Dancing on Ice

There were some surprising local signs in Sai Kung this morning!



Later, we visited the ice rink in the Megabox building - eleven floors up with views of the Hong Kong skyline. Delme, Neringa and Jen were all very proficient. Fortunately the game of 'tag' ended without anyone getting injured.




Delme had parked the car on the fourteenth floor. As we descended the tarmac corkscrew down to street level, waves of travel sickness filled the car.



After a couple of falls on the ice, Andy recovered in a massage chair. This one costs over 2,000 GBP and wasn't very relaxing.

Arriving in Hong Kong

After a slight mix up – our flight left Kathmandu one day later than stated on the ticket – we arrived in Hong Kong on Wednesday.

Driving amongst the hundreds of skyscrapers made us realise how huge and incredibly densely populated Hong Kong is. Despite its size – and the smog – the city is very clean and has lots of green spaces.

Seeing Delme, Neringa, Matas and new arrival Indra has been a relaxing break from our day to day travelling.

Yesterday we went to Sai Kung for some local seafood...

...and today we went on the Peak Tram to Victoria Hill for views of the city.

A trip across the bay on the Star Ferry soon found us in Golden Computer Centre where we upgraded our memory. Jen enjoyed the experience!!!

The TV screens at the Metro station showed reporters sheltering from the wind and rain in London. We hear the snow is good in Glencoe though.

Catching up with cousin Ville, Pranita and Arwas

Jen's cousin Ville has been holidaying with his friends Pranita and Arwas in Nepal for the last month. We'd hoped to see them for some rhino spotting in Chitwan national park but were busy in the Everest region.



Luckily we all managed to finally get together in Kathmandu. Pranita lives here with her son Arwas and very kindly had us round for delicious home cooked food – a welcome luxury that we've not had since Indonesia! Jen took delivery of a heavy shipment of Finnish liquorice and rye crackers that her mum had sent in Ville's rucksack. As a special treat, Ville made some 'salmiakkikossu' (vodka with liquorice) which was very drinkable. Even Andy liked it. Jen says: “Kiitos aiti ihanasta suomiilahjasta!”



Pranita was an excellent host and showed us around Kathmandu's Swayambhunath Temple, also known as the 'Monkey Temple'. We made an offering to her god and received a tika on our foreheads. Pranita's relatives run shops by the temple, so Jen took some time to do a spot of shopping.



Andy was greatly entertained by the Hounds of Swayambhunath Temple that were sleeping, playing and eating in the temple area. As the temple's nickname suggests, there were also hoards of monkeys that were running around, stealing food that had been meant as an offering to the gods.




The other day, we went for a relaxing stroll in the Garden of Dreams. It was built by field marshal Kaiser Shamser after a visit to England and has been recently restored to a striking effect.