Going Down Under - Australia

G ‘day possums.

So I am a naughty naughty blogger and haven’t posted for quite a while. Apologies my lovelies so an extra long one for you this time about my recent business trip to the merry old land of Oz. (I know it’s a tough life)

 Australia. Once the land largely populated through penal transportation often mocked for its lack of culture by us stuck up Brits it main export being crocodile Dundee, Rolf Harris and Timmy ‘where’s your mallet’ Mallet, now it seems that perhaps the joke is on us. Australia has become awesome and with an economy booming where everywhere else is largely, to put it bluntly, buggered, it’s no wonder people are emigrating in their droves. When I was a kid I actually always had this fascination with Australia mainly due to watching Neighbours, a life in the sun, stunning white beaches just round the corner, where everyone is tanned and beautiful like the delicious Jesse Spencer who had pride of place in a poster next to my bed in my youth and where barbeques are an almost daily fixture is about as far removed from an upbringing in a cold midlands town eating faggots and peas as you can get. Here is Jesse aka Billy for those of you that like me fancied the pants off him when we were 10 …..now to be seen in episodes of HOUSE by the way and even though a right hottie as a Dr He’ll never beat Mc Dreamy. Oh no sir, it the hair that clinches it mmmmm......Right concentrate….oh yes Australia and good old Billy from back in the day. 

Melbourne

You probably saw in the papers recently that Melbourne just got voted the most livable city in the world taking the title from Vancover. It’s easy to see why. The city has a very eclectic vibe, the architecture is similar to London but is organized in grids like an American city, then a huge China town thrown in where you can even get some great Sichuan, the people are relaxed, friendly and to be quite honest quite chuffed, and why not.

On arrival I checked into the Holiday Inn on Flinders lane – I would have preferred to stay somewhere more boutiquey and different but this being a business trip and Australia being super expensive to travel to at the moment this was my only option. I wasn’t looking forward to it and had images of a dingy crappy room with a dirty bathroom and sheets you would rather not sleep on.

I was however very pleasantly surprised. Even though it was round the corner from a Spearmint Rhino (my company always seems to have a knack of putting its employees up in red light districts) it was actually really really great. The staff were friendly, knew exactly that I had sent a package (full of mags) direct to the hotel and was already waiting for me on my room. Normally on trips I have to go with the staff on a wild goose chase and shout at someone until somebody can be bothered to get off their arse and help the customer i.e. me. Not so here which was a great surprise. The room was clean, spacious with a very comfy bed and even labels on the pillows in case you wanted a hard or soft pillow, which made me giggle. Having had a long 10 hour flight, I had a lovely bath, popped my laptop open to do some work, watched the re-run of the Wales vs. South Africa match which was a corker and then chose a soft pillow to sleep. Marvelous.

The city itself is marvelous and quite similar to HK in terms of its size and higgledy-piggledy nature of small little alleys with yummy eateries running off main streets, it also even has trams which run through the city and were very useful as a relief for my tired feet. I came upon a lovely little restaurant for a nice lunch just set deep in the laneways just off the very pretty little Collins street called Harry Joys’s (shop 4). It’s a vintage inspired café with mis matching chairs and was a perfect antidote to the for the cold morning that I had spent wondering around; their feta and spinach pie with a Mocha was just the job. A little jem down a great street that I sure has lots to offer time and time again.

On the Monday evening some of my very lovely clients took me out for dinner, having had a great supper with them back in February I had high expectations. They didn’t disappoint as we went to a fantastic restaurant called CODA. CODA epitomizes for me what is so exciting about Melbourne, a relatively new restaurant having opened 2 years ago whilst the restaurant was packed even at 7pm on Monday there was no complacency with regard to the staff or food. The sommelier was fantastic and provided just the right wine (of which there was a red, white and 2 bottles of delicious dessert wine) to compliment the vast array of food we had over the course of the evening. And so we get onto the food which was quite simply absolutely fantastic. The menu at first looks quite confusing as it jumps around the globe mainly incorporating the influences of Asia and Europe, much like Melbourne itself. The product of this produces items on the menu that literally make you drool ‘spanner crab, galangal, roasted chilli and lime betel leaf’, ‘yellow fin tune, daikon, green apple salad with ponzu and fresh wasabi’ to name but two.

The menu is initially quite confusing as dishes are divided into 3 categories with a tapas-esque feel of ‘smaller’, ‘bigger’ and ‘on the side’ however this is also actually quite clever as the restaurant suits a special dinner or a quick bite after work (that is if you can get a table, reserve in advance). Owing to the mouth watering menu we were completely lost with what to order however our waitress was wonderful and offered to surprise us with a range of dishes that we could share. We probably had about 6 dishes in total but the absolute star of the evening was the roasted scallop, pearly tapioca and salmon caviar which was a little taste of heaven and had the most beautiful sauce I have ever tasted. It was so so good that even when we had finished our food we ordered another round!

For dessert we chose our own, mine was the beautifully presented soufflé. When choosing food I often try to pick dishes that I feel I am unable to cook adequately myself, soufflé is notoriously difficult however it tasted as delicious as it looked;

CODA provides a great culture mash up in a casual but sophisticated environment that I would happily go back to again and again. There is an energy and unpretentiousness to the city all over that is so welcoming and exiting  which is why it also has such a vibrant culture made up of great new bands – Temper Trap, Nick Cave and Flea of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers being notable exports, standup comedy, theatre, dance and numerable great museums and art galleries. It seems as though they just aren’t afraid to put themselves out there, give the arts a place of priority and just give things a try which is why Melbourne, you’ll never cease to impress me.

Brisbane

I spent just less than 24 hours in Brisbane so unfortunately not too much to report here. However every time I have been to Brizzy I’ve had some lovely weather and a great time strolling up and down the riverfront which is very peaceful. For a sizeable city Brisbane feels very much like a quaint quiet town and being on the gateway to the Gold Coast you rather suspect that people take is easy during the week and then head up the coast of weekend for some surf. I stayed in the very nice but a tad boring Novotel which thankfully was for a change not in the red light district, although old Brizzy feels so safe I’d be surprised if they had one. Many professionals working in Brisbane are working within the Natural Resources market so maybe it felt quiet due to that – natural resources are what’s helping Oz to do as well as they are so all these people must be busy bee’s trying to make their buck while the market is nice and hot, in fact Brisbane enjoys the largest economy anywhere between Sydney and Singapore! Here is a view of the Brisbane River and this lovely city from Victoria Bridge (a nice place to sit with an ice cream if you have a spare 10 mins)

Sydney

So after a quick pit stop in Brisbane I flew to Sydney for my last 2 days down under and I was welcomed by some nice hot weather, blue skies and the beautiful people that roam about this fair city – seriously they are everywhere! I was again treated to the Holiday Inn at Darling Harbour which is pretty adequate and a good location for getting around, in fact there is a lovely running route that you can do that follows the river round – spectacular! The city is super easy to get around and kind of compartmentalizes itself according to what it needs, business, beach or living. This photo of the view of Sydney Tower kind of illustrates this perfectly;

I’d planned to catch up with friends, a welcome relief from the tiresome nature of business trips where you tend to repeat yourself quite a few times, so was nice to swich from the work chat and a chance to kick back, I met friends down at a little bar down by Darling Harbour where we passed the time easily with couple of beers until the sun went down. From there we wandered along the harbour until we got to Opera Bar http://www.operabar.com.au/ as I was craving a good cocktail which, yep you’ve guessed it has a fantastic view of the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Bridge. I decided on a delicious cocktail called ‘Get Even’ which included square one cucumber organic vodka, st-germain elderflower liqueur, cucumber syrup, lime juice, fresh cracked pepper. Bonza mate!

For supper we continued on along the harbour and by this point I was hungry. I had a real hankering for Oysters and in Australia they are normally excellent so we settled on one of the many seafood restaurants that dot along the harbour,and indeed they were predicitbly outstanding mwah! After supper we wandered along toying with the idea of a nightcap before bed and my friend suggested we check out Café Sydney http://www.cafesydney.com/ which is just down the harbour. Located on the roof of the customs house in circular quay this place is something special and next time I am in Sydney will be my first port of call for a nice supper. I was eyeing up the food at other tables and it certainly looked like something special. The restaurant was beautifully designed and the view simply stunning whist retaining the feel of being intimate and cozy, as it was quite cool up there they even gave little blankets for your cold knees. We decided to have a quick drink and as I hadn’t had any dinner I went for a sweet cocktail – a crème blanc which included melted white chocolate infused with beleverdere vodka, crème de cacao and vanilla liqueur – in truth it tasted just like a milky bar! 

So after my last meeting on my final day down under  I was very tired, popped back to my hotel to get changed and then met another friend for a final Aussie farewell drink before the flight back to honkers. We went down to Bungalow 8 Bar on King Street Wharf http://www.bungalow8sydney.com/ which I have been to before and both times has had a fantastic post work TGIF vibe with easy chilled music in a great outdoor space and a view of the harbour, although get there early those lucky dingos in Oz finish work at 5pm on a Friday so by 6pm you’ll have no chance of a table!

After a couple I made my way to the airport and started wandering around gift shops looking for the perfect opportunity to spend the last of my Australian dollars when I spotted the dermalogica counter offering free facials for passengers on flights. Well I jumped at the chance - Ladies you will know what havoc can be caused from a dehydrating flight and I hadn’t had time to take off my make up so I wandered over to the counter be met by a Danni Minogue lookalike (see I told you everyone was beautiful here) who offered to clean tone and moisturize me before my long flight, pretty perfect really just like Danni herself before all the botox.

If you are English you may remember that a few years ago the Australian tourist board ran a very memorable ad campaign that carried the slogan ‘Where the bloody hell are you?’ embodying all the eloquence of Australia that I love  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TebeNC-_VjA Well  in answer to you fair Australia - if my recent trip is anything to go by then my answer to you is’ I’m just bloody well trying to find an excuse to come back’!

V xx

Moalboal, Cebu The Philippines

Hi all

A couple of weekends ago my boy and I decided to get out of Hong Kong for a long weekend for a bit of the old rest and relaxation however not being made of money with the main idea of the trip being to chill out we didn’t want to spend all our money in doing so. And so we settled on The Philippines. After a bit of internet researching to work out on which part would be the least likely to get hit by one of those tempestuous typhoons that pass through South East Asia at this time of year I settled on the island of Cebu and the area of Moalboal which is located on the west coast of Cebu. If you look on this map you can see why it’s one of the only parts of the Philippes more like to be sheltered from the storms in the summer months.

How to get there

We used the yellow big bird of airlines, Cebu Pacific www.cebupacific .com which actually fitted the bill well leaving from Hong Kong and flying direct to Cebu Mactan Airport. The flights were just over HK 3,000 for both of us and the flight times worked out perfectly so that we had almost 4 full days of holiday - bonza! To my mind there is nothing more annoying than booking 2 days off work and looking forward to your long weekend away only to travel for 2 days and then only get to relax for 2 day - a non sensical situation.  With this flight schedule this didn’t happen as Cebu Pacific run a flight that leaves HK airport at 1.30am arriving in Cebu at 4am so you can then tumble into a car if your resort can provide you one and sleep the next 3 hours until you wake up in your little paradise. On arrival we headed straight for a snooze and when we woke for breakfast it was like we had been there all along. Genius plan I think you’ll agree. 

Accommodation

We stayed at the fantastic Ravenala Resort http://www.ravenala-resort-moalboal.com/  The place automatically had a very family-run vibe as the staff were super lovely, greeted us on our arrival even though due to the time and lack of sleep I am sure we looked like we had emerged from a crack den. I had picked this place as it had great reviews online but also is owned by a Dutch-Philippine Architect/Artist couple who had taken great pains to try and integrate the design of the resort into the beautiful environment. They had done this with aplomb as the resort was picturesque, subtle and extremely well thought through. There was even a little square cut into the ground and filled with water on the cusp of the beach and the resort so you could step into it and wash the white sand from your feet. All these little touches were fantastic and so so useful!

The room wasn’t luxury but it was clean, cute, air conditioned with a mosquito net over the bed and more importantly was less than a 2 minute walk from White beach. It’s also really really cheap hooraahhh - your looking at Php 3,500 (US$ 75) per room. The bathroom was also just right with lots of space and hot and cold water. Here’s a picture of the bedroom so you can see for yourself (please note the impressively loud bedspread, like one of those optical illusion thingys or where’s wally)

There’s also a really great little beach café where you can waste your evenings playing cards and watching the sunset or just closing your eyes and listening to the waves. There’s a small variety of cocktails to be had and the wine isn’t too bad either. There’s even a pool table if you fancy something more energetic. Needless to say we didnt.

Things to do

The beach, a few meters from our room was simply stunning. whiter than white sand and quite often we were the only ones on there. As you walk down from the resort there is a little shaded area that you can plonk your towel down on, pick up your book, swipe a glance at the beautiful hills on the horizon and drift off into your own little world. Actually on that note I read a fantastic book whilst on my little holiday called 'How to be a woman' by Caitlin Moran, before you judge it as some chick lit trashy, self help manual actually have a read or two of some excerpts or even a review for convenience here you go;  http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/jun/26/caitlin-moran-how-be-woman . It is bloody marvelous, down to earth, funny and honest and I think you all should read it. Plug over.

Other than that we had a fantastic adventure snorkeling. I’m not one for snorkeling usually as I get a bit claustrophobic when my had is encased in stuff (this is why I could never be an astronaught or hat maker) however not wanting to look like a pansy in front of my boy I agreed to go with him to the neighboring hotel to see if we could rent some booties.


We clambered in the hot sun along some sharp rocks to get to Dolphin house about 15 minutes up the beach. When we arrived the place felt rather strange and had a weird vibe; as we climbed up the hot steps no one said hello  and there was just this very fat chap in very tight speedos and a hat smoking a pipe on the steps up to the hotel. When we said hello he just stared at us in a very creepy manner and didnt utter a word. The hairs on the back of my neck sprang up and I suddenly became very aware I was only in my bikini.

We then wandered around the hotel until we found a scuba divey looking person who said he would see if he had any booties, as we followed him and turned round the corner we were met by about 20 people showering as they had just been for a dive. This wouldn’t be weird if they hadn’t all looked very like each other, blond haired blue eyed en masse and all very close to each other, almost touching and staring at us with piercing unblinking eyes.  It was like some weird Aryan cult swingers party that wanted to suck these two newbie’s into their world with peroxide. After we found out there were no booties were to be had we quickly skedaddled to the end of the jetty and decided to brave the water without booties. 

Snorkels on with one look to make sure the Aryan zombies weren’t about to attack we swam over the coral that began right next to the jetty. At first it was mainly just colour changing coral with the odd fish. After a couple of minutes we got very very excited as we saw a small school of electric blue fish. We had no idea what we had let ourselves in for…..

As we swam along the coral we suddenly realized we were coming to the end of what looked like a shelf, more and more fish started appearing that were all colours of the rainbow and in various sizes. With each stroke we came upon more and more wonders until we got to the end of the shelf at a DROP OFF – ‘Not the drop off!”. Now I have never seen a drop off before, the only time I know about a drop off is in Finding Nemo and if you have watched this film you will know that I had good reason to be a little bit scared.

It was magnificent. From swimming along only about a meter from the coral below us suddenly the coral disappeared and there was just blue sea for as far as the eyes could see. But it got better. We decided to then swim along this shelf as it provided a fantastic view, as our eyes readjusted to the two extremes before us my boy started frantically waving at me and pointing below our bodies. And there it was, a mahussive mahussive sea turtle, seriously it was the size of the top of an average car. This was the first wild sea turtle I had ever seen but I thought it was the most grand and graceful thing ever. What an amazing moment.

The Food

Everyone I have spoken to about the Philippines has said the same thing. The food is terrible. Unfortunately our resort was no exception and by the end of our holiday I was yearning for a good dumpling. We began by ordering some fish, thinking that as we are next to a coral reef that must be easy....and I ask you how hard is it to mess up cooking a bit fish and rice?hmmmm

When we were told that our fish was being picked up from the market alarm bells started ringing. The food took ages to arrive by which time I’d had one to many rum and cokes and was being sorely beaten at cards. Our tuna arrived having looked like it had been baked in hell taken out and then put back in again. The fish was so cooked that it was tough and rubbery, never something one would associate with a good bit of tuna. Oh no sir.

So from that point it became a game of trying to work out which option on the menu they were least likely to destroy rather than what you actually wanted to eat. However by the end of the trip we had it down. Calamari which we think was from the reef was really really good with chips, the omelet at breakfast was excellent and the BLT was a greggs rather than Pret standard but on the whole edible. Just to make sure that it wasn’t just our resort we also had dinner on our last night at a slightly swankier looking place down the beach, the Serena Beach Resort http://www.clubserenaresort.com/ and here the food was just as bad and portions smaller.

There was a silver lining however. They do make the most spicy chilli sauce I have ever had in my entire life. This sauce was enough to make you wince, sweat and your heart palpitate, and in short it was wonderful. Plus if you smear it all over the crappy food you can’t taste how bad it is! Result!

Tips

1.       Cebu Pacific is the yellow version of Easy Jet so they will charge you for EVERYTHING. Take water and food onto the plane to avoid paying extortionate amounts. Also don’t be surprised when they charge you HK 40 per person just to book your seats – hey when its this cheap there’s always gonna be a catch.

2.       Take booties for snorkeling. My boy stepped on a Sea Urchin which was hugely painful and also meant he had to sit with his foot in a bowl of stinging vinegar while we had dinner. Not funny or cool. Although quite funny when he hopped all the way from the beach to the room, I’ve never seen anyone hop so fast or so far  - just like a possessed kangaroo in the Olympic hop off!

This little jaunt was a perfect getaway from the ever so sweaty heat of the Hong Kong summer, any longer and we would have been bored but for 4 days I was in total bliss. Owing to the welcoming nature of the staff, the beautiful accommodation, the beach and how bloody cheap it was I would certainly strongly consider it as a place to go back to, even on my own if I just wanted to get away from it all. I think this shows how much I enjoyed myself as I normally have a rule not to go back to the same place twice. Although next time I’ll definitely have to take a box of crackers!

Vxx

Mighty Mighty England

Back before the days of hooliganism and general anarchy spread to the streets of the Capital I went back to the glorious green and pleasant land for a bit of time with friends and family and a spot of relief from the sauna that is the Hong Kong summer…..I touched down to Heathrow and was immediately whisked off to that county of Shakespeare, faggots (and not in the gay way – google it if you don’t believe me) and gloriously awful accents.

The Midlands.

First stop Grandborough. The village of Grandborough was my home from the age of 7 until 18 and where most of my childhood memories play out in haze of horse riding, playing in hay bales, epic water fights and long walks through country fields. It’s really as English as they come. Situated in the very heart of the midlands it is a quintessential pretty English village with a small population that are friendly and social.

Embarrassingly occasionally I do suspect that my parent’s social life is more hectic than my own and much of this is due to the community spirit of BBQ’s, safari suppers, summer fete’s, innumerable Christmas parties that seem to begin in November and go on right through January (so as not to get the blues) and the infamous Grandborough Wine Appreciation Society nights that are held. 

Yes that’s right. A ‘wine appreciation society’ in other words a bloody good excuse to get drunk whist pretending that it’s all in the name of improving ones mind. The Grandborough Wine Appreciation Society, affectionately known by its members as GWAS is held in the Grandborough village hall every 6 weeks or so. They tell me that sometimes these affairs are of a serious nature where there is one speaker presenting all SIX wines that are tasted throughout the evening going into much details about grapes, detail, production etc. Although I doubt that many take any notice after the 4^th glass.

However on my most recent trip home I got invited to attend and present a wine at said GWAS evening which was really a great honor as I had during my youth seen my parents wander in from one of these evening a little slurry and blurry, Dad plonking down on the sofa and promptly falling asleep and Mum regaling stories of the hilarity of the evening. This GWAS night was centered on the theme of holidays and various presenters took to the stage with tales of their various holidays and a suitable wine to accompany them.

Each presenter is to spend no more than 8 British pounds on their bottle (hear that Hong Kong!) and at the beginning of their presentation announce what it is and where they bought it from. The stories were then able to begin and we were treated to tales of all sorts from being mugged in South America to the thrill of wine tasting in New Zealand to suspicious goings on in Venice.

There was much laughter throughout the evening with the volume raising as glasses were drunk and to be honest even though I was probably the youngest there by a good 15 years by 11pm I was exhausted. The rest of the GWAS congregation however tootled off to the local Pub, The Shoulder of Mutton http://www.shoulderofmuttongrandborough.co.uk/ to carry on the evening…….what troopers.

London

Next stop to London for a week of work and catching up with friends which began with a bit of nostalgia with a night out in Clapham Junction with friends from University. After a lovely dinner party in Battersea accompanied by copious amounts of vino, we headed into ‘the junction’ to meet friends who we used to do joint-roasts with back at the toon whilst we were supposed to be at uni (actually this resulted in some absolutely epic roast extravaganza’s including one for 16 people made with disabled lambs – waste not want not!) after a few bars we hit the ‘decidedly awful but perfect for our jaunt’ Clapham Vodka Revolution bar complete with cheesy DJ, obnoxious drunks and the Vodka rack of shots complete with chilli flavored vodka - oh yes! . Their night on a Saturday is even called ‘I AM VIP ‘ .Classic.

The Food

A friend of mine that used to live in Hong Kong  is now back in London and so we thought for old times sake we would sample some of London’s Sichuan cuisine to see how it compared and reminisce. After quite a few glasses of Rose after work we jumped in a cab and headed to Bar Shu on Frith Street http://www.bar-shu.co.uk/home.html we were a little tiddly so didn’t think anything of starting randomly expressing Cantonese and Mandrin however the staff took this Chinese tourettes syndrome we seemed to have very well. Thank goodness. The food was pretty awesome and if you are brave enough to give Sichuan a try I reckon you will like it, especially if you ever licked batteries when you were a child.

Another must have pit stop was the ludicrously delicious chain Wagamama’s. ‘But you live in Hong Kong’ I hear you cry ‘What need do you have for the Wagga Mama?!” well to be honest I can’t explain it. Its true I can get amazeballs broth soup noodles in Honkers, perhaps its just the bastardised asian-western fusion that tickles my fancy but By God is it good!!

Lunch in borough market is also one of my favorite things to do in London. A lovely 15 minute walk from my office near St Pauls over the wobbly millennium bridge and down the South Bank to the best Pork Bap with mustard you’ll find anywhere - delicious.

Pierre Victoire is another great find, situated in the heart of Soho on Dean Street it is perfect for a date, pre-theatre meal or a catch up with the girls as the food is amazingly good value for the quality of the foodat a very reasonable price, it’s also candlelit and at the weekends an adorable old man plays a piano in the corner - nice. I had my old favorites, Oysters followed by roast lamb with bok choi and dauphinoise potatoes, salivating at the thought of it. http://www.pierrevictoire.com/london/restaurant/index.asp if you want to give it a try…..

Getting around London

London was particularly drizzly during this week and once or twice this combined with having to use public transport got the better of me. God I am turning into a spoilt Expat. On one particular occasion I had just happened to meet one of my best friends in Selfridges who persuaded me to go and  spend an inordinate amount of money in the denim department on a pair of skinny jeans (good job though millsy as I bloody love them). Anyway as I left Selfridges with said expensivo purchase (I even closed my eyes as I handed over the card) in my bright yellow Selfridges bag, I got to the big Selfridges front door and it was raining cats and dogs.

I bid my friend farewell and legged it over to Bond Street Stationwith my bad full of goodies and was suddenly surrounded by the smell of wet dog as I decended the escalators, (why do wet coats always smell like this?) and pushed my way onto a tube and made my way to South Kensington. On arrival I was in pursuit of a public house called ‘The Pig’s Ear’.


I came out of the station and lo and behold the rain was coming down like a monsoon back in old Hong Kong! I wasn’t going to be defeated since I was already late for the birthday do that I was trying to get to, so I strode out of the station and marched through the rain…..after a while I realized I had probably gone the wrong way when I arrived outside Christies (there was no mention of this in my directions) which a phone call then confirmed. Disaster!


Resigning myself to London trying to make things difficult for me I hollered down a taxi and jumped in only to find that at some point during my trek from the station said uber expensive jeans had fallen out of the bright yellow paper Selfridges bag and were presumably in a puddle on the pavement somewhere (that is if some fashionista hadn’t had the sense to swipe them) FFFAAAAAAARRRRRRRRKKKKKKKKK I yelled to the cabbie and jumped out of the cab hysterically running through the rain retracing my steps! Like a mad woman I ran wide eyed over a pedestrian crossing and Hooorraaahhhhaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!

I found them. In a puddle on the floor. Never mind I thought they’ll show their worth and so looking like I had been dragged through a hedge backwards I jumped in the cab and finally arrived at the pub. Never has the humble gin and tonic tasted so sweet.

Bude, Cornwall

For my final week Mum, Dad,  my sister and Charlie our Dog made the five hour journey down to our family cottage in Bude, Cornwall. Bude is your typical Cornwall seaside town and perfect for a family summer holiday. As I have other relatives down there I look upon it as a second home having spent nearly every summer of my youth here, it’s a great place to relax and switch off and amazingly we were blessed with a week of sun too!

Stuff to do

There are some great highlights to Bude, the beach is vast and impressive and the Atlantic offers some fantastic surfing and body boarding and as we had such a cracking week for weather my Sister and I were tumbling through the waves every day on our boogie boards. Be prepared for ice cold water though, the Atlantic is bloody cold. Bude also plays home to a very large sea pool on Summerleaze beach that is part natural, part man made and serves as an excellent place for small children or if you want a proper swim out the waves in the open air.

I also took my sister horse riding for her belated birthday present. We went to the fantastic Gooseham Barton Riding Stables and set off for an hour long hack through country fields with an occasional scenic view of the sea. Our instructor was lovely and my sister and I whooped with delighted as we galloped along dirt tracks in the glorious English sunshine (it was her first time to gallop so this was very exciting). We finished up back at the stables beaming, a little bit sweaty, covered in horsefly bites but I didn’t mind one bit and as I gave my horse a well deserved carrot she didn’t seem to mind either.

There is some great hiking and running routes to be hand in Bude too, one particular morning Dad and I took Charlie the Dog and headed north along the coastal path for about 3 hours. Apart from Charlie deciding to roll around in a cow pat which made for a rather stinky walk the scenery was breathtaking and the air so so crisp and fresh. There are regular ups and downs along the way to keep your heart pumping and at one point you can pass by the very famous Hawkers Hut, the National Trust’s smallest property where an eccentric clergyman spent many hour writing and smoking opium during the 19^th century, probably inspired by the impressive views of the Atlantic from his hut. From there you can take the short walk through to the village of Morwenstow where there is a lovely pub that will serve you a well earned pint and a doggy treat for your smelly friend.

The Food

One night we went for dinner in the Castle http://www.thecastlerestaurantbude.co.uk/ which provided us with stunning view overlooking the beach. The atmosphere was extremely relaxed indeed it pretty much felt like being in a private kitchen and the food was fantastic! They tell me that their menu changes every 2-3 days so you could definitely go there again and again. Another nice touch was that we were given a taster before our starter that was off the menu and a palate cleanser of crushed iced elderflower water was provided in between our main course and dessert. We were seated right next to the kitchen which was also wonderful as we were able to see the two chefs work their magic, after years of being in Bude and only having pub food on offer this great little restaurant is a welcome change.

As cooking in Hong Kong is super expensivo I also relished the opportunity to do a bit of cooking and thought that being near the sea the best place to start would be with the fish. The fishmonger in Bude is really friendly and will give you some great advice on what is local and how best to cook it. We enjoyed bbq’d sardines, scallops and sea bass and it was lovely to cook in a proper kitchen with local fish! None of this one hob no oven malarkey I put up with in Honkers. There is also a fantastic wine shop, The North Coast Wine Company http://ncwine.co.uk/ where the owners are lovely and friendly and host a range of Cornish ciders (a must) Ale’s, Wine and even a Cornish champagne, the ‘Camel Valley Brut’ that was delicious. I know you don’t believe me but honestly if you are there give it a try, it really could give Moet a run for its money……

As ever my trip home was a whirlwind complete with lots of cups of tea, laughing with cabbies, getting pissed of with public transport (Boris thank god you got the bikes), getting a tan in Cornwall (who would have thought it) and rushing round like a lunatic trying to see everyone with those little pangs of not wanting to leave each time I have to say goodbye. So thank you Blighty for a lovely time and all I love there for being so bloody marvelous. I miss you.

V xx

Dragon Dash Hong Kong Island

Neiho peeps!

So not strictly a travel adventure but indulge with me just this once faithful readers, it’s for a good cause and potentially so exciting that you might want to travel or make sure you are in Hong Kong for the next one! A few months ago a very good friend of mine came up with the idea of a new race, a race that when you begin you have no idea of the final destination. Intriguing. He roped a few of us in to help and the mighty Dragon Dash was hatched….so I want to tell you a bit more about what it is, how it went, how much we raised for charideee and more importantly where it ended up…….

What is it?

Dragon Dash is a race that aims to provide its participants with an experience that they won’t expect; tons of fun, a prize for the best fancy dressed team, a party at the end, raising some money for charity along the way and the winning team's prize was a helicopter ride of Hong Kong for their whole team. Plus there are dragons involved, nuff said.

How did it work?

At 12 noon we kicked off. Teams met in central wearing their uber cool dragon dash t-shirts and logged onto our website from a smart phone at www.dragondash.org to be met with a set of 6 challenges. The challenges ranged from finding the tramp hidden in Glenealy and discovering what beer he was drinking (actually one of our Scottish organizer’s dressed up like a mangy Scottish vagabond), to discovering the riddle of Colin Firth’s erection in the Botanical Gardens oooeerrrrr to drinking a shot at Varga Lounge and trying to decipher the special ingredient. Once teams had got their sweat on (and believe me there was a lot of it!) and raced around Hong Kong fulfilling all challenges they then inputted all the answers into the website via their smart phone to reveal the final location which was……. Middle Bay.

Not a lot of people know Middle Bay which was why it was perfect as a final location. Dashers raced down to the South side of the island and descended down the steps onto the beach in pursuit of that elusive dragon…where could he be? Well, the sneaky thing had an added surprise in store for our dashers and had managed to swim out to the pontoon about 50 meters from the beach. The first team arrived and without hesitation took their kit of and swam out to claim the dragon head that was very rightfully theirs. Well Done Abi’s puff we definitely didn’t expect you to finish in just 55 minutes – absolutely outstanding effort, well deserved to you! Here they are claiming that elusive Dragon Head;

From this point onwards teams arrived swiftly all suspecting they might be the first to arrive only to have their desires dashed (see what I did there hehe) once they saw the other red shirts sitting around having a beer. Kudos must go to the other teams that also swam out to the pontoon to claim their rightful place as 2^nd, 3^rd and  4^th place to officially complete the race. Thanks for being good sports.

Once completed dashers were rewarded for their efforts with a nice cold beer or ‘dragon dash’ cocktail and an awesome burger or pizza slices provided for by the excellent Bahuina Bar on Middle Bay Beach. The rest of the afternoon the happily slipped past us all in a haze of dragon dash stories, cooling off in the sparkling South China Sea and dancing to the awesome tunes being pumped out by our dj’s. Before I knew it, it was 7,30pm and I was exhausted, slightly sunburnt and more than a little merry – damn dragon dash lash! But what better to do on your day off I ask you?

Best bits

A personal highlight of mine came from a phone call from our team that bought tickets from us as we tried to sell tickets to drunken revelers in LKF. This team were called the 'dildo jalopies' which deserves a special mention in itself however once they found the final location they found it impossible to find. I had 3 phone calls begging me for the location including the promise of bribes…..but true to form the dildo jalopies didn’t disappoint they found Middle Beach in the end. On arrival I found out one member hadn’t had any sleep due to the partying efforts of LKF but then proceeded to ‘get back on it’ – true dragon dash spirit!

I also took part in one of the challenges, dashers were told to race up to the Hong Kong observatory tower (a tall tower so you marvel at our marvelous city, oh yes I like!) as a whole team and have their photo taken by me with a puppet dragon. Dashers were told that they funniest photo won a prize…..some of the poses dashes got themselves and my little Derrick the dragon into are too rude to mention, you naughty things,  but there was one team that decided to simultaneously moon me which I definitely did not expect and took me quite by surprise. I haven’t seen so many naked bottoms since I went to ladyboy show in Bangkok! So thank you for that, your touches were all lovely. Here is one of my favourite pics from the tower......

Malky, who was our Scottish hobo also had a particularly interesting time during his post under the Glenealy intersection. Whilst waiting for the dashers to arrive probably looking fairly conspicuous two gay guys who had clearly been on a big wanchai night on and not yet seen their beds saw this lone ranger and decided to scope him out....I recieved a flurry of startled text messages from Malky on how to explain to this two amourous dudes why exactly he was dressed as a tramp sitting on his own and how he wouldnt be interested in 'what they had to offer'.....

Soundtrack

Special mention must go to our 3 dj’s Ed Bosher, Redman and Vishal at the final destination that kept us going for the afternoon right through until the evening and to Jen Gordon Smith who organised them all to be there - great work! Also 'Destination Unknown' was a perfect fit for the day; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6B0F6edMy8 which might remind those of you that were there of that beautiful sunny drunken afternoon on Middle Bay.

Tips

So a few tips to bear in mind for the next dash;

·         If you are in it to win it choose your team wisely. The winning team won due to supreme organization and a ruthless tenacity to win. Organization and planning is the key here (note to one team who were still in bed at 12.15!)

·         Make sure your fancy dress is not only awesome (well done dragon bashers your caveman/cavelady outfits were amazing see pic below) but also versatile enough to run around it…..too many accessories could hamper you enroute

·         If you try and run round Hong Kong whilst carrying cans of beer you are likely to lose them – hip flasks were invented for this sort of thing. Oh yes sir.  

When is the next one?

We are looking at April for the next dash….keep your eyes peeled on the website or the dragon dash facebook page for more info or email the dragon master at dragonmaster@dragondash.org

All in all the day went better than we could have hoped, so many things could have gone wrong (thank you ed for being a website genius) however I think we had luck on our side as even the weather changed from being slightly dreary to absolutely glorious. Big thanks to all involved, you all made it awesome. Plus we also managed to raise HK$ 21, 535 for the Hong Kong Children's Cancer Foudation in the process.

And so we begin planning the next one which you can be assured will be bigger and better…..where will the next dragon be hiding I wonder? Come along and find out.

Vxx