Changes at work

After some happenings at work, it has been decided that I should move on from my current role.
As of Monday, I have a new role in my team, in which I will be looking at a different area of the business. It'll be a change, and i'm looking forward to it.

Days 15-7: HK (part 2) to home

The last day and a half was a rush of last minute shopping & packing. On Saturday afternoon, we dragged our luggage onto the MTR and off to Hong Kong station, where we checked our luggage in, and received our boarding passes. 25 minutes later and we’re at the airport (for the 4th time in 2 weeks). Another 10 minutes, and we’ve completed immigration & in the gate area. We boarded relatively late (6:10 for a 6:30 flight) and were set for an ontime departure, but there were ground problems, which meant that we sat on the tarmac for 30 min before getting the OK to depart. This flight was the only flight of the 4 which wasn’t completely full, and we had an unoccupied middle seat. Dinner was a choice of fish or chicken, and we both chose the chicken, which was a lemon chicken. Afterwards, Haagan Dazs strawberry ice cream was served. In between dinner, 4 newspapers (South China Morning Post, Straits Times, International Herald Tribune & The Financial Times) & the puzzles in said newspapers, it was time to land in Singapore, where there would be a 2 hour transit.
One thing about Singapore airport is that you are never bored, with a lot of things to see & do, from a movie theatre, to swimming pool, and a lot of shopping. Singapore Airlines has some special offers while in transit, and I utilised one such offer, where you paid for a shower, and you’re allowed use of the gym. By the time I was finished there, there was enough time for some duty free shopping & a sprint to the gate (making it by 2 minutes). The reward for all that effort? A very full plane and someone’s hand luggage in our compartment. We eventually found an empty compartment, and put our luggage there. The flight took off a few minutes past the 12:20 departure time, and there was a snack of either a tuna sandwich or turkey croissant served with a Kit Kat Finger. By the time that was finished, I was exhausted, and tried to get some sleep. If I was less tired, I probably would have taken up the offer of wireless access on the plane (with the drawback of everyone at home being asleep, so there wasn’t any point chatting).
I think I managed sleep in fits & spurts, but I couldn’t tell.
After a while (somewhere over Adelaide), they served breakfast, which was a choice of omelette or fried noodles. Following rule #1 of airline breakfasts (avoid egg products if at all possible), we went for the noodles. I didn’t mind them, but it seemed that I was the only one who finished the meal. Common complaints included the noodles being too salty & greasy (which might explain why I finished it).
Soon after clearing breakfast, the captain announced that the descent was beginning, and 25 minutes after that, we were back in Sydney. The wait at immigration was non existent (4 booths open, an average of 0.75 per line), baggage arrived quickly, customs was quick, and I was rediscovering my driving skills within 25 min of landing, and there ends another trip.
The trip was fun, and I would definitely go back, especially to Japan. (I know – bland ending, but it’s getting late & I can’t be bothered thinking of anything original).

Day 14: Back to HK

Today was a late start, with an 8am wake up call & a buffet breakfast. Today would be a light day, as the flight to HK left at 3pm, which meant that we had to be at the airport by 1. We walked around the Aeon shopping centre in Narita for a couple of hours, and then was off to the airport. At the airport, there is a roadblock where you have to show your passport before they allow you into the airport. Once in the airport, we checked in & had a look around. There wasn’t much there, so we sat by the gate & watched planes go by.
Finally it was time to board, and we boarded to a full flight. Dinner was served after takeoff, and it was a choice of either fish with rice, or pork with pasta. By the time they reached us, there was only the fish left. The portions, as usual, were small. They served Haagen Dazs cookies & cream ice cream for dessert. We landed in HK at 7pm, and was home within 90 mins of walking off the plane.

Day 13: Tokyo Disney

We had an early start as we were off to Tokyo Disney today, and that involved driving through Tokyo. As a result, we left the hotel at 8, and arrived at Disneyland at 10. The first thing we did was to grab a fastpass for Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters, which was popular with both adults & kids alike. Fastpass is an advance ticketing system for popular attractions, in which you insert your Disneyland ticket into a ticket machine, and a pass with a designated time pops out. You come back to the attraction during that time, and you’re at the head of the queue. After getting the pass, we wandered around the park, rode some rides, and took in the atmosphere and noting how orderly the queues & crowd were. While walking around, there were parades, so we watched those as well. In all, Tokyo Disney is a smaller version of the Disneyland in LA, but still fun nevertheless.
Tokyo Disney has a retail complex, Ikspiari, which is outside the park, next to the train station. We had lunch & dinner there, as the prices were cheaper than inside Disneyland.
After dinner, we went souvenir shopping.
By the time we were scheduled to leave, everyone was exhausted, but happy, and went to our hotel for the night, the Narita Marroad, which included prime airport views, even when you’re in the lifts.
Tomorrow, back to HK.

Day 12: “Look, there’s the Imperial Gardens, The Meji Shrine, The Hello Kitty Factory (or around Tokyo)

Had a later start today and had a breakfast of Japanese congee with grilled salmon, a weird plate of potato salad, green salad, omelette & sausage, as well as assorted bits & pieces for the congee. After breakfast, it was off to Tokyo. We passed the Imperial Palace on the drive in, and had a short picture stop at the Meiji shrine. We didn’t go in the palace, as it is only open for 1 day each year (December 23). However, there is no Hello Kitty factory in Tokyo, and Hello Kitty Land is in Tama, about an hour from Tokyo (& 5 min walk from my hotel for the night), so it appears I’ve done the Simpson’s tour of Tokyo :)
After the Meji Shrine, it was a short walk up the street to Harajuku, but there was no sign of Love, Angel, Music or Baby, and definitely no sign of Gwen (or weird looking people, as it was a weekday). However, the walk around did showcase the latest in Japanese weirdness. However, most of the items on display were very expensive. Lunch was at a Chinese restaurant in Shinjuku, to sample what Japanised Chinese food tasted like. After lunch was another wander around, but in Shinjuku. We wandered around a Department Store, with its myriad items for sale. After that, we went to what I think is one of Tokyo’s underrated attractions, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office. More specifically, the observation deck on the 45th floor. There are really good views of the city from there, and you can’t beat the price (free). By then, it was time for dinner, but the walk to dinner took longer than expected, because of the big crowds going home at Shinjuku station. Dinner was at a combination steamboat/BBQ place in Shinjuku, which seemed to be popular, judging by the number of tour groups having dinner there. In addition to DIY, there was cooked food, such as curried beef, sukiyaki, some Chinese dishes, as well as dessert. After dinner was the trip to the hotel, the Keio Plaza Hotel, Tama.
Tokyo Disney tomorrow.

Day 11: Narita to Mt Fuji

Today was also an early start (but not as early as day 10). After a buffet breakfast, it was off to the Mt Fuji area, and the Fujikyu Highland. The highland was an amusement park, with a few rollar coasters, including the biggest in the world, an attraction for the kiddies called Thomasland, and a Gundam ride, amongst other attractions. However, the biggest attraction was the snowfalls, which most in the group have never seen before. The snow also had a side effect of stopping most of the rides, so there wasn’t much to do. As a result, we just walked around. One thing we did find in the Thomas gift shop was Thomas & Friends toilet paper.
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Lunch was also at the park, and it was Oden like, with Udon. After lunch, we went to a snowfield, where some people played with snow. After that, we went to Kamaguchi, where our hotel was. This hotel is an onsen, with a traditional Japanese bath, and tatami bedding. Dinner was an assortment of items, with mushrooms with miso, pickled vegetables, a couple of scallops with butter, tempura and oden. A while after dinner, I went for a bath, and it was an interesting experience.
We’re off to Tokyo tomorrow.

Day 10: HK To Narita

Today started at 3am, for a 4:10 bus to the airport. I didn’t think there would be many on the bus, but it was pretty full by the end of the stops in Kowloon, and quite a few people got off at the airport. Upon walking in, there were many people sleeping on the benches, and a few Falun Gong practitioners in the arrival area. We met the tour guide & other tour members. The flight to Tokyo was with Dragonair, and I had some reservations about flying with them, especially with the competition flying the route (JAL, ANA, Cathay etc). Breakfast was served, and it was a choice of scrambled eggs or dim sum. I chose the dim sum, and wished I hadn’t, as the breakfast was finished in 6 bites (1 for each of the dim sum, and 2 for the BBQ pork bun). After breakfast, I pretty much fell asleep and slept until the descent to Tokyo. We arrived at a remote gate, and had a tour of the freight area on the way to the terminal. Immigration was quick, with the person directing the queues having a laugh with me when I mentioned we were Australians, and we were on our way to the hotel at Narita pretty quickly. After settling in, we walked to the temple at Narita, which involved passing a lot of different traditional shops, which sold items such as mochi, dried fish, miso & preserved vegetables. After having a look around the temple, it was free time, so we had a look at the shops before heading back to the hotel. After a while, we decided to walk to Jusco, which was around 10 min away. There wasn’t much there, but there were half price items at the supermarket, so those items were dinner.
We also watched TV. Under Siege 2 was the only English program on TV, so we watched that, followed by Winter Olympics coverage, mainly on Curling, but short track skating was also shown. After a long day, we were exhausted & fell asleep. Tomorrow, off to Mt Fuji.

Days 3-9: HK (Part 1)

We did the usual family/friends thing for most of the 6 days, with the occasional touristy activity (which I didn’t mind, as I have been to just about all the ones I’m interested in over the past 2 trips). One thing we did do was to go over the border to Shenzhen for a few hours. Compared to the last time I was there a couple of years ago, things have improved a lot, including a subway system linking the border at Lo Wu to central Shenzhen & tourist theme parks. We went to Shenzhen Book City where we purchased DVDs & some art supplies for my sister.
Despite all the improvements on the Mainland side, some things could still improve, like outbound immigration processing, which still takes ages.
One thing I noticed was that clothes sizes in Hong Kong tend to be very small, with size 33 shirts (which would be classified as childrenswear here) being commonplace, and any shirt bigger then 40 being hard to find. It took the best part of a week to find suits that would fit, but I eventually found a couple of suits.
One highlight was staying on the Kowloon waterfront for a couple of nights, where the harbour views were stunning (whenever it wasn’t smoggy/foggy).