A day trip to Macau

Is it a prerequisite that immigration officers have a face like a slapped arse?

The China Ferry Terminal is just like an airport. Ferries from various companies go to various places around the HK Island, including Mainland China. Until this trip I hadn't realised that you would need a passport and a stamp to get into and out of Macau. The peninsular (it's actually connected to mainland China) was under Portuguese rule for four and a half centuries prior to the handback in 1999.

I got a window seat on the ferry which was catamaran. As it departed Kowloon you could not see a hand in front of your face such as the sea mist, it was like a November day. So much for a window seat!

We pulled into Macau harbour roughly an hour later, once again had to go though immigration control. There were huge queues and it took about an hour to get through.

Out through the arrivals lounge there was a huge mob of touts trying to sell tours of the island. Just outside the terminal building were loads of dolly birds with placards advertising the numerous and various casino's that the island peninsula in famous for. Getting my bearings I hopped onto a bus that would take me into the centre of the city.

The city centre in very pretty. Full of mediterranean type architecture. I walked through Sendo Square, stopping off to buy myself a watch. since my TAG had stopped working, before Christmas, I had been without one and felt almost naked. Settling for a black swath i grabbed a coffee at Starbucks then continued by sight seeing tour. Both Hong Kong and Macau are very tourist friendly with signs at almost every corner pointing visitors towards the places of interest.

The small streets through the square are heaving with small shops selling tourist shit, Beef Jerky and Custard pies.

I made my way towards the ruins of the church of St Paul. The weathered facade and majestic stairway are all that remain of this church. It was designed by an italian jesuit and built by exiled Japanese Christians in the early 17th century. It is regarded as one of the greatest monuments to Christianity in Asia.

I couldn't visit Macau without seeing inside a casino. I did a couple, including the MGM. The decoration was spectacular, as were the buildings. I did go into the gambling hall of the MGM and it was just packed full. The only thing all these gamblers had in common was they just looked very glum. Maybe they were losing all their money. The Macdonalds across the road seemed to be the hangout of many of the losers, one would assume that they would be frequenting some place a little more salubrious if they had won on the tables.
It was about time to head back, walking past Fisherman's Wharf' I was reminded of Mablethorpe on a miserable day. Not nice !

Arriving back at the China Ferry terminal at 6.00pm I had a wander around the malls. I had a very strange feeling just before 9.00pm. It was almost as-though I was still on the boat. I found out hat it was when I got back to the hostel and turned on the TV. Japan had been hit by a huge earthquake, followed by a Tsunami causing massive devastation. I was glued to the TV for the rest of the evening. I got a number of messages from friends enquiring if I was OK. Hong Kong, on the west is sheltered my both Japan and Taiwan so the only affect as a small tremor an a slight increase in tide.


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Location:Macau, China

A long day of walking

The rabbit hutch was surprisingly comfortable and I did have quite good nights sleep. Nothing to do with the Stella of course.

Today, I will mostly be sightseeing on Hong Kong island. I set out reasonably early. The Lonely Planet book suggested that the best way to get there was on the Star Ferry and went on to suggest that rather than go from the Star Ferry terminal at the end of the road there was another one a bit further around the coast. We i'm buggered if I could find it, I walked and walked and walked. To be fair I did get to see the 'Avenue of Stars' which was the Hong Kong equivalent of the one in LA. I only recognised two names, Bruce Lee and Jacky Chan!

Eventually I gave up up the ghost on this 'ghost' ferry terminal and headed back to the one at Tsim Sha Tsui. The ferry as a bargain at just 2.5 Hong Kong Dollars. The journey takes about 10 minutes and it an absolute must for anyone visiting Hong Kong. The sights of Hong Kong Island as you approach Central Pier are outstanding even though the visibility was not too good because of the smog.

I had planned where I wanted to go. I took the MTR railway to Sheung Wan. this district still carries the echo of 'Old Shanghai' with its traditional sops and old 'ladder streets', the steep inclined streets with steps. I have to confess, I did not realise that HongKong island was so hilly. I wandered along Hollywood Street which was a hive of activity with literally hundreds of antique shops, calling in at Man Mo Temple, one of the oldest in Hong Kong. Not only is this a tourist attraction, it also serves as centre of worship for the Hong Kong residents

I made my way to the central area and Soho. Here is the world's longest covered covered escalator which goes through Soho and up towards the mid-levels. It is packed with restaurants and bars add is really buzzing in the evening. I rode the full length of the moving stairway and then made my way towards the Peak Tram terminus. This is probably the most spectacular way to ascend to 'The Peak'. I bought my ticket and boarded the old tram for the 10 minute ride to 'The Peak. It was an incredibly steep ride and on the way up passed some of the most expensive properties on the Island. I wasn't a particularly warm day but up on the peak it must have been a good 8 egress lower. There is a sopping mall, designed to withstand winds of force 10 typhoon. There is a viewing gallery up there where you can get some good views of the city below and across to Kowloon. This was not a brilliant view today given the smog over the bay.

I returned on the tram and then had a leisurely walk to central Pier and back to Kowloon, once again on the Star Ferry late afternoon.

Having not eaten all day I decided to try one of the many street cafes in Temple street. Rather than go for the rice I tried the clay pot chicken, washed down with a large beer. It as disgusting, I'm sure it contained all the bits of the chicken that are least attractive, including the feet. I left it and made my way to MacDonald's and a healthy Big Mac with fries. On the way back to the hostel I stopped at the China Ferry terminal to book my tickets to Macau. I would catch the 9.00am ferry and return at 5.00pm.

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Location:Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong

Hong Kong

I had to get up at some unearthly hour to to get the early morning flight to Hong Kong. The flight time was 3 hours 50 minutes and as we were flying into the Airport the pilot advised that the temperature was an arctic 15 degrees. This was going to be quite a shock to the system after living with an average temperature of 30 degrees for the last 6 months.

The airport is impressive, built on reclaimed land it relaxed the old one a number of years ago. Apparently the old airport was one of the most challenging landings anywhere in the world and the pilot needed to negotiate through skyscrapers on the approach.

I had booked my accommodation through the HostelBookers website. There is a notion that accommodation is expensive in Hong Kong, that is not necessarily true but you have to be prepared for compromising space for budget.

The details that I had received from the Las Vegas hotel was very comprehensive in terms of how to get there. I made my way to the bus station and bought my ticker for the number 21B City Bus which would take me practically to the doorstep of The impressive sounding Chungking Mansions. The Lonely Planet guide book had the following to day about the location.

"Say ' budget accommodation' and 'Hong Kong' in one breath and everyone thinks of Chungking Mansions, a place like no other in the world. This huge, ramshackle high rise dump in the heart of Tsim Sha Tsui caters for all needs, from finding a bed to a curry lunch, to changing your Burmese Kyat and getting your hair cut. You may be put off by the undercurrent of sleaze and the peculiar odour of cooking fat, incense and sewerage.the buildings infamy is furled by tales both tall and true of conflagrations, crimes and unclaimed bodies, everyone should come here once."

In reality it is not that bad at all. True, as you alight for the bus and walk into the building complex with your backpack you are surrounded by undesirables offering accommodation. Closely followed by whispers of 'hashish' 'copy watches' and 'tailors'.

My home for the next five nights was the 'Las Vegas Hostel' on the 15th floor of C block. It turned out that the hostel had at least 10 different names! The room was no begged that my bathroom at home, and included a bathroom. That said, it was clean, the staff friendly and cheap by Hong Kong standards. It did make the Tune hotel in KL look like a small suite!

On arrival, I laid on my bed and before knew it was 7pm. And I was ravenous.

Nathan Road is where it all happens in Kowloon which is just across the water from Hong Kong proper. It has certain similarities to New York. All the big brands and plenty of electrical shops and cafes. Loads of shops and loads of people.

I made my way to Temple Street Night Market, supposedly a great place to browse
and get some street food from the various roadside. In many respects it is not unlike many of the other night markets I have visited in the Asian capitals I have visited in the last 6 months. It was slightly contrary that one of the banned items highlighted as you walked through customs at the airport was 'counterfeit' products and this place was actually teaming with the stuff.

I was hungry so found myself a cafe and sat down to a plate of fried rice and a large beer. The food was nit particularly good but the beer was. On the way back I stumbled upon an Irish bar which actually sold draughts Stella. I have to confess, I had one too many and stumbled back to my hotel. If the room had been big enough to have a wardrobe I may well have pissed in it......

I slept well.

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Location:Chungking Mansions, Nathan Road, Hong Kong

Homeward Bound..... But not for me!

The month of Matt's visit was great. It was really nice to spend time with him, but it was over too soon.

Matt had the 9.50 Emirates flight from KLIA, the international terminal to Dubai and then onwards to Manchester. Because it was such an early flight we decided to fly from Miri to KL the night before and stay in a hotel. Having experienced the Empress in Sempang before I booked us into the Tune hotel at the LCTT airport. Tune is a budget hotel owned by Air Asia. I had been warned that the rooms were extremely small but the price was right and it would only be for one night for Matt although I was going to be there for two nights as my flight to Hong Kong was the day after Matt flew back and at 6:50 in the morning.

As we checked in we were not disappointed, the rooms were indeed small. The model tune operate is that you pay for the room is the base cost and the everything else is extra, and I mean everything else. You pay for towel, air conditioning and Wi-Fi access.

After checking in we cheered ourselves up with a KFC in the food court by the airport and then a beer in the area just outside the entrance to the hotel. Not an unpleasant evening.

We took the cheap inter Airport shuttle bus to KLIA and after some breakfast at one of the cafes I saw Moo off through immigration and customs in plenty of time to get his flight.

I did sit in the viewing gallery of the airport till the Emirates flight took off. I spent the rest of the day wandering around the airport bored stiff. I couldn't be bothered with going into KL and also only had 7 hours Air-con credit and it was quite warm, so wanted to save it. I was in bed quite early after couple of beers. I had an early start.......


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Location:Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian Peninsular

An awesome experience - Kuching

There were a number of options for the week after Lesley and Billy getting back from Singapore and Matt having to return to the UK. One thing we were both keen to do was to see the Orang Utans there are three main places to go. Koto Kinabalu and Sandikan in Sabah and Kuching in Sarawak. All three were at least one flight away. I had been to Kuching in January 2010 and didn't see a single one. I had visited Koto Kinabalu in October and seen three, including my adopted Koyah. I had never been to Sandikan but some of my fellow travellers had and had said it was OK. After some deliberation ( and the fact that a return flight was only RM40 we decided to try Kuching. The good thing about the capital city of Sabah is that there are also other things to do as it is a fairly vibrant city. The trip was booked for two nights. We would arrive, do a day at the Semengoh rehabilitation and then have most of the following day free before the early evening flight to Miri.




The flight I had arranged at a very cheap price was with MAS. It should have left Miri at 3.00 and reached Kuching at 5.30. This despite the fact that a direct flight was only 50 minutes. The reason for the cost and time was that we should have made two stops. As I was checking in at the MAS counter asked if we were travelling on a 'big' plane. I've no idea! That seemed to be the right answer as we were boarded onto the direct jet flight rather than the indirect twin prop and actually arrived at 4.00 rather than 5.30. Ding Dong, result....

Once it Kuching we jumped in a taxi to the 'harbour view' hotel which wasn't near a harbour or have a view..



Once again the taxi driver did not disappoint, his driving was atrocious and seemed to believe he was on the qualifying for the son to be staged Malaysian Grand Prix which is being staged in Sempang, Kuala Lumpur

The trip to the rehabilitation was awesome. We headed out to Semengoh early in the morning, there are two feeding times in the park, one at 9.00am and one at 3.00 pm. The taxi driver had agreed to take us and wait before returning to the city centre. All for a very reasonable price.

As I said, my previous trip to the rehabilitation was not that much of a success. I did the trip in one day and didn't see a single primate.The ranger that was guiding us not the jungle and to the feeding station this time was also not that encouraging stating that "this is not a zoo and the animals make the decision as to whether they want to tun up or not"

We were lucky and did get to see three of the residents. We ddid decide however that a visit for the afternoon feeding session was a good idea and after an hour got the taxi back to the hotel and arranged for the taxi to pick us up at 3.00pm

Across from the Harbour View hotel is a small bistro called 'James Brooke Bistro' James Brooke was the first governor of Sarawak during the colonial days, he was responsible for the introduction of the penal laws in this part of Malaysian Borneo. After a very nice lunch of Malaysian rice (much nice than the nasty goring we had eaten few days earlier. As I went to pay the bill I flicked through the customer comments book and came across an entry from his great great grand daughter who was on a trip tracing back her roots. I thought that was really nice and just shows how close we all are to history.

After lunch we headed back to the hotel where we were meeting the taxi driver.

I was not too disappointed not to see more than three Orang Utans in the morning but the afternoon session was just amazing. As we walked through the jungle towards the feeding station there was some anticipation. The ranger had not mentioned the fact that we may not see anything this time and we were not disappointed. Sitting on the feeding station was one HUGE Alpha male, his name is Richie and according to the ranger he was in a very bad mood. We stood and watched for a short while and he sat and watched us back. gradually, in the next 10 minutes we were surrounded by the animals. There must have been a least 20 of the creatures. It was quite simply an amazing experience.

Richie, at one stage decided that he wanted a closer at his observers and headed towards the crowd of people, there was a bit of panic and he was guided away by the ranger. As we were leaving one of the females actually followed us up the track towards the car park. Apparently she was one of more aggressive of the group and once again there was a bit of panic but nothing happened. It was all very very exciting. The rest of the trip to Kuching consisted of wandering around the city. The flight back was not as good as the flight there as this time we didn't get the first class treatment and he journey was on a twin prop aircraft via Bintalu. we finally arrived back in Miri at 7.00pm. A fantastic trip !!


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Location:Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia

Back to Borneo

An early rise and off to the KL LCCT. The hotel had kindly provided us with both transport to the terminal and a packed breakfast. The ride to the airport was as scary as it gets. It was a minibus crammed with people and luggage. We were almost spilling out of the bloody thing. The driver was a bit mad. He tailgated almost everything that he came across. Including motorcycles. If I had been one of the bikes I would have been more than a little perturbed.
The flight to Miri in Borneo was uneventful. We were met by Lesley and the kids at the airport and within minutes Fin had bonded with Matt and was holding hands as we walked across the airport car park. Billy was on a 'boys weekend' trip to Phuket and would be arriving back late on Sunday evening.

Lesley and Billy were off to Singapore so Matt and I had the job of looking after the boys. Emily would be travelling with them. They would be away for the whole week. Leaving on Monday and arriving back on the Friday lunchtime.

We had a great time with the boys, of course it was a school week so the majority of the day they were entertained by school and we were free ti explore Miri having the odd body massage and head massage. I had arranged to cook dinner for Geja, Charlotte and Nic, three of the teachers at the international school. Nic had kindly taken me to the meat market in Chinatown at 6.00am on the Sunday morning where I had bought half a pork belly for the feast. We had planned the dinner party for the Wednesday evening, this was after a particularly busy day post school with swimming and ballet for Finlay. On Tuesday he had a particularly nasty cough and by Wednesday it had got worse. We were also looking after Lachlan, one of Fins friends.

After music Matt decided that the cough was so bad that a visit to the local GP was advisable. We came away with a fair goody bag of medication and a diagnosis of inflamed tonsils.

Despite the medical emergency the pig dinner was very nice, even if I say so myself.

The rest of the week was pretty uneventful. Lesley, Billy and Emily returned from Singapore on Friday and we got a well earned rest.


On the Sunday we did a trip to Brunei, another four stamps in Matts passport!!


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Location:Miri, Sarawak, Borneo

A bit of R and R

I was quite excited. One of my friends was visiting Asia and we were planning to have a month together. As the resident I had put a bit of an agenda together for the first couple of weeks.
On the 4th Feb I headed to Miri airport to get the 10am flight to KL. Matt arrived at KLIA at around 3.00pm and I arrived at The LCCT airport at around 12.30.

The two airports are on the same site, in fact, they use the same runway and as you land with Air Asia at the LCCT (low cost carrier terminal) you actually see the KLIA terminal and could probably walk to it in 15 minutes. Yet, a taxi will charge you nearly £8 to take you from one to another, why? Because it's over 20km. The link road goes right round the airport...

Today I found a cheap way of doing it. For just one English Pound you can catch a bus from outside the LCCT and it will deposit you outside the KLIA terminal in just 25 minutes. Bingo.

I had quite some time before Matt's flight came in so, on arrival at the international airport I got myself a seat, a Burger King and a supersize fries and coke... Very healthy. As an aside, if you could have a burger king burger and macdonalds fries I would be happiest...

Moosters flight was on time, it was however a good hour before he came through the arrivals gate. I know that the sky train was out of commission from the satellite terminal to the main terminal so expected sone delay and KL is not the quickest airport to get your luggage!

Just before 4.15 a jaded Mooster came through the arrivals hall laden down with his back pack. As expected, given the long flight from Dooby, the first stop was a fag break.

It was Chinese New Year. I was meeting Matt on the Friday and the celebrations had been going on since Thursday (and planned to go on another few days till Sunday)
Given the CNY I had booked a room in China Town. Right in the thick of it. A couple of nights to get over the jet lag.

The first night we had a couple of drinks and an early night. The plan was to do the hop on hop off bus and see some of the main sights of KL. I did get to see quite a few more things than the last time I did this option which was the celebration to mark the end of Ramadam.

The second night was also spent in China town. As we were sat in a roadside cafe
enjoying out dinner and a few beers I noticed a couple of guys who had sat behind us in the cafe. To be fair the did look a little worse for wear with drink. As the wandered into the road one of them held his had over his mouth and started to gag. My first thoughts were that he was about to throw up due to the copious amounts of alcohol he had consumed (the raison d'être is to leave all your consumed bottles on the table and there we're quite a few).

My initial thoughts were soon dispelled as, almost in slow motion people doubled over choking and coughing. It appears that someone had let off a gas bomb and it was slowly being blown into Chinatown by the slight breeze... It was quite debilitating, first a choking sensation, the runny eyes followed by uncontrollable sneezing. Once over the worse we paid the bill and made our way from the area.

In order to give Matt a view on some of Asia we would be leave KL early the following morning. I had already bought the train tickers. First to Georgetown with an overnight stay and the. The overnight train from Butterworth to Bangkok.

The first part of the journey was fine although we did arrive in Butterworth quite late due to the train. Being delayed by a couple of hours in KL.

We made our way from Butterworth to Penang via the Penang ferry. A taxi was flagged down and we arrived at the Sunway hotel around midnight. The train was leaving for Bangkok at around 2.30pm. We actually never left the hotel till it was time to leave for the ferry station.

I really like the train journey. This was a new experience for Matt, especially trying to sleep in the small bed that was made up at around 11.00. The journey takes around 15 hours. Once through the border we jumped off the train to grab some beers and food from one of the hawkers on the station. I quite enjoy the train although the last three hours was a little tedious as we slowly moved through the suburbs of the capital.

We had two nights in Bangkok, then off for a 'real' holiday in Ao Nang.
I'm not a particular fan of BKK. It's hot, dirty and everything is spread out. I have to say though that it is growing on me. In had booked a little hotel off Silom, not far from the place I had stayed in when I was here in October. It was cheap and close to the commercial area of the capital.

We actually did no sightseeing at all, instead enjoying shopping around Silom and drinking ourselves silly in Patpong. The night before we left was particularly messy. At one stage I followed Matt into a bar to be faced with around 20 young men with their cocks out. Needless to say we didn't stay ling, just for a couple of beers !!!

After our two nights of excess we headed off to Suvarnabhumi airport and the short flight to Krabi on the Andeman coast. I had not booked any accommodation. We were planning to head to Ao Nang which is a seaside town not far from Krabi. Once at the airport I arranged a hotel for one night and we jumped on a bus to town. It was around 30km from the airport and the bus actually dropped us right outside the hotel. The plan was to sound it out and look for something better if required. We ended up staying there for the full 8 days. We had a lovely time. Not too much serious drinking, the weather was glorious. We were on the beach every morning. The sea was warm and I seemed to spend most of my time neck deep in the ocean. Everyday without exception we had something pampered, from feet, face, head and shoulders and full body. Matt did venture into the Thai massage but I avoided it. It looked too painful to me!!!

At the end of the week we were well and truly relaxed. I had booked flights back to KL with Air Asia . The onward flights to Borneo cost the vast sum of RM43, less than a tenner. The only disadvantage was they were at 7.20 in the morning. I did get a cheap hotel near the airport, that said the taxi cost more that the hotel.....

Wasnt bad, Matt tried Nasi Goring that evening, it was horrible. I had to persuade him that this wasn't typical....

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Location:Various places in mainland South East Asia.

Normal service will be resumed....

I know, I know....
I have been really lazy and not updated the blog since February.
I've been busy...

I have been recording things in my little note book though and will be catching up in the next fee days.

Apologies to my many followers!



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Location:Nathan Rd,,Hong Kong