Time for an update

It's been a little quiet the past couple of weeks. Well, I think it has since I can't remember doing much apart from school, church and going out. Today I've been sent home from school because I have a cold so I have had about 6 hours sleep but could sleep for another 6 probably. I had to go to the doctors, which was mission- the Butterfly Estate where the surgery is is HUGE. I kept having to ask people which building it was. And, for the first time, found everyone really unhelpful and sometimes plain rude. I'd ask "Can you help me?" and people would just carry on walking. Even though I had the address in chinese! I would have asked a youngish person but since it was school time there were none. I eventually found it by asking the Philippino helpers and following vague chinese directions. I've been given about 3 different pills to take, and some ointment because I have an infected toenail. The Dr told me that if the infection keeps reocurring I'll need an operation :( .

Last week I saw Joel for the first time since he got back to Hong Kong. He had his university interview while he was back and he's now found out that he's got in to Christchurch to do primary education (or something like that). Go Joel! I cooked him dinner on Friday night which was fun. Normally I'll get him to do a stirfry or we'll grab a mcdonalds or pizza. I think he enjoyed it...but he could just have felt bad because it was so awful haha. I enjoyed it anyhow.

This weekend we stayed in a hostel again. It is so much easier having somewhere to dump our bags and not have to worry about the bus journey back. We checked in after our bible study session, had a nap and then Jo went to the Vine CD recording and I went for a meal with Ms Man, Ms Wendy and Ms Pat. We ate at Tutto Bennet, a small chinese restaurant in Kowloon.The food was OK, pretty expensive compared to where I'd normally eat. I could only eat a few bites of my cannelloni though because everytime I brought food to my mouth it made me feel really sick. I enjoyed some of the desert platter though- creme brulee and tiramisu, and plenty of icecream! After that we went and had coffee in Starbucks. While we were there Ms Wendy's daughter kept phoning to check up on her. Every 15 minutes she's be ringing, and in the end Ms Wendy was like "What do you want! Go to bed!" So, so funny!

After the meal I went and met Eric and about 20 of his friends from America. Was so cool! We all headed to the bars at Lan Kwai Fong. We spent most the evening in Fong Underground, but we managed to get into the Ice Bar too. I thought from what other people have said, that the Ice bar would have all been really cold, not just one tiny little box room. Was very disappointed! We went back to Fong and danced the night away until about 4.30 when the DJ went home. We had breakfast at the Flying Pan- a small cafe that does really cheap fried breakfasts. I had my first full english and it was soooo good! Bacon I LOVE bacon! And fried egg mmmmm...No fried bread though, but we got mushrooms and baked beans and tomatoes. It only came to $85 (that's about £5.30), so not bad! After breakfast we headed to Mcdonalds until the MTR opened. I had such a fun night! The people we were with were on this university trip where they spend about a month in all these countries doing different classes in each. They'd been to Switzerland, Greece, India, Thailand, HK, and they were heading to China and South Korea next. I wish our uni's would do something like that, it sounds amazing!

Yesterday, after catching up on some sleep, we went to Chungking Mansion and bought a saree ready for the Bollywood party next week. Mine is a rich red and gold and Jo's is a really pretty blue with mirrors and a peacock theme to it. We're so excited about the party now! There's going to be a live band and good food, and pretty much most of 180 will be there!

Oh yeah, just to remind Dad mostly (ha ha), it's my birthday on Friday! Woop! I'll be 19! I can't afford to celebrate how I want to but I'll be going for a meal somewhere with some of the gappers. I hope I feel better by then, I hate being ill on my birthday. So "san yat fai lop" to me!

What I Did Today (In Brief)

• Took train with Joel at 11am to Mong Kok
• Had hot-choc and shepherds pie in Starbucks
• Browsed the market
• Bought tons of gifts
• Went to Langham Place shopping mall.
• Bought Jo's birthday present.
• Went to cinema.
• Saw awful film (Shoot 'Em Up)
• Went to Festival Walk shopping mall in Kowloon Tong
• Got train to Central
• Went to 180 at The Vine
• Had beef stew
• Got bus home

Ouch pt.2

It's not broken, just badly sprained. So much for hearing the bone crack, Joel :p He's going to collect crutches and more painkillers tomorrow.

Ouch

Joel has broken his ankle playing basketball. He's off to hospital now :(

Busy Busy

Wow what a weekend! We started the weekend off with a trip to the Ballet with Jules and Joel. We saw Cinderella which was good even if they did drag out the whole ballroom scene- everyone danced together, then the Ugly Sisters did a dance, then the Prince did a dance, then Cinderella alone, then Cinderella and the Prince danced together, then everyone together again...Just get on with it! The characters were great-the Ugly Sisters were really funny, and the little squirrels were so cute. I don't need to say they were all great at Ballet and it was a really good show.

Saturday was our trip to the Peak. We took a taxi from somewhere in the Mid-Levels to the Tram station (we were going to walk but it was baking hot and we got lost). It only cost $48 return (£3) and it included going upto the Sky Terrace where we got really great views. Also up the Peak is a Madam Tussaud's- we didn't go in because we wouldn't have known many of the "famous" waxworks. We had lunch in Bubba Gump's Shrimp Restaurant which was very, very yummy and quite reasonably priced too. We walked around all the souvenir shops and then caught the tram back down. The tram ride is a bit of an experience in itself especially on the way up! It goes up at a ridiculously steep angle but it's the stopping that really unnerves me. Going down wasn't too bad since the seats faced backwards and it didn't stop at all. When we got to the bottom about 5:3pm people were queuing round the block to go up!

Sunday was church day. We went to the 11:30am service and listened to a guy called David Wang do the talk. He worked for an organization called Asian Outreach which is Christian ministry in China. He's such a funny guy and he's got some great stories to tell. He co-wrote a book called Still Red about 3 persecuted Christians in China which me and Jo bought together. I not long ago finished Chasing The Dragon and I think Jo is half-way through reading it. Anyway, after the service we went along to a meal for newcomers with cell group leader Vinny, his wife and daughter and a couple of other regulars. Had a really nice time! We're going to try their cell group out on Thursday. After lunch Jo headed to H&M and I found my way to Mong Kok to meet Joel and Jules. I can't believe I did it by myself haha- I didn't pay attention to where we were walking on the way up so didn't think I'd be able to find my way back to the MTR station. Somehow I managed it :) I met J&J in a shopping Mall and we did a bit of shopping. There was some famous chinese singer up on the top level and the place was packed. It was a nightmare trying to get in and out the shops. After Mong Kok we went to a nice Thai place back in Yuen Long. Only cost us $60 for a good decent sized meal! We finished the night at New York's where I had the best Sex On The Beach I've ever had! The cocktail I mean :p The owner is really nice and used to have last year's gap group go too I think. They do really good food too but I haven't tried it yet.

Today was National Day...another bank holiday yay! We decided to go to Lamma Island and try the beaches there. Lamma is about half an hour away from Central and I think it is one of the biggest outlying islands. I could be wrong about that though! The ferry trip is very bumpy. I wouldn't recommend it if you get seasick however there is no other way of getting there. We landed in Sok Kwo Wan and had a meal on the pier there. Then we walked over to Lo So Shing beach. It's only small but it's got nice sand and the sea is clean. We took our swimsuits and had a swim in the lovely warm sea! We didn't spend too long on the beach though because it started to rain and we had to save our stuff. There were fireworks this evening in Central somewhere for National Day and they're meant to be really spectacular but it was half 6 when we got off the ferry (journey back was even worse than the one there) and they didn't start till 8ish so we went home. We've got school tomorrow so it wouldn't be a good idea to stay out late.

Speaking of school tomorrow- my lesson is meant to be about National Day and I have no idea what to do! Argh. 25 mins and all I've got is "I am English, you are Chinese- what are you? Chiiineeese!" Ohh I'll do the "Pizza Hut" song with them again, just so they don't forget it! I tried doing "Do your ears hang low..." with them but it didn't go down to well. I'll try again later in the year.

Bed time for me now methinks!

Update

Wow this week is going so fast! On Friday me, Jo, Joel, Jules and Ben went for a curry and then decided to check out the Karaoke place. You get shown to a room to with a TV and microphones and then you're left to it. Was a right laugh! On Saturday we dragged ourselves off the sofa and went to the Gold Coast- the proper beach in Tuen Mun. It's only small but there is white sand and the sea is really clean. There's also a 5 star hotel and some nice restaurants. Me and Jo went to a small Italian one for dinner.

In the evening Jo went to 180 (young adults worship at the Vine) and I stayed home. Because it was the Mid-Autumn festival this week they put on some shows in the courtyard. I only saw a clown and then the raffle being drawn before heading back upstairs. On Sunday we had to go to St Peter's Church, the church we work for, for the morning service. It was nice except for the fact it was all in Cantonese and the speaker went on for aagges! We met the Revd. Kwok for the first time and he's going to phone us soon and let us know what we have to do there. In the evening me and Jo went to the Vine with Joel. Afterwards me and Joel grabbed some noodles in a small restaurant before heading home.

Monday was interesting. There was no typhoon so I still had to go in! It was really windy and rainy though. I had to do lessons on the Mid-Autumn Festival so I blagged my way through that. I don't really get the whole thing, I think it's something to do with harvest and the moon being really big in the sky?! I tried teaching the kids the "Pizza Hut" song because I'm so sick of "Heads and Shoulders"...I reckon they'll get it after a few more goes. I had Monday afternoon off school so I could head down to Yuen Long and sort out my HK ID card. I got lost trying to find the place and it decided to rain torrentially too so I was very late and very wet when I eventually got there. When I got back home we watched Memoirs of a Geisha- a brilliant film! We've got the book somewhere around so once I've finished my others I'll give it a go.

Yesterday was the official evening of the Mid-Autumn Festival so we had the day off school. We had a lazy day in and finished watching Heroes Series 1- just in time for the start of the 2nd series! In the evening we met Joel, Jules, Dan and Ben at Ferry Pier and watched everyone on the beach- it was absolutely packed!

The lights on the beach are hundreds of candles lit in the sand. It was an amazing sight! We stayed for a bit then took the guys back to ours to play poker and blackjack and had a few drinks.

So that was our week. Today is another lazy day but on Friday we're going to the Cinderella ballet and on Saturday we're going to do the Peak. Busy busy!