Finally...

Well, finally here I am sitting outside at the YHA in Nimes over two weeks since I wrote anything - and it's hard to imagine how much has happened - and also how little has happened! Lol!

It's pretty late so I'm not going to write too much here - and it'll take me a while to remember everything that has happened.

I also have dozens and dozens of photos which I guess I should at some stage sort and post.

But very quickly:

HK to London - HK was amazing. The trip to London was a trip to London - all very weird on the plane as they make you sleep; when it's daylight and you don't really want to sleep - odd!!

London - into London (Sarah my sister picked me up - yah) and hanging out there. Very cool as within a couple of hours arriving (on the Tuesday) I was outside my nephew Daniel's school picking him up! Very cool. Andrew was a bit slow to warm up - who is this strange man he is thinking - but after Daniel saw me, Andrew kind've realised that I was ok - and now we get on a like a house on fire.

In London some highlights were - my nephews - easy-peasy. Went bike shopping with them, dinners, hanging out, the aquarium (really good in London - go) and just generally being Uncle Mike. Priscilla - yes, saw the stage show - and Jason Donovan. What an amazing show - just absolutely stunning!! :) Buckingham Palace with Michael, Sue, Liz and Sharon - wow tour. The inside is really really impressive!!

In London some not highlights were getting a cold - which I still have the vestigives of over a week later - and spending a whole day in bed with a cold and throwing up (food poisoning I think) - and it was apparently the last of the perfect summer days - bummer!

London, especially the nephews, was very cool (and not literally - was quite warm really - touch wood but so far I've not had a single day with rain!).

After London it was Glasgow - catching the whisper jet (that's what they used to called) from London City Airport - sweet - and up to Glasgow.

Fantastic to see Helen again, meet her son (Aidan - he's got the sweetest little accent), Nicole (daughter), Mark (husband), Helen's parents, Helen's brother (Jules) and his wife (Kirsty) and their kids. She took them out of school for a day and we all hung out together - went to the Glasgow Museum - it was really impressive; a beautiful old building. And Glasgow, I reckon, is a beautiful city - although I didn't (and by all accounts won't) get to see Drumchappe!!

Also had a stunning lunch with Helen and Mark in Glasg0w (in a little village outside Glasgow) - yummy and the best coffee ever in the UK - courtesy of the Australian who made it! :)

Then in a plane (huge huge security queues - bar, touch wood, London City, security at UK airports is major suckee!) down to Gatwick, pissing about there trying to find the train (it's not very well laid out - where the ticket office is etc), then on the train and down to Portsmouth. Picked up by Sharon's son James, out to dinner that night (fantastic chinese meal!), the next day was over to the Isle of Wight (wow - a tip for the wise - garlic ice cream is really horrible!), then the Saturday to Liz's pub (I forget the name right now - duh) for fish and chips - Andrea (rather jet lagged!!) was there by that stage - yah - and then the party that night - yah! Not sure wha the poms thought of the hongi!).

Next day (Sunday) was a 5 pound bus trip to London - free wifi but I kind've slept - and felt gross. Caught up with Deb, thought I had a tooth absess, found Ji, went donkey riding with the nephews - well, they rode the donkey - most very very cool.

Then out to Gatwick - waited an hour for the bloody bus to the hotel.

Next morning up - the most horrific queue for Easyjet to check in - just horrible!). Finally checked in (I'm talking 1 1/2 hours!), then security, then plane, then Montpellier.

:)

France!

It was sunny and warm.

And the hotels were all full. I found out later because of a bee conference. Go figure.

Finally found somewhere (it's kind've stressful when you don't have somewhere to sleep) and then off exploring Montpellier - what a nice city! Did the walking tour, dinner, sleep (until after 10am!), breakfast, the cathedral, the old town, the Odyseum (odd but cool), a moroccan meal - yum - and then more sleep - well, broken sleep.

Then up this morning, more breakfast, a train to Nimes (god, the french train system - nice trains but trying to get a ticket - what a hassle - icky!).

Then, Nimes, picked up the car (Lol - I'm not driving, Ji is as she's from Germany); we have a sat nav system - very cool.

Then to the Tour Magna - very very cool, it's been much hotter here today - yah! Into the town, a bit of looking around and shopping, some food for dinner and then back to the YHA.

Which is where I am now, waiting for my laundry to dry - hehe

I'll have to fill in more details in due course - but how all very cool!

Very quickly and very early.... HK Airport

Well, here I am at Hong Kong Airport. It's about 6.52am local time. I was up at 4am local time. Checked out, to the airport ($230 HK - not bad and no traffic at that time of the morning), checked in and it was so early that security hadn't even opened yet! Duh - doesn't open until 6am - and neither really does anything else.

Oh, well, there we go!

Hong Kong was amazing - it's hard to think that I was only here for 60 hours - the amount I packed in - amazing hotel, full on shopping, people, food (amazing amounts of stunning food), Victoria Peak (wowser amazing - make sure you pay to go up to the look out thing!), the convention centre, Stanley Bay, Causeway Bay, seafood so fresh I picked it from the tank!, noodles, thai, HK style breakfast, the light show (the city at night looking across the harbour is truly, truly stunning), Kwoloon Park and so on.

Just start!

They've just called my plane so better log off and get going!

Pictures and details (lol - so I don't forget!) to come!

A quickie before breakfast... HK

Hong Kong Rocks.

Full stop.

The hotel I'm staying in is simply divine! You will absolutely love it. I absolutely love it.

A jetlagged Cookie who only slept for 4 hours last night is about to have a shower and get a bit to eat before hitting the day - so will update the blog later.

But wow... wow... wow....

:)

5 September 2009

After getting to bed after 11pm, and getting some sleep, I got up, showered, shaved, slapped my face and made it to Wellington Airport.

And so my holiday 2009 started....

Checked in - nice. Coffee with Moon (you may know him as Alex!!) and Aaron - nice. Mojo coffee is nice!

Then into the lounge - very civilised, very early and no 100mls Boss - please, there I was wanting to spend money and no go! It had to wait until Sydney.

Onto the plane - must admit, the bypassing the queue to get on the plane when I'm

half asleep and wondering what's up is kind've nice - nice!

And the flight was great. Sat next to Susu, a policy specialist from UNICEF who was in Wellington for a conference on child trafficing. What a stunning person - we spent a chunk of the 3 1/2 hours flight chatting (ok, about 2 1/2 hours of chatting is a chunk - but is it most of the time?). Anyway, what an interesting person. She's from Myanmar and has personally interviewed Ang Sang Sui Kyi. What was also interesting is that, from her perspective, it should be Myanmar and not Burma. As part of her doctoral thesis, she set out the name history of Myanmar - and basically when the British came in 1840 (something) they came up from the Indian Ocean and the first people they came across were the Burme (or however it's spelt). The Brits mispronounced it and called the country Burma - whereas it was Myanmar for centuries; basically there is no ethnic group of "Myanmars" so it's a name to cover all the groups who live in the country.

Bizarrely - the junta actually gave back the country it's historic name.

Anyway - after much food, much chatting, more food (and yes, champagne to start and feijoa smoothies throughout - I'm going to put on even more weight), into Sydney we arrived. Off the plane, through security, Boss 100mls acquired, into the lounge, a nice hot shower and I'm now sitting in the sun, watching planes land and drinking lots of water! Classic.

And yes, I did see 2 A380s - a Singapore Airlines one and an Emirites one. Big planes.

Onwards and upwards as they say!

A very special entry...

I am now back home.

It's Tuesday, 22 April 2008.

My sister, my brother-in-law and my two nephews are on a plane back to London.

I'm writing this at 11.47pm and they will have been in the air for 17 minutes.

I was in AK saying goodbye. I took them to the airport; their last drive in NZ.

I can still see my two super-gorgeous special nephews waving goodbye; the youngest just giving me the biggest smile. I miss them. Very very much. Safe journeys my beautiful little men.

Safe journeys to Matt and Sarah too - come back safe! Soon!!

:)

Not that I have anything particular to say...

Well, it's not as though I have anything particularly exciting to say.

I rang TelstraClear today and got my epg sorted. Oh, so exciting.

I forgot where I met Conrad. OMG, how pathetic.

I missed going for a swim. OMG how fattening.

I can't work out why Helen is fucking it up so much - I mean please Helen - stop mooning about with .... and get focused. Mind you - the Greens have bit to answer for too...

I had pasta for dinner. With diet lemonade. Does one offset the other?

I've had my hit of Heroes and want more. I've got dishes to do, sleep to be had and shirts to iron. OMG - my life is so not a soap opera and so needs things to happen.

Mind you.... I do know some things... But, oh well, as David Hartnell says - my lips are sealed...

And yes, I realise that this isn't the way to get people to read my blog. I need to either write witty, insightful enteries or purely salacious gossipy terribly paparazzi articles.....

Yes, well - we shall see....

Instead my dishes call....

The First For a While...

Although I'm not sure that I'm inspired to be a blog writer, nor am I particularly inspired to get out of the moshpit today and do anything - that may however be another story - I have this fine day in December been introduced to The Paul World. Maybe the closest thing to this is Tales of the City but kiwi'ised. But, as I felt the need to point out certain things in relation to The Paul World (including other things as references to not diddle, not wee wee, not wangdang etc) which may somehow end up with people linking back to this blog, it got me thinking that the last thing I really wanted people to read about on my blog was my barfing for hours on a plane from Bangkok to Sydney. Although, they too may not want to read this drivel; but too late I guess if they've got this far.

Anyway, without further ado - I bid you adieu - I really need to move my fat ass today....

Although, yes, I have had a shower, put on some laundry, hung out some laundry, drunk coffee (and this is a little test - but I guess that's the thing that must be done every morning in The Paul World).