not pret a manger

And obviously pret-a-manger is worth every dollar of its ridiculously inflated price.

pret a manger

So you think Jane looks happy in this picture, having eventually got hold of the pret-a-manger sandwich which was, coupled with M&S, the only reason she came to HK? Well, let me tell you, this was nothing compared to the elation the rest of us were feeling having realised that we were not going to have to hear about blessed pret-a-manger again this holiday. To be fair though, they are fantastically good sandwiches!

when in china...

This is the level we had to stoop to to entertain ourselves on that hellish boat trip, when we had given up all hope of understanding a word our tour guide was saying.
You have to forgive him though, he is French.

boat trip

This was possibly the only good point of the aforementioned boat trip. I think Ant`s face says it all about the whole affair.

chinese gate in Aberdeen

Ok, so you are now probably looking at the highlight of Aberdeen, so we have saved you the trip.

incense

In the temples there are hundreds of incense coils hanging from the ceilings.

incense burner

These burners could be seen all over the place. People just shove handfulls of incense into the fire. So of course everywhere smells of incense all the time. I must say I much prefer the smell of the Japanese temple incense.

junk

This lovely picture of a traditional Chinese style boat was taken on our notorious boat tour. We were basically scammed totally, let`s not beat about the bush here. A scary old lady that looked like she was highly likely to have some nasty disease, cornered us on the promenard. She shoved a very dirty little book, that could probably transmit whatever her disease was to us, under our noses and muttered stuff in pidgin English. We got dragged on to a pier ready to get on a boat, and then she basically changed the price she wanted to charge us. While we were busy grumbling however, Rick had given her his cash and jumped on the boat before we had a chance to haggle the price. So then 6 of us all handed over the same amount they would have taken out on person for - basic laws of economics says we could definitely have got a better price.

But we swallowed our pride and followed Rick onto the boat...

We then spent over an hour being taken round a dirty smelly harbor being shown the boat drivers friends and being pointed out every piece of floating rubbish and house-boat with electricity there was to see. While all the time had to listen to his unintelligible English intermitted by him ringing his friend to bet the small fortune we had just given him on the horses. Overall, we were not particularly impressed.

Aberdeen

One of the nicer views of Aberdeen. I should work for a tourist board. Honestly, it was grotty and poor in reality. These were maybe the only 3 high-rise buildings in the whole place.

old men in the sun

This is another example of the fast-paced metropolis that Aberdeen is. I did almost get lynched taking this photo (or at least by the stares I got, I think that is what they would have wanted to do if they didn`t have to go to the effort of putting their shoes back on), so you had better enjoy it!

There was actually a striking difference between the main city part of Hong Kong where our hotel was, and when we crossed over the bridge to get to Aberdeen on Hong Kong Island. The difference in money was immediately apparent and all the tall building just stopped. Perhaps the most interesting thing was that compared to in Kowloon, almost nobody could speak English. Including the "English boat tour" tour guide, but more on that later...

mahjong

This is a picture of some old men playing mahjong in a square in Aberdeen. The square was jam packed full of old people just sitting around with no shoes on talking. We ended up there simply because we had to go to Aberdeen, who could resist going to a place that is several thousand miles from where you actually are. I think I am starting to understand the American`s state of mind. Worrying.

beans!!!

We were a little too excited by the amazing range of English brands available in the supermarket, and even more excited when we found a pub with Strongbow, Heineken and sausage, egg and beans on the menu!! \(^o^)/

Peak tram

This tram took you right to the top of a mountain that overlooked HK bay. The slight problem being that it goes up at a very, very alarming angle. The view from the top is well worth the fear-factor (after a slight calming period in the cafe), and the shopping center provided a whole lot of omiyage opportunities. I think this is number one in the Lonely Planet`s "must-do top 5", and I would agree it is a pretty good way to spend an afternoon.

crazy

This was taken at a little viewing point thingy at the top of the Peak.

Most of the places in Hong Kong are linked by trams. Although it was on our list of things to do, we never actually made it onto one of these as they are run by about ten million different private companies, so finding one that goes where you want it to is virtually impossible.

This is in a little park at the bottom of the big hill that goes to the Peak Tram. A little rest was required before we attempted it.

When we were wandering the streets, feeling rather hot and hungry, and with no real aim in mind, we spotted in the distance a very tall building. "ah, air-con", we thought, and so decided we would find that building and go up its lift. In our normal maverick-tourist style, we once again found ourselves down a small dark alley where nobody spoke any English and the only thing that smelt worse that the streets was the food they were trying to sell to us. Luckily we popped out the other end to find a nice park, a very cheap restaurant and our quest for the very tall building was complete. And it was well worth it, with a whole 57 floors of lift excitement to enjoy (much to the amusement of the attendent on the 57th when we appeared up there for the second time!).

Hong Kong bay

This was taken from the top of the Peak Tram looking out over the bay. Shame it was a bit of a murky day, but it was actually a lot clearer in reality.

Findlay Road

Taken at the top of the Peak Tram line outside Madame Tussauds. Can you tell which person was deemed worthy of immortalisation?

Causeway Bay

This is the place where our first and second hostels were. The shopping here is really cheap (^_^)/ so when we discovered that we were particularly unskilled packers, we raided the shops and bought a wardrobe appropriate for 30oC temperatures (>_<)

Cafe de Coral

This is the fast food restaurant of Hong Kong, and it really is fast! But the food is REALLY good. It is proper food like noodles, chicken curry and steak. The only dubious thing is the tea which is nice, but dissolves the spoon it is so strong! Believe me, drinking it at 8pm is a bad idea...as I soon found out.

street selling

Flamingos

After the stressfulness of the crowded market, we decided to take a stroll through the park. Of course this meant that this was even more humid, but so beautiful! There were even flamingos and peacocks!!! This was our second French lesson of the week; flamant rose and paon, oh we also leant pasteque (watermelon). Actually between Ant's English lessons and Cedric's French lessons, Jane and I had a very educational holiday! We sat down to have a rest, and poor Ant got accosted by a strange Bangladeshi man who could barely speak English. You can tell how this went when his opening comment was "You're from South Africa?! But you're not black." hmm...

Hong Kong street

Many of the streets have these neon signs overhanging the road.

Metro Station

The first day we arrived we just wandered around aimlessly, as we had no real plan and didn't want to do anything too fun until Miles arrived the next day. So basically we rode the subway until we found a station we liked the name of and got off. This one had quite a cool market just round the corner...and a Haagen-Dazs cafe (well, I did warn you food is the most important part of our holidays!!). The markets are really interesting, as they are really really narrow and packed with people. As you walk down, all the sellers try to get you to come into their area. At first it was quite nice hearing "hello miss", but after the 50th offer of a fake Rolex, it was getting a bit tedious. The only problem so far was it was 29oC and humid as anything, and the sewer systems seemed to not really cope with this and so released an interesting aroma into the streets.

Our Plane

We went to Hong Kong by Dragon Air. This is our plane. Actually, it was really quite a nice airline...well, they had good food which is always my basis for comparison. I guess this is quite apt considering that all our holidays just revolve around eating and coffee. (*^.^*) We also watched a really good Cantonese movie on the plane. I can't remember the name or find it on the net, but it was about a crazy man living in HK and his neighbour, a masseuse called Phoebe, and a rookie policewoman and her partner investigating a rainy night murderer, so if you know the title, please tell me!

We arrived quite late, so by the time we got out of the airport, there wasn't time to do much other than just go to the hotel. That in itself was quite exciting as we got to go on a double-decker bus! Well, Jane, Rick and I were not so excited and stayed on the lower deck, but Cedric and Ant, who don't have double-deckers in their countries, dashed up to the top floor. We were more excited about the roundabouts and the fact the cars had English number plates. Actually the city itself is very like Tokyo in the style of buildings and the hussle and bussle, but everyone speaks almost perfect English and there are English brands everywhere.

The hostel was quite nice for the price we paid; only about £10 a night for en-suit (which we found out by Cedric's confused expression, that this is actually not a French word (@o@) ). Actually, later in the week we were reminiscing for this room when we ended up in the second place we stayed, but more on that later...

One more day `til freedom!

Today is my last day at school before we are off to Hong Kong for 10 whole days of city life, beaches and NO SCHOOL!!! Yes, really quite excited about this. Of course when I get back, I shall be putting up lots of photos, so please come back and have a look after the 8th.

I have just been given a set of lovely photos of our new first year classes in the swanky new school uniform (unfortunately they decided to choose a photo in which I look like a grumpy old woman, but can`t be helped). I shall attempt to get this scanned in and up on the site after HK. The new uniform is really, really cute; especially as all the boys have blazers that would fit Johnny Vegas.

Oh, and even more exciting news, I am now only the 3rd youngest person in the office! A few weeks ago a 23 year old, newly-graduated PE teacher started, and now we have a work-experience guy too. tut, enough to make you feel old!

As most of you know, every month I send off a piece of calligraphy to Tokyo to be marked for my exam. Now I am on level 4 of 10 (1 being the best grade). This is this month's piece

Last night we went to a very nice Okinawan (Japan's south island) restuarant. On the table opposite was a group of young boys who seemed to think themselves very stylish. We however were less than impressed with this guys glasses. His friend also had a particularly bad dye job, but we didn't manage to capture that delight. Sorry about the quality of the picture, but although we were in the full knowledge we would post this fashion crime on the internet, we didn't want to make him too self-concious :o)

Jo and me in Iwate park

In one of our bouts of cultural enthusiasm, Jo and I signed up to a kimono event. Basically, we borrowed some kimonos that were much too small, were dressed by some very kind old ladies (who then made us undress and try it ourselves! Impossible!), and then went for a walk in the park to look at cherry blossom. All this would have been great, if we weren't both very sleep-deprived and hungover. It was fun feeling like a star as everyone stared and waved. Apparently they meet quite regularly, so we might do it again one month when we are more awake.