Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Why I've Not Written Anything On Here For Ages - Part V
Part V
The Final Episode!
I put my parents on a plane to the UK, and promptly went home and packed - it was Eid and Hong Kong was calling.
My sister had been to Hong Kong about 2 months earlier, so she gave me a list of 'must see' sights. Top of the list was Tian Tan, the giant Buddha on the top of a hill on Lantau Island.
You reached the Buddha by cable car...and as you probably know, I'm not good with heights. You probably know this, my sister claims she didn't.
Anyway, clearly I wasn't the only one who was scared of heights...
...and these signs were definitely not helping:
At first sight it looked like quite a short cable car ride, but it soon became clear that it wasn't. It was nearly 6 kilometers long, and took about half an hour. It was made extra-long because it kept stopping...which was reassuring.
Finally we got to the Buddha...only 268 steps left to go!
As you can imagine, I enjoyed the return cable car ride just as much! When we got back to Hong Kong Island, I needed to calm my nerves. A lovely cup of tea would sort me out...in a tea house suggested by my sister.
The menu was clearly going to be a problem.
I decided to ditch my sister's Guide To China, and head off to Macau for a spot of gambling.
The Chinese answer to Vegas is a funny old place. Part of it is bright lights, gambling, drinking and working girls, and the other half is an old colonial town. Still, as it was Christmas they still threw lights at it until my retinas started to melt.
It was definitely worth a visit, but if you're going to Macau any time soon, and you need to catch the ferry from Macau straight to Hong Kong Airport, I have a few words of advice for you:
When they say that the boat's check-in closes half an hour before the boat leaves, they're not joking. Turning up with just 15 minutes to spare means you have to bin your very expensive ticket to the airport, buy another one to Hong Kong Island, get a tube to Central, then get the train to the airport. This is rather stressful and time-consuming, and made me more anxious than the Big Buddha’s cable car did. Constantly losing your tube/train tickets doesn't help time-keeping either...although proves a constant source of amusement for the other travellers.
Merry Christmas!!
The Final Episode!
I put my parents on a plane to the UK, and promptly went home and packed - it was Eid and Hong Kong was calling.
My sister had been to Hong Kong about 2 months earlier, so she gave me a list of 'must see' sights. Top of the list was Tian Tan, the giant Buddha on the top of a hill on Lantau Island.
You reached the Buddha by cable car...and as you probably know, I'm not good with heights. You probably know this, my sister claims she didn't.
Anyway, clearly I wasn't the only one who was scared of heights...
...and these signs were definitely not helping:
At first sight it looked like quite a short cable car ride, but it soon became clear that it wasn't. It was nearly 6 kilometers long, and took about half an hour. It was made extra-long because it kept stopping...which was reassuring.
Finally we got to the Buddha...only 268 steps left to go!
As you can imagine, I enjoyed the return cable car ride just as much! When we got back to Hong Kong Island, I needed to calm my nerves. A lovely cup of tea would sort me out...in a tea house suggested by my sister.
The menu was clearly going to be a problem.
I decided to ditch my sister's Guide To China, and head off to Macau for a spot of gambling.
The Chinese answer to Vegas is a funny old place. Part of it is bright lights, gambling, drinking and working girls, and the other half is an old colonial town. Still, as it was Christmas they still threw lights at it until my retinas started to melt.
It was definitely worth a visit, but if you're going to Macau any time soon, and you need to catch the ferry from Macau straight to Hong Kong Airport, I have a few words of advice for you:
When they say that the boat's check-in closes half an hour before the boat leaves, they're not joking. Turning up with just 15 minutes to spare means you have to bin your very expensive ticket to the airport, buy another one to Hong Kong Island, get a tube to Central, then get the train to the airport. This is rather stressful and time-consuming, and made me more anxious than the Big Buddha’s cable car did. Constantly losing your tube/train tickets doesn't help time-keeping either...although proves a constant source of amusement for the other travellers.
Merry Christmas!!
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Why I've Not Written Anything On Here For Ages - Part IV
Part IV
I'd barely recovered from my week of flu, when my parents came to stay. I think they were hoping for a nice relaxing visit, but I had other ideas. I set my Dad to work in my garden: planting, digging, watering....and my mother was Chief Tea-maker. Just when they thought they'd finished, I dragged them round all the shops looking for a Christmas tree and Christmas decorations.
Very nice.
Now last time they were here, they were a bit, um, dare I say, 'useless'? But this time it was me who took that baton and ran with it.
The day before they arrived, I realised I didn't have a bed for them to sleep in - nothing like leaving things till the last minute. I managed to borrow a bed from a friend, but when I came to put it together I realised it was missing an important part...the support for the mattress. A mad dash to my friend's followed, and Problem A was solved. Problem B followed hot on its heals though...I pulled out the duvet cover to discover it needed a wash! There was no way it was going to dry in time, so I headed to Carrefour on my way to the airport. It wasn't until I picked up my parents and arrived home that I realised I'd bought a sheet, rather than the duvet cover. Ooops.
Incompetent Daughter made another sneaky appearance later in the week, when I had to go to work. I ordered them a taxi for 1pm, but forgot to leave them any money, so they couldn't pay for it!!! Oops x2.
By the end of their stay I think they were looking forward to the plane trip back...
I'd barely recovered from my week of flu, when my parents came to stay. I think they were hoping for a nice relaxing visit, but I had other ideas. I set my Dad to work in my garden: planting, digging, watering....and my mother was Chief Tea-maker. Just when they thought they'd finished, I dragged them round all the shops looking for a Christmas tree and Christmas decorations.
Very nice.
Now last time they were here, they were a bit, um, dare I say, 'useless'? But this time it was me who took that baton and ran with it.
The day before they arrived, I realised I didn't have a bed for them to sleep in - nothing like leaving things till the last minute. I managed to borrow a bed from a friend, but when I came to put it together I realised it was missing an important part...the support for the mattress. A mad dash to my friend's followed, and Problem A was solved. Problem B followed hot on its heals though...I pulled out the duvet cover to discover it needed a wash! There was no way it was going to dry in time, so I headed to Carrefour on my way to the airport. It wasn't until I picked up my parents and arrived home that I realised I'd bought a sheet, rather than the duvet cover. Ooops.
Incompetent Daughter made another sneaky appearance later in the week, when I had to go to work. I ordered them a taxi for 1pm, but forgot to leave them any money, so they couldn't pay for it!!! Oops x2.
By the end of their stay I think they were looking forward to the plane trip back...
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Why I've Not Written Anything On Here For Ages - Part III
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Why I've Not Written Anything On Here For Ages - Part II
Part II
24 hours after I arrived back from New York, my sister turned up in Doha for a visit. It took her 18 months to come out here at all, and now she's been out twice in the last 6 months. Someone liked it!
She asked to see a little more of the place this time. Last time I just took her to a variety of houses for barbeques...I don't think she even realised there was sand here.
This time I decided to show her the more traditional side of Doha...the Poppy Ball:
..Ok, ok, not traditional at all, but I did also take her on a Dhow trip. From the sea, my sister came to the strange conclusion that Doha's skyline looks just like...
Stonehenge.
Hmmmm, I think she needs glasses. Anyway, I think it was the Dhow trip that did me in. I had a cold, but someone sweet-talked me into jumping into the sea.
...which brings me to Part III...
24 hours after I arrived back from New York, my sister turned up in Doha for a visit. It took her 18 months to come out here at all, and now she's been out twice in the last 6 months. Someone liked it!
She asked to see a little more of the place this time. Last time I just took her to a variety of houses for barbeques...I don't think she even realised there was sand here.
This time I decided to show her the more traditional side of Doha...the Poppy Ball:
..Ok, ok, not traditional at all, but I did also take her on a Dhow trip. From the sea, my sister came to the strange conclusion that Doha's skyline looks just like...
Stonehenge.
Hmmmm, I think she needs glasses. Anyway, I think it was the Dhow trip that did me in. I had a cold, but someone sweet-talked me into jumping into the sea.
...which brings me to Part III...
Monday, December 15, 2008
Why I've Not Written Anything On Here For Ages - Part I
I'm fully aware that I've been a very slack blogger recently, but I'm also aware that I've been rather busy...and because I've been sooo busy, I'm going to tell you what i've been up to in stages.
Part I
At the beginning of November, I went to see my brother in Florida. The most direct way to get there was to fly directly from Doha to New York, then down to Tampa. The only problem being that the flight from Doha to JFK is nearly 15 hours long. I nearly lost my mind.
Anyway, that aside, the plan was to meet my friend Caroline in JFK and fly down to Florida together. Apparently it takes a long time to get through customs in New York though, so it was a good job the connecting flight was delayed, else Caroline would have missed it. However, reacting to a JetBlue Airways staff member saying the plane is delayed with, "Ooooo that's good news!" is not advisable, as they don't take it very well.
So off we went on our delayed-plane to Florida and spent some quality time by the pool....erm...I mean catching up with my brother, before heading back to New York to party with a friend of ours who now lives there. Getting back to JFK proved to be rather interesting; this time the aeroplane was on time, but it went through an area of turbulence, which proved to be rather...turbulent. I think it was when the TV screens all went blank and some people started screaming that we started looking rather nervous.
Anyway, we made it back to New York, albeit a few stones lighter, and as they say, "When in Rome..." so for much of the time we shopped. We did manage to find time to do the usual New York-y things however...
We went on the Staten Island ferry to see the Statue of Liberty, who frankly must have been freezing:
That's a grimace from me, not a smile, if you're interested: I'm used to desert weather.
Then I noticed the skyline of La Grande Pomme...
...which looks surprisingly similar to:
Doha! ...except of course for the clouds.
Caroline spent the vast majority of the holiday trying to ensure that Starbucks was as cushioned from the economic slump as possible:
..and was pleased to find that the American's found her much funnier than her fellow countrymen:
Anyway, we continued to be tourists:
Then things started to get a bit like Where's Wally, at which point we had to stop...
...and frankly all the lights of Times Square had started to give me a headache anyway. Yes, it was time to head back to my giant sandpit and get ready for a visitor...
Part I
At the beginning of November, I went to see my brother in Florida. The most direct way to get there was to fly directly from Doha to New York, then down to Tampa. The only problem being that the flight from Doha to JFK is nearly 15 hours long. I nearly lost my mind.
Anyway, that aside, the plan was to meet my friend Caroline in JFK and fly down to Florida together. Apparently it takes a long time to get through customs in New York though, so it was a good job the connecting flight was delayed, else Caroline would have missed it. However, reacting to a JetBlue Airways staff member saying the plane is delayed with, "Ooooo that's good news!" is not advisable, as they don't take it very well.
So off we went on our delayed-plane to Florida and spent some quality time by the pool....erm...I mean catching up with my brother, before heading back to New York to party with a friend of ours who now lives there. Getting back to JFK proved to be rather interesting; this time the aeroplane was on time, but it went through an area of turbulence, which proved to be rather...turbulent. I think it was when the TV screens all went blank and some people started screaming that we started looking rather nervous.
Anyway, we made it back to New York, albeit a few stones lighter, and as they say, "When in Rome..." so for much of the time we shopped. We did manage to find time to do the usual New York-y things however...
We went on the Staten Island ferry to see the Statue of Liberty, who frankly must have been freezing:
That's a grimace from me, not a smile, if you're interested: I'm used to desert weather.
Then I noticed the skyline of La Grande Pomme...
...which looks surprisingly similar to:
Doha! ...except of course for the clouds.
Caroline spent the vast majority of the holiday trying to ensure that Starbucks was as cushioned from the economic slump as possible:
..and was pleased to find that the American's found her much funnier than her fellow countrymen:
Anyway, we continued to be tourists:
Then things started to get a bit like Where's Wally, at which point we had to stop...
...and frankly all the lights of Times Square had started to give me a headache anyway. Yes, it was time to head back to my giant sandpit and get ready for a visitor...
