Chad Is Everywhere

I took the opportunity to visit Layess, my former Brisbane flatmate, as a part of my Panda trip. The idea was that I could make a side trip to her home city of Chongqing from Chengdu. It was about 2 hours by train. This was easy enough to complete in theory. I just had to figure out myself how to get there.  Which meant navigating the long distance trains myself after managing to buy a ticket. Easier said than done. The first step was easy. I just had to retrace our trip from the Chengdu Train station we had arrived into. Then I just had to board the right train at the station. It was fairly easy on the way to Chengdu. But then we had guided instruction on what to do from the tour. Although we didn't actually have the guide with us every time we were inside the station we were seemingly under the safety blanket beingtold what to expect. This trip has no such support. I was alone and had my memory to rely on.   I had no ability to book my train tickets onlin...

I had visited Hong Kong before on a stopover from Europe on the way home. That time was a quick stay in part to see friends, and to then also get a taste of the city without committing to a long stop. This trip with the goal of getting up into China it made sense to revisit Hong Kong, and then also get a chance to see friends I had short changed last time. I enjoyed Hong Kong the first time as it's a great mix of East meets West culture and food. Unfortunately for me it wasn't all fine blue sky. This was hot and humid end of typhoon season Hong Kong. Not that I minded to much. It had been so long since I had seen rain in Brisbane. And my lagging winter cough needed the humidity to help it disappear. So my time here in Hong Kong was partly exploring the tourist zones I had missed, and then exploring the taste buds. I managed to fit in some Michelin rated noodles restaurant, and visit some great Dim Sum catching up with friends during the stay. Initial plans to go into th...

Tayla. Tayla. That was the cry of the desperate immigrants as I emerged onto Nathan Road. It seemed that Tayla must have been lost for quite some time. For those looking for any lead were getting delirious in their search. Tayla, Tayla they repeated. Yet they didn't really go into much details on what Tayla looked like. Was he or she tall, short, fat, skinny? Blue jeans, black shirt, face mask? I wasn't sure, and they didn't tell me. What I found unusual was they only wanted me to look at their business card with the details. Who has cards for when their friend goes missing. I couldn't help. Their search was doomed to failure. It was easier than normal to move on in Hong Kong. Seems the locals had taken it into their own hands to remove many of the street side barriers. There were visibly less road blocks to my movement. Where you could see missing barriers meant that there had been a protest at some time. So basically the whole of Hong Kong was now barrier free. ...

If you ever wanted to see London tube how it should be... Go to Singapore. Feels like the tube. S ounds like the tube. But runs on time. Of note it's so cheap. I must of used it like 8 times in 2 days and I've spent less than $10.

I sitting up watching time slide by on what is now a night train to Nha Trang. We're due in about 1am . I skipped the Chicken'n'Rice. Didn't know the vintage. And I've seen bigger pigeons. So sandwich dinner followed by Tolberone. We've only got one small issue. When do we get off! Stations are barely signed. Oh, and the tour guide gets motion sickness on Trains at night. Fun fun fun!