Shenzhen, China - June 2025

On Saturday, I decided to go to Shenzhen for a trip. I used to go a lot when I lived here, but hadn't been since covid. I caught the East Rail line from Admiraly and it takes about 40 minutes to get to the border.

It was easy leaving HK but I did get the 3rd degree at Mainland passport control at Lo Wu. I don't need a visa, and went to Mainland twice last year and I didn't know what the issue was. I eventually got through and took a taxi to a massage place I had researched.

I walked through the subway station to get to the taxi rank.

Had a nice massage and then headed to Futian for dinner. Futian is the downtown core...

I then caught a taxi back to a different border crossing, Lok Ma Chau. Cleared passport control quickly and hopped on the train back to Central.

London - June 2025

On Monday I flew from Alicante on British Airways to Gatwick and caught the Thameslink to London Bridge. Very easy and only two stops. Walked to Lovat House near Monument where I have stayed once before. Nice to be back and at least it's warmer than February!

Crossing London Bridge...

Checked into my room at Lovat House which was nice...

Went to get some lunch as I was starving, then walked to Virgin Active Broad Street for a workout. It's a lovely evening...

After gym I went to the pub next door, the Walrus & Carpenter, and had bangers and mash...

Back to the apartment for an early night.

I worked in the office from Tuesday to Friday. We have a subsidised canteen at work so I ate there every day...

The menu changes every day. One day it was sausage roll day which strangely, was served with a chicken wing...

Tuesday night I walked to Brick Lane for an Indian dinner. I walked past my old office and where I used to stay in Spitalfields.

I walked home via the Tower of London as it's one of my favourite sights...

Although it's summer, it is very cold and rainy. However Wednesday morning started out sunny. This is the view of The Shard from my apartment...

Wednesday night we had drinks and canapes at a rooftop bar near the office called Florattica. That's my office on the right hand side ie the shiny blue low-rise one...

Some landmark buildngs...

And you could even see St Paul's...

Thursday night I went to Chinatown for dinner...

And walked home over the Millenuim Bridge past St Paul's...

Walked a different way to the office one morning past here. This building is quite interesting architecturally and is know as the inside-out building. It is called the The Lloyd's building...

On Saturday I went for a long walk to the Tower of London...

Then over Tower Bridge...

Halfway across the bridge...

Looking over to where I had started...

And looking back...

I walked to my favourite cafe, Lantana but couldn't get a seat. So I walked back over London Bridge and then to Hoxton. Had breakfast and then walked to the gym for a swim and steam. Saw this party bike on the way back...

I bumped into an old friend from Hong Kong...

That night I thought I'd go and see a show. It was really good.

Sunday morning I got up and packed and caught the Elizabeth line to Heathrow for my 1220 Cathay flight to Sydney via Hong Kong.

I always dread Heathrow but it was very quick through immigration and security. I went to the Qantas Lounge rather than the Cathay one as I wanted a good flat white. Had the famous squid while I was there...

Boarded!

Nice view leaving London...

The usual...

The food was good. Started with the antipasti...

Then the beef cheek with horseradish dumplings...

It's a 12 hour flight to Hong Kong so I also ate breakfast...

Got to Hong Kong. I was only transiting and in fact to the same plane at the same gate. But I was surprised that to transit, I had to go through immigration and security, although it was quick and I was soon in The Pier First Class Cathay lounge and had a shower. Felt much better after. Was too full to eat so had a coffee and re-boarded for Sydney.

Landed on time and cleared immigration quickly. Home by about 9pm. Long trip.

Alicante, Spain - May/June 2025

Woke up on my last morning in Valencia, and went for breakfast. Walked past this amazing candy store.

Great presentation...

Then I walked the 10 minutes to the station for my train to Alicante at 1320. The train was an hour late and it felt like a long 2.5 hour trip. I think because it was late leaving we had to stop often to let oncoming trains pass. Not sure but it was longer than I expected.

Walked about 20 minutes from the station to my AirBnb in Calle Tarifa, right in the tourist area but in a quiet street. It's really nice. Bigger than the last place. I had booked it for the location and the balcony!

Street view from my balcony...

The living area...

It's late afternoon now so I went for a walk to the local beach. It's really busy. I guess it's a Saturday at the start of Summer...

I found somewhere for dinner and walked back to the apartment. This is the restaurant street near my place...

This is my apartment. Love the colours...

The next morning I headed to a cafe for breakfast that I had found on my Coffee Trip App...

Then I headed up to the castle, the main attraction in Alicante, other than the beaches. A very nice walk through some pretty streets. You can see the castle from this photo so it's a bit of a walk up...

Looking back down...

Looking down to the port...

Looking the other way...

It's Sunday and there's a market and a show...

The views are spectacular...

Now I'm close to the top...

I'm at the highest point now...

Heading back down. This guy had some nice looking snacks and lollies on display...

I then caught the light rail to a nicer beach I had researched, called Playa de San Juan and had lunch at a restaurant on the beach called Casa Domingo...

I had a set menu and the food was great...

Lobster paella...

It's a beautiful day so I went and sat on the beach for a while and had a swim...

Looking back at the restaurant...

I headed back to town and went out for a drink. Skipped dinner as I was so full from lunch.

The next morning I got up and packed, and walked to the bus stop. 

An Uber would have been about EUR30 and the bus was EUR4.50 so I caught the airport bus.

Easy ride to the aiport which was very busy. I checked my cabin bag as I was travelling economy on British Airways, which is a budget airline. The guy checking me in was impressed with my One World status and said he doesn't see many people with that. I had fast track through security and found the generic lounge and had breakfast.

When my flight was called I joined the very long queue for immigration. My Fast Track didn't help me but my Australian passport did for some reason. Most of the foreigners were Brits and I was able to get out of that queue. Easy two hour flight to London.