Waiting .........

Waiting at the airport now, glad to be on the way, flight leaves in about 1 hour, so this will be the last for this trip and I think for the blog.

Had nice evening in HK yesterday, woke really early today, so went for a walk at 7am, nice and quiet by HK standards.

See you all soon.

Neil.

Checking out tomorrow

For a last day it's been uneventful again, stayed in the hotel except for lunch. It's been too hot for walking about and the wind has been like 'dragons breath'.

I'm all packed and ready to leave, Dennis will collect me tomorrow at midday.

I will stay in HK on Sunday night and catch the 2:30 pm flight from HK to London.

Don't know what else to say ...

Song for the day : Stop, Sam Brown.

The trip peaks out

Missed out on breakfast today ! Thought I'd get a breakfast in HK at Dan Ryan's. Got there about 10:45 and the guy gives me the lunch menu ??? "Am I too late for the breakfast menu" I asked " no sir" he replied "we only serve breakfast weekend and bank holidays" Lunch it is then.

Finished lunch and took the star ferry across to Central and walked to the peak tram, I've not done this trip before, so it was good to do something new. Very steep ride in places, anyway, got to the top and went up to the viewing terrace, took one photo and the batteries in the camera gave up. Went down to the shop below and got some more but when I tried to get back up the Lady told me you've already used the ticket !! Managed to talk her into letting me back in though, gave her the old batteries ran out story, couldn't make it up could you. Here's the view, don't think pics capture how stunning it really is.

This one is the tram line.

It was very hot so I didn't stay too long. Got back to Chang Ping station and got searched again, again !!! must look dodgy this time. Anyway not a bad day out, bit tired and hungry now so I'm off for a shower and then dinner (7:45 pm).

Song for the day : River deep mountain high, The Four Tops or Ike & Tina Turner.

Did I feel a right plonker ?

Anonymous got it dead right !! I did feel a right plonker. We only travelled 20 yards at the most.

Ha ha, I did have a little smile to myself though, who knows what they thought bet they had a laugh when I'd gone.

Just finished dinner and collected the laundry, I really do lead an exciting life.

Saw some kids feeding the fish in the pond at the hotel, had to mention fish wouldn't be the same would it ? Here's the pics.

One hearty breakfast is not enough !!

Well not much to tell again, the work is all done and I can't get a flight until Monday.
Might have a day in HK tomorrow I'll see how the weather is and hopefully get some pics to post, none so far.

Funny thing happened this morning, finished breakfast and went outside to wait for Dennis. While I stood there one of the drivers from Techcrystal pulled up, this guy speaks no English, anyway I thought Dennis had asked him to pick me up so I got in the car and he parked in the hotel carpark !!! Turns out him and his friend have come for breakfast they drag me in to the Chinese restaurant and I'm still thinking Dennis has sent them. So we all sit down, I decide to call Dennis who is outside by now, he joins us and I have the second breakfast of the day !!! much better than the western breakfast I might add (fruit and orange juice today).

Chinese cabbage, chicken and some sweet dumplings, very nice, trouble is there's no pictures on the menu and I have no idea what to order if I go in there tomorrow.

That all, going to sit by the lake before dinner, it's nice in the evening.

Song for the day : Orangejuice blues(blues for breakfast), Bob Dylan.

Is that obscure enough Golden Oldie ?

Hot 'n' spicy

I didn't post anything the last couple of days cos there's nothing much of interest happening.

The work is almost done now and I should be finished by end of work on Thursday, PROBLEM : can't get on a flight until Monday afternoon !!!

Dennis and I went for lunch today at hot and spicy restaurant, guess what ? the food was too hot for Dennis, I thought it was OK, I reckon I'm becoming a local ! Went and sat by the lake for a while this evening but no one around, it's really quiet here this week.

As there's nothing else to write about ?? the weather is very hot and humid today, shower and a bath already, the air is bad too.

Can't think of anything else.

Song for the day : Spice up your life, the Spice Girls. (I'm struggling here !!)

Taxis, Trains & Planes

Here we go again !! Alison took me to the station on Thursday morning (7 am). Met my old friend Graham on the platform " going home then" he said, ha ha !! Journey went quickly with someone to chat to.

Got a taxi from St Pancras to Paddington, as I was getting in the car I twisted my ankle, ouch ! and after a 12 hour flight was quite sore and swollen, what a start. OK now though.

Got into HK at 7 am, didn't sleep on the flight at all, the evening flight is better cos you do feel like a sleep. I had heard from Carlsson that a typhoon was expected, but it was only wet and a bit windy. As it was raining I went straight to the station and got the train to Dongguan, arrived in Chang ping at midday, Dennis was waiting. Checked in at hotel (19 th floor again) and then went for lunch at a favourite of Dennis, Hong Kong restaurant in Qiaotou (I like it too).

After lunch went into work but all the HK people had left, got a call later from Carlsson to say that the wind in HK was now force 9, seems I got out just in time !

It's Saturday morning, I slept 11 hours last night.

Weather (for anonymous) wet and hot.

Got to find something to do for the weekend ???? Hope you all enjoy the bank holiday, back soon if there is something to report.

Song for the day : Big yellow taxi, Joni Mitchell (it wasn't yellow it was silver and the ones in HK are red)

Will I get a visa in time ?

I'm due to return to Dongguan on Friday 21/08/08. I should be leaving London for Hong Kong on Thursday, however, I still have no Chinese visa and I'm not sure if it will arrive in time, we shall see !!

So I think I will be writing this blog when I get there, (notice the new layout, got tired of the old one), I only expect to be there for 2 weeks this time and like last time I will be alone and staying at the hotel.

Keep looking, you never know, something exciting may happen !!!

Neil.

Many partings

So another chapter in this story is almost at an end. Not much has happened so far today, the work as far as it can be is finished and I'm home (in Qiaotou not England) now. Just been finishing the last of the packing, the maid is ironing the last of the washing !!! (never seen her ironing before, this is new) usually do it myself.

Pouring with rain again, big big storm.

Dennis has gone home to rest his ankle, it really looks bad today and he can't walk very well. He's insisting on taking me to the station tomorrow, good job the car's an automatic and his right foot is OK, not that it would make a difference here !!

I may post a couple more before the end if there's something to say, if not I guess this may be the last of this blog, I will miss writing it.

So my thanks to all who gave me subjects to write on, also to the people who posted comments. I would also say a big thanks to the people who helped me here, it's not so easy when you're by yourself, especially Dennis and Cai.

Bye bye, see you all soon.

Neil.
Song for the day : The last time, The Rolling Stones.

A trip to the hospital

The penultimate day is nearly over, and what a day. The sun shone all day !!! just when it's time to go, saw some lovely butterflies at lunch time some as large as small birds, trouble is they flit about so quickly you can't get a picture.

Mix up at breakfast time Dennis arrived much too early and when I came out he was asleep in the car, had to wake him.

Dennis had an accident at work today and had to go to the hospital. He's injured his ankle, fortunately he's OK but he has to rest it for a while, he did come back for dinner and here he is showing off the war wound.

So one more day here, got to work in the morning then back here to finish packing and making ready for the journey home, it's been a long time coming.

I'll finish with the miss and not miss things tonight,

Things I'll miss the most : Dennis (he's been great and I've enjoyed his company even though we struggle to communicate sometimes), Cai (I'll miss his little stories and news about the family), most of the food and the "no rules driving" (quite fun sometimes).

Things I won't miss at all : Pollution, boredom and loneliness (weekends and evenings) and the "no rules driving" (the bit where they drive on the paths, it's just like death race 2000).

Back one more time ....

PS after going on about the sun I just heard a huge clap of thunder !!

Song for the day : Something in the air, Thunderclap Newman.

Too wet to hang the washing out.

Sunday 20:25, it's rained most of the weekend, not been anywhere except the hotel (dinner) and supermarket (buying food and washing powder), too wet and big, big storms again. The fish pond even overflowed.

Can't get the washing dry, I've got clothes hanging all round the house !! hope it dries before it's time to pack.

The Internet connection has been dreadful this weekend as well, surely that can't be the weather ?

Had the mossies attack again, keep forgetting to put the repellent on and I think that cos it's wet there won't be any, wrong !!

Not a lot else to say,

So :
Things I won't miss, Chinese whisky, slow Internet.
Things I will miss, being driven to work, DVD shop (so cheap), air con.

Song for the day : Weather with you, Crowded house.

Boredom has set in

Got a bit bored so I thought I'd do another post.

Been sitting here thinking about the time I've spent here since July last year, and as it's nearly time to leave, what I will miss and not miss. I will do a couple of these on each post now before I leave on Wednesday, so here's the first ones :

Things I won't miss : Chinese Coffee, the noise ( it's the noisiest country I've been in ) and mosquitoes ( I guess that was obvious).

Things I will miss : Chinese tea, hot and iced ( some are really different and so nice), food shopping with Dennis (the meat counter is a Revelation) and the train ride from Hong Kong to Dongguan (I just like it).

Think I'll go for a beer tonight, back tomorrow perhaps ......

Donner und Blitzen

Was woken this morning at 6 O'clock to the loudest thunder I have ever heard, this was a mega storm, absolutely lashing down and it's still going on now 2:30 pm !!! thunder and lightning too.

Again there's been little to say, it's so hard to find stuff to write about when you're here alone, because of the wet weather recently I haven't been out much either so hence no post yesterday.

I have changed the leaving date to Wednesday next week, I can't change it again cos I think if I do Liz will do me some damage when I get back, think we've changed the flight 3 times already, the travel company must be expecting her to call every day now.

Dennis and I have nearly finished now, I think Monday should see the end of it, on Tuesday we can tidy the place up and I can start to get ready for the trip home,really looking forward to that flight lol.

So I'll be back on this if anything interesting happens at the weekend.

Song for the day : Let it rain, Eric Clapton. (awesome guitar playing on this)

A friend came to watch movies !!!

Tonight I was watching Beowulf on DVD when I noticed I had a new friend watching with me, a frog !!! in the lounge !! no idea how it got in, had to chase it out through the back door in the kitchen.

He's not the first visitor either, some weird and often horrible looking bugs get in sometimes.

Off to bed in a minute, heaven knows what I'll find up there.

Back soon ...........

Dennis the diner is back

Had Dennis back for dinner last three nights so not eating as much !

He sat here this evening watching The Matrix Reloaded, completely absorbed by it, just like Terminator 3. I think he likes that kind of science fiction.

There's not been much to say after the weekend, just work and watching TV, what an exciting life. Been eating lunch out this week for a change, today had noodles with Dennis.

I was supposed to be flying home on Sunday but I may have to stay on for another few days, will make the decision tomorrow.

It's so hot and humid at the moment and the mossies are back, got attacked in the lounge last night, not too serious though, escaped with one or two small bites.

Going to the shop in a minute need some more tea. Listened to The Ramones last night so here's one of theirs.

Song for the day : Blitzkrieg bop, The Ramones.

A happy day for eveyone

Yesterday lunchtime I walked into town for lunch, had a large plate of spicy noodles and a large plate of fried rice with mushrooms, followed by some sweet rice cakes for pudding. I'm OK when the menus have pictures (just a big kid really), all this because I knew Dennis wanted to drink Chinese whisky later.

So, to the events of the evening. Dennis picked me up at six in a strange car !

The wedding party had borrowed his, pic. What a pretty Merc eh.

The hall is a community centre for old people, quite large and full up with wedding guests, to get in you have to give a red envelope with money inside, good job Dennis primed me !

Loads of food on every table. Before I knew it Dennis produced the dreaded bottle.

Here's the happy couple, his brother told me about fifty times during the evening that it is a happy day for everyone, yes he'd been on the firewater too !!

It was lovely evening and lots of people came and shook my hand and smiled, even though I couldn't communicate with many of them I really enjoyed it. Got home about midnight and no I didn't have a headache this morning !!

A suitable song for the day : For me and my gal, Gene Kelly.

Hair cuts just ain't what they used to be

Dennis took me to the barbers this morning, what a different experience !! First you lay down on a bed with head over a basin, I thought I was getting my hair washed but no ! Face and head massage, then you get a complete skin clean (face) and then ears are cleaned out. Then your hair is washed. Off to the chair for a haircut. Once done your hair is washed again.

All this for about £5, Dennis had the head massage bit, but didn't get his hair cut.

We then went for lunch, soup, beef, dumplings and roll up pancakes, see below.

Dennis can't leave his phone alone, even when there is a meal on the table.
Today the temperature reached 40 C on the patio !

Song for the day : Fantastic day, Haircut 100.

An unexpected party

Well, here's the hundred up, I'll have to save the special post until Monday I think. The reason is that I think ?! I've been invited to a wedding celebration on Sunday. For a few days now Dennis has been trying to explain but I haven't really understood if it's a birthday, a christening (do they have that in China ? I don't know) or a wedding. Today he said "one boy one girl" so it must be a wedding (or a birthday for twins). It's all to do with one of the drivers at work, don't know which one, so it's difficult to establish whose wedding it is. Seems the wedding's on Saturday and further celebration starting with lunch on Sunday, should be a great experience, I'm looking forward to it.

No pics again, it's only just stopped raining.

So that's it, the song must be obvious,

Song for the day : White wedding, Billy Idol.

One more for a century

Been all work today, all I can talk about is food and weather (yawn !!).

Dennis and I decided to go out for lunch today, so we went downtown (Qiaotou) to a Hong Kong restaurant. Chicken curry, beef with ginger and spring onions and rice. It was very good, much better than at work, and I just had to get out today.

Tonight it was Duck with green beans, beef with green pepper and cold chips !! she likes to make chips occasionally they are always soggy and cold, so I bury them in the rice to warm up !!

Weather wet and hot.

Hey Kate why are you at home ? no lectures ?

This is post number ninety nine so hence the song : 99 red balloons, Nena

The barber of Dongguan

It hasn't stopped raining now for two days, everything feels damp and it's still warm too.

Last night went to the hotel where they had a special day for the earthquake appeal. Lots of Chinese men drinking Chinese whisky, I think I understood correctly, they were all sad and decided to drown their sorrows. This fire water they had was twenty five years old and costs over £100 a bottle and it tastes horrible !! no accounting for taste.

I think I'll have to brave a Chinese barber, hair is far too long (that's an age thing). So on Saturday I'm gonna walk to a newly opened shop just up the road, I'll have to take the camera.

This is post number 98, so in two posts time it'll be the century, have to try and find something special to write about.

Nothing else to add so bye bye until next time.

Song for the day : Whisky in the jar, The Dubliners, Thin Lizzy, Metallica and more I think.