One exhausted Kyla

Sonia here...

Well Kyla has indeed arrived and managed to make tentative friends with our very nervous cat. Made us realise how much of a stressful experience moving back to NZ at some stage will be for Sachi - she does not cope well with people other than 'her' people in the house and Kyla put up with a lot of hissing before a tentative truce was called.

Kyla really picked her day to arrive. Narita airport always has a decent amount of turbulence on descent. Today was exceptional. My plane got in about 40 minutes after hers, and for the first time in all my flying history I had a landing aborted just feet above the runway because the winds were buffeting the plane so badly the pilot could not hold it steady enough to touch down. We turbo charged back up into the air when we ran out of runway for him to keep trying :-). Pleased to report that Kyla did not have quite that scare, but she did get a pretty bumpy approach that she seems to have dealt with just fine. We will make a world traveler out of her yet!

We spent the morning at home and introduced her to the concept of Saturday morning house cleaning. Then headed up the road to introduce her to her first taste of 'real' sushi. She gave it a good shot but I think it is fair to say she prefers Sharon's chicken based variation. The Japanese would be horrified! We had a great 'counter' experience at the Sushi Bar though with a couple of the sushi chefs and a two of the other customers taking great delight in testing Andrews Japanese skills. The noise was as always in the sushi shops loud and boisterous - a very interactive experience- much to Kyla's amusement.

Afternoon was spent out and about running weekend errands and then dinner at home (can we have non-Japanese food being the request :-)...). The Freaky Friday movie finished the day off - with very heavy red eyes it was off to bed and hopefully a good long sleep.

Looking forward to some fun days ahead - visiting the beach tomorrow, shopping Monday, Disney Tuesday, cooking a three course dinner for Andrew on Wednesday, Kawagoe or Kamakura on Thursday and Cirque de Soleil on Friday. We will be exhausted by the end of it!

We'll let you know how it goes.

Ok

Found her. Guess she does not have to catch the bus home after all.

Hmmm

5 more minutes then I give up and go home. Kyla can find her own way to the apartment.

Flight update

Apparently Kyla's flight arrived at 603 instead of 630, but there is no sign of her. Perhaps I was too late (arrived here at 630) and they sold her into slavery?

Real time

On the way to the airport to collect Kyla. Pouring down and windy - great way to start.

Friday night

Well Kyla is on her way. I see from the flight status that she has landed in Sydney, and now has a couple of hours to wait before her flight leaves for Tokyo.

I am trying to decide whether to spend my evening doing the cleaning, or wait until tomorrow morning once I have collected Kyla and Sonia from the airport. I think it can probably wait - the place doesn't look too bad. And I have had a hard day (cue violins), and want to finish watching The Matrix again. So I think the cleaning will keep for 12 hours...

New News

There is none.

I am at the gym, trying to stop myself getting bored on the treadmill. I was thinking that it has been quite a while since the last update. That is because there has been almost nothing happening here.

I am sure that you will appreciate me having avoided coplaining about the heat (up to 40 degrees some days). This week it is officially cooling down. Not today, which is up to about 34 degrees, but tomorrow the forecast is for a high of 24 and rain. I am sure that Sachi and I will freeze. Tomorrow happens to be a holiday, so I will dress her up in a teatowel if she starts shivering too much! Wuss of a cat...

The holiday season is pretty much over now. The expats who were heading home for the summer are now back. And I am about 6 weeks away from officially working for Metlife instead of Alico.

I finally got a bike park in my building so the motorbike is now convenient. And no longer takes up space in my friend's garage. His place is about 45 minutes away by train or 20 by car. So not hugely convenient for popping out for a quick ride. Moving the bike across also meant I could clean it for the first time. I realised I need to get some wheel cleaner to shift the chain oil and grease that has speckled the inside of the wheel.

We have planned a diet of raw fish, horse sashimi, okonomiyaki, monja, and chickens' hearts for when Kyla is here next week. Should be gun trying to capture her facial expressions on camera. And then putting her on the back of my bike - but she can use the friend's spare helmet so that any regurgitated raw fish does not mess up my helmet. And I wonder how she will find wearing a kimono and wooden sandles all day?

Buenos Aires

Well it has not really worked out very well. On arriving here in Argentina I
immediately caught a cold/flu. Fever, aches, etc. For the past few days I
have dosed myself with panadol-equivalents and tried to manage my way
through it. Last night was hard, with a very sore throat when I try to
swallow. Not much sleep was had, between jet lag and the throat.

Today is Saturday, and as I had seen very little of Buenos Aires I decided
to venture out anyway. It was sunny, but has turned cold and windy. I am
currently cowering in a cafe with a plate of ricotta ravioli. How long can I
stretch this out before having to do the sprint back to the hotel? There I
will sit in the lobby (no late checkout available) and read my book until
4pm when I head to the airport. The flight leaves at 9:30 tonight, but my
colleagues one is earlier and we will share the taxi out there.

Maybe I will get a chance to come back, and it will be better next time?

Goodbye Uruguay

Well I guess it is time for an update. I'm sitting on the plane, waiting to
take off from Montevideo to go to Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The trip to get here was long - about 30 hours not counting getting to the
airport and to the hotel at the other end. And not without some hassle. The
flight from Dallas to Miami was delayed, when the pilot and mechanic decided
at the last minute that the plane was not going anywhere. We duly
off-loaded, and trotted around to another gate where they eventually
delivered another plane from a hangar. And we took off, but having lost more
than 1.5 hours. Given that my scheduled transfer time in Miami was just
under 2 hours, I started to feel a little stressed. When we got to Miami, I
was the first off the plane and literally sprinted to the next gate. This
took about 10 minutes, while wondering at every step whether I needed to
clear immigration to exit USA. Apparently not. In the end I made it, and we
took off about 10 minutes after I got on board.

Sunday and Monday were horrible weather-wise. It cleared up on Tuesday and
today (Wednesday), but I spent all day running workshops so my experience of
Montevideo has been limited to lunch at a horse racing track on Sunday.
Watching rain stream down the windows and appreciating the fact that I was
not riding horses in a storm. So only a couple of miserable photos out the
(dirty) window from the hotel. And lots of photos of the workshop.

What I did see on the way to the airport was a mix of old houses that
reminded me of Kelston or New Lynn as it used to be, and a series of
soviet-looking apartment blocks that look out over the river/coast. One bit
around the coast did make me think of parts of Mission Bay - the wide
footpath with a low stone/concrete wall next to the beach.

Hopefully Buenos Aires will be better. It is all of 1 hour (or less) from
Montevideo.

Spanish is the first language for all of these countries. At my workshop
there were people from Argentina, Peru, Colombia, Uruguay, Mexico, Panama,
Venezuela, and Chile. I was the only one who could not speak Spanish, and
the conversations often erupted into lively Spanish as people clarified
amongst themselves what I had said in English. Many of the attendees spoke
some English, but it is definitely a second language rather than first. Very
nice group of people.

In Buenos Aires I have one more day of workshops, not run by me. Then on
Friday we are meeting with a couple of brokers and partners. Because they
have a Global guy here, they are taking the opportunity to stroke egos a
little. Clearly I am very important...

Updates

Well I guess it is past time for another update. I'm writing this from the couch, with the sliding doors open to the balcony. At 6pm at night, it's still more than 30 degrees. Tokyo has got very hot and humid over the past few weeks. Very ugly to be out and about in this sort of weather. And it's likely to continue in the same vein for another two months. Bring on autumn and winter!

I was in Athens the week before last, running a conference for our Central & Eastern Europe regional team. 16.5 hours to get there, and the same on the way back. Not great. Athens itself is a bit grimy, and full of mad drivers. More run-down than I expected. But the food was wonderful. Greek salad with fresh tomato, cucumber, and feta. Very good, and the best I have ever eaten anywhere.

Sonia arrived back from Bangkok this morning, and is in town for the week. Then the following week back in Bangkok, while I head off to Montevideo and Buenos Aires to run another conference. What a life? But then you realise that the flights from here go to Dallas, then Miami, to get there. A bit of a laugh when you think this is an (ex?) IT guy teaching product development and sales guys how to do their jobs properly?

Tomorrow morning we are driving down to Hakone for the night. Not a long way, but Sonia decided she wanted to get out of Tokyo. I've taken Monday off, so we drive back on Monday afternoon. This way we will (hopefully) skip the traffic jams leaving and returning to Tokyo.

That's all for now, I think.

Catching up with the McCabes

Well this weekend saw me staying on in Bangkok to catch up with the McCabes who are en route to Auckland. It was great to see them all again - boy those kids have grown. Lauren is up to Wendy's chin and Ashley and Andrew are as tall as each other.

We spent lots of time in the hotel pool as well as heading off to the mall for a race around YOYO Land (the local entertainment park inside the mall) on Saturday and to a different mall for lunch and a 3-D version of Shrek 4 on Sunday. Who would have thought I was with my most hard-core missionary friends when they did not even suggest church on Sunday!

We had a great time and it was sad to leave again on Sunday night. Andrew is off in Athens this week - left last Friday morning and gets back sometimes next weekend. Will be quiet at home with just me and the cat.

Was going to post Sachi's latest picture but the camera seems to be missing. Maybe Andrew took it to Greece and we will all get to see some holiday (oops I mean 'work') shots :-)

I was waiting for the question...

A tamis is a sieve. A very fine sieve, that is designed for pushing solid food through (as opposed to liquid).

The potato puree recipe is from Thomas Keller's cookbook. Well worth trying, even if only once due to the inherent health risks.

Mashed potatoes will never be the same again

We made mashed potatoes for dinner tonight. Or rather, as Sonia is quick to point out, Potatoe Puree.

For reference, take 1.24 lbs of potatoes and gently boil them (in their skins) until they offer no resistance to being poked with a knife. Then drain the water, return the offending potatoes to the pot for a short time, to get rid of any remaining moisture (steam).

Then push them through your tamis (you don't have one?) - after peeling them, and while they are still hot. Then stick the resulting potato mass back into the pot and start, on a low heat, to mix in about 200ml of heavy cream, and 100g butter. While whipping using a wooden spoon. Don't add all of the cream or butter at once - it should take you about 10-15 minutes, alternating some butter and some cream. The cream should be warmed before adding, and the butter should be at room temperature.

And try not to use Japanese sweetened cream - we almost did but tasted it at the last minute (would that have made it sweet potato?).

The result is very smooth and relatively rich. A bit different to the mashed potatoes that I grew up on. :-)

And no, we did not stop to take photos. Try the recipe for yourself, Sharon.

What to say?

It's spring, which means every day is different weather-wise. Today started hot - at 7am I had to open the doors to try and get a breeze. But by midday the temperature was dropping, and now it is cooler and raining. I thought the temperature was supposed to start low and go higher?

Sonia is off in HK today and tomorrow doing a demo. And probably heading back to Bangkok on Monday - it seems to have calmed down now.

We rearranged the furniture on the weekend. While I now watch TV from a mile away from the screen, at least it feels more spacious.

Nothing else to say. Bye.

A message for Kyla

My mum and dad will confirm that chopsticks are the main eating utensils here in Japan. Most restaurants will not have any knives/forks. So you need to be able to eat using chopsticks before you get here, or starve for 10 days.

I suggest practicing in the weeks between now and when you get here. Try eating a small plate of peanuts using chopsticks. If you can do that, you will be able to eat in Japan.

Cooking and stuff

I noticed the comment from Sharon complaining about no information on cooking that we've been doing. So here is a little.

It started with a refresh of the lemon meringue pie cupcakes that we made at D&S's place during the last trip. Remember the picture of Jayna having meringue piped directly into her mouth after we'd made too much for the cupcakes?

Then I tried making the Crockpot Roast Beef from userealbutter.com. It worked really well, although next time I would reduce the amount of soy sauce in the recipe. It was good, but could have been a little less salty.

Next I ordered a copy of Thomas Keller's cookbook from Amazon. The first recipe to be made was Lamb Stew - or as Keller calls it, "Navarin D'agneau aux legumes printainiers". In my case, minus the legumes printainiers. This dish requires that you begin the day before, browning the lamb pieces, then cooking it slowly for about 1.5-2 hours. This then sits in the fridge overnight. The next day I made the Puree de Pommes de Terre (potato puree). For 2 pounds of potatoes, this has 8 ounces of butter and 3/4 cup of cream. To puree the potatoes you have to force them through a tamis along with the butter, then whip them with the cream. All by hand. We ate later that evening.

I've also made agnolotti by hand - 1 3/4 cup of flour, 6 egg yolks, 1 egg, 1 tablespoon of milk, and 1 1/2 teaspoons of olive oil. A lot of hard work later (by hand) you have a lump of pasta dough. Rolling that by hand was only partially successful, and yesterday we purchased a pasta machine. Trying again last night, it was much more successful - the pasta has to be very thin, and trying to get that by hand is difficult. I have a new-found respect for those Italian mamas who did/do this step by hand.

Sonia has decided that Duck Confit is probably the next thing to attempt. Not sure exactly why...

One last detail - we went looking for a gas torch (to brown the cupcake meringues). The only ones in the kitchen shop are just little torch attachments with a disposable gas bottle. The pictures on the bottle show that it can be used in the kitchen, but can also be used for welding. Sure enough, by the time I had browned 6 cupcakes (only a few seconds) the end of the torch was glowing bright red. Not something for children to use, I guess. But at least we can brown meringues and make aburi toro (look it up).

Polite Japan

Well it is a myth that Japanese are polite. As proof I offer the Ueno Zoo on
a warm Sunday afternoon. Half of Tokyo will be there, and they will all want
to see the animals. And most of them will consider it vital that they see,
at least far more important than you see anything. And once they have seen,
it will be crucial that they move on to the next exhibit so that they can
scare those animals with their camera flashes.

That said, it was fun. Just exceedingly busy.

Sachi

As Jonathan pointed out, Sachi looks a lot like Phoebe. So much so that Dad has referred to her as such a few times. Actually Sachi is a combination of Phoebe and Sahara. Phoebe's colouring, but Sahara's finer hair. Not sure who's brains she has, as we have yet to see any sign of the existence of said gray matter.

Mum and Dad have apparently reached Kyoto. This is after traveling to Hakone yesterday by train, and staying at a hotel that we booked online. It was apparently fine, although I have yet to hear whether it was a hotel with a shared bathroom or not.

The next milestone is on Friday, when they have about 9 minutes to transfer between trains at some remote outpost of Japan. If they miss, then it is possible that they will have to find a place to stay overnight - somewhere in the middle of nowhere. Where they probably will not speak any English. Could be quite an experience - even more interesting than trying to eat noodles with chopsticks for the first time.

Spring has come, so too have the parents...and a picture of the cat

Well even though we sent Kyla a whole collage of pictures I'm still getting asked for a picture of the fluffball (just shows she does not read her email or our blog!!) we'll happily post one here for you. Actually you probably don't need one....just imagine a smaller Phoebe....

Here she is trying to look cute and innocent....

And then for an action shot...

She actually thinks she is a dog. She will fetch that stick with a fluffy bit on the end all day and bring it back to you to throw again. She also makes a weird 'woofy' noise. I am convinced she is confused.

Andrews parents arrived on Saturday just in time to see the last of the Cherry Blossoms. We managed to exhaust them walking around on Sunday which pleased Sachi no end - it meant there were unlimited laps to sit on on Monday as a quiet 'home day' was had by all (except Andrew who had to go to work). She seems to be pretty laid back around new people unless they are Japanese men - I have the scratches to prove she was not impressed with the guys who arrived to replace part of our bed this morning!

Cherry Blossom season is very beautiful in Tokyo. The locals like to celebrate the arrival of spring with a picnic under the blossoms. Much sake is drunk, and you can find out how someones party went by asking 'did you sing?'. If the answer is yes, then 'did you sing loudly' will give you a good indication of just how much sake was drunk :-). We preferred the more demure approach of wandering under the trees by the river (well walking pretty quickly actually - it was freezing!). Here they are in all their glory

By the time Mac and Joyce arrived the blossoms had been 'ruined' by green spring growth appearing, but we still thought they looked pretty cool.

Spring weather is however notoriously changeable. 28 degrees on Sunday turned into a bitterly cold and wet day yesterday. Roll on summer!!

Cats

Well we have settled on Sachi (さち) as the cat's name. It is supposed to mean "happiness, good luck, fortune" - what she should be since we adopted her and gave her a home. She certainly purrs loudly and bounces around the apartment - when she is not sleeping right underneath the blanket on the bed or investigating each and ever cupboard.

Weekend

Ok, so the car is in the garage (parking space). We'll have to try and take some video of the parking system. For the moment, let me explain that it has six cars per vertical stack. In our bay there are two rows, each with four vertical stacks. Our space is in the back row (there might be a car parked in front of us). To get the car out or put it away, we have to put our key in, push buttons to tell the machine which space we want to use, and then wait while it rearranges the cars. Then the gate opens and we drive in (or out). And it's narrow - we have about 3 inches more space in the car park than the width of the car. Do the maths...

And today we collected a cat. A rescue case, about 4 months old. She is currently wandering from room to room looking around and deciding whether she likes the place. She needs a name - we are happy to take suggestions, but they must be able to pass the Daryl-Craig test.

More news

Well more news. We have a car (I think). I need to go back to the shop tomorrow, and in theory should drive away in a car. After almost 4 weeks of talking to them, both negotiating price and then arguing finance and contracts, it is hopefully finished. I will let you know how it goes tomorrow.

I still need to sort the car insurance. 3rd party is mandatory and arranged as part of the purchase. But I need to separately sort out comprehensive cover. That is tomorrow's challenge. I have been looking online and will need help. Naturally, the insurance websites only provide Japanese pages, no English. Hmmmm.

And then I need to move on to get a Japanese license - apparently just a bunch of paperwork, but I somehow need to prove that I lived in NZ for a minimum of 3 months after I got my license. Exactly how am I supposed to do that when I got it when I was 15 years old!

Revealed - the best ever technique for ensuring husbands put down the toilet seat!

It is very simple....
1. Move to Japan
2. Ensure said husband is responsible for paying the power bill and has a healthy respect for how expensive electricity is here (it may be necessary to run the air conditioner long and hard for a week or two to ensure the first bill is very high)
3. Invest in a "Washlet" heated toilet seat (For those who need visuals....http://www.totousa.com/default.aspx?sectID=3)

Said husband is guaranteed to be soooo concerned about the cost of heating the whole toilet room via the heated toilet seat that you will find the lid is routinely put back down to 'conserve power'!

At last - it has taken me almost 16 years.... but I finally have a tidy bathroom :-)

Have a good day...

Sonia


PS Andrew says he actually puts the seat down so that it is easier to use the tap on the top of the toilet.... but I am just not buying that line!

Toilet with integrated hand basin...another quirk of Japan! This picture comes from Australia, but you get the idea http://www.savewater.com.au/products/Caroma_Profile_Toilet_Suite_with_Integrated_Hand_Basin

More news

Tonight on the way home from work, it snowed again. It was raining, and next minute there is snow mixed in. The umbrella made a valiant effort to shelter me from the worst, but it is on the small side. For some reason, the temperature has dropped again. After a couple of warmer days, summer has retreated and given ground to winter.

We've been working our way through the process of buying a car, and after getting frustrated with the dealer on the weekend, I "suggested" that he needed to update the papers and bring them to the office. He is a young guy (well about 10 years younger than I am), so he obeyed. With the help of my boss's secretary we completed the papers and should (I hope) get the car in about 7-10 days. The delay is due to the legal side of parking spaces. Because space is (apparently) at a premium, you cannot buy a car until you have a space in which to park it. And because space is (apparently) at a premium (did I mention that?) the spaces are of varying sizes. So it is necessary for the police to divert precious manpower to inspecting parking spaces and certifying that your car will fit into the space. This process can take (apparently) 3-4 days. Clearly there are many car parking spaces to inspect. And then once they have the stamped parking certificate (I had to get this from the apartment company and give to the dealer, who then goes to the police), the dealer can continue with the transfer of ownership. Another day or two. Sigh... these guys have pointless bureaucracy down to a fine art. Strangely, you can go out and buy a motorbike without having a motorbike park. So space cannot be that much of an issue (and certainly there is lots of space where we live). I guess we justify the existence of numerous police and civil servants.

Oh, and we cooked a cheesecake last night. The oven is working, the mixer and blender also - when plugged in to the new transformer that was obtained on Sunday. So mostly getting sorted now. And Sonia has a nice new pink mobile phone - she is fitting in with the trendy young things around Tokyo (well sort of).

What makes somewhere "home"?

For me, I think it ends up being able to do the ironing. Of all things.

This week was the first week that I had ironing that needed to be done, and the means to do it. The transformer (22.5 kg) is plugged in and powering the coffee machine and grinder. And the iron when needed. So this week I ironed a couple of shirts and a pile of handkerchiefs. At this point the place actually started to feel like a home.

Oh, there are still boxes around, and things that are missing (I need to get some oil or grease for the bearings on a drawer), and we are still missing curtains in a few places (Sonia has had them made in Bangkok and is slowly bringing them with her). But it did feel like home when I was standing there ironing things while watching TV (in English).

With mum and dad arriving in a few weeks, I guess I need to get things organised. The office needs to be sorted so that we can fit the blow-up mattress in there. (question - who gets to sleep on it) And I'm attempting to buy a car - which at the rate it's going might just arrive in time for when they get off the airplane at Narita. A combination of Japanese bureaucracy and language is slowing things dramatically. I'll write about this properly once I actually have the car - right now it's feeling like it may not happen.

Oh - another piece of news. I may well end up in Beirut in the near future (not permanently). Weird, huh?

Unpacking

Well, Saturday was relatively productive in terms of unpacking. The boxes are all unpacked, and other than getting rid of some rubbish, pretty much everything is put away somewhere. There are a pile of pictures/photos, etc that need to be hung somewhere. I'm not sure where they should go, and since I can only be wrong on this, I decided to wait till Sonia gets here.

The bedroom is clean and tidy, with the mattress on the floor, mattress protector washed and dried, and clean sheets on. The thin duvet we bought in Ikea in HK is on it, with a blanket over the top. That way I don't need the air-con switched on all night.

I've hooked up the TV and DVD player, and a guy came yesterday afternoon to connect up the cable TV. A few channels in English, but most of them are in Japanese.

Still need to get a piece of furniture for the kitchen so that the oven can be taken off the cardboard box it is sitting on. I haven't used it yet, for fear of making the cardboard box so hot it either catches fire or collapses.

Work seems to be going well. HR, as always, is useless. They seem more interested in deciding and enforcing idiotic/stupid/senseless policies than looking after the "human resources". What is it about these people? It's not just this company - they generally always seem to act the same. I wonder what goes on in their minds?

Oh - forgot to answer the quiz about wattages. It's the sandwich maker - draws 2400 watts. Closely followed by the iron at 2000. Then it's down to the coffee machine (1200), before dropping steeply to the remaining appliances: rice cooker (780), bread maker & blender (500 each), kitchen aid mixer (300), and coffee grinder (250). By comparison, the TV draws 150 and the DVD player all of 9w. The Stereo amplifier and CD player don't state their wattages, so I guessed by taking the amplifier output of 80w per channel, doubling it, and adding a bit.

So far I have an 1100w transformer in the lounge to run the stereo, CD player, TV and DVD player. That might be overdoing it - I think the total watts being drawn if everything is on it probably around 450w (TV 152 + DVD 9 + amplifier 180 + CD 100), so the transformer is probably more than enough. Problem is not knowing how much the amplifier and CD do actually draw. I am thinking I am probably ok to get a 600w one, and move the 1100w transformer into the kitchen for the appliances? I have a 3300w one on order to be used in the living area - enough to power the sandwich maker, iron, coffee machine and grinder (not all at once). Bit of a bummer that the sandwich maker will be used on the bench where the coffee machine is, but it's not worth getting two big transformers. FYI, the 3300w transformer is worth about USD500. The transformers do work both ways, so we can use them when we (eventually) move back to NZ and need to run the fridge, washing machine, or oven on NZ power. Japan is 100v - not even the same as US at 110. Trust them to find a way to be different from everyone else.

Enough - that is probably more than most of you ever wanted to know about power wattages and transformers!

They're taking over!

The boxes, that is. The moving company delivered our "stuff" yesterday.

I had an important steering group meeting to run at 8am in the morning (people calling in from UK and US, so this is the best time). Then it was straight out the door and back home, from where I'd left about 1.5 hours earlier!

They started by bringing most of the boxes inside and stacking them in piles in the different rooms. Then once that was all done, started unpacking. Only a couple of minor pieces of damage - a knock on the end of one of the cabinets, right down by the floor at at the back. Probably not worth fixing, although we'll see what the insurance company does. Also a foot broken on a chest of drawers. We ended up with all of the feet removed and it now sits on a piece of wood.

Possibly the most concerning is the mildew on the leather couches. And on the dining chairs. Not sure how we fix that. The chairs could be reupholstered if it comes to it, but the leather? I guess I have a job this weekend - find leather cleaners (ever tried to do that when you cannot read the writing?) and see if I can clean them up.

However, it's nice to have something feeling a little less like we are living day-to-day. I managed to get the stereo hooked up last night - big transformer to boost our 110v up to 230-240v. Sonia is still in Bangkok, so hopefully before she gets here I will have a chance to sort most of the things out and get the coffee machine running, etc.

Pop quiz: what appliance uses the most power (as in watts)? This is important because the transformers are rated to different wattages. Answer comes tomorrow or the next day...

Of underwear and milk

Well the underwear came out as it went in - just cleaner. No shrinkage, at least not that I can tell.

And the milk is apparently fine. I waited a day to check, but the cereal has been fine each morning.

Appliances

Well, have any of our thousands of dedicated readers (ahem!) ever been in the position of needing to purchase major home appliances in a foreign country (Canada does not count)? We have in the past week, gone out and bought a fridge, washer/dryer, and today a combination microwave and steam oven.

All very well, but there might be all of 3 words in English in all of the 3 manuals - and those are the manufacturers' names (Sharp, Toshiba, and Toshiba, so really just two). However, as Sonia has pointed out, Toshiba has "Leading Innovation" plastered all over their manuals, so I guess I should alter my previous statement - there are 4 words in English.

But Transgoogleation is a wonderful thing. We've just spent the past hour figuring out how to use the manual settings on the oven to microwave, grill, steam grill, bake, and steam bake. While we are not in a position to make the most of the other 30-odd automatic cooking menus, at least we will not starve.

And the washing machine seems to be doing an ok job of it's first tentative load. All socks and undies that we can afford to lose if we've managed to push the wrong button. Maybe Lauren needs new underwear (these could come out smaller than they went in!).

The fridge seems to be cooling things. Will tell you more once we try the milk tomorrow. It does have 7 doors, so we are not 100% certain that the milk is in the correct place... Popsicles anyone?

Not at the end of the tunnel, rather the lights that we bought today and installed in the living area. Not being quite sure whether they would work (everything is of course in Japanese) we only bought one fitting and three lights. But they do work, so tomorrow night it will be another trip to the shop to get another one of the same.

Installation is another story. Not because it is technically difficult, but because we do not have anything here to stand on. Other than each other. Andrew tried very hard to get Sonia to perch on his shoulders, but as she is not a bird this proved rather difficult. In the end we reversed roles and Andrew sat on Sonia's shoulders.....she tried to remember not to tickle his knees!

Anyway, said lights are up and we are one step closer to having a home rather than a house.

Apartments

Ok, so I have spent a few nights in the new apartment. The air-bed is working ok, although not as comfortable as a real bed.

The supermarket downstairs has turned out to be a very good one. Of course most of the stuff is Japanese, and I cannot read the labels. But it is a bigger supermarket than I have seen around here, and has a good range. And the prices are more reasonable than the one I used to go to in Azabu-juban.

At the moment I still have no furniture or cooking utensils (or eating utensils for that matter). This means that breakfast is tending to be Tullys (a Starbucks equivalent) with coffee and a bagel sandwich (which has meat and cheese). Lunch is usually sushi or some equivalent from the supermarket close to the office. And dinner is a range of ready-made snack meals (salads, sushi, etc) from the supermarket downstairs.

I have the phone going now, and the Internet - both as of yesterday. The laptop is sitting on the floor in the corner of the empty living area (as am I while writing this). It has turned out to be a very sunny apartment - very warm, despite snowing twice in the past week. It faces south-east, so it gets sun from first thing in the morning until early evening when the sun disappears behind neighbouring tower blocks.

We have one of the toilet seats with jets - to "wash up" when you're finished. All the instructions are in Japanese, so I will have to take a photo and ask someone at work to explain what button does what. Imagine that conversation, remembering that mostly these are people I have just met.

We got an email from the moving company saying that our stuff will arrive "soon" and asking for some paperwork. Not sure what "soon" means exactly, but hopefully we should have everything delivered in the next week.

Moving

Well, this week is the week. On Wednesday I move to the new apartment. Without any furniture or household stuff. I do have 3 big suitcases of clothes and junk that has not been shipped up. But no fridge, washing machine, cooking utensils, plates, glasses, etc. We purchased a cheap duvet, sheet, and pillow on the weekend (from Ikea HK), and I bought them up with me on Sunday.

I managed to borrow a blow-up mattress from someone at the office. I have not inspected it yet, so I'm not 100% clear whether it is a single or larger. If single, then I am a little concerned about where Sonia thinks she will sleep when she arrives on Sunday. The floor? With her pillow but no duvet? When it is snowing outside? Not sure how this is going to work, but since I have to go to work on Monday, it will not be me on the floor!

Trying to figure out the logistics of buying a washing machine and fridge. Except that it's not clear whether they are able to run on NZ voltage. So do we end up having to sell them before we leave (incurring the inevitable loss)? I think tomorrow will be yet another trip to Akihabara to ask the sales guy about the voltages required for the appliances. After reading up on the manufacturers' websites (Japanese pages translated through Google) I am pretty sure that they only work on 110v. Which is a problem. Wait and see what happens in part 2 of the story....

Back from Dubai

It's a great and strange place. Great because of the huge, modern buildings, and the many hundreds of cranes sprouting from the numerous construction sites. Strange, because in the end it's in the desert, with an unusual mix of arabic and western cultures. You see many men walking around in long white robes, with head coverings of white or white/red checked, sometimes accompanied by women in tip to toe black. At the same time, the office areas are full of western suits of both the male and female variety. The hotel was announced as "dry" in that no alcohol was permitted. The biggest mall (Dubai Mall) also proudly labels itself the same way. There is another mall next door for those who want a drink with dinner.

There is clearly a lot of money around the place. Lots of Hummers, Mercs, Porsches, Ferraris, etc. But the bulk of the population is actually low-paid imported labour from India, Bangladesh, Philippines, etc. In fact I remember seeing a statistic saying that the expats comprised 70 or 80% of the population (I think that's what the number was, but whatever it was it was very high). The population declined by around 15% when the crisis hit, with many of the expats losing their jobs and being packed off home.

The new tower is tall - very tall. Stupidly tall, in fact. And because they are worried about someone else building a taller building, they have a backup plan to add more height to it - just in case.

I'll probably get back there again, hopefully with a camera next time.

Permits

Well there is progress on the work permit front. I'm sitting in the Ramada hotel in downtown Dubai. It's right next to the new Burj Dubai - the tallest building in the world. And indeed, it is very, very, very tall. Standing close by and looking up, you really are looking straight up. It was clearly visible from the plane as we were coming in last night. In fact it was poking up from the low clouds that were hanging around.

Anyway, back to the work permits. On Saturday I submitted my extension for HK as a dependent on Sonia's work permit. This expires tomorrow (Monday). And then today (Sunday) I went to the Japanese consulate here in Dubai and submitted the application for the Japanese visa. This was possible because here in Dubai Sunday is the first day of the week and is therefore a working day. Friday and Saturday are the "weekend". I am supposed to go back to the consulate on Wednesday around 1pm to collect my passport, which should have the visa stamp by then. Then Wednesday evening we fly out, back to HK. I'll probably stay there until Sunday and fly back up to Tokyo.

Riveting story, huh?

The Tokyo Towers

As requested (T) here is a link to the apartment complex's website.

Glad to see that someone is reading the blog :-)

More progress

Well, more progress on the housing front. Told the company today which apartment we want - they are now sorting the contract. We should be moving in on 1st February - work permit and shipping permitting...

Progress on the housing front

Well, it appears that there is progress on the apartment front. The company has negotiated a pretty good deal on one of the apartments that we like. With a final tweak, we might have a place sorted in the next day or so. Yay!

Location on Google Maps (point C):

View Larger Map

Conveniently close to the Tsukiji fish market (specialists in premium sushi-grade fish), and the Ginza super-premium shopping district. Maybe that is a bad thing given Sonia's preference for shoes. I wonder if it is too late to cancel the application?

Tokyo - end of week one

I guess you could argue that we arrived just over a week ago, but it is close enough. In any case, it is probably time for an update on things.

Saturday and Sunday we looked at apartments and houses. All pretty much on the southern and western sides of central Tokyo. We started the first day with a nice little house - nice neighbourhood and layout. But a little in need of care and attention. We mostly saw apartments for the rest of the time. Most were in low blocks - 3-6 floors. This makes up most of Tokyo. I believe it has to do with earthquakes, and only more recently built places in higher.

I went to work on Tuesday (Monday was a public holiday ) while Sonia fly back to Hong Kong and then on to Bangkok. First day at work was pretty normal - ease into things, lunch with the team, that sort of thing. Wednesday went similarly, although I have been working to prepare for the first trip, which is to Dubai for a workshop with the team for middle east and south asia. This will be the week after next. I had not realised that it took so long to get there - from Tokyo to Hong Kong is over 6 hours, then to Dubai another 9 (if memory serves).

Thursday morning I went back out to look at a few apartments, and found a couple that were nice. We ended up with 3 choices, and have passed them over to the company to negotiate with the landlords. They basically sort the best deal they can, then come back to me to agree before they sign the contract. Very helpful.

Went for a run last night, as the current apartment does not have a gym. Sore legs this morning! I guess I used muscles that I have not used in a while. Running is interesting - it was very cold (13 degrees in the apartment when I got up this morning) so there was very little sweating involved until I got back to the apartment. And it was a little windy as well. Makes it challenging when you are waiting at a crossing for the lights to change...

Breakfast this morning is Starbucks while waiting for church to start.

One last thing - I had forgotten about Tokyo weather. For some reason it seems like it is either really good (bright blue sky now) or proper rain. Not much in between. And not like Hong Kong's continually polluted skies. Yay!

News

Well after a pointed email from a relative who shall remain nameless, here are some photos from the trip.

First up, the Christmas fair in Hyde Park in London.

And the hotdogs that you can buy there - the sausage is almost twice as long as the bun.


On to the night we spent at the French Horn (restaurant and hotel) in Sonning on Thames. In the morning:
In the evening:
And later once the sun had basically gone down...

Then on to the Danesfield Hotel for Christmas. First the Great Hall:

And Carols sung by the local church choir...
The view from the bedroom window:


And the light in the bedroom:


Then back to London for New Year (skipping Manchester because we didn't take any photos there):

And lastly, one taken on a bike ride in Japan - in the distance you can see Mt Fuji. Note the colours on the trees.

We're Back

In Hong Kong for the week, before flying/moving to Tokyo on Friday!

Cute video for the day:

This morning's excitement

We found out overnight that the British Airways strike is likely to go ahead. The ever-so-kind cabin crew have decided that Christmas/New Year is a good time to strike. Not very smart on their part, for a range of fairly obvious reasons.

The problem for us is that we had booked to fly on the night of 22nd (next Tuesday). That is the day that the strike starts. While you can take a guess that cabin crew in HK are still likely to fly back on 22nd (otherwise they would be stranded in HK for the duration - hang on, maybe they want to be?), we decided that it was probably not worth the risk. So this morning I ended up on the phone trying to get the flights changed. We are now flying out on Friday night - an extra four nights in London.

Our return flights are booked on 1st January, and the strike is supposed to be finishing on 2nd. At this stage we've left those flights as they are, and will probably take the risk. Talking to a few poms, this is a fairly common tactic employed by the unions and it is likely that the strike will be resolved before then. And if not, BA will have to make alternative arrangements.

Watch this space...

Big burgers

Just watching the Travel Channel - an episode of some show that is talking about Thurman's burgers. A burger with a 3/4 lb burger pattie, ham, salad, cheese, onions, etc. And you can apparently do a multi-Thurman burger...

They also have a "Thurmanator", which is now being shown. 2 Thurman burger patties, cheddar, mushroom, onion, ham, bacon, eggs, etc. Yumm!

They are leading up to the Dagwood challenge - a huge burger accompanied by 1 lb of fries. The challenge is to finish it within 30 minutes.

Closer and closer

Well it looks like Japan is going to happen after all. "Negotiations" have progressed significantly, and contracts are being sent backwards and forwards. All going well, come sometime in January we would relocate to Tokyo.

Then comes the challenge of finding an apartment - if you're interested in Tokyo apartments, take a look here. The company will take care of contracting the apartment, so the key is to find the right place at the right price. And the right place. I will work in a place call Kinshicho, which you can find on Google Maps here. This is likely to mean a commute on the train of about 30 minutes in each direction. So the ipod will get a good workout each day. The key is finding the right train lines (anything that goes direct to Kinshicho) and then working backwards from the train line. Ideally we will end up with a few minutes walk to a train station on an easy line, which will make things simpler. Otherwise I will have to see if I can't push for a parking space at some point...

One good point will be the accessibility of Japanese rice. Rather than searching for the limited range that is available in HK, we'll be able to walk into the supermarket in Tokyo and pick up rice at a reasonable price.

In other news...

We have finished the final bookings for the holiday in the UK. It is now 13 days until we fly to the UK. We have a night in London before going to a country house close to Marlow (on the Thames) for Christmas eve night, Christmas day/night, and then back to London on boxing day. We will stay one more night in London before heading up to Manchester. The night in London is for the purpose of checking on the sales... After 3 nights in Manchester, it's back to London for 2 nights. Then back to Hong Kong on 1st. We've booked a rental car (poxy little Ford Focus) so we'll have the option of driving around when/where we want.

Well, nothing more to say right now. Good night.

News

Well I guess I really should be putting something new on the blog. Not exactly sure what, s nothing much has happened since we got back from the NZ trip. Sonia has spent the week in Bangkok (arriving back tonight), while I have been working on a consulting project here in Hong Kong. Weather-wise it is getting colder in HK - temperatures are forecast at around 21 degrees most days. Right now it feels a littler cooler than that - sitting outside and starting to shiver. It is also getting darker earlier. Last night I looked outside at 6pm and realised the sun had completely set. So I guess that confirms the behaviour of the local girls (wearing scarves, boots, big puffy jackets) - winter must be here. Anyone living in NZ would probably be going the other way - throw off the jackets and switch to t-shirts and shorts...

Well, cannot think of anything else to say, and besides I need to be getting to the gym now. Till later.

Cool effects

This clearly took these guys a while to put together. The video is on the long side (around 6 minutes) but worth a look all the way through.

This guy is really good

I particularly like the Morgan Freeman impression - reminds me of the movie "The Shawshank Redemption".

Wipeout

I don't know if you've seen it, but I'm sitting on the couch watching Wipeout Australia. The sight of a wide variety of Aussies wiping out on a stupid-looking obstacle course? I can't stop giggling - although maybe it should be "chuckling" rather than giggling. If you get the opportunity, I highly recommend watching it at least once. The American version is also very funny...

Overdue Update

Well I guess it is fair to say that an update is overdue. I write this sitting on a plane, waiting for it to leave Bangkok for Hong Kong. Sonia is somewhere in Australia (Melbourne?), probably heading for bed. She is working there for a couple of days before going down to Auckland. I have the next few days in Hong Kong before leaving on Friday night to meet in NZ.

I have been working here - getting a couple of proposals put together. If any of them come off, I should have between 6 and 12 months work through my own company. It is interesting and exciting at the same time. But also rings some bells from when I worked with Tacit in NZ. I recall the boss talking about projects and bids - and some of the ridiculous behaviour of the prospective clients.

Oh great - a stinking Chinese guy has taken the seat next to me. And by stinking, I really do mean stinking. In drastic need of a shower... At least the flight is only 2.5 hours long!

Google's suggestion feature

Some interesting suggestions when typing into the Google search box...

Idiot BMW driver...

What were they thinking?

Quotation

Old Chinese proverb:

Those who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those doing it.

Charlie Bit My Finger Again

If you haven't already seen this, it is pretty fun (and a little cute as well).

Tokyo Revisited

It was a great weekend in Tokyo, weather notwithstanding.

I got there on Thursday night, about 10:30 (remember me moaning about the long bus trip from the airport into town?), and on Friday went to meet a couple of business contacts. Then in the afternoon went out to get a motorbike jacket (found a nice one on sale with about 40% off the regular price). Then collected the motorbike.

Saturday, we took off about 6:30 in the morning to meet another friend who was taking us on the ride. We rode up into the hills after shooting down the motorway for about 30 minutes in heavy traffic. We stopped a few times to rest our bottoms (bike seats are not always very comfortable) and to admire the views. We had lunch at a vineyard - Manns vineyard in Katsunuma. Then back towards Tokyo and onto the motorway.

Dinner Saturday night was out in Tokyo midtown - a nice American-style restaurant. Then Sunday went to church with the friends. Monday, I met a couple of ex-colleagues before going back to Kappabashi to buy a couple of knives. These are very nice - one of the knives has (I think) 30+ layers of steel using to make it. That makes for very nice patterns on the blade, and (from what I've heard), extremely sharp knives. Not something to put into the dishwasher, I think.

Now back in HK and need to get focused on moving some consulting opportunities forwards.

Bangkok update

A quick update... We are back in Bangkok now, having flown from Bangalore overnight last night. A horrible way to travel, getting on board the plane and taking off at 30 minutes past midnight. We arrived into Bangkok about 6am, got quickly through immigration, and into a car to the hotel. At that time of the morning traffic is not an issue, and we were at the hotel within 30 minutes. We slept until midday, and then Sonia went to work. I met up with a few business contacts, and then we had dinner at the hotel's Japanese restaurant. Sushi and soba noodles with tempura.

We had a great time in Ooty with Chris, Karyn, and Ian and Wendy. And the sproglets of course. Chris, Ian, Ralph (a friend of theirs) and I went for a bike ride on the Saturday morning - I hired a 150cc bike. We went down the hill (46 hairpin bends on one section) and then back up, around, and back to Ooty. Good fun, although quite different from riding elsewhere because you rarely get going any faster than about 50kph.

Chris' birthday party was on the Saturday night - dessert and coffee at Ian and Wendy's place. We sat around a bonfire, while Wendy and Ralph (see above) sang a song to the tune of The Beatles' "A little help from our friends" describing some of the "Phases" of Chris' first 40 years. Then Chris made a speech (unaccustomed as he is to public speaking).

We had Sunday lunch at King's Cliff (nice Indian food), and then Sunday dinner at a Dosa restaurant. A family-sized dosa, which was somewhere over 1 metre long... Very nice. Ian and Wendy also arranged an Indian feast at their place on the Friday night - mutton biriyani, mutton curry, dahl makani, tandoori chicken, raita, and bread. And Ian had a chilli chutney which none of the rest of us could eat (basically minced green chillis).

I'm on the way back to Hong Kong tomorrow afternoon, then up to Tokyo on Thursday night. In between I have a business meeting (which will hopefully generate more paying business) to attend in Hong Kong. And I need to do some washing so that I have clothes to wear in Japan. We are going riding again, and this time I have hired a Suzuki GSXR 750 (official Suzuki site). Should be a lot of fun, riding out on Saturday and returning to Tokyo on Sunday morning.

A remake of the Inspector Gadget song?

And Inspector Gadget beat-boxed on a flute:

Hong Kong update

Well yet again it has been a while between updates. There is still not much to tell...

The weekend after next I am off to Japan to go motorbike riding again. We will probably try the 299 road again, which is the windy one from the trip before last. I go up on Thursday (22nd) afternoon, and return on the following Tuesday. A lot of time for just a weekend riding? True, but it was necessary in order to take advantage of the cheap flights available from Cathay Pacific. The Friday and Monday flights were all taken! So instead I'll swan around Tokyo for a couple of days, visit Kappabashi to buy some flash knives, and see who I can catch up with. Actually I'll also try and arrange a few meetings to see if I can generate some consulting work. Which brings me to...

I've been doing some consulting work for an American life insurance company (not AIG). Quite well paid, so I hope it continues for longer. If I can make it work, it will help pay the bills and make it possible for to work on expanding with other companies. Generally things seem to be picking up in business, a common theme when talking to other people in HK.

It's also starting to cool a little bit. Temperatures are peaking at 31 degrees most days (instead of 33 upwards), so here's hoping autumn comes quickly!

Back in Hong Kong

Well, I am back in HK. Got in late last night after a 10 hour flight from Auckland. Managed to watch 5 1/2 movies on the plane: Duplicity (amusing, and Clive Owen good as ever), Fast & Furious (typical Vin Diesel caper), Push (interesting seeing some of HK in a big movie), Angels & Demons (surprisingly faithful to the book), and half of Alien vs Predator (a walk down memory lane).

We are now the proud owners of a very small piece of land in Auckland - in between Orakei and Mission Bay. Next comes the task of building a house while located a 10 hour flight away...

Simon's Cat

Very funny...



For more adventures, look here.

Chocolatey goodness

Or maybe it should be "chocolatey badness" when you think about what's in it...

(The spoon in the picture is a teaspoon)

Cooking concoctions

It's been a while (at least a few weeks because that's how long it has been since we changed houses) since I last cooked something. So tonight I decided it was time to try something new-ish.

Being a small, serviced, apartment, there is not a lot in the way of cooking stuff. (All our own "stuff" is in a storage unit) So I looked at what is in the cupboard and tried to figure out what to make. We have sugar, chocolate, flour, baking powder (or is it soda? or are those the same thing?), biscuits, more sugar (icing, this time), cream, and a few other bits and pieces.

So that it suggested to me something like another cheesecake. Except that we have no bowls, or things to beat eggs with. So that was out. Sonia has just pointed out that not having an oven is probably a bigger issue than not having a bowl or whisk...

Anyway, biscuits, chocolate, cream, butter, and sugar. Oh, and marshmallows. That suggested some form of uncooked ganache pie. So that is what I made - in a Glad (as in gladwrap brand) disposable container. Biscuits (smashed in a plastic bag), with butter melted in the saucepan and some sugar. No idea of the quantities as we have nothing to measure with. Lined the container with the biscuit mixture, and stuck it into the freezer for a while.

In the meantime, I melted some chocolate chips, added some cream, and stirred it well. Then I cut up marshmallows into half-size pieces. Taking the container out of the freezer, I put a layer of chocolate stuff, then marshmallows, more chocolate, more marshmallows, and then the rest of the chocolate. Then back into the freezer for a while, and then into the fridge.

Sonia reckons that I will have to eat it in extreeeemly thin slices (or wedges) since it will be sooo rich. But I suspect that she has underestimated my capacity for sweet desserts! We shall see.

In case anyone has not heard through the ever-efficient grapevine, I have a meeting in HK on Thursday next week and so will not be arriving until Friday lunchtime (instead of Wednesday).

Trip

Well, I assume the ever-efficient grapevine has already passed around the news of another trip to NZ. I am off to Auckland from 8th to 28th September, to look for a house to buy. No, this is not a sign that we are returning to live in NZ. Just a sign that Auckland's property market appears to be picking itself up out of the dumps. As a result we are thinking that now is a good time to get back into the market ourselves. So it will be a few weeks of tripping around the open homes, agents' offices, and houses. And of course the banks to see if any of them will be stupid enough to lend us money. Warning: if the banks are not open to sharing in our investment, we might be calling on family...

Then it is back to HK, by which time I hope the temperature has calmed down a bit. It's still averaging 32 degrees and 70-80% humidity most days. Sharon was saying that it's around 14 degrees in Auckland most days, so that will be quite a change. Better get my snow-suit out.

Sonia is in HK all week. To put that in context, we are talking about her "working" in the apartment (of 40 sqm) where I attempt to work. So I guess by Tuesday (maybe Monday?) there is likely to be blood on the floor. By Wednesday she should be safely on a plane back to Bangkok. At least that is my plan - just don't tell her...

The Late Show

Well I have gotten interested and stayed up watching The Late Show (David Letterman). Just flicked across the channels, and I noticed the weather channel is saying it is 29 degrees and 81% humidity... But hey, at least the UV index is 0. I guess it should be - being 11:45 at night, and dark and all...

Rain, rain, go away

It is Typhoon season (in case you had not worked this out from the extensive news coverage over the past week or so). This means that it is not just hot, but also wet. When it is not raining, the humidity is very high. For example at around 9pm last night it was still 28 degrees, and 87% humidity. At this time of year this means you need to carry your umbrella most days. Even if the forecast does not specify rain, there are often brief showers to take into account.

It is also the time of year when two showers a day becomes normal (at least for me). One when you get up in the morning (as usual), another when you get home sweaty and hot. Pleasant mental picture?

Success

In two ways...

Apparently I chose the correct apartment - the one with the Queen size bed. At least that's what Sonia says. We now reside in the Chi apartments in Jordan, Kowloon. A one-bedroom apartment that is nicer (albeit smaller) than the one we were in on The Island, for a reasonable amount less. And it's furnished and serviced (dishes washed every day, floor cleaned, linen changed, etc)... It's true that the apartment is a lot smaller, but it will be ok for a while. We are also the proud renters of (yet another) a storage unit in Kennedy Town. Really just a big lockable cupboard...

The second "success" is having finished cleaning the old apartment. I have spent Monday and half of Tuesday cleaning it from top to bottom. Handover to the landlord is tomorrow afternoon, at which point I want to ensure there is no reason for the landlord to retain any portion of the deposit. In HK there is almost zero regulatory protection for renters - the landlord can do pretty much whatever they want - claim cleaning, repairs, etc. The last landlord we had was very good, and refunded 100% of the deposit (possibly because Sonia left the apartment very clean?). We are hopeful that this landlord will be similarly inclined. Deposit is equivalent to two months rent, so it is not insignificant...

Handover is at 4pm tomorrow (Wednesday), and before that I have two meetings and need to get to the gym. A busy day, I guess.

Time for another update, I feel

Well it has been a while since the last real update... again.

In between I have been to Thailand twice, first time to visit the Ellwoods and the de Jongs on their respective ways back to India and Burma. Second time was this weekend just gone, when Sonia and I went to Phuket. I have come back sun-burnt on my shoulders and back, while Sonia remains white as a sheet.

Tomorrow (Saturday), we will be moving apartment to a serviced apartment on the Kowloon side. This is of course a major move, as we will no longer be "on the island". One step closer to China, so I guess we will need to watch out. We are still not sure what we will do for a longer term place to live, so we've booked the serviced apartment for 3 months. By that stage we should know one way or the other.

In the email news today I saw an article saying that unemployment shot up in NZ last month, and is forecast to rise further next year. Bummer! Hope you are all keeping your heads down and working hard.

Sonia should be on her plane around the time I write this - it's a 6:40 flight from Bangkok. I will have to go down and collect her from the Airport Express station - she has no HK money for a taxi. It's still quite warm at night this time of year. As a result it is an exercise in judgment in terms of walking slowly enough to get there without being covered in sweat but still arrive on time!

Bangkok

Word to the wise. Never go through Bangkok airport without a book to read in the immigration queues. Even at midnight they seem incapable of matching the number of staff to the workload - and that is even knowing the airline schedules in advance!

News?

Well there isn't much to say, which is why I haven't posted anything other than Youtube videos for a while :-)

Sonia and I are taking a few days off in Phuket this weekend and into next week. We looked at the past months and realised that we have not really had a "holiday" in quite a while - the wedding in "all-y'all-ville" does not really count as a holiday... So we are heading to Phuket on Saturday morning, and back to Bangkok on Wednesday. Sonia is to turn off the CrackBerry, and we will (intermittently) check email for anything important.

Next week we (I) will be moving us to a new apartment in Kowloon. Yes, you heard correctly, we are venturing across to the dark side. After a year and a half of residing on "the island" we will now have an address on the mainland. At least for a while, during which time we will need to decide what we are doing. Of course we might find that it is too strange, in which case we will scurry back to the safety of the island.

And that is about all I can think of to tell this time. No new cooking adventures, no trips anywhere, no purchases, no problems (so far, at least). Just the wet (sort of) season in Hong Kong.

Till next time...

Don't you wish you'd done something like this

Instead of the slow-step down the aisle on your big day?

Cheesecake 2.0

Well last night I set out to make another cheesecake. This time it was to be a full-size thing instead of the 1/3 recipe used to make 6 tiny ones last time.

And of course since I have already made the plain cheesecake, I thought I would mix it up a little. The flavourings that I have in the cupboard are... wait for it.... Rum and Raisin. Surprise.

The cheesecake has turned out a little "creamy", I suspect because I did not cook it for quite long enough? Still it tastes great. Having cut it into eight pieces, and eaten one for afternoon tea (I am about to go to the gym to work it off), I am faced with needing to cut each piece in half. Way too big for one sitting....

The finished article, with a piece cut out.


And a single delectable piece.


And remember that I am mixing all of this by hand. I did cheat and use the blender to mulch the biscuits into crumbs, but other than that it was a saucepan (no bowl big enough) and a wooden spoon. Think of the muscles!

Is this real life?

Very funny/cute....

Beatboxing

Can you believe that he does all of this with just his mouth? No instruments...

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...

Where can I get one?

Learning Cantonese

Very amusing...

Cooking

Well I downloaded some files off the camera, and figured I should throw a few here.

So first up, I made fried rice and prawns in butter a month or so back. The fried rice shown here is what I was attempting to make at D&S's, but it worked better here than there...


And the prawns, before:

and after:

And finally, on the weekend I made cheesecakes - six little cheesecakes in the same size things I made the cupcakes in. Yummmy - this was the recipe from Use Real Butter, which works well.

Location, location, location

In response to Sharon's question, here is the map:


View Larger Map

We are at number 36.


Oops - for some reason Google maps is showing a completely different location from the one I selected to paste here. Not sure what is going on. Rest assured we do not live at the place shown above.

Map of Hong Kong

An amusing map of Hong Kong - done with computer graphics. This link will show you where we live (for now, at least).

Tokyo revisited

Well this entry comes to you from my favourite Starbucks in Tokyo. It is in Roppongi Hills, a reasonably upmarket area. It has been raining or drizzling most of the day, which is a bit miserable. At least here you can sit quietly with coffee, out of the rain. I am on the way to book my bus for tomorrow, back to the airport.

The rain/mist was a bit of a pain, as we were thinking we would head out in the morning for a quick ride. Quick, because the guy I am staying with left at 1230 to catch a flight home to the US.

Must say, I think I had forgotten how good a place Tokyo is. Very clean, everyone polite, and easy to get around. Not without it's quirks, many of which I have commented on in the past. Dress sense being one of the most prominent. I have been reminded of this by the lady who just walked past in fluorescent pink gumboots and long shorts. Sharon would be most impressed - gumboots on a "townie".

The ride

Well we got a bit sidetracked.  After deciding to detour to visit the Ducati shop that David bought his bike from, we set off down the expressway from home.  I immediately had a small problem with the ETC card, which you need to present to a human being at the toll booths.  I thought it was being read automatically by the system (duh).

We got to the Ducati dealership, and David ended up agreeing to trade in his current bike for a much better one - a white 848.  Plus a reasonable amount of cash... They are pretty good there, and allowed David to take one of the 848s for the day (test ride).  We eventually got underway again, and headed down to the coast, in the direction of Odawara.  And promptly spent the next hour or two in stop and start traffic.  It turns out that the road I had picked goes straight through the various cities, with traffic lights all the way.  Not a good thing, especially when it was a hot day.

We made it to the beach at Odawara in the end, which turned out to be very stoney.  More of a coast than a beach.  Now, back home and looking at the map, it would have been much better to take the expressway almost all of the way, then drop down to the windy roads for some fun... Next time.

Japan and bikes

Well, off to Japan again on Thursday. I am meeting up with a friend and spending the weekend on motorbikes. This time it's going to be a YZF-R6, a 600cc bike with street-bike styling. It's a brand new 2009 model (in blue for those who care). You can see the pictures here.

At this stage we are planning on a full-day Saturday, heading south from Tokyo to the Izu peninsula. I've set up a Google Map with the route.

View Larger Map

As you will see from the directions on the map (click through to the full-page view) the ride looks like it will take around 6.5 hours. We may change it a bit and spend more time at the beach to break up the trip. A lot will depend on the temperatures and weather on the day. At this time of year the forecasts are for around 25 degrees during the day. The current forecast is showing about 20% chance of rain on Saturday. Here's hoping they are incorrect.

Lightning and Chinese Food

"Lightning", because I am in the midst of a thunder and lightning storm. All of a sudden, with no rain and no warning, it has started flashing and crashing (see the rhymes?). I have been watching Star Trek DS9, so it's interesting to see flashes on the screen and hear the thunder from outside the window.

Chinese Food, because last night we took Uncle Lloyd and Auntie Gwen to a chinese restaurant here in HK. They have stopped over on their way to Israel and Turkey. In actual fact, at the minute that I write this they should be on board their flight (it departs at 11:15pm). We were served 1000-year eggs as an appetiser. Uncle Lloyd and I ate them (he ate two), and wouldn't you know it, they taste like chicken (doesn't everything?). I mean, they tasted like eggs. However, they do not look anything like a normal hard-boiled egg. So kudos on trying this - to the MEN at the table, at least. If you are wondering what they look like, check out the entry on Wikipedia. The picture on the right is exactly what we were served, along with a bit of pickled ginger. The rest of the meal was reasonably tame: half a roast goose, sliced beef with ginger, shredded (more like chopped finely) pork with chilli, sweetcorn soup, and vegetables with mushrooms. And as usual, lashings (!) of Jasmine tea...

Back in HK

Well I have recovered from the trip back to HK. In actual fact it was much easier than the flight to NZ. I think that the 10 hour trip down, leaving at 6pm as it does, is harder because you get on board not feeling in the slightest like sleeping. They serve you dinner, then you are supposed to try and sleep in their uncomfortable seats. But by that stage you are probably four hours into the flight anyway. And then breakfast comes along a couple of hours before you land. So there is not much sleep going on there...

On the way back up, you take off at 11:15 at night. In my case, we were delayed by around 30 minutes due to an electronics problem, and then they needed to check why 7 out of 10 toilets were not working. The technicians apparently assured the captain that they would work once we got to cruising altitude, and he bravely decided to take off. I say "Bravely" because have you thought what an 11 hour flight would be like for a couple of hundred people trying to use 3 loos? Not pretty!

Anyway, HK is hot and sticky. 30 degrees in the apartment at 9am this morning. It has been raining fairly heavily on and off through the afternoon. But better than freezing my toes off in Waimauku... I cannot believe how cold it was - we hit a really cold spot, with temperatures below freezing overnight on 3 or 4 nights running. Heavy frosts and standing water had a covering of ice. Some of the days were very clear and blue, which is a nice change from HK's smoggy pollution.

Aunty/Uncle are visiting from Nelson on the weekend - arriving Friday morning (same flight as I did), and leaving for Europe on Sunday night. It will be good to see them. I cannot remember when we were last in the same place. Certainly a long time ago.

One last thing - Jordan's blog link is updated.