Back to UK

Well I am back in the country.....just. i ended up sat in the plane for over 2 hours at the gate waiting for clearence from the tower to take off. On the plus side I got upgraded to business class so had a meal of smoked salmon to start and then filet steak.

The trip has been absolutely amazing and I have had a fantastic time.

It is now time to catch up on sleep.... and washing :(

Of course there is also the next trip to plan..... I am thinking Iceland :)

TTFN

J

Chinese for dinner

Dinner this evening was the local traditional Chinese. This is how it should be done back home, although still managed to get some of the obscurities in. Chicken curry, pork belly, shrimp with lychee and sauteed frog were this evenings delights :)

Suffice to say that this trip has completely worn me out, but then as many know I am not one for the relaxing holiday. With that in mind, after dinner it was home to chill in front of the TV with a good movie, this one was even bought from a proper shop :)

J

Last Day in China

Well, today was the last day in The Peoples Republic. It was a day filled with taking it easy while taking in a few last sights.

This morning we popped along to one of the water villages, well a sort of replica, on the outskirts of town.

Back via some of the bigger tech markets and an afternoon shandy in the pub. Also managed to pass via The Pearl of The Orient to get a quick last look, albeit in the rain.

J

Dinner..... Korean Style

Well a Korean BBQ. Can be best described as a Oriental charbar. Its a kind of cook your own place.

The food however was extremely nice and with 8 of us out was a bit of a laugh all round.

Only tomorrow left now, as I fly home Monday. Plenty left to see though and I do not see my last day being an easy one :)

J

If it aint legal in the UK

buy it in China. Popped to the DVD shops for a couple of things and then on to the tech markets for laser and toy buying..... all of course pushing the legal limits of British law, but out here, not so much of a worry

J

Afternoon Walk

Well no so much a walk as a fight through the crowds as we headed down some of the market lanes.

Ended in a nice city centre contemplation garden. With rockerys and huge ponds it really is a step away from the hussle outside.

J

Lunch

Was awesome..... steamed buns and dumplings. A personal favourite of mine, as a keen visitor to Ping Pong in London, but made properly they are fantastic.

Of course being a holiday, it was washed down with Tsing Tao beer :)

J

Pets of all shapes and sizes!

Well only two days to go before my flight home and return to, well if nothing else, boring food.

Today was a bit of a fun packed day. Started late and headed for lunch via the 'pet' markets.

They are certainly interesting. Bearing in mind the Chinese live in small cages, most pets are of similar stature. Rearing crickets to fight are some of the best pasttimes, and as such this market is filled with the noise of crickets in small cages. There are also fish, birds, turtles and the more 'normal' pets us westerners are used to of cats and dogs. The market itself is humid and stuffy and is really not surprising to see few week old kittens pratically passed out because of the heat. Bottom line, its a different culture over here but it is extremely difficult not to fell sorry for some of the animals, especially in the heat.

Dinner & more drinks

Dinner was at a Hunan restaurant. Now whoever these Hunan's were they liked their spice. It left your lips tingling and your tongue quite numb. The difference here is that the heat is created with herbs not chillis and as such after a couple of sips of beer you are ready to go again.

Drinks afterwards were on The Bung. This is the oldest part of the city and has a lot of English influence in the architecture as we practically built it back in the 1920's, when the opium trade was in full swing

J

91 Floors Up

Ginger Mojitos at the top of the WFC are always a good way to start the evening. Evening was a bit clearer as well so had a good view across the city

J

TV

Almost forgot to say, while stood at the panda enclosure we were asked if we would mind doing a TV interview.

As such we will be on Shanghai TV on Sunday with out own subtitles :)

J

Shanghai Wild Animal Park

This is a mix somewhere between a zoo and perhaps Longleat back home.

The animals were not badly kept, but suffice to say most of the funding goes towards the pandas :)

It has to be said that the enclosures themselves are not where the problem lies, it is the visitors throwing food to the animals, fruit ok but sandwiches and crisps, and banging on the glass, as if the full grown lion is going to be bothered enough to turn round and pose.

With that said it was a good day out, the best by far being the ten 2 year old pandas they have bought in from the sanctuary up in Sichuan for the Expo. They were typical kids and basically spent the entire time play fighting and eating.

The other area was Lemur Island where there were about 40 lemurs running around you, pretty comfortable with human interaction. While I did not like the idea of throwing junk food at the animals, when there is a lemur at eye level 6 inches away, it is very difficult to resist having one holding your thumb as they take food from you

J

Expo 2010

Have spent about 7.5h today at the Expo in Shanghai. It is a showcase on the rest of the world that took about 7years and $58bn to complete.

For the most part we wondered around checking out the pavillions themselves, only occasionally venturing inside. This in majority was to do with the few hours that some of the queues were in length.

The one pictured above is the UK's addition and can best be described as looking the effect when you blow the seeds from a dandelion. For this uniqueness it did win a couple of the Expo design awards, but nothing on content. The queue for it was to extreme to consider going in though.

Day was good fun, but feet are now killing me. We are possibly going to come back Saturday night to check all the sights once lit in neon.... for now a nice hot shower and dinner from the local dim sum restaurant.

J

Flat views

Just got back to flat and the view is actually fairly clear so thought i would post some views.

The first 2 are from the lounge and the last from my bedroom, all the way up on the 56th floor.

J

Curry and good company

This evening was off to Anj's for dinner, luckily she is an awesome cook.

A spread of Indian food and wine went down extremely well. Company was in good keeping too with discussions hitting all manor of subject to keep one's noggin in full swing, a great evening in my books.

Off back to the flat now for Simon to try and calm his sunburn with use of a watermelon while chilling out to Daybreakers.

Tomorrow is another busy one as we are off to Expo 2010, camera at the ready (unfortuantely not the £2,500 but oh well). TTFN

J

Expensive morning

Have taken a trip to some of the tech markets, everyone trying to sell you an iPhone gets annoying, but did treat myself to a protective case for my phone, only £3 :)

We have just left Canon HQ where we had a little play with some very expensive equipment. Found my next camera.... only £2,500

J

Shanghai again :)

We are back!

Have covered some phenomenal distances, have taken in 4 different cities, spent 4 different currencies, crossed 4 time zones and a couple of international borders..... but never once changed our watches or indeed left the country. The perfect sense that The Peoples Republic of China makes :)

Tomorrow will be the start of a busy few days that will be filled with Expo 2010, Shanghai Zoo, Canon HQ, water villages and local markets.

For now though, gentle slumber isnt as much calling as dragging me feet first. Nunite

J

HK Airport

The airport puts Terminal 5 to shame, filled with designer names and huge in size, it is an impressive building.

Flight is on time, and in 3 hours will be back to Shanghai.

J

Cable cars & Buddhas

We decided to take a trip on Asia's largest cable car to see the Tian Tan Buddha.

The cable car runs for 5.7km with us paying the little extra to have the glass bottomed car. You get some spectacular views across Hong Kong. The cable car also runs next to the airport and gives some idea of the scale of the manmade island it sits on.

About 25mins after starting out and a fair climb up into the hills that surround the province the Tian Tan Buddha comes into sight at around 710m above sea level and 34m tall. It is the world's largest outdoor seated bronze statue, I have to get specific because every country that builds a new large Buddha takes claim to its ranking.

At this point we are fairly high up, the Buddha takes a mysterious air with its head regularly disappearing into the clouds.

With the clouds deacending and our flight a few hours away we spent a couple of hours wondering around at the top before heading back down.
The ride down was interesting as the clouds had dropped a lot lower and at certain points cable cars coming in the opposite direction were appearing as if from some eery fog.

With feet back on terra forma it was time to head to the airport.

J

Back to HK

Back on dry land in Hong Kong and bags checked into the airport express so free to explore before our 1930 flight this evening

J

Macau to Hong Kong

Today we leave Macau and head back to Hong Kong, with flight to Shanghai this evening.

Before departing took use of the pool again, and enjoyed and nice full breakfast to set me up for the day.

Ferry back to Macau was the hydrofoil, so quiet and quick trip back.... again time for a nap, after all yesterday was a busy day :)

J

Buggar All!

Today was well required, I was in the pool at 0930 and bar a break for a breakfast buffet and to head to the bar to order jugs of Pimms throughout the day, left the pool at 1930 :)

Left with a little bit of a red back, but well relaxed after our tour of the best parts of China.

We even decided to eat dinner at the hotel, with 50% off food and neither of us in the mood to utilise much energy, it was a good choice.

J

All or nothing

This evening was a little trip in to town to check out a couple of the casinos.

This being the supposed Vegas of Asia, they are of course over the top. Not ao much of the betting, more a case of wondering around checking out the sights.

Did have a little flutter, over here dice are a big thing so once we figured out how you play.... we lost money :)

J

Fancy a dip?

With lunch consumed we headed for the resort shop to buy some shorts.... would be rude not to take advantage of the facility :)

Couple of hours in the pool would usually be a nice way to cool off.... out here it is a luke warm bath, but good just the same.

J

Pimms O'Clock

After checking in we had a wonder around the complex and checked out the pool, all very nice.

It was then time for Pimms and Sunday lunch, and at The Westin lunch is pretty awesome.

BBQ buffet lunch, and as preferred guests we get 50% off all food, so was practically a bargain :)

J

The Westin

The resort is amazing, right on the beach. The deal we got for the rooms is £40 per night, for a room on the preferred guest floor with sea views :)

Have taken a couple of pics of the room to show how to stay on a budget ;)

J

Welcome to Macau

Arrived all ok, even managed a little nap on the way. Got off the ferry to possibly even hotter conditions :b

Staying at The Westin Resort where apparently we have got a decent room rate due to friends of Simon's.

J

Macau

Up at an early hour today to pack up and head for Macau. Takes about an hour on the high speed ferry.

Macau was once under Portugeuse rule and as such is allowed gambling where as mainland china is not.... so will have to check out the casinos I think :)

J

The City that never sleeps....

Could well be this one too. The neon lights come on when it is dark and do not seem to have an off :)

This was the scene outside any pub showing the football, with people sat on cars to get a better view. It will still be the same at 2.30 in the morning for the final match of the day.

Now to bed for tomorrow is another early start to catch the ferry to Macau.

J

Drinking in Hong Kong

Bloody expensive at £5 for a bottle of Corona..... but I am in Hong Kong, so sod it :)

J

Lunch

Was fantastic, we had great weather with an awesome view across the bay.

There are about 10 restaurants here all with tanks of seafood that are kept out in the netted pens in the vicinity.

Its a case of pick and choose lunch..... so many choices :). We decided on a plate of prawns, calamari, couple of mantis prawns and a crab to share. Washed down with a couple of bottles of Tsingtao beer it was heaven. Even had a little nap on the ferry back.

Have now headed back to hotel for shower and change because it is so bloody hot, you build up a sweat as soon as you step outside.

J

Another warm 35 today

So we are off to Lamma Island by ferry for a seafood lunch.

The ferry takes about 35mins and makes for some excellent shots back towards the city. This being one of the busiest water ways in the world does make the journey somewhat entertaining with it being just a 'tiny' bit choppy :)

J

Hong Kong

Went for noodles this evening, really am going to have to figure out a recipe as they are awesome. Had some at 9 before some beers and then again at 12.30 after some beers :)

You cannot begin to grasp this city, we were just staring at the cityscape (pics) from a bar on the 30th floor trying to take it in. Admitedly the round cost me £19.50 for 2 drinks so that had something to do with the solemn look :)

Not sure what we are aiming for tomo, giving ourselves a bit of a layin as today has pretty much been non-stop, will keep you posted. Nunite

J

Welcome to Hong Kong

Landed all ok after our hour delay to a toasty 38 and thats at 1830. Due to the fact we do not change time zone and are getting closer to the equator, it goes from that, to dark in just under an hour.

Finally have managed to check into the correct hotel, as with 3 called Harbour View it became interesting in the taxi.

Staying on the 28th floor, so not bad views.... unfortuantely I am facing the city rather than the harbour but not to worry :)

Time to go and get a bite to eat I think, have not done so since breakfast.

J