DAY 2 LONDON / EDINBURGH / STIRLING

I took 8.50am flight to Edinburgh from London, and it was 10.10am when I arrived there. Kelly and Kate took 2pm flight from Paris to Edinburgh so I didn't wait them at the airport. I went to the hostel first and unloaded my heavy luggage.

We booked the hostel in Stirling on the first night coz we got no choice. It was so crazy that 23rd night, the hostels in Edinburgh were all full!! I had no idea but someone told me that there was Rugby Cup final so many people were going to watch the game in Edinburgh.

The only available hostel which is near by Edinburgh was in Stirling so we just stayed in Stirling for one night. I took the bus from Edinburgh airport to the train station and then took the train to Stirling. Stirling is around 50mins train from Edinburgh, it is a small town.

When I arrived the hostel, it was around 2pm. Kelly and Kate were just on the plane. So I went out and walked around. It felt good to be alone in the other country. Everything was new for me. I had no map and I just followed the road signs and walked.

I looked for the Stirling castle, then I saw a tourist information centre so I took a map and headed to the castle.

The weather was pretty cold in Stirling. It was cloudy and it rained a bit. The castle is on the top of the hill so I had to walk up. I was very tired after the long journey on the flight! I had an ice-cream and I was freezing!!

The buildings in Stirling looks nice. There are quite a lot of old buildings. I like them a lot. And when I strolled around and took a deep breath, it smelt so "UK" LOL It's hard to explain but the air smelt so familiar for me.

It didn't get into the castle coz I didn't have much time. I had to pick up Kate and Kelly at Stirling train station.

I was looking forward to see them again and it was good when I met them in the train station! Since it was late when they arrived Stirling, they didn't have much time to do the sightseeing. I took them back to the hostel and we went out to buy some food and wine in the supermarket.

We had a lot to talk!! They told me about their lives in Europe and their happiness and sadness. It was very interesting and funny!! They experienced a lot in these 3 months!! Tho we were so tired, we kept talking until midnight.

DAY 1 HONG KONG / LONDON

I have been waiting for my vacation for a few months but when it is getting closer, I don't really feel ready for it. My original plan was to travel to UK alone but eventually I changed a bit. I'll still go to UK but France as well. A bit rush but it is worth to see more cities.

This time I'm going with Kelly and Kate. They have been studying in France for few months. When I told them about my plan of travelling to UK, they said they would like to join me as well. It would be cool and then we started to think why wouldn't we travel to South of France since we all are learning French? I love this idea and I always want to travel to South of France.

It is like usual, I took mid-night flight after work and flew to London first. Our first destination was Edinburgh!! Kelly and Kate took the flight from Paris to Edinburgh so we would meet there.

I was exhausted so I just slept on the flight. Time ran fast and 12 hours flight wasn't such long for me. When I arrived London, it was 6am.

BACK TO TAKADANOBABA

Sophie is getting married next month so we had dinner gathering tonight and she gave us the wedding invitation card. I was quite surprised to know she is getting married soon coz I thought she would marry next year or later. I'm so happy for her and I can't wait to see her Italian fiance.

Sophie wants to stay in Italy but it is hard for her to get working visa so the fastest way is to get married!! I'm sure she has to learn Italian when she lives there!! That's cool!!

After dinner we all went back to our old Japanese school coz Jeff is moving this school to another place soon. We took few pics before it was moved. I hardly remember how long I studied there but it was a good memory. We had fun time in the class and we used to ask many questions and try to speak as much Japanese as we could. Old timessssss!! It was 10 years ago when I started to learn Japanese!!

FC'S BELATED B-DAY DINNER

Celebrating FC's b-day at Festive China, it is a Chinese restaurant which serves Beijing Food. I was a bit surprised that FC chose this restaurant. I thought she would choose a French restaurant or Western style cuisine. We didn't care what to eat as long as she liked it.

PY stood us up again so only me, AC, Hang and FC at the dinner. I quite like Beijing food and we all were so crazy to order many food. Such as Peking Duck, Hot and Sour Soup, Soft fried fish, Dumplings, Pork, dessert... It was hard to believe that we could finish all!! :D Actually I woke up at around 3pm and I didn't have my lunch so the dinner was my 1st proper meal today!!

PARTY AT CHEZ NAB

Nab invited us to have party at his home tonight. Yay!! French food night!! We had salad, cheese, ham, baguette and for sure apéro and red wine!!

I like this cheese a lot but I can't remember how it is called :P There are too many kind of cheese!! How can French people remember and recognise all?!

After meal we drank a very strong rum - 75.5%!! It was my first time to drink such strong rum!! When the rum ran through my throat, it felt like burning inside!! Nab and Chris said that it could help to digest tho...

Chris will travel to Asia for few months and I think the next time for me to see him is in Aug or Sep. Bon Voyage!!

SUSHI AGAIN!!

Chris and Kayin are back from France after their one month vacation!! We had dinner at Senshuraku tonight again :D Why always there?? Coz Chris loves Japanese food!! I'm not sure if that restaurant is one of his favourite but I'm sure Japanese is his life LOL How come he has never been to Japan? He should have gone there!!

It was great to hear their life in France!! One month sounds long for me but Chris said it was short coz he had to visit his friends and family and he was busy everyday. Oh well what can I say? I've never had one month vacation!! He is going to travel again soon!! Gosh, rich guy!!

X-MEN ORIGIN: WOLVERINE

Lunch with Kyoko, her parents and her other friends at a Dim Sum restaurant this noon. Kyoko's parents are coming to Hong Kong for vacation and they are very appreciated that we have been taking care of Kyoko in Hong Kong so they treated us a lunch. They were too kind but actually I think it's not a big deal to take care of a friend. It's my pleasure!!

After lunch, I went to CWB to meet PY and AC for movie. We watched "X-Men Origin: Wolverine" since we are X-Men Fans. It is the story that how and why Wolverine becomes Wolverine. The storyline was great and entertaining. And the effects were good too!! I quite like Wolverine after watching this movie (I like Cyclops for the previous X-men Series).

DAY 4 TOKYO

We had to leave Tokyo in the afternoon so we still had some free time in the morning. So we went to Tsukiji fish market in the morning. There are 2 very famous sushi restaurants and it is worth to try!! We didn't have the map so we just asked the local people for the way. I was suddenly feeling so proud that I could speak Japanese :D

The sushi restaurants are quite small and there were many people waiting outside. We chose one and then we waited for nearly 45mins. I can say that the suishi was the best that I ever had!! I chose the "chef recommendation" menu and the chef made me sushi with the freshest fishes.

I had 10 more pieces sushi and all of them was very good!! I loved the sea urchin and salmon eggs sushi!! I didn't like the salmon eggs sushi in Hong Kong but surprisingly this one was so tasty!! Wowwww yummy!! It was a very great brunch for us!!

Then we bought some sea urchin in the fish market and some snacks and strawberries in the department store. Although we were full, we still wanted to eat some more things!! :D The strawberries were so sweet!! Very fresh and delicious!! :) Seems like this trip I only eat!!! :D

4 days is pretty short but it was good to get away! I went back to Hong Kong at around 11pm but unfortunately I have to work on the next day :(

DAY 3 TOKYO

Finally it was a nice sunny day today!! But I planned to do some shopping but not sightseeing. We spent whole day in Shinjuku, walked and shopped around. Unfortunately Japan Yen is very strong now and I didn't buy many things. Just some clothes, camera accessory, snacks, scarf and cosmetic. I wanted to buy bags and shoes but I couldn't find something that I like.

We were quite tired for walking for whole day. We walked around camera shops / electronic goods shops in the morning, had lunch at a sushi restaurant and then shopped around at the department stores in the afternoon. I wish the Yen was cheaper!!

We had Kaiseki ryouri for dinner, I searched this restaurant from the internet and booked it in advance. The food was pretty good!! We had an independent room and a pretty Japanese lady served us and explained to me about the food. Very good service!!

But I think Shinjuku is more complicated than before coz I saw quite a lot of gangsters on the streets in Kabuki cyo. The shops in Japan close quiet early so we walked back to hotel after dinner.

DAY 2 KAWAGUCHIKO / HAKONE

What a nasty weather!! I was so disappointed to wake up seeing the rain outside. It rained even heavier than yesterday!! Darn!! I don't want a rainy vacation!! After having Japanese style breakfast at the hotel, we took the couch to Hakone. It is supposed that we would go to Mt. Fuji but becoz of the rain, it was canceled.

On the way to Hakone, we saw a few Sakura trees! What a surprise!! The sakura should have withered and fallen at the end of April but it was still a bit cold in Hakone, luckily we could still see them!! It was my first time to see the Sakura!! Very beautiful!!

Then we went to Owakudani, it is a volcanic valley with active sulphur vents and hot springs. We walked up a bit to see the hot springs but I didn't really have good mood becoz of the weather.

There is a very famous food - Kuru-Tamago (Black egg) in Owakudani. The eggs are hard-boiled in the hot springs and they turn black and smell slightly sulphuric. It is a rumuored that eating the eggs would increase longevity and one egg adds 7 years in your life. I didn't eat any coz I don't want longer life LOL (Actually I don't like hard-boiled egg and I tasted it many years ago already).

After visint Owakudani, we went to Lake Ashi and had lake cruise. The sightseeing ship is modeled on medieval sailing vessel and the name of the ship is Victoria. It rained heavily and it was very foggy so I couldn't see Mt. Fuji from the ship. What a shame!!

We then have lunch in a local restaurant. It was a Japanese set lunch with rice and udon. The food was ok only. And after lunch we took the couch to Tokyo and it was quite a long journey. When we arrived Shinjuku, it was nearly 7pm. We checked in and rested a bit at the hotel, then went out to have dinner.

My friend recommended me to try this Japanese BBQ restaurant "Rokkasen" so I booked it in advance. It was a BBQ buffet and it costed Yen6,300 per person. They have many kind of food just like crabs, shrimp, scallop, fish, beef, chicken, pork, salad, vegetable... We ordered a lot of food and I loved the beef a lot!! So tasty!! And their service was good too!! We were sooooo full!! :D

DAY 1 HONG KONG / KAWAGUCHIKO

Yay Here we go Tokyo!!! Many friends think that I often go to Japan or I'm an expert in Japanese culture of stuff but frankly the last time that I went to Japan was 7 years ago!! It has been a long time and it surprised me a bit too LOL Actually I like travelling to Japan and I want to travel there more but the reason that I didn't go much is going to Japan can be more expensive than going to Europe!! I think I will crazy for shopping around LOL

This time I got a very "special offer" to Tokyo for 4 days, tho it is short, I was still looking forward to it!! We took the morning flight to Tokyo, when we arrived Narita airport, it was nearly 2pm already. The weather in Tokyo wasn't fine, it rained a bit. We took the couch to Kawaguchiko directly coz we would stay a night there. It was a long journey to Kawaguchiko!! Nearly 4 hours by couch and when we arrived the hotel, it was nearly 7pm. Nothing much to do today actually...

We stayed in Kawaguchiko hotel which is a classic Japanese style hotel. I heard that the Japanese Emperors have stayed there before. This hotel is facing to Kawaguchiko and I'm sure the view would be very great if the weather was fine. My room had the lake view too!! What a shame that the weather was so gloomy!!

We had dinner at the hotel, they provided us set dinner with Shabu Shabu. The food was just ok, I had no expectation for the meal at the hotel LOL

After dinner, we wore the Yukata and then joined the party at the function room. I didn't really want to join the part coz I knew it wouldn't be interesting but I had no choice. They provided free Asahi beer and snacks so it wasn't too bad. But it was really boring and luckily the party didn't last too long.

I was too tired so I went back to the hotel room and watched TV for a while, then I slept right away. There is nothing around the hotel except the lake so it wasn't a good idea to go out at night since it was raining.

THE SHINJUKU ACCIDENT

Watching Jackie Chan's new movie "The Shinjuku Incident" today. I thought it would be a typical "Jackie Chan's movie" with stunts but Jackie rather performed his "acting" than Kung Fu.

I'm a bit disappointed with Daniel Wu's role coz I perfer him acting a cool guy or something but he was such a coward in the movie. This movie was pretty violent and bloody and surprisingly it didn't have any comical humor or martial arts that we've been so used to seeing in the usual Jackie Chan movies.

The movie is so so, not too bad but if anyone expects to see any crazy stunts, I wouldn't recommend.

AC'S B-DAY

It's AC's B-day and we had dinner at Tony Roma's. Me, FC and Hang came out earlier to buy presents for her. It wouldn't be hard for us to buy things for her coz what she cares most is her face LOL We bought a SK-II foundation and Lunasol Eyeshadow for her.

Haven't been to Tony Roma's for a while, the food was still good!! I love the salad!! Good recommendation by FC and Hang!! But comparing with Tony Roma's, I think I like Dan Ryan more!

I'm glad that AC liked the presents and she was happy!! :) After dinner Hang went back home and then we girls had girl's night out!! We went to bar for drinks and chatted together. Hang is more like an old man now!! How come he wanted to go home so early?! :D

HE'S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU [BOOK]

I think I'm really a fast reader!! I finished this book not more that one week tho this book isn't thick at all. I like to read the books after watching movies coz I can understand the stories better.

This book is totally not same as the movie! Or I should say the director just used some points or pharses to build up the movie. This book is just a love advice book which help women to find the guys who are really into them.

It's quite interesting to know but I don't think all his "theories" or advices are truth. Everyone are unique, right? We can't just use these theories to judge.

Here are the theories:
1) He's just that into you if HE'S NOT ASKING YOU OUT
2) He's just that into you if HE'S NOT CALLING YOU
3) He's just that into you if HE'S NOT DATING YOU
4) He's just that into you if HE'S NOT HAVING SEX WITH YOU
5) He's just that into you if HE'S HAVING SEX WITH SOMEONE ELSE
6) He's just that into you if HE ONLY WANTS TO SEE YOU WHEN HE'S DRUNK
7) He's just that into you if HE DOESN'T WANT TO MARRY YOU
8) He's just that into you if HE'S BREAKING UP WITH YOU
9) He's just that into you if HE'S DISAPPEARED ON YOU
10) He's just that into you if HE'S MARRIED
11) He's just that into you if HE'S A SELFISH JERK, A BULLY, OR A REALLY BIG FREAK

Very funny but it seems hard to find the right guy if girls believe all the above theories?

HIKING FROM TUNG CHUNG TO TAI O

What a sunny day!! Went hiking from Tung Chung to Tai O with my cousins. Actually it wasn't really a hiking route, it was more like a jogging route coz it was easy!!

Normally you can just finish in 2-3 hours but my little niece also came with us so we took nearly a double of hour to finish!! We all didn't expect that!! Yan Yan felt tired in the very begining and she didn't want to walk. She needed her mom to carry her all the way...

When we arrived Tai O, it was nearly 5pm. There were a lot of people in Tai O! This little place was so crowded!! Hong Kong is really too small that we don't have many choices to hang out during weekend

We had a nice dinner in a small restaurant in Tai O, the food was good expecially the fish and the Toufu!! Nothing is better than having a nice meal after a long walk!! :D

OCEAN PARK

Going to Ocean Park with my cousins today. I think it was 15 years more ago when we went to Ocean Park together!! Grandma was still alive and we were just little kids!!

I'm not so into rollar coaster now coz I'm too old to ride on such exciting stuffs. But I don't wanna be a loser so I still got on them and had "great fun".

We also watched the show in the Ocean Theatre, it was cool!! The dolphins are so cute and clever!! Really wish I could go down there to touch them!!

Actully I wanna see the pandas too but we had to rush and leave coz we gotta join the other family members for the barbecue in Sai Kung. So I have to wait to see the pandas next time...

I don't know why Big Bro suggested to barbecue in Sai Kung, it doesn't make sense to go from Ocean Park to there. So far away!! We all were extremely tired when we were at the barbecue place. But it was good to have family gathering like this and I enjoyed a lot!!

LUMIX FX580

New Toy!!! I got a Panasonic Lumix FX580 digital camera! :) I have been thinking to buy a new DC coz my Canon is 2 years old and it sometimes doesn't work so well. Also my sis often takes my camera and doesn't return it back to me when I need it!! Good excuses, aren't they? :D

Since these years Canon put more resources on developing the DSLR than compact DC so this time I wanted to try other brand. I heard that Panasonic was quite good and they use Leica lens so suppose the photo quality should be good.

This is a touch-screen model and I'm so into touch-screen technology!! My mobile, iPod Touch and camera are all touch-screen!! It has quite a lot of features like 25mm ultra-wide-angle LEICA DC lens with a 5x optical zoom and I can control shutter speed and aperture manually. The Intelligent Scene Selection seems cool!! For sure I will bring it everyday everywhere!!

HE'S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU [MOVIE]

Recently I'm quite into chick flick, maybe becoz I'm kinda stressed at work and I just want to watch some funny and romantic comedies. No need to use my brain to figure out the plot :D

It was just an okay movie, not too bad but not so good. There were too many characters and some plots were kinda stupid. I don't think women are like that in actual life. There were a few funny lines tho.

WONDERFUL THURSDAY

Wonderful Thursday!! Another unexpectation!! I'm too easy to be happy by little thing :D Anyway it feels good to have something to look foward to!! :) Just let it happen!! I can't wait for it!! :)