Finally

I'm home! Just thought I'd finish the year with just some of my favourite pictures.

Going home

...but not yet. Cyclone Nuri is currently headed straight towards Hong Kong and where I am staying (next to the airport at Chep Lap Kok) the winds are already around 76 km/hour. It means no flights until tomorrow. I was due to be taking off at 23:40 but who knows when I'll be flying now! It's all rather boring sitting inside with the wind and rain going... Can't go anywhere or see anyone. I've just been reading the Weather Observatory's website:

"1. Do not go outside. If you are reasonably protected, stay where you are and keep well away from all windows. Close all interior doors and make sure children are confined to the least exposed part of your home. On no account should you touch electric cables that have been blown loose.

2. If the eye of the typhoon passes directly over Hong Kong, there may be a temporary lull lasting from a few minutes to several hours. This will be followed by a sudden resumption of violent winds from a different direction. Remain where you are if protected and be prepared for destructive winds and the change in wind directions. Listen to broadcast warnings.

3. Since seas are very rough, you are advised to stay away from the shoreline and not to engage in water sports. "

All sounds very serious hehe. I'm glad I got to see Lauren, Marty and Sam yesterday. I spent the afternoon with Lauren and Marty down at Big Wave Bay and got to go to the beach with them (the waves really were big! I guess because of the typhoon starting). Their baby Zara is looking very big now! In the evening I went for dinner with Sam in Soho which was cool. Had a wonderful meal at Jaspas. I was meant to be going for a meal with my principal and all the teachers from school today but obviously I can't go now, and I'm really quite disappointed. It would have been nice to have seen them all again.

Hopefully I'll be seeing you all soon! Goodbye Hong Kong...

Brisbane

Guess I should tell you about sunny, sunny Brisbane! I landed just after lunchtime feeling very ill but Mark met me at the aiport and drove me straight to his place where I was staying. Brisbane is a very pretty place and it looks quite tropical with the blue skies, palm trees and the little houses on stilts. After getting to the house (which is huuuge!) I slept all afternoon. When I woke up I met Kalie (Mark's wife), Carolline and Kristy. Carolline and Kristy had been helping Kali paint her new house round the corner, and were staying for the youth night Mark and Kali host every Sunday evening. All the young adults from church come round and have food, games and just somewhere to catch up and hang around. I met loads of cool people. We ended up playing the card game werewolves, prophet and villagers (like the game Mafia) for ages which was fun.

The next day (Monday) one of the guys I'd met the night before, Adrian, took me into the city and showed me all the sights. We walked along the southbank of the river, through the park, across the bridge, went round the museum and art gallery (with decent art this time!) and finally we went to the cinema to see the new Batman film. It was excellent! I loved the joker! Brisbane is a really nice city too- there's some good shops and it's clean and just a nice place to be. We had lunch on the southbank sitting in the warm sun.

On Tuesday I decided to go to Dreamworld which is a theme park on the coast. It took me over 3 hours to get there from Ipswich (the town I was staying in). So even though I left at 10am I didn't get there till 1pm, but at least I got there. It's a very small theme park compared to the ones in England but they still had some good rides like the Big Drop (same as Apocalypse, but higher), the Terror Tower (a rollercoaster like Rita which shoots you up the side of the Big Drop Tower), the Motocoaster (a rollercoaster ride where you sit in motorbikes, very cool idea), the Cyclone..or something...(a shaky rollercoaster with loops and stuff) and then a surfing type ride (a bit like ripsaw but better!). It took me all afternoon to get round all the big rides and some of the smaller ones, even without queues. I wanted to do a helicopter ride because there was a company and helicopter on site but I booked quite late and they couldn't get anybody else to fill up the copter (they needed at least 3 to do the flight) so I got a refund. One of the best rides (after the Tower of Terror) was the log ride because I got VERY wet! It wasn't just a little splash but a HUGE one and I was soaked from head to toe! I did the rapid's ride too but I hardly got splashed on it. I finally left around 5:30pm but didn't get back till 8:30. When I got back my back, arms, hands, and legs were covered in hives. I thought they were insect bites but now I know they're hives from the cat. Didn't know I was allergic till I got back to Jacqui's and was still getting the hives. Mark found me some clarityn though and they soon went.

On my final day in Brisbane Carolline took me to the Gold Coast. Again there is a very pretty town there but with more seaside type shops. There is also a really pretty beach with lots of surfers and sunbathers. Unlike Melbourne, Brisbane is really warm during the day. We went to something called Infinity which is a lot of rooms with mirrors and lights- like a funhouse- that you move through. There are rooms which are meant to be like space, or like the inside of a computer, or with lasers or big bouncy balls you can jump on. It was loads of fun! It's quite a big attraction there. After we'd had icecream (yay for Baskin Robbin's!) we went to a shopping centre and did some window shopping. I could have bought so much but there was definitely no room in my suitcase... Finally we drove back to Ipswich and I went with Carolline to her chuch home group. A few people from Sunday night were there too which was cool.

On Thursday I flew back to Perth via Sydney. I have no idea why I didn't just book a flight direct to Perth but it all worked out ok- apart from that my flight Sydney to Perth was delayed by an hour. Jacqui and Kevie met me at the airport again, Kevie in her cute little PJ's and hat. I was so glad to be back in Perth after flying all day and slept very well that night!

Sydney 3

I'm backdating this as well... I've gotten really lazy updating this blog. That and I'm just having too much fun haha.

So on Wednesday I went to the lovely Chinese Gardens in Chinatown. It was all feng shui-y and pretty. Cost $6 to get in though which I thought was a bit of a rip off. But nevermind. After walking around the gardens I had lunch at a chinese cafe place (BBQ pork and rice...exactly like being back in HK except they understand what I say haha) and then headed back to the hostel for a bit.

In the evening I went to see Dralian by the Cirque Du Soleil! It was amazing! I saw acrobats spinning in suspended hoops, balancing on balls, jumping through hoops, a juggler, dancers... there's so much and I can't remember half. But it was great! And I had seats 4 rows from the front so I had the best view ever.

That isn't my picture btw, I got it from here. No cameras allowed in the show. Oh, they had some clowns as well which were hilarious. They kept picking on this guy making him do silly stuff, but then it turns out the guy is part of the show... And they keep popping up in funny places. I loved it!

On Thurrrsday I went to Hillsong's Sisterhood meeting. They start with breakfast and have a pamper area where you can get your nails or hair done, or have a massage, and while they do it they pray for you which is awesome. I met Celeste again and had a neck massage. Then they have worship and a small service with offering and a talk. For the talk they had 4 different women share something- so we had 4 different messages which was great! The women were all fantastic. I loved it!

Afterwards I went to the Opera House and did a quick tour. It was good but not as informative as I'd have liked. I liked hearing about the architect of the building who was kicked off a few years into the project, so he never got to see it finished. But now he's working with his son on revamping parts of the building. I'll get pics uploaded soon. I still had quite a bit of the afternoon left after that so I went for a walk through the botanical gardens, which was very peaceful, and then went to the Museum of Contemporary Arts. It's rubbish. I'm not an arts person at all but it was all pretentious poop. Won't be going there again... For dinner I went out with my room mate Suzanne to Darling Harbour. We found a nice little place which did cheap meals. I had really nice lamb pie, mash, peas and gravy. It was delicious!

This brings me to Friday. I had to get up extra early to get a tourbus at 7:15 to the Blue Mountains. It nearly didn't happen because there was a forecast of snow but the tour guy phoned and said it was still on. It was a great day to go in the end- sunny and clear. We drove all the way up the mountains and the views were amazing. It's the kind of scenery they'd use in a dinosaur film or something, just miles and miles and miles of forest and lots of mountains. When we got to Echo Point we hiked (or bush walked if your an Ozzy) down to the bottom. My legs were so tired after, I don't know how anyone can do it up again?! To get back up we had to go on the world's steepest railway. There's me thinking the tram up the Victoria Peak is steep but it's nothing compared to this one! I'll upload the video sometime. The tour took all day because we stopped for coffee, to see kangaroos, to do a smaller bushwalk, and for lunch. The final stop was at the Olympic Stadium on the way back, which was a bit boring to be honest. It's nothing special.

Saturday, my last day in Sydney, went really fast. In the morning I treated myself to a massage and pedicure at a spa before meeting a lovely woman named Lee (who I met at the Cirque Du Soleil). She took me to Featherdale farm which has all the Australian animals but you can feed and pet them. I got to stroke a koala! And a kangaroo! And I saw a crocodile, echidnas, tazmanian devils, peacocks (I know they're not Australian...), and loads of others. It was really fun! In the evening I went to another AFL football match- Sydney Swans vs. Fremantle Dockers- which was run by the hostel. I met a group of British people and ended up going out after with them. We had cocktails at the bar at the Opera House, then partied the night away. I had loads of fun but really regretted it the morning after when I had to do the flight to Brisbane hungover and even more sick with a cold.... eurgh.

So that's my stay in Sydney. I feel like I've hardly seen anything Sydney has to offer. Definitely got to come back another time haha.

Sydney 2

I will finish telling you what happened in Melbourne... eventually. I'm just uploading my Sydney pics to flickr so you'll be able to see them here later on.

I landed in Sydney on Saturday evening. It was a very short and enjoyable flight from Melbourne, I think it only lasted an hour and a half and I slept for most of it. Had a bit of a panic at the airport because I couldn't find the shuttle bus the hostel said stops outside the terminal, so thought I'd do the train but they're working on the lines so I had to find the bus which replaces the trains. Got there eventually though! And I found the hostel OK, which surprised me- I didn't have any maps or anything, just the street name. And I didn't need to ask for any directions. The hostel (WakeUp!) is quite nice, clean beds and showers. I'm in a 6-bed girl's dorm but everyone is coming and going- I think I've had 3 different people in the bunk bed under me in 4 days hehe.

On Sunday I went to the Hillsong Church (city campus). They do a free bus service there and while I was waiting I met a lovely lady name Wati, from Fiji. After the service we went for lunch together at the Circular Quay. In the evening I went to the Sunday Night Live service, at Hillsong again. It was great! With worship and a drama sketch with a powerpoint presentation thing...I can't explain it but it was awesome!

Monday afternoon I went with Celeste, who I also met at Hillsong, to Manly which is a coastal town just north of Sydney. It took about 20 mins on a ferry to get there and it's a really nice place- there's a beautiful beach and lots of great cafes. We had fish and chips at the beach, and then amazing hot chocolate at Max Brenner's. The weather here is fantastic- even though it's winter the sun is shining and it's quite warm.

When we get back to Circular Quay Celeste goes home and I explore the Rocks. I think the Rocks are the oldest part of Sydney, but there's a load of restaurants and shops and if you walk through there you can get to the Harbour Bridge. Which is what I did- climbed the many stairs and walked along the bridge. I didn't walk all the way along because it was cold and my legs hurt, and all I really wanted to do was take some pictures of the city. got some great pictures like this:

On Tuesday I woke up feeling awful. I caught a cold in Perth but it wasn't that bad- just a sore throat- and it persisteed in Melbourne where it turned into a cough and now I'm getting a runny nose. But yesterday I just felt soo ill. This Korean girl in the room gave me some vile tasting medicine and all it did was make me feel sleepy. I think it didn't help that all I ate on Monday was the fish and chips and a chocolate brownie. Anyway I dragged myself out of my room and went to Taronga Zoo- it's on the other side of the harbour bridge and you take a ferry to get there. I uploaded just a few of the many pictures I took there... They're mostly the same animals that were at Melbourne zoo. I saw the 2 shows they do- the seal show and the free flight bird show. They were quite entertaining. I also saw the Keeper Talk with the Elephant keepers which was fantastic- the elephants did lots of "tricks" like playing football, balancing on logs and rocks, sitting down like dogs, and finally shooting water at the crowds hehe.

In the afternoon I went back to the hostel and slept... I had such a nice nap. In the evening I went salsa dancing at the Establishment hotel bar. It was fun, even though the lesson was rubbish.

Today I've already been to the Chinese Gardens, which are just up the road from where I'm staying. They're really nice with lots of greenery, waterfalls, and pagoda things. This afternoon (4pm) I'm going to see the Cirque Du Soleil show! I'm really excited! Just have to work out how to get there...

Sydney

I'm here! In Sydney! I've seen the opera house! I've walked the harbour bridge! I've been to Manly beach! Tomorrow I'm going to the zoo! And on Wednesday I'm going to see the Cirque Du Soleil!

Pictures to follow.

Melbourne

Wow I'm halfway through my stay here already! Sorry I didn't update the blog until now. If you haven't already, check out my pictures here. I'll be uploading more from today too. In brief:

• On Saturday Craig drove me to the coast
• On Sunday I went to the Salvation Army church with Craig, then to his friend's for lunch, and then went to an Ozzie football match
• On Monday I explored the city with Simon
• On Tuesday I went to the zoo
• Today I did the Neighbours tour, explore the city, and in a minute I'm going to the cinema.

Will do a proper day by day update sooooooooon!

Melbourne Day 1

I'm backdating all of these since I was really lazy last week and didn't update... I'm so glad I've been keeping my own handwritten diary otherwise I would have forgotten most of it hehe.

Day 1
I landed at 5:30am today after a 3 hour flight. Well it was 3:30 in Perth but there's a 2 hour time difference so my body is probably really confused. I spent 4 hours sitting in the airport cafe reading and writing because Craig couldn't pick me up until 10:30. It went surprisingly quick. Craig is Marty's friend and he lives around 40 mins outside Melbourne. Sounds far but there's a direct train so it's quite good. The first this Craig did was take me on a tour by car through the city and to St Kilda before stopping at his house for a cup of tea. Theeeenn Craig took me down to Torquay and Anglesea which are coastside towns. The views of the sea and beaches are amazing.

We drove right round the coast (it's a big U shape). It eventually joins onto The Great Ocean Road (apparently the one isn't Perth isn't the real one) which goes all the way to Adelaide. On the way to Geelong we stopped at the Anglesea Golf Course and I saw kangaroos close up for the first time ever! I thought kangaroos were meant to be really dangerous so I really didn't want to get so close but apparently these ones were tame. Didn't quite trust Craig though haha. He kept shouting at me to get closer:

I was both nervous and freeeeezing in that picture! I was very wrong when I though Perth was cold haha. Apparently it had been dropping down to 5 degrees at night. Brrrrrr!

For dinner we ate with Craig's sister and her husband and her parents-in-law. The in-law's had just returned from a trip to the UK so we had lots to talk about. It's great to hear about England from a foreigner's point of view because you forget that we have amazing history and great things to see. Craig's sister has 2 boys and they are so sweet. I was playing Guess Who with the eldest, who is about 5, and then he wanted me to read him a bed time story. So I read him a story about a wombat looking for something... I don't know about him but I could have fallen asleep haha. I was very tired by that point. It felt so late at night, but when I did go to bed it was only 8:30pm! And I slept 11 hours straight!

Perth Day 4

Ooo I've been a busy bee these past couple days. On Wednesday I went into the city (without getting lost, yay!) and bought the little things I needed to pick up. I had lunch in a nice little cafe and browsed a book store before heading home in the rain.

On Thursday I met Nick, who is the godson of a friend of my colleague Pat, and he took me to see the Swan Bells in the city centre:

Then to King's Park:

And finally to Soretto Quay for a fantastic lunch. Nick is lovely and we had a nice relaxed lunch by the harbourside.

His friend Rhian met us there and after Rhian drove me along the Great Ocean Road. It was an amazing view- sun in the sky, turquoise sea, white sand beaches... So beautiful. Apparently it's there that you can see dolphins or whales or something. Anyway we stopped in the city centre and went to a cute little belgian chocolate shop. The owner emigrated here from Belgium over a decade ago and said he's never looked back. He told me that I should just do it, don't think about it, just do it. So far noone I've spoken to has said anything bad about emigrating...

In the evening Jacqui and Kevie took me to a nice pub for dinner. I ordered a chicken and chips meal and it was huuuuuuuge! Needless to say I didn't finish it. It was delicious though. I'm glad I've stayed with Jacqui because she is so lovely, and Kevie is adorable, and Jacqui's really filled me in on what it's like to emigrate and live here. I've really felt at home here.

Today, my last day in Perth, I met Jon and we went for fish and chips in Fremantle, then to a chocolate factory and finally wine tasting down by Margaret River. I'll write more about this later when I have the time and energy- in a couple of hours I'm flying across to Melbourne to spend a week there.

Jenny's In Australia!

I've arrived in Perth! Haven't done much so far- yesterday after I arrived I slept all day before going out with Jon for some food. I'm staying with Jacqui, Andy and little Kevie and they've all made me feel right at home here. In a bit I'm going to attempt getting the bus into the city. I need to buy a simcard so I can make some calls, a plug adaptor so I can recharge my phone and mp3, and possibly a scarf and gloves because it's coooooooold! Will keep you updated :)

My last post from Hong Kong

I'm pretty sure this will be the last post I write in Hong Kong. Though maybe if I get bored at the airport I'll find something to write about... I'm nearly packed now. I have all the clothes I'm taking to Oz in a suitcase but I've not yet finished packing the box to ship home, or even started with the handluggage.

I've had a crazily busy week here. Monday was the last girl's group, Tuesday I went salsa dancing at Sugar. Wednesday I met my friend for a movie. Thursday I went to Olé, a spanish restaurant in Central, with my colleagues and had a very nice meal together.

Oh, Thursday was also my last day "teaching". I just used the lesson times to take pics of the kids hehe. In one of the lesson times I was trying to explain to the children that I won't be here next term when a BIG bug landed in the middle of the floor. Chaos ensues. Mostly because I sit there going "eurrgh! Don't kill it! Argh! DON'T KILL IT!" as all the kids rush forward to stomp on the poor thing. Poor bug was squashed by George. Mean boy. And then I had to wipe it up... yuck. I can't believe I reacted worse to a bug than to seeing a boy being sick into his food bowl though haha.

On Friday it was Parent's Day so all the parents were in school to hear how their kids were. It was a bit pointless me being there since all I did was watch Mock The Week on youtube and get pictures taken with some of the kids. I did have one parent ask me what English exams her 4 year old should be sitting... I was just a little stumped. Exams? At 4 years old? I think my reply was somewhat like "oh I don't know I'm not really a proper teacher..." Haha. I managed to blag it all year and then give it away with that. I'm not sure she was very impressed. I think the parents like to have their children sit exams so they can get into better primary schools. Still seems crazy though! The yi yi's (or Aunties) cooked us a really nice last lunch with desert and everything. Then there was a very long meeting in Cantonese which Cat half translated. Most of it was boring stuff for next year. They did thank me for my year here though and they bought me a gift (box of choccies). And the Principal offered me a job if I come back! Also, when I'm back in Hong Kong (20-22nd August) the principal is going to take all the teachers out for a meal and karaoke to which I'm invited! They're so lovely.

In the evening we went out for a meal, then for drinks, for Joel's birthday. I had a great time! Joel even got up on stage at the Cavern with one of the bands and sang a song. Saturday was spent recovering... After lunch we gave the flat a good clean so it's now sparkling! The yi yi's from school will come and give it an even better clean when we've left though.

As I've already written, Saturday evening was my last salsa lesson. I'm really going to miss everyone there. Murray, who hasn't been for a while, said I've massively improved and Joseph too said I'm soo much better. I still can't believe they made me dance in front of everyone- and with Anton too who is just unbelieveably good. Too good a dancer for me! He's going to be teaching salsa soon, which I'd go to if I was in Hong Kong. Grr!

That brings me to today. I had another lazy morning before making my way to Mong Kong Ladies' Market. It was not a good day to go shopping at an outdoor market- 31 degress and 80% humidity. Gah! And I was so, so tired. I was not in a bargaining mood but I was not paying $550 for 2 pairs of PJs!! I ended up paying $330 which is still a lot more than I would have paid if I wasn't melting and half asleep. I'll probably go again when I'm back in HK to buy more souvenirs. For dinner me and Jo went to the Spaghetti House. Can't believe that was the last meal we'll be having together. Can't believe tomorrow is the last time I'll see Jo for a looong time.

It's just starting to hit me that there's a lot of people I won't be seeing again, so far it's been "Bye... but I'll be back in a few weeks so we'll see each other then!" It's too hard to say goodbye properly. It was very sad to be saying goodbye to the kids at school because I probably won't see them again even if I come back to Hong Kong. I just had a really lovely phone call from Cora saying goodbye, and loads of wall posts and txts. Goodbye Hong Kong :(

Crazy crazy crazy

I've been ridiculously busy lately. Just wanted to post a link to Clara's album of my last night at salsa. It was great! Javed asked me to dance so I got up on the dancefloor- and then Joseph made an announcement telling everyone I was leaving and they were going to miss me etc... which is embarassing. But then they made me dance in front of everyone! It was nice because I'd dance for a bit with Javed, then I danced with Anton (who is amazing and made me look so bad haha), then Dereck, then Joseph and Murray and back with Javed. I had the whole dancefloor to myself hehe. It was very sweet of them! Clara took lots of pics which you can see here.

327

I have been in Hong Kong 327 days! That means there are only 7 days left in Hong Kong, and 36 days until I arrive back in England. Hasn't it gone fast?!

I've been quite busy this weekend. On Friday I had a BBQ in Big Wave Bay at Lauren and Marty's new house. Big Wave Bay is on the "back" side of Hong Kong Island and it took us 2 hours on a bus, the MTR, and then a minibus. It's strange to think how far we travel to meet our friends- in England if someone lives 2 hours away then you'd only see them once in a while and you wouldn't travel there just for a BBQ! Lauren and Marty let us kip on their sofa though so we didn't have to do the ame journey home at 11pm. We had a great time with lots of friends from my church Plus group. It was my last ever Plus meeting so Andria made a looooovely Oreo cheesecake, and Lauren bought a delicious chocolate cake, and then put candles on top and sang "Happy Farewell to you"!

On Saturday I made the journey home (stopping at H&M for a good shop) to shower, change and pack for an afternoon of rock climbing and salsa dancing. The 180 summer social was going to be a big bike ride in the New Territories but because of the weather it was changed to rock climbing, so 20 of us met at the YMCA to climb the indoor walls there. It was great fun! I even did a climb blindfolded.

Straight after rock climbing I met my friend and went to the Salsa Congress Party being held at the Cosmopolitan Hotel. There were international guests performing and doing lessons all weekend. We caught the last half of the lesson being given by some instructors, then we stayed to watch the performances. They were amazing! It wasn't just salsa either- there was some African type dance, some Hip Hop and then a guy doing some tricks with a bowler hat. After the shows I did a bit of dancing with people there before heading to Lan Kwai Fong to meet Joel, Jules and Dan.

On Sunday I went to some studio lessons being held by international instructors. The first class was partnerwork and it was very advanced, much too hard for me! But I muddled along and kinda learnt the routine. The second class was bachata- which I love- so it was great to learn how to dance it properly. The last class was styling, so we were kinda taught some body isolation stuff but I was really bad at it. You really need to practise the basic stuff like being able to just move your ribcage before moving on to other stuff. It was all hard work! After the lessons I went straight to church before heading home, exhausted.

Yesterday (Monday) was my last girl's (girls' ?) group meeting at Cora's place. We had a very nice evening of prayer and worship and sharing. This week is a week of "last this and last that." Tonight I'll be going to salsa again (not my last) but on Thursday I'll have my last full day teaching and my last meal with my colleagues, and Friday will be my last day at school...

Here's a picture of the view from my friends Four Seasons apartment. I'm so jealous they get to live there!

Aqua

Last night Derek (a very nice man I met at salsa) took me out to dinner as a way of saying goodbye. We went to an incredibly posh place called Aqua which served both Japanese and Italian cuisine. It's a completely different standard from what I'm used to (although it isn't particularly hard to beat Macdonald's and Pizza Hut...)! The above picture is of the drinks lounge, on a balcony above the main restaurant floor. The picture below is of the restaurant. I should mention the view from our table- the most beautiful scene of the Hong Kong skyline. We had a table seat so we watched the sun set and all the lights come on, and at 8pm we watched the famous light show while eating our dinner.

Derek ordered some amazing food for us- Asparagus wrapped in bacon, asparagus and cheese risotto with truffle on top (my fave yuuuuuuum), a gorgeous fish steak, beef rolls, terriaki pork, and finally some more beef steak. Beyond delicious, I came away stuffed! After the meal (we were very politely kicked out at 8:30) we went to do some salsa dancing at a bar called Heat in Wan Chai. So, a very pleasant evening all in all!

Party Time!

This week I've been busy getting the kids to make party hats and throwing parties. It's been so much fun! Here's a few of my fave pics (also on flickr):

We played pass the teddy, musical bumps and over-under with a balloon, and then tried to get the kids to pose nicely for a group picture. Sometimes it worked (last pic) and other times... chaos haha.