12 Signs You Are Brilliant And Don't Even Know It!

Home

Hong Kong Highlights

Crashed early last night - sort of 9:30. Both awake and watching tellie (some aussie police drama - how desperate was that??!) and reading at 2:00 (I'd been awake from 1:00). Back to sleep round 3:30 and didn't wake up again 9:00.

Eventually headed out and walked up Nathan Rd to the jade market so Ju could warm up her bargaining skills. Checking out various branches of SaSa. Had late lunch along the way. Back to the hotel round 3. I decided to start contemplating file after Sunday and dealt to / cleaned out my school email in box which had only had minimal attention over the last three weeks. Two and half hours later it was sorted. But it was a pleasant time sitting in the lounge having a couple of coffees with a three piece group of piano, double bass and violin playing. Three locals. At some point Ju joined me but threatened to become mildly hysterical when the music went from the theme from Love Story to the theme from Days of Our Lives to a medley from Jesus Christ Superstar! So we decamped to be treated to the music of J Strauss Jr as the mood music in the lift. Combined with the decor its very suggestive of the Raj. But so comfortable!!

Then headed back up Nathan Rd towards the Night Market. Along the way stopped into a jewellers so Ju could buy me a new silver chain to replace the one she bought me 30 years ago (we were in primary school?!) and that I had managed to lose in Germany somewhere. We formed a warm an understanding relationship with an older saleswoman called Kay (improvement on jade salesgirl this morning whose name was Sydney) who told me I should work harder so that next year we could coome back and I could buy my wife a nice diamond. But when it came to establishing price the girls nearly had a falling out. I just sat there being treated like an object! After the inevitable walk out Kay called us back and agreed to Julia's final offer (frankly I felt I was worth a lot more, but as I was the recipient of the gift...).

Then to the night market to check out the wares available. Nothing bought! But may go back tomorrow and see if the copy watch man will further reduce his price for the green faced Rolex!!

On down to the waterfront for the 8 p.m. Symphony of Light performance. Various buildings on the island with their lights and laser lights going in time to the music. Technically impressive but visually I wasn't so sure.

Then back up the road for dinner. Love that salt and pepper squid!

We Love......

Asian hotels

The highlight of our last morning in Venice was the first acqua alta of the season. Such a joy to go down for breakfast to find water seeping through the floor in the restaurant and the staff wearing gumboots. Most entertaining although one American coupole who came down took one look and fled. It seemed the locals wore stylish gummies, Japanese had bought the large plastic bags with strap on treads and some of us put on our jandals and went for it. Mind you did give the feet and legs a good scrub afterwards.

Forked out for a water taxi from the hotel to the airport (as opposed to public transport). Good flights from Venice to Munich and Munich to Hong Kong.

So cool to drive up to the Hong Kong hotel and be greeted by the usual phalanx of personnel (one to open the cab door and make sure we weren't being ripped off, one to open the boot and remove our bags, another to marshall bags ready to have them taken upstairs (by another person) one to hand over the pink rose to Ju while we were checking in, the check-in staff, the person to show us to the lift and the chap who brought our bags up to the room and show us were absolutely everything in the room was. Fantastic room. Bed the size of a small European principality. Quite as. Fantastic shower etc....

So from the time of landing to getting onto the train, into a taxi, into the hotel, into the room, unpacked and showered was about the same time as it took for my bags to appear in room. Ahh such rich and varied experiences we're having!

Went for a walk across a couple of blocks and up Nathan Rd some way. In short order I could have arranged tailoring of many top quality (but no doubt shiny) suit, ties and shorts, eaten many fine meals, and bought an array of "copy bags" and "copy watches". Some things don't change!

No great plans made for tomorrow. Will see what develops.

La Serenissima #4

Last full day in Venice.

Bought 12 hour ferry passes and hit the waterways. First stop was Isola San Giorgio with the key objective of getting up to the top of the belfry there. It has the advantage of having a lift so with no dodgy stairs to deal with I had the company of my wife who revelled in the lift journey up and down – yeah right! Great views over Venice and the lagoon from the top. The church itself was remarkable for being incredibly plain inside. It was Palladio’s last building.

Elton John's pad the yellow one to left of church

Then back onto a vaporetto which took us around the back of the city and up the Grand Canal. Saw a number of other areas from the water than we hadn’t seen before – tho not necessarily the most salubrious. Number of large cruise boats in the port area. Seeing them come past our hotel is quite a sight.

Got off at the San Tomas station and found our way around to the kitset gondola maker. In the end I didn’t buy a kitset – decided it might never get made. So bought a gondola prow instead. Model of course.

Then walked our way around to the Accademia through a really interesting area. Much quieter than on the other side of the Grand Canal – far fewer tourists and certainly no large walking groups. A lot of interesting studios, art shops and restaurants. The Accademia is being extended so lots of it not accessible but still managed to take in a good number of Tintoretto, Titian and Veronese efforts.

From there walked round to the Peggy Guggenheim Collection. Ju went in there to take in the Picassos, Klees, Miros, Dalis, Pollocks and the Yoko Ono wishing tree. Unfortunately a special exhibition had taken up half of the space.

I decided not to go in there thinking I’d nip into a couple more churches but they were all closed. Ended up at a building at the end of the island which in addition to having a needed loo was hosted an exhibition from the collection of Francois Pinault. Well I could recognise that the large model of a soccer game between US marines and burka clad women was some sort comment about the Afghan war but the large meteorite with bats attached hanging above it totally escaped me. The selection of resin shapes made from the spaces under chairs was interesting while the stuffed body of a horse sticking out from the wall (its head appearing to be embedded in the wall as if it has attempted to escape from the space) was just odd – but must have been some reasonable engineering involved to stop it bending at the neck. And I should have guessed that the red and white beaded curtain that I had to walk through to get into the exhibition was a melancholic statement by the artist on the death of his partner from AIDs while at the same time being a statement to maintain political awareness of the disease. Oh well think I’ll stick to interpreting religious iconography. St Sebastian is the one with the arrows sticking out of him!!

So after this art experience it was time for lunch by a canal to re-energise! Headed down to the nearest  traghetto station – they’re the two man operated gondolas that go back and forward across the GC. That’s our gondola experience!! Found our way to La Fenice – the Venice Opera House which has survived being burned down twice – in 1836 and 1996. Was rebuilt in it 1830s rococo style so heaps of gilding and chandeliers to make quite a glorious environment.

Then back to St Marks Square.

Last night in Venice. Fly to Munich just after 5 p.m. tomorrow and then on to Hong Kong. Heading for home folks.

So last dinner - ahh the veal! Walked down to St marks Square after dinner. We had been told that its the start of high water season - the walk way gear gas been stacked up around the place since we arrived. Its just coming up to high tide and the walkways in the square are in use. Water isn't coming in from the canal at this stage - rather bubbling up from ground water. A few centintres deep in the square. But the band still plays and people still sitting in one of the cafes. Slightly Titanicesque methinks.

Julia thinks.........

that the sunglasses make her look like Sophia Loren

I think they make her look short!!

La Serenissima #3

Sunday in Venice. Only notable difference is that the cathedral isn’t open for tourists – worship only. And a few shops closed – presumably worshipping.

So where'd you leave my cloak?

Headed off to Murano this morning. Free water taxi courtesy of an inevitable arrangement between the hotel and a glass works on the island. Were taken over and met by a very personable young man called Ari. He is the fifth generation of his family in the factory. He works in the marketing and sales area because after they tried him at glass blowing for six weeks his grandfather decided that this would be a non-starter and moved him away from the practical side of the business. Well that’s the story anyway!

Got given the demonstration with personal commentary as one of the masters knocked out a plate and a horse! It was interesting to see the process if not the final product. Incredibly hot. Not surprising they shut down production in August. Got shown the Fine art section of their products. Some amazing – startling – impressive items. We were very taken by one beautiful blue egg shape cut into four to reveal layers within. However, despite the talents of the salesman he could not entice us to part with 4,000 euros (factory price including wrapping and transport)!! We did however part with some dosh in the Art Class section for a new pair of candle sticks. Then into the “souvenir section” but weren’t impressed.

According to Ari once we left his workshop we should have returned to Venice or gone on to Burano as there wasn’t much else to see on the island. Nothing except several other workshops and shops, some interesting buildings and a Sunday boat race. Then caught the vaporetto back to our station which gave us a good long trip back around the Arsenale, past San Michele (an island which is the cemetery for Venice and the Lido.

Sadly, our trip to Murano was marred by a serious loss……………after all his travels to Mordor, England and Germany Frodo lost his elven cloak! It fell off when we took his photo. I thought I’d put it in my backpack but…………. Guess I’ll just have to get in touch with the guys with the pointy ears and see if we can secure a replacement.

Once we got back, calmed Frodo down and unpacked wandered around to the area at the back of our hotel where the campo and church for this island are located. An amazing oasis of quite compared to what’s out the front! Had late lunch round there (question: why order a frutti del mare pizza when you scrape any of the frutti that look vaguely octopussi off the pizza?). Then a bit of a wander before our canal boat trip.

Boat trip set out from in front of the hotel, looped through some local canals and around to the start of the Grand Canal near the railway station. We did have an anxious moment five minutes after setting off when the boat stopped and tied up outside the police station. However, we were informed that the sound system had failed so we waited there for a replacement boat. I did note that when a policeman came out to see what was going on that there was a very large glass chandelier in the hallway. A tip for Judith Collins perhaps? It was a very cool trip along the canal. Some impressive buildings although many rather pock marked where the plaster has fallen off. We hadn’t realised that most buildings in Florence are built of wood and brick (for flexibility) and then have either a veneer of marble or a layer of marble slapped on. So of course the impact of salt water and movement starts undermining it as soon as it’s finished.

Now back at hotel, before contemplating dinner. Full day tomorrow San Giorgio, Academmia, Guggenheim, the place that makes kitset gondolas…..