50 months later

The junk I’d planned for my last Saturday in HK had to be cancelled due to a black rain storm that morning, in fact during just one hour of the tempest a record 145mm of rain fell, it was clearly time to leave HK and to take on the Great British summer.

So, I had a few final final drinks, boxed up the last of my things and once Hannah arrived we were ready to go. Unfortunately virtually as we left the flat my 100 litre plus hold-all burst its seams in a very terminal fashion! A note was rapidly written for Matt (flatmate) to forward some essentials, the charity shop gained a few pairs of shoes and I stuffed anything I could into an old 65 l rucksack Zoe had left me to bin about 9 months earlier. Alas, a few hours later I began to think the journey might be doomed as the China Air flight assistant started to serve the “in flight meal” while we were still sat on Shenzhen airport’s runway...

Thankfully after only a little over two hours delay we were on our way again and Beijing bound. We only had a day in Beijing but rather than rushing about in the smog we headed for a remote section of the great wall for a bit of a walk. After following the it for a couple of hours and not seeing a soul we naively thought we’d escaped Chinas rampant capitalism, however as we climbed into one of the wall’s many defence towers we came face to face with a man selling souvenir t-shirts, still, we weren’t complaining as he also had a box of cold drinks.

Being as organised as I am we got our train tickets almost a whole hour before it left Beijing bound (eventually) for St. Petersburg. Now given most people think I can’t sit still for 5 minutes it might be thought Hannah was crazy to agree to travel over 8150km with me by train with only two stops in between, but I’m sure she’ll agree that it was a fantastic trip.

The first leg was a mere 31 hours which took us to Mongolia’s capital, Ulanbattar. Ulanbaatar isn’t much of a city to look at but we took half a day to visited the Gandan Khiid Monastery (when asked at a Mongolia monastery if you like pigeons don’t say “yes but they don’t have enough meat on them”, apparently they rather like them there) Sukhbaatar Square with first of many Ghinggis statues and Peace Hill plus a rather nice karaoke restaurant where our guide Naki sung a couple of Beatles tracks for us (apparently Mongolians like to sing!).

After Ulanbattar we headed into the hills for a couple of nights of archery, horse riding and camel racing on a ger camp (Mongolian version of a Tibetan yert if that helps). The scenery and sunsets on the Mongolian Steppe were spectacular, unfortunately the nomadic horses up there aren’t so reliable and didn’t show up plus it turned out the camel racing was using a pile of sheep ankle bones. On the bright side I won the race and as a prize I was generously allowed to act out a theatrical representation of 12 randomly picked animals to the rest of the group... for the record camels are much harder than badgers!

After the camp it was back on the train, this time for four nights (thankfully this time in our own 1st class carriage) during which time we gazed out of the window as we entered Russia (about 7 hours of boarder based fun), passed lake Baikal for 207 km, traversed Siberia and the Ural Mountains and crossed from Asia to Europe, we also played the unofficial world championships of whist, rummy and the ever popular sh1thead!

One of the most entertaining elements of the train was the dining carriage. The peroxide blond, chain smoking attendant that ran it wasn’t the friendliest woman in the world, however she did seem to take great pleasure in going through the extensive menu pointing to each dish in turn and growling “N’et, n’et, n’et”. It turned out that all she actually had was bread, cheese and borsch but thankfully the three worked very well together, especially when washed down with cold Russian beer.

Moscow fashion sense is fantastic, fantastic that is if you loved the 80s. The city itself however is rather more timeless and we had three great days exploring the Kremlin (Kremlin meaning walled city you know), Red Square (original meaning of red being beautiful not communist), the amazing tube station (sorry Hannah) and searching for an internet cafe (Moscow has no tourist information centres making this as good as impossible). We also found time to happen across a rally for the communist party outside the Central Lenin Museum, take a couple of thousand photos of St. Basils and eat some rather good Caucasian food.

An overnight train to St. Petersburg brought us to the house of Eleanor, a Russian widow who for a small fee rented out a bedroom (her bedroom as if unfortunately turned out) right in the middle of town. We were welcomed with open arms as apparently Hannah is the spitting image of Eleanor’s sister (a year or 40 ago) and from there we explored a city that proved the match of any European capital.

Once we’d cleared the hours of queuing, the Hermitage museum was one of the many highlights, admittedly we didn’t stay long enough to see all the 3 million pieces housed there but we worth a look. The best however we saved for last, for the final night of our trip we managed to get tickets to see Prince Igor in the Marlinsky Theatre. I have to confess that beforehand I wasn’t 100% sure about the idea of Russian Opera and thought I’d be ready to leave in favour of a pint by the interval but the pair of us were absolutely transfixed from start to finish.

And that was the trip (and only about 35 months longer than planned), the following day it was off to Polkovo II and after a quick bounce in Copenhagen we were back on English soil to see sunset over the motherland as we made for Bristol. I have to say England is still one of the most beautiful countries I know. I think I might stay, for a while at least...

JP

Jonathan Partington
Redland, Bristol
+44 7942 641 959

and a ferry

Isn't it ridiculous that we only make the most of places once we know we're leaving. Ok so it isn't entirely true that I've not take advantage of what HK has to offer these past 3 years but this last month has been busy.

First off I found the theatre scene and so went to see what was probably the worse ever rendition of Macbeth (though still entertaining) and on the bright side it did help me learn that a bloke I play rugby with has an extensive collection of replica Scottish weaponry! Not to be deterred I talked the gang into trying again, this time with something a little more contemporary in Popcorn and have to say it was great! God bless am dram. There have also been a couple of trips to the local comedy club which is always a good laugh (as you’d hope) and last weekend I eventually went to Ocean Park to see the Panda’s.

May was also the month for the Asian 5 nations. We (HK not me personally if you were wondering there) played home games against the glorious nation of Kazakhstan and Korea and they were free to watch, happy days. Unfortunately we finished third overall with home results of a narrowly win and heavy lost respectively. Rather disappointing really especially as I know a few of the HK players from my club and they claim to be Asia’s 2nd team.

As the humidity has taken its annual jump into the 90s sport for me has got harder but have still managed a bit of 5-a-side footie and playing a bit of air-conditioned squash. Last weekend also saw me playing golf for the first time in a year, 14 of us took a bus up into China to play for the Red Jacket (too long to explain but beer and rugby related) and the JP memorial trophy (a cast of my face!). All good fun and after a 6:30 am start eventually ended in a night club in Wan Chai at about 3am, as any good sports event should.

The other recent serious social event was a BBQ/ party we held on the roof of my flat, it was a joint birthday and leaving do and involved the mother of all BBQ’s being bought (a four burner beast) along with the local supermarkets entire supply of steaks and sausages plus a couple of trolley loads of drinks. It raged from 1pm until 4am and I’ve been assured by the 60 or so people that tried to keep up with me and my two flat mates over the course of the day that a good time was had by all.

And… if you didn’t already know the leaving part of that party was for me. Yesterday was my 3rd anniversary in HK and I’ve been away from England for over four years in total (a lot longer than I ever planned) so a month ago I resigned and I’m coming home.

Today is my last day in the office and I then have until when Hannah arrives on Wednesday to tie up any loose ends and send all the junk I’ve accumulated home. The pair of us will then be using planes trains and automobiles (plus a ferry to get into China) to cross the 6000 plus miles that lie between HK and the UK, gong via China, Mongolia and Russia.

I’ll be having my final 5:01 club drinks tonight, I’ve organised a final junk trip tomorrow for one final back flip into the South China Sea and I’ll no doubt squeeze in a couple more final drinks before I go but my overseas adventure is almost over, for now at least…

JP

SMA, Thomson Reuters Office
North Point
Hong Kong SAR

Mankinis and pimp suits

Given its a Friday afternoon in the shadow of a public holiday here's what I've mostly been up to recently...

It may seem crazy to travel for about 6 hours just for a weekend’s trip but if the destination in Ubud in Bali I strongly recommend it. I headed out there to help celebrate a mate’s 30th and have to say the place is nice, very nice. In the short time we had we managed to find time for the prerequisite massage, to take bikes out around the local rice paddies (that can be build on surprisingly steep hills), to eat some great sea food and to visit some ancient temple reported to be of both Hindu and Buddhist descent.

We also managed half a day on the beach. Unfortunately Bali sits pretty much right on the equator so having had a brief swim in the sea I retreated to the shade where I stayed while my travelling companions (French, Italian and Kiwi) all slowly roasted themselves. Oh for foreign skin, it would appear not applying sun cream after swimming even if you stay in the shade is a bad plan.

And the best bit, a restaurant called Mosaic. Now it may sound a bit daft to go all the way to Indonesia and eat at a European restaurant, but when the chef has Michelin stars (when in Europe, apparently they don't travel as far into the wilds as Ubud) you really have to, the food was amazing and although expensive for Bali was virtually free (ish), you really must go there.

Back in HK I've been trying to make the most of what the city has to offer and there have been some pretty funky highlights, not least a Duran Duran concert (what can I say, not many bands come here and they did sing James Bond’s "a view to a kill") and a mighty fine comedy night at the Viceroy. Tonight I’m going all sophisticated and heading to the theatre to see Macbeth however tomorrow will be less so as HK are playing Kazakhstan at rugby. We’re planning on starting early and I’ve been promised a Borat style mankini streak by one of my mates!

Talking of high fashion items, having turned 31 back in March I've now decided I'm old enough to own a brown suit, so my tailor in Shenzhen (with just a little help form Bev) has made me a rather fine copy of a Prada number with bright blue lining. Even if I do say so myself I look like the best dressed pimp to escape the 70s!

Although the season is over as my ribs appear to be completely better I managed to find one more rugby match to play in. One of my regular bars has an invitational touring team called the Pot Bellied Pigs with probably the least fashionable kit in the world (based on the design of shopping bags common across Asia) so when the call came I really couldn't say no. Miracle of miracles we won, beating a team over for the UK by 4 tries to 3. I can't really claim it was all me but was a good game and the court session (back at the local) was very as entertaining.

On less good news Oasis, the budget airline that flies between London and HK has gone under - surprise surprise! This wouldn't have been too bad but for the fact Hannah had tickets to fly out here for this weekend, d'oh!

And that about fills you in. I actually have rather sensational news about June but unfortunately I can't share that for another week or so but watch this space...

Laters


JP

Indestructible

Well the good news is that I spoke to a doctor and apparently I'm indestructible.

It turned out that the last rugby match of the season wasn't the last and so (unfortunately due to a shortage of players and my stupidity) I had to play an extra three games with my ribs strapped up. Inevitable - in the final final game - I took a bit of a knock exactly where I'd been hit before. Having only 14 men on the field at the time I obviously finished the match and anesthetised it with beer that evening but it clearly wasn't right. Breathing, moving and later just sitting on a bus made my eyes water and I can't describe the feeling when I sneezed.

I did eventually get to the doctor and was x-rayed and apparently I'm still young and bendy! In reasonable Chinglish the doc said something about a green wood fracture which I took to mean I bent but didn't snap, or in other words stop complaining its only a bit of pain. So its official, I'm indestructible, bring on next season (wherever that may be played).

In-between the rugby and the doctors visit I had my birthday but as I was hitting the none-age age range of the early mid 30s it was a relatively low key affair. On the day itself I went out for dinner with a few mates, my memory is a little fuzzy as to what I did on the Saturday night before it but sure that was also quite quiet.

Unfortunately my flat moving didn’t turned out to be quiet so easy as expected, I've somehow managed to amass a full transit van of stuff (even after destroying an ikea wardrobe, giving away a sofa, hob, TV, cabinet and air-con unit plus selling a table and chairs). One van-load might not sound like much but I arrived under three years ago with nothing but a 75 Litre holdall!

Thankfully, due entirely to Bob and Leo's generosity and their inability to say no when beer and curry are offered it was all done in an afternoon and I'm now living in luxury in Happy Valley.

My holiday in the motherland was ridiculously hectic (especially coming just days after the move) but equally good. In 8 days Hannah and I managed to spread ourselves between Winchester, Nottingham, London and Bristol, in the last of which we even managed to find a new flat (hopefully I've not just jinxed the KeySafe check...). As many of you know I also had a few beers in London Bridge’s The George (thanks to everyone that turned up, great to see you all) then on Saturday night flew out of Heathrow's terminal 5 on its second full day with only minimal delays and no loss of luggage - I'm truly bless!

Back in HK I landed just in time to have a few post 7s beers with Dom (in order to avoid jet lag) before cruising back to the penthouse.

And having done virtually nothing but work since then that's about me, however tomorrow is a public holiday so I'm going to Bali, woohoo!

Laters

JP

New man?

“You’ve changed” is a (slightly mocking) phrase I commonly hear from young Mr Roche these days (now man of wife, dog, child and boat so a fine one to talk) but worryingly I have to say it he might have something…

I was back in Europe for a conference and bit of a holiday in early Feb and instead of my old habit of finding things to jumping off and eating random animals I visited some top galleries (Van Gogh, Rijksmuseum), the Moore sculpture exhibition at Kew and the theatre to see Allan Bennett’s The history Boys and had a bl**dy good time doing so. You might well ask what's going on!?!

On the other hand I also gorged myself on chunks of meat the size of which just aren’t available in Asia, sauntered down Oudezijds Voorburgwal, visited Amsterdam’s “other” famous museum and got rather drunk before crossing London on the night bus so maybe I’m not quite a “new man” just yet.

As you may be able to tell from that the holiday element of the trip was great, the work bit (the conference attendance that meant I could afford an extra trip home) was a little less exciting. Unsurprising given it was an event on legal books but happily I survived serious mental trauma and as most people were asleep by the time I took the stage to speak not too much personal embarrassment and professional damage done either.

Back in HK, winter (yes we had one this year) has finally broken and last weekend saw my first swim in the sea of 2008. Admittedly it wasn't a very long swim but as it was to move the anchor on Harvey's beast of a speed boat it was well worth it. We were chilling at a beachfront restaurant between playing on the worlds best midlife crisis and the tide went out, what can I say, someone had to do it.

In other news I’m about to move house, having been in my flat for a little over two year its time to move on so I've been giving furniture away left right and centre. The majority of it really isn't worth selling and as I'm moving into a mate's luxury penthouse apartment (with 53” TV, roof terrace, games room… you get the picture) for my last few months here I have junk to loose. I hadn't realised just how much stuff I'd accumulated since arriving with one 75 litre bag a little under 3 years ago so its proving rather a big job. If anyone needs a 2 ring gas hob, an air con unit or sofa with ottoman let me know!

Thankfully - for the sake of my body - the rugby season has just one match to go so we (the mighty Valley Griffins) are hoping to end a pitiful season with final win but don't hold your breath or lay any money on it. Dawn (of RCG fame) came to visit for a couple of days drinking a few weeks ago and had the misfortune of seeing a game, she couldn’t find very much positive to say about it… in my defence I'd smashed my ribs playing the week before and really shouldn't have even been on the pitch but still.

And as I tend to say, that's about me. Its Paddy's day next week so I'm planning to have a few drinks at the weekend to celebrate/ commiserate turning 31. I'll be back in London the week after that to see Hannah for another flying visit so if anyone is around on Thursday 27th and fancy a couple of beers let me know. Sorry I can't offer other dates up for discussion but if you’re in town and free would be great to catch up so let me know.

Until then.

JP

Yet another year

Long time not hear I sense you saying, well fear not, I'm back!

Without going into details December was a very very good month, culminating in me cooking a rather impressive Christmas dinner that took many many hours to eat and only resulted in half those consuming it being violently ill! I stand by the claim that it tasted so good that far too much was eaten and it was that which causes any digestive disruptions...

NYE was a very nice but rather quiet affair, the usual suspects congregating at a mates flat before hitting the town but after a fairly manic December I was in worn out so home bed before 5am. All too soon after that I was back in the office.

Its actually freezing here in HK. Now obviously that’s a relative state of freezingness as I don't think its dropped below 10 degrees C as yet but really… I've had to dig a jumper out of storage! 10 degrees C might not sound so bad but as there is no such thing as heating here in HK I’ve been able to see my breath in my bedroom, unsurprisingly I've been rather glad of my 10 tog duvet.

I've had a couple of mates to stay since Hannah left on Dec 30th, firstly Mr Maes over from Bangkok and then Louise and Craig. Hans didn't need the JP HK grand tour having lived here himself up until about a year ago but Lou and Craig felt the full power of the Feather Boa's daiquiris and Roche manor BBQ based drinking, needless to say hangovers were not in short supply.

I've had to cut down my sporting exploits a little, after about 6 weeks off for Christmas the footie and Rugby seasons are back underway but having done virtually no exercise for a month I promptly got broken in my first match back. Thankfully hardly being able to walk doesn't stop me being selected in the starting line up but in the name of a semblance of sanity I'm waiting until I'm a fully fit before resuming my 6 day a week sporting calendar.

Given my being on the team with my broken status you may expect our loosing ways to have continued into the new year, however last Saturday saw a famous victory for the Might Might Griffins when we romped to a massive 10-5 win at the grounds of our arch rivals HKFC Bulls or “the Scum” as they are commonly know. There may be life left in the season yet!

And that about it, it that is except for the discovery of "The Magic Book shop". Admittedly this isn't as adrenalin filled as some of my past discoveries but even so. The magic bookshop is a vase warehouse where you can buy the latest books for just HK$ 10 each (RRP HK$ 120) saving me countless dollars to redirect towards my favourite charity, the JP beer token fund, happy days!

Laters

Jonathan

Happy Christmas

After what I described as a manic October I had planned to take it easy in November, however it would appear HK had a different plan for me.

Obviously after any footie or rugby match you have to have a beer, or two, and it didn't help that Lee came to stay so I had to do the pub tour guide thing. And we had the rugby club street party where straight-arm drinking was the order of the day (use your imagination), then there was the team Christmas party. I'm hoping none of the photos come out - a team of rugby players dressed like Britney may look bad at the start of the evening but by 4am …….

At work we’ve been ridiculously busy having run conferences, seminars and countless promotional campaigns but I’m still enjoying it. Out of work and on the water I discovered yesterday that swimming in the south china sea in December isn’t terminal, however it’s still pretty nippy - surely the last junk trip of the season but you never know.

On the footie field we’ve been doing pretty well but at rugby we’ve been rubbish, that said we did finish the autumn season on a win. Last weekend saw the mighty Griffins record a 5-5 draw in our last game, that might not sound like a win to you but when the ref recorded it on the official paperwork as 5-7 to us ……. we were never going to put our hands up after the season we've had.

In other news, while Lee was here a mate got us free tickets to the HK Open (thanks Bob) so we headed out to watch what should have been Karlsson cruse to an easy win. Unfortunately for him an average final round let the opposition back in and a New Zeeland style chock of a double boggy on the 18th meant Jimenez stole it at the death. If a fat Spaniard winning at golf isn’t cause for a celebratory drink…...

And with the occasional meal out, house party and 5:01 Friday drinking that's about it. Admittedly not enough news to warrant a whole email but as Hannah arrives for about 4 weeks tomorrow I may be neglecting other parts of my life for a while. So, in case I don't have the chance to say it in a few weeks time, happy Christmas!

JP