Sapporo Classic

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Sapporo Black Label (kuro label) is generally my beer of choice in Japan, but as I was in Hokkaido, I thought it more appropriate to drink Sapporo Classic. Classic is not sold anywhere else in Japan, only Hokkaido.

Hokkaido - Akan National Park

Our long anticipated holiday to Hokkaido finally arrived when we flew up on Sunday 21st August. After a short bus journey from Kushiro Airport, our first night was spent beside Lake Akan, famous for green balls of algae called marimo. The area of Akan is also the last bastion of the indigenous people of Japan, the Ainu.

I have actually been to Lake Akan once before, about 14 years ago accompanied by vacationing university friends (Grambo, Bash, and Hank). We travelled up to Hokkaido on board the MV Blue Zephyr under clear blue skies, accompanied most of the way from Tokyo by dolphins. Unfortunately, this ferry service from Tokyo ceased some years ago - not at all surprising as we were practically the only passengers on board. As my friends and I all had such a great time during our visit in June 1997, I was excited to retrace some of my steps and see whether or not anything had changed - nothing had.

Memories of my last trip to Lake Akan are:

• hiking to the top of Mount Oakan (and cutting my leg)
• sleeping in the tent with the fear of being attacked by black bears
• sitting relaxing and chatting by the campfire
• bathing in the local onsen (and scaring the other patrons away)
• a marathon pedalo trip on Lake Akan to a small island
• listening to the hand over of Hong Kong on my small radio

This time, we stayed in the slightly more salubrious surroundings of the New Akan Hotel. The room was very nice and the dinner and breakfast buffet were certainly good for a fussy eater such as myself. After dinner, we wandered around the village for an hour or so looking at the usual tourist traps and paraphernalia - below is a picture of the famous marimo.

Clara is adamant that the marimo on sale are actually fake. She said that there is a little old lady who makes the green balls from regular algae and then puts them into jars for gullible tourists - I am inclined to believe her.

The best memory of our most recent trip to Lake Akan has to be the late night onsen and jacuzzi on the roof of our hotel. Very relaxing and peaceful.

Trip to Hokkaido

A holiday to the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido beckons. We all really cannot wait.

Hokkaido is the last unspoiled area of Japan, so it will be soothing on the eyes to see some wilderness as opposed to the Tokyo cityscape.

Our rough itinerary is:

Depart Haneda Airport tomorrow (21st August)

Stay at Lake Akan

Visit Shiretoko Peninsula

Various places through the center of the island

Sapporo

Otaru

Finishing off with a night in Hakodate (25th August)

I will obviously be taking the camera along so there will be some blog postings shortly....may even try and do a few updates whilst we are in Hokkaido.

I am most looking forward to Lake Akan, where my university friends and I stayed about 16 years ago. I have always wanted to visit Sapporo, so that should also be a highlight.

Clara is in very good form as she is looking forward to more travels. She has also just bought a new Pokemon game for her Nintendo 3DS so she is on cloud 9.

I am now a dot.com

Hello All

In a sign of an overinflated ego, I have simplified the web address for this blog. It is now:

www.kanedavidson.com

The old address should still work indefinitely, so you will not need to update your favourites. Not long until Hokkaido - more blogs to follow.

Clara's 2011 Scottish Odyssey

Clara is now safely back in Tokyo after spending another fun-packed holiday in Scotland. My parents loved having Clara around the house and accompanying her on the numerous excursions around Inverness and the West Coast.

Clara had a quite extensive itinerary which included ice skating, visiting Landmark adventure park, staying two nights on the Isle of Harris (thanks to Neil and Rhoda at Blue Reef Cottages), visiting family on the Isle of Skye, a 3 night stay in a caravan at Embo, and messing about in the evenings with her Scottish friends. Too many events to remember.I hope the pictures and video will be able to express what a wonderful holiday she had back in Scotland.
Many thanks to my parents for putting Clara up and giving her such a wonderful time.We will all travel up to the northern island of Hokkaido on Sunday 21st August for 1 week. Although I have been to Hokkaido once before, I cannot wait to reacquaint myself. I will take my laptop computer with me on our journey and will try and do some updates as our holiday progresses.

A380 - Viewed at last

Running out of time to get a July blog done, so here it is.....with perhaps another to follow in a day or two. It has been a pretty busy and very interesting month here in Tokyo. Temperatures are rising but we were lucky enough to have a couple of days respite with cool temperatures, courtesy of a passing typhoon.

Clara is now about half way through her annual month long stay in Scotland - very strange not to see her, but she is having a great time with her grandparents and it will do her English language skills the world of good. Looking forward to seeing her in a couple of weeks.

As my brother Mark is also in the midst of a long summer holiday, he decided to visit from Hong Kong for a few days. Great to see him, but I spent the days after his visit in detox catching up on lost sleep. Still, in true Skye style, we managed to put in a good shift at the coal face. We found a good place to sup beers very close to my apartment - between the hours of 4pm and 6pm, beers were 99 yen a pint (or 50p in real money).

Apart from the obvious good banter when Mark is around, meeting him at Narita Airport finally allowed me to catch a first glimpse of the Airbus A380 superjumbo. Once they become more common, hopefully my journeys back to Europe will involve of these behemoths. The Korean Air aircraft in the photo only started serving Japan early this month, and a week after I took my photos, it was involved in a rather dicey landing incident at Narita Airport, as seen with the following small image. More crew training perhaps required......Apologies to readers who are not interested in aeroplane titbits - I will try and do a more crowd pleasing posting very soon.

Not too long until Clara returns from Scotland (accompanied by my mother), a week away in Hokkaido, and a short visit to Shimogo in Fukushima. Lots to look forward to, and many good stories to come. Bye for now.

Glasgow to Skye - 184 miles

Quite a remarkable display of stamina and determination by Sgianach Donnie Campbell.

Elwood's Bar

My watering hole of choice over the past year or so has been Elwood's Bar, a few minutes walk from the house. I like a fairly chilled bar where I can quietly sit and have a drink or two and Elwood's Bar certainly fits the bill.

It is nice to either use my broken Japanese on the other customers, just relax and watch the live Premiership football on a Saturday night, or reflect on the previous week over a good pint of draught Guinness. The bottle of spiced rum also gets closely inspected at times.

Wherever I have been, I am not really one for a packed pub or busy club (although that really hasn't stopped me in the past...). I'm more of a pipe-and-slippers man that enjoys quiet and simple pleasures. The other customers seem to be of the same ilk which makes for a great place to unwind.The bar owner, Keisuke, is also a good chap - very friendly, hospitable, and has keen interests in football and alcohol. What more could you want? With the summer really starting to heat up in Tokyo (temperatures are expected to be around 32C next week), I am sure my consumption of Sapporo lager will go through the roof at Elwood's Bar.

Clara is lucky enough to have lots of travel plans this summer. She will climb Mount Fuji with her class on Tuesday (and stay overnight), then she will travel to Scotland with her grandparents for 1 month, and then she will join us all for a week away on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. I really can't wait to travel around Hokkaido - beautiful scenery, interesting history, and more benign summer temperatures in comparison with Tokyo.

There are a lot of other things going on behind the scenes at the moment, but I am unable to blog about such things. Hopefully in a month or so. Thanks for reading.

Hakone and Gora

Happy to say that the weekend was excellent. Got home much earlier than usual on Friday, long overdue haircut, and then a couple of pints in anticipation of our trip away to Hakone and Gora. All good.

The main reason for our weekend away was to celebrate the 63rd birthday of Yuki's mother. Although I have been to the Hakone area a number of times, there were still many new places for us to visit. We were also looking forward to our stay at the Setsugetsuka Hotel which promised nice rooms, a selection of onsen, and great food. We were not disappointed.Before we arrived at our hotel, we stopped off to eat some soba and then the nearby Lalique Museum. I have always had a mild interest in Lalique, probably a result of watching the BBC's Antiques Roadshow each Sunday evening when I was growing up. The exhibits were certainly very nice, but not nice enough to get the pulse racing. To be honest, I was more impressed with the museum buildings and the immaculate lawn next to the cafe. I would have been happy to have sat there all day enjoying the sunshine and the cool mountain breeze. Very relaxing.

The Setsugetsuka Hotel was certainly a great place for us to stay. Large and comfortable rooms (each with a private outside bath on the balcony), the usual fantastic range of outdoor and indoor baths (onsen), and exquisite food. It is a terrible shame that I dislike seafood so much - I therefore have to appreciate the artistry of the sushi chefs. At times, food in Japan seems more like an art with all the amazing shapes, colours, and textures.We enjoyed our dinner very much, although I perhaps made a small mistake of also taking the 1 hour nomihodai option. As you can see from the link, nomihodai means all you can drink within the alloted time. I calculated that in order for this option to be economically viable, I would need to drink at least 3 beers during the 1 hour time limit. I ended up drinking 6, which was fun, but which contributed to me falling asleep on the bedroom floor whilst The Hurt Locker was blasting from my laptop computer. All good fun and a great way to de-stress from the rigours of city life.

I woke up this morning feeling remarkably fresh after an approximate 8 hours of sleep. Instead of going down to the large hotel onsen baths, I decide to try out the bath on the balcony of our room. The smell of the wooden bath, the sound of warbling birds, and the sight of trees swaying in the wind made for a quite satisfying experience. I can say without a doubt, that Japan is certainly is the traveller's paradise. After checking out this morning, we did a couple of touristy things before the drive back to Tokyo. The main event was taking the cable car up a volcanic mountain. This excursion started off badly as we had to suffer 5 screaming kids on our journey up the mountain - mothers and fathers oblivious to the irritation of their fellow passengers. It was also unfortunate that visibility was poor which prevented us from seeing Mt Fuji. Shame.Despite the poor start, once we arrived at the top station, I was very interested to see all the volcanic activity, the yellow sulfur which had formed around vents, and famous black eggs which are purported to give added longevity to those who eat them. Another great trip away from Tokyo. I will probably be visiting Scotland for a few days next month in order to drop Clara off at my parent's home in Inverness for her summer galavanting. The next big trip will be towards the end of August when we are all scheduled to travel up to Hokkaido (Japan's northernmost island) for a week. I can't wait for that one! Wishing you all a good week ahead. More to follow soon.

Sports Day

Clara had her school sports day on Saturday. I have already done a post a few years ago where I have explained the events and my general feelings. The previous post can be found by clicking on the 'Sports Day' tab at the bottom this entry. I'll just add a few pictures today to give you a general idea of what went on.The first picture shows one of the only events where kids actually (almost) compete one versus one. Clara was quite happy to come second in her sprint.This is one of Clara's classmates. He seemed really nice and was asking where I was from etc. I am hoping that he is a typical Japanese child as he seemed completely at ease and accepting of a foreigner. Hopefully a good omen for the future of Japan.The aim of this activity is to snatch the cap off the opposing jockey. Looks like fun, providing you are the jockey. I don't really like things like this. I can only imagine how many kids get hurt each year demonstrating group harmony.And with a final bow, it is all over. It was certainly a lovely day and Clara and I have a bit of sunburn. I'm not really sure if it really was a sports day as there were few recognisable sports that appear in similar events in Scotland. My image of school sports are track and field related events with a possible team tug of war thrown in for good measure. Perhaps the day should be renamed Group Activity Day. Kind of fun, and the training was certainly good exercise for Clara.

Another working week beckons.....

Back to Japan, but not before.....

In a blink of an eye, it was time to start thinking about my return flight to Japan. With all the events over the preceding days, coupled with the fact I was laid low with food poisoning for a few days, I again found myself short of time and having to rush to do the things I needed to do, and see the people I needed to see.

I made a day trip from Inverness to Skye on Tuesday 3rd May as I wanted to pop up to Staffin House Residential home to pass on my thanks, see my Great Auntie Annie, and visit my Auntie Marie. As I was trying to achieve multiple goals in only one day, I was kept busy and was quite tired when I arrived back in Inverness that evening.

As can be seen in the photos, the weather was fantastic. When the sun is shining, Skye really does make your heart skip a beat.

After the recent passing of my granny, it was comforting to see new signs of life brought about by spring in Skye. The gorse bushes were in full bloom and new born lambs were scampering about the fields. I must have really looked like the tourists I used to make fun of when I lived on the island - walking round with a big zoom lens taking photos and anything that moved.A constant regret that I have when I visit Scotland is never having enough time to do the things I want to do. I would really love to spend a few weeks back in Skye, going with the flow, and reacquainting myself with island life. Instead, my visits seem like a whistle-stop tour where all I manage to do is tick boxes. Perhaps before I begin my next job (whenever that might be), I will be able to spend a month back in Skye and finally recover the level of familiarity I once felt.My last full day in Scotland was spent having lunch with my mother and then getting some essential shopping done - tea bags, deodorant, brown sauce, English mustard etc.

Over the duration of my visit, I also managed to drink a few good Scottish ales, but my appetite for beer and food quickly disappeared after my bout of food poisoning - a great way to save money. As I was feeling under the weather for the final 4 or 5 days of my visit to Scotland, I was unable to eat or drink much of anything. I feel guilty that when I visited Neil & Jen's new house, I was only able to pick at the lovely roast beef they had prepared. Sorry guys.

So, all in all, a mixed visit to Scotland. I will be making what will probably be another brief visit this summer as Clara will again spend nearly one month with her grandparents in Inverness. Looks like it will be another mad rush to do the things I need to do.

The Waverley

Although the funeral and associated events were saddening, my spirits were lifted by the absolutely fantastic weather. I am adamant that there is no better place on earth than the Isle of Skye when the sun is shining. The fact that this rarely occurs is therefore a major drawback.

Mark and I stayed an additional day on Skye after the funeral and drove back to Inverness on Thursday 28th April. As we were in no rush, we decided to drive the scenic Meoll (sp?) Road, just after the golf course at Sconser. The views across the water to Raasay were magical and the sight of The Waverley paddle steamer powering down the Sound of Raasay was as enjoyable as it was fortuitous. Certainly a sight to remember!

High Beech

The house in the center of this picture is 'High Beech', the home where my granny spent a large part of her life. The family have many happy memories of this home and it is therefore sad to know my granny will never return.

What makes 'High Beech' really special is the location looking out over Portree, Loch Portree, and over to the Cuillin mountain range. The view is priceless - my granny on a number of occasions had to turn away hopeful buyers who would arrive without warning on her doorstep offering random sums of money.

My most special memories of 'High Beech' were sitting on my grandfathers lap after primary school, Sunday roast dinners attended by the closest family members, and staying there during the long university summer holidays. Those times were some of the happiest in my life and it is now clear that with the passing of my granny, that chapter has come to an end.

My granny was rightly proud of 'High Beech' and would sit in her rocking chair lording it over Portree. From her vantage point in the living room, she could monitor and recognise (with the help of binoculars) cars entering and leaving Portree. Slightly more disconcerting was the fact that she could also monitor the number of tourists visiting the old Tourist Office where I worked for a few years during university summer holidays.

I suppose it is likely that 'High Beech' will eventually be sold off - let us hope that whoever ends up living there will experience as many happy memories as we had during our time there. Perhaps before that happens, I will be able to return a final time to get some photos from a really special place.

Inverness Airport

As we are both aeroplane buffs, Mark (my brother) and I spent a lot our time in Scotland sitting in the car on a quiet side road at Inverness Airport. I was also keen to see the results of the zoom lens which came with my new camera. Over the course of about 1 week, we visited the airport about 3 times and this posting simply aims to show a few aeroplane pictures taken on those days.

The pictures can speak for themselves and I am quite satisfied with the 250mm zoom for the camera. More pictures and postings regarding my time in Scotland to follow over the next day or two.Once I become familiar with the new camera software, I should be able to edit and improve the quality of the pictures. Until then, they will appear 'as is'.

Canon EOS Kiss X5 / 600D

Proud to say that after breaking my old Olympus DSLR on the ferry across Hong Kong harbour, I have now found a replacement. As per the title of this blog, it is the Canon 600D, known as the EOS Kiss X5 in Japan.

I have to say that it is a fantastic camera which really does take my breath away. In comparison to my old Olmypus, the photos appear much better and despite the size, it seems a little lighter. I have not had time to read the manual yet, so it will be on automatic mode until I find out more.

Mark and I have visited Inverness Airport a couple of times and have managed to get some great shots. Further updates to come shortly.

To Scotland

I will be flying to Scotland tomorrow and will return to Japan on May 5th. A sad return home but I am pleased I will be there to lay my granny to rest and to celebrate her life.

I hope I will be able to meet up with a few people whilst I am in Scotland. Please leave me a message on this blog or mail me if anyone is in Skye or Inverness during my visit. I will try and make a few postings on this blog over the approx 10 days of my visit.

Nana

Hello all. Very sad to say my granny passed away about 1 hour ago in Staffin House residential home. She had the knack of unintentionally offending some people, but her heart was in the right place, and she always looked out for her boys - Mark and I.

Memories of Nana - homemade lentil soup, dangerous driving, handing me a fiver when my wallet was empty, over-cooked roast beef, never allowing or saying a bad word about me. A sad but inevitable end to an era. Although I am obviously sad, she had a full and long life.

I guess I will fly back to Scotland this weekend for the funeral which will probably be around Tuesday or Wednesday. Perhaps I will have the chance to share a pint with some friends whilst I am there. Nana, thanks for all the great memories.

Seibuen Yuenchi Amusement Park

Despite Tokyo being a rather chilly 11C, Yuki, Clara, and I ventured out of the house to visit Seibuen Amusement Park. Seibuen is only a short 15 minute drive from the house, so we did not have to endure the stress of a long and difficult journey.

Despite Seibuen showing a few wrinkles and quite clearly being outclassed by bigger and better amustment parks, it was a thoroughly enjoyable day - good idea Clara! Due to the cold and overcast weather, the park was not too busy and we were able to get on our preferred rides with usually no standing in line.

I must be getting old as I was more excited with the views from the top of the revolving observation tower and ferris wheel rather than the thrills and spills of the other rides. The ferris wheel offered excellent views and made me think back to around 16 years ago when my university friends and I rode the same ferris wheel when they visited me during my very first stint in Japan. The small cabin offered us some sanctuary from the noise of the park and it was especially satisfying to rise through the cherry blossom trees that were almost in full bloom

It was great to watch Clara having such a good time, although also a bit sad. In only a year or two, I imagine she will no longer be interested in some of the rides as she will be well on the way to becoming an adult. I took the chance to watch her and did my best to try and keep the memories locked up in my head. I must be turning Japanese as I have read that the cherry blossom also invokes such contrarian feelings within the natives.

With regards to photography, I was at somewhat of a disadvantage today. During my recent trip to Hong Kong, I dropped my camera on the ferry deck during a particularly rough crossing and broke the lens. These two photos were therefore taken using the rather feeble 3 megapixel camera of my aging iPhone 3. I was thinking of investing in a new Canon anyway, so perhaps I will have to bring forward these plans.

Over the last week or so, there have been a couple of sad anniversaries. Last week we visited the grave of Takashi, Yuki's father. Yesterday we visited the grave of her grandmother. It is now 1 year since they both died.

However, perhaps because spring is in the air, I feel a new sense of optimism and excitement. The cherry blossom should be in full bloom by next weekend, Golden Week (with approximately 5 days off) occurs at the end of April, and I am excited to visit Scotland with Clara this summer. I think that perhaps a new job may also be called for.....I have a lot of contacts in shipping companies around the world, so may now have to start seriously looking.

We are now about to put the icing on the weekend cake and head off to the local Italian (restaurant) for dinner. Till the next time.

April

By all known standards, March was certainly a terrible month. My guess is around to 25,000 fatalities in the earthquake and following tsunami. Life certainly does hang by the thinnest of threads.

There have been some strong aftershocks recently, with another scary one tonight. However, most people in Japan will be hoping for stability and a return to normality. The people who died cannot be brought back to life, so the greatest contribution should be a swift return to normality.

In March I blogged 14 times - an all time record, but one which I hope not to repeat. I hope for a return to a twice monthly blog which focuses on the comforting minutiae of life. When you experience such situations first hand, your hopes and aspirations certainly change.

The cherry blossoms are now starting to show, let us hope they augur better times.

West Highland Free Press - Aftermath Reaction

Well, it appears that the battle for the front page of the WHFP has been won by Ollie the cat and the crofters of Lewis. The latest edition of the paper gives an update to the lives of West Highlanders who are trying to make a return to some form of normality (page 17).

The story reads:

West Highland ex-pats in Japan try to resume sense of normality

West Highland exiles in Japan were this week continuing to do their best to resume a sense of normality following the catastrophic earthquakes and tsunami of a fortnight ago, writes Keith MacKenzie.

Portree man Kane Davidson, who we last week reported had fled the country with his young daughter amid fears over radiation from the stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant, was preparing to return to Tokyo having spent the past seven days in Hong Kong with his brother Mark.

"The situation with the nuclear power station appears more stable, if not entirely under control," he said on Tuesday. "I will be ready to move again if the situation once again seems uncertain."

Press reports yesterday (Wednesday) said water supplies in some parts of the nation's capital were found to contain radioactive iodine levels twice the recommended safe levels. And Mr Davidson said tensions remained high.

"We all suspect more is to come," he said. "The primary concern remains the nuclear power station in Fukushima -a region where my family and I lived for four years. But there is also anxiety regarding the next big quake. The ex-pats in Tokyo certainly worry that the recent quake may be the precursor to a more devastating one in the Tokyo metropolis."

Meanwhile, Faye MacKenzie, who is from Dunvegan and works in the publishing industry in Tokyo, highlighted the stoic reaction of the Japanese people as the horrors unfolded.

"At present, I feel pretty safe here. I have my earthquake kit ready, know my evacuation points, and for the moment, radiation levels are normal, which is obviously the big concern," she said at the start of the week. "Otherwise, day-to-day life continues. My office is open and it's business as usual.

"If this was anywhere but Japan, I think I'd have gone straight home. Japan is no stranger to earthquakes, though, and despite the terrible loss of life up north I'm still amazed things weren't worse - it's been pointed out to me by many people that most lives were lost in the tsunami, and not the earthquake.

"Immediately after the quake phone lines were busy, but internet and email worked, and I was able to contact friends pretty quickly. Trains were cancelled, and traffic was gridlocked well into the night, so I ended up staying at work until about 10.30pm and walked home, along with thousands of others. It took about three hours, but was orderly and civilised and despite the gridlocked traffic, people were waiting for the green man to cross the road. Literally, this is the politest place on earth."

Return to Japan

As indicated in a previous posting, Clara and I reluctantly returned to Japan on Wednesday 23rd March. Although the situation in Japan is far from ideal on a number of fronts, the situation at the Fukushima nuclear power station appears to have stabilsed. The day Clara and I flew out of Japan, the situation appeared to be worsening minute by minute. By the end of our stay in Hong Kong, minor battles were being won by the engineers up in Fukushima.

As is apparent from the news, the situation is still very serious. Should there be any further hint that control may be lost once again, perhaps an impromptu holiday in Okinawa will be called for. The current situation in Tokyo is not ideal, but not one of great hardship. There are very occasional power cuts, train schedules have been pared slightly, and people are very conscious to look after each ampere of electricity.

So, many of my foreign friends wonder what the future holds. Perhaps the Japanese do not think about the future so much as they are fully committed to the physical and economic recovery of their country. Foreign residents have many wider issues to consider (although perhaps of a lesser gravity) and a greater range of options. Power cuts are expected to continue, and perhaps increase as the forthcoming summer heat forces people to turn on their air conditioners. The newspaper cutting indicates the schedule of blackouts in the Tokyo area. Areas are divided into groups, with each group scheduled to have a 3-hour blackout at a pre-planned time.

Aftershocks still rock the Tokyo area - there was a long magnitude 6.3 shock a couple of hours ago. Many people remain on edge and are keeping their fingers crossed there are no more traumatic events to follow. It will take a long time for nerves to settle and for us all to be confident the ground we are walking on is solid once again.

Ocean Park

On Monday 21st March, Clara and I headed off to Ocean Park amusement park, near Aberdeen, Hong Kong. Clara and I had originally decided to go to Disneyland but were advised by all we met that Ocean Park was by far and away the best option.

I felt that as Clara and I had travelled all the way from Japan, it was only right that we should treat ourselves to a blue riband event. We left the house slightly later than intended (no change there) and got the by then familiar fast ferry over to Pier 6 in Central Hong Kong. A short wait ensued until the bus picked us and and delivered us directly to Ocean Park after a 20 minute journey.

I was hoping that the park would be extremely quiet as it was a Monday. However, there were still hordes of people milling around and I immediately realised that a weekend trip to Ocean Park would be the mother of all nightmares.

We entered the park and then chose the Emerald Trail as our first attraction - so boring I will not go into any detail. Our day then appeared to get worse as we queued to take the cable car over the mountain to the other side of the park. We had to queue for 45 minutes, and similar to the rest of Hong Kong, there was a pneumatic drill in close proximity. I measured the sound at over 100dB using an application on my iPhone. However, this marked the nadir of our day and things were soon to dramatically improve. Clara and I found the views from the cable car around Ocean Park, over Aberdeen, and into Lamma Strait absolutely amazing. It was a gorgeous day and the cable car ride alone would have made the day trip worthwhile. Once the cable car trip had ended, we found ourselves on a promontory overlooking Lamma Strait. Fantastic views and impressive to see the massive cargo vessels slowly working their way down the strait.After the cable car ride we took a ride down the relatively placid Raging River, terrified ourselves on the roller coaster-esque Mine Train, and then spent a very pleasant and relaxing time watching the dolphin and seal show at Ocean Theatre. I feel slightly wicked for downplaying the Mine Train ride to Clara. I assured her it would be relatively benign, but it was nothing of the sort. We were both absolutely terrified and Clara held on to me like a limpet mine. The terror we experienced on this ride meant that trying out The Abyss would have to wait to another day.

Towards the end of the day, we visited the surprisingly empty panda enclosure. It seems the local Chinese population are much more interested in the thrills and spills of the rides than they are in one of the symbols of their country. Surprising, but this allowed Clara and I a clear view. Interesting to note that pandas also suffer from the effects of red eye.

A great day out with Clara, and we even managed to squeeze in an impressive acrobatic show on our way out of the park. Thoroughly recommended, but perhaps not on a weekend - must be absolute chaos.

Our Time in Hong Kong

Despite the desperate circumstances which led to Clara and I heading to Hong Kong, whilst we were there, we resolved to enjoy ourselves. I cannot adequately describe the relief felt not having to worry about aftershocks and the threat of radiation.

Our time was spent mostly around Mui Wo village on Lantau Island (where Mark and Grace live), although we did foray in to Central Hong Kong a couple of times, visited the large Buddha, and made a day trip to Ocean Park amusement park.

Many people commute into Central Hong Kong by ferry. I cannot think of a more dramatic or interesting way to get to work. The waters around Hong Kong are a hive of activity with vessels of all shapes and sizes at anchor waiting for their berthing slot. Although I work in shipping, the size of some of the vessels was breathtaking. Hong Kong is a city which feels right at the forefront of international trade and commerce - it feels a happening place where everything is in flux. One downside to the ever changing nature of Hong Kong is that you are never too far from pneumatic drills and pile drivers.

It was touching to see displays of support for Japan at places around Hong Kong. I noticed this sign at a coffee shop on Mui Wo pier whilst Clara and I were waiting for the ferry to travel into Central.

The village where Mark and Grace live is a real backwater. The village has a real country feel with bicycles far outnumbering cars with people relaxing outside various small restaurants chatting and supping drinks. Despite the slow life in Mui Wo, it is only a short ferry ride into the maelstrom of Central Hong Kong. There are also quite a number of nice beaches around, the one below just outside the Silvermine Hotel where I stayed last November whilst attending the wedding - perfect for barbecues once the weather warms up a bit.So, Clara and I were lucky enough to stay in a nice location that offered the opportunity for excitement or relaxation.

Big thanks have to go to Mark and Grace who were perfect hosts to us during our visit to Hong Kong. They both cooked some lovely meals and made Clara and I feel very much at home. Grace was kind enough to do Clara's hair each morning as this is a skill I have not picked up in my 10 years as a father. It was also good to catch up with a few of Mark's friends in and around Hong Kong. This picture was taken at a place called Tung Chung, not too far from the airport, and shows Mark, Grace, Steff, Clara, and myself. More to follow soon.