Author: Peter

Day 3 (part 1) of Romance Holiday

Posted on by Peter

Well I was right about the weather. Cold, raining, fog. The type of day you usually prefer to be indoors for next to a fire. Instead we decided to go to Lands End. We could not come to Cornwall and not go to Lands End. One of our UK friends who now lives in SA remarked “How do you see the sun in Cornwall? You fly at 30000 ft over Cornwall.” Of course over breakfast there was the usual moaning about the beds. Helen reminded me that I forgot to mention that my Mom gave up trying to sleep under the duvet and slept inside it instead. Not sure what my Dad did.

We did head out after breakfast. My parents decided not to come and so we took the bigger R-class so we could all squeeze in. Lara and Stephen didn’t seem to complain. On the way to Lands End we did a quick side trip to Michael’s Mount. The problem was that it was raining so hard and it was so misty that you could not really even see it. We could not bring ourselves to park and look at it. We just drove past and all admired it (not). We then headed for Lands End passing Penzance on the way (the place all pirates come from).

You also had to pay £5 for parking at Lands End and we almost did a U-turn at that point but I decided that since we had come that far we should at least get out of the car. So we all bundled out and headed for the tip of the land. Problem was it was windy and raining. Not sure if the rain was falling or just being blown out of the clouds. We braved the weather though and headed out for the point. On the way Daniel stated “I have figured out why the Germans never attempted to invade England” – I think he may be right!

The picture gives you some idea (Helen took some more but she is currently examining the inside of her eyelids) of what the weather was like. This was on the way back from the very end of the land. We headed straight into the restaurant to have coffee & hot chocolate. By the time we were finished the fog was so thick you could not even see that building in the distance and in fact you couldn’t even see the sea. It was the type of thing that you would only do on holiday. No sane person living in England would do that.  I just wonder why there were about 100 cars in the parking lot all doing the same thing we were doing. And we passed an open top bus tour with 2 people sitting on the top in the rain. The English are really a crazy bunch. But I guess if you didn’t do anything outdoors in the rain you would never go outdoors if you live in England.

We stopped on the way back at Tesco’s to buy lunch. That isn’t something I want to repeat in a hurry. 7 people all heading off in their own direction. When we finally got back into the car and fortunately I asked what we had bought for my Dad for lunch and there was silence.  So back into the store I went to buy something for him as well. Just as well I asked before we got back. Helen did the Cornish thing for lunch and had a Cornish Pastie. No one else followed her example. All she needs to do now is have Cornish Clotted Cream Tea and then she has covered the range of eating delicacies of Cornwall.

Helen said I must post this as a half day blog and seeing as I always listen to my wife I am going so.  Balance of the day will come later.

PS: I can see a number of people are now subscribed.  Thanks for doing that.  Thanks also to Sue & Sharon who have lead the way by commenting on the posts.

Day 2 of Romance Holiday

Posted on by Peter

We came together for breakfast this morning. Mom and Dad managed to get lost on their way to us. Not hard to do that when you are wandering through a 72 acre estate to find another cottage. A little bit like finding a needle in a haystack especially when you don’t have a map. There was a little moan session over breakfast about the beds.  Lara started it when she said that her bed was noisy – every time she turned she woke herself up with the noise. That was quickly followed by Daniel complaining about the duvet which was as wide as the bed only and so he spent the whole night trying to stay under it. Helen and I could top that because our duvet was also only as wide as the bed and there were 2 of us sharing it. It became a tug of war. Whoever turned gave it a pull and held on tight. By the time Mom and Dad arrived they couldn’t add any additional complaints about the bed.

What is also really amusing is the bathroom set up.  Helen keeps on selfishly flushing when she goes to the loo. And that means it won’t refill for about 30 minutes. She just cannot restrain herself – ridiculous. And if you shower then it takes about an hour to refill the toilet. Helen was showering and I used the basin this morning and that stopped the water flowing the shower. Water can only be directed to one thing at a time it seems.  British plumbing! And the bathroom is so small that when Helen climbed out of the shower I was using the basin and there wasn’t space for both of us. She got back into the shower to make space for me to leave.

After breakfast we decided to walk into St Ives. Only 5 of us went (P, H, S, L & C).  D & M wanted to go and play tennis (which they did). Tregenna Castle is above St Ives – it is about 100 meters above the town.  As we were walking down we knew we would regret having to walk back up again. It is a very quaint town. You can just imagine pirates smuggling in their goods. The houses are built together and town planning obviously wasn’t an issue. The roads are ridiculous narrow and you wonder how a car can even fit down them. The seafront is basically restaurants, Cornish ice cream shops and Cornish Pastie shops. I said it was too early for ice cream – Lara said it is never too early for ice cream. We did resist her though. Of course because the sun was out (even though it was about 16 degrees), all the British were heading for the beach in their baggies. We did also pass one guy in a suit heading for the beach.

We got back just before lunch. We had booked at the Carbis Bay Hotel for lunch. It is about a mile from the hotel we are staying at. They have a massive restaurant and serve the usual traditional Sunday lunch choices – Roast Lamb; Roast Beef and even had Salmon and some vegetarian option (who eats that?). (Quick break while I got a beer and chips – when in England do as the English do.) The beef came with the biggest Yorkshire pudding I have ever seen. And then the vegetables were mashed potato, roast potato and boiled potato.  I was quite surprised we didn’t get chips as well. As there was a very large party (about 50 people) celebrating a baptism, we didn’t get the food quickly but then we didn’t really have anywhere to go anyway. As we got back at about 3:30pm it was time for a Sunday pm sleep. Lara must think we are crazy – we come on holiday overseas and have a Sunday pm sleep! C, S & L watched TV for the afternoon (hopefully not the adult channel – Sharon is no doubt panicking again – actually maybe it is Bryan that is worrying more this time).

We decided to head for ice creams instead of dinner (Lara’s pleas eventually won out). As it had just started to rain lightly we drove down. Michael and my Mom stayed behind. The problem with St Ives (besides the width of the roads) is that there are only limited parking spots.  My Dad made the mistake of trying a parking place which was full and then we were stuck going in one direction only. We eventually had to down a road which we had walked down earlier in the day and Stephen had remarked “I would not want to drive the R-class (my Dad’s car) down that road”.  I said it wouldn’t fit. But we had no option. I have never seen anyone get so close to hitting the walls of the houses – on the LHS my Dad has about 5mm (not exaggerating). By the time we parked (and paid £5.70 for the parking!) it was windy and raining much harder. Probably around 12 degrees and we were going for ice creams. The things we do for Lara. And we couldn’t just go to any ice cream place (I was keen for the first one we found), we had to go to the one on the other side of the town. Admittedly the ice cream was quite unique and good. I had Apple Pie and Clotted Cream (one flavour) and chunky Chocolate. We rushed back to the car to get dry and keep warm. Lovely ice cream weather.

The rain looks set in.  The weather prediction varies for tomorrow.  From cold and rain to cold and rain to cold and some rain. One thing is certain is that it is going to be cold. It is July – it is summer – someone should tell the English though.  It is 9pm and we are watching Spain destroy Italy in the Euro 2012 final. It is now lashing down rain outside.  I doubt we will be in a hurry to get up tomorrow.

P, H, S, L, M & C

PS: We have photos but the connection is so bad that we cannot upload anything right now.  Check back at www.templetravels.co.za (probably tomorrow) and you can see some pics.  And while you are there, as only 7 of you have registered so far, please register.  You will get the email directly into your email and I don’t have to remember to send it to you.

Day 1 of Romance Holiday

Posted on by Peter

So today was officially the start of our holiday. Helen, Stephen, Chloe and Lara flew last night from Cape Town to London. I told them one of them would have to write about the trip. None of them took it up though. Stephen said I can summarize the flight by saying none of them slept. Helen said the seats were uncomfortable. Of course I told them exactly what to do to make the seat comfortable (given I have some experience of flying to London) but as usual no-one listened. So much for using my air miles for business class. Only Lara had an excuse for not sleeping because she was a late addition and I could not organize business class for her. While they were flying to London, I took a train from London down to my parents house in the New Forest.

Helen and co landed on time at 6:10am and managed to get through customs and their bags very quickly and were on the road down to my parents home by 6:50am. They arrived just before 8:30am. While I was up tracking their progress, the rest of the household wasn’t. By the time they all arrived Michael & Daniel (nephew/cousin) were still dreaming. We had breakfast and after breakfast the romantic couples went for a walk to Burley and back. Helen tracked our walk on her cellphone and registered it as just over 4.5 km. The wonders of modern technology. Not bad a start for walking on holiday.

When we got back we had lunch. Over lunch my Dad was preaching on various subjects but particularly the importance of remaining rehydrated after flying. He started saying “You must drink a lot” and Daniel kindly finished his sentence for him by saying “of beer”. The timing was perfect. What I want to know (Meryl & Piers) is what you have been homeschooling your son in?!

After lunch we headed out for Cornwall. We are staying 3 nights in St Ives. Given there were 9 of us in total we had to take two cars. My Dad leading the cavalcade. The GPS predicted us arriving at 6pm. It seemed to take forever to get anywhere. The English roads are really rubbish (as Paul would say). They have no motorways and every person and his dog has a car. And if one person slows down everyone else stops. And the annoying GPS keeps on binging every two minutes warning you about another speed camera. Like I could miss the speed cameras that are painted bright yellow, are signposted and have large, bright white lines painted on the road. Whoever gets caught by them?!

We did have to make a few pit stops on route. The first one was because my Dad was nodding off at the wheel after the lack of sleep on the flight last night. Oh wait … he wasn’t on the flight – he was at home fast asleep. The fact that everyone else in both cars fell asleep (except Mom and Daniel) might have contributed to it. (I can just hear Sharon panicking when she reads this …) Michael was almost sleeping on Daniel’s lap in the back of our car (very cute). At 5pm we figured out that the GPS was actually on SA time and not UK time and that explained why it was only 11 miles away on the signposts and not an hour 15 minutes away that we thought! It definitely made the journey suddenly seem much shorter.

We are staying at Tregenna Castle in St Ives. It is a massive estate (72 acres) and our two cottages are about 36 acres apart. I definitely won’t be able to hear Dad’s snoring tonight. Michael & Daniel are sleeping with my parents in a cottage near the main hotel building. And the rest of us are staying in a cottage at the bottom of the estate. To get to our cottage you can walk 5 minutes or you can drive 5 minutes. That isn’t because my driving has slowed down to the average London driving speed, it is because we actually have to leave the estate and drive around it and come in the side to access our cottage. The accommodation is typical British. Low ceilings (I almost bump my head), ridiculously hot (all the central heating was turned on) and slightly musty. However, it is perfectly adequate. We had dinner this evening in the hotel’s restaurant. They had Guinness on tap. We were reliably informed (by my Dad) that David (my brother) is an expert on Guinness. Apparently he has read the book. Michael asked whether the book was “Guinness Book of Records”?

A blog from England cannot be a blog without a comment or two (or three) on the weather. It started off as overcast, cool and raining this morning. Then it cleared up. And then it was windy. And then it rained (while we were driving) and then it cleared up. This evening was partly cloudy. Of course even though the sun only set about 30 minutes ago (around 10pm), the temperature is around 12 degrees currently and the maximum for today was around 18. The weather is predicted to be the same tomorrow but they will probably be wrong.

As there is no Wifi in the cottage and the cellphone signal is worse than the Masai Mara (is this a 1st world country?), I am not sure whether I will be able to send this tonight. If not you’re getting it tomorrow.

Sleep tight (everyone here is except me – I am watching the English shout for Andy Murray).

P, H, S, M, C, L

Final day of RTW in 11 days

Posted on by Peter

So I am back at home finally. The travel home was pretty uneventful. The flight out of Hong Kong left on time and so we arrived on time at 7am into Johannesburg. I was pretty tired when I got onto the plane as it was 11:15pm already when we boarded. Add to that 3 days of limited sleep and a round of golf in 30 degrees I was ready to sleep in any position. I fell asleep before they had even closed the doors and I woke up about 45 minutes after take off while they were serving dinner. I debated with myself whether I should put my chair down and go straight to sleep or try and having some dinner. I eventually concluded that it was only 7pm in SA and so if I was to beat the jet lag that I should try and have some dinner and stay awake a little longer. So I took that option and watched an episode of CSI and then Modern Family while eating supper. I then put the chair back into the bed position and fell asleep almost immediately. That was about 8pm SA time. I woke up at 12am SA time (6am in HK) and thought I would probably not go back to sleep again (given the time in HK) but closed my eyes again and fell asleep until 3:50am SA time. That meant I slept close on 8 hours (which must almost be a record for me on a plane) and if you could the other hour at the beginning of the flight you could even say 9 hours. That was despite the fact that the business class seats on Cathay are not nearly as good as SAA, BA or Virgin (in my view). I am hoping this extra long sleep will help me beat the jet lag entirely.

We arrived in Johannesburg at the same time as 6 other international flights (BA from London, SAA from London, SAA from HK; Lufthansa from Frankfurt; SAA from Munich and one other I missed). Fortunately we were just behind the BA and in front of everyone else so the queue was not that long at immigration (probably took 15 minutes to get through). The luggage started to come off just as I got to the belt and the priority tags worked for once with the business class bags coming off first. I got mine and went to the domestic departures to re-check it for the flight to CT. That flight also left on time at 9:15am and we got back to CT at 11:15. My bag was first off and came out as I got to the baggage carousel. So I managed to eventually get through a long international trip without my luggage getting lost.

So what are my overall impressions for the trip – here is my quick summary:

  • LA is a pretty dull place (sorry Rachel)
  • LA airport is the worst international airport have been too in the last 10 years (worse than Nairobi).  And it wasn’t just my opinion but I see in an email today from Paul that he concurs with my view (and he used another terminal)
  • Cathay Pacific have a fantastic First Class but a so-so business class
  • I love Asia and need to plan to go back on holiday with the family
  • I particularly like Taiwan and especially the people who are very jovial, always joking and really make you feel welcome
  • I really am not as fussy an eater as most people think … next time one of you says I am fussy remember I have eaten Sea Snail, Insects, Frog’s Cream and other things which a whole lot of you would never eat (and have told me so)

Thanks everyone for your comments along the way. I write for an audience so it is always great to get the comments back!  Sorry I did not reply to all of them but I did occasionally. Consider yourself a lucky one if you got a personal response. However, I do have to mention the best reply I got in 11 days and it came this morning when I downloaded my emails in Johannesburg. This was it:

If nothing else it proves I have at least one resourceful staff member with a sense of humor. Pity he didn’t actually see them himself otherwise I might have considered promoting him…

If you’re enjoyed the read then you will be pleased to know that we go on holiday in June/July and I will blog our holiday as per usual. Until then…

Day 10 of RTW in 11 days

Posted on by Peter

Woke up at 5:30am this morning and even though I tried to sleep in for another 30 minutes I just couldn’t. So I got up and packed up and was ready to leave at 6:30am for the golf course. One of the Taiwan office staff came to collect me (Chiren). He drives what looks like a Lexus what is a Taiwanese manufactured car that is a Lexus copy. The trip to the golf course (Lung Tan Golf Course – which means ‘The Lakes’ – should have been a sign about the amount of water on the course) took about an hour. What I learnt is that if I ever come to Taiwan on holiday, hire a driver. The roads are incredibly confusing. And a large number of signs do not have English markings. For example, the golf course was only ever signposted in Chinese characters. They clearly aren’t keen on visitors.

The club house was enormous. I don’t think I have seen a golf club house that large anywhere. You get your own locker with an electronic code. Though I doubt anyone would steal anything anyway. You can’t play at Lung Tan unless you are a member or you arrange a golf day (like today). My 4-ball consisted of me, the MD of HSBC Insurance (Lee Wood – an American but now living in Taiwan) and two local Taiwanese insurance guys (both apparently from companies Lee reckons are technically insolvent). One of them was able to speak English much better than the other. Both were very friendly. The reason I have not mentioned their names is because I could not pronounce them let alone type them and my keyboard doesn’t have Chinese characters. Chiren (the guy who picked me up) lent me his golf clubs. I felt bad that he had to sit out and not play. He took photos, organized the food etc for the day. Roger (our branch manager in Taiwan) did not seem concerned – he said he must sit out to enable me to play. I hate playing golf without my clubs but I really liked his irons and hit them so well I reckon I am going to buy myself a set this weekend when I get back home.

Golf in Taiwan is an experience. We had 2 caddies – both women and both wrapped up like to was 10 degrees outside. It wasn’t, it was more like 30 degrees with 90% humidity. By the second hole my shirt was wet with sweat. By the ninth I could wring sweat out of my shirt and my hat was drenched so that the sweat just ran down my face. The one Taiwanese guy looked like it was 15 degrees outside – I never saw a drop of sweat the whole day! I drank a bottle of water, 3 cokes, a glass of water, a Sprite and never needed the toilet at any stage. I reckon I have lost at least 2 kgs today. My pants keep slipping off as I walk – really irritating. In addition to the 2 caddies, you also take a cart. They are 5 people carts. One of the caddies drives, 3 on the backseat (only Taiwanese size people can fit). The other caddy holds on the side. I wished I could do that as I am sure the air flowing would have cooled me down a touch. The caddies do everything. Give you clubs, tell you yardage (even in English in my case), keep the score, mark & clean your golf ball when you’re on the green, give you the putting line (not always right I discovered) etc. Paul would have hated it. My sons would have loved it. It was a really enjoyable round, I played quite well (despite not having my clubs) and I only hit one ball in the water (which I was able to recover even). For the golfers reading this, I had no blow outs at all (a shoes round Paul) and 32 putts despite having the strangest putter I have ever seen. It had a grip with a diameter of about 4cms. They don’t just have a halfway house – they have points also at holes 5 and 14.

After golf we had lunch at the club. Who knows what I ate. Some I recognized (like Sea Whelk … seen that 3 times now so I recognized it) and some I have no idea what it was. Very nice prawns but try de-shelling a prawn with chopsticks. Believe me you can do it. I watched one of them doing it and then I copied. Was 80% successful in getting it right. As usual there was a HUGE amount of food with about 8 courses for lunch. The Taiwanese also love to toast and the visitors get individual toasts. It happened last night as well. One by one they toast you and each time you must drink. Fortunately I can drink a lot of beer and certainly a lot more than any of them. At lunch it was just toasting with Iced Tea (fortunately). Very special technique to toasting – I will show you when I get home.

Chiren then took me to the airport. It was about 30 minutes away. My flight was only at 7:35pm back to HK but there are almost two flights an hour so I asked them to move me onto the next flight they could. They put me on the 4:15pm flight. The plan was that it would give me time to shop at HK airport. The flight ended up being delayed for about 30 minutes but I still got to HK just after 6pm. My flight leaves at 11:45pm this evening for Johannesburg so lots of time to kill. I checked out every shop. Most of them are ridiculously overpriced. They are the big brand names – Dunhill; Armani; Ralph Lauren; Jimmy Choo, Boss etc. Nothing cheap. Shirts on special at R2500. They felt great but I cannot believe any shirt is worth R2500. I did manage to buy two things – a present for Helen and a present for Helen & me (combined one though I suspect Helen will use it more than me). Nothing else of interest though. Pretty disappointing as it was my only real chance to shop. I am now sitting in the Cathay lounge. I am pretty tired – combination of early morning, golf in 30 degrees, long trip, lots of jet lag etc. I will have some dinner in the lounge (they have a fantastic buffet including sushi) so that when I get onto the plane I can go straight to sleep. Unfortunately I am slumming it in Business Class this time as there is no First Class on the plane.

I remembered one other thing from the National Treasures Museum last night which I forgot to include in yesterday’s blog. It is for all the Gen Re people reading the blog (and CBD people). I learnt that you know a promotion is imminent when you see a Monkey riding a horse. So when you see that happen you can ask me when your next promotion and related salary increase is due. Otherwise don’t bother …

Until tomorrow which should be (all things going well) written from home! Looking forward to seeing the family. Looking forward to my nightly hug from Chloe. Playing Call of Duty with Michael (we have to finish that stupid mission now). Beating Stephen again at squash and snooker (though the latter is not a certainty these days). And no, I haven’t forgotten Helen … just can’t put that in writing.

Day 9 of RTW in 11 days

Posted on by Peter

As I only got to bed at 2am this morning I was still pretty tired when my alarm went off at 7am. I did manage to drag myself out of bed and had a bath for the first time in 9 days. I think other people might have noticed the smell so I thought it was time. Seriously this was the first hotel to have a bath and a shower and so up until now I have been forced to shower only. (By the way, this hotel was rated as 2nd best business hotel in the World – don’t ask the price!). Breakfast at 8am and the seminar started at 9am. The seminar was in the hotel and about 50 people arrived. I was first up. I only got up to speak at 9:20 though as the introductions were done by Roger Chen (our branch manager in Taiwan) who then also allowed the head of the Insurance Institute in Taiwan to speak. They both did so in Chinese (or Taiwanese) so I had no idea what they were saying. While there were no questions again, the audience were much more receptive than HK and they nodded their heads etc at the appropriate points. I also didn’t notice anyone falling asleep. John Gilbert spoke after me, we had a break for tea, John spoke again and then I had the last session again. The people really liked my last session and while again there were no questions, afterwards people came over and engaged with me on the thrust of the presentation. I think it went down well and even John Gilbert said he thoroughly enjoyed it and it made him think.

We had lunch (this time nothing strange) and then at 2:30pm we headed out for the National Treasures Museum. We had a tour guide who started guiding on the bus. She was very funny (in both English and Chinese). She said it was the first time that she had taken a tour group around for 3 hours (3pm-6pm). We had booked for dinner at 7pm at the restaurant right next to the Museum and so she said that we could spend form 6pm-7pm in the gift shop (another first for her to have a group spend an hour in the gift shop!). As you can see that spirit and humor was pervasive throughout the afternoon. As John and I were the only 2 needing English translation, Tuan offered to be our English tour guide so that Sunny (our real tour guide) could just speak Chinese. The museum houses 680 000 artifacts from China – the majority of them from mainland China and brought to Taiwan before Mao’s cultural revolution. That is probably the only reason they were preserved. Only very little of the artifacts are on display at any one time. They change the displays every 3 months and Sunny told us that if you came once every 3 months (i.e. to see the new items on display), it would require you coming 20 years consecutively before you had seen all the artefacts they have.

I could probably write a whole book on the museum but I won’t because I am tired and need to be up 6am tomorrow again and it is now 10:30pm.  My impressions from the museum were:

  1. The Chinese love Jade – and the most valuable and sought after is White Jade – just in case you thought Jade was always a greenish color – you would be wrong!
  2. The Chinese were miles ahead of the Western culture in 12th and 13th century.  The pottery they had was already glazed and if you hadn’t told me it was from then I would have guessed it was made last week.
  3. They eye for detail is clearly displayed in their carvings (some you could only see with a magnifying glass and yet when you did the detail was incredible – and these were done in 18th century)
  4. If you own anything “Ming” you are incredibly wealthy – a Ming Tea Cup sold on auction recently for R40m.  Forget about a Ming Vase … give me a teacup!
  5. I learnt about the Qing, Ming and Han dynasty’s.  I probably quadrupled my Chinese history knowledge.
  6. Taiwanese have an excellent sense of humor
  7. Walking around for 3 hours at a museum is very tiring.

One thing did strike me (as a point of application … especially for Mssrs Pillay & Lewis given recent events). You can be miles ahead in the 12th century and become overly confident about your abilities and cut yourself off from the rest of the world and then the end result is that you end up lagging the rest of the world by 2012. It is a great analogy for business (or what not to do).

After we finished at about 6:30pm (we managed to get in another 30 minutes before they kicked us out of the museum itself), I did get to go to the gift shop and I found another present for Chloe. Still nothing for anyone else though. I am hoping for some shopping time at HK airport tomorrow though! We then went to dinner at Silks Restaurant right next door to the museum. One quick look at the menu and I knew we were in for another interesting dinner. The courses included:

  • Water chestnuts (make that another first for me)
  • Sautéed Sea Whelk (had that yesterday and sea snails twice in a row didn’t appeal to me)
  • Frog’s cream with Crab Meat Soup (ate that … still don’t know exactly what it was but was assured it had to do with frog … so another first)
  • Pan-fried Lamb Chop with Curry (skipped that for obvious reasons)
  • Shrimps with Jelly Fish (again)
  • Jadiete Cabbage with Insects (Yes – was worried about that one – ate the cabbage and skipped on the insects)
  • Steamed Grouper with Tree Pod
  • Chicken Soup with Yams
  • Flied rice (sorry … Fried Rice)
  • And then desert…

There were starters as well – never figured out what all of them were but one thing I did eat was bamboo stems – which were ok actually – would have them again. I sat next to John at dinner and we talked about the food (a lot) and avoided the same things. The quantity is just ridiculous though. I was full after the the Soup. I have no idea how they eat so much and yet stay so slim. I will skip breakfast tomorrow as I don’t think I could manage to wake up that early any way and I am sure I don’t need it.

After dinner it was back the hotel. Everyone seemed to be heading off to the mall or the night market but John and I headed to our rooms and bed.  It is quite hard work talking to people whose first language is not English. I have to admit that they all tried really hard, are very polite and are friendly and nice people. You get a sense that they enjoy life. I like the Taiwanese people. If you want to see what Taipei looks like from my hotel room have a look on my Facebook site. I have posted a photo there (and also of the menu tonight).

Sleep well.

Day 8 of RTW in 11 days

Posted on by Peter

This morning I woke up with lightening striking and thunder rolling.  Of course it was 2:45am and I felt like I had finished sleeping for the night.  Here we go again with the jet lag.  I forced myself to go to sleep again until 4am but slept very lightly due to the lightening.  I tend to sleep with my curtains open in a hotel room (not sure why but it has become a habit now).  At 5am I finally gave up and got up and answered emails.  I realized that the reason I could not see anything when I arrived in the room was probably due to the fact that I was in the cloud.  As it was now raining the clouds had lifted and I could see the lights of the harbour.  It was quite beautiful.

We had a breakfast meeting at 8am in the hotel.  What I realized immediately is that the food was going to be different over the next 3 days.  Steamed buns, sago and various other chinese items which were unrecognizable at breakfast.  Even the fruit was interesting.  At least half of the fruit I had never seen before.  I stuck with the known.  They had bottled fruit juices of every type you could imagine.  I went with watermelon – it was fantastic – like drinking a watermelon.  I stuck with the Western breakfast this time and had my usual of 2 eggs.

I had free then until lunch but as I was feeling really jet lagged I headed back to the room and tried to have another hour of sleep to get me through what I knew would be a long day.  I did nap on and off but never managed to fall asleep properly.  We then had lunch in the Dynasty Club in Hong Kong.  It is a private members only club.  There are two Gen Re people speaking at the events – myself and John Gilbert who is our Chief Investment Officer (and based in the USA).  He spoke during lunch today.  He spoke incredibly well and all the clients were paying attention.  My mind wandered from time to time but he even managed to keep my jet lagged mind most of the time.  Lunch was an experience as well.  I think I must have eaten at least 10 things I have never eaten before.  It consisted of 7 courses and then 2 desert courses as well.  It was a HUGE amount of food.  Impossible to eat all of it.  I think in every course there was something I had never eaten before.  If you’re squeamish, you might want to skip this part!  Here are the things I ate today which I have never had before:

  • Jelly Fish
  • Deep-fried bean curd (remind me not to ever try that again)
  • Sea Whelk (sea snail)
  • Chinese Yam
  • Longan
  • Meldar (it is herb used for healing)
  • Abalone
  • Conpoy (this is dried scallops – scallops I have eaten previously but never dried)
  • Spotted Grouper (they offered the head around for people to eat the eyes etc)
  • Dragon Fruit

The soup also had chicken feet in it (though I have had those before).  I could not bring myself to eat the Sago Cream Mango for desert.  This was all accompanied by plenty of wine – one of which was Rupert & Rothchild from SA.

After lunch we had about an hour before the next meeting so we went into the office and I met everyone I have only ever dealt with via email.  The office is on the 68th floor and you have to take 2 lifts to get up that high.  Half way up is an observation deck with fantastic views of the city.  We then went to have a meeting with the Actuarial Society of HK.  As we were slightly early, my host (Tuan) asked if I minded if he popped into a bookstore at the bottom of the building.  Tuan lives in China and is our branch manager there.  The bookshop turned out to be ‘Elim Christian Bookstore’.  This obviously resulted in us having a conversation about Christianity and it turns out that Tuan is a Christian.  He is Malaysian by birth and 3 of his family members were converted all in different countries.  He told me it was ‘by the Grace of God’.  He bought two books (one by Josh Harris translated into Chinese).  He told me it is illegal to take them back into China but he will do it anyway.  He cannot get any Christian books in China.  We got talking about CBD and our numerous branches.  I could see the envy in his eyes.  I asked about his Church and he says they meet illegally because they are not allowed to have an official church.  He runs the house church – they do not have a pastor.  They usually get 35-40 on a Sunday morning but he says that they have about 80 people linked to the church.  He said the Church in China is growing rapidly because of the suppression.  It said it is really encouraging to be involved.  A lot of the people attending are younger people and they have no teaching and so he tries to get books every time he comes to HK to take back.  It was an amazing conversation and incredibly encouraging to find this out.  I have know Tuan for about 2-3 years now and he is a very nice guy but he never mentioned that he was a Christian previously.  He said he knew I was a Christian because Wolfgang (our head of Asia-Pacific) told him.

We then had a benign (by comparison to the 15 minutes of conversation above), discussion with the ASHK about actuarial education and various items of mutual interest (which none of you, even the actuaries, would probably be interested in).  The ASHK had organized me for to speak to their members and we had to walk to the KPMG building about 15 minutes away.  It was bucketing down with rain but most of the walkways are covered so it was only the occasional drop of rain that actually fell on me as we ran from one walkway to the other.  The talk was attended by about 50 actuaries from across the market.  I had been warned that there was likely to be no questions.  And there weren’t until I eventually coaxed one out.  They seemed entertained.  I only noticed 1 person fall asleep.  I spoke really slowly and deliberately so my usual 30-35 minute presentation became a 45 minute presentation.  Afterwards a few people came up to me and spoke to me and thanked me or asked some questions.

We were then off the airport to catch our 22:40 flight to Taipei.  We had about 2 hours to kill in the airport but as I with Tuan & Wolfgang we went to the Cathay Pacific lounge and had dinner and chatted about various things including Gen Re matters.  It was good catching up with Wolfgang in particular.  The flight left bang on time and arrived at 12:20am.  We got through immigration & customs with no problem.  The airport is a little like JHB/CT airports were about 5-10 years ago.  Old but functioning.  We had a car pick us up and take us to the hotel.  We are staying in the Far Eastern Plaza Hotel in Taipei.  It is very nice.  The rooms are spacious, have a walk in closet and a beautiful marble bathroom.  Given that it is now 2:05am, I am going to send this email and then get into bed and sleep until about 7am.  I have breakfast at 8am followed by a seminar (which I am speaking at twice).

Good night, sleep tight.

Burb ….  (must be the sea whelk)

Day 15 of Trip to Land of Free

Posted on by Peter

Day 15 was our last day in the US. We had to wake up early to get our flight back from SFO to Chicago. Of course it was still foggy in SF. I remarked to Helen that I would be very grumpy if I lived in a place where it was cold during the middle of summer. Even England isn’t like that. We had to leave for the airport at 7:00am. I hadn’t told the kids but I had actually booked a stretch limo to take us to the airport. It was only $10 more than a standard taxi and as Michael and Chloe had been counting the ones they saw during the trip, I thought it would be a good experience. They were really chuffed but it wore off quickly especially when we were driving on the motorway and it felt like we were on a boat. Helen couldn’t look out the front window as she was getting so car sick (or maybe boat sick would be better) and Michael was totally pale by the time we arrived. I don’t think the end came quickly enough for them! The long wheelbase and suspension does make you feel like you’re on a boat. I have been in one a few times before and I remember this from every time I have driven in one. On the way to the airport I remembered another observation from the trip – Americans love outdoor sculptures. They are all over Chicago, LA, SF and even St Louis. Some are weird and some are fine but it is just incredible how many they have.

We were able to check our luggage through to London so that worry was gone and all we had to do was to wait for our departure. We were able to use the Admiral’s Club lounge which is the American Airlines lounge. Who knows why they call it the “Admiral’s Club” – do they not realise you’re taking a plane and not a boat?! The flight left on time and we had breakfast on board. The flight was quite comfortable again except that the airhostess was relatively “grumpy” though I think it was her mannerism. Helen said that if that is her manner then she should find another job! It really wasn’t that bad though and as they don’t give much service it didn’t really bother me. We actually landed early. The temperature at Chicago was 30 degrees so a little shock to the system versus the cool SF. We had a mammoth walk as we had to change terminals (and Chicago is the biggest airport in the US) and there are no walkways or escalators. We also had to take a small people-mover train to go from Terminal 4 to Terminal 5. We again managed to check-in easily and as we were travelling on British Airways we were able to use the lounge (with, mostly importantly, free wifi, as we had 4 hours to kill). The duty free shopping is the most disappointing I have ever seen. It is just a small series of fold-up displays which stretch over about 20 meters and that is all there is. Quite amazing for America as (as you should know by now), Americans take every opportunity to sell you something so this is a bit of an anomaly.

As the flight is was a sleeper flight (i.e. they don’t serve dinner), we ate in the lounge. After we got on and the plane took off, it was 8pm and we all put our chairs down and went to sleep straightaway. Unfortunately none of slept brilliantly. I woke up at 11:10pm and pretty much didn’t get back to sleep again before about an hour before we landed. Michael woke up at 11:30pm and also fell asleep around about an hour before we landed. Stephen seemed to sleep the best though he also slept in fits and starts and both Helen and Chloe woke up early and didn’t get back to sleep again. I reckon I never got more than 3 hours sleep. Factor in the change of time and we landed at 9:30am after taking off at 8pm and with just 3 hours sleep it doesn’t make for the easiest of days.

We went and had breakfast (after landing) at the British Airways arrivals lounge. They have a great breakfast including even pancakes which Helen felt she should have just for old time sake. We then took a taxi into London to spend the day at the flat. Helen had a shower and immediately went out to do some shopping (like she didn’t do enough in America). The rest of us stayed in the flat. Stephen spent the whole time on his laptop (and I probably did too besides the odd phone call) and Michael and Chloe mooched around. Stephen went with Chloe to Pret to buy us lunch (oh the pleasure of letting your kid out in a major city without the fear that he will get mugged or nabbed). After lunch Michael fell asleep on the couch and Chloe joined him just after Helen got home. By that time it was time to finish the repacking of the suitcases and adding another bag for Helen’s purchases in London today (and our internet ones that I had sent here to the flat). Only Helen, Michael and Stephen are heading home as Chloe and I are still in London for another week. Helen and the boys left in a taxi at 4:15pm for the airport and at 6pm Helen SMS’d to say they were in the lounge and at 7pm they SMS’d to say they were on the plane. They should be over mid-Africa by now.

Chloe and I both fell asleep for a hour and a half and then at 7pm we went out for dinner. This is the first time ever that Chloe and I have been alone together. We went to a Spanish tappas restaurant for dinner. Over dinner we chatted about this and that including remarking about well dressed the women are (and no very short pants though some short skirts were evidenced but everyone I saw wearing one had the right to wear one – don’t tell Helen I said that). I love London and being here now feels like a second home to me so I feel very comfortable here. I have managed to stay awake until 11:10pm tonight and now I am going to bed. Tomorrow Chloe and I go down for the weekend with my parents in the New Forest and then on Monday it is back to work (though my first meeting is in Bournemouth which is very close to my parent’s home).

This is the last you will hear from me from this trip. Hope you enjoyed getting the updates. Thanks for everyone’s comments over the last 2.5 weeks. I know that I didn’t respond to everyone but it is enjoyable getting comments back from you to!

Until next time, that’s all folks ….

P, H, M, C & S

Day 14 of Trip to Land of Free & Wealthy with Lots of Choice

Posted on by Peter

We were up early today (7:30am) as we had to catch a specific boat to Alcatraz Island. We walked down to Pier 33 which was about a 20 minute walk and picked up our tickets. We had about 40 minutes to spare so we grabbed some pastries and juice for breakfast and then got ourselves into line. Americans take every opportunity to make money off of you and so at every tourist attraction they take your photo against a fake backdrop and then you can purchase the photo when you come back, get down, finish the ride etc. If we had taken it up we would have had photos from about 10 different places so far! It does slow the lines down though and today was no different. We just skipped the photo shoot today but they looked at us strangely because it clearly isn’t something that is usually done.

The weather today was pretty much the same as yesterday – fog & cold. That didn’t stop us from getting onto the top deck of the ferry (it had 3 decks). It only takes 12 minutes to get out to Alcatraz but a lifetime to get back. The island is now a national park and apparently the biggest urban national park in the world. The brochure and also the national parks guide that spoke to us as we got off the ferry, tried to dispel some of the myths about Alcatraz including the one that it is impossible to swim to San Francisco because of the tide/currents/cold water. Every year they have the Alcatraz to SF swim and this year it was won by an 11 year old. So much for prisoners not being able to make it! From all the attempts though over the years, only 3 people were unaccounted for. The official line is that they drowned but the prisoners who were on the island at that time all believe they are in Latin America as they were all learning Spanish before they escaped.

The walk from the ferry dock up to the prison is quite steep – the equivalent of climbing up a 13-story building. We all made it relatively comfortably which speaks to our superior fitness and agility as a family. Of course my atheletic build gives me the edge in these sorts of walks. Inside the prison you pick up an audio tour which is done by previous inmates and prison wardens. It takes 45 minutes and guides you around the prison. It is by far the best audio guide I have ever heard. It is entertaining and filled with interesting facts. Chloe didn’t want to listen to the audio guide but we told her to take it anyway and she was very grateful we told her to as she really enjoyed it too.

I have visited a few prison’s now and every time I do I am struck but how uncomfortable and unpleasant it must be. Just seeing a prison is enough to put me off doing anything that might get me into one. Hopefully it has the same effect on the kids! At the end of the tour they take you through the gift shop (another American tradition of making a few extra $ from the sightseeing trip). One of the previous inmates had written a book of his experiences including meeting notorious criminals such as Robert Stroud – better known as the Birdman of Alcatraz. I glanced through the book and it was interesting to note that he had become a Christian after completing his sentence. He was actually in the gift shop doing a book signing and so Michael went over and asked him what made him rob a bank and he said “The Money”. Alcatraz had numerous other infamous people including Al Capone. They only accept high risk prisons i.e. those likely to cause trouble or likely to escapees. The prison was closed in 1963 mainly due to the cost of upkeep (they have no sewage on the island for instance) but also partly due to the fact that SF residents weren’t comfortable with a major prision on their doorstep and they became even more uncomfortable about it when one of the prisons actually made the swim over the bay (even though he was recaptured).

We took the ferry back to the mainland and picked up hot dogs on our way back to the room. We got back just in time to watch the end of the first half (and the rest) of the Spain v Germany game. I had a splitting headache (probably the thought of going back to work did it) and so had a short nap in the afternoon. As it was our last evening here we found a more upmarket restuarant for dinner. SF is a crab area and every meal I had been tempted but hadn’t taken the plunge but today both Michael and I ordered crab. In fact Stephen and I agreed to split 50/50 – he had a steak. However, it turned out Michael only managed to eat half his crab so we got the other half of his crab as well. It was a good final meal in the USA for us. The setting was particularly spectacular as well – the setting was over the water looking over the fishing boats. Helen and I got some last minute shopping in while the kids decided to head back to the hotel.

The rest of the evening was spent packing and watching TV. It is now 12;14 and we have to leave tomorrow at 7am to catch our first of 3 flights back home so I need to go to bed now! Enjoy the day – when I write next we should be back in London.

P, C, M, H, S

Day 13 of Trip to Land of Choice

Posted on by Peter

We have settled it now – it is fog and not cloud. The tour guide today said you only get it in the summer months and it never rains. The weather was exactly the same today as yesterday – about as cold but maybe slightly less windy. The sun tried to peak out a few times but never really came through with any force.

We had another late start today. I eventually got tired of being awake alone and so woke up Helen and the kids at 9am. It turns out the kids were awake to after 12 last night! Hopefully they will get to sleep a little earlier tonight. We had walked past Ihop (International House of Pancakes) yesterday and already designated that as the place for breakfast. We couldn’t come to the USA and not have breakfast at Ihop and so that is where we headed. Of course there is a myriad of possible choices of breakfast – pancakes of all sorts, with or without eggs, bacon etc. They had a special on – kids eat free with any adult purchasing a breakfast off their main menu so Chloe got her breakfast at cost. She had the kid’s pancakes with scrambled egg and bacon. She had 5 pancakes sort of the size of a flapjack. It would have been enough for me actually. The rest of us had pancakes of some sort or another. Helen and Michael had chocolate chip pancakes and they each got 4 and only ate 2. IHop seems to be more health conscious as they kindly put the calories of all the breakfasts on the menu so you can see how much of your daily allowance you are consuming on breakfast. One of the breakfasts (the steak, egg & pancake option) was your entire days allowance in one sitting! Not surprisingly we were all full afterwards and lunch became incidental.

After breakfast we strolled past some of the shops and headed for Barnes & Noble (a US bookstore). We did some browsing but ended up purchasing a whole lot of DVDs as they had a buy 2 get 1 free deal running. We did a bit more shopping and then headed back to the hotel to watch the soccer – Uruguay v Netherlands. After watching the game the plan was to catch another tour (we had a multi-day ticket) that took us west and then north and over the Golden Gate bridge. It took us through the some of the wealthy suburbs of SF. Small, semi-detached houses go for between $1m and $2m (and I mean small). We then headed over the Golden Gate Bridge and on the Northern side we stopped for a few minutes to take some photos back towards SF. As you already know it was foggy so not the best view or photos but still quite impressive. The tour then continued on into the town of Sausalito. The price of these homes is slightly higher and you can see it not only from the houses (some of which were massive) but also by the Ferrari’s, Porsche’s & Mercedes parked outside. In fact the poorer homes only had a Mercedes parked outside. We had a 10 minute stopover and then we headed back across the bridge and back to SF. The wind was blowing so hard (open top bus of course) that I couldn’t keep my cap on and in fact could hardly keep my face on. I had to close my mouth otherwise I might have expanded up like a balloon and floated off the bus. My face felt like it was getting a workout.

When we got back everyone wanted something to drink to warm up and we ended up at Ben & Jerry’s again. Michael had a milkshake and the others had Warm Shakes while I had an Espresso. It was late afternoon already so we came back to the room and the inevitable happened – Helen fell asleep. Eventually at 6:30pm we got a call from Chloe saying she was starving and in fact so was I and we agreed to leave for dinner at 7pm. We found a local Italian restaurant on the Pier and had another good meal. Helen had a Crabmeat Pizza – only in SF have I ever seen that. There was so much crab on it that Helen couldn’t finish eating it. After dinner we all felt like a walk to get the food settled and so we walked along the Pier and popped into a few stores as we walked. Stephen (the frugal family member) has managed to buy two T-shirts for $4.99 each which is (quite honestly) ridiculously cheap.

And that was the day. A nice relaxing day especially since we know we have a full day tomorrow (with the trip to Alcatraz) and then early up on Thursday as well to catch the first of 3 flights to get home. We have had some amusing moments so far that are worth sharing. The first was in St Louis when Stephen flatly denied that the only pair of shoes in the room were his. He said they looked like his and they were the right size but the tread was different. As no one else had the same shoes or size the rest of us quickly figured out that they were Stephen’s shoes. He might still be denying it but that is just so we can rag him a little more about it. Helen then dreamt that my parents set her up to meet the Pope. Mom & Dad – Helen wants to know why on earth you arranged for her to visit the Pope and whether you have converted to Roman Catholicism. The worst thing is that she never got to meet him because when she arrived he was too busy playing with a skull! What is amazing is that she shared this with us (I would have quite frankly kept quiet). The on the evening of the fireworks in SF (that would be July 4), Michael comes in from outside and proudly says someone left there drink outside and so I brought it in for them. Everyone said they had their drinks and so we quickly figured out that it was actually Michael’s drink! So you can see, that leaves two sane people in the family only – Chloe and me! Please remember us around the loonies….

Until tomorrow.

P & C H, S & M and the loonies (H, S & M P & C)