near their office, where I feasted on a very respectable fish and chips.
After a very positive, constructive meeting, I headed back to the ferry terminal only to find that they don't accept Hong Kong dollars, anymore. Obviously, now the Yuan is stronger than the HKD, they don't take it so readily - they won't even accept a larger ammount of dollars for a remimbi priced ticket.
I got my ticket in the end, but it was a right royal pain, especially as I have plenty of Renmimbi at home, but forgot to pick them up.

H One

2007-05-31T12:59:00.000+08:00

The other night we had to entertain some business visitors to dinner; my boss wanted to go to Jumbo in Aberdeen, but, because i was fed up with seafood, and didn't want to go all the way out there, I vetoed his choice, and instead elected to try H One in IFC mall.
And what a great choice it was, too. Harlan Goldstein is, supposedly, one of Hong Kong's premier chefs, so I was looking forward to a great dinner, and I wasn't disappointed. The service was excellent: my boss, our host was always called by name, the staff were well informed about the dishes on the menu and ably recommended side dishes to accompany our meals.
Our table was right by the window in the "Seaview Room" with a view over Victoria Harbour and the skyline of Tsim Sha Tsui. To start with I had wild mushroom soup, which was very tasty indeed. This was washed down with a very nice Pinot Grigio.
For my main course I decided to have the '9' herb mustard crusted Lamb Rack, served with green beans garlic mash. As the vegetables were a bit thin on the ground we had a couple of plates of stir fried asian vegetables. To accompany this course we switched to red wine, which was a very fruity, palatable Teunata San Guido definitely a wine I will be looking out for again.
Yes I did have a desert which was sublime. The whole meal was so well done that I didn't even feel like a coffee at the end of it.
The layout of the restaurant is very well planned - the tables are not too close together - but you can still be nosey and see what other people are eating.
All in all a very enjoyable repast.

Holiday - last day

2007-05-26T08:46:00.000+08:00

So this is it, the last day of the holiday, and it has been fine. I have to admit that I came to Pattaya with some negative, pre-conceived ideas. On the whole these were unwarranted, and Pattaya is definitely on my list of places to come back to.
In reality it is the same as Phuket – it can offer the same in greater or lesser quantities; but, apart from the lack of hills, there is no great difference. Yes, OK, there may be some specialised interest that isn’t catered for here as well as in Phuket, but I am at a loss to think what it is. It is a lot bigger, in the number of hotels, bars, go-go bars, restaurants, etc. Yes the go-go bars are more entertaining, but the hawkers are selling the same cheap imports from China or a sweat shop in Bangkok, the tailors try and get you to buy inexpensive, ill fitting clothes made from cheap materials, similar attractions are available, beer bars are of a similar business model, the same dishes are served in the restaurants that even look the same as in Phuket.
I was fortunate to stay in a great hotel, right on the baht bus route from Pattaya to Jomtien, so I had the best of both worlds; a nicer beach in the day time and a bigger choice of nightlife at night.
The last day was spent on Jomtien beach. We had a nice picnic of crab, chicken and pork with some sticky rice, and Peanut had a manicure and pedicure.
Peanut hasn’t been feeling 100% for the last couple of days, and this was made worse by some tom yam soup she had last night. After the meal we headed back to Living Dolls go-go, but I could see she wasn’t enjoying it, and to be honest, neither was I. She tried to put a brave face on it, but eventually admitted she was feeling cold. After that we left and sat at a beer bar, thinking that the lack of aircon may help. But in a short time Peanut threw up a couple of times, so we decided it was best that we headed back to the hotel. Once we got back, she was putting a brave face on it, looking a bit better, and said that I should go back out, again. However, I decided against this course of action. I also said I would sleep in the other room, so that my snoring wouldn’t disturb her; but, in the early hours she crawled into bed next to me saying that she couldn’t sleep on her own. Really the last night of my holiday ended with a whimper more than a bang. At least I woke up with a clear head this morning.
I haven’t taken nearly as many photos as I took on my last holiday. This is partly due to having a shorter holiday, and also because we spent more of the evenings in go-go bars where the use of mobile phones, let alone cameras is forbidden.
So now all that is left is to check out, drive to Suvarnabhumi Airport (I have even learnt how to pronounce that this week, up to now I have just called it the new Bangkok Airport), and fly back home to an apartment with no food in it. Looks like supper in LKF tonight. That’ll be a bit more expensive than I have been paying this week, for sure.

Holiday - day 6

2007-05-25T10:57:00.000+08:00

Following our early night on Wednesday I woke up fairly early, and so did Peanut. It seemed that she was quite keen to laze about in the bathrobe supplied by the hotel, which is a very nice bathrobe, as you can see from this photo:

Anyway, later in the morning we head into Jomtien, and decide to eat at an Italian café on the Beach Road. There wasn’t much in the way of Thai food on the menu so we both decided to have an omelette, and it was very good indeed.
We walked along the seafront a bit, and we notice a film crew on the beach. Peanut was quite excited by this, but calmed down when she couldn’t recognise anyone.

We found some nice deckchairs a little further along. The deck chairs were standard, but the lady who ran that section appeared to have a better set up for cold drinks and food; so, that is where we set up our camp for the day and got into serious relax mode.

We were disturbed a lot more by peddlers at this section of the beach, than we were the other day, and it seems that there are a lot more peddlers here than there are at Patong Beach. Some of them were persistent to the extreme, for example one henna tattoo seller wouldn’t take no for an answer. I was politely telling him “me aow, krap”, but he kept on and on. At one point he had his henna quill type thing poised just above my skin, and gave him a very assertive “me aow”. At this Peanut looked up from her magazine, saw what was going on and laid into the guy with a torrent of Thai, which had the guy reeling. I found out later it was something like, “The Farang has told you politely that he doesn’t want one of your rip off tattoos. Now, I am telling you to piss off, leave us alone and shove your tattoo gear where the sun doesn’t shine”. Good on you girl. I just wish I remembered exactly what she said in Thai.
One hawker who didn’t get ignored by us, was someone selling Thai food, in fact a sort of small seafood salad, Peanut ordered a load that was made fresh next to where we sat. I didn’t fancy any of it, especially after I saw the salad moving; yes, it was still alive, small shrimps were trying to escape from the bowl. I am sorry but I like my food to be dead when it goes into my mouth.
A little later on we ordered a proper lunch of fresh prawns and som tam, sticky rice and a crispy pork dish that I have only ever had before at Thai Farmers in Wanchai, and really like.
Later on, Peanut goes foraging in the sand at the tide line to find some more food, and is really excited by her handful of small shellfish.

After a few hours on the beach it was time to head back to the hotel.
That evening we dined, quite early at the Marine Seafood Restaurant. We had pork omelette, crab curry and some sort of spicy shellfish dish – and three oysters. I was a bit concerned about the oysters from the Gulf of Thailand and how fresh they would be. It seems my concerns were unfounded, because they were farmed oysters and were very fresh indeed.
For a change, I suggested that we tried the Living Dolls Go-go. This place was busy, as it was happy hour (spirits were 45 baht, but no discount on bottled beer. The uniform for the dancers seemed to consist of boots and a pink and green bikini, but it was hard to tell because the dancers seemed to either wear the full outfit, part of it or none at all. I thought it was very kind of the management to install a shower in the bar area for the dancers to rinse of after their stint at doing the Nissan Shuffle. I just hope the water was hot, as the air conditioning in the bar was quite fierce. The waitresses were very friendly. I asked about if they had a show, and was told the shower was the show! Eventually three girls dressed in negligees got onto the dance stage and did a very halfhearted lesbian act.
Next stop was Sex Kittens a-go-go. Two things concerned me about the place; first, the sign outside saying “No Weapons”, and second, when we got in there the mirror top tables. We sat at a table where no one was dancing and where there was no mirror top. I needn’t have been concerned about the mirror tops because all the girls were wearing white knickers, along with white boots, see through white skirt and top. This establishment was very tame, no stage show, and we left after one drink.
After that, Peanut drags me kicking and screaming into Angel Witch (yeah, OK, more like, I eagerly followed her into). Peanut had bought some cheap roses to give to her friends and one dancer she really liked, which seemed to go down well. It seemed to me that a high percentage of the dancers were on the rag last night. I suppose that given the large number of show girls, that on any particular night, some would be on, but, it appears that around the same time a lot of them start together. Now, I have heard about this in say, members of the same family getting their cycles into synchronisation, but, never in a galaxy of go-go dancers. What is the collective noun for go-go dancers?
After a few drinks there, we headed to Club Europa, a.k.a. Tony’s. I nearly bought a packet of Benson & Hedges, until I noticed the 180 baht price tag – total rip off, as they are about 100 baht cheaper in the supermarkets. The place was very busy, and, as a result service was slow, so we only stayed for one drink and left. Peanut had had a great dance so she was happy.
On the way back, Peanut wanted some Namprik. We tried a different food stall, and she reckoned that it was much better than other place she had tried it a couple of nights earlier. Whilst she was eating, I went and had a beer at the BWFC bar. The bar was dead, and I don’t know how these beer bars survive in a market where there are go-gos all around and the only entertainment they offer is a TV and some decidedly mediocre (in the looks department) girls.

Holiday - day 5

2007-05-24T10:25:00.000+08:00

First of all, blogger sub domains were available in Pattaya, shortly after midnight last night, and are still available to day. Well done the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology.
Oh, how I wish I could take my camera into Angelwitch! That would liven up this blog and my hit rate would go up exponentially. If there was a Pulitzer Prize for photography on Blogger I am sure I would win. I can even visualise the photo I would take. It would be from a dance involving five dancers. One of the dancers is being ‘crucified’ on the ladder up to the ceiling, she is naked, but covered in a very sheer, red drape. Meanwhile, four other dancers, who are naked apart from skirts, with a few seashells dangling from them, and a turban-style headdress, with their bodies glistening in oil, dance between the poles, like acolytes at the altar.
Yesterday morning, and, as predicted, Peanut has a hangover. Because of this, she doesn’t want to get up; so, I go for a swim in the hotel pool, which was very pleasant. The pool is kidney shaped with a Jacuzzi in one corner. Plants surround the pool area, so it gives a feel of an oasis. There are only six sun loungers around the pool, but since this area is hardly used by guests that are plenty.
Once Peanut’s hunger pangs overcame her sore head, she got up and we headed into Pattaya for some food. We found a place on Beach Road that served a reasonable selection and had a simple meal. Nothing really noteworthy, a bit pricey but that’s what you get for eating on Beach Road.
After that, Peanut wanted to go shopping for a new top, so we trawled around a shopping mall, and she couldn’t find anything in her style. When she did find something that suited her: a white top by Billabong, she took one look at the price tag and fled from the shop. I was getting a little fed up, by this stage, and I dragged her into Jim Thompson where I bought a really nice shirt, in less than ten minutes. Yes, it was a little pricey, but it got the point across that shopping doesn’t have to take all day. Peanut took the hint, and in the next shop, picked out a little brown vest top – see how simple things can be?
After that we wandered up Soi Post Office, where I had another massage, not at the same place, but somewhere that offered physical massage. This massage was a great improvement. My feet haven’t felt so good for a long time.
Following that we popped into a bar, which was aimed at Swiss people I guess, by the flags and photos of Swiss football teams. There were some very pleasant looking girls there, but this friendly atmosphere was ruined when they put on some music – the loudspeaker nearest to us was broken, and it was just headache generating material, so we left after one drink. We headed up to the corner and went to the Bodega Bar. This was much better: a nice large area, prompt service from the numerous waitresses, a proper happy hour pricing structure.
Whilst sitting there, Peanut reminds me that I had “promised” to take her to the cabaret show. I hadn’t promised, but suggested it as a maybe thing to do, but it seems that that is a promise. I suggested that she found out the times of the shows, which she does, either 7pm or 8:30pm. We decide to go for the earlier show, so we make a mad dash back to the hotel for a very quick shower then head directly out to Tiffany’s. Of course we got there too early as the show didn’t start until 7.30pm, but sitting down and having a beer solved that problem. I bought VIP tickets: 800 baht for Farang, 400 baht for Thai, and we were allocated seats right in the middle of the front row. The show was good, but once you have seen one lady boy cabaret, you have seen them all. Of course sitting where we were, yours truly had his head stuffed between the breasts of the dreadful, old hag – I nearly choked on all the perfume and talcum powder, but Peanut found this hilarious. I reckon that I spotted two proper girls in the cast, and Peanut thinks there were three. It’s just something about their smiles, demeanour, and skin tone. If they were katoeys, then they were very good. Fortunately I wouldn’t have wanted to jump into bed with either of them, so I wouldn’t have been caught by surprise if I were wrong.
Went back to Walking Street and had a meal at Zab’s, again. Food was excellent, but the service was below par this time. One nice touch this place has is a candelabrum made of upturned wine glasses, with a glitter ball in the middle – very inventive and quite effective.
Peanut still had a bit of a headache, so we didn’t stop anywhere for long, and after a couple of drinks we decided to head back to the hotel. We caught baht bus no 263, who agreed to take us up the hill, but a little less than halfway there he pulls over and tells us that he wants 150 baht. We got out and paid him twenty baht and told him to stuff his ride. I would quite happily of paid the 60 baht, which is the published group fare for going up the hill, but what he was asking was extortion. Even Peanut was disgusted with his behaviour, and she is normally well onside of the Thais versus Farang arguments. Anyway shortly after a baht bus came along and took us up the hill for twenty baht, and that driver got a twenty baht tip. So to the driver of baht bus no 263 “Som nam na, you twat!”
Back in the hotel by midnight, raided the fridge for a beer, and woke up feeling great this morning. Peanut has just got up, asked me what the time was and gone back to bed. I don’t know how she is going to cope with the four in the morning starts, when she returns to work.

Holiday - day 4

2007-05-23T10:34:00.000+08:00

You heard it on this blog first. According to the Bangkok Recorder blogger sub domains are blocked in Thailand. This seems reminiscent of the youtube incident. Bangkok Recorder blames it on a Thaksin interview being available on some blogspot sites, but I have also read somewhere that it is now possible to create sites on blogger with Thai script, and this move could be linked to that.
One incident on Monday night that I forgot to mention happened in Angelwitch; a farang male came in with his cute Thai date, and because the place was busy, they had to sit next to the dance floor. This was fine until the snake dance started, when it became quickly apparent that the young lady was scared of snakes! Whilst the snake was draped around the dancer in the middle of the stage, the scared lady couldn’t watch and hid her head behind her date’s body. Later in the dance, the snake is paraded around the edge of the stage; by now the poor girl is cowering behind her man. The dancer then bought the snake off the stage and into the audience – I am sure she did it on purpose to tease the young lady.
On Tuesday we hired a car and driver for the day. First we went to Sriracha Tiger Zoo. Here they have the pricing strategy of “farang pay double”. Peanut gets in for 150 baht, whilst my ticket costs 300. I remember talking to Peanut about this a couple of years ago, and asked her why places have this double standard. Her logic was sound, “Farang can afford to pay more”. When I asked her, then, why wasn’t the airport tax double for foreigners, she just shrugged her shoulders and changed the subject.
One of the successes of this zoo is that they have been able to successfully breed Bengal Tigers. There are also rumours, according to Peanut, that tigers are sold to the Chinese, which I am not so keen about. One of the reasons for their success, it seems, is that they have the tiger cubs suckled by pigs. It is really strange to see two baby tiger cubs and three piglets suckling of an old sow. They also put piglets, covered in tiger skins in with the mother tiger; I suppose to make the tiger think that she hasn’t lost her cubs.
There is a big alligator compound there and a bridge you can walk across and feed the alligators, so Peanut wanted to do that.

After she had fed the ‘gator, Peanut takes of her baseball cap, and her sunglasses drop off the cap, and were eagerly chomped up by a waiting reptile below. Luckily they were only 200 baht shades, not real Gucci ones.
I have been to over zoos in Thailand, and this one has the same old shows, such as alligator wrestling, with a difference though: this zoo has a lady alligator wrestler, and she is quite cute.

After the zoo, we went up to where Peanut is staying at the moment, with some relatives. This town is known locally as Ao Udon, which is a lot easier to say than Phanatnikhom, as it is written on maps. This town has a new industrial estate, so a lot of workers are moving into the town, which seems really nice. Covered markets, a park, lots of shops and stuff, and a lot of new houses being built. You can pick up a new three-storey house for 1.3 million baht or about US$40K, but of course you can’t buy the land the house sits on, because foreigners can’t own land.
Peanut is sharing a room with some relatives of her mother. It is very basic, but supplies all their needs. Peanut took me to the food stall run by her and her aunt. It’s really nothing, but they earn a living making about 400 baht per day profit. I sat at the food stall where they fed me grilled chicken and papaya salad. They even sent someone off on a motorcycle to fetch me some Heineken.
Everyone, who drove passed, stared at the farang. And when the children came back from school, they all wanted to have a look at farang, but being naturally shy, they were all trying to hide behind one another.
After that we came back to Pattaya, where I managed to fit in a massage and a couple of beers before going back to the hotel to get changed.
In the evening we went into town, and decided to eat at the P72 restaurant on Walking Street. This was an unmitigated disaster: the tables are too close together, they forgot half of our order, and other diners were having their meals bought out at separate times. Take my advice and give this eatery a wide berth.
Wanting to try somewhere new, we went to Nui’s go-go on Walking Street. This is quite a small place; the girls wear gingham skirts and tops, which, on the whole they keep fastened up. The only exceptions were a girl, who as soon as she got on the stage unfastened her top, and another girl who was wearing some fancy white lingerie, instead of the standard uniform.
Then we went to Tony’s entertainment – Club Europa. We had popped into this place earlier in the week, but it was too early. Everything seems to be white, apart from the pool tables – now that would do my head in playing pool with all white balls on a white baize. I was dreading this, but, Peanut wanted to come here, and, I actually enjoyed it. Yes, its over-priced, a beer and a vodka and orange was 400 baht, but the service was good and the drinks came with a bowl of popcorn and prawn crackers, and occasionally were given a plate of sliced mango. When we arrived there was a band playing, some eight or nine-piece band from the Philippines or Indonesia, but they may have been Thai. Then some dancing girls came on with a couple of katoeys, the really over the top, camp and deliberately ugly ones, who did a couple of numbers, then the dancing for real started with the stage turned over to the public. Now, I don’t dance, and if I do it’s a sort of spastic version of daddy dancing, but Peanut really likes to show off and have a bogey, so she did. She was getting more than a little drunk, now; and, she kept trying to order Tequila, which I know is deadly for her. So I had to be strict with her on that, which, luckily she accepted.
We had three drinks, left, and, of course Peanut wanted some food, and after the earlier meal I was quite happy to go along with this. Walking towards the food stall we were stopped by a young kid, eight or nine years old who offered us orange glow-in-the-dark bracelets for twenty baht each. We had one each and I gave him a fifty baht note, and he was so pleased. He was really polite and spoke nicely, but what was he doing up at that time during the school term?
Finally we made to the food stall where Peanut wanted to eat, as the food was really good. I had a vegetable omelette and a bowl of soup, whilst Peanut ordered Rice with Nam Prik. Now, I know that Nam Prik is not something to be messed with, its like the Devil’s Tabasco, this stuff dissolves rust and strips paint at ten feet, but the Thais love it. Peanut mixes a bit of the brown stuff with some rice, puts it in her mouth, and it was like a volcano exploding. Tears came to her eyes, her face went a sort of olive colour, her mouth opened wide. It was too spicy for her! Yes “som nam na!”
Despite her protestations that farang cannot eat! I picked up some of her rice, where a small bit had been mixed with namprik, and ate it, and kept it down and kept my composure. Sure it was spicy, and I couldn’t have eaten a plateful of the stuff.
Anyway as I sit here typing this up, Peanut is sleeping off, what I am sure will be the mother of all hangovers.

Holiday Day 3

2007-05-22T09:25:00.000+08:00

Hmm, there's something amiss - I can't access any of the blogs using blogger, but here's today's entry.

Woke up this morning and Peanut has a hangover – “som nam na!” for drinking all those vodka and oranges!

Today we decided to check out Jomtien Beach, so we headed over the hill in the baht bus. We had some breakfast in a beach front restaurant, and in the interests of national harmony, she had an American breakfast, whilst I ate Thai food.
Peanut wanted to visit a beauty shop to have her hair washed, so while this was going on, I had another foot massage – this one was a lot better than yesterday’s. The young girl was really strong, despite her size, and gave my feet a thorough going over.
After that I found that Peanut had gone the whole hog and had her toe and fingernails done as well – no problem as it was only 400 baht.

We walked along Beach Road, and it was really quiet. The beach seems a lot cleaner than Pattaya’s. When I commented on the deck chairs being set up round small tables under a forest of umbrellas, compared to Patong where they are set out in rows; Peanut explains that a lot of families come here from Bangkok, and so they want to sit around tables in the shade.
Eventually we made our way to Wat Jomtien, which seemed to be closed; so, now it was time for some food, again. Peanut bought some prawns, crabs, salted fish and somtam and we had a picnic on the beach. Peanut also bought some ant’s eggs, but I kindly declined her offer to share these.

After as few hours we decided to head back for a siesta.

In the evening, we went down to Pattaya, I thought that Peanut may be getting bored of go-go bars, so suggested that we try somewhere else; but we ended up on Walking Street, at her insistance. Naturally the first thing to do was to get some food in our stomachs, so we decided to try Zab Café. This is right at the north end of Walking Street, upstairs above a bar. The food wasn’t cheap but it was very good; we had a sizzling seafood platter, fishcakes and seafood and seaweed casserole – well worth a visit if your in town.

After that we went to the Beach Club. Beach Club dancer uniform is almost exactly the same as Peppermint: boots, green socks, green skirt and white top. Peanut decided she was going to drink beer. When she drinks beer she likes it in a glass with some ice, so the drinks come, and we are sitting there and two girls are dancing on our table. I point out to Peanut that the table is a mirror and is good for looking upwards, but she doesn’t catch on, until one of the girls lifted her skirt up to show Peanut that she wasn’t wearing any knickers. Peanut wasn’t happy about this and kept hold of her glass after that, refusing to put it on the table, and we had to leave after the first drink, because Peanut didn’t think it was clean there.
After that Peanut dragged me into Angelwitch, and we got a seat near the front. I am not going to say too much about this place, because you already know about it by now; but the show does change a bit so you will not be totally bored after three days. The waitresses are friendly and like having a laugh with you. At one point, Peanut went out to make a phone call or something, and I ended up having three of them groping me, whilst a fourth kept KV for when Peanut came back.

A very pleasant evening, but with all that seafood, I had some really weird dreams last night.

Holiday - day 2

2007-05-21T16:39:00.000+08:00

hmm - it seems that I can upload to blogger, but can't see the blog.

Having got up on Sunday morning, we went out in search of some breakfast. We went out to a small café down the road, where I had some chicken rice soup, and Peanut had some spicy prawn stuff. – Pretty mediocre, but it served its purpose.
We got a baht bus down to Beach Road, where we strolled along aimlessly. It was hot, hot and sunny. In fact it was very hot. I was keen to have a foot massage, and we strolled up Soi Post Office till we found a massage place. Just down the road a bit, some monks were blessing some new business, and having watched that for a short time we went in for a good old bit of a rub-a-dub. Peanut elected for the Thai massage, upstairs; whereas, I stayed downstairs and had my feet attended to. I had a good laugh with the girls, who were flirting outrageously, and if Peanut hadn’t been there, I am sure it would have led to other things.
After that we carried on strolling around, avoiding the tailors and other hawkers. It is quite good to tell them that you come from Hong Kong – so their goods and services are right on my back door step, so to speak. We ended up in a shopping mall named after Mike. Well, Peanut wanted to go there, and I have to let her have some fun, but drew the line at actually buying anything. A mere two hours after having breakfast, Peanut showed the Thai female tendency of wanting to eat again, so we found a restaurant, where we had some chicken salad, spring rolls and seafood with noodles; washed down with a couple of Heineken. After that, the beer drinking head woke up, so, we headed to a Scandinavian bar on Beach Road, where I supped a few more bottles – Peanut decided to switch to vodka and oranges. We had a good natter about various things, including the new business venture she has started.
This venture is about providing food to an industrial estate in Phanat Wikhom, just outside of Chonburi. The business seems to be going quite well, not providing a lot of money, but certainly an income. The great thing about this is that Peanut has not thought about things like portion control or anything like that but it just comes sort of naturally. She buys her ingredients for about 70 baht per kilo and it sells at 200 baht per kilo. Long hours, early nights, etc., seem to be doing Peanut a great deal of good, she is looking wonderful. Of course, this means that she doesn’t want to come to Hong Kong at the moment, as she wants to concentrate on building up her business. I am cool with that, and happy that things are going well for her.
After the third round of drinks, Peanut decides to go off and have some papaya salad; fortunately this was nice and spicy, so that was a good opportunity to go back to the hotel for a siesta.

In the evening, and by half past eight, Peanut is eating again. This time we went to an open-air restaurant run by the Marine Group, not far from Walking Street. The barbequed prawns attracted us, so, we shared a plate of those, and some pork with vegetables and a plate of chicken with basil and garlic. Very tasty and a reasonable price. After the meal we cut through to Walking Street and walked to the end we hadn’t covered the night before, looking for some entertainment.
Our first port of call was Tony’s Entertainment Centre, which is totally white: floors walls, chairs, tables, everything apart from a few pieces of metal or chrome colour. There was a DJ playing techno, and Peanut, who wanted to go in there, turned around and left straight away; additionally, the way they were checking the girls handbags and purses on the way in, indicated, to me, that something fishy might or had happened there before.
Next stop was Coyote’s go-go. Someone here has had the bright idea of installing a revolving dance floor; what a flash of inspiration, should have won the Nobel Prize for innovation, or something. There was one girl there, Mimi who, while wearing nothing but a couple of bits of jewellery, was doing her best to liven up the dance show by spanking the dancers and groping their tits. In gratitude for her efforts we called her over to our table, and bought her a lady drink. She then had a good natter with Peanut, and advised us that the floor show would start shortly. I am sorry to say that the show was a real disappointment. It was an early show, but really there was no imagination or effort put into it. Soon after it finished, we paid our bill and left.
Peanut suggests that we try Peppermints, next. A short walk from Coyote’s and up the escalator, and we found ourselves in a very popular place, judging by the number of customers. This place has a lot going on; from the topless barstaff, a cage a four naked dancers at the far end, and the rest of the dancing girls wearing white tops and knickers, a very short, light green skirt, green knee length socks and boots. There was so much going on that it was hard to concentrate on any particular area of the bar. After a couple of drinks we moved on, and Peanut decided that we should go back to Angelwitch. We got there a little while before the floor show, and Peanut wanted some ping-pong balls, so I bought her five for a hundred baht. She had great fun throwing these to the girls. The floor show had some of the same acts as Saturday nights, with some new ones as well: girls covering themselves in green and orange luminous paint and dancing under ultra-violet lights, a song from Chicago, where the prisoners wore nothing, but black and white stockings, and Mother was done out in leather gear, and many more. We had a great time here, but Peanut was getting tired so about one o’clock we decided to leave, and of course she had to have some more food, before we went back, so I bought her a bowl of chicken and noodle soup, before we caught the baht bus back to the hotel.

Holiday, Day 1

2007-05-20T10:15:00.000+08:00

First thing, yesterday morning, I got a phone call from Peanut, asking me to wait at Bangkok Airport for two hours, and then we would travel to Pattaya together. It seems she had to do something that meant she wouldn’t get to the airport till after 6pm. Having explained to her that I wanted to go straight to Pattaya, and that I would have had enough of airports by the time I get to Bangkok, she insisted that she couldn’t travel to Pattaya on her own. I was not a happy chap when I put the phone down, but it wasn’t going to ruin my holiday.
Anyway out to the airport; bought some cigarettes, a memory stick (they’re selling 4GB sticks now, how long ago was it they we 256MB?) and went into the bookstore to pick up some reading material. The bookstore was fairly busy, and there were quite a few staff working, but only one girl working the till, although there were a couple of staff hanging around the counter, they didn’t appear to be contributing to the process of selling books. The checkout area is a round island, so its hard to form a queue, but it seems there was one, and that I had stood in the wrong place. I was told in quite an assertive manner that I was stood in the wrong place. It was then that I realised that the store didn’t want to sell me books in a timely manner so I left the checkout, put the books back near where I had found them and left the store. One of the girls chased me, as she thought that I had taken the books – I think she was disappointed that I hadn’t. After that I sought refuge in the business class lounge near the gate – I wasn’t flying that class, but its one of the privileges of being a member of a frequent flier club.

The flight was uneventful, apart from the fact that it was almost full, it was very bumpy leaving Hong Kong, and the fact that we arrived fifteen minutes late. This was due to four people deciding not to join the flight, and of course their luggage was in the most inaccessible part of the hold.
Arriving at the new airport in Bangkok was very straight forward, this time. There was quite a long walk between the gate and immigration, and the single smoking room enroute was too small for all the people that wanted to use it. Immigration was straightforward, but the girl carefully counted all my Thailand entry stamps to make sure that I hadn’t exceeded my quota of three in six months – that’s something I will have to watch out for in the future.
I decided to splash out on an official airport taxi to take me to Pattaya; all things considered, it was probably a good move. Nice clean Isuzu 4WD thingy (I don’t know much about cars) with seatbelts, I was able to smoke and when we reached Pattaya the driver phoned the hotel to get directions, and managed to navigate there with ease. Just a couple of shortcomings:- towards the end of the journey, the driver was getting tired, and he had a tendency on the highway of driving far too close to the vehicle in front of him. It just made me a little concerned that, despite all the hype of the taxi company that they were the safest, that perhaps this statement was a piece of flexible marketing.
The hotel seems fine, nice big suite, clean, and free wireless access, so I needn’t have bought that memory stick after all. After a while Peanut calls and says she is in Pattaya, but that no one knows where my hotel is. I get one of the girls from reception to talk to her and just after nine o’clock she turns up. She is very happy that I have shaved my beard off, “ooh, you are so handsome, now”. I am always a sucker for a bit of flattery.
After a while we headed down to Walking Street – I don’t know Pattaya, so it seemed a good a place as any to start. First priority was some food, so we went to a seafood restaurant, and I let Peanut over order for us. Some roasted salted fish, crab casserole with noodles and green chicken curry was served. The food wasn’t brilliant, but it was nice, and did what it was supposed to do satisfy my hunger. After that we walked along the street. Peanut said she thought it was “oh, so long”. Most of the bars seemed to be showing the FA Cup final, and didn’t seem to be bothered about attracting other customers. I decided that I wanted to go to Angelwitch gogo, as I had at least heard of the name before. One of the great things about Peanut, is she is quite happy to go into these sorts of places, and not sit there like a dried prune, she likes to watch the girls dancing as well!
When we got in there, the B team were dancing on the stage; and then I spotted the dreaded ping pong balls. The idea of these is that the customer buys pingpong balls at a few baht each, and throws them to the girl he likes, she catches it and exchanges it for money, and the ping pong ball is recycled. If the girl doesn’t catch it there is a mad scramble by the other girls to retrieve the ball, witch can be amusing the first time, but after a bit it means that they are more intent on collecting ping pong ball than dancing on the stage. On the whole I am against the idea of ping pong balls for the reason I just stated. I also noted that the girls were a lot more undressed than they would be in a gogo in Patong. In fact, there was so much on show that I am sure several laws were being broken.
At last the proper show started, and it was worth watching. I guess there were five or six different acts varying form traditional Thai dancing by naked girls, to more gymnastic style dance. There was one girl who did some amazing things on the chrome poles including sliding down one head first from the ceiling, about five metres. Peanut thought the show went on too long, and maybe, she was right, but I enjoyed it. After the show, we went out and walked a bit further, we tried a more tame gogo, but it was a bit of a let down. Peanut bought some lychees on the street and then we caught the baht bus back to the hotel.

I have a week long holiday

2007-05-19T06:41:00.000+08:00

Although it is only a few weeks since I was there, last time; today, I fly to Bangkok for a week long holiday. I am going to stay in Pattaya, a place I haven't visited in over twenty years. Since, I haven't been there for a long time, I am going to relax and enjoy doing all the tourist trap excursions, have lots of massages or spa treatments, and enjoy the nightlife. I have heard that seafood isn't as good as Phuket, so I will have to stick to simple food.
Also it is the rainy season (well, its a wet month, anyway) - so, I am not to bothered that the beach in Pattaya is unimpressive. I will try and blog regularly, but I can't make any promises.
Peanut has said that she will meet me at the airport - I'll just have to wait and see, what happens there.
Back in Hong Kong next Saturday.

Near Death Experience

2007-05-18T08:13:00.000+08:00

A few years ago, a very dear friend of mine was seriously ill in hospital, and nearly died. I couldn't go to see her at the time, but a few months later, I did visit her at home, where she recounted to me her near death experience.

There was a tunnel with a bright light that led to a garden, where there were the most amazing plants and the colours were so bright. She was met by a friend of hers, who had died a couple of years previously. This person, who had been single, most of his life now had a partner and a young baby. My friend spent some time in this 'heaven' and then realised that she had small children to look after, and returned to her body.

When she told me this, she could tell that I didn't believe her; but, the vision was so clear and vivid, to her, that nothing was going to dissuade her from her truth. I had, of course, heard of such stories before, but, my personal beliefs didn't allow me to accept her story. It wasn't logical to me - and I couldn't get my brain around it to accept it. My lack of belief in her story, hasn't spoiled our friendship, although I could tell that she was bitterly disappointed that I couldn't bring myself to go along with her version of what happened.

The other day, I came across this article in the New Scientist, that goes someway to explaining it, as a very vivid dream. It seems scientist say it is an illusion created by a fading brain, brought on by a lack of oxygen.

Although scientists don't have all the answers, and like a lot of experts, there are disagreements between them; this explanation, puts my mind at rest. And, I can now understand Ruth's story, and why she was so adamant that what she recalled actually happened.

Exploding Shower Gel?

2007-05-16T20:11:00.001+08:00

Due to a big conference in town being organised by Credit Lyonnaise, I am unable to get a room at the Intercontinental, where I normally stay in Shanghai. So, for the first time I am staying at the Baoan Hotel just five minutes walk down Dongfang Road. The hotel lacks the same amenities as the Intercon, but is quite acceptable. The rooms are clean, comfortable and of a decent size. You can tell it’s a hotel catering for Chinese, because, whereas the Western hotels have smoking fllors, this hotel has a single non-smoking floor.
The bathroom amenities are good and the shower space is large, with a flexible shower head, and a shower rose in the ceiling. The latter provides a wonderful deluge of water that is really invigorating.. The shower space is also equipped with two platsic dispensers: shower gel and shampoo – a great improvement on those annoying, little plastic bottles.
The first time I used the shower and was soaping myself up I noticed that the shower gel smelled slightly strange. I couldn’t quite place it at first, and it was frustrating because I remembered the smell but couldn’t quite place it. Then, all of a sudden it came to me, “Marzipan, it smells of marzipan”, Pythagorus would have shouted – and when you come to think of it “marzipan” is a much better exclamation than “Eureka”, well, I think so anyway.
Back to the shower, where I am now soaping my self up vigourously and thinking of wedding cakes, and the one time that I tried to make a Christmas cake. I thought the cake was a great success – I had been lacing it with booze for about ten weeks, it was well steeped in alcohol – the only let down was the icing, that was a real mess; but everyone thought that it tasted very nice, just before they collapsed in an alcoholic stupor.
I am just about to wash between my legs, when another distant memory floats to the front of my mind. This one related to a security course I had to attend, about twenty-five years ago, when we were in the Cold War, and Russians were the bad guys. Part of the course was about what we call, nowadays, IEDs or improvised explosive devices. We were shown how bombs could be hidden in the most innocent looking objects, and would catch the careless person unawares; however, one thing that could give away these bombs was the fact that explosives smelled of marzipan. Instead of nice thoughts of cakes, my mind was suddenly filled with images of exploding books, and flashlights.
I quickly washed off the shower gel and washed between my legs with the shampoo; it may not have been so good at the job, but my mind was put at ease. Isn’t it strange how smell is one of the strongest senses for triggering memories?

Beggars

2007-05-16T20:10:00.001+08:00

One thing I have noticed this time in Shanghai is the increased number of beggars. This is not an issue I have come across in Shanghai before. On Sunday night, and again on Tuesday night, I was approached by a young lady (a different one each time) who in very good English, asked me for money. On both occasions it was because they were hungry. The Sunsay girl claimed that her brother was sick and they had no money coming in; the Tuesday girl claimed she had come to Shanghai, with her friend, looking for work, without any luck. The latter girl actually asked me for 2 yuan for food. Both girls wore clean clothes, and as I noted earlier spoke better than average English. I smelled a rat in both cases, and didn’t part with any money. Call me a tight-wad, if you like; two yuan is hardly anything, but there are 1.3 billion people in China – if I had to give 2 yuan to everyone, then it would be a different story.

Another apology

2007-05-15T18:14:00.000+08:00

Sorry to my regular readers, I have internet connection, but, I am having a hell of a time up here in Shanghai, so I don't have the time or impetus to blog at the moment.

I am travelling to Fuzhou, tomorrow, and I don't expect things to be any better there. Back in Hong Kong on Thursday.

Apologies

2007-05-13T10:06:00.000+08:00

Anyone who has my photoblog on a feed, I am sorry if it has been going wild this morning, but I have been busy updating labels and links.
I am off to the mainland for a few days: Shanghai and Fuzhou, will be back in town later this week. Blogging may be light or non-existant for a few days.

That's better!

2007-05-12T07:57:00.000+08:00

After four weeks of complaining to PCCW, they finally sent someone round to my home last evening to sort out the broadband. The young lad turned up at 7pm (the appointed time was between 6pm and 8pm), plugged his laptop and modem in, checked the telephone line, went downstairs to the main telephone line box for the building, disappeared for forty minutes. When he came back he reported that there was a problem with the cable downstairs, but he had fixed it, and that everything was OK now.
Well it certainly seems that way, from the following ping test:-

--- www.netvigator.com ping statistics ---
10 packets transmitted, 10 packets received, 0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 18.729/19.379/20.350/0.453 ms

I am now a happy bunny - but, why, oh why did it take them so long to get someone to cmoe around and sort it?

My desk is a mess!

2007-05-08T13:44:00.000+08:00

Bit of a blogger's block today, so I went to the Imagination Prompt and it suggested that I "Name five things lying around my computer". So I looked around and I saw the company chop, a half eaten packet of mini chocolate chip cookies, a training schedule that I need to review, my spectacles and a carton of cigarettes that someone smuggled into Hong Kong for me (he didn't know that the limit was three packets). Then the realisation hit me that my desk looks like a bomb has hit it:- overstuffed in/out trays, a book that I lent to someone that has been returned, unopened mail, peoples business cards, company booklets on such archane subjects as "Control of Work", a contacts directory that's almost two years old, the list goes on. Does this mean that I am disorganised or that I am a genius?
According to Jay Brand a psychology professor suggest that I am using my desk space as an extension to my mind, and that all this clutter on my desk are "cognitive artifacts". He goes further to say that companies that have a clear desk policy are in essence giving their employees "environmental lobotomies".
On the other hand, a messy desk at the office can give a bad impression and negatively affect your career, CNN money advisor goes on to say that a messy desk creates a mental drag that can overwhelm you.
Well, I like my messy desk, I like to have a big clear out just before I go on holiday; its like unloading all those things that have been niggling at the back of your mind that are either inconsequential, taken care of, or, both.
So that's it I will carry on with my messy workspace, and still get the job done. I don't give a fig for the impression it creates, that mess is my pile of cognitive artifacts

What hope is there for us bloggers?

2007-05-07T13:17:00.001+08:00

I ask this question, because I have just read that Mick Jagger has abandoned plans to write his autobiography - as he found it too boring.
This is the guy who has been out with some of the world's most shaggable women, and has been on a one man mission to break the world record for one night stands, and who will probably die on a vibrating love bed with a huge smile onb his face.
Of course, what we don't know is whether it was the actual writing that was boring, or the telling tales of all those nights of unbridled sex. If it was writing, then maybe his biography could be told in a different way - maybe a theme park based on his life, or a series for children's TV. But now I am rambling.

The PCCW broadband and the tortoise

2007-05-05T08:58:00.000+08:00

There once was a speedy internet provider who bragged about how fast he his connection was. Tired of hearing him boast, Slow and Steady, the tortoise, challenged him to a race. All the animals in the forest gathered to watch.

Hare ran down the road for a while and then and paused to rest. He looked back at Slow and Steady and cried out, "How do you expect to win this race when you are walking along at your slow, slow pace?"

Hare stretched himself out alongside the road and fell asleep, thinking, "There is plenty of time to relax."

Slow and Steady walked and walked. He never, ever stopped until he came to the finish line.

The animals who were watching cheered so loudly for Tortoise, they woke up PCCW Broadband.

Hare stretched and yawned and began to run again, but it was too late. Tortoise was over the line.

Can this be right?
PING www.netvigator.com (218.102.21.228): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 218.102.21.228: icmp_seq=0 ttl=253 time=3075.532 ms
64 bytes from 218.102.21.228: icmp_seq=1 ttl=253 time=3861.695 ms
64 bytes from 218.102.21.228: icmp_seq=2 ttl=253 time=3060.138 ms
64 bytes from 218.102.21.228: icmp_seq=3 ttl=253 time=2634.665 ms
64 bytes from 218.102.21.228: icmp_seq=4 ttl=253 time=1792.569 ms
64 bytes from 218.102.21.228: icmp_seq=5 ttl=253 time=981.894 ms
64 bytes from 218.102.21.228: icmp_seq=6 ttl=253 time=191.381 ms
64 bytes from 218.102.21.228: icmp_seq=7 ttl=253 time=24.174 ms
64 bytes from 218.102.21.228: icmp_seq=8 ttl=253 time=170.320 ms
64 bytes from 218.102.21.228: icmp_seq=9 ttl=253 time=224.179 ms

--- www.netvigator.com ping statistics ---
10 packets transmitted, 10 packets received, 0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 24.174/1601.655/3861.695/1389.907 ms

I am no tech-noweenie, but an average ping time should be a hell of a lot less than 1600 ms, shouldn't it?
I have sent emails to Tech Support at Netvigator, and so far they haven't come up with a solution. I have tried switching computers, and that doesn't help, so the problem must be in their gear. I will just have to wait till they get their act together, I suppose.

Friday, I worked from home, as the landlords work team were here starting to sort out the problem with the ceilings; they are coming back today to do the plastering - so I am stuck inside until they finish.

I went down to Wanchai, last night. Now, that the new Bulldog bar has got its act together, and obtained a qualified smoking establishment status, I decided to try there again. I don't know why I bothered, the place is like the arctic, and where I was sat there was a definite smell of traffic fumes. Then the band started - first they murdered Bohemian Rhapsody. Things got slightly better after that, but not much.
It seemed that my table, was a good place for people to try and squeeze passsed, without even an 'excuse me'. After a couple of drinks, I gave up and went to Neptune. Early on it was OK, but fairly soon it was packed. Had a chat with a couple of the girls, but because I have workmen coming in this morning, I decided to come home about 1 o'clock, alone.
Right I will try and post this now, but I dont hold out much hope - we'll see.

Life in the Fast Lane?

2007-05-03T10:21:00.000+08:00

In a recent study, carried out by Professor "Quirky" Wiseman, it seems that our lives are speeding up. Having measured the time it takes for pedestrians to walk along 60 feet of pavement in 32 cities worldwide, he has come to the conclusion that our speed has increased by 10 percent since the last study in 1994. It seems that the greatest acceleration was found in Asian "tiger" countries such as China and Singapore where pedestrians walk between 20 and 30 per cent faster than they did in the early '90s. Singapore has the quickest walkers in the world, where the average time for the 60 feet was 10.55 seconds; compare this to Blantyre in Malawi, where the same distance takes 31.6 seconds - thats 2 feet every second - what do they do - two steps forward and then one back?
Anyway it seems that walking speed is a good indicator of the pace of people's lives, and, as people move faster they become less likely to help others and also have higher rates of coronary heart disease.
Well I will take it all with a pinch of salt; but, the website does have an interesting test to guage your pace of life - and, sure enough, I have a typical A personality, which means that I am living life in the fast lane, rushing around and trying to juggle many different activities and projects at the same time. I tend to be impatient, excessively time-conscious, and find relaxation difficult. This might help me be productive, but my relationships and health could suffer as a consequence.
It goes on to advise me to "Try to overcome feelings of impatience by distracting yourself when stuck in queues. For example, listen to your favourite music or chat to others. Also, try spending some time in the slow lane - savour each mouthful of food or relax with friends - and discover that the world doesn't grind to a halt."
Well that's as maybe, but I still get infuriated, when I am in a hurry (almost always) and have to weave my way through dawdling tourists and shoppers. Maybe its time to take up yoga or taichi - NAH!

Judges xvi

2007-05-02T12:30:00.000+08:00

Yesterday, being the first month in the year that does not contain the letter 'R', there was great dismay amongst the girls in Hong Kong, who thought my beard was sexy. To mark the arrival of spring, and doubting that any reports of cuckoos would be published in the local newspapers, I decided that the May Day would become my clean shaven day. Of course, the true meaning of May Day has been supplanted by Labour Day, and people have forgotten the true meaning of Beltane, where the Celts used to turn their flocks out to summer grazing and the gods were invoked for their protection until Halloween, by dancing around maypoles and the crowning of the May Queen (mind you that sort of thing may well have taken place in Fenwicks, I don't know).
After admiring my fresh, baby faced look for about ten seconds I headed out with the camera. First stop was the bird garden at Yuen Po Street. I found this disappointing: the "sweet sounds of the birds" was a cacophony, and the smell wasn't entirely pleasant. To rid my nostrils of the avian odour, I strolled through the flower market - now, this was much more pleasant, but soon I was back in the clamour and bustle of Fa Yuen Street market. After this I had had enough of Kowloon and photography for a while and headed back to Wanchai, which was dead. I managed to bump into some friends at the White Stag and a very boozey afternoon ensued. I finally dragged myself out and strolled back through Hong Kong Park as the sun was going down. The light is quite good at this time of day so I got the camera out and took some more photos.
Well I don't know if it was the afternoon's drinking, the climb from Kennedy Road to my apartment block, or whether, like Samson, after Delilah had shaven seven locks from his head; but, after all that, my strength had gone from me. Oh, well I will grow the beard again in September, because I had forgotten what a pain it is to shave twice a day.

Soda Siphons

2007-05-01T10:11:00.000+08:00

To the reader who reached my site by Googling "how long do soda siphon charge last", who has an IP address in Denton, Texas, and is using Internet Explorer, on Windows XP:- I hope you found the information you were looking for. I don't think you would have found it on my blog, but I hoped you enjoyed reading it.

One last chance.....

2007-04-29T06:31:00.000+08:00

Peanut got in touch with me before I went on holiday, and said that she wanted to get back together again. When I went to Thailand, I sat down with her, and explained exactly why I had split up with her last time, and said that I was willing to try again, but, if their was any repeats of the old games she use to play, that she would be out the door faster than a scolded cat. We had a great time on holiday, then I came back to Hong Kong and she went back to her home for the Songkran Festival. I spoke to her the other day, and she has sorted out a few things, and is now ready to come to Hong Kong, later this month.
So here is the plan - from the 19th I will have a 1 week holiday in Pattaya, and she will join me - then we'll both fly back to Hong Kong.
I have never been to Pattaya, it has been described to me as "Phuket on steroids", which really ain't my scene, but I am sure there are some great things to do there to fill up the week. Just got to book the flight, now! Wish me luck.

The worst chat up line in the world?

2007-04-25T09:24:00.000+08:00

"Spartans! Enjoy your breakfast, for tonight we dine in Hell!" is not the way to pick up women. In fact, even in a place where all you need to say to pick up someone is "Hello", the Spartans line will leave you standing in a space five metres clear of anything with two legs. But this was the advise I was offered last night.

Fortunately, despite eager encouragement, from a certain person to try it, I was not drunk enough to pretend to be Gerard Butler. I don't look like him and I don't have a Glaswegian accent!

I don't know about anyone else, but was Hong Kong busier than usual this morning. The walkway between IFC and my office seemed busier, and people seemed to be striding with a greater urgency than usual. And, the traffic seemed busier than usual on the road. Maybe I missed something or perhaps it just that it's spring.

Finally, a la Fumier, to the lady driving a powder blue BMW saloon - sorry I didn't get the registration number, I was too busy giving the driver a withering stare of contempt. Lady, if you do decide to park in a bus stop lay-by to bring your husband to work, then buses will be forced to stop in the road because you are blocking the lay by. When the bus doors open it usually means people are going to get off the bus, so, this is probably not a good time to pull away. I would have stopped to remonstrate with you further, but I was late.

Total Eclipse of the Mind

2007-04-24T10:25:00.000+08:00

I have just happened to glance out of the office window, and my immediate thought was that it was night time or a total eclipse at 10.30 in the morning! The street lights are on, cars are using their headlights, and I can see into the offices of other buildings clearly.
However the reason for this is not some unpredicticted astronomical event, or my watch stopping, its really low, dark clouds scudding ominously across the sky. These remind me of a scene from the movie "the Day after Tomorrow". These great, majestic structures of ice and water have sprung up almost with out warning. The wind has freshened and changed direction.
And, now, the raqin is falling.
They say that every cloud has a silver lining; I suppose it will wash all the pollution away.

Its just another Monday morning

2007-04-23T10:58:00.000+08:00

However, this morning we were blessed with rain. Not the soggy rain that makes you feel uncomfortable, but proper rain that falls horizonatally through the covered walkways ( can anything fall horizontally, or have I just invented an oxymoron?), wherre the petit, office girls struggle manfully to prevent their umbrellas collapsing from the wind or acting like a kite, when the small girl would take off like some Asian Mary Poppins.
This is the kind of rain that clears the air, and makes it possible for me to see the hills of the New Territories, whereas, I normally struggle to make out the buildings past North Point. It brings colour back into life, rather than a sort of insipid washed out grey that seems to pervade everything.
Already, an hour after it has stopped raining I can see a yellow pall of pollution building up in the north-east, and I am sure that soon we will back to Hong Kong's dark satanic views (with apologies there to William Blake).

Things could only get better

2007-04-22T11:13:00.000+08:00

After the maintenance people left, I packed up my camera gear and headed down to Western District to take some photographs, but my heart wasn't really in it. It was an uninsipring afternoon, but good exercise - lugging all that camera gear around and walking for a few miles up and down the streets.
I ended up on Wyndham Street. I had been intrigued by the Pickled Penguin several times I had ventured in that area. Since Spike has mentioned it a few times, I decided to venture in. Since Spike only goes to bars where you can smoke, I was a little bit disappointed to find that smoking was restricted to two tables by the doorway. Since I managed to secure one of these I was quite willing to stay. The service was prompt and polite, the staff making an effort to enter into conversation - though what they must have thought of this sweaty lump of lard that had just walked in, I dread to think. I ordered a pint of lager and a beef brisket sandwich. The beer was served too cold, for my liking, but, that seems to be the way the beer makers are having their beer served these days - it just makes me want to pee too often.
The sandwich was a little bit overpriced, but when it came it hit the spot - lots of thinly sliced, moist, tasty beef in a roll with a few chips on the side served with grain mustard. I am beginning to understand about the lack of decent bread in Hong Kong, that was the most disappointing part of the meal.
After the sandwich I had another pint, then decided to head home. Well I must have caught shift change at the taxi firm, since 50% of the taxis were "out of service". Eventually, after quite a long wait I managed to get on outside the Fringe Club. Got home, downloaded the photos from the camera, and had a nap on the sofa for a couple of hours. After I woke up I reheated some left-over spaghetti bolognaise ( single mans staple home cooking, along with chilli con carne ), had a shower and headed out to Wanchai.
I was in the mood to be bad so I went strait to Neptune, where I haven't been for several weeks. I found a spot at the bar between two Fillipinas and a Thai girl. Started chatting to the Thai girl on my left, and then her friend joined her. Annie is from Phuket, and we had a good old natter. One of Annie's friends turned up - dressed in scarlet with a low cut dress to emphasise her silicone endowed breasts - and drunk, but in a nice way.
After a while, the police came in for their regular check on the passports of the girls. I made a joke that my visa had expired at midnight, and I hoped the police didn't want to make a check on me. The girls must have been as drunk as me because they seemed to find this as witty as I did, when I said it. Annie's friend handed over her passport with a credit card an said to the policewoman, "I don't have Visa, do you take Mastercard?". Fortunately, the authorities took this in the humourous way it was intended. I checked out Annie's passport to find that she had just arived in Hong Kong yesterday, from Macau.
As the night drew on, Annies friend left - so Annie and I headed back to my place for some wonderful sex, and a very good Thai massage thrown in as well. A very nice end to a day that didn't hold much promise at the start.

It's Saturday morning, the World can wait

2007-04-21T10:07:00.000+08:00

So continuing on from the water in the ceiling drama. The building management arranged to come to my apartment at 9 am, and turned up at 9.40 am, with a tube of silicon sealant and a pair of pliers. The engineer soon realised that he didn't have the right tools to gain access to the trunking, so off he goes to get some more tools. In the mean time I am talking to the manager and he tells me that they have the same problem on many of the higher floors, even eleven floors above mine. It seems they have not done any maintenance on any pipes in this trunking for twenty-one years.
I now have the engineer climbing out of my window on the eighteenth floor to see if there is anything wrong with the cladding on the outside of the building - rather him than me. I just hope he doesn't decide to jump!
Now he is telling me that he will come back again, at eleven o'clock, and I am starting to get a little bit miffed at this disruption to my Saturday, but, what can I do?
A bit of good news; a life insurance policy, I have had for twenty-five years has finally matured, and the payment has been authorised. So, a nice bit of dosh will be heading my way soon. The people who ran the policy wanted to know if I wanted to buy another of their products with the cash, and it didn't take me much to tell them that since I had been saving this money for so long that I wanted to enjoy it now!

Back in the back seat

2007-04-20T13:39:00.000+08:00

Great, I am back in Hong Kong. The trip to Jakarta was fairly productive, and my Mandarin teacher would have been proud of my rendition of "Yueliang daibiao wode xin", belted out in a karaoke bar, with all the Chinese cheering along, or were they laughing at my tones?
A record for me: 41 minutes from door open on the aircraft to door open at the appartment. It must have helped that there was no point in dilly-dallying in the duty free shop, as I am only allowed to bring three packets of cigarettes into HK.
I got back to find that the people in the appartment below me had complained there there was water coming into their bathroom from my apartment. A mild panic set in as we went up in the lift - maybe the whole apartment was washed out? It seems the water is coming from the apartment above mine and travelling down through the trunking with the pipes and vents in, and there is some damage to my ceiling as well.
So that's my Saturday morning mucked up waiting for the building engineers to come in and get it sorted out.

Where has all the traffic gone?

2007-04-18T07:45:00.000+08:00

It has been two years since I was last here in Jakarta, and my initial reaction, on the drive from the airport, was where is all the traffic? It may be my memory playing tricks on me, but the number of vehicles on the road seems a lot less than before. Also everyone riding motorcycles is wearing a helmet and no one is sitting side saddle.
Checked in at the hotel, after the obligatory security checks that were comprehensive. The girl who showed me to my room, pointed out my nearest fire escape ( I was impressed). When she asked if she need to show me the amenities in the room, I declined, saying it was a standard JW Marriott room and I think that I know my way around it. Maybe "showing me the amenities" was a code for something else?
Straight into a meeting with one of our managers from Singapore and a commercial guy from Head Office, catching up on what is going on in the company.
Nice meal in the evening at a Balinese restaurant, somewhere in the middle of nowhere. Meal for 10 people, with copious beer 1.6m Rupiah, about 200 US Dollars which was copious ammounts of food and beer.
Things are looking up. On the way back to the hotel, I found out about the traffic: it only comes out after dark!

"See! No dragons! It must work"

2007-04-16T10:53:00.000+08:00

For the last few days my internet, from home, has been up and down like a pair of whore's drawers, and I am getting totally fed up with it. Netvigator's wonderful technical support have been about as much use as a chocolate fireguard, so I will have to try and sort it myself. I suppose it serves me right for taking the easiest and cheapest option when I came to Hong Kong.
A very quiet weekend, after my meeting with the 'Belinda' on Friday, I was intent on keeping a low profile.
I did enjoy spending the day in Hong Kong Park on Saturday, especially in the aviary, where several of the birds are sitting on eggs in their nests. It clearly says at the entrance to the aviary, that to get the best chance of seeing the birds, you should walk slowly and keep quiet. This is clearly not possible with most of the people who visit there, who like to let their unruly children run through there shouting.
I am off to Jakarta for the next few days, so I may not be able to, or be inclined to post. I am back on Friday!

Viragos, dragons and battle axes

2007-04-14T07:12:00.000+08:00

First of all, a quick thank you to Victor, for pointing out that I needed to change my comments settings on Intuitive Observations to allow non-Google users to leave a comment. This has now been done.
I had a really nice meal at Isola the other night, with my business aacquaintances. Nothing fancy, I stuck to the plain food: Calamari skewers, folled by roast chicken. Some people tried the spaghetti with sea urchins and said it was wonderful.
After the meal, I was set up by one of my colleagues to take two of the Australians up to Lang Kwai Fon. I don't normally do late drinking on a weekday night. Although we had a great time, I was not in a great mood on Friday morning, when I had to drag my sorry ass to work.
Friday, dragged on and ona ,nd I could hardly wait to escape. Went up to Bulldog Bar for happy hour, where I got talking to this German lady who was visitting Hong Kong from Xuhai. She had planned to get the six o'clock ferry to Lantau, but kept ordering more glasses of wine and missing her deadline for leaving. As she got more drunk she got more loud, opinionated and objectionable. Her stated feelings about the Chinese were not very nice, and she was repeating these in a very loud voice. Every time I went outside for a cigarette, I kept telling the girl who greets you to save me from this harridan - the girls thought it was extremely funny. Eventually I just had to say to the lady, "Look, I find what you are saying, and the way you are saying it, to be offensive. Please, shut up." She took the hint and left, and I was able to enjoy the rest of happy hour in peace and quiet - after all no one was going to talk to me after I had been associated with that termagant.
Headed home and rustled up a curry out of some left overs, thought about heading down to Wanchai, but decided that after eight pints of lager, earlier in the evening that it probably wasn't a great idea, so had an early night. I phoned Peanut, who was in the middle of her songkran party, and was having a great time. I wished her, "Sawadee pee mai! Koh hai mee kwansok!", and she was over the moon. In someways I wish I was in Thailand for their new year, and, on the other hand I am glad that I am being spared all the water throwing.
I have been having big problems with Netvigator broadband, at home, culminating on Thursday with having no connection at all. I sent an email from work, to their technical department; I, now, have an internet connection, but it is unbearably slow. Better than nothing I suppose

Expensive glasses

2007-04-12T15:52:00.000+08:00

My Mandarin lesson, yesterday, wasn’t as painful as I expected. Maybe I am a cynic, but I am sure she makes it easier to encourage me to sign up for another batch of lessons! Anyhow, I was quite pleased that I hadn’t forgotten as much as I thought I had.
After the lesson I headed down Wanchai, as I wanted to price up a couple of lenses for my camera. One lens I had read good reviews of was the Canon EF300mm f2.8L; but, at HKD32,500 I think that this might be a bit extravagant, even for me! Having said that – knowing how weak willed I am I will probably splash out on it. I will let you know.
After visiting the camera shops, I managed to catch the end of crazy hour in Carnegies. Lockhart Road seemed quite busy for a Wednesday night; I supposed there must be a trade fair on, or something. I declined to hang around for ladies night, and decided to grab some food from the Thai food hut and head home to call Peanut, as I had promised to do.
It was really nice food, but, by the time I got around to calling Peanut, she was already in bed (8pm Thai time!), watching TV, saying she had to get up early for work today. Twice today she has sent me texts – she knows I have important meetings all day, so she hasn’t phoned me, but she hasn’t been this eager in a long time – I detect the influence of her mother behind all this.
Really positive meetings today with parties from Australia and China, so all I have to do now is take them for a meal tonight. We have a table booked at Isola, which I recall having a great meal at last time, so I hope they have maintained their standards. Fortunately the view will be much nicer this time; the weather in the last few days has been really good, I just hope it stays like that for the weekend.

Back to normal

2007-04-11T11:45:00.000+08:00

Intuitive Observations is my new photoblog. I would really appreciate some feedback on the pictures posted there. Please, take a look.
Getting back into the swing of work hasn't been too bad; I, even, remembered my computer passwords! Off course, once I had logged in, I had to wade through over twelve hundred emails. Why, oh, why do people use the "reply to all" button, when all they are saying is thank you for the message?
I have very important meetings tomorrow and Friday, and I am supposed to be preparing presentations for my trip to Jakarta next week, but all I can do is look out the window at the lovely weather, and wish I could take a half day.
I have another Mandarin lesson this afternoon and I haven't done any revision for a long time, so I think it will very painful and arduous, and I will definitely need a drink up LKF afterwards. The only problem with this is it takes me along Stanley Street, and then it is too tempting to spend money in the camera shops - mind you I managed to avoid the temptation yesterday.
Just before our team meeting this morning Peanut phones me, saying she wants to talk to me. That was at half past eight in the morning Thai time, so I am wondering what plan she is hatching. An hour later I receive a text from her saying that she is "so missing you tilak". My bet is it will be a request for money. I have told her I will phone her this evening, so I am sure to find out.

Bank Holiday Monday

2007-04-09T20:26:00.000+08:00

So on Sunday, I just spent it lazing about the apartment, did a bit of laundrys ,orted out my photos from Phuket, watched a bit of TV. I didn't hold out to much hope for Monday as the forecast was for rain. I have been in Hong Kong long enough, now, not to rely on the Observatory for reliable weather forecasts, and, so I was pleassantly surprised to wake up and finfd the sun shining.
So I grabbed the camera and headed out of the apartment. Down through Hong Kong Park, down to Central, where there was a rally by the Hong Kong Mini car club going on, then wandered up to Lang Kwai Fong for a liquid lunch; bumping into as couple of people I know, then home to a nice supper of Prad Kaprow Gai.
I don't know if the body will cope with going back to work tomorrow; but, at least it is a short week!

Back in Hong Kong

2007-04-08T11:46:00.000+08:00

I am back home, now, after a wonderful holiday, and, the great thing is I don't have to go to work until Tuesday.

The highlights of the holiday were (in no particular order):- getting back together again with Peanut, meeting up with old friends, eating lots of Thai food, taking lots of photos, lazing all day on the beach and frequent Thai massages.
The lowlights, again in no particular order: inflated tuk-tuk fares, a four hour stopover in the new airport at Bangkok, finding out that you are only allowed to bring in 3 packets of cigarettes to Hong Kong duty-free, drinking too much beer and the heat.

Okay, so I suppose you want to see some of my photos - well I am going to tease you here, because I am going to drip feed them onto my new blog, which is dedicated to my photgraphs that can be found by following the link to "Intuitive Observations" on the sidebar. There's only one phot there so far, as I have only just started that particular blog, but I am sure it will fill out over the next few days and weeks.

Beyond a joke

2007-03-29T21:08:00.000+08:00

This photography lark is getting beyond a joke – I, now, have an agent. Bim’s job is to make sure that all of the girl’s know what my fee is, and then to make sure that I collect what’s due to me. In return, she gets a lady drink every now and again. This cuts into my “profits”, but increases “turnover”
Last night, I decided to go watch some Thai boxing at the new stadium, that replaced one of the better discos in Phuket. Owner was forced to leave Thailand after a series of revealing photos appeared in a Swedish paper, which offended the Thai cultural norms – let that be a warning to any foreigner who becomes too successful in Thailand, but I digress. The ticket was overpriced, but what the heck, I am on holiday. All in all, there were twelve bouts, only a few went the full five rounds; the first was between two young kids (60lb or 27kg weight), for kids they weren’t pulling any punches, and looking at the supporters there was quite a bit of money wagered on this bout. Betting on Thai boxing is the only gambling allowed in Thailand. There were quite a few foreigners fighting, as well; an Australian beat his local opponent by hitting him in the bollocks with his knee, a Swede lost to a South Korean, who scooped the prize money of 40,000 baht (about 1,000 US Dollars). It made a change for one evening.
There are quite a few Russian tourists here at the moment, and a pair of ladies, who must have been Moscow’s answer to Sharon and Trace (the two fat slags in Viz magazine) tried to chat me up last night, when Peanut wasn’t around. When they didn’t get any success, one of them spilt her vodka and coke down my back. This did nothing to improve her chances of ending up in bed with me, ughh the brain shivers, even at the thought of it.
I am finding more and more bars that are stocking Beer Laos these days; this is great as I love the stuff, and it gives me less of a headache. This is a bit strange as it never used to give me a headache at all, so either, a) I am drinking even more, b) its old stock and past its “best before” date, or, c) due to high demand the brewery is letting its standards slip.
The weather has been great the last few days, and now aloe vera after sun is being purchased by the truckload to try and ease the sunburn. I don’t think this good weather will last, as there are a few wispy cirrus clouds in the sky as I write this, so could be rain soon. Its also been getting noticeably hotter, obviously getting ready for the baking temperatures of Songkran.

Lord Lichfield needn't worry

2007-03-26T21:09:00.000+08:00

I will never make a living as a photographer, but I do enjoy it as a hobby. As a career it would not suit me, as I am not artistic or creative; however, I do understand the physics of lenses and light, which means that I can take proficient photos. Also to earn a crust you need to have a good business plan, and my present one sucks at making me money, but it does keep me in beer.
The first night I went out with my camera and went to a bar where I was known, and I offered to take some portrait shots of the girls. A lot of the girls were reluctant, thinking I would post them on the Internet, so a bribe was needed – a lady drink. This night was very expensive, and fortunately the batteries on my flash ran out before my cash did. Next morning spend about half an hour on the laptop processing the shots, and load them up onto a memory stick. Luckily the weather was poor that day so I wasn’t wasting any valuable beach time. Then its down to the developers and get the photos printed on a good size paper, 6R (6” x 8”). Then I am ready for the next evening.
This time go to a different bar, with last night’s photos and the camera. Put the photo envelope on the bar: Thais love to look at photos, so then they will say how nice the photos are – so I offer to take their photo, no enticement is needed this time, and all I ask is that if they like their photo, when it is printed that they buy me a beer. Then it’s back to the first bar, and have drinks bought for me by the girls, saving me 70 baht on each beer.
OK I have to be careful because: firstly, I don’t have a work permit, and what I am doing could be construed as work, and, secondly, there are Thai photographers, who take photos of the bar girls for money. I certainly don’t want to upset these guys, as I could end up being beaten up or having my camera gear smashed or stolen – and that would ruin my holiday.
Still it’s a nice diversion to an evening, and it gets me to practice my hobby some more. I will try and upload some of the photos, soon, but all the Internet connections I have found, so far have either been expensive, or slow. I also need to remember which of the girls didn’t want their photo published – and that is harder, as the memory cells seem to get a bit messed up after a few bottles of Beer Lao.
Peanut’s sister, Mem is in town. I first met her, when she was a gangly, shy thirteen year old. Now she has blossomed into a young, Thai beauty. I am not sure if I believe the story I am being told about her working in Carrefour, and getting a transfer to a different branch after a month. It seems a bit un-kosher for someone who has recently finished school. Still it was nice to see her again, and she is still so shy and reserved, totally the opposite of the confident, outgoing Peanut.
Last night, on the way home, Peanut wanted to stop and get some food, but I wasn’t in the mood, and told her that I wanted to go straight back to the hotel, which we did. About five o’clock in the morning, Peanut wakes me up, and says, “ I can’t sleep, tilak, my stomach hurts so I am going to get some food”. So she gets up pulls on some clothes and heads out to forage for a noodle stall still open at that time. About an hour later she crawls back into bed, and I ask her if she had had some food, to which she replied that yes she had, and that she had bought me some chicken noodle soup. Sure enough, when I got up a few hours later, I found a plastic bag with cold soup in it. I blasted it in the microwave and had it for breakfast. 30 baht soup, it can’t be beaten.
The weather is much improved today, and the bright lobster colour is coming along nicely, a few more days and it will start to peel off!

Phuket - day 1

2007-03-24T21:19:00.000+08:00

My expectations for the flight to Phuket were not high, especially since Thai Air had re-arranged my return flight to enable me to kick my heels for four hours in Bangkok’s new Cobra Swamp Airport. However, this time my expectations were pleasantly exceeded. For a start the flight was only about a half full, so I had the seat next to me empty; secondly, the cabin service was exemplary – I think I fell in love with the young stewardess who kept making sure that my glass of Singha never went dry. Dry is a good adjective to describe the fish/rice meal that was served – but it was tasty.
We landed in Phuket three and a half hours later, just behind a Russian charter jet, so the queues at immigration were not short – I supposed it took me about forty minutes to clear that particular hurdle. By then the luggage had been unloaded and there was my suitcase sitting forlornly by the carousel. The customs officer wanted to scan my luggage and then was interested in my case full of camera gear, but accepted that I was an enthusiastic photographer on holiday, and let me through.
The drive to the resort was uneventful, and soon I dumped my suitcase in my room and headed across the road to the Friendly Massage hut, where I let a Thai lady work the stress of the flight from my muscles. After that I headed to the Beach Bar. Several of the staff there remembered me (mind you it was only ten weeks since I was last here) and I supped a few ales. After that I staggered across to another bar, where several of my friends were drinking, and it would have been churlish to refuse the drinks they were offering. Then it started to rain, so I couldn’t leave the bar.
After a while the rain eased and I managed to head back to my hotel room and have a shower before going out for the evening. The first tuk-tuk driver I asked the fare to Basngla Road told me 150baht. When I asked why it was so much, he told me it was due to the new one way system. The fact that the new one way system doesn’t make the journey any longer didn’t appear to appease his argument. So I walked there, instead. Fortunately, because it was still raining the pavements were relatively clear.
Heading up Bangla, I popped into Kangaroo Bar, where Bim was very happy to see me; she introduced me to her sister Mei, who seemed charming enough. I only stopped there for a couple of drinks, before heading up to Mai Thai Bar, where the owner’s fiancée Ead was having her birthday party. Fortunately there was food at the party, but I was still on the way to becoming “kee mau”
Then Peanut turned up, we went and sat down at a table on our own. I told her that I was a little surprised to get a phone call from her last weekend; it seems I have her mother to thank for that. Apparently her mum said that she wasn’t a young girl any more (25) and needed to work out what to do with her life. Now that her sister has finished school and started work in Carrefour, there no longer the monetary pressures that she used to have- although of course she still needs to send money back for her son, Joe. On and on she went, not letting me get a word in edgeways, and when I told her, that if we were going to get back together again, we need to have a serious talk she told me to “talk to her tomorrow”
So, anyway, back to the hotel – this time the tuk-tuk cost two hundred baht, which was a pure rip off, even Peanut said so and she is not often willing to defend the Farang over the Thai; but it was all to no avail – two hundred baht was paid.
Back up to the hotel room and we had great sex – that’s a bit of a lie, as I was to pissed and tired to be up for much, so Peanut had to do most of the work, and it was jolly good for me, at least.
Got up late this morning and went and had a breakfast of chicken rice soup (kao tom gai), which is great after a night on the piss, then down to the beach, a few beers after lunch and then a siesta. Peanut is going to some kind of concert tonight, so I won’t see her till later on; and I will definitely be eating before I start drinking, this evening – I feel like som Phad kaprow mua.
I am a littler bit sunburned all ready, I would guess about two or three days before I turn into a lobster and peel. The weather today has been great: sunny, not too hot with a nice breeze off the ocean, and the sea was lovely and warm.

Forget about the bad times, oh yeah,

2007-03-22T11:36:00.000+08:00

I haven't been in the mood for posting much recently; but thought I would try and catch up.
Last week I went to Perth for some business meetings. The meetings were very constructive and worthwhile. We had a great dinner at the yachtclub, there on the Swan River, and I even managed to grab some time to wander around King's Park and take some pictures with my new camera. I found Perth to be a quaint city, with friendly people; but what is it with the taxis, just about impossible to find, even when you book them twelve hours before. Don't mention Qantas: this airline is supposed to represent the Spirit of Australia, and they aren't doing Australia any favours, I can tell you.
I have been really busy at work, although there are some major SNAFUs in China with creeping pipework and the such, but no one will admit to any delay in the project. I had two phone calls from Peanut at the weekend, totally out of the blue. When I asked her why she was phoning me she said it was because she missed me! Ahh!
I am on holiday in Phuket for the next couple of weeks, so wait to find out what happens!
Thai Air have screwed up my flights on the way back. They have moved half their flights from Phuket to Bangkok to use the old airport, and as a result they have cancelled the first leg of TG630. This means I have to get an early flight from Phuket and kick my heels for 4 hours in the new airport. Good reason for using Dragonair next time!
I won a free lunch for ten people at the Bulldog Bar in LKF, so I am taking a bunch of people from the office there today, then a mad rush to clear my desk before going on holiday tomorrow. Glad to get out of the way of all the crowds that accompany the Rugby sevens, and with Ching Ming and Easter, I don't use up too much of my annual vacation.

Welcome the pommey bastard to God's own Earth.

2007-03-13T13:03:00.000+08:00

Tonight I have the pleasure of flying to Perth (in Australia, not the one in Scotland). I had hoped to do a bit of sightseeing, but it now seems that they are sticking in meetings left, right and centre; so I doubt I will have a minute to myself. Life is hard at the top. Back here on Friday evening, so will have to make the most of the weekend.
I am flying there with QANTAS (Quickies Available Now in Toilets, Ask the Staff); though, I guess, since my names not Ralph, theres little chance of that; probably more of the Quick And Nasty Typical Australian Service.

I surrender!

2007-03-12T15:49:00.000+08:00

OK, I admit it, my will power is non-existant, I am weak willed, irresolute, spineless, submissive maggot who shouldn't have access to money in a bank account.
Yes I bought the camera and lens that I saw the other day. Yes it was extravagant, but it was a bargain - rather like the housewife who buys crates of cat food, because it was on special offer; even though she didn't own a cat.
So I am now the proud owner of two good digital SLR cameras, and now need the impetus to go out and use them. I have decided that the rule will be:- unless shooting conditions dictate one particular camera, then on manky days, like today, I will use the 1D, on dry days or inside I will use the 5D. That's basically because the 1D has better weather sealing than the 5D.
Looking out of my office window, I see that the passenger liner "Queen Elizabeth II" has berthed at the Ocean Terminal at Tsim Sha Tsu, which seems alot more convenient than the Queen Mary II who was miles away from anywhere. I also noticed that the QE2 didn't get alonside until 11:45 in the morning which must have put a few excursion operators in a tizzy. As she was making her way through Victoria Harbour the barges that were stacked up to supply her with fuel, food and remove the garbage, where already following her up the channel. Its just a shame I don't have my camera with me!

Sorely tempted

2007-03-08T16:01:00.000+08:00

As usual, after my weekly Mandarin lesson, I was in need of some liquid refreshment, so I headed up towards LKF. This takes me along Stanley Street, and I normally pop into a camera shop on the way just to see if they have any glass that I like.
As I walked into the store I noticed two of the store assistants looking at a very nice camera body with a nice looking lens with a red band on it (a red band on a Canon lens indicates that it is one of their top of the range "L" lenses). I worked out that the camera was a Canon EOS 1D, but couldn't work out whick mark it was. Knowing that the Mark III has just been released, I asked the assistants if this was the new Mark III. They told me: "Can not be. This is second hand". So I went for a closer look and sure enough it was the Mark II - which is a very good camera, and the lens was an EF85mm F1.2L lens which is a really nice piece of glass. They wanted just over HKD14,500 for it - it would cost you probably four times as much new, and if I had the cash in my pocket I would probably have gone for it.
So instead I went up to Lang Kwai Fung to quench my thirst, and then home for a restless sleep, dreaming about cameras - I know, its sad.

Hello, Sailor!

2007-03-07T11:33:00.000+08:00

Well it seems that Wanchai will be off limits for a few days. I went out for a cigarette on the safety floor this morning, and spotted a couple of warships in the anchorage. I have checked the Hong Kong Marine Department website to find that there are 4 US Navy ships and a support vessel in Hong Kong; they are:- USS Ronald Reagan, USS Lake Champlain, USS Paul Hamilton, USS Russel and USNS Tippecanoe altogether there are six thousand eight hundred personnel on those ships. I just hope that they are gone by the weekend.