We’re here

(and our luggage is, too!)

It’s not that we were surprised to find our luggage arrived in Macau at the same time as we did, more that we’d not have been surprised if it hadn’t…if you get my drift.  Because, checking in at Heathrow this morning and taking the advice offered by the Macau Ferry company to check bags right through, we encountered a little local difficulty.  Seems that the check in clerk had never done this before, wasn’t sure if it was possible and then, having ascertained that it was, was unsure about how to do it.  At one point her check in desk was littered with bag tags, some printed in error, some printed wrongly and some were wasted because the printer decided to fool around.  All credit to her, however, for conducting the whole process with good humour and a great deal of patience.

Imagine our surprise, a twelve hour flight later, to find a young man waiting at the door of the aircraft to take us to the ferry check in.  What service!  We handed over our four baggage receipts and they confirmed receipt of the luggage and exchanged them for four of their own.  We spent a peaceful hour waiting for our ferry to be called making great use of the free wifi!

This is such a busy operation.  not only is there a regular hydrofoil service to Macau, there are other operations to mainland China, to several destinations in Hong Kong and this is a well used corner of the airport.

All is clearly signed, though, and we had no problem knowing exactly what to do – just like catching an onward flight, really.

The pier was accessed by means of a shuttle train, again, clearly signed and very user friendly.

However, by the time we reached the gate where our hydrofoil waited, it was clear that it wasn’t going to make the 5pm departure time.  Indeed, it was almost half past before we were on our way.

Of course, our stomachs had no idea of what meal was coming next – we’d eaten dinner on the plane last night and breakfast just before we arrived at 3pm HK time.  As a result, the rather strange tray of bland food handed to us on the ferry pretty much hit to spot! (with the possible exception of the rather watery sweet bean curd which both of us tried and gave up on after a couple of spoonfuls!)

We arrived in Macau around 6.15pm, as the sun was setting.  A charming young man from our hotel was there to meet us and most importantly, so was our luggage!

It was a bit of a bunfight to collect it, but the fact that it was there at all was wonderful!  Bravo British Airways check in staff!

So here we are in our beautiful Macau hotel.  We’ve enjoyed a lively and very sociable dinner with our friends Jane and Allan, who arrived a couple of hours before us.  Though we are all tired, we’re not sleepy and I just had to take a photograph of the beautiful “dress” which stands by the lifts in the foyer.  Made of china from two different dynastic eras (sorry, I was told but have forgotten!) it’s worthy of some close-ups and more details, which I promise will follow.

For now, though, enough to say “we’re here” and “let the fun begin”!

The importance of heels

I’ve spent the last couple of days making lists.  Lists for the builder, who is still finishing off one or two things here.  Lists for the housesitter, who knows where things are but might appreciate a small reminder or two.  Most important from my point of view, lists of things to pack.

The most perplexing challenge is, do I really need to take a pair of high heeled shoes?

You see, we were all relaxed about this.  The cruise we will join in a week’s time will be on our favourite ship and we are familiar with their dress code and the style in which people interpret it.  “Country Club Casual” is easy to do and even though we enjoy dressing for dinner and even stepping it up a gear to include a bit of bling on occasion, we are comfortable with that description.   But a “formal night” has slipped in there somewhere and though I am happy that the clothes I have with me will dress up well enough to match the elegance of my hero, what about the shoes?

Is it worth carrying a pair of heels half way around the world for just one evening?

Well, the bags are packed and the decision is made.  The heels are staying home.  I snuck in an extra jacket instead.  Oh, and a pair of very flashy flats.

See you in Macau tomorrow!

Nearly forgot!

As I was sorting through the papers on my desk, I came across the map I was intending to include i my journal.  It wasn’t easy finding one which included all our destinations on one manageable sheet and I’d tucked it away carefully so I wouldn’t lose it.

You know what happened to it then, don’t you ;-)

Measuring slightly over 6 inches by 8, it was too big to fit in a journal pocket as it was, so it was time to relearn the Turkish Map Fold. 

Though I’ve done it countless times before, I can never quite work it out from scratch and always have to refer to one I made earlier, or the excellent instructions on the website.

Of course, as noted there, folding a rectangular map isn’t quite so straightforward as folding a square one.  But hey, why make life simple?

Suffice to say that we’ll now know where we are, where we’re going and possibly, see where we’ve been too.

But we still have to pack our bags.  26C in Hong Kong today, 1C in Beijing.  I think we’re talking layers, don’t you?

Visitors

A lovely day here, much appreciated after the dreary and cold times we’ve had of late.  A bit of blue sky and a fine morning really lifts the spirits, not that we were in need of such things.  We expected company for Sunday lunch, and that was going to be entertainment enough.

As a result, my morning was spent in the kitchen, roasting pork, vegetables and assembling the strawberry pavlova I’d made last night.   I baked Simon Hopkinson’s Pear and Ginger Sponge which is, in my opinion, every bit as “yummo scrummo beyond belief” as is claimed.

But at one point I stepped outside to photograph these two in the garden.

How cute are they?   Made from a single six inch square of knitting, they come together in no time and were created whilst watching TV last night.  I used 28 stitches on 5.5mm needles and a ball of angora yarn, following these instructions to transform the flat square into a baby bunny.  They will grow tails at some point soon.

In the meantime, they are showing particular interest in the pear and ginger sponge!  I’ll find a home for them before Easter ;-)

Taking a deep breath

I’m doing my best not to sink and determined not to call for a  lifebelt!

I thought it was time to get out the “Samsung Ultrabook” and give it a whirl.  Put it through its paces and make sure it could manage what I had in mind for it.  Mind you, my hero has been doing a bit of  laptop-whispering in the last few days and I believe he has made it (almost) watertight. 

Windows 8, that is.

My knowledgeable and very computer-literate friends have resorted to all kinds of desperate measures and I’ve heard all kinds of stories from those who have swum in this pool already.  We’d have been very happy to have continued with Windows 7, puttering along doing what we do and knowing how to do it.  But a new machine meant a new operating system, so we pinched our noses, took a deep breath and jumped straight in at the deep end.  Well, my hero did the jumping in…I’ve just swum a width at the shallow end.

Enough of the metaphors!  Before I even hit the “on” button, my hero reduced the number of tiles on the opening page, making sure there was no unnecessary clutter to distract us from what we wanted to do.  We don’t need a complicated laptop, just a machine which would do the normal, everyday tasks we expect it to do: email, photo management, reading and writing blogs and browsing the internet.  We’ve got our favourite bookmarks there, customised the toolbars and that’s about it.

Oh, and I haven’t put any photos on it yet.

Did you guess?

Update on Wednesday, February 13, 2013 at 10:33PM by Gill Thomas

One thing did defeat me in the end - I couldn't work out how to shut it down.  Cntl-Alt-Del delivered the "shut down" option in the end.  Seemed pretty drastic to me!