Bangkok - Saturday 3 September 2016

Woke early. Lots to see today.

Caught Skytrain to Central Pier to catch Express Boat to Grand Palace.

Skytrain...sounds more futuristic than it is...

Got on the wrong boat which only goes back and forth across river. D'oh. Came back to starting point and got on right one up river. Crowded but fun. Pay a small amount onboard to a girl with a tray thing.

The river is a main artery and good way to get around.

Central Pier...

It's warm but not unbearable.

Had a nice breakfast at a local restaurant somewhere up river. Nice pad thai.

Went into Grand Palace. Very busy. Joined a free walking tour which was good. Very impressive temples and statues.

Left after a couple of hours and walked next door to Wat Pho - Temple of the Reclining Buddha. Much less busy. Impressive.

Then caught boat across river to Wat Arun. Had scaffolding on it and couldn't be climbed. Nice to see.

Boat back to Central Pier and Skytrain back to hotel.

Grand Hyatt Erawan lobby...

Had a quick rest then back to Central Pier by Skytrain. Skytrain is good but you need the right change which is a bit annoying as you can only buy tickets at a machine. The have people at the ticket office but all they do is give you change for the machine...

Got a feeling for the scale of the city. Very large and spread out. Doesn't seem to be a city centre per se.

Then caught special Mandarin Oriental water taxi to Mandarin Oriental. Had a nice beer at Verandah Bar. Even at a nice hotel, drinks very reasonably priced.

Mandarin Oriental boat...posh...

Then back on Skytrain to meet some work colleagues for dinner. Had drinks by the pool at their hotel (Sheraton Grande) then dinner at nice outdoor restaurant called Rosabieng.

Back to hotel and crashed.

Erawan Shrine right next to my hotel. It was bombed in 2015 and 20 people died.

Skytrain on tracks above the road...

Traffic...no worse than Sydney...

Bangkok - Friday 2 September 2016

Flew from Hong Kong to Bangkok. First time there. First time on Air Asia which was fine. Landed at DMK Airport which is where the budget airlines fly to. Easy through immigration and got taxi to Grand Hyatt Erawan, which was lovely.

Checked in and got changed. Caught taxi to Banyan Tree Hotel and caught lift to level 59 to the Vertigo and Moon Bar. Walked up a few more flights onto the rooftop terrace. 

Wow. Amazing views. Beautiful night. Was about midnight and not too busy. Had a couple of beers and soaked up the atmosphere.

Taxi back to hotel about 1am.

Sydney - August 2016

Enjoyed 5 days in Sydney this week. Eliza's last weekend before her exchange in Merrimack New Hampshire. Did some painting and chores, watched Eliza's soccer gala day and had some nice meals.

On the plane I watched Mother's Day (pretty average), Money Monster (good) and The Avengers Civil War (good).

Long Reef Beach from Dee Why pool...

Painting the woodwork...

Mowed the lawn...

Washed Alex's car...

Went for a drive to the beach with Alex and Eliza...this is Curl Curl beach from North Curl Curl...

Alex and I at Long Reef Headland with a full moon...

Hong Kong - August 2016

Another week gone.

Highlight was finding a new coffee place - Peel Street Espresso - which has the best coffee I've had, and the cheapest ! That never happens !!

Had my first typhoon (tropical storm). Signal hoisted got to T8 which means you can't leave the building. As it was raised overnight, I wasn't able to go to work until they took T8 down which was about lunchtime. Pity. If it's still up at 2pm we don't have to go in.

Frankly it was milder than a Sydney storm. I think they take such precautions as a lot of stuff can fly off buildings and hurt people.

Went to South Bay again on Saturday and stayed for sunset. 

Sunday was a lazy day...sleep in, coffee, gym, drink, dinner, bed.

I brought my favourite beer glasses from home last trip...so I can now buy beer in cans...

Chicken and okra stir fry...

I had a tour of Hong Kong University which is quite close and really nice...

 

My new gym Physical is nice ( the last one went broke and I lost my money - I had prepaid for 2 years)...

Workstations...

I stumbled across this park one lunchtime...Cheung Kong Park at Admiralty...

There was a beer festival...this is in Repulse Bay...

Trying out the Peak Cafe on the escalator...a little bit of Australia...

Explored a couple of new beaches. Tong Fuk and Cheung Cha. A bit of a hike to get to by public transport. Ferry and bus. Quite nice. Very quiet. I still prefer South Bay.

Upper Cheng Cha beach on Lantau Island. Ferry from Central to Mui Wo (30 mins) then bus (20 mins)...

View of the escalator as I go home...

Love the contrast...I love the building in the foreground...Supreme Court...and that's IFC behind...

Felt like going out on Friday night so caught tram to Wan Chai and had Thai for dinner. Then to a bar I know that has live music. Only stayed for one beer then went home.

Tried a new coffee place on Saturday (Motu Kiwi). Really liked Motu Kiwi run by a guy half kiwi and half Samoan I think. Met some friendly kiwis. It's easy to talk to strangers here as so many people are in the same boat ie away from home.

Next day I had a coffee at Cozy Bean...

Weird...

Went to Wan Chai for a haircut and to buy some rice. Went to the market and bought prawns for dinner. $48 for a pound which is about half a kg. I don't know why they use imperial as everything else is metric. I'm losing track of what's cheap and what's expensive but I think that's okay.

Seafood at Wan Chai indoor market...

Had to take a photo of this supermarket so I will find it again...sells good stuff...

Sunday it was a bit cooler so I walked up to The Peak, did the Lugard Road circuit and walked back home. 10km and very hard on the legs. 

Did some food shopping mall, went to gym, tried a new bar (Libertine).

My Cantonese tutor recommended a ramen place in Sheung Wan...Kuma Ramen...great...

This is the A&F flagship store in the Pedder Building...