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.

Science Museum Trip

Yesterday I joined the K2's on a trip to the Hong Kong Science Museum in Tsim Sha Tsui. It's really not a bad museum at all! There are a lot of hands-on exhibitions and lots of different displays. At first when we arrived I just had to herd the kids around the electronics sections. I think they were a little young to understand anything but they got to try the exhibits.

We then met one of the staff from the museum and he gave the kids a talk about something or other... Was very boring for me. After a while I wandered off and amused myself trying out some of the other hands on stuff. Realised I do quite like science museums, I should find myself a kid so I can go again hehe.

After the boring talks the children got to play again- this time with bigger exhibits like bubble makers, a train wheel game, and a tip-toe game. Some more of the pictures are on flickr.

Primary School Trip

The other Monday (23rd) all the K2's got loaded onto a bus and taken to the Taoist Primary School for an open day kinda thing, so they can see what Primary School will be like. It wasn't particularly very interesting for me since everything was in cantonese and I never get told what's going on...

The K2's were first herded into a classroom with their parents, and the headteacher talked to them for aaaages. Then they got to walk around the corridors just as the other children were coming out for break. Such a bad idea- the big primary kids were just knocking over my poor tiny K2's! They looked so scared! After that they were taken to the IT room and got to have a go on the computers. Here's Hei Hei:

To finish off the day there were some musical performances by the primary children. One group played the handbells (very nice but a bit boring for Kindergarten kids) and then the other group sang the "Hey Mr Postman" song hehe.

Can you see that picture of Confuscious or whoever it is? It's so scary!

I have another trip today, this time to the science museum in Tsim Sha Tsui. This sounds a bit more interesting but no doubt we'll have to rush through everything so we can be back in time for lunch.

Oops!

Haven't written in ages! Everything is great here. Been doing a lot of salsa (4 times in 7 days! And I bought proper dancing shoes so I can finally dance with worrying about my shoes flying off or hurting after an hour.), did some work at a learning centre (earned half a month's wages in just one weekend), and been packing a box to ship back to England. Seriously can't believe I only have 2 weeks left here. 2 weeks!!! Can't even begin to describe how I feel about leaving.

This week at school I'm going to be giving the kids little parties in their english lessons. For their first lesson (they get 2 a week) they'll be decorating party hats, and then the fun and games will be in the second lesson. I've already done one lesson, with the worst behaved of my classes, and they coloured the hats beautifully! I'll be taking a lot of pictures of the party, and I want to get pictures of the whole class with me too.

Next week I'll be having a lot of farewell things. This Friday will be my last Plus group meeting. Next Thursday I'm having a meal with my colleagues Ms. Man, Ms. Wendy and Ms. Pat, Friday I'll be going out for Joel's birthday with all the gappers, Saturday will be my last salsa class, and Sunday will be my goodbye meal with Jo. Will also be fitting in a meal with Sam hopefully, and a last girls' (girl's?) group meeting too.

Gotta dash but will update again soon!