Hong Kong with Luke and Cath

Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of The People's Republic of China

We left Melbourne on Monday the 23rd of Jan at 11.50pm for Hong Kong. We had a bit of a hiccup getting through customs (our carry on was about 5 kgs over weight each) and we had to squat in the arrivals hall and repack - we each wore several layers of clothing and Michael successfully put my hair straightener and drier down his pants and we waddled through.

The flight (qantas) to HK was great, I was asleep within 10 mins of takeoff and only woke when Michael woke me for breakfast. When we landed, my handsome cousin Luke was kind enough to come and meet us, and take us back to his apartment on Lan Tau Island.

Luke has been living in HK for just less than a year for work, and fortunately for all of us, as it was Chinese New Year he was off work and free to play with us. His girlfriend Cath was also over, so we had a blast.

Hong Kong is an insane city. It is one of two "special administrative regions" of One China, the other being Macau, which means that it has its own laws and parliament, but must follow China on matters of Defence. Oh, and China can change any of its rules at any time, and you know, nationalise all the banks and seize all property.

Most of HK was won by the British during the Opium wars in the 1800s (literally because the Brits wanted Chinese Opium and the Chinese wouldn't sell it to them). The British then leased Kowloon for 99 years. It was occupied by Japan during WW2 and then handed back to the British at the end of the war.

1997 was the end of the lease of HK, and Maggie Thatcher decided that it made no sense to hand back half of HK (China wouldn't give it up) so she agreed to hand back all of HK to the Chinese on the condition that their laws would remain relatively democratic for 50 years.

History aside, HK is mad. It is the most densly populated area in the world with 7m people in just 1000km2. To put this in perspective, we caught the train from the southern most point of HK (roughly) up to the China border, and it took 45 mins.

Everyone lives in high rise buildings, reminiscent of Melbourne's commission flats, only much much taller. Walking the streets is like catching the train home from flemmington 20 mins after the last race on cup day.

We were fortunate to be there for Chinese New Year, and followed Luke and Cath to the Peninsula Hotel to watch the fireworks over the bay. When we left, it was so crowded that the police shut down tube stations as they were worried about the size of the crowd and people getting crushed.

The Peninsula Hotel, a nod to colonialism

Another highlight was Victoria Peak, which has spectacular views of all of HK. Apparently the day to go is Sunday, when all the Chinese factories shut down and so there isn't a fog of pollution over the bay. 3000 people die from air pollution in HK each year.

And of course, no post on HK could be complete without a comment on the food. We had some sensational food while we were there, with lots of dumplings. We found a place in Mong Kok (old HK) where we ate a reasonable amount of dim sum that cost $9 AUD .. for 4 people.

Mong Kok - a far cry from the Chanel clad gucci bag carrying stereotype of HK

We also caught up with Justin, a friend of mine from Melbourne who is living over in HK. He saw 37 apartments to rent before settling on his one in central, which is 400 sq foot, has no oven, he has to stand on his bed to close his bedroom door, and it costs more than $1K a week AUD. Apparently HK has the most expensive real estate market in the world.

On our last day, and instead of going to Happy Valley Races, Cath, Michael and I went to Shenzhen - just across the border into China, and a mecca for shopping. You step out of customs after about a 45min train ride and end up in a shopping centre full to the brim of every type of designer anything you could ever want. We shopped for an entire day! Even Michael got into it.

Shenzhen shopping centre.

A big thanks to Luke and Cath for having us, we had such a great time, and were so glad to get over there while you guys were still there.

Back in London: our new home

We arrived back in London post-Paris on Monday 6th of Feb via Eurostar. We stayed a night in Canary Wharf with one of 2 London friends, the lovely Georgina, and picked up our keys the next day for our serviced apartment in Earls Court.

Earls Court is west of the cbd, and is where all the aussies hang out (we discovered pretty quickly). Our apartment is great, but is roughly the size of a bathroom. It is approx half the size of our old port melbourne apartment, and to get ready in the mornings I have to dress in the lounge room as the bathroom and bedroom are too small.

We immediately went apartment hunting - and had a very rude awakening as to the state of the London rental market. For each apartment that is available in London, there are 10 people on the waiting list ready to take it the moment it comes on the market place.

We started by exploring the different areas - originally we thought we would like the Chelsea area (as I am clearly a modern day Princess Diana or Margaret Thatcher, famous Chelsea residents). One walk down Kings Road Chelsea put that idea to rest - too many yummy mummies botoxed to the eyeballs and not nearly enough nightlife. Similar to Brighton really.

We really liked Notting Hill Gate and Angel (on suggestions from ex Londonner Tara), but Angel won hands down once I discovered that catching the tube to work in peak hour is ... an exercise in making friends (and enemies), to say the least. A 20 min ride in non peak hour is approximately 45 mins in peak hour, standing and sweating through your many jackets and thermals with hundreds of other people. 650,000 people catch the red line train (below) every single day. Madness.

Angel is 2 stops on the tube, or 1.8miles walk to work. It has tonnes of pubs, and so far everyone we have gone out with has suggested Angel as the meeting point. Its similar ish to Prahran (some nice spots with some dodgy spots, and is insanely priced). It is slightly north east on the map below.

We spoke to no less than a dozen real estate agents, and none of them except for 1 had anything on their books even available to show us. The 3 places we did get shown were... unlivable unless you are a uni student. One didnt have a shower (only a bath), one had only a single bed that touched all the walls of the bedroom (M would have to sleep on the couch) and the other was in a council flat (commission flat).

In the end we paid a real estate agent 400 pounds to show us 3 places before they became available on the open market, and we got a flat that was up for about 3 hours. Its great, nice and large (relatively speaking) with a shower and lots of room for international visitors.

I will post photos when we move in !

xx

Paris in the winter

We arrived in London on Friday afternoon, after 4 days in HK and headed for Paris almost immediately 2 days later. We caught the Eurostar, which was a terrific idea, as I don't think I could have gotten Michael back on a plane for love or money after the HK - London flight.

Paris is, with no hyperbole, is a spectacular city. Yes, it is full of the French, yes it is dirty, yes it is insanely expensive, but you don't even notice that when you look around. It is gorgeous.

So, to begin: we stayed in a gorgeous apartment in St Germain, on the left bank, which is full to the brim of restaurants, cafes, boullangeries and patisseries. The day we arrived, it was 0 degrees, and we were absolutely freezing, too freezing in fact to turn off the heater that the real estate agent had put on before handing over the keys - for fear that we wouldn't be able to figure out how to turn in back on again.

Our French apartment

Head to toe in thermals, with our scarves, gloves and doona jackets, we decided that if the French can brave the weather, so too can we. We had our Aussie reputations to protect. We immediately put on our walking shoes and hit the streets. We promptly froze, and dashed into the nearest cafe to defrost and figure out a new plan of attack.

On day 1: we walked around St Germain and tried to get over our jetlag. The streets are simply gorgeous - without seeing any monuments or museums, we were in love.

A Parisian bridge

Michael, in his NOBS jacket (his only jacket) without a beanie, scarf or gloves, playing spot the tourist.

Michael gave me the pep talk of all pep talks, and convinced me to go up the Eiffel Tower at dusk in -4 degree weather. The Tower was built by Gustav Eiffel to commemorate the 100 year anniversary of the French Revolution. You can see around 60kms in all directions and while we were up there, the light show started. For some unknown reason we decided to wait in the line to catch the lift up, it would have been much faster and warmer to take the stairs.

The Notre Dame, French for Our Lady of Paris, was built in 1163. It is a Catholic cathedral, and is the 'home' of the archbishop of Paris. It was where Mary Queen of Scots married the dauphin of France, where Napoleon was coronated and where Joan of Arc was canonised.  It has 5 bells, each of which has its own name and a massive massive organ with 7,800 pipes.

I typically love churches on the outside, and can't help but wonder how many peasants died of starvation while the catholic church was covering their Jesus statues in gold. Michael on the other hand, being the mad catholic that he is, loves them.

Interestingly during the French Revolution, the peasants seized the Notre Dame, and turned it into a Church of the "Cult of Reason", an atheist belief system that they hoped would replace Christianity. Vive le Revolution.

Photos are banned on the inside, however everyone was doing it, so I sneakily took this photo of the glass windows while Michael wasn't looking. I couldn't risk another talking to on respect and religion etc.

Of course no visit to Paris is complete without a visit to the Louvre, the most visited museum in the world. I was a bit more of a fan of the outside than the inside (which had a million people in it). Here's me freezing outside. If you look closely you can also see my walking shoes, which the French took a particular dislike to (see below).

Our friend Andrew, a Melbournian living in Paris, offered to give us his personal tour of the Louve - he has done over a dozen of these for his international tourists, and it was great. 

Favourites were the Winged Victory, from the 2nd BC, discovered in the 1800s (below), the Venus de Milo, the Greek goddess of love and beauty, and the statues in the ancient Greek wing.

It was awesome seeing Andrew, who kindly took us to dinner a few nights to some delightful French restaurants, and introduced us to his French, and Frozzie friends. He also introduced me to mulled wine, and a crazy potato cheese mash that was delicious.

A quick run past the Arc de Triomphe before hitting the shops (big time). In Paris the sales are heavily regulated by the government, and shops are only allowed to go on sale twice a year. I was fortunate to arrive at the end of the Feb sales, so everything was up to 70% off. I went mad. I like to think its because it was the only warm thing to do, but honestly, I would have shopped myself silly anyway. Michael nearly killed me when we couldn't fit our stuff into our bags (which he had to carry on and off the Eurostar).

Joan of Arc

Sacre Coeur, the Basillica of the Sacred Heart, at Montmarte. The view is spectacular climbing the hill up to it (and sitting in a cafe eating crepes at the bottom of it, as we did), and at the top, looking out over Paris.

The carosel at the base of the Sacre Coeur

And then, it snowed. It was the first time I had ever seen snow, and it was magical. We woke up in the morning and the world was blanketed in it. We decided to wander around Paris and just enjoy it, and we walked back past the Louvre again, and found some crazy tourists playing on the frozen pond outside.

Cars were blanketed in it, and Parisians and written little love notes and messages to each other on windscreens.

Speaking of Parisians, the French really are a unique group, aren't they? Without generalising them, our take was that they were all extremely good looking, smoked like chimneys and had little rat-like dogs (and didn't clean up after them - Ill forever remember Michael yelling "land mine!!" at me every 10 seconds as we walked the streets). They also expect excellent quality food and wine and are quite prepared to pay excessive amounts for it.

Oh, and they all (women and men) absolutely hated my shoes. I cannot tell you the number of Parisians who stopped in the street and looked horrified, at my shoes and then at me in obvious confusion. Apparently my timberlands, comfy and waterproof, were the height of .... ugliness for Parisians.



The Goodbye Tour: BBQ at Max and Col's

Max and Colette kindly hosted a BBQ for us the day before we left so that people could pop past and say a final (final!) goodbye.

Time constraints meant however that this was the day after Christina's wedding, so I was feeling a little under the weather after spending the night impressing the entire Greek community with my dancing skills.

Thanks to everyone who came, I was so glad to have a chance to say goodbye to all the little munchkins. I got a little teary when I realised that the next time I see George, Christy's 2 week old baby, he will be walking and talking.

Me & Georgie Boy & Christy

Note that I am wearing my new Aussie necklace, a present from Booba. It has a little diamond over Melbourne... a not-so-subtle reminder that our return will be to Melbourne and not Sydney?

Booba & the boys (and girls!)

Me do the juggling act with the twins - I envy Maggie getting to do this everyday!

A big thanks to the Bells, Curtins and Barkers for cooking up a storm for us - it was greatly appreciated!

Goodbye to Christina: Christina and Harry's wedding

Once the Brits finally capitulated and gave us visas, we booked our flights from Melbourne to London, with a few days stop over in HK to see Luke and Cath.

First however, we had Christina and Harry's wedding!!

The wedding was preceded by a series of events: the Hens' night, the Kitchen Tea, the Kravati (bed making ceremony), the morning of the wedding, the wedding, the BBQ the day after the wedding.

The highlight for me was the Kravati 2 days before the wedding. Basically all of Christina's extended family arrive at the bride's parents' house, and waited for the groom's family to come and 'collect' Christina.

There were about a hundred of us on Christina's "side" and when Harry's family arrived, the bartered with Christina's dad over how much she was worth in terms of dollars and dowry (sheets and pillows etc). If Harry's family feel that they are being ripped off, they are then allowed to ransack the bride's house and take anything of value, as long as no one in Christina's family sees them do it (in which case they need to put it back).  Harry's family was able to take: all the solar lights in the front garden and Christina's dad's license plates. I'm glad I wasn't around when he realised they were gone the next day.

While this is all going ahead, Harry was lurking in the bushes out the front of the house. If anyone in the bride's family spots the groom, they are allowed to pelt him with eggs and flour (symbolism of this: unknown). Hence Harry was wearing a woman's wig.

The entire family then picked up all the food and dowry items, and along with the live band we walked down the street to the newlywed's house where Harry was waiting out the front. We stopped traffic, and quite a few locals came out onto the street to see what the crazy Greeks were doing this time. Harry is then required to pay Christina's family for taking Christina, however Harry refused to provide more than $5 to this, which enraged basically everyone. So a picket like environment was set up, and about 100 people all sat on the ground and refused to cross the threshold until Harry recognised the true value of Christina. A grandma was yelled at for crossing the picket line to dash to the bathroom. Hilarious.

When Harry finally coughed up $20, we were all let in the house, were we ate and danced ourselves stupid. I was particularly keen on practising my dancing, much to Michael's delight, as I was due to lead the bridal party in Greek dancing at the wedding, in front of the 400 or so guests. Talk about incentive.

The night was fantastic, and 2 days later, we had the wedding.

The lovely bride, Christina, walking into the Church with her mum and dad.

Me with my lovely nana, who came all the way with my Aunty to watch me perform my bridesmaid's duties. I think she was slightly confused as to what was going on.. particularly because the entire service was in ancient greek, but she hung in there like a trooper.

The bride and her maid of honour. Photo 1 of about 1,000,000.

Harry and I at the end of the night. Harry had just finished delighting the crowd with some serious Michael Jackson inspired dancing.

All in all a great night! Even Michael got into the Greek dancing, the food was fantastic, the people gorgeous and only over the top to the extent that it was fantastic fun.

A big conrgats to Mr and Mrs Xantho!

The Goodbye Tour: goodbye Lizzie and Byron

Before we could even think about leaving, we of course had to say goodbye to the lovely Lizzie and Byron.

To begin with, Lizzie came all the way to Melbourne to say goodbye to us. Then we went to Byron to say goodbye to her...

How long before I'll see this view again? My favourite from the Byron Lighthouse walk.

Michael and Lizzie, on the lighthouse walk. I think she'll miss him more than she'll miss me!

I'm pretty sure that when she sees that I've put a photo up of her, she'll fly all the way to London just to yell at me. Sorry Lizzie, I couldn't help myself!

Seriously though, thank you for all the goodbyes Lizzie, I am missing you already. I am counting on Ian to force you onto a plane over here sometime soon.

The Goodbye Tour: Goodbye Drinks at Hotel Nest

Thanks to everyone that came to say goodbye to us (part 1) at Hotel Nest way back in October, when we thought we were leaving (and resigned our jobs and gave notice to vacate our apartment).

Hotel Nest in Albert Park

Me with the lovely ex- Londoner, Tara. Why we decided to live in London at different times, I'll never know!

Could there be any more muscles in this photo? Booba saying goodbye to the NOBS boys. An honourable mention to The Silver Fox, who has just had a baby boy, Magnus!

Me after quite a few drinks, and Christina just before her wedding. I think I'm choking her a little..

Booba and his boys - so happy to be together!

It is lucky that we left Oz, as we had a rude awakening at Eve after Hotel Nest, when we realised that we were, oh, 10 years older than everyone else. Everyone that is, except for Jo and Norm who cut up the dance floor and showed those 18 year olds a thing or two. I really wish I could post a photo of that part of the night, but I'm trying to keep this blog PG rated.

Moving to London: where it all began

London: the cultural and financial capital of the world, and our new home!

So to set the record straight, I was convinced that London was for us a long time ago. I was keen to finish studying and then get out and explore the world, and get a job that would really challenge me.

Post exams, I suddenly had all this time on my hands, and no hobbies whatsoever. I found myself staying later and later at work, and getting frustrated when I came home and did the same routine every night: gym and tv. Not really living the dream.

Michael on the other hand, took a little convincing... initially he was dead against it, but came around when he gave up footy and suddenly had a lot more time on his hands.

We decided to go when Michael's commitments to coaching footy ended, in September 2011. I lined up an exciting job (and a visa!) and we were off... or so we thought. A series of delays later, and we finally left on the 22nd of Feb 2012.

But first we had to say (a long) goodbye to Oz!