Yes, Honkers can be pretty

Well, I think so…especially if it’s right outside your apartment window.

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Hua Hin, Thailand

So we’re back in Honkers after a lovely relaxing 7 nights in Hua Hin.

We got a package deal with Cathay Holidays which saw us stay at The Hilton. They were  nice enough to upgrade us to their club room when we arrived. Good start!

The Hilton could not be placed better. In the middle of a plethora of bars and restaurants. And unfortunately a number of tailor shops whose workers’ sole purpose is to annoy you as you take a relaxing stroll around the vicinity. Must. Stay. Polite.

This was my third visit to Thailand and I have grown to like the country and it’s inhabitants. They’re pretty laid back and always smiling and happy.

Of course the hotel pool was a constant source of relaxation. More so for one of us than the other due to one of us burning to a crisp on the first day.

Singha was my beer of choice. Light and refreshing. And Thai! The spaghetti  in this pic was my one foray in to Italian. It was horrendous; the cream tasted like a dessert cream! Ugh!

Now this is what I’m talking about! What I lived on for a week; fried rice and chicken. Beautiful.

We thought we would be in a non-touristy area due to us never hearing of Hua Hin before but no the area was fully of European families and lonely old gentlemen. If Hua Hin airport got some direct flights from HKG instead of relying on car transfers from BKK it would be a perfect place for a quick break from the rat race.

We are back now in Honkers gearing up for(well, thinking a lot more about) work. It is fast approaching and the transition from holiday brain to work brain will be a tough one.

In other news, PCCW had issues with internet access Hong Kong wide the last few days due to an earthquake or some other natural disaster damaging some underwater cables. All seems well now but scary to think a damaged cable at the bottom of an ocean can disrupt communication with the outside world so much.

Also still waiting on THREE HONG KONG to give us our new Iphone 3gs!!! Bloody ring us back will you?!!

https://bonkersinhonkers.wordpress.com

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Goodbye Ruby Tuesday

$532.40HKD = 48.42Euros = $68.70USD

We popped along to City Plaza in Taikoo Shing on Friday to pick up our tickets from Cathay Holidays to Hua Hin, Thailand. While there we decided to kill three birds with two stones or three birds with one stone; whatever analogy works.

First off dinner. We saw a restaurant advertising American style food so wandered in, it was only when we saw a menu that we knew it was a Ruby Tuesday. We didn’t see any signs outside stating that. The only other experience we had of Ruby Tuesday was in the middle of a T8 Typhoon warning last year when we went in to the one in World Trade Centre in Causeway Bay. Our memories were of not the best food and an immense hole in our money bag.
Those memories came back to haunt us.
$30HKD for a thimble full of guacamole!!
$194HKD for a plate full of pasta, chicken and broccoli absolutely smothered in melted cheese!!

The bill was a shock, and with a polite but firm “no” to the waitress offering us a member card we jumped through the nearest window. Twice bitten, thrice shy for us.

After that  we stopped by the UA Cinema in City Plaza to catch Drag Me To Hell. Reviews have been good and we thought we were in for a shock-fest of the highest calibre! No, not quite.
First off,  the cinema in cityplaza is pretty cool; very retro looking to make it look like the cinemas of the grand old days of around the 40s or 50s. Nice idea.
The problem with Drag Me To Hell is it’s inability to stay in one genre; horror or comedy. Up until one scene  20 or so minutes in you believe you are watching a true horror or chiller but after that it’s half wannabe shock-comedy, half shocker. It was disappointing. The scares were cheap bursts of noise along with corny visuals. Where have all the genuine horrors gone?

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For those about to rock..

I had heard that Bulldogs Bar in Wan Chai had closed but I was rather surprised to see another bar in it’s place already. And one right up my alley to  boot!
It’s called, rather mildly, Rockschool and they have live rock music on every night. I had a nice little chat with the owner Gregory about his guitar collection and his thinking behind the opening of a bar of this type.

From anybody familiar with Bulldogs there is no real change in décor apart from the massive stage where the dartboard used to be. Furniture is the same and the pillars around the bar have been painted neon colours and each of them have a range of cool guitars on them.

One thing hasn’t changed since Bulldogs, it’s still bloody freezing inside.

I really hope it works for Gregory. I have my concerns but I will certainly pay Rockschool a visit from time to time. One thing Bulldogs had going against it was that it was smoke free before the smoking ban. It was never that busy when I ventured in. I hope that Rockschool is different enough amongst the densely bar-populated Wan Chai to pull in the punters.

from https://bonkersinhonkers.wordpress.com

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Going, going, Goni!

Woop, woop, woop, woop!

Batten down your hatches, strap down your children and staple your pets to the floor because Severe Tropical Storm Goni has just scared the crap enough out of the Hong Kong Observatory to set a Number 8 Storm Signal at 9:40pm tonight.

I have leaned out of my 11th story building to tape those weird X shaped things on my windows ( I wondered why Mulder did that on an episode of The X Files once, then I found out it was a signal to his inside man) and I have ran to 7-11 to get a stock of canned oysters to see me through this perfect storm. May God love us all.

I haven’t done any of the above, actually. There is a very puny tree down below our apartment, it’s not even fluttering a leaf. As you can see, it’s going down south to annoy somebody else. A small moth may perish in the middle of the night on mainland China. Pray for it.

https://bonkersinhonkers.wordpress.com/

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