The Last Post

Thursday 4th November 2010

Our last morning began with a bang! Literally. John went to switch the light on at the washbasin and it exploded. Neither of us was hurt and the hotel staff were most concerned and cleaned it up immediately. Not an auspicious start to the day.

We had arranged a late check out at the hotel so were able to enjoy the morning in the sun on the roof terrace. Donnie even braved the pool. Real bravery as it was only 12 degrees. Hope the video clip with the sound effects comes out! In the afternoon we did last minute shopping. I wanted to take home ginger.  It's £1.50 a kilo in Hong Kong and £9.50 in Tesco! We then treated ourselves to a last massage. Although we had to check out by 3pm they very kindly allowed us to stay on the roof terrace until our transport at 6pm.

We got home at 12.30 today  - 26 and a half hours after we set off from our hotel in Hong Kong. We had 90 minutes on the plane in Bangkok for a brief stopover. I was disappointed that we couldn't get off the plane as I was hoping to buy orchids in the Duty Free shop. We then had a couple of hours in Dubai when we changed planes to fly direct to Glasgow. As least we were able to take advantage of the Duty Free shopping there. It is a huge area. It seemed a long slow flight back. Cath drew the short straw and had children beside her who took it in turns to scream for most of the way.

Now we're home and have plenty time to reflect on the whole trip. We have loads  of photos and the dvd to jog our memories and make us smile for a long time to come. I am so pleased that John was finally able to live the dream he has had since he was a boy. All four of us appreciate how lucky we are to be able to have had such a wonderful experience. Everything went just as planned and John and I both enjoyed sharing our exciting adventure with such good friends.

Where to next? We have ideas and hope that we will have more adventures while we are still able to enjoy them.

I hope you have enjoyed reading the blog. It has been a challenge for me but now that I'm not working it's one I have relished. 

Last Full Day

2nd November 2010

We had another leisurely start on this our last full day. It was Cath's turn to be not well so she decided to chill out here. the 3 of us went to the flower market which was a wonderful riot of colour. It was only 11am when we got there and I stupidly bought Jenny something that I had to lug aroung all day. Hope you like it Jen.

We then went to the bird market. I had forgotten how sad it is. I did take video of tiny cages filled with masses of beautifully coloured birds.

The plain and dowdy sparrows were hopping around. I wonder what they were chirping to the pretty birds crammed in their cages. The most awful sight that I don't remember from our last time there was bags of live crickets being sold as bird food. It just turned my stomach.

We love to hear them in France. There were also tanks full of them, presumably waiting to be bagged. I fear that will be the focus of my dreams tonight.

We then had a walk in Kowloon Park and admired all the sculptures, most of which are bronze.

 It was very hot walking around in the sun so - 3 guesses what we needed! Hong Kong, like China, is far more a gambling culture so bars are few and far between. We gave up and were heading for the Star Ferry when we spotted a bar. It looked very upmarket but after all we are clebs! 3 large beers were $HK200! (£16!!!) Ouch. We enjoyed them.

I am having a Chinese style blouse made and had a fitting this afternoon so we called in there on the way back to the hotel. Cath was feeling lonely and fed up by then. At least she had the use of my netbook and the benefit of sun on the roof terrace until early afternoon.

Just back. Canapes and drinks in the Sky Bar then dinner in the hotel. In ways it would have been nice to have had a real chinese meal somewhere but the hotel was good and convenient. Happy hour in the lobby bar was the perfect sociable end.

Tomorrow will be a strange day. I will post one last blog when we get home just to round this off.

Stanley and Macau

1st November 2010w
Early breakfast then the guys set off for Macau.

Cath and I set off for Stanley market. We wanted a bit more of a brouse than male tolerance would allow on Saturday. Success. Wandered. Browsed. Bought. Doubt if Chloe will see this blog but just in case I wont detail our brill brill buy for her for Christmas. Delighted. It's just fantastic. She'll love it.

We had a lovely girly day. Drinks on the terrace. Cath and I were enjoying our drinks when this very loud American woman spoke/shouted/deafened us. She was part of a tour and had travelled fairly extensevly. I know she was just being friendly but Cath and I were quite enjoying quiet time on our own. She and husband had been to the UK a few years ago so we had to hear all about that. She wanted to know where Cath and I had learnt our English! Had we learnt it at school! We were more than a smidgeon confused but it turned out that she meant our very pc Queen's English. I think not! I said to her that we considered ourselves to have an educated Scots accent. It's true. I would love to think I had an educated Scots accent. It's just so..... everything I would love it to be.

Showers before the guys came back then canapes etc. That was disappointing. Too many people encroaching on what we had come to view as our private space. Would be lovely if they were only staying one night but doubt that.

As the guys were so late back we decided to have dinner in the hotel. It was a buffet and was just perfect. Given all the free canapes we had already gorged on we actually didn't need a full buffet dinner. Nevertheless it was lovely. When we had finished dinner we discovered the lobby bar was still doing a 2 for 1. Gosh! Quelle surprise! 2 bottles of good red wine for 200 Hong Kong dollars - £16. This was such a real treat for us. Not that we like wine! We all thoroughly enjoyed our wine in the posh hotel lobby bar.

Now posting this late at night. Scary that we only have one more night here. Can't believe this wonderful trip is nearly over. Because most of the Blog has been by email proxy courtesy of Graham we're really looking forward to reading it and reliving all the memories.