Aaaahhhhhh......!!!!!!!

Come on England! I'm not 100% this morning having been up half the night watching the Mighty England try to throw away the fourth Ashes test (Sean has it on cable - as if that's the way to encourage me to pull my finger out and leave him and Bev alone!) so forgive me if this is a decidedly off key sort of an e-mail, the other reason is that I'm now working again, d'oh!

The worst thing about working in Hong Kong is the walk here. When I first moved to Manchester the walk into uni through Rusholme (the curry mile) was hard for my stomach to get used to, but get used to it I did. However the odor of fish balls seemingly coming from every shop in HK is rotten, add that to the heat while wearing a suit and it's really quite unacceptable at 8am!

Other than that things in Hong Kong are still rather good, though all of you reading this from behind their work PC can take comfort that I'm now pretty much one of you again, gone are the endless summer days, the Chinese work ethic has me in for 60+ hour a week - violin music please.

On the bright side since starting work I've found myself taken to a few of HK's bars probably best described as "interesting!" always entertaining... that with my recent habit of waking up on the sofa with a glass of whisky in hand (not knowing how I got there but feeling as if it was a long journey over very poor roads!) means I can confidently say I'm beginning to feel I've found my place here.

In other news, Mr D'Souza was over for a few quiet beers a week or two back and the pair of us found our way to the infamous Sam's Tailor (the choice of presidents Regan, Clinton and Bush 1 & 2, John Howard (pretty much got to be an Ozzy to know him...), Mandela, Prince Charles, Bruce Willis (oh yes!), wacko Jacko, Mr Elton John and Mr Donald Trump to name but a few). Darren got a rather nice suit made but better than that, we both had shirts done with monograms of our initials on the cuffs - how Hong Kong were we!

Darren was also here for a typhoon hitting HK, in the event it was actually a near miss so not a lot more than a very heavy rain storm but watching it roll in over HK Island with sun still reflecting of the glass and steel of the sky scrapers was quite a sight.

And that's about me, there's still no sign of a visa so I'm not on the company books (heard some muttered promise about a cheque at some point) and am officially working illegally. I could be deported at any moment but assuming that I can keep my head down my travel are over for now and it's nothing but work work work until Christmas - I know, you're all gutted for me.

That said I may be having a weekend in Bangkok in November (birthday party!) and the December trip is skiing in the Swiss Alps for Christmas and NYE in London, life is tough! - Anyone around London for NYE I'll most likely be re-visiting the old haunts in Kilburn/ Crikklewood then a drunken night somewhere before heading back to HK, what a jet setter I am!

So, until the next time, happy working!

Jonathan.

OgilvyOne officeThe CenterHong Kong IslandHK-SAR

Thank God for Chinese bureaucracy

13 days wasn't enough, in fact after my all too brief tour of southern Vietnam all I want to do is have at least as long again to do the north then on to Laos, Cambodia and Thailand then India, Nepal, Tibet .... you get the idea! But I can't, I'm as good as bankrupt so I'll have to work but thankfully my Hong Kong work visa is still being processed so at least for the next week I'm free to keep exploring.

After my last last e-mailed I took a night bus down the coast to Nha Trang (beach and bar capital of southern Vietnam so took advantage and had a drink or two and went scuba diving - loved it) then into the hills and the cool airs of Dalat (the first place in months I could walk down the road and still resemble someone that could pass as even slightly civilized). To end the trip it was down into the Mekong Delta for a not quiet Apocalypse Now style boat trip (couldn't organize napalm style light show unfortunately) then back to to Saigon (cheep central bit of Ho Chi Minh City still carrying original name) for a final night out on Bia Hoi.

Bia Hoi, the cheapest beer in the world - happy happy days! Picture the scene, I'm sat on the side of a road on a Fisher Price kids table and chairs chatting to random locals and drinking great home brew (bia hoi, served in refillable plastic bottles) and being challenged to taste interesting locals cuisine (they didn't speak English so didn't ask what it was) and when you come to pay up it works out at under 15p per pint, brilliant!

Talking of cuisine, I can now happily add cobra (v. good cross between chicken and squid), stingray (bit of an accident but quiet like shark) and deep fried frog (might not try that on again!) but though I found turtle and dog decided to save that for when I head to hanoi where I'm told the connoisseurs dine!

And that was the trip, gutted it's all over. I almost planned the exchange of cash perfectly, unfortunately I forgot about Vietnam's 192,000Dong departure tax departure tax, d'oh! fortunately I had 20,000Dong, $7US and about $40HK which with their calculations worked out as "just enough", funny that but wasn't about to complain so really did come back penniless.

So I'm back to Sean and Bev's in Hong Kong to introduce Sonny (the dog) to a few recipes I found in Vietnam..... I should be working next time so prepare for the the somewhat more depressed e-mail in a few weeks time!

Jonathan

O Pui Village
HK