Friday, November 23, 2007

Beverley's Travel Tips #456 - Coffee

Travelling in the United Kingdom, one really must remember that they do many things in a strange and unusual way. Like coffee.

Londoners have yet to embrace the broad swathe of coffee culture, and as such have not yet introduced the "Flat White" to their considerable menu. Don't do what I did and ask for a "Flat White", as this only serves to confuse, and you are likely to receive almost anything. In my case (at Starbucks), when I asked for a "Flat White", I received a "Long Black". Ah yes, simple to understand to the cultured Australian ear, but to the British, it is just a series of grunts and gestures.

(apologies to my British friends, of course when I say "British" I really mean "all the Brits except my British friends whom I really love and cherish")

Thursday, November 22, 2007

The story of the "Oyster" card

Arriving in London on Tuesday morning (at 5am mind you), I took the express train to Paddington (which incidentally, only takes about 15min to get there, but I was so tired at the time that I didn't care). Lugging my oversized luggage around, I finally made my way out of the station and found the hotel. Interestingly, I haven't met anybody who works in the hotel who has a British accent. French, Polish, Romanian, and the doorman, whose accent I haven't worked out yet (and he has the world's worst hairpiece, must try to get photo ). The weather isn't as bad as everybody said it would be. Ha! And those warm jumpers that I bought in Hong Kong are exactly what I needed to stave off the cold.

After checking in and resting a bit, I was full of beans and decided to take a bus/tube trip around the city. Very fun! Marble Arch, Mayfair, Park Lane... I was taking a trip through a Monopoly™ board! I'm sure people must have thought that I was a little strange, walking around and taking in the sites, smiling at strangers that little bit too much. But hey, I didn't care! London - city of splendor! And then it started to rain...

Interestingly, on the tube now there is a kind of smart card called an "Oyster" card, which you just swipe over the turnstiles and it lets you through. You put credit on the card, so it just takes the amount off your total. Kind of like eftpos without the "effort" (haha). No PIN number needed. I was already familiar with this, as they have the exact same card in Hong Kong (they call it an "Octopus" card). It is an Australian company who created the technology, and now are hauling in the cash from all over the world. In Hong Kong however, you don't just use the card on public transport, you can use it almost everywhere! Bakeries, shops, vending machines et al. I haven't confirmed this, but you may even be able to use them in brothels. This in mind, I waltzed into a newsagent on Wednesday night, noting his "Oyster" payment point, and having selected my gum, quietly placed it on the counter, with my "Oyster" card poised.

"39p" said the attendant. I smiled knowingly, and, swiping my card across the payment point uttered confidently: "Oyster Card". The man gave me a look that seemed to imply that I was clearly insane. A conversation then ensued that (hindered by his bad english) went something along the lines of:
"Your balance..."
"Yes, Oyster Card"
"You cannot sir"
"Oh, but I want to pay with my Oyster Card"
"That is your balance sir"
"Huh?"
"What?"
"What?"
"Balance!"
"Huh?"
etc...

Eventually the guy in the line behind me said that these access points are only for checking your balance, and you can't actually buy anything else but transport tickets with them. Sheepishly I pulled out some coins and quietly left the shop. My (over)confidence with my "Oyster" card was dashed. My spirits weren't down for long though, hey, I'm in London after all! And isn't that Big Ben over there? Er... no it isn't actually, it's just a church tower... but you get the idea.

Baaaaa....

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

The tale of the golf carts

18-11-2007


Repulse Bay at nightI stayed over at Vincent's place on Saturday night in Repulse Bay. He has a fantastic view of the bay from his apartment, and it is a nice contrast to the busy, intense atmosphere of Causeway Bay. Vincent has a large apartment, with room in the back for the maids, which he used to make climb the ladder to their top bunk at age 70... (actually, that is not quite the real story, but it makes for a good story). If they didn't work, then he would beat them with his maid stick (actually, that is a down-and-out lie). Actually Vincent is very lovely indeed and would never do anything like that (apologies).

Vincent, Claire, Bean, Rob & Paul at Claire's placeIn the evening, Vincent and I caught up with Bean and Paul, and we took a ferry to a friends place in Discovery Bay on Lantau island. This island has the most low-rise buildings I have seen in the whole of Hong Kong. The one that Claire and Rob live in has only 5 stories! Tiny! They have 2 dogs and a large backyard. They used to live in Happy Valley, but this place is bigger and they both are very happy there. The amusing thing about this island is that the government has banned all cars from the island (except buses and taxis), which it makes it difficult to get around. However the government has introduced a loophole by allowing a maximum of 300 registered golf carts. So what do you think happens on an island of filthy rich to whom money is no object? You guessed it, the price of golf carts has shot up. Rob told me that they are currently going for around $700,000HK (about $100K AUD)! Yes, that is more than the cost of a BMW or Mercedes for a GOLF CART! Welcome to Hong Kong.

Anyway, Claire and Rob's apartment also happens to be situated directly opposite to Disneyland Hong Kong, which has a firework show every night. So EVERY night, they get to see a firework display! Strangely, they refused my requests for them to adopt me. Hmm...

And that was my final night in Hong Kong. Tomorrow I am off to London finally. Time for a little last minute shopping I think. I am sure there is a spare centimetre that I can squeeze into my bag.

baa.

Saturday, November 17, 2007

The story of the first day in Hong Kong

Well. I am here. After 8 weeks of nail-biting visa tension, I am finally off and away. The flight was fairly uneventful, but I could choose any movie I liked so I watched 'Hairspray' and 'Evan Almighty'. Not bad. The kosher meal was great!


The insane crowds of people flocking the streetsToday I got up and had breakfast with Bean, which was interesting. It was a kind of deep-fried bread wrapped in rice noodle, with fried noodles on the side... not sounding too healthy, but was delicious. And a bargain too at only about $4.50. After that it was time to hit the shops. I went looking for a USB hub for my laptop, and ended up with two new warm tops (so cheap, and I am going to London after all).


Bean's parents and meThen I met Bean and his parents for Yum-Cha, where I was promptly handed back my passport which I had left in Paul's car the night before on the way in from the airport. Whoops. (But don't worry mum, that kind of thing doesn't happen too often, I'm normally much better organised). After that I took a rattly old double-decker tram down to happy valley to watch the horse races. On the way back, I came through Sogo, which was awash with people. It is so hard to explain unless you have been in a big sea of people like that what it is like. People everywhere! There is just so much happening that it is quite overwhelming. There are people handing out pamphlets everywhere, and people shouting, cars honking, construction noise, trams dinging; really it was a cacophany of sound. So much so that by the time I got back to the flat, I felt exhausted.


Tonight it is off to dinner, and then am staying at my friend Vincent's place in Repulse Bay (on the South side of the island). Having a great time!


=:) baaa