Bye bye purse

My purse got nicked last Saturday. While I was immersed in Q&A (the fantastic book Slumdog Millionaire was based on) and enjoying my cuppa, someone must have lifted it out of my bag. In a quiet Coffee Republic on Queensway. Bastards. The costs of replacing everything are bad the enough, but my, the hassle. My Dutch driver's license seems to have to be replaced by a UK one now. I called the Mets who took my statement and promised the 'investigating officer' (sounds very The Bill) would call me back this week. Which of course he hasn't. I am waiting for a new Amex and new debit card - living off borrowed money in the meantime. The easy thing was to replace all my company cards. Waterstones, Tesco, the hairdresser, the gym, all easy. And fast. And with friendly emails. Waterstones sent me a mail saying the were sorry to hear my purse had been misplaced. Misplaced? Stolen!! Bloody english understatement. Anyway. I hope this is a once in a lifetime experience. And next time I will be reading a great book in a coffee shop, I will make sure it'll be one of the type where everyone is too stoned to even consider nicking my stuff.

Vouchers

Before I moved here, I thought Americans had a voucher-loving-monopoly. Boy, was I wrong. Vouchers for resto's, for books, for sports clothes, for cinema, for god knows what. Boots and Tesco occasionaly send me vouchers in the mail for discounts on bread, magazines, hair straighteners and what have you. I tend to put them in my wallet, only to throw them out two months after expiry date. Vouchers are clearly not in my system. Signing up for the newsletter of a nearby spa entitled me to a £10 facial. Using a bloody voucher. So the thing is in my bag now, and knowing myself, I will probably show up at the spa on the day of the appointment with another handbag and no voucher. Luckily some of my colleagues and friends are more voucher-clever. So my lunch with a colleague at Dim-T on Wednesday turned out to be cheap, and dinner with Zoe soon will be at a voucher-resto as well. Credit crunch dining and shopping.

Food

The english can be quite obsessed by food at times. And they do great 'behind the scenes' shows (a bit like Dutch Keuringsdienst van Waarde I guess). Today I was watching a program at channel 4 about cheap food, mainly meat and poultry. Now years ago I decided I'd rather eat a small piece of proper meat or poultry twice a week than cheap stuff every day. And man, this program was a reminder of why I do that. The amount of junk that you find in cheap meat. Disgusting. Heston Blumental made good use of his cooking skills by injecting water in chicken breast. And hey ho, the chicken breasts looked exactly like the normal supermarket ones. The amount of sausages on the market with hardly any meat, apple pies with less than 10% apple... Thanks but no thanks. I'll just eat less but I'll eat the real stuff. Well, that, or whatever sausages and meat balls Pret uses in their soups. You can't always be a food snob!

Lovely piece of journalism

A black couple travels to DC, 60 years after their honeymoon, when it was still a segregated city.

Hotel heaven

My god. This place is amazing. From the check in experience, to the gorgeous hotel room and the pools by the beach. Three days of deckchair heaven. Everything smells nice, and looks pretty, and is just lovely. All I hear are birds and crickets, and all I see is blue sea, yellow sand, green surroundings and dark brown wooden buildings. I have a few books to get me through the next few days, and that will be all I need. No tours, no sight seeing, just beach, pool, food, cocktails and books. A dog's life.

Last day in Hong Kong

A week has gone by! I have checked in for my flight, and will be out of here in 12 hours. In the past few days, I saw Venus Williams whip Jelena Jankovic' ass in Victoria Park, I admired the world's biggest outdoor bronze buddha, took a cable car on Lantau Island (where the buddha was) and ate at the vegetarian restaurant of the nearby monastry. Lost count of the amount of photos I took, but there are many, many, on my three memory cards. I am now sitting in a western cafe where I have been getting my morning lattes the past days. Two internet terminals here allow me to update my blog, read my mail, and all that. In a few hours, I will check in my luggage at Central Station, so I won't have to do that at the airport anymore. How convenient. Then it's a last long lunch in Soho. Short nite tonite, before flying to Krabi tomorrow morning. From 16 degrees to 30 degrees!!

Hello from Macau

Though my intention was to go to Macau yesterday, showing up at a border without a passport somehow doesn't fly, so managed to bring it along today and board a ferry this morning. An hour and several passport stamps later, I was in Macau.　Ｗｈａｔ　ａｎ　ａｍａｚｉｎｇ　ｍｉｘ　ｏｆ　Ｃｈｉｎｅｓｅ　ａｎｄ　Ｐｏｒｔｕｇｕｅｓｅ．　Ｉ　ｋｅｅｐ　ｇｅｔｔｉｎｇ　ｃｏｎｆｕｓｅｄ　ａｂｏｕｔ　ｗｈｅｒｅ　Ｉ　ａｍ．　Ａｎｄ　ｔｈｉｓ　ＰＣ　ｋｅｅｐｓ　ｇｅｔｔｉｎｇ　ｃｏｎｆｕｓｅｄ　ａｂｏｕｔ　ｆｏｎｔ　ｓｉｚｅｓ．．．　Ｓｏｒｒｙ　ｆｏｒ　ｔｈａｔ　（ａｎｄ　ｆｏｒ　ｔｈｅ　ｔｙｐｏｓ，　Ｉ　ｃａｎ　ｂａｒｅｌｙ　ｒｅａｄ　ｔｈｅ　ｓｃｒｅｅｎ）．　Ｆｅｌｌ　ｉｎ　ｌｏｖｅ　ｗｉｔｈ　ａ　ｒｏｏｍ　ｄｉｖｉｄｅｒ，　ｔｈａｎ　ｗｏｕｌｄ　ｌｏｏｋ　ｆａｂ　ｉｎ　ｍｙ　Ａｍｓｔｅｒｄａｍ　ｐａｄ．　Ｔｈｅ　ｓａｌｅｓ　ｌａｄｙ　ｓａｉｄ　ｉｔ　ｍｉｇｈｔ　ｂｅ　ｇｏｎｅ　ｂｙ　ｔｈｅ　ｔｉｍｅ　Ｉ　ｈａｖｅ　ｒｅｔｕｒｎｅｄ　ｔｈｅｒｅ．　Ｄ’ｏｈ．　Ｈａｖｅｎ’ｔ　ｔｈｅ　ｃｈｉｎｅｓｅ　ｉｎｖｅｎｔｅｄ　ｃｏｐｙｉｎｇ？　Ｓｏ　ｗｉｔｈ　ａ　ｐｉｃ　ａｎｄ　ａ　ｂｕｓｉｎｅｓｓ　ｃａｒｄ　Ｉ　ｌｅｆｔ　ｔｈｅ　ｓｈｏｐ，　ｔｈｉｎｋｉｎｇ　Ｉ　ｍｉｇｈｔ　ａｓｋ　ｔｈｅｍ　ｔｏ　ｒｅｍａｋｅ　ｔｈｅ　ｔｈｉｎｇ　ａｔ　ｓｏｍｅ　ｐｏｉｎｔ．　Ｍｏｓｔ　ｒｅｍａｒｋａｂｌｅ　ｓｔｒｅｅｔ　ｓｏ　ｆａｒ：　ａ　ｌｉｔｔｌｅ　ｏｎｅ　ｏｆｆ　ｔｈｅ　ｍａｉｎ　Ｃａｔｈｅｄｒａｌ　ｗｈｅｒｅ　ｅｖｅｒｙ　ｓｈｏｐ　ｓｅｌｌｓ　ａｌｍｏｎｄ　ｃｏｏｋｉｅｓ　（ｙｕｍ）　ａｎｄ　ｄｒｉｅｄ　ｍｅｅｔ　ｌｅａｆｌｅｔｓ　ｏｆ　ａｌｌ　ｓｏｒｔｓ　ｏｆ　ａｎｉｍａｌｓ　（ｙｕｋ）．　　Ｗｈａｔ　ａ　ｓｔｒａｎｇｅ　ｃｏｍｂｉｎａｔｉｏｎ．　Ｏｆｆ　ｆｏｒ　ｓｏｍｅ　ｐｏｒｔｕｇｕｅｓｅ　ｓｅａｆｏｏｄ　ｓｏｕｐ　ｎｏｗ．　Ｃｉａｏ！

Hong Kong

Day three. What a crazy city. So much to see and do. Went to the Peak on Saturday, from where you have an amazing view of the city, and there is a nice walk around. Loads of expats walking their dogs and loads of joggers. My brekkies so far have been in Soho, a bit like its namesake in London. Once my library internet slot is gone (seriously, I haven't seen a single internet cafe in this place, surely they must exist, but well hidden), will head there again for some nice bread rolls at the Real Bread Cafe.

My hotel is in the west of Hong Kong Island, I am pretty much the only white person around there. Great for seeing proper Hong Kong life, not so great for food. If you're not a bit meat eater like myself, there is very little choice. They just don't do vegetarian and after some very dodgy fatty chicken dishes I have resorted to the golden arches or two minute noodles from the 7-11.

Yesterday was a gorgeous day and I headed off to one of the nearby islands: Lamma. The Schiermonikoog of Hong Kong (as in: no cars and many weekenders). Loads of photograping, 1.5 hour of walking and some well deserved chocolate ice cream at the pier waiting for the next ferry to HK Island.

My nights are spent reading and watching BBC World. Hong Kong doesn't seem to have a great backpacker / solo traveller scene, but I quite enjoy the tranquility of my hotel room at night. And with a view of the harbour from the 12th floor, that is not such a bad place to be.

I am amazed at how expensive Hong Kong is. Camera equipment, clothes, food, it is all so incredibly expensive! Had the pound not taken a nosedive in the last few months it may have been ok, but now....shocking. Only public transport is cheap. Ah well, for eight days it's all right. Just no shopping! That wide angle lense I had my eyes on will have to wait till I am back in London.