2006 Wrap Up...

Its been a while since I've posted and I do apologise - although I can partly blame the Taiwan earthquake. There was an earthquake on boxing day in Taiwan that knocked out most of the undersea cables from Hk - blocking all internet to the US and most of the rest of the world (except HK and Aus seemed to work too). Finally internet is back, but its slow as hell..
I have had about a week off, and so far so good. Had a lovely champagne laden brunch on Xmas day, and saw Casino Royale on Boxing Day. Then Pau-Ling and I spent 2 great days in Macau, eating , drinking and relaxing. Tonight im having a few girlies over for dinner and then were off to drinks for the rest of the night. Im making a mega feast and just need to finish tidying the flat today -
Eggplant Tomato Pasta
Chicken Schnitzel
Potato pie
Brocolli and Green Vegs
Chocolate Truffle

Yummo!

I hope everyone has a great new yrs and 2007 is a good one!

Christian Bale is HOT!

Watching Batman Begins - just though Id share that thought....

Nat as a bridesmaid?

Some of you may remember that I have acted the part of bridesmaid once before, for the previous Ms Schwarzy. Well I didn't do too great a job, I didn't smile enough, or chat to family enough or get involved in organising stuff enough. But it seems I have once again been honoured with the role. Dee has asked me to be one of her (7!) bridesmaids! She also said I could be the witness instead if I prefer. So which is better? Feel free to put in your vote. my thoughts go along like this:
Bridesmaid - positives - lots of attention, pretty dress, shag a groomsman
negatives - lots of attention, 1 of 7, costume picked out by bride (but being Dee this is not a bad thing)
Oh this is the proposed bridesmaid dress (not the colour) - Its under "cocktail" and its number 2 - dress
Witness - positives - get to sign the official paper, only 1 , get to pick own dress
negatives - no attention, have to pick own dress (can be a bad thing for me!), no shagging of groomsman (not that I got to at Schwarzy's!)

Oh and yes I'm back in HK - was in Shanghai last wk, Shanghai was good fun, and cold - but work was hellish! So glad to be back in HK.

I had today off work, was going to sleep in and take it easy but instead had a crazy day. Got an email from schwarzy yesterday saying she was coming to HK for work for 24 hours, I met her for breakfast at the Island Shangri La at the crack of dawn. Then she went off to her meetings, I stopped home and then headed to the airport to send of Candice and meet her for a yummy pasta lunch. Then I rushed back to town and met up with my cousin whos in town til tomorrow, and did a bit of a walking tour, went to the markets and showed off my flat. And now I am meeting Amy for dinner & gossip. Byeeeee

Chewing Gum is illegal in Singapore!

Now the rest of you may have known this, but I have just spent 10 mins in 7 11 searching for chewing gum. I settled for mentos and mentioned to the woman that I couldn't find any chewing gum - and this was when i was informed it was illegal in SGP. How classic is that!!

Have spent the week in SGP - enjoyed SGP but work was boring as crap. I am so over teaching mindless stuff to quiet boring people. Over the wkend I will put up a survey where you can vote for what Nat should do with her life. (ie, me)

Loved the hotel (of course), although their room service could be improved - ie. extra milk when serving the hot chocolate (and maybe a marshmellow). But of course the thing that truly makes them a top hotel happened when i first arrived. Got a cab to the hotel, and paid with my credit card. The taxis credit card machine wasnt working so the hotel door man or concierge (or whatever he was), paid for the taxi and put it on my room bill. How cool is that?

Alright 7 more mins to finish this blog. Highlights of the week were the SGP night safari which was good fun (one of the guys from work went with me), going to insomia last night with a new friend (met thru narcheska!)$18 to get in, and then unlimited drinks till 11pm - oooh and not bad live music either - which is nice after the lack of in HK. Oh and of course my bubble bath - I love that hotel, I just wish i could have had a day off work to sleep in and swim on the roof pool. Work does get in the way.

Alright better go find my gate - start thinking about the new direction for my life....

Catchup Time....

I know its been forever since I've written and I will do my best to catchup now. Photos come later (maybe tomorrow morn).

Japan

I love Japan. I had such a good time and didn't want to come back. This of course was exhibited when I slept through my alarm by 1.5hrs and almost missed my flight!
The people at the office are great and I had a number of very fun nights out with them (including the night before my flight!).

In an amazing bit of random timing, my drinking buddy Virginia was in Tokyo the second wk I was there. For those who keep up with the blog - Virginia was the girl I discovered ladies night here in HK with. She lives in Aus, but was on holiday in Tokyo the same time I was there. We had a couple of fun nights out, including going to a yakitori bar, where they spoke no english and had no pictures of food. Made ordering difficult (even with my phrase book!) - thankfully the guy next to us spoke really really dodge english but helped us order [Although we later found out the cook and his wife spoke some english - he gave some charcoal sticks to take home and make our own yakitori with - was soo funny!]

Over the weekend I left Tokyo and went to the Hakone Region - beautiful area, lots of onsens (spas) and yummy food. I stayed at a Ryoken (a typical Japanese hotel), where they spoke no english and had typical japanese rooms such as these:

So here's some notes from when I was in the Ryoken.
After first arriving and being shown to my room, I decided to search for the baths to cleanup before dinner (as I believe that was what I was being told (in Japanese)). I walked out of my room (dressed in jeans) looking for the bathroom and scared a little old man & woman, they saw me and laughed (continuously!)- they were wearing their yukatas (little japanese robes). So I returned to my room and put on my yukata (very comfy things).I then found my way to the bath area but there were 2 doors with 2 signs on them. They were in Japanese and I had no idea what they said (although i guessed one said man and one said woman). I returned to my room to get my phrase book and then stood there trying to decipher the 2 signs! My book had 1 symbol for female, the sign was all swirly and had about 3 symbols. Finally I took a guess and managed to find the females baths (thankfully!).

After my bath I went back to my room and started writing done my initial impressions of the ryoken. (Amazing customer service, beautiful place, hot baths, all without understanding a word!) Not long after music started playing through the room - and then the announcement began. No idea what was going on, but I had an idea it could be dinner so I started looking up the word for dinner. Almost instantly the little woman knocked on my door, gave me a big smile and started going on about something (in japanese). She obviously realised I understood nothing, so she motioned me to follow her. I followed her (still in my robe) and she led me to the dining room (small japanese tables and pillows) and sat me at a table for 1. To my left was a massive table for 20. I had a terrible thought that they sat me by myself b/c I didnt speak japanese. Thankfully that wasnt the case, the table for 20 was a big family group - very amusing to watch. There was another small table of 3.

Dinner: (ive made my best guess at what i was eating)
Miso Soup with little mussels
Egg custard with crab meat, chicken, chives & orange rind
Sashimi (the yummiest!) - prawn (raw!), scallops & 2 sorts of fish
charcoal sardine (wierd filling on slightly stringy things maybe octopus)
brown scary tough thing, looks like shitake mushroom but not (i tried a bite but no)
smoked haddock sushi (or some smoked fish)
scallops & crab claw - yummo
light wonton in yummy pastry with light filling prob seafood with egg or tofu
cooked fish fillet (trout?) in miso & sweet sauce
tempura prawn (linguistine) with cabbage & pasta salad, and mandarin
vegetables (carrot, grn beans, lotus veg) & tofu omlet
& tea

When I got back from my room, my little table and pillow was put away, and my bed (futon) was out on the straw mat. I read for a while and figured I might as well get to sleep - was very comfy and I slept great, until I was awoken by a very insistent friendly knocking on my door "Ohayou gozaimasu" (good morning). 8am PEOPLE!
This, as you may have guessed, was breakfast. I went back to the tea room and ate:
Japanese rice pudding thing (I tried a bit but it was like eating glue)
Dried fish (nicer than i expected, although bloody hard to fillet with chopsticks)
crab miso soup
egg omlette thing with chives
liver with onion
little brown things that i thought was ginger and mince, but seemed to have a very strange consistency
salad - brocolli, tomato, lettuce, beans, piece of ham?
No Sashimi :(
So I enjoyed brekkie although not as much as dinner (which was yummo) and it was too early. I figured id go back to my room and sleep some more, but when i returned they had put my bed away! I was forced to have a productive day!

So Japan was lovely and I didnt want to come back, oh and sushi tastes soo much better there - all food is yummo! I'm definately going to go back to Japan before I leave Asia.

Hong Kong

Arrived back in HK, and had Hayleys hens night - which was the best night I had out in HK for ages (or maybe ever). We started with a lovely lamb roast at my place, and then apple crumble (which basically no one ate as they were all dieting! oh well more for me!) Then we all got ready together, and the girls did my makeup! I looked very pretty and boys chatted me up - unfortunatly no cute ones (or none that were cute enough ). But we were out til after 4, and loads of laughs - photos to follow.
Work this wk was hellish but I'm off to Singapore on sunday for 5 days, so that should be fun. And then next wkend Mandy moves out so I'll be alone again. Oh and Hayley leaves Sunday :( Everyones leaving - im going to have to make an effort to meet more ppl, hopefully a hot boy too. Oh cause I won a prize! and I really need a boy to share it with. As a backup ill take PL (or if RM comes to town ill take her).
I bought a charity raffle ticket at work and won the 14th prize ->
14th PRIZE:
Winning Ticket :
05993

FLY INTO MACAU BY HELICOPTER AND STAYOVER AT THE MANDARIN ORIENTAL MACAU

I picked up the ticket today and it has to be used before february and mid week! Which really limits when i can use it. So im thinking the week between xmas and new yr - any hot boys want to volunteer to join me? (oh and straight - and not annoying)

Japanese is my favourite food!

Seriously! It is the best! I didn't even think I felt like Japanese tonight, but just had the yummiest udon noodle soup with the most tasty lightly battered and crisp tempura! Soo good! And I got to sit at the bar and watched the chefs. I wanna work in a japanese kitchen! I was just sitting there with a big grin on my face watching the open kitchen. Heres some interesting things I noticed about the chefs (and kitchen)
* They are all men
* They are all wearing clean chefs clothes (no spills)
* They have loads of different types of fresh noodles - homemade and soo good
* The pots are huge that the soup is cooked in and instead of using a ladel to get the soup out, they use small saucepans.
* For the tempura, they have 2 lots of oil, 1 is for the veg and 1 for the meat
* They put the tempura into (and out of ) the oil with chopsticks (very cool, and means that the oil drains off)
* They only use the big drainy spoon to clear out the oil of the extra batter
* The tempura I had was - prawns, pumpkin, eggplant, seaweed, a leaf (very pretty and tasted good), mushroom and maybe some other stuff
* The bowl of noodles was bigger than my head but thankfully they didnt fill it (yet i am still stuffed)
* I am learning to slurp, but I still eat noodles like a foreigner
* After I ordered (involving pointing to the menu) the waitress asked me something, along the lines of big or small. I thought she was talking about the portion so I said small (as the people next to me had buckets rather than bowels!) but it turns out she meant the size of the udon noodle, mine were the thiner variety - but still yummo.

Was great! I told the restaurant guy - oyshikata (and he understood me - oh it means, delicious!)

I keep forgeting to bring my camera - there are so many things I want to take a picture of! Tomorrow definitely!

Heres an email from my observations at work on monday. I arrived in Tokyo around 7pm sunday night, Monday night went home and ate sushi, edamame and gyoza from the supermarket (yum), Tuesday I taught all day then went out for drinks with work ppl which turned into 4 of us girls, continuing our drinking (gin & tonics) and ending up singing kareoke in a kareoke cube (little room with couches and soundproof) Very Fun. Too many G& Ts and no dinner makes Natty a hangover girl. Teaching today was painful. Off to a girl from work's place to pick up a warm jumper and then home for an early night.

Oh heres the monday email....

So work is not exciting and I had lunch by myself but it was both yummo and
fun!

I went downstairs and got told there are loads of restaurants and places
that do bento boxes. so I figured I could point and buy one.
I found myself a little place and was about to point and get a bento box,
when I noticed the people to my right putting money into a machine and
getting tickets for food. Well that sounded fun. so there were a few
pictures with names in japanese. So i picked a picture that didnt look too
scary and matched up the japanese symbols with those on the (coke like)
machine - and yes it took a while. I got my ticket and went into the
restaurant and put the ticket in front of the cook and she started asking
me something in japanese. I got all freaked but managed to pick out
soba...udon. I replied with "udon". I ended up with a very yummy meal of
rice with katsu curry sauce, and a big bowl of udon noodles and soup -
yummo and all for 500 yen (which i have since found out is about $5)

Other amusing things about tokyo
- the toilets are heated (speaking of toilets - the bus driver stopped the
bus yesterday so he could use the toilet at the back of the bus - very
amusing, we were all wondering why he was stopping - this was during the 2
hr bus ride to town)
- the only restaurants open last night (sunday night) were indian and
korean (I ended up joining 3 random american businessmen for a korean
dinner)
- men bow their heads to you when entering lifts (beats hk where they snort
and smell ;)
- After the fireman stopped ppl walking past (as the firetruck was turning in) he bowed to us! So cute!
- Oh did I mention some japanese men are cute (unlike the chinese ones!) and some are tall!

Thats all so far....

Nat




*

Almost a week has passed..

apologies for the lack of updates - I have pictures and movies to upload, details to spill and the best you guys are going to get is brief as hell. You may be asking yourself - why oh why has Nat cut down on her blogging? {although I should point out I haven't received any emails begging for more entries - maybe this is a sign I should stop?}
Reasons Why:
1. Work has been busy (in an annoying way) so when I get home I'm super tired (and often moody!
2. I have gone out quite a bit and had big nights (Tues night - Mandys birthday - Rocky Horror Show & many drinks, Thurs night - Pub Quiz with yummy indian - and many drinks (we came second last and won many shots ;)
3. Mandy is staying with me so I have someone to talk to when I get home instead of write on the blog. (BTW to clarify for ms Scruffy - Mandy has temp. moved in while searching for a place to live. My place is too small for 2 ppl to permanantly live, but its fun to have her around!)
4. I am addicted to Veronica Mars (Seriously, its getting serious, I think the only way im going to cure myself is to watch all the episodes ;)

Other things worth mentioning:
- Clairs in town for a week for work (YaY!) - I saw her Thurs night and catching up again this avo
- Ms Scruffy (Amy) is back in town so hopefully we'll finally see each other this avo
- I'm heading to Hayleys place in Sai Kung (vaguely country meant to be really beautiful) for girlie night and sleepover. I'm making choc beer cake, but I left my whisk and measuring thingy in Mandys room - so have to wait til she wakes up to make it. Although I have done washing while waiting (and blogging). I woke up too early (and went to bed late :(
- Next Sunday I head to Tokyo for work for 2 wks. I still hate work (I dont play well with others), but looking forward to Tokyo.

Hopefully at somepoint I'll update photos.....

I should not be called Grace...

One thing I have never been and will never be is graceful. This wont come as a surprise to most of you - but was hammered into to me on Friday, at a work team building day. The morning involved rock climbing, jumping over streams, walking on wet rocks and climbing up a ladder on a waterfall. I spent the whole time falling down, am covered with cuts and bruises (and achs)and was helped by the boys. I am so unco. I have absolutely no balance, and I suck at all things involving activity. So yes it was kinda traumatic. It would have been less so if it wasn't a work do. I may have even slightly enjoyed a day of activity and making a fool out of myself if it was with my friends. But unfortunatly it wasnt :(

Yes it was nice of them to invite me, and better than work, but I am now in a world of pain. (and humilated). I have only been at work 2 days so far, but I have a full busy week next week!

Mandy and I spent yesterday (saturday) watching dvds and eating bagels - very nice! Last night I went to a gorgeous restaurant for a friends birthday. For only $300 (AUD$50) we had loads of very yummy food and byo wine. Check out what I ate -
* Bread & Pate
* Goats cheese & Tomato Tart
* Tomato & Orange soup (wierd)
* Duck breast with pear
* Eggplant & tomato gratin (yummo)
* Warm Chocolate cake
* Cappucino

All in all very nice - and home by midnight (no one was out for a big one). Would be great for a dinner party with my load and rowdy friends, and a bottle of wine each ;)

Its nice having a roomie, came home for a chat with Mandy and then I ended up watching the rest of Veronica Mars season 1. I wasn't tired and I just kept watching. So I ended up watching the remaining 5 hours and got to bed at 5am. Yay for sundays.

The End is Nigh....

My final hours of freedom....
A lovely morning in dublin, no rain, not too cold and this internet cafe gave me free coffee - so today will be a good day. Soon I will be heading to Dublin airport for my flight back to London (luton), where I will then make my way to Paddington. Dump my bag for a few hours and wander round Maida Vale (hopefully with Will - there was a slight miscommunication problem the last couple of times we attempted to catch up). Then my 10pm flight back to HK, arriving Tuesd 5pm. Back to work wednesday - bright and early! Do I need to mention that I dont want to go back???

Had a lovely weekend in Dublin with Roxie Mae & Beth - and was kindly put up by RM's irish friend Darah. So we did wandering, lots of eating and drinking. Yesterday was rainy hangover day, so after a gorgeous brunch we headed back to the couch for many episodes of Angel (many many episodes - not my idea seriously ;)

Jen's moving to Tampa with RM & Beth soon, I'm tempted to visit. Damn work gets in the way. Oh and I have to go home to visit Dee too!! Still trying to get hold of the girl - between time differences and whatever else, shes impossible to reach.

Oh book recommendation - Shantaram! It's massive (900+ pages) but great. I've been reading it the whole trip!! Should finish it on the way back...

Did I mention I'm not at all excited to head back, but I am looking forward to seeing Mandy, Amy and Hayley (even though she will be going on about the Sydney Swans loss ;). I have a few things planned for when I get back, so should make reality a bit more bearable. I'm going to try and not drink for a few days, so that my throat recovers (finally). Although I did buy some more drugs in boots!

OK need to write a couple of postcards and then head to the airport. Oh and maybe try and reach Dee again....

Dee & Dragi Engaged!

Yay!! I just found out - checking my email in dublin airport! No one texted me, I assumed they tried to call, but I aint picking up my phone. So if you want to contact me text or email!

I'm back in HK tuesday night, but first have a lovely weekend in dublin to go. Meeting RM & Beth in a couple of hours at some restaurant - here's hoping I can find it. Had a great day with Struth, bit of shopping, eating and dvds. Oh and the best strawberries I've had in a long while...

Alright off to try and contact Dee! I cant wait! Guess I'll be coming back to sydney for a visit....Its only money right ;)

A weekend in Paris....

I had been to Paris at least 2 times previously (possibly 3). Once when I was 18 with Jess & Aliza, and we saw every church, cathedral, museum and notable sight. And the second time with Rolle where we there for only 2 days and tried to fit in as many sights. Both times I thought Paris was nice, but that was it. (Nice - eech). Well it's true if you want to see the beauty in a city (well one as classically beautiful as Paris), then travel with a gay man.
Ok so it wasn't just travelling with Will that made me appreciate Paris (as it should be), it was also there was a lot more time spent wandering, eating croissants, crepes, drinking cafe (cafe au lait for Will) and perving at french men. Paris is a perfect city for wandering, yes we did wander past a number of the sights but none of that lining up thing.
Oh and the final ingredient in making me appreciate Paris? The ugliness of Hong Kong. Seriously. The massive sky scrapers of HK, really made me stop and stare at the gorgeous artistry of the buildings in Paris (even the non famous ones).
I arrived back in London yesterday eve, heading over to Trudis, had a quick catch up, a quick shower and headed to the Prince Bonaparte for vino and food and meet up with the crew. Attendees were : Trudi, Will, Chris & Char, Helen and Tim (and me). Was great to see everyone (as per normal). It does feel like im here a bit too often - I was here less than a yr ago. Both Chris and Helen asked when they could expect me back. Hey I'm living in HK, not london you know! Yeh Ok coming back has made returning to london (or europe) more of a certainty - its just a matter of time. I do feel like I belong here - more than I do in sydney, and more than HK (but hey I'll give HK a longer trial period).

I like Hong Kong, I do - I just wished I loved it like I do London (warts & all).

Ok better get off and enjoy it, go argue with HSBC and meet RM & Beth for lunch. Au Revour.

"Miss Bell, you were meant to be on last night's flight"

That is the first thing that the stupid check in chick at the airport express station said to me. Now I do appreciate that this chick had spent the past 10 minutes getting yelled at by a pissed off old british guy, but that is no reason to take it out on me!
"No" I explained " The flight is at 30 mins past midnight friday, which would be tonight" (Thursday night)
" Miss Bell you are on last night's flight, not tonight" She repeats
At this point, I start thinking - could I have really made such a mistake? (to start with I find that very hard to believe) will BA let me get on tonights flight? Do I need to buy a whole new flight? Or will I have to stay in HK?!
"No" I repeat "Check Again - Today is Thursday, therefore Friday midnight is tonight"
Well there was no apology but she finally found my name. What a friggin cow. I should point out, I am on tonights flight - I made no mistake - it was all her!

I managed to have a great day with Sarah regardless, nothing too intense, just some eating and walking and shopping. I am feeling better, but still tired and slowly improving. I hope I sleep loads on the plane. Was going to have a sleep this evening but it didn't happen - think i was too hungry. So now I've eaten, taken my drugs, and tidied a bit for Mandy. (Oh did I mention Mandy is housesitting for me? and then staying with me for a few wks - should be fun).

Princely Update

When Sarah arrived Tuesday night, I left my keys outside my flat in black boots on my show stand. So she was standing there shaking my shoes to try and find the keys. Of course right at that time, my friendly neighbour happened to be entering his apartment and saw Sarah acting rather odd.

Day 2 for Ms Lockley and she heads out for a morning walk. Sarah is attempting to lock the door, and having much trouble, standing there swearing for some minutes before finally succeeding. She then wonders to the lift and realises that my hot neighbour had been standing there waiting for the lift. He gives her a friendly "Hello" and they enter the lift together. As the lift heads to the ground floor, a 2nd lady shares the lift. Sarah has no idea where to walk, and decides to follow the other 2 in the correct direction. Of course the lift stops, the lady walks out, and Sarah at the back of lift is waiting for Mr Short Shorts to exit. But no, he aint moving. Finally Ms Lockley realises that this young man is waiting for her to first exit the lift before exiting (yes he was being a gentleman!). Needless to say Sarah was now shocked and confused - what strange strange behaviour.

But if nothing else this proves what a Prince he is ;) Mandy and I was trying to ply Sar for all the details but she didn't realise what a big deal it was. She isn't used to the serious shortage of hotties in hong kong. BTW it aint fair that she sees him twice in 2 days!! How come I never see him??

Anyway almost time for me to head to the airport. Meeting a friend at the airport whos on the same flight with me - should be fun. It still doesnt feel like I'm going to be seeing Will tomorrow, and Trudi, RM, Chris & the gang on sunday. Its going to be a kick ass trip ;) I wonder if I'll miss HK at all? What do you think?

The bad stuff always happens to me....

Monday: I woke up with a slightly sore throat and started loading up on Vitamin C and multi vitamins.

Tuesday: I woke up with a full on cold - feeling generally crap, and getting worse as the day continues. I was teaching all day, my throat was hurting, and I managed to escape work at 4:30pm and go to bed. Unfortunatly I was too sick to go to spanish or entertain Sarah. Sarah arrived about 8:30pm, and thanfully she was happy to vege on the couch, catchup and watch dodgy tv. I took some drugs and slept through most of the night.

Wednesday: Another day of training - and given I knew I would feel worse in the afternoon and I wanted to hang out with Sarah, I headed into work early. I felt slightly better than yesterday, but not much. Once I was sitting at work and being vaguely productive, and other people were walking into the office and saying hi - I realised I HAD NO VOICE. I WAS VOICELESS!! ONE DAY before my HOLIDAY!
I had to do training today - but with no voice it was kinda difficult - so I managed (after much begging) to get one of the Australian trainers to cover me. I visited the doctor and got loads more drugs - including antibiotics and 8 other things to take at all different times... I then completed work, and managed to get home by 2pm for my first nap.

I got woken up by someone breaking into my flat - actually it was Sarah fighting with the locks. We chatted for a while and it turns out she hadn't slept last night - so we decided on another nap. Now she is still sleeping, but I should wake her.

My plan for the next 24 hours, is lots of drug and lots of sleep - and very little talking, and hopefully I'll feel loads better by the time I get off the plan in london to meet with Will and head of to Paris.

Bloody awful timing - why does this always happen to me???

I can feel the London buzz already...

5 days to go and I'm already getting into London mode. Watched a dodge movie this morning (it had Rob Lowe in it)that was set in London, and every time it cut to a london scene I thought "ooh I want to be there". Which brings up the question why am in Hong Kong? I do like Hong Kong, but I don't feel the London buzz. At the moment, I just assume its the whole settling in thing, but I think I need to give it a time. For example, stick it out til April next year and then decide. Now he's a stupid thought for you - I'm turning 30 next August and I do not want to be going along with this level of job satisfaction and life in limbo-ness by then. So I guess April is the cut off, so that by my birthday next year I'll have some vague direction in my life. Or something....

This week is going to be crazy. I should be tidying the flat as Sarah arrives on Tuesday night and I'm out monday night - but instead I'm watching tv and blogging..
I have Mon - wed at work, then Thursday hang out with Sarah and thursday night fly to LONDON!!! Ok before I let you know about my week - check out what I have planned for my holiday:
Friday - Arrive London (early) meet Will at the airport, head to Waterloo for reunion with Katie K and coffee before Eurostaring to Paris.
Sat/Sun - Paris with Will, so no doubt plenty of coffee, catch up and perving - YAY!
Sun night - Family dinner in a lovely pub with hopefully a load of my london friends, including Trudes & Chris & Char - Woohoo.
Mon night - Dinner with Vinnie & Doreen - yay for home cooking!
Tues/wed - hanging out in London with friends - no plans yet but should be fun.
Thursday - Spend day & night in Glasgow with Struth - and check out her lovely flat.
Friday - fly to Dublin to spend the weekend with RM & Beth (and Will for a bit, and maybe Jen too ). No doubt will be a crazy wkend
Monday - fly back from Dublin - London and then onto Hong Kong. Arrive Tuesday night - return to work Wednesday.
I cant wait for my holiday..
Until then I have 3 crazy days of work and Sarah arrives Tuesday night. Unfortunately I also start spanish tuesday night, so need to work out some random plan with Sarah. Monday night dinner with Mira and wednesday dinner with the girls - so should be pretty busy til I go.
Plan for today - run to the shop to buy laundry detergent (and croissant for breakfast). Spend an hour or 2 tidying the flat, ready for Sarah's arrival (oh and Mandy will be staying while I'm away so it needs to be actually tidy not pretend tidy). Then head to Causeway bay to check out a couple of gyms, and spend a gift voucher - then off to the movies with Mandy and her friends. We're going to see "Devil Wears Prada" - should be a lovely girly afternoon. Alright off to the shops - sorry for the lack excitement in my blogs lately - I'm feeling a bit blah (yes Ebby - a feeling). My Hong Kong life is making me boring - and I aint boring ;) Thankfully a holiday is on its way....

Snug as a bug in a rug! Bliss

OK It's 25 degrees here, so still good weather for shorts and t-shirts, and yet im sitting on my couch in trackies, tshirt and ugh boots!! I was sooo tired at work today, and im sure it mostly had to do with the continual rain that poured down all day. I was at work a little later than normal due to my first non IT course running Thurs & Fri - wish me luck! Most days I catch the bus home, but today I was sleepy and it was rainy so I jumped in a cab. 5 mins later I was home, in my trackies and Ughs. Life is good. (Well OK life may not be good, but I cant remember because all I can think about is how snug I'm feeling ;)

To suit this snuggly mood, i need some comfort food for dinner. I bought some sour cream on the weekend to go with the pumpkin soup (which was gorgeous by the way). I'm not a huge fan of sour cream, but for sour cream I think sweet chilli and sour cream with wedges. So for dinner tonight I'm having roast potato with sweet chilli and sour cream, and roasted pumpkin. Yummo. If only it would hurry up!

Dinner on Sunday night was great. My oven successfully handled the choc beer cake, the soup was brilliant, as was the salmon patties. The cleaning up was painful, my small kitchen is a pain to clean!

Other stuff happening - managed to get a free 10 day gym pass, and went to the gym monday and tuesday. Was meant to meet Mandy today for a class but thankfully she cancelled (or maybe it was mutual ;). Given up on netball, might try the gym instead. It will probably work out cheaper.

I have more to write, but my brain has slowed. Yoav's in town so had a fun night with him last night. Have a girlie night out on friday, and Amy's celebration on saturday (if she's better). Otherwise lots of work, before I finish next wednesday. (Off to europe on thursday). Sarah's meant to be coming to town, but haven't heard from her in a while - Sarah - where are you???

ACTOR Brad Pitt has declared he will not marry Angelina Jolie until restrictions on gay marriage are lifted.

So is this because Brad Pitt is a woman, or Angelina Jolie is a man? My vote is still for Mr Jolie ;)

Had a nice productive day yesterday - spent the morning cleaning the house - seems to have become my custom on saturdays. Met a guy from the Tokyo office for a late lunch (yummy affordable mexican and beer), found a great second hand book shop and then went in search of a potato masher - didn't quite manage that one. Hey Ms Ebby they keep the same sort of alphabetical order you do in the shop - a very loose one!

Last night I went on a Jaspas Junk trip with the teachers. It is slightly more expensive than a do your own junk, but it has unlimited food and drink for only AUD$90. Beer, wine and yummy cocktails. Oooh and the food - starters of chips and dips, felafal, chicken satay and some other stuff I cant remember. The main was a really yummy salad, potatos, eggplant moussaka, yummy steak with pepper sauce, (and marinated chicken and something else which I didnt have). Oooh and dessert was a cheesecake! Very good! The company was great as always and a very fun night - but I always end up piking around 1ish. I need to learn to sleep in, today i was awake again at 8 - far too early! Perhaps, an afternoon nap later??

I was reading a dodgy book this morning and the character was eating scones and jam - so now I feel like scones and jam. Don't think its going to happen but I am planning some cooking today. Mandy's coming over tonight for salmon patties and pumpkin soup (oh and possibly choc beer cake for dessert). Alrighty off to the supermarket!

They killed Anya again!

Now I appreciate I have just watched season 7 of buffy, and given it was the second time I watched it, I should have assumed the outcome would be the same. But still.
Did they have to kill Anya again?
On the upside, the season is definitely better than the second time round - oh and boy Angel was only it in for 5 mins, but he was still super hot. Yay to the fictional world. (even the nerdy outdated fictional world).

But y'all probably want to know about my reality. I'm in pain. Yep big pain. I went to netball on wednesday night. We did about 10 mins of warm up (if that) and then had little games. So I did my warm ups and then played in 3 4 min games. In total I would have been lucky to 25 mins of exercise (more likely 10 mins of exercise). Oh and I didn't really enjoy it. Either way, I now hurt loads. So next Tuesday Im going to try gallic football. If I dont like that either, I'll give in and join the gym. Some exercise is needed.

Oh and my hands are killing me from computers (RSI and poor ergonomic furniture). All in all, im in a world of pain. I went out with Mandy last night (scottish chick) was good fun, and not too badly hang over today but tired as hell. So given Amy's out of town, and Mandy's in a private dinner, I decided to have a night in. I made yummy pumpkin soup for dinner and scoffed a load of french bread. Oh next time before I make soup, I need a ladel and a masher. Oh and a bigger kitchen...

Tomorrow Im off on another junk with the teachers which should be big fun. So more entries this weekend, and some photos - have a fun weekend people!

It started with a prince and ended with a frog...

There was a definite fairytale element to my evening last night.

1. A Broken Mirror:
Last night started with breaking a mirror. Now if I was in Australia that would be bad luck, but I have checked with the locals - and in China (& HK) it is not considered bad luck. (Except if you break a mirror during Chinese New Yr!). Oh and by the way the mirror broke while I was tidying up my room. Proving that tidying is bad and evil ;)

2. The Handsome Prince:
OK I don't actually know that he's a prince, but he is bloody hot. I finally ran into my neighbour again (about bloody time). WOW!!
I was taking the lift down to meet Kitty and he was waiting for the lift. Aaah what a lovely vista to see when the lift opened - soooo HOT! Oh and the bonus is that Kitty saw him too, and she agrees he is gorgeous. It also means that he wasn't just a figment of my imagination - which is comforting ;)

3. The Frog:
Ended up out with the sundress teachers which was amusing as always, but I was a bit too sober, and not up for a huge night. As always seem to happen at Little Buddha (a pub) I met people I know. I ended up finishing the night off with Rita and her 2 friends (a lovely aussie girl and local guy). Yes I piked out early but I'm out with Scottish Mandy tonight, so it's sure to be a big one. [Oh and I bloody woke up early!! New plan for the day, tidy & wash flat. Massage after lunch then nap, then out with Mandy - hopefully the massage will inspire napping.]
I left Rita and the others at the pub and walked up the hill to my flat. As per normal I was wearing my havaianas (thongs/flip flops) and stalking up the hill. (It does seem like bigger hill than I remember since returning from Aus)
I do this walk regularly but generally I'm a lot drunker. Last night I was able to watch the cockroaches threading around me as I walked home. It was halfway up the hill that I had thoughts about wearing enclosed shoes around hong kong, instead of thongs. I managed to get to my block without getting too close to a cockroach, only to find a frog sitting outside my building. Seriously - a frog! In the middle of smog filled Hong Kong there was a frog waiting for me. What is the deal!?!? Why is there a frog in Hong Kong. Why near me??? So I stood in the driveway at 1am, outside the gate (and the frog) screaming "How can there be a bloody frog in the middle of hong kong???" and then I waited for someone to walk by and assist. No one turned up, so I managed to push the gate open, and very maturely run across to the building (without jumping on the frog, or it jumping on me).

I got back into my flat, stripped off my jeans to make sure there was no hidden frogs or cockroaches - and then called Jen to share my tale of adventure (or stupidity). BTW ppl Jen resigned, I'm trying to get her to meet me in london!!

So no fairytale ending - but I'll let you know if there's one on the horizon ;)

Rejuvination!!! (sp)

So I apologise for the lack of blog updates but I've been kinda busy. For those who weren't in on the secret, I made a random short trip to sydney. Last sunday night/monday I was in a very crappy mood, pissed with work, and not much else going on in my life and just wanted to get away. I decided I needed to get out of town - I started searching zuji, and looking at flights. Vietnam, China - all cheap enough but need to get a visa, and deal with language and roughing it, which seemed like too much work in my dodgy mental state. So instead I decided to go to Australia - oh and not tell anyone so it would be a surprise.

For those of you who like the idea of surprises let me give you the rundown. Had great fun surprising Mum & Dad and Dee. The downside of surprising ppl, is that Clair, Zeina & Schwarzy were all out of town. I had a brilliant time in Oz, I arrived saturday morning and flew out wednesday afternoon, so I had a few happy (chilly days in sydney). Check out what I did below....

Friday - I worked all day (even taught a class). Got an email from my mum asking if I would be home friday night so she could call. I told her I would be out and would call her saturday morning. Then I jumped on the plane to oz.

Saturday - Arrived 8am in sydney, picked up by the Hammies. We drove to my folks place and when we were outside i called home. Dad picked up, we chatted a bit - i told him I couldn't sleep and was up early, then Uncle Pete rang the doorbell.
"Nat, the doorbell rang, can you hold on a sec?"
I find out later that his mobile rings at the same time, so he's talking on the mobile, hands the house phone to mum who's just waking up (telling her its Nat on the phone) and then answers the door. To find me standing there. He was very confused, it was very very fun. He just stood there looking ;) Was big fun. So after having fun surprising the folks, I surprised Dee, then attempted to surprise Ebby but she wasnt there :( Caity and I wandered in the avo, and then Saturday night we went to the Dolphin hotel (crown st) with Caity, Mandy, Ebby & Niamh. Lots of fun and I even managed to pick up a gay boy (seriously I didn't even do anything, they just love me). We then went to Mickeys for dessert - was very yummy and who knew they had an upstairs!
Sunday involved bondi to bronte walk with dad, then brunch with Mum, Dad, Uncle Phoo, Mimi, Dee & Draghi (sp). Some shopping (2 new havanianas & 2 shoes) and an afternoon spent on the couch with Ebby. I miss just hanging out with friends. Sunday night yummy family dinner with Caity & Mandy as well. Chicken Soup, potato pie, tandori chicken, salad and yummy apple crumble! Mmmmm mums cooking!!
Monday I had to go to work, monday night I went to my cousins for more yummy food, and then hang out at Dees. Tuesday was off to work yet again, and then a brilliant night at Hippo Lounge followed by Mohr Fish. I love Mohr Fish, and I love the atmosphere, and most importantly I love my friends. Clair and Zeina were back in town, and in addition Steve, Ebby and of course Caity joined me. A truly perfect evening - thanks guys!
Wednesday involved a sleep in, a visit to the bookshop and coffee and snacks with mum at the airport. Flight back was good, empty seats and on demand movies and cds - was great. Back in HK by 10:30pm, unfortunately too tired or lazy and ended up paying for my most expensive cab ride yet. (And yet still only about $70 aus).

Work today was full on. Started off with a presentation to the Global MD (which went well), and ended with a phone call from the Tokyo MD asking me to spend a couple of wks in Tokyo in October. Gee I don't know - hehheheheh. I can't wait!

Tomorrow is friday and then a lovely weekend. Tomorrow night I'm off with Amy and the sundress teachers (who I haven't seen in ages). Sat night heading out with Mandy (scottish chick), and in between I'm planning to get a massage and buy new headphones. Speaking of which, I better pay off my credit card.

I'm watching Buffy - season 7 - and Giles is wearing my winter london coat. Seriously...

BTW I'm feeling great after my trip to Sydney - cheap therapy!!

Pictures speak louder than words....

Not feeling very verbose...

Fun busy birthday week.... check out the photos....

Nat's photos...

Gay Tzeen Ah?

While talking to the folks this weekend, I mentioned I was heading to the market to buy food and they enquired how much it costs. So to help give you an idea of what I pay for things, I have included my market shop below. All prices are in HK$ so you can convert to whatever currency you like...

6 bananas $4.50
2 oranges $4.00
1 avocado $7.00
2 mangos $8.00 (mangos are going out of season, so prices are higher)
bunch of seedless grapes $9.00
white mushrooms $6.00
2 tomatos & 2 potatos $9.00

Thats about all I bought on sunday. Then I managed to spend $300 on toiletries (nail polish remover, moisturiser, toothpaste, and random other stuff!)

Meat and wine are the most expensive bits. I don't drink much in the way of wine alone - so have mainly been drinking out. An average bottle of wine is about $120, $100 if you're lucky.

Meat varies, based on which country I choose to buy my meat from, and which store. I rarely buy local meat and don't buy meat soo often. Next time I buy meat I'll record how much I spend on it. Today I'm making pasta with left over mince, so the meat part is free ;) (well I bought it a few weeks ago, and cant remember how much it was!)

Oh last food money comment. On the way back from the markets on sunday, I was hungry and decided to stop at one of the chinese fast food stores for a late lunch. (Cafe de Coral). I had one of their tea sets - only $12, and I got Honey chicken wings, Corn and a coffee - very yummy. A Bargain!!

So tomorrow. Its my birthday. Did ya know? I have planned a very easy day at work, lots of mindless tasks that should be easy enough to complete. Going for Yum Cha for lunch with a couple of friends, and then pizza for dinner.

I walked in the building this evening and there was a pccw bill in my mail box, and I looked over at the doorman and there were a stack of large envelopes/packages tied together. I knew it was for me. You know when you just know. I had 3 packages waiting for me - and I haven't opened them yet! I'm going to leave them to open first thing in the morning - on my BIRTHDAY.

So who are the wonderful peoople that sent me presents (on time!)????

Jen,
Will
and WILL -
yep Will sent 2. Will rules (actually so does Jen, Will just rules a little bit more)

Yay for pressies. Now what are the chances I don't open them until tomorrow???

A Day at the Beach!

Halfway through a night out last night with Amy & Kitty, while drinking my Mojito I suggested a picnic on the beach today. It was a great success, managing to get started by 1pm (aiming for 12:30) we stocked up on picnic food and headed to Repulse Bay. I had never been to Repulse before, but was very close to it on the junk last week, and Stanley (where I went with Caity) is really close. We ended up spending all day at the beach (I was mostly under a tree and covered in sunscreen), eating and swimming and Jeff joined us as well. A perfect day, and on the way back we ended up stopping for gourmet burgers and touring Great (The expensive yuppy supermarket). Jeff is a mega foodie and hadn't been to Great before so we had a great time touring around. I purchased chocolate syrup (for ice cream), frozen raspberries, and some mature chedder (for brekkie tomorrow). So yeh I had some vague plans to meet for drinks tonight but it was after 8 by the time I got home, (and boy was a shower great after the day at the beach) so instead I have been washing towels and watching the Apprentice. It's actually a pretty amusing show. I also saw ads for Malcolm in the Middle, Prison Break and House so there will be some decent TV on. Chances are it wont be on when I want to watch;)

Tomorrow i have the gas man coming to fix the water heater. Im hoping he speaks english. Then I'm off to meet Hayley and maybe some others for some drinks, should be good. Oh and I need to go to the markets and get some fruit and veg. Amy and Kitty taught me some cantonese phrases last night, so maybe I'll try them out.

I had more to say, but can't remember what. Oh yeh. I'm thinking of cutting my hair. I always wear it up here cause its too bloody hot, and my hair is so foul all the time. It's all thin and stringy at the moment, with a decent cut it could improve a little. I'm thinking maybe a messy cut for just above shoulder length. What do people think? Should I risk getting it cut here, or wait another month or so, until London. Thoughts/advice ppl???

Feelings for Ebby....

Miss Books on Bronte complained that my blog was to event driven and not enough about how im feeling. So this post is focused on feelings, and dedicated to Ebby.

I am feeling:

* THANKFUL; that there is an australian style bbq chicken place in the next street.
* CONFUSED; that the bbq chicken place doesn't sell hot chips with their chickens!
* LAZY; I should be doing chores instead I am on the net and watching tv
* UNHEALTHY; (is that a feeling?) Apart from being bigger than everyone, I am developing some scary addictions.
* SLOTHLIKE; vegging on my new couch, eating chips and starbux lamingtons - mmmmm
* UNLOVED; I think my birthday's going to be tough. I miss my friends (and I guess my family too ;) and I could do with some hot boy declaring his undying affection for me.
* BORED; with work and with my week. I do nothing after work, and walking home is pleasant, but I need some playmates.
* AMUSED; with HK life, television and ads - I just watched one about illegal downloading of music - did you know it was illegal?
* BEMUSED; with ryanair costing me 50 pnds for 3 flights in Europe, and Eurostar costing 150 pnds for 1 train ride!
* APPREHENSIVE; that no one will turn up to Hayley and my party - or that 3 people will turn up and we'll owe a furtune to the bar!!
* EXCITED; that Im having a birthday dinner, and a birthday party, and a birthday wk, and Jen has sent me a package!
* HAPPY; that no matter where in the world I still have the best friends, even if sometimes I am too damn far from them....
* TIRED; bed time ;)

The problem with Asian Chicks

Yay! I had a yummy dinner with Ms Pau-Ling from work (and many drinks - including 1 either bought by the barman or forgotton by the barman) and then I booked a pub for my birthday party. Me and my new aussie friend Hayley are having a joint birthday party on Saturday 19th Aug, at 8pm. Anyone who discovers this blog is invited (did u guys notice some random discovered and commented on my blog - how cool is that!!) Its a place called "Joyce aint here", which is run by a canadian couple (well she's kinda a hong kong chick, he's a canook) and its down the road from my house, and its the place I meant the junk teachers (Caity - remember). So that's where my birthday party is- adn they're even supplying a birthday cake!! Yay!

And then for my actual birthday (the 15th of Aug people) I'm going to organise a dinner out with a few friends (I only have a few!) . Going to a local pizza joint that always smells yummm...

Work is samo, have my review tomorrow, should be either uneventful or negative, im hoping for uneventful...Oh Will too drunk to book eurostar tonight, will do it tomorrow - sorry ;)

Oh hang on I'm changing the Blog title - it was "I'm having a party!!"

So Pau-Ling is as Aussie as you can get (commonly known as ABC or a banana - Australian born chinese). Ie shes looks asian, but acts and is Aussie. For all purposes she is aussie. Except for the conversation about size. I was talking about ppl here and saying that size 14 size is big but not fat, and she was saying well 10-12 is large so 14 is fat. Uuumm I'm 10 -12 (on a good day) as are most ppl in any normal country , and just b/c this country is warped there is no reason to believe that size 14 is fat! This is the problem with being in a country with tiny women! Stupid skinny women! How did I ever manage to be friends with Jen? Maybe as she grew up in the US she was used to fat ppl and kept her skinny thoughts to herself? Or maybe I never asked her what size she considered fat?? ahhh jen??!>>!

The downside of walking home....

My bloody soup leaked in my backpack!! Not fair!! it was going to be my dinner - well it will still be my dinner, just a smaller one - with a salad I guess.
Other than that, I've finished my online training for 2 wks (thankfully!) and booked lovely cheap ryanair flights to Glasgow & Dublin in September. Now all thats left is to book Eurostar to Paris. Yay!!

Oh and a birthday party - or dinner or something...

Not feeling very verbose this evening - I'm sure there's plenty to say - but instead I have to go wash my backpack ;) and I might as well wash my tablecloth too!

Sunday night again...

Planning an early night to make up for my late night last night and terribly early wake this morning (for no reason). Thankfully the HK broadcasting powers are helping by not supplying anything to watch on tv anyway. I had a reasonably active weekend, Saturday Aleen (the only other person at work who I like - apart from PL) came over and I made yummy pasta and salad and we watched Pirates of the Carribean. We then went to the movies and watched the sequel. All good. Then I went on a pub crawl with scottish Mandy, which was great fun, but unfortunately I piked early (3am).

Woke up today, feeling OK but not great - bloody absinth. I then met a friend for a long brunch at a new cafe - good coffee, average food. I then wandered and did some chores and decided I would make Lamb Tagine for dinner - which involved visiting the wet markets & 3 supermarkets to get the ingredients. Now you should know that I could have got everything from the super expensive yuppy supermarket, but instead I visited a variety of outlets to get the best deal.

Oh and I wander down to the wet markets most weeks to the same street, and pass the same stores. Today I was looking closer at one of the stores i always pass, and it has the bbq'ed chickens and ducks hanging in the windows - as most do. Looking a little closer I noticed a big stack of cages in the back with hundreds of chickens stuffed in each cage. Very disturbing - easy to see how avian flu spread. And people, that is why I only buy my meat from supermarkets, that has been born in NOT China.

Work tomorrow, not so excited. I am doing online training again - the one I do every 2 wks. So boring.

Oh and another note, I've decided I have to get healthier. So eat better, more exercise etc. Given my birthday is coming up, I figure I will begin this after my birthday until I go to london. I'll let you know how I go.

Slinging Singaporeans, cheap books & Raffles the cat

I rushed back to the office tonight to pick up my laundry tag that I had left on my desk, then headed home (via the laundry) and the bloody laundry was closed! I don't know why, they're not meant to close til 8! So much for clean clothes ;)

Singapore was great, I was staying in an amazing hotel, with the worlds most comfortable bed, and great staff.... Oh and wow - they speak English there, and they have aussie chocolates, and its almost like being in a civilised country. It was luxury. I didn't realise until I got back into Hong Kong last night, and the taxi driver couldn't understand me and everything seemed dirty in comparison.

Oh and work today was crazy - Some days (maybe most) I get nothing done. One more day of work then I get a weekend. Catching up with some friends. Going to the movies sat day to see Pirates, then out Sat night (planning to go about 10pm, ill need an afternoon nap!)Also hoping for a massage, and to set up birthday plans.

If nothing else the singapore trip will keep me happy for a while - I bought more than 10 books, I stocked up on aussie chocs and snakes (the natural confectionary kind). Oh and I visited Raffles hotel and tried a Singapore Sling - Overrated!!
My hotel was waaaaayyyy better - Fullerton Hotel

Oh and dad - you would have loved the flight last night. Landing while Typhoon warning 3 was hoisted - oh such fun!

Work parties just aint the same since Logica

We had a mid year work do last night. It involved a boat trip and dinner and drinks. The boat trip was OK, the weather was pretty overcast but I managed to have a very nice swim. Other than that, it was pretty boring. Mostly I don't like th people I work with. I have nothing to say to most of them, and when drunk many of them are like stupid little boys. Probably I was not drunk enough, but I doubt it would have helped....

Managed to catch up on a bit of sleep today and have packed mostly for Singapore. I leave early tomorrow and am staying in a lovely hotel. I hope they have a bath, my flat doesn't and I feel like one. Either way they have a lovely pool so I'll go for a swim.

Didn't do much this wk, taught every day so was mostly zonked at night. Dinner party on sunday night was good fun - check out pictures here
Dinner Party (& flat) pictures

Have been eating badly, going to do better when I get back from Sing...Oh wow - Police Academy is on - (Police Academy in Moscow) looks scary! Have organised a small gathering tonight with a couple of people, so hopefully will be fun. And maybe I will feel more awake after my shower. Either way excited for Singapore!!

Things that make me happy (albeit temporarily)

So today wasn't great and I haven't had a social life in a while (well not one involving a boy), yet a few little things added up to make me happy. I walked home from work today, I had forgotten what hard work the hill was. On my way home I managed to pick up blueberries, avocados and a shoe rack (finally) - for a bargain $hk20. I don't know what put me in a good mood, definitely the work helped - even though it was hot, stuffy and smoggy, I still enjoyed it. Oh and one of the girls at work brought us ice cream and another brought cake, so I spent the afternoon eating haagendaaz & cake, after a very yummy kung po chicken lunch.
Oh and I'm off to Singapore next week (and Simone gave me someone to visit while I'm there, and sent me a very sweet email too.) Oh and I'm working on a longer trip to Tokyo. Unfortunately they want me to go Tokyo when I'm planning to be on holiday. And as much as I really want to go to Tokyo, I'm not willing to give up a weekend with Will in Paris, a week in London with Chris, Trudi & the girls, and a wkend in Dublin with RM & Beth. Oooh and my pleb starts tomorrow - can't wait!

Anyway better make some dinner and tidy up a bit. If i can be bothered I'd update with dinner party photos. A great success!

OK no photos tonight, but guess what!?!??! I have finally booked my trip to london!! I have been putting it off and hoping the flights get cheaper. I checked it out yesterday and the cheapest flight with a non dodge airline was HK$6100. Well i randomly checked now before logging off and booked myself a flight direct from HK to london, flying BA, for only HK$4800 - BARGAIN!!! Hopefully they don't back out!! So people, this goes on my list of things that make me happy ;) I can't wait!! Night all - sweet dreams!!

All I need is the right motivation...

My flat is spotless! I vacuumed, I cleaned, and everything is put away (oh except for that bag of ironing I have to do sometime). And I imagine you are now asking yourself " to what do we owe this amazing occurance?". Well I'm having a dinner party. Not your typical Nat dinner party with 12 ppl, 6 courses and 19 bottles of wine. No this is a testing the water type dinner party. A Sunday roast, 2 simple courses , 1 bottle of wine (but I'm hoping the guests bring more ;) and 3 guests. I have 5 chairs, but the table really only fits 4, and the oven is minature (think microwave) and a chicken divides nicely by 4. Oh and I invited an additional person and she turned me down (well she had a family thing). And I'm short of friends, well friends that I'd want to invite over to my house anyway ;)
So whos coming? Amy, Amy's bf - Jeff, and Kitty. (This is the same group I spent last sunday with, if you guys are keeping up.)
I'm making rotisserie chicken, mash potato, and if I can find some decent mangos, a green salad with mango and balsamic dressing - yummo. Oh and dessert (if i can find a couple more granny smith apples) is apple crumble. Should be yummo if I can find the ingredients. At the moment I am short mangos, lettuce, herbs, granny smith and a chicken. I went to the cheap supermarket yesterday and they were short quite a few things. So after my shower I'm off to the markets to pick up the veg, and then the expensive supermarket to pick up granny smith and chicken. (I'm not quite at the point of eating local chickens - given avian flu and all that...)

I've spent all wkend in my flat trying to tidy up, with little visits to the store to buy stuff i needed. I really need a shoe rack, but I have yet to find one. Maybe today. Oh and last night made myself a super yummy spaghetti and meatballs (yummo) and watched a disney movie "eight below". About this rescue dogs in Antartica, It wasn't on my list of movies to watch but a girl at work leant it to me. It was actually really good. Seriously. And yes I'm terribly hormonal at the moment, so I was exceptionally teary over these lost dogs - but still... Yep another exciting saturday night for ms bell....

TFIF! And a pleb of my very own!!

Work today was wasteful (as if it isn't always). I worked as slow as if I had a hangover, yet I hadn't had a drink in days, and I had slept pretty well the night before. A definite case of friday-itis!
The highlight of my day - I have hired my very own PLEB. She starts on tuesday! I can't wait! The only bummer is I'm teaching every day next wk and in singapore the following so not going to have lots of time to boss the pleb around :(

This weekend im having my first dinner party. Going to test out my mini oven, and see if my new friends appreciate my dinner parties. At the moment got 3 ppl coming over on sunday, but trying to find one more - we'll see how i go. Otherwise just planning to tidy the flat, get organised and maybe be a bit chilling...

Oh and I'm trying to find a cheap flight to london or paris in september (but not too cheap, i still want to fly a decent airline ;)

I better get changed, im off to miras for shabbat dinner - Not sure about her friends, but the food is good ;)

More later guys - oh and if anyone knows someone in singapore let me know.

Too many clothes & no kitchen storage....

I'm so over unpacking - I have nowhere to put anything, 4 boxes to still unpack, and no appropriate clothes. Let me give you a snapshot of my wardrobe:
3 pairs of boots
8 jumpers
4 cardigans
4 jackets
8 jeans
34 long sleeve tees
2 skivvys
4 winter work pants
4 winter skirts
84 t shirts
23 singlets
2 shorts (both ugly)
2 skirts
4 sundresses (1 v. short, 1 v. ugly, 2 v.clingy)
1 Winter Coat!!

All in all, dont like my wardrobe any more now that it's in HK. BTW does anyone think this wardrobe would be more appropriate in London? Or at least Melbourne??
BTW My mother put about 40 sheets, blankets and towels in my bloody boxes, and now I have no where to store it. Mum, I dont have that many ppl to sleep over - and if I did I'd make them all share my bed ;)

Oh and the Kitchen. I don't know what I'm going to do. Ive put the big bowels in the dining room, and I guess the knifes will go there too. Again mum put in a thousand plastic containers which I have to put somewhere. This afternoon I'm going to go buy a load of plastic storage boxes, and just put everything in that, and stick it in the spare room.

When I have guests there will be no guest wardrobe space. I'm sorry - but I have too much shit. Oh and I'm giving up washing, I'll just throw out stuff. That might help...

So I was trying to work out what to wear to work this morning (I still have nothing to wear). And I spent 10 minutes trying to remember what I wore the first 3 days of the wk, so I could wear something different. It's all bluring into one. On the up side, I am interviewing someone today to be my temporary pleb. My life long dream fulfilled, my very own pleb.

Final thought - Mutant fruit alive and well in the US of A (and happily exported to HK). I bought an ate a very overpriced mango nectarine (mutant breed)from the overpriced food hall (think David Jones or Fortram & Mason). Now granted it will probably cause cancer or something equivalent, and it did cost more than my lunch most days, it was very yumm.

Oh one more final thought - I have a new plan for my holiday - Flying to Paris (instead of london) and spending the wkend in Paris with Will, then heading to london for the wk, the Dublin with RM & Beth for the second wkend. Should be good fun! BTW I think Will is forgetting my sense of humour - I think he's been away too long ;)

Yes I should be unpacking but I just found Serenity & my easter egg....

Maybe after dinner and a dvd I'll be more productive. I've unpacked my books and dvds and cds - only 7 boxes to go ;)

Yes I have Stephanie, I have Serenity, I have my teddy bear -> I am now happy!
As if I tried to be anything but the materialistic bitch I truly aim ;)

A slow rainy sunday...

I woke up far too early after having the latest night I've had in a wk. The party was good fun, although lacking in eligible men (as it seems most HK is). Everyone seemed to know everyone, and yet they were all very friendly to me (the outsider) and I even got a follow up invite to yum cha this morn (but had alternate plans). So it seems I have secured the junk teachers as friends, and I really like hanging out with them, but I'm still in the initial phases. I miss Caity, I miss having silences that don't feel long and awkward. I suck at filling awkward silences - given the crap I spurt I'm surprised these ppl still want to me friend. I dont quite get it.

We were meant to go to an island today but it was raining, so instead we went to a cuban restaurant for brunch and live cuban music. Was good fun, went with Amy and Jeff (her bf) and Kitty (another geo gal) and one of Kitty's friend. I met yet another english boy who I'm sure is gay, yet he may be straight. It reminds me of the saying about english public school boys ;)

Enjoyed the brunch, but again new friends are just a little bit more effort. Its not as easy as hanging out with Caity or Schwarzy or Will. Did a bit of shopping this afternoon -bloody Zara and their sale. I was forced to buy a couple of tops, I couldn't help it! Oh and yesterday I went into another store and bought a pair of black pants, they also had another style but when I asked for the bigger size, they said they don't make it that big. So that settles it. I'm going on a diet, and doing some exercise. Starting tomorrow!

Its all falling into place....finally...

I woke up this morning and was feeling pretty good, and had a craving for toasted cheese and tomato. So I wondered down to the supermarket, picked up cheese and tomato and my dry cleaning and headed home. BTW given my last shop I would like to publish my shop for today:
* cheese
* tomato
* mushrooms
* mango
* paul newman pasta sauce
* water

How healthy was this shop? And I'm about to make spaghetti with pasta sauce and mushrooms for dinner - yummo!
Last night was wandering through Lan Kwai Fong, and went into a pub looking for the sundress teachers, but instead ran into a group of girls I know (that I hadn't seen for a while). It was great randomly catching up with them, and one of the girls mentioned she was going to Ikea today so I decided to join her. Given my boxes arrive on wednesday I need some furniture - drawers and a bookshelf!
This afternoon I met Elsie at Ikea, but on the way managed to buy a great pair of black pants, and a couple of legal dvds. Yes people, I bought legal dvds but they were on sale. And I gave in and bought Buffy Series 7!! hey it wasn't too expensive, according to xe - only AUS$50! And I bought myself a bookshelf, drawers, lamp and a few more plates - so I can have guests over.

Tonight I'm off to a fundraising party with the junk teachers, haven't seen them in a while, so hopefully it will be big fun. And I'm once again rocking up to a party alone, but hoping will run into people I know quickly. I'm even going to make a half assed effort to dress up and maybe find myself a boy to snog. My neighbour is putting me to shame. He has a different girl every week. This weeks gal was a very slutty sparkly red high heels (I'm judging the girl based on the shoes outside his door!) Last wks was a very small pair of white conservative shoes ;)

Off to make dinner and then hopefully a very fun night!
I had a productive morning tidying up the flat and went to causeway bay (shopping area) in the afternoon.

Free drugs for all!

After a sleepless night coughing up a lung - I decided to see a dr today. Well actually I was walking downstairs to go buy some drugs from the chemist, when one of the guys mentioned that if I went to the Dr, he would supply me with free drugs (the best sort). So went to visit a lovely sydney trained doc, and left with cold tablets for day and night, and cough medicine for day and night - and guess what - no charge!

After staring a bit too long at McDonalds I decided to head to the supermarket to pick up some comfort food. Check out this shopping list:
* chips - thins original (called lays)
* cheezels (malaysian cheezels aren't as good as aussie ones)
* fonzies (malaysian twisties - not as good)
* frozen meat pie (dinner tonight)
* oven fry chips (low fat ones mum)
* lamingtons
* cherries

Yay for comfort food. BTW guys this ain't my normal shop! And i have a healthy dessert - cherries, mango and custard apple!

Oh for those I haven't told, Im going to Singapore for a couple of days (for work) end of July - early aug. Need to finalise plans, but am waiting for my voice to return first ;)

Oh and Zeina's chocolates are yumm! I'm rationing them!

Hopefully with the help of the comfort food, and drugs, I'll be ready for my big weekend... Feel free to call/email/send chocolates!!

You know when you're really sick when.....

You come home from work, and find your house keys still in your front door!

Seriously! I've never done that before! I must be ill.
Throat is killing me - I was training all day today, and all day tomorrow. No talking tonight!

Oh and I normally wear sneakers to work and change into girlie shoes. I rocked up to work today and couldn't find my girlie shoes - I had left them at home. So I was walking round in sneakers all day. Great day!

Oh and final annoyance - Shipping company called. My boxes (are due to ) arrive tonight. Yay I thought, no - customs 4 -5 working days. If I'm really lucky I'll hear from them next monday. I won't hold my breath...

Even passing the firemen working out didn't chear me up. Maybe my roast dinner will. Early night for me, and hope I magically wake up cured tomorrow!

Circumcision, slips, massage & choccies

Before I get onto today (which is what the title refers) I shall fill you in on the last few days. Thursday as you may remember my manager resigned, and friday at work I met with the MD and had a discussion that is getting repetitive.
He asked me whether I will be around for short term or long term. Now if this sounds familar to some of you, thats because the MD of my previous job (JP@Squiz) asked the same thing. What it is about me? Do I not seem dedicated? Is it my fault ppl keep giving me boring ass jobs???

Anyway friday night I met up with Amy (who is back from the phillipines). BTW Amy was the american lass I met in the bathroom of the expat party. Amy, Pau-Ling and I went for a drink (and met P's boy) and then Amy came round for food. We then went out to LKF and then met the teachers at a house party (on a roof) in Wan Chai. Was great fun, loads of really fun ppl and plenty of drink! BTW there are now 2 groups of teachers, 1 are the ones I went on the junk with, the others are the ones I met through wearing a sundress. So I shall call one junk teachers, and one sundress teachers. Friday night was sundress teachers (although I was wearing jeans) and we had a great time. I went home at 2am and felt like I was piking! (Amy stayed til 4am and had a great time too!)

Saturday I got woken at the crack of dawn (9am) by Dj's friend that was in town. Had a fun day wandering, shopping and eating. DJ has sent me 3 ppl now, and they've all been great! I'm hoping he'll send me someone that stays for more than a day!

Went out last night with Dj's friend (Matt) and some other dude from his hostel and Amy. I love Amy, we have the same bitchy thoughts. The other dude Matt brought along was annoying and I love that Amy agrees! Also we took the boys to an expat drinks and its the same people and their very sweet but its so much effort meeting new ppl all the time. They're not as loud and obnoxious as I'm used to!!

Today I woke up at the crack of dawn (yet again)to go to Mira's baby brit. Another very cute boy (called Asher), which was then followed with a sit down breakfast, with 100 married ppl & kids. I didn't know anyone and no one spoke to me. I was standing outside and tempted to run away before the breakfast, but I couldn't find Mira to say goodbye. So I sat through a very lovely breakfast, where no one spoke to me and I was the only single person with no kids. It was awful.I wore my lovely new black and white dotted Zara dress and Caity's black wrap shoes that she left behind. I looked lovely and still no one spoke to me!

When Caity left, she put 3 pairs of shoes in a bag to throw out. So one of them was the black wrap shoes. Walking back from Shul I slipped over and almost killed myself 3 times. Now I remember why Caity was throwing them out!! Bugger.

So I finally got home in a foul mood, and there was a package waiting for me from Zeina. She sent me very cute hair clips and homemade chocolates from habberfield. I can't wait to try them after dinner!!

Oh did I mention I woke up with a terrible sore throat this morning? I figured the time had come for a massage, so I just got back from a lovely 50 min massage (cost less than $40) I really should try and get one every fortnight at that price! I then stopped by the market and chemist and picked up a load of fruit and veg and vitamins. So going to have a quiet night with lots of movies, fruit, veg, vitamins and Zeina's choccies! Thanks Zeina! Oh and Basil's dead - I'm sorry!

Just when you think things are working out - it all goes to hell!

Woe is me! I got into work at the crack of dawn, and by 8:30 already had been irritated by a number of stupid ass users. (And no people, I am NOT the helpdesk!) When Pau-Ling rocks up at 9am, she asks how I am and I tell her "it's going to be one of those days".
I HATE IT WHEN IM RIGHT!

Most of the time at work I can ignore the fact that what I do is a total waste of time and serves no purpose whatsoever. Today it was hard to ignore. The highlight (or lowlight) of my day was an impromptu team meeting that was called by my mgr Pip. Pip is the reason I took this job - Pip is cool, Pip is fun and Pip is probably the best mgr I've had (sorry McCabe). Well who wants to guess what happened. Bloody Pip RESIGNED!
So now I'm stuck in Hong Kong, doing a job no one cares about with a manager who's never met me - and who will be managing our department along with her own - I'm sure that'll work great.

So I wandered home past a dodgy dvd store and picked up these classic buys (for less than $20 for them all)
Xmen
5th Element
Black Book (who knows, some chick flick)
White Stripes Double album
Arctic Monkeys album

And now I'm watching a very scary (in the shockingly bad way ) movie called aneconda 2 (or something) . Oh bugger the hot guy just got eaten - how annoying! (heheh he's name was Ben! He now has no legs!Oop now no head! Poor Benny!)

My dinner is smelling yummy - fish baked in tomato, olive, parsley, sauce with rice. Looks good. Then I have to clean up my kitchen. This is why I need a guy - to impress with my cooking - and tidy up after ;)

I'm sure I have plenty more to say - I had a great night out on independance day - and really like my new friends (although they haven't invited me out this wkend yet:(
Time to check out my dinner....I really need someone to impress with this cooking!

9:30pm - Dinner was yum. Watching some random local "lifestyle" show. No wonder I haven't found a hot boy here yet--> I'm watching this show about latest fashion for men (in HK) and they have one asian model and one gweilo model , and both are foul, and have less muscles than me! I shall be alone forever!

Caity's gone- independance day - and too much grog!

So I had a brilliant wk with Caity, I just dropped her at the airport train station, and now im sititng here after once again too many drinks, and this time watching an exciting abc reality show called "The Shearers". Yep you guessed it, about sheep shearers in aus - exciting stuff!
Other highlights of today - i bought a new wrap dress from Zara (thanks Trudes) - a red one, and we (for the last time) enjoyed happy hour in hong kong. Oh and the teachers invited me to join them for Independance day - so more drinkies tomorrow. Oh and I got a text from the gay boy I met on Thurs night - so at least the gay boys still love me - I haven't lost my charm! So I still have married men and gay boys - at least all ain't lost -> now back to reality tv....ABC style

Have a good flight Caity - and thanks for my new friends!

A boat full of drunken teachers!

Well it's been a busy week and to prove it I slept to 1:30 today! Was great and very needed! Caity got up at the crack of dawn to meet her friend and go to Shenzhen for massage and shopping. Apart from sleeping, I got laundry done, uploaded some photos and sorta tidied (not really). BTW my new photos are here: Nats new photos!

Thursday I had an irritating day at work (as per normal) and called up Caity to meet me at a bar near my place,that has 2 for 1 happy hour that I had wanted to check out. So we had a couple of drinks, then went to another pub to meet a friend (but missed her) had another drink, then headed to another pub for some food. We then decided to check out another pub near me, that has open mic night on thursday that I had wanted to go to for a while. A lovely bar with friendly (canadian) owners. We ended up getting quite drunk and meeting a lovely group of teachers with musical skills. (aussies, brits, yanks and canadians).

Friday morning (slightly hangover - and the day off work) we were heading to one of the islands (cheung chau). On our way to the ferry stop, Nick (one of the teachers from the night before) called us and invited us a on a junk party on saturday, with 45 others! So instead we decided to head to Lamma on friday. We had a yummy seafood lunch, and walked to the other side of the island, stopping at a deserted beach (about 5 other ppl) and coming across many spiders and a snake!! We have had such amazing weather - and a brilliant time discovering Hong Kong.

Friday night we met up with my friend Pau-Ling and some random canadians - and heading home, ran into a bunch of very amusing aussies and kiwis - another bunch of teachers. So ended up staying out half the night with them - before getting up early to meet Nick and the teachers for our boat party!

Had a great day on the junk, and met some lovely people, and we both got sunburnt knees! We then got invited to one of the girls places for pizza and cranium (a board game), a perfect day and hopefully some new friends!

Oh and Nick is Derya's equivalent. I don't think hes as psychotic as she is, but he collects friends and organises events - so definitely a good person to know! Oh and all the teacher's on the boat knew each other because they were in the same intake for the english teaching program in HK a couple of yrs ago. And Boz, it turns out teachers in HK can make a fortune, maybe something to consider ;)

It's sunday night, and Caity's on her way back from China - so the big question - should I cook or buy some dinner?

Oh and Basil is sooo almost dead - I'm sorry Basil...

Caity leaves tomorrow night, and them I'm on my own again. And another week of work ahead - gotta love sundays night....

I now know why chicken (rare ones) are tied up

So Caity has spent the day in Macau, and she sent me a text that she was running late. I decided to make her a yummy dinner. On Sunday (as well as spending the day in Stanley - more about that later) we bought an electric oven. Very cheap, and very functional. For Sunday dinner, we made roast veg and lamb. Today I decided to try out the rotisserie function of the oven. So it took me 3 supermarkets to find an affordable, non avion flu effected bird. I finally got home, with bird, mango and brocolli (and ice cream) turned on the oven, and started reading the instructions for the rotisserie. I dressed the chicken in garlic, onion, salt, pepper and oil and was finally ready to begin. I managed to get the chicken in the oven (on skewers) and turn it on. And I noticed the chicken legs were scrapping the bottom of the oven, so I took the chicken out, and found some cotton and tied up the legs, and managed to get the chicken back on the rotisserie. It started up again, and one of the wings kept falling, so it wasn't roasting smoothly - out came the chicken, and more cotton to tie it up. Unfortunately not enough cotton, or not tight enough knots, and the wing was free again. So getting fed up I managed to find a hair elastic, and now (after spilling my wine) my chicken is cooking happily. (I really need to get kitchen string). And more importantly Caity got home, after a fun day in Macau, and was very happy with my rotisserie experiment. Oh and she's presently preparing the veg, because it seems rotisserie chicken only takes about 30-40 mins!
BTW we had a great weekend, and discovered the other side of Hong Kong Island. Who knew it was a tropical island? Check out this:

More to discover this wkend! I've got friday off work to spend with Caity and whole wkend of fun before she leaves on monday. Lucky Me!! Oh and Basil is dying :(
(Oh and the chicken here didn't come tied up!)
10:30pm OK The chicken kicks ass!! I love my rotisserie! I love that i paid less than $50 (aus) for it! And I'm sure it bakes too! Bargain!! Yummy rotisserie chicken with potato/pumpkin mash and oyster bay wine, with monaco bars and chocolate fridge cake for dessert. A perfect meal. I stated to Caity that I generally prefer what I cook to what I buy out. And Caity reminded me, that I am a brilliant cook. She's right!

Caitys Here! Caitys Here!

Well Caity arrived safe and sound yesterday afternoon (I skipped work a little early to meet her). I took her back to my flat, where we opened the Oyster Bay, and twistes, cheezels and chips and had a lovely entree. (While talking to Niamh, Zeina & Brendan on Skype). We then went out on the town (Lan Kwai Fong of course), there was some expat drinks going on at one of the pubs, and I even knew a couple of people. Had a fun night chatting and drinking, and was home in bed by midnight. (early for HK). On our way back home, we ran into another person I knew (one of the journalists) so Caity got hte impression that I had lots of friends (or at least knew loads of people). I planned it well - heh ;)

So today were going to wander round the food markets and buy some fruit and veg. Then head on to some shops for some clothes shopping. Looks like sales are on, and my clothes are never going to arrive from Oz and I'm so over everything I have here with me!!
Oh and havent seen Mr Short Shorts, but last night in the lift we met Mr Pink Stripy Shirt, who lives the floor below, and is not bad at all ;)

BTW Basil is looking a little sick - Im hoping caity can save him - if anyone has advice.....

Isn't he cute???

Little Ben, isn't he cute ;) Ben called me tonight! we chatted and surfed the web and managed to find his alternate life.
Check out mine.... http://epiczine.com/issue/200402/page56.htm

Had a very strange phone call today, don't think it will lead anywhere but at least he gave me something to think about. Is that mysterious enough??

Caity arrives tomorrow so I'm going to a quick tidy of the flat, and early to bed to be very awake for miss caity. Oh ran into gay boy walking back from the supermarket. Gotta love a gay boy, he runs into me and the first thing he does is check out whats in my shopping bag ;) So we both made excuses for not catching up sooner, I still think its doubtful I'll ever hear from him again. But it was nice to finally run into someone randomly in town. Given its such a small place, its meant to happen a lot. Sooner or later I'll have to run into my neighbour.

Yay one more sleep, and Caity arrives!!

Thank God for Alexander McCall Smith

I went to the public library again today, I needed some stuff to read, and I decided to get something on Fen Shui and Confuscious. So I managed to get the non fiction stuff (although I imagine there would be more a selection if I could read chinese). I then proceeded to the fiction floor. I was walking around the shelves for a very long time, and found nothing (and I'm really not picky when it comes to books). I pictured my blog title "No library books since the english handover!". And then I saw it, a hidden little collection of Alexander McCall Smith books (from the No.1 Ladies Detective Agency), there are at least 4 hidden in the mass of awful awful books. I didnt want to over do it, so I just took one. I need to make the good books last!

What else? I have been super busy. Most nights I head home, do a bit of cooking and tidy the kitchen and chat and thats my night gone. Oh I heard from my shipping ppl today, and my stuff will arrive about July 10. Which is still ages away. So Caity and I will have to do some shopping. There seems to be sales on . And I need swimmers cause were planning some island hoping next wkend.

Oh well need to tidy the house, in prep for caitys visit!

OK Spare room and Bathroom done - only have bedroom, lounge, dining, kitchen to go. Damn that sounds like a lot. But I am enjoying my new music - thanks Clair - I believe they're called Thirsty Merc? Presently singing a song called Katie Q. Kinda ironic really ;) BTW Katie K are u reading this? How r u????
Ok back to it!

10:20pm (who knows what time i started, but id guess about 9pm - See look at what I do for you Caity!) Mostly done, just need to vacuum and cut up pineapple for brekkie tomorrow and refill water - and finito. Vacuuming sux - specially with my little dust buster. Given I only ever vacuum before VIPs I figured there was no need to invest in a real one.
Wonder if I keep playing this CD loudly, if the hot neighbour will come over and ask me to turn the music down?? Just turn in up a little more....

Almost 11pm - It couldn't be easy could it - Stupid vacuum thingy not working, hoping it needs some charging so I'm gonna leave it charging o/night and hope for the best. BTW Zeina found ur pressie on my lounge floor, so I haven't posted it yet ;) Pineapple cut up - did I mention I paid the equiv of 50 cents for it? I can't work out why it was so cheap today - normally I need to haggle to get it under $2 and today they're selling for 50 cents (in a supermarket no less). Still tastes good though ;) Night folks (and no door knocking from Mr Hot - Ok suggestions for a better name ppl (and no Mr Big is not an option!))

Caitys Coming, Caitys Coming!

So just back from Macau, am zonked! A very early start today and nice and busy - hang around Macau, long lunch and go karting. Nice group of ppl, but once again no one that stood out. I just need 1 close friend to take to these sort of things. Got a busy day of stuff tomorrow, once again will try for a massage but who knows. Meeting some ppl at 2 for a drink, then dessert buffet tomorrow night (cant wait!)
Next week I've got some stuff happening, a friend of ma and pa's is in town wed night, and Caity arrives friday!! Should be good fun. Will attempt to update my blog with some observations of macau, tokyo and life in hk this wk. (at some point, when I'm not so tired). Also have started investigating joining a gym, might occur after caity leaves!!
BTW did you guys know maltesers are australian (made in ballarat)?
Oh and Go Soccerooos!!

Ben Harper.....the Japanese Way!

I am far too tired to do any credit to this blog entry, so no doubt I will be editing it in a day or two to truly express my awe.
RM, Chris and McCabe can attest to the fact that when we saw Mr Harper in Brixton we thought he was beyond amazing. Well in Tokyo I was a little bit more impressed. And yes it probably had a little to do with the fact that I was in the front row (in front of the huge, yet very endearing bass player), and that everyone in between me and Mr Harper was 3 foot tall, so I felt like he was playing just for me ;) Oh and they were filming the show, so Benny was showing off a bit - doing things like singing directly to the audience (look kids no mic), jumping into the crowd and generally being extra sexy (if thats possible). Oh and the Japanese are so polite, no pushing into the front row, except of course when Mr Harper decided to jump into the crowd, there was a tiny bit of pushing there (but nothing like what ud get in Oz)
So the concert was brilliant, Tokyo was amazing, and im back in HK (not so bad), with Clair (all good) , back at work (crapola).
More details on Tokyo, Ben and Bonnie to follow. Zeina - is that enough to keep you going dear? Can I go meet Clair now?? ;)

Too much chilli yet again!

I once again added too much chilli sauce to my soup. I can't finish it, its too hot for too hot food ;)
Just a quick one, as I haven't tidied the kitchen or finished packing for tomorrow, and I need to leave before 6am!
Schwarzy's in town again and we managed to meet up for lunch, which was lovely. I went to my African Drum class which was very fun, although I suck very badly. I am still amazed at how talentless I am - in all areas.
Last night I met a couple of ppl from the expat site for a drink, then ended up joining another group at the pub, and stayed at til 1:30am (on a school night!) Was good fun, and I found a group that somewhat resembled Derya's group (although I haven't met the equivalent Derya character yet). Oh and there a bunch of expat journalists, so PD will be proud. And 1 of them lives in my street - so I have big hopes and joining this social sect. We shall see.
Off to Tokyo tomorrow early - can't wait. I have no plans tomorrow - im going to backpack. Rock up in Tokyo with my lonely planet in hand, and just wander. I cant wait!
Probably wont be online till Monday, so feel free to bombard me with emails for when I get back!
(Oh Mum, I will be on my work email on Friday, in case you're missing me!)

African drumming, mold and inner space...

I had the boringest day at work today, every minute dragged. One upside was that I brought in my chocolate fridge cake - the down side of course was I had to share it with everyone, and you know how I love sharing. But everyone totally appreciated my brilliance in the kitchen (as they should!). Then at about 5 o'clock I got a phone call from Bonnie (remember the canadian whos coming to Ben Harper). Her and her husband (yes she's married) have signed up for this african drumming course, but he's going to be away for work, so do I want to go? Well not only does this sound like I'm actually being invited to something (instead of me doing the inviting) but I get to bang on drums, and its down the road from my house! So pretty soon I will be african drummer extraordinaire! Can't wait!
So this morning I woke up, got ready for work, and noticed that my spare pillow had some white stuff on it - seemingly mold. It seems I'm not meant to leave any windows open, and always have my dehumidifer on, and stuff like that. I'm failing so far! Tonight I have washed my sheets and pillow, and it didnt clean it. So I went to the supermarket and bought super spray wash thingy (and mint slices) and put on the washing again. Now it is just finishing off its 3rd round, and it better be damn clean!! I'm so over house chores. I need to find a boy to act as my slave - I seem to constantly be washing clothes, dish washing or taking out rubbish. This is the downside of living alone...Oh and Ive started talking to myself ;)
Oh Schwarzy is back this week, so I should be able to catch up with her wednesday for brekkie or dessert or something....
Oh and I watched Inner Space on TV tonight - I hadn't seen that film in years - its great!!
Anyway time to go eat some chocolate fridge cake - toodles....

Am I ready for such responsibility??

Yesterday I took the plunge - I bought a plant! A basil plant - vote now (on the right) for how long you think it will survive.
Other happenings this weekend - I saw XMen3 with a new friend, a lovely Boston gal called Caroline. So hopefully another friend. I also went out last night for drinks which was fun and met Mira le for early brunch this morning. Oooh and I made chocolate fridge cake - for myself! But I will share a bit with work ppl and Mira. So this week should be good, got 3 days of work, then off to Tokyo , and next weekend got the Ben Harper concert. Cant wait!! Normally I waffle on far more than this, wonder whats up?? hmm strange....

Clair is coming! Clair is coming!

So I'm not entirely convinced that I need to make friends who live in HK. Between my high powered career friends who are being sent to HK for work, and DJ supplying random ppl visiting town - I should be kept busy enough with visitors, to not have to worry about locals ;)
So its Thursday night and I did have the option to go meet some people (strangers) in a pub for a drink, but instead vegging on the couch, planning an early night.
My plan for the next 2 wks is as follows:
tomorrow (friday) - work (lots of paper work) and hopefully getting invited out for some drinks - maybe...
This wkend - nothin planned yet, but who knows what will come up. I'm definately trying to be positive. Oh and I need to fit in a massage (how long have i been saying this?)
Next monday - tuesday - working including a couple of real life trianing session
wednesday - more paperwork ;)
Thursday - day off!! fly to Tokyo. Arrive Tokyo in the avo, tour around by myself, staying in the luxury of ANA
Friday - working in the Tokyo office - running 5 sessions! I hope they like me (need to convince them they need to bring me over for more training!) Out with the guys from the Tokyo office.
Saturday - meeting up with new friend Bonnie to explore Tokyo, and hit the Ben Harper concert. Cant wait!!
Sunday - spend the day in Tokyo, get back to HK 10pm. And Clair arrives!!
Mon - Wed : work and HANG OUT WITH CLAIR!!!
thursday: post clair, post tokyo - hmmmm suggestions?

Harriet the Spy/ Midweek Mooching

Harriet the Spy has to choose between friends and being a spy, and she picks being a spy. A number of scenes later she renegs, and decides she wants her friends. I find myself in a similar predicament. I want my friends but am forced to choose the life of a spy. Tough I know. Lonely. Dangerous. And yet still I follow this path. Oh the bravery!
No work today. Midweek moochery. Another HK public holiday, this one due to the fact a chinese poet commited suicide by dragging himself in the river many many yrs ago. But seriously whats the point of a wednesday public holiday? It was nice breaking the week up, but I have that awful sunday night feeling yet again this wk.
Woe is me. I have attemped a number of social sittings but I still find myself home alone more than Macauley Culkin. Everyone else in HK seems to be out all the time, except me. They all seem to be having fun at bars and yet i dont fit in. Oh and I meet people, and on the first meeting they seem really cool, and then on the second meeting I start comparing them to people I know and love. Oh she's not as cool as Jen, he's not as lovely as Will, she's not as fun as RM.(etc)
So people if you know any potential friends in HK, I need them NOW!

At least theres crap tv to comfort me - tonights dose - Mean Girls - ooooh ;)

Would love to stay and chat but going to meet Schwarzy!!!

So Schwarzy's in town!! Woohoo. She arrived sunday morning, very randomly, for work for 3 days and we managed to catch up yesterday for some shopping, and also a reunion with mira-le. After an awful day of work (today), were ive felt pretty sick, i met a very cool candian chick for coffee and meeting schwarzy for dinner. The canadian chick is also going to Tokyo for Ben Harper concert, and although she's married, I think were going to be friends. She might be my favourite new friend, we shall see. Oooh and gay boy texted me this morning - so I may actually be getting some friends!
Oh and Shaun of the dead is on TV, this seems like a very amusing film. (well the 7 mins ive seen so far are...)

Now this is more like it...

In typical Nat fashion, I went to the party last night and got very drunk and chatted to a load of people. I ended (hopefully) with 2 new friends - an american gal and a gay boy! (Who needs straight boys anyway?!) Oh although there was a cute italian guy who imports italian coffee (he is very short though - maybe I could just use him for his coffee!)
2 notable moments with my 2 new friends. Talking to the gay boy (from BrisVegas) for a couple of minutes, and I ask him if he's gay (well I actually ask him if he likes boys). "How did you know?" he asks - my response "Well I am from Sydney" ;)
My american friend (Amy) and I met in the bathroom (as you do). Having a nice little chat - where are you from?
me: Australia
Amy: Oh I've always wanted to go down under
To which we both crack up in giggles - and we weren't even that drunk at that point!
So I hopefully have acquired a couple of friends - and catching up with Amy and her bf tonight (although they're living in the sticks!).
It really is the joy of alcohol, who knows if I connect with these people, but everyone seems much nicer when I'm drunk! And now to deal with my hangover...