Time to write about New Zealand!!

As expected the journey over there was rather lame. 12 hours in Seoul isn't an exciting way to spend a day, especially as it was all spent in the airport (it seemed like too much hard work to go out end explore the city!) but at least it is a big airport with free wifi all over. Also the seats aren't too bad for sleeping on - they aren't metal and there are no annoying armrest. If you set yourself up by gate 17 (the gate for flights to someplace in China) it's pretty quiet for a couple of hours, then you get to watch the entertaining sight of Chinese people trying to get onto their plane, then it all goes quiet again for another couple of hours!
Arrived in Auckland and the parents were there to meet me, then we walked round to the domestic terminal for our (separate) flights to Wellington and some western food. Managed to stay awake until the end of the day by indulging in some shopping and then going for dinner a little way away from our hotel.

The next day we went for breakfast at a cafe close to the hotel that did awesome eggs benedict (continuing with the theme of Western food!) then we went up the cable car to the gardens.



We walked back down through all the assorted parts of the gardens. Of course I had to make a daisy chain!



At the bottom we walked past the Beehive to the waterfront and walked along to Te Papa where we spent a couple of hours. It's an awesome museum!

The next day we went across to the South Island on the Interislander. It was a bit of a crappy day to start with but as we got closer to the South Island the sun came out and it was quite pretty sailing through the sounds to get to Picton. Once there we picked up the hire car and then went for some lunch in the town. After lunch we drove to Blenheim but instead of driving down the man highway we went along the coastal road. It was a pretty dodge road in places, but there were some beaches/bays along the way to stop at and also this view:



Pretty awesome! In Blenheim there was much excitement in the supermarket as I found lots of exciting food that isn't available in VN like crumpets and L&P. In Blenheim we went to a couple of wineries, a hydroponic strawberry farm, a chocolate shop and the domain where we were mobbed by ducks while eating our lunch.

Next up was Kaikoura. The guy at the motel in Blenheim suggested a couple of places for us to stop on the drive. The first was a place called Kekerengu where we stopped for a drink at the cafe and a I spent a couple of minutes on the windswept beach before I got too cold and had to head back to the cafe to warm up by the fire. The next stop was Ohau Point where you can walk along next to a stream for a few minutes to arrive at a waterfall where heaps of seal pups are swimming around and playing on the rocks. Totally worth walking through a damp wet forest to get to! Once arriving in Kaikoura I got myself an attractive bright pink coat to try and stay warm and dry as the 2 stops on the way to Kaikoura had shown me that my little Laos hoodie wasn't gonna be enough to get me through the crap south island weather. Don't be fooled by how blue it looks in the picture below - it was freezing cold!



We spent that afternoon doing a whole lot of not much as our whale watching was cancelled due to wind. We walked from our motel into the centre for a spot of shopping and drove out to the seal peninsula but as the tide was in there weren't many seals around compared to last time I went there. In the evening we went into the centre again for dinner at a pub and had the slowest service in the world - we waited aaaaaaaaaaaaages for a simple steak. That evening was very clear which meant it was freezing, but it was very pretty on the beach with the moon reflected in the sea.



The next day was sunny enough to see the top of the mountains and the sea looked a lot smoother but whale watching was still cancelled.



As a result, we got on with our long long drive to Hokitika via Arthur's Pass (after a quick stop at the fudge shop). We got a little lost on the edge of Christchurch but it wasn't too bad a journey. There was some pretty scenery driving across to the other side of the country and we stopped at a few lakes/viewpoints/random walks as well as the cafe in Arthur's Pass surrounded by Keas.

We only stayed in Hokitika for one night and that was probably enough! On the first night we tried to go out for dinner but the two restaurants in the place were full so we ended up at the chippy and then we went to the glow worm dell on the edge of town. It is a couple of minutes walk from the road to a bunch of rocks covered in glow worms. Maybe not as impressive as the Waitomo glow worms, but free! The next day we spent the morning in the town and found a surprisingly large number of things to do. We went to the museum which had an exhibition all about Whitebait fishing as well as the standard collection of random objects found in all museums in small town New Zealand. Also went to a few of the shops - lots of greenstone and sheepskin stuff for sale, plus another small fudge shop - and to the kiwi centre. We got there in time for eel feeding time and saw the sea life that they have there before going to see the kiwis. After that we had lunch then drove to Franz Josef and our dodgy motel. After dinner we went out to Okarito beach, about 1/2 hour away from Franz. It's a bit of a drive to get there and it was freezing cold, but there was a really pretty sunset!!



The next day was a pretty crap day weatherwise but thankfully I had my attractive pink coat to get me through the day.



We went to Franz Josef glacier and walked to the face of the glacier and back as well as to some reflective lake pool that doesn't really reflect much on a cloudy day then went back to the hostel to attempt to warm up and eat some lunch. After lunch we went to Fox Glacier and walked to the face of that one too.



The next day we had another long drive, this time to Wanaka. We stopped at Lake Matheson and walked round to the viewpoint where you are supposed to be able to see the mountains reflected in the lake but there were clouds over the top of the mountain and ripples on the surface of the lake from the wind. It was still a nice enough view tho so it was worth stopping. The next stop was Knight's Point overlooking the coast and then we stopped at some place by a river for lunch where I was eaten alive by sandflies. We also stopped at a waterfall and then we got to the top of Lake Wanaka and stopped at a couple of places along the way to take pretty pictures like this:



We stopped at Puzzling World and I managed to convince mum to come into the illusion rooms with me. Eventually we arrived in Wanaka and had a bit of an issue finding the motel but once we did it was a very nice place to stay for a couple of days. We went into the town and had dinner in time to watch the sunset over the mountains which was pretty cool.



The next day was a bit cold and grey again so we went for a walk along the Clutha River then spent some time in the town. The next day it was all pretty again so we went to the lake before leaving to drive to Queenstown.



We stopped in Cromwell on the way as well as at a random hydroelectric place and the AJ Hackett bungy.




We had a very nice place to stay in Queenstown a little way away from the centre so lots of walking to and from town happened over the next few days. Of course we went up the gondola and we also went jet boating as well as spending some time in the centre and taking a trip to Arrowtown.









Perhaps the best thing we did in Queenstown was to go out to Milford Sound by plane. It was teeny tiny plane for just a few people and we flew out of Queenstown over the snowy mountains...



...out as far as the coast where the plane then came in to fly over Milford Sound before landing. The weather was much better than the last time I was there and it was very pretty, plus there were penguins!!!!!





Left the parents at Queenstown and flew up to Auckland. Didn't do much the day I arrived, but I did get taken for a roast which always goes down well with me, even if it was a strange takeaway roast served in a box! The next day I walked around the Viaduct area that had been all tarted up for the Rugby World Cup then I got a ferry to Devonport. Tried to find the bookshop I used to go to all the time but it seems to have gone :o( Did find another bookshop though so I was happy. I had to take a trip to the chocolate shop to get some gifts and then after lunch I walked to Cheltenham Beach. Walked along the beach to North Head and went to the little beach there before walking around for some awesome views of Auckland.





No trip to Auckland is complete (for me) without a trip up the Skytower. The weather wasn't great but it ended up being a more impressive sunset than I thought it would be.



Didn't do much with the rest of my time in Auckland - lots of shopping and aimless wandering - until my last day when Liz set me up with instructions as to where I should go. I obeyed and went to Parnell to the rose gardens and Parnell Rise, and in the evening I went down to the waterfront.





I managed to get to go to some places that I missed last time on the South Island and the weather was so much better than before in most places so it was a nice trip with the parents.

All the photos are here

Will try and update soon!!

I went to a nice Thai restaurant last week with my friend Tuan. He's never eaten Thai food so it was an experience for him, and I LOVE Thai food so I wasn't about to say no to a trip to restaurant that serves pretty genuine stuff!! We had thai curry which tasted pretty good (Tuan enjoyed Thai curry much more than Indian curry - our Indian meal was the only time I've ever seen him not finish a meal!) and some beef thing, and also one of the special dishes in the restaurant:



Deep fried morning glory with a chili sauce. Yum! It was billed as deep fried morning glory and prawns on the menu but there were only 2 pathetic prawns in the sauce, however the fact that the morning glory was really tasty with the chili sauce made up for it.

Also finally had one of the strange Vina desserts called che which is some kind of soupy dessert made with something like taro and served with assorted coloured jelly kinda stuff and coconut milk. It's very popular in Vietnam but I've never eaten it before coz it looks a little strange as you can see from those pics in the link. It was on the menu at the Thai restaurant tho so we had some of that along with sticky rice with mango. I still think Asia isn't so great on the whole dessert thing!

Going to New Zealand on Friday!!!!!!!!!!! Trying to decide right now if I should spend some of my 12 transit hours in Seoul going into the city to have a look around or not. It would give me something to do but what if I get lost? I've no idea how easy Seoul is to navigate without speaking Korean!

NEW ZEALAND!!!

I am still alive! Haven't done much recently so haven't really had much to write about. I am going to New Zealand in 3 weeks tho!!!

Had a day off on Friday for Independence Day so I went out for a walk around the city. There wasn't much happening but I guess it made a change. Walked past Truc Bach lake and watched people walk past this bin to throw their rubbish in the bin. Perhaps the sign should be written in Vietnamese?!



Also finally got a pic of the statue to John McCain who was shot down into the lake.


I walked past Uncle Ho and the massive line of people waiting to see him then went through the Old Quarter to a cafe for a couple of hours to read my book. Walked along the railway line for a bit - would hate to live in one of these houses. The constant noise of passing trains would suck!



Then I walked back home through the Old Quarter via the market for some pineapple. Finally got a pic of the random chairs by the side of Chau Long street - I have no idea who sits on them but they've been there as long as I've lived in this part of town!



Full set is here

My cousin came to visit so I've been busy this past week!

Met Ashley at the airport on Monday evening and we headed in to the Old Quarter to his hotel to find they had no idea about his reservation. Thankfully Tuan was with us and we went across the road to a hotel where he knew the dudes and we managed to get Ashley sorted with a decent room. The next day I met him for lunch then sent him off into the wilds of Hanoi, and then successfully met him a few hours later in a bar close to where I work. After he got a couple of beers in him I got him on the back of my bike to drive him through the mental rush hour to the Old Quarter to arrange the rest of his trip.

As I had to work in the days I didn't see much of him, only meeting him for dinner, and he went to Ha Long Bay too but on Friday we went out to the North Korean restaurant. Food was as strange as last time, but this time the entertainment was happening. The waitresses got up on stage and sang some songs, much to the delight of the South Korean businessmen!



On Saturday Tuan came to meet us and we went for some noodles for breakfast at a popular place. Some TV people were there and wanted to interview some white people. Of course as they were Vietnamese they refused to accept it when I said no so kept pointing the camera in my direction even after I made it clear I didn't want that. A camera isn't subtle so when they point it right in my direction when standing in the queue it's pretty obvious what they're up to! Not the smartest people those ones. Was tempted to smash their camera so they would finally get the hint! Ashley didn't mind though so they got some film of him. After that we went for some coffee on midget stools then went out to Bat Trang pottery village and had a look around.



We then drove out to But Thap Pagoda and stopped for guava on the way



This turned out to be a good thing as the guy selling them pointed us in the direction of a short cut through the countryside. It was a bit of a drive to get there but it was quite nice driving through some of the small villages and countryside. Couldn't look at too much as I was focusing on not killing myself, but what I did see was very pretty! We got to the pagoda and walked around - not many tourists make it out there so it was pretty quiet, but it did start to rain halfway round.



We had to drive back to Hanoi in the rain which was not nice once we hit the main road. Ended up covered in muddy spray.



Once back in Hanoi we went for some Bun Cha at the place Tuan took me before and then went to sit at Bia Hoi corner until it was time for Ashley to leave to go get ready for his overnight bus down to Hue.

Pics are here!

It's always nice to have someone visiting and it gets me out doing things. More of you need to come and visit!

In other exciting news the Communists finally let me receive a package from home! Now have a sock puppet sitting on top of my TV courtesy of Mr Morris!

From the fancy pants hotel onwards!!

We got to Sihanoukville as the heavens opened but as checking in took so long (fancy welcome drinks!) it had pretty much cleared by the time we were ready to explore. We walked along the private hotel beach to a nice restaurant by the sea which had amazing food on offer. We were very lazy in Sihanoukville and other than a brief trip into the town to get supplies and enjoy (real) bangers and mash we stayed at the resort using the peach, the pool and the spa. From there we had a crappy overnight bus ride to Siem Reap on a bus with broken air con (couldn't turn it off and they had it set to blast out all night long so we pretty much froze) but once there we checked in to another nice hotel, the one I stayed at last time with my sister. We didn't do much the day we arrived other than shop and swim in the pool but as there are lots of shops and a big market in Siem Reap this meant we were busy for most of the day! The next day we went out to Angkor Wat and saw some of the temples on the circuit. Just as we came out of the second to last temple a monster storm rolled in so we left actual Angkor Wat for the next day and headed back to the hotel for some relaxing. We got up early the next day and went to Angkor for sunrise, then as Nina had never ridden an elephant before we had to do that! We then ventured further afield in our tuk tuk to another temple then stopped at the landmine museum on the way back to Siem Reap - it was less depressing than you'd imagine it being! On our final day in Siem Reap we intended to go out to see the sunset but there was another major storm raging so we stopped at the museum instead. Sadly the storm cleared while we were inside so sunset probably would have been nice after all, but you can pretty much guarantee that had we gone it would have just rained on us.

After Siem Reap we headed back to Phnom Penh and on the last day we went to the Palace and had a nice meal by the river before we had to head to the airport for Nina to get her flight. Once she'd gone I was rather lonely and bored! Went for a massage and a facial to try to alleviate that boredom and then the next day in the afternoon I flew to KL. Spent the majority of my time there shopping and indulging in good food (including an awesome roast with real Yorkshire puds!) but I did head up to the Genting Highlands for a day trip. It is about an hour from KL and is up in the mountains (as the name would suggest :op) but I picked the worst day to go. Woke up to rain and although it had stopped by the time I got there it was still pretty cloudy. Made the cable car ride to the top of the hills a bit spooky as at one point the clouds were so thick you couldn't see the car in front or behind so the only way to be sure you were actually moving was when a car would pass by in the opposite direction. At the top of the hill there is a resort with a bunch of casinos and an indoor theme park/shopping centre thing going on and there is also an outdoor theme park. When i first got there pretty much every ride was shut because the clouds were so bad but gradually they started to open and there was some fun to be had! I don't think I'd bother going back there again as it was pretty tacky and full to bursting with Chinese people who had come to gamble but it gave me something new to do this trip. Have been to KL several times now but I can still find something new each time!

Got back to Hanoi last week with a massive bout of food poisoning so suffered with that for a couple of days, then went back to work. I now have a full time post so have a bunch of induction sessions to go to over lunchtime this week and I have to get back in to the world of full time work. That's gonna be hard!

The pictures are here!

Am in an internet cafe with a lame keyboard but am waiting out a tropical storm so thought I'd write here!

Am in Cambodia with my good friend Nina. Had a long journey to get here - a flight to HCMC where I stayed overnight and then a bus across the border the next day but it was worth it! Met Nina the day after I arrived and we had a chilled couple of days in Phnom Penh, then we got the bus down to Kep, by the sea. Sadly it overheated and broke down about 1 1/2 hours into the journey so we had to wait for over an hour at the side of the road for a replacement bus. Eventually when we arrived it was chucking it down ao we weren't particularly impressed. It stopped raining for just long enough for us to walk along the coast to the crab market and have a really nice dinner of super fresh crabs and prawns but then it begain to rain just as we left. It continued raining the next day so we headed off to Kampot and the rain stopped just as we got there and held off just long enough for us to spend a few hours there and get back to Kep before the rain began again. Thankfully there was less rain today so we spent the day on the beach at Rabbit Island, a very quiet chilled place and we've just got back from stuffing ourselves again with crab and prawn. Tomorrow we are going to Sihanoukville to stay at this fancy pants hotel and we are really rather excited about this! Will write more when I have access to a fully functioning keyboard!!

Holiday time tomorrow!!!!! Will maybe have a chance to write on this while I'm away!

Had another random culinary experience last week here in Hanoi. Someone from work was leaving so after work on Friday night we went out for dinner. There ended up being a massive group of us and we went for beef BBQ. It was in the standard grubby Vina restaurant with sticky floors, stained walls, dangerous looking stairs, plastic tables and chairs and the washing up being done in grey looking water inside a big plastic bowl in full view of the diners, but after so long here I have come to realise that even though the restaurant looks like the food will kill you it actually does no such thing (either that or my stomach has hardened up and is able to take things that might kill a pansy Englishman fresh off the plane), and even tastes pretty good (usually).

The restaurant was pretty full when we go there and as there were so many of us we had to be paraded past all the other diners who all stopped eating to look at the procession of foreigners passing them to get to the space right at the back of the restaurant where an assortment of tables and chairs were then provided for us to set up ourselves. The menu is pretty straightforward - beef and goat udder, tomato, and bread. The meat comes out raw on a big platter and on each table there is a little camping stove type contraption that is lit by some kind of waxy gasoline thing. You then cook your own meat as you please and create your own sandwiches (there are no plates so that is really the only option for eating your beef!!) while trying not to cause yourself any kind of horrific injury. Naked flames on rickety plastic tables and oil spitting all over the place provide a slight element of danger that you don't usually get at most other restaurants. The beef was pretty yummy, but not so much the goat udder. It was kinda chewy and tasteless. One of the Vietnamese girls however loved it, and after eating all the udder next to her stood up and loudly shouted down the table that she would like them to pass more boobs to her. Entertaining! There is no tab kept while eating so at the end of the meal we were all shifted out of the way while they counted up all the empty beer bottles and platters. It ended up being pretty cheap, only £3 or £4 per person and there was a LOT of food and beer.

Good stuff!

I had a week off this past week and spent it here in Hanoi. Most days I didn't do a great deal but i did have some nice days with my friend Tuan who also has some time off right now. He is a tour guide in Hanoi and he asked me to visit the museums in Hanoi with and help him with some English. We met on Friday and Saturday and ticked the first 2 museums off the list. On Friday we met in the Old Quarter for lunch first - we ate Bun Cha and spring rolls. Yum yum yum!



After that we went to the history museum and had a nice couple of hours walking round the museum and looking at all the cool stuff in there - it was much more fun to go with someone else than to go by myself!

When we finished at the museum we went for some nep cam, which is sticky black rice with coconut milk, condensed milk and a little bit of yogurt.



mix it together



and enjoy.



Yesterday we went to Hoa Lo prison, aka the Hanoi Hilton then came back to my place for lunch. I've introduced Tuan to the delights of Campbell's soup with buttery toast so we enjoyed that! I've also given him an assortment of other foods he's never eaten before in the past few months like lasagne. He's also been a guinea pig for my baking adventures. I fed him cookies and cakes, and he also sampled some of the scones I cooked earlier in the week.



The scones were good! (recipe so I can find it again! ) I also attempted crumpets but they weren't quite as successful. They were a pain to cook and took forever to make. They tasted OK but not amazing so I don't think I'll bother with them again.



Finally, a pretty picture of the sunset seen from my apartment!

Forgot to say, the rest of the pics are here!

Finally I'm gonna tell you about Thailand!!!

I had to work til 6-8 on the day I went so I spent the day killing time by watching documentaries online, including a bunch about the war in Vietnam. Headed home after work to pick up my bag and then went out to the airport. Tuan had arranged a car to take me to the airport and he finished work in time to come along with me. I pestered him with a bunch of questions about life after the war as he grew up in the poor countryside after it ended so was pretty interesting to hear about a real experience. I'm now releasing my inner history geek by helping him to find out more about the war as he feels he has big gaps in his knowledge. Had quite a late flight to Bangkok and arrived at about 1am. Got a taxi to the fancy pants hotel and it didn't look like much from the road so I wondered if I was at the right hotel



but when you turn into the driveway you see the real hotel and feel a sense of relief that the taxi driver has actually brought you to the right place!!



Met the parents the next day and we got a water taxi along the canal to a shopping centre then after lunch we got back on the water taxi to the Golden mount. We walked up to the top



and then the heavens opened. We walked back down in the rain then tried to find a taxi to take us to the bus station to sort out a bus ticket for the next day. There weren't many available so we gave up and went back to the hotel by water taxi and went to sit by the pool for a bit. In the evening we went to the night market but it has now turned into crappy little stalls in patpong. The old night market by Lumpini Park has gone so it was a bit of a failure. Dad did manage to find a taxi driver to take us to Kanchanaburi tho so it wasn't a complete disaster. We went to Sukhumvit and went to a Mexican place or dinner. It took forever for the food to arrive so it was a bit of a letdown really!

The next day we had a nice big breakfast at the hotel then got the taxi to Kanchanaburi. When we arrived we checked into our nice hotel and sat by the river for a drink





We then walked to town to go to the museum about the war railway and to the war cemetery next to it. Later on in the day we walked up to the bridge on the Kwai. We walked across then had to wait for a train to cross before we could go back.






We had dinner at the floating restaurant by the bridge and then got a tuk tuk back to the hotel as it had started to rain. Went for a foot massage in the evening as I do like a foot massage when on holiday!

The next day went on a tour in the area. First stop was Erewan national park with its seven tiered waterfall.We got as far up as the 5th tier then went back down so dad could brave a swim in the waterfall with all the fish that love to nibble on on human skin!





We had lunch at the waterfall then went to Hellfire Pass, the cutting from the railway. Next up we went to Kra Se cave then took a short train ride along the death railway route. Once back in Kanchanaburi I had a dip in the pool



then we went for dinner at a British pub - bangers and mash!!!!! Had another foot massage after dinner.

The next morning we got a tuk tuk to the Jeath War Museum then went back into town to get a British breakfast with real bangers and bacon!! In the afternoon we went back to Bangkok by taxi and went to MBK plaza and had dinner in the food court.

We tried to go and see some of the sighs the next day but it wasn't that successful! We got the ferry along the river to the Grand Palace but it was closing soon so we didn't go in. We walked down to Wat Pho and saw the reclining Buddha



but it was pretty hot so we didn't really feel up to much more. We went to a nice restaurant by the river and has some really good food - I wasn't expecting this when I ordered a salad!



They also had a nice dessert of black sticky rice with coconut ice cream and mango - a fancier version of nep cam (black sticky rice, coconut milk, condensed milk) here in Vietnam that Tuan introduced me to. It sounds pretty horrible bit it tastes great!



We got a ferry back after lunch and went back to the hotel. I went to do some shopping in the afternoon, and then in the evening we went out for dinner on Sukhumvit. We tried to find a Lebanese place but gave up and went to a restaurant for some Thai food instead before going back to the hotel so the parents could pack.

The next day I got up early to go to the airport with them and see them off on their way back to the UK then I went back to the hotel and packed up. Moved further down Sukhumvit to a cheaper hotel then went up to the shopping centres and spent the rest of the day shopping! I shopped some more the following day too (I briefly thought about going to see some more of the sights but decided against it in the end as it was far too hot and we hadn't had much luck with our other attempts to go sightseeing!) and also went to the cinema for some Western indulgence.

Now I'm planning my next trip - Cambodia in June with Nina!!