DAY 7 NICE

Our plan has changed a bit so we had to move from Hostel Baccarat to Villa Saint Exupery in the morning. Villa Saint Exupery located on the hill and it was a wonderful villa. They had free shuttle bus services and the staffs were very friendly and nice. I liked the atmosphere there.

We had no idea where to go yet so after checking in, we asked the staffs to recommend us some nice beaches. Surprisingly the staffs could speak fluently English. Later on I found that most of them weren't French, they were from Canada and they worked there as a summer job. I met quite a lot of Canadian in Nice!

A staff recommended us to go to Villefranche Sur Mer, it was only 15-20mins by train so it wasn't far away. There were quite a lot of people on the beach and enjoying sunbath!! We didn't plan to go swimming so we just lied down and relaxed on the beach.

Honestly I didn't quite enjoy the sunbath. I like the beach, the sun and the blue sky but I didn't want to get tanned. It was so hot and I wish I could swim in the sea!!

We stayed in the beach for around an hour (that's really enough for sunbath only) and then headed back to downtown. I understand why Nice is a one of the most popular vacation destination in France coz you will really adore such mild weather and beautiful beaches when you are there.

We bought some take away pizza, snacks and champagne and then went back to our hostel. There was a nice chapel where we could enjoy our dinner and meet people there.

We met a Chinese guy who was studying in Italy and he came to Nice with his mom for vacation. hahaha Kate envied him very much :D

My roommates were from Canada, Australia and States. The one who was next to my bed was super cute!! :D I was pretty lucky LOL Kate and Kelly stayed up late to use laptops but I was so tired and I just slept right away.

DAY 6 MONACO / NICE

Leaving Monaco in the early morning, we dragged our heavy luggages to the bus station. The bus station was pretty far away from Kelly's friend's home, we had to walk a long way. This crazy long stairs tired us out!!

Nice is not far away from Monaco, we only needed around one hour to Nice. What a nice sunny weather!! Nice is a small city and people there were nice!! When we were looking for the way to the hostel, a young lad just popped up and told us the direction. He thought we were from China but then we told him that we were from Hong Kong, he knew the different between Hong Kong and China :D yay!

Our hostel is in the city centre and it was quite convenient. We dropped off our luggages and went out for shopping. We bought some clothes and sandals!!

We then went back to the hostel to take a shower, dress up and went out for a bar to watch the European Champion League Final, Man United vs FC Barcelona. Kate is a big fans of Man Utd and she loves C.Ronaldo very much. I'm not so into Man Utd but I don't really like FC Barcelona so I chose to support an England team :D

We were a bit late so it was very full in the bar. We couldn't find a seat, we could only stand and watch the game. FC Barcelona won 2-0, I wasn't surprised tho LOL

There were a live band show after the game, we then got seats and enjoyed the live music. I think we were the only one who pay attention to their performance coz they sang in English and seems not many people were interested in their performance. We even took photos with the band! How nice they were!!

We were a bit hungry so we then had some dessert and wine in a nice restaurant. Both crème brûlée and tiramisu were good!!

We hardly recognised the road in the dark so we spent nearly an hour to walk back to our hostel :P It was pretty late when we were back!! Our roommates were sleeping already.

DAY 5 EDINBURGH / MONACO

Goodbye Scotland!! We are going to South of France today!! This morning we took a flight from Edinburgh to Nice. It was only 2 hours more to Nice and we were so excited for going there!!

There were a group of French secondary school students in the same flight with us. We tried to talk with them in French and then we started to talk on the flight. They went to Scotland for school trip!! Wow!! How come I never had such school trip?? Those students were friendly, cute and curious. I guess they were surprised that we could speak a little bit French.

Nice Airport is pretty small. We bought bus tickets from Nice Airport to Monte Carlo. Thanks for Kelly!! I could buy a student ticket :D It costed EUR 12.50, pretty expensive tho.

The weather in Nice Monaco wasn't so good. It was a bit foggy and cloudy. I could see some sun but it wasn't what I expected. I thought I could see a beautiful blue sky.

We dropped off our luggages at Kelly's friend's home and then we went out and walked around. Monaco is the world smallest French speaking country. The Formula One was held just a week before we were there. We could still see the F1 tracks.

Kelly's friend finished work at around 4.30pm and then he drove us to a ancient village - Èze. This small medieval village is famous for its beauty and charm.

Since it was quite foggy when we were at the top of the hill, we had to wait for a while until the clouds and fog was blew away.

This village is really so beautiful and the old buildings impressed me a lot!! I felt like I was back into the middle age. What a lovely village!!

We were quite lucky that we could see the beautiful sunset and it was fantastic!! I love this little village!!

We went back to Monte Carlo in the evening and took a look on the famous casino. We didn't get in coz people dressed up beautiful there. Most of them were rich coz there were a lot of nice luxury cars such as Porsche, Ferrari...

We then had a nice dinner in a Italian restaurant. The food was delicious but it wasn't expensive. Eating dinner next to the Mediterranean Sea was so wonderful!!!

DAY 4 EDINBURGH/ LOCH NESS

We joined the local tour to Loch Ness today coz it is pretty far away from Edinburgh (around 3-4 hours) and we couldn't drive. So local tour was the easiest way for us to go there.

The weather was bad today. It had been raining and cold. We didn't expect the weather would be like this. It seemed a very long way and when we arrived Loch Ness, it was afternoon already.

I think Loch Ness would be so beautiful if the weather was fine. What a shame!! I didn't take many photos becoz of the rain. And for the Loch Ness Monster, we couldn't see the real one but we all thought our driver was the monster!! He was so mean and he wasn't friendly!!

We didn't go for the river cruise so we had afternoon tea instead. I liked the sausage roll a lot!! Very delicious!!

We met a Spanish guy and a Scottish guy in the group and they were very friendly and interesting. We had no idea what their relationship was but we guessed they were gay couples LOL The Scottish guy was very cute and adorable and the Spanish guy was very funny and talkative. It was so enjoyable to talk with them.

When we were back to Edinburgh, that Scottish guy was so nice to recommend us a Scottish restaurant (Howie's) for dinner and he even took us there.

This restaurant was very nice!! The atmosphere was good and the food was excellent!! And it wasn't expensive at all!! I enjoyed the food a lot!! I can't remember what kinda Scottish dishes I had but all of them were so delicious!!

We wouldn't know where to eat if he didn't show us!! How lucky we were!!

DAY 3 EDINBURGH

Woke up in the early and then we had to move to the hostel in Edinburgh. I hated to move around with my heavy luggage but I had no choice.

The backpacker hostel was kinda funky and colourful. The staff were so young and friendly. It seemed nice but the problem is there were only stairs!! No lift!! WTF!! Our luggage were very heavy and we had to spend time to drag them up to our room.

We then went out and walked around Edinburgh city. It was a nice sunny day!! I liked the weather a lot!! We enrolled 2 local tour, one was the night ghost tour and the other one was Loch Ness tour for tomorrow.

We visited the Edinburgh castle, it looked amazing!! And the street in Edinburgh looked so nice!! It was an old city with many historical and Victorian Style buildings. I like Edinburgh a lot!!

I wanted to do some shopping but I had to control myself and the weight of my luggage. It couldn't be heavier than 20kg coz I had to take the budget flight (Easyjet) to Nice. Easyjet is very strict to the weight of luggage.

I only bought 2 scarfs and it costed 20pounds each. Not too expensive and the quality is very good!!

We also visited St Giles' Cathedral and Scott Monument, it was quite easy to walk around Edinburgh coz it wasn't very big and the attractions were closed to each other.

And I think the world is really small!! I met Thomas Chu in the Edinburgh train station!! He was sitting on the bench with his friends!! How coincidence!! I've never thought I would meet any friends outside Hong Kong!!

Thomas and his friends just arrived Edinburgh today and then they are going to Switzerland few days later. It's good that they had car and they can drive by themselves.

We had dinner at the hostel and then we joined the night ghost tour at around 8pm. We all expected that it would be a very exciting and scary tour.

The sun wasn't fully set so the street wasn't so dark. There were a guy who looked mysterious and he was our guide. He just showed us around the High Street from point to point and then he talked about the history and the ghost stories. It wasn't scary at all and it was a bit boring. We kept yawning LOL

The guide took us to the basement cave, we thought someone would jump up to scare us but no!! Still stories!! Before ending the tour, we had a drink together and we asked the other people if they thought the tour was scary, a lady told us the story scared her LOL OMG?!! How come?? Maybe my English wasn't good enough to undertand the scary stories?

We felt a bit disappointed about this tour, we walked back to hostel at around 11pm and then slept coz tomorrow we had to wake up early and head to Loch Ness.

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 :(