April 7th, 2013 Paris Marathon Results

France Cycle Trip - April 2011

Normandy by bicycle. April 23 - 29

DAY 1

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DAY 2

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DAY 3

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DAY 4

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DAY 5

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DAY 6

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Stupid volcano

Butterflys at Singapore Airport

Well, as my dear sister in law kindly points out, my 3 day trip to Singapore turned into a 9 day trip and included Hong Kong thanks to a certain unpronounceable Icelandic volcano.

I am finally back in the UK having had to play my best sob-story to actually get a seat home this month. I did sit next to Gordon Ramsey on the flight home though I’m not sure if this should be seen as a positive or negative thing.

Tokyo

Singapore is lovely with lots of green space and everyone speaks English but it just seems a bit soulless. Maybe I just didn’t visit the right bits. Had a few fun nights out though with the high-light being a transvestite band busting out 80’s and 90’s hits, then Karaoke until 6am, then a headache.

Shrine in Tokyo

Hong Kong is also crazy busy but seems to have a lot more character. I’m not sure what exactly defines this, just a sensation of culture and history that seems lacking in Singapore. And the food is better. Also had a big night out here and followed it up the next day with some Pilates; not a hang over cure I would recommend.

Hong Kong from the Peak

Anyways, back in the UK and I’m sure the monotony of life will quickly wither this brief spring of blog activity.

In tune and on time

I had to go to Tokyo for work last minute to do some training so thought I'd head out early and spend the weekend looking around. Managed to get business flights out of work which is nice although, I must say, I can't help but feel guilty. I'm essentially paying 3-4K more than an economy fare in order to be comfortable for 30 hours. 3K GBP is a lot for 30 hours of comfort. My initial thought was; "I would happily be uncomfortable for an extra 3K in my bank", which was quickly followed by the thought; "maybe I should get my boss to donate the difference to charity"? Anyway, we'll see if I'm more morally focused next time.

Right, Tokyo itself is not nearly as mad or as intimidating as I had expected. I went the Roppongi Hills Observation Deck today which is 270m above sea level and this drilled home the fact that Tokyo is indeed MASSIVE, on street level though it is more than manageable. There is even a fair bit of English written on street signs and the subway so getting around is a breeze. The street names and actual addresses don't make much sense but general navigation is pretty easy.


Anyway, this leads me to a few observations:

1) The people here are VERY lawful. If a sign says something, people will do it. This includes not crossing the road without the little green man, only walking within the bounds of pedestrian crossings, not walking on grass or anything else they are directed to do. Doesn't sound that weird until you experience it.

2) I don't know how big the Japanese fishing zone is but it will soon have no fish. I went to the fish market today the the scale was incomprehensible. I know Japan is a nation with a strong fishing history and their primary food is based around it but there is simply no way the volume they consume is sustainable.



3) It's a pretty nice place. The gardens are peaceful, the electronics stores are huge, the lights are bright, the sushi is plentiful (for now), the gadgets are weird, STUFF is everywhere and the people a polite and helpful.


Right, I've got another few days here then a quick trip to Singapore before back to the UK.

Scotland - A weekend away

After an unsurprising organisational blunder saw me having to purchase a second plane ticket and Brigitte having to spend a night in Edinburgh by herself, I finally made my way North and we got our long weekend underway. It started off with a ghost tour through the streets of Edinburgh which, whilst informative and entertaining, was hardly pant-wettingly terrifying. Edinburgh is a pretty cool place though.

The next day we drove our little hire-focus to Aberfeldy in Perthshire where we did some white water rafting. I've also discovered that this sport requires balance, strength and both personal and team co-ordination. Sounds right up my alley I thought to myself. Turns out I don't really listen to directions all that well though. Meh. After a thinly veiled marriage proposal from one of the locals we made our way to a local B&B before missing dinner (if you've not eaten by 8PM in these parts it's crisps and coke for dinner).

Me in a make-shift submarine (probably paddling backwards)

The next day it was off to a local mountain called The Schiehallion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schiehallion). This took a bit of effort to firstly find and secondly to climb. I had two broken toes and B had wet trainers. We soldiered on though over what seemed miles of a very steep and loose bolder field before reaching the summit. On the assent it was in turns sunny, hot, raining, hailing, snowing and very windy.

The Mountain was Grouse

The lamb ran when he saw me coming...must have thought me a kiwi.

We then drove to Fort William for the night and had a quick look around the area at the base of Ben Nevis the following morning. We then headed south-east to a little town called Callander which was pleasant and even had a chocolate shop so it ticked most of the boxes.

On our final day we headed to Loch Katrine to take a steam boat cruise with, as it turned out, a load of French school kids. I could tell they were french from their skinny leg jeans, tussled mops of hair and propensity for wearing stripey tops. The fact they were also speaking French was a lesser clue. The trip was nice if a little cold and the scenery very picturesque as always.

Brigitte hiding behind Sir Walter.

It was then of to Castle Stirling where we had a tour guided by a very enthusiastic guide and took in the history of Castle Stirling. It's actually a very interesting castle and, like most of the UK, has a fairly fascinating past. After that is was back in the car to Edinburgh and the airport.

Egypt Dive Trip - Inflate The Donkey 09

A dive trip to Egypt had been in the very initial stages of planning for at least 6 months ('who would fancy a dive holiday' at the pub and an email formally stating the same question). This didn't prevent us from organising both flights and accommodation two weeks before we left however. And it was awesome. Planning for holidays is over rated based on this experience.

After some 8AM breakfast beers and an uneventful flight (with a few beers to break up the monotony) JB and I arrived in Egypt where we knew G-Rock would be arriving 1 hour later. That was however all we knew. No phone number. No flight details. After sitting around for a bit at the terminal managed to get her number and determine she was at the terminal. Well, a terminal, just not ours.

Then in a taxi to the hotel that I had booked through two emails two emails and not given any credit card details. Turns out it was a privately owned apartment in a Hotel complex. And it was ace. And cheap. Result. Drinking heavily to celebrate.

The next day the three of us were chilling out at the hotel pool hoping I-Rock would find first the hotel and then us given his phone wasn't working. He ended up wandering around the hotel complex until he was eventually drawn to my dulcet tones like a sailor to a Siren. More celebratory drinks for all. And sunbathing. Then sunscreen. And more drinking.

The next day was our first day of diving which meant we had to get up at 7AM which was a stretch. This was to be repeated for the next four mornings but would not be a barrier to us drinking our way though an unlikely amount of booze.

The first days diving was to reveal the clearest water I've ever seen and the visibility was incredible. No great dives on the first day but pissing around with the viking helmet and Ian's camera made it a great day.

The next few days all followed a fairly similar pattern with a days full of diving in wonderful conditions, back to the flat, shower, drinks, dinner, drinks, flat, drinks, sleep, dive.

We did decide to get on the full day excursion out to a World War Two wreck called the Thistlegorm however which proved well worth the 5AM start. It was at about 30M at its base but much of the vessel was still intact with many swim throughs possible and much of the cargo (including creates full of motorcycles and jeeps) still in the holds it was the best dive I've done I think. A lot of the dive was done with maybe 1 foot clearance above and below you in almost complete darkness except your torch. Wicked. We celebrated with some drinks.


Our final night we had a fridge full of beer to get through and a 1lt bottle of booze. Unsurprisingly this turned into a bit of a debaturous evening which culminated in me breaking two toes whilst engaged in a water fight (using our only remaining fresh water).

A very belated thanks to JB, GV and IM for one of the best holidays I've had in a while. You guys rock.

Q1 (and most of Q2) Overview

2009 has certainly not been the year of Blog dedication thus far but, for the sake of future review, I've included a basic overview of events this year thus far (to about June 09 anyway):

Rest of Australia:
I've now been in the UK for five months so details are a bit sketchy but after returning from the reef trip mine time was divided pretty evenly between Tim and Michelle's and my brothers. There wasn't too much activity in this period, more a time of reflection before returning to the UK. I did go for a trail bike ride with Haden and helped put up some shade sales; both of which I enjoyed immensely given how different they are from general London activities. For Tim and Michelle, as always the consummate hosts, it was great to spend a bit more time with them post wedding.

London had a rather severe winter and I arrived back to heavy snow falls in the capital which were truly very beautiful. And cold, especially having just wintered in the Australian Summer. It was then straight back into work.

I went bowling with the guys a few weeks later and it was good to catch up with everyone again.

It was then off to see Mr Scruff with Chia at Coco. Awesome venue, music was ok although Chia and I got into a 'get shit-faced' competition and spent the next day feeling 10 kinds of poo.

Brigitte kindly got some cut price tickets to the LPO but upon closer inspection it came out that it was in fact the LPO accompanying some shitty spoken word piece. It was quite literally laughable.

We got some more tickets a few weeks later that were actually very good. Can't remember who the composer was but it did have it's moments of truly emotive music.

Again we saw the London Philharmoic this time at the O2 performing a Star Wars show. The LPO were brilliant as always but perhaps almost too good strangely. It was almost like they weren't there so flawless where they. All a bit over-prices and under-cooked I thought but interesting none-the-less and a very thoughtful present.

Fast forward yet more weeks and a big group of us went to see 'the hampsters' on the weekend of the oxford Cambridge boat race.

In the space of a few weeks after that I went to see 'the sounds' with some of the guys. JB and I carried on and got shitfaced on a Wednesday. Very similar story a few weeks later for the "Silversun Pickups".

I also took Brij to Newforst for a weekend where we hired a car and drove down. We went for a nice walk in the newforst and drove down to Bournmouth, which I thought was a shithole. The actually coastline however does have some pretty spots.

I saw "Watchmen @ IMAX" with some of the guys and also have been playing a fair bit of "Guitar Hero" with JB.

Brigitte booked us a meal at "Bel Canto" which is a restaurant where they serve a set course meal and the waiters perform Opera. Again, a really cool experience but perhaps I don't have enough background to truly appreciate it. Still, it was a lovely gesture and very thoughtful.

Finally, we had dinner at a restaurant at Festival Hall called "Skylon". Location is brilliant as it overlooks the Thames just outside the London Eye. Food and cocktails were also very nice but again the cost is a little prohibitive. Worth it for the experience though.