Perth - The Family Picture =)

Lynz =)

Well it was lovely to see someone from home after a month and 1/2 travelling =) although prim and family can now be considered locals as they have been here as long as we have been travelling. Its was nice to hear they have settled well and that they have sorted essential things like a car, house and Jobs! I was a bit worried that after seeing Prim in such a lovely city, Matt might decide that this might be a place to settle down and get a job! Thankfully though matt said he isnt going to want to stop anywhere we visit cause his season tickets @ manu are just too important. Phew

Anyway after Spending a couple of house with them in the hotel bar we had to say our goodbyes. We then simply spent the afternoon wandering around the shops and relaxing in preparation for our big adventure to Ayres rock and Kings canyon. Matt needs all the rest he can get cause hes gunna bake in the 41 degree heat we are going to encounter on that trip!!!

~M - Preem it was great seeing you again, and im sure we'll be back sometime to perth to see you again! He aint lost his charm, his cheeky phrases or that Trademark "Dirty" Laugh!! Along with "Little Miss Dynamite" & Kids in tow, im sure they'll have a blast down under! =)

Take care dude, cya again soon...

The Ex-Avaya boys in Perth...

Preem should need no introduction to most of you! This morning we dragged ourselves out of bed just before lunch, were greeted with the usual 30 odd degree weather with the now traditional blue skies. Met up with Preemesh at our hotel bar, and sunk some tinnies, well thats a lie, corona is still the drink of choice.

Preemesh sends his Greetings to all @ Avaya =)

All Hail the King

We'llllll Drink a Drink a Drink, To Eric the King, the King, the King...
He is the leader of our Football Team,
He is the Greatest, Centre Forward,
That the Worlddddd has ever seen!

Cough...

Read the latest interview with eric, on manutd.com

Perth - Ye London Court

Round the corner from our hotel in perth is "Ye London Court". As the name suggests its apparently based on some place down south, where the people talk strange. Went over & had a look around, wasnt up to much but then again it wasnt manchester ;) Lyns thought it looked more like york...

We Arrive in Perth - G'day mate...

I've finally got my hand on the pc so here's my first post - lynz

We arrived in Perth after a five hour flight from Singapore, our first flight with Quantas and to be honest with you we were not impressed with the service. They must have been short staffed cause it took ages to get food, drinks etc, which was a bit of a pain cause we had only had a pastry and coffee in the airport @ 7am and we all know what Matts like if he doesnt get food for a while!

Anyway after filling in a declaration form on the aircraft and being questioned at passport control we were allowed in to Australia! Well who wouldnt want us to visit their country =)

So we travelled in an airport hotel shuttle bus without air-con for about 40 mins, i think it should have been a shorter journey but the driver appeared to have forgetten about us. The hotel is nice and clean and well decorated but not one of the best we've chosen - no slippers and dressing gowns ! now that just aint cricket. Talking of cricket as im sure your all aware the ashes are currently being played in Austrailia and i can confirm that every Pub we walk past or have visited is showing it and i've even heard someone say 'lets go and watch the pomms get beaten' ( M - Who gives a ****, footballs where its at! United Top of the League! )

We only have two whole days in perth but i dont think thats a problem cause it is only a city. Today we just wandered around the shops, got Matt a pair of sandles at last (he might be a bit cooler now when we hit the high temperatures of alice springs -41 degrees) we then had a pub lunch before wandering down to the harbour. Its not an industrial one its more just for sight seeing tour boats. We couldnt believe how windy it was and how much cooler it seems from all our previous destinations but maybe thats because its not humid.

So tomorrow we are meeting up with Prim, one of Matts collegues from Avaya who emigrated to Perth last month (or as matt puts it jumped ship) hopefully he might give us a couple of ideas of where else to go to get the best out of our visit to perth. It will be nice to see someone from home.

So i hope youve enjoyed my first post - matt might let me have another go if i get a few good comments! so come on readers big me up - Lynz

~M - Love United Hate Glazer now present in Amsterdam, Rome , China, Singapore and Australia's very own Perth =)

Leaving Singapore - Its "apparently" Xmas homer...

Look, i can sleep standing up =)

So who's paying today ?

Copyright by Alan! Further copies cost a Chinese at your local with a beer or two ;) Preferably large cold local chinese beer....

Singapore Slings & nuts!!!

Singapore - Raffles

Had to visit raffles whilst we were in Singapore, so many friends had recommended it, plus weve already got 1 under our belt in Beijing (with trish & sandy) so why not another.

We stayed a couple of hours, lyns had 2 singapore slings, i had 1 then moved onto beer. Spent a while eating the nuts & chucking them onto the floor at every opportunity. Then fed the birds for a while. Final bill came to about 40 quid!!!!

Phuket - Elephant Trekin... Part 2

Phuket - Elephant Trekin... Part 1

Please note : No elephants were hurt in the making of this =) Just me getting cained with water...

Phucket - Evason

Thailand, Phuket - The Evason resort & spa

The Evason resort & spa is our downtime for 5 days, after packing in all the sites of china and japan. To be honest i didnt expect a 4 * in phuket to be like this! It rivals our honeymoon in st lucia!

More tmw, but this is a pic from late the first night, over the infinity pool, out to sea.. =)

Thailand - Bangkok

We arrived in Thailand, Bangkok to very warm and sticky temperatures, god knows what humidity level, but around 34 degrees. Thailand was back to the hustle bustle of china, with the usual unorganised chaos unfolding around you. The roads are very busy like china and still quite manic like china, just not quite as mental. They seem to obey some road laws maybe 3 more than china, but were used to it now :)

We were only in bangkok for 2 days, so we tried to get as much coverage as possible in a short space of time, yet with the sheer energy draining heat for us british it was tough!

We visited the Grand palace, to get some culture under our belts. Before we left i was informed lynseys 3 quarter length pants were fine, but mine were not, as we were visiting some more temples etc. Now lyns copes with heat slightly better than i do, so for me to have to wear full length combats in 37 degree heat, it was a hospitalisation situation! My heavy baggy combats were the only choice, as ive only got 3 pairs of full length trousers with me, the other two being jeans (no chance) or my other only wear in cold weather funky baggy chords! I survived the day, but roasted my arse off all morning! To be sympathetic to the cause, lyns chose to also wear full length combats, still didnt help me roasting, nonetheless a nice thought! =)

We wandered around the grand palace all morning, also seeing the famous "Emerald Budda" which was alot smaller than we imagined. China's budda's put this one to shame ;) But again, just another budda in a nice goldish stlyle temple. Can you tell we are Templed and Budda'd out now =)

Later than evening we went on a Boat trip up some river, i forget the name, but it did go past the Grand palace, maybe karen knows it =) it also went past a few more temples! Nice night time viewing all around us, with a thai style meal whilst moving up the river.

Thailands drink of choice is now Corona, with lime.

Bring back my Sentinel from China! but corona will do for now =)

Legless lyns & homer in a box...

and not a drop of beer in sight ;)

Naughty Homer!

Homer gets eaten

Tokyo Gardens

All around Tokyo there are many gardens , some small some seriously large, which offer the business men and women a place of solitude during there lunch hour, or as our guide book says a private place for lovers to meeet, awwwww

Anyways we walked around one today, really nice place, strange how you are so close to the hustle bustle yet its soooo quiet and tranquil..

Picture above entitled "Its a Tree..."

The Tokyo Tower

Much like Blackpool tower, but without the candyfloss!

Tokyo tower view

We visited the Tokyo tower today, for 360 degree views of the city.. Aswell as different viewing points, 150m and 250m, there is a 3D art display, nutty holigrams, guiness world record show and a naff wax work display - showing all of londons offcasts i presume ;)

The views from the top left us in awe.... Its one crazy city, looks like a scene out of sim city!! High rises everywhere with crazy green parks intermingled. When your on the 250m viewing platform it has a slight move from side to side, which lyns thought was just her until i told her it actually was moving, we went down shortly after this :)

Trish & Sandy - Japanese Beeeeeeeeer

So it wasnt possible for us to retrieve a Japanese beer lable for you and get it to you ( i couldnt get the bloody thing off anyways) so here`s a picy for you =)

For anyone reading this that doesnt know Trish & sandy, they collected beer labels throughout our travels in china, and everywhere else theyve travelled for that matter ;)

Japan - Eating Chinese food again, for a change...

Nicole would be proud, we are now in Japan and still visiting chinese restaurants!! and might i add with our own chop-sticks nicole ;) It wasnt quite the banquets weve had in china, but then again there`s only so much food two people can eat...

Japan Gardens and the Sony building

Today we visited a Tokyo garden which is located in the middle of the city centre. Its really crazy being in downtown tokyo with all the hustle bustle going on, then within 1 minutes walk you can be in a rural garden setting.

This was actully our second stop of the day, the first being the Sony Building =))))

Before i get on the sony building, i must say its such a change being in japan, weve now left behind the manic chinese drivers, the games that were crossing the road, and everything being so cheap! Seriously you must be earning mucho bucks to live in japan...

With the PS3 released a matter of day(s) ago, we just had to come here as soon as possible!!!

As soon as we entered the building we were greeted with playable ps3`s, linked up to top of the range sony High Definition tv`s running 1080p. Blown away, is the only thing we can say. Our first question was can we play "MotorStorm" now!!! But alas they didnt have it available on there demo boxes! After throwing a mini strop and demanding they produce a copy for me to play ;) , i resigned myself to playing a tennis game & the new ridge racer game.

The tennis game (i forget the name, i was too bewildered with the graphics) was superb! unlike anything youve seen or played before, sod the arcades ps3 is here =)

After a while i had to give lyns a go, so she set upon the new ridge racer game. Again truley amazing it was hard to watch her "unique" driving style as the background graphics were superb. Soon enuf i had the controls back again and was immersed in the driving game. After coming 9th overall i felt we had to give up the controls to someone else, as by this time we had a crowd around us. Moving up the stairs to the next level, we were greeted with another ps3, with the new Grand Tourismo on it. I had a go but within a few minutes i was simply hitting most of the walls, i need my steering wheel and pedals back!!! With comical laughter coming from some japanese bloke behind me, i handed over the controls. Staying around just long enough to see him do exactly the same thing, smug mode. We moved on switftly to the next floor.

Q Lyns - wow he doesnt give me the controls that often! here i go

We then had a walk around a mad exibition room which was set up like a forest with massive speakers blasting out city noises. The reason for this was to try out the new Sony MP3 players which cut out all external noise! So we put on our shoe protectors and took a MP3 each and wandered round. The noise block out really did work and my MP3 was my special colour - purple =) As the saying goes, it was so good i bought one =)

Q Matt - see it doesnt take long for him to take back control =(

We moved up a few more levels showing amazing new Televisions, Digital cameras, High Def camcorders and laptops. Lyns promptly fell in love with some new fandangled mini laptop in a shade of purple. Sensing the worst i promptly bought her the newly released mp3 player we had just demo`d. Seemed a cheaper option than what she was just about the request. And it does rock, amazing sound =) plus i aint carrying a laptop around for the next 5 months. She seems happy with it =)

Need to stay away from that sony place tmw, or ill be buying myself a new mp3 player aswell!!! but i do have an underlying urge to play ps3 again, if only they had MotorStorm!!!!

A few expensive purchase in the pipe line for when we arrive back home, PS3, Nintendo wiiiiiiii, High Def tv and a Sky HD box. That reminds me must find a wiiiiiiii to play on soooooon.

God i miss watching manu! at least i can view the manutd website now, god dam you china!!!

Well ranted enough time for a beer or 2.... laters...

Japan - Tokyo by night from our hotel room

This is the view from our hotel room in tokyo, just as the sun is setting. 36 floor!!!

Japan - Tokyo

We got a flight from Beijing back to Hong Kong then onto Japan, Tokyo. Hong Kong was back to sticky hot temps, even in the airport, a far cry from the 2 to 5 degrees we had been encountering in the latter part of china!! Japan was around 15 n rainy at 8pm when we arrived, but after a full days travelling, after getting up at 4.30am we didnt care, we just wanted our bed!! Finally arrived at the hotel Shinagawa at around 10pm. We both have a colds at the moment, hopefully this will shift before we arrive at thailand and singapore!

The hotel is great again, really big, with several different towers, the view is unreivelled from our 36 floor bedroom! Wicked view at night time over tokyo.

Weve only been here half a day at one thing is very apparent. If you look up Tokyo in a dictionary it will show Expensive, Really ****ing expensive. We cant belive how expensive this place is compared with china! We are venturing out tmw to the sony tower, where the newly released PS3 is on show, with numerous stations to play with =) Motorstorm here we come!!!

Just eaten in the hotels Executive 7 floor "Yahoo bar" which was really nice food allbeit 14 quid for a ceasor salad and burger. Not what weve been used to at all. But hey we get free internet access with it... Really really strange using a knife & fork for the first time in 24 days, i need my chop sticks back!!!! Im sure we will find a suitable japanese resturant tmw, to revert back =)

Ha-sow.....

The Group Photo - Intrepid China

As our group starts to dispand we thought we would upload our group photo.

We'll miss you all loads!

Starting from Top left to right :

Andy, JP, Natasha, Me, Trish, Cristina

Bottom left to right :

Alan, Rachel, June, Sandy, Lynsey, Therese & Nicole

Andy - well miss your ausie charm and Disillusioned cricket prediction ;)

JP - Hope your safe & well in borneo, enjoy the rest of your travels and get some beer down you! =)

Nastasha - Hope england aint too cold, we never saw your chinese style dresses! miss you tons cya when were back down south

Trish & Sandy - We still havent said goodbye as your still with us, but we'll see you soon in Australia =)

Cristina - Hope you had a good flight and your cats are happy to see "The Food lady", we'll miss your evil laughs ;)

Alan & June - Keep those chop-sticks handy for when were back in the promised land, we'll go for chinese & beer for a change - and revenge at snooker ;)

Rachel - After the trials & tribulations of travelling & getting over every single major illness known to man, we hope you are feeling better back in Australia ;)

ps - Hope your managing to get into work on time ;) and we still aint coming to canberra ;)

Therese - I just wanted to take you home with us, hope they allowed your bag on the plane! remember next time, pack more lightly and recycle recycle recycle, Follow JP's 3 t-shirt lead =)

ps, the mop is not your walking stick! =)))

Nicole - What can we say we havent said already, you were fantastic everywhere, Every meal was fantastic, you kept us safe, and we have learnt alot about travelling from you, and most of all we found a new friend. Hope you enjoy your time with your boyfriend ;) When we use intrepid again, we want you to take us!!!! Accept no Imitations, there is only one nicole =))

Take care everyone, were off to Toyko now =)

Cough, United Top of the League United United Top of the League =)

Glazer - we'll be visiting a town near you soon enough =)

Tiananmen Square - Beijing

Yesturday morning at Tiananmen Square, 7am Sunrise with raising of the flag to dodgy music =)

We arrived at Tiananmen Square at 6.15am, to catch the raising of the flag & the sunrise, as suggested by nicole. Our official tour had ended now, so we went with Trish & sandy, as most of the others had started to go or had gone. Im surprised i was able to get up, but i did with relative ease. When we arrived we were confronted with a large Queue outside of Tiananmen Square, we wernt the only nutters up at that time wanting to see the raising of the flag. Although we didnt see any other westerners around! There must of been at least a thousand people there when we arrived, some started Queueing at 5am! Carnage unfolded when they let us into the square as everyone tried to obtain the best viewing position. One more push just one more & i was going to have to kick off =) ! Litttle chinese ppl biting at your toes like a yorkshire terrior, how 1 extra yard forward was going to help them get a better view ill never know! But as nicole told us you have to be pushy in china, which is fine, i learnt that down south ;) One pushy old chinese lady actually befriended sandy & lynseys (after pushing them around i might add) and dragged them to the front row. Lynsey was crouching down as not to stop her seeing the procedings however the now lovely old lady dragged her to her feet when the national anthem started,. As soon as the flag had been raised, everyone dispersed and muld around the square... Where the usual hey lady pretty lady can i have my picture with you, entailed once again... Trophy photo's seem quite popular all throughout china, lynsey doesnt like it, but ive posed with quite a few now.. I dont think they wanted us to leave the sqaure as most of the exits had now been closed off, & it took us several loops of the sqaure to get out of the place!!!!

We finally found an exit & arrived back at the hotel at 9am for breakfast, followed by going back to bed.... =)

Next stop Toyko tmw...

Stand to Attention Homer!

Centre of the Universe according to China

I always thought it was old trafford ;) ahwell hear we are anyway...

See no ... Hear no .... Speak no .... =)

Not more bloody steps....

One small step for lynsey, one giant leap for matt - The Great wall of China - Part 2

We setoff to the great wall of china at 7am one hazy morning, breakfast was rushed as a consequence not enough coffee was taken on board! The journey took around 2 hours which provided some time to catch up on sleeeep. When we arrived it was colder than most winters in the uk. Several T'shirts, Jumper, Coat, Gloves & hat didnt cut the mustard! We took the enclosed chair-lift to a half way point, with only 2 nutters from our group choosing to walk up, Big respect to JP & Tina! =) Although this meant our leader, nicole, had to walk up with them.

We set-off with Natasha, Alan & june to walk to the furthest / highest point we could get to on the wall. It took around 1.5hrs to get to the top. Passing through several pain barriers, numerous rests & hundereds of photo oppotunities we reached the final climb. The last part was a stupidly steep set of steps, certainly not for people with Vertigo. Most went up on there hands & knee's. Cause we got there so early we had the wall to our selves & being the low season it was great, although bitterly cold! When we reached the top, it was surprisingly warm with no wind, strange yet welcomed. The views were fantastic, taking time for our now traditional homer shot ;) You would of thought the walk down would of been easier, but all of the steps are different sizes, which makes for an amusing yet dangerous time. All the pain, burning legs, and out of breath sections were still worth it - you cant get views like that anywhere else..

Once back down onto the lower part of the wall, we setoff to find the tobogan run. The Tobogan was a weaving run all the way to the bottom where we first got the cable car. The guys who ran it didnt speak much english, & just said push forward to go fast, pull back to break. I tried to communicate that i didnt want to use the break, and he assured me i didnt need to, if i didnt want to. I dont think he understood! I went down first lynsey followed, as they were single person tobogans. At most corners i encountered some guys screaming break break, corners, slow down!!!! But i carried on, nearing the edge, too close a few times. Lynsey was actually told to slow down once, and appeared at the bottom shortly after me. We both wanted to have another go, but time was running out & we had to find the bus back, we dont like making the rest of the group wait, which cant be said for all of the group ;) Some members need a new watch ;) Cracking fun tho...

Great wall of china Part 1

China - Hangzhou, Xian, Beijing

The quest continues throughout china. Still as nutty as everywhere weve been before, just getting colder the more north we go!

We were in Hangzhou as a stop off place, before we arrived in Xian. We arrived on Halloween, the shopping centre opposite the hotel was awash with halloween garb & catwalks. At night-time banging music could be heard whilst a strange catwalk entailed. Rabits, tigers & other fluffy animals (ppl in suits, just wanted to confirm that =) )strutting there stuff down a catwalk for some unknown reason, but we are in china =)

Visited a nice restaurant during the day to check out the changing cuisines, which was a butterfly restaurant - lynsey thought of her gran =)

Whilst in Hangzhou we visited yet another temple, highligh was a lady nearly setting her hair on fire with Insense sticks, tres amusing! We are now templed out, there is only so many budda's you can see, no matter how tall, shiney & old they are!

We also got chance to watch a wicked water / light / fountain display at night time which was really good. Took plenty of video footage!

We next moved onto Xian. Had a quick orientation of the city & was then let loose. Went to a dumpling banquet which was good, nice food, but the dumplings kept coming & coming even i got full... In Xian we next visited the Terracotta warriors, which if you dont know about - was found by farmers digging for water in 1974. A very crazy place. See picys.

After Xian we took our last overnight train to Beijing. With the sumit thingy on there was no stops to keep as many people out of Beijing as possible. So when we arrived at 5.30am! yup AM! middle of the night for me!!! it wasnt as much carnage as some of the places weve visited, but again that was only for a day until the african sumit had finished. On our first day we visited the Forbidden city, however we couldnt get into Tianamen square cause of the Sumit. It wasnt very forbidden tho, as if you pay for a ticket you can do what you want ;) within reason!