And now, back to the news

Well it has been a while since the last update. Not too much has happened...

1. Monday, Sonia and I hired a car and drove around Hong Kong. Literally. We drove up to Sai Kung (look it up on Google Maps), then across the top of Kowloon and across to Lantau Island. We had intended to get down to Cheung Sha beach, but were not aware that private cars are not permitted to drive around most of Lantau. So we turned around, came back to HK Island. We decided to drive past our old place (new blocks of apartments have been built close by, so it looks a little crowded now), then on past Stanley to Shek O. Then back around the eastern side of the island towards Central.

Promptly got lost in the one-way streets around Happy Valley, having originally intended to head for a petrol station prior to giving the car back. In the end we came across a petrol station in Wan Chai, which enabled us to avoid extortionate charges when giving the car back.

We were lucky with the weather. The night before we had been watching the lightening, thunder, and heavy rain, thinking that the Monday trip might not be a great idea. In the end it was fine all day.

Possibly the highlight of the trip was lunch in Sai Kung. HKD 100 for the two of us to have noodles and dim sum: spring rolls, siew mai, pork spare ribs, bbq pork steamed buns (favourite), and something else that I cannot remember. Getting the same in Central would be more than HKD 200, so it was a great deal.

2. Shingles. I have them. What started out looking like I'd been bitten by an insect overnight, turned red and angry. After a couple of days I went to the doctor, who has given me pills to take. The most frustrating thing is that there is no known trigger - he said it was nothing that can be identified, but might be stress (not me), tiredness (nope), or something else (who knows?). Still, it is a good excuse for not going to the gym for a couple of days.

3. The Mac broke, again. I tried to turn it on, Tuesday morning. It sounded like it was working and made all of the usual noises, but nothing on the screen. This is the second time it's broken - the first was a power supply problem. The Mac is back today, with a new video card. I wonder how long it will be until something else goes wrong. Luckily the warranty is covering everything other than the frustration of losing the machine for a few days.

4. Next weekend we will both be in Bangkok, and likely to catch up with the Ellwoods.

That's all we have time for tonight...