on the move again
Sunday, March 8th, 2009when you are travelling for a year, and your daddy isn’t Rockefeller all Bill gates, you have to watch your pennies (especially when your home currency takes a nose-dive, like the Kiwi dollar) So we don’t spend any longer than you have to in a place that is expensive. Just to give you a little idea of our apartment block, this is a view down the air-well, viewed from our bathroom window!Waitakere Council would love it. A genuine plumber’s nightmare.
…but the rooms themselves were very tidy…..
And Hong Kong is expensive! Gone are the days when HK was THE place for a bargain p most things here are more expensive than NZ and even the REAL budget accommodation is costing more than we like to pay (HK$200 for a room for one night) Not too bad for just two of you but when you have 11 in a party, costs start to add up! So after 3nights in the Nathan Rd apartment block, we have taken a 20 min train ride down the line to Tai Poh Market, where we are ;couch-surfing for 3 nights. This is where a friendly soul opens up his house and lets you crash for free, if you can find somewhere to sleep, on the floor! Not as bad as it sounds. You get to meet some interesting people, they usually have a mattress or two, and there is no charge!
Our host here is a young Indian Expat, doing research at the local University. As a hobby/sport, he is a Uni-cyclist, and I have been admiring his bike in detail. We are all tucked into 2 bedrooms so it looks a bit like a refugee camp but we are very comfortable.
Rather amusing – Rob decided to buy some bread for tomorrow;s breakfast before we moved out of Nathan Rd in case we were not near any shops. When we got here we discovered that this place is like Orchard Rd in Singapore- Huge malls , glittering shops plus all-night fruit and veggie markets etc. Shops for Africa!
Tomorrow we take the train back to Nathan rd then catch the ferry across to Hong Kong Island to visit the Russian embassy – to lodge our Visa applications. With good fortune they will be ready in a week. The kids are looking forward to the trip The ferry ride for one thing, and the lift in the embassy building goes like a rocket they tell me,so that should be fun!
Oh I have also got myself organized with new specs. After the cataract op I needed to change my specs. Had no time to do it in NZ but now that the eyes have settled down I am able to get the specs organised, Ordinary specs take 2 hours but I am getting progressive lenses with Transitional lens material (instant shade correction for sunlight) and titanium unbreakable frames. All very flash, and I can pick these up in 4 days time (slight delay because the weekend came into that 4 day calculation!)
So life is going along nicely thanks. A few pics to let you see the terrain we have been travelling over.
kiwijoe