Beau Peep Notice Board
Beau Peep Notice Board => Outpourings => Topic started by: Roger Kettle on June 20, 2009, 06:52:23 PM
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As I know you're heading for Far Eastern climes on Monday, let me be the first to wish you a safe and happy journey. Will you manage to log in while you're away? Is Mince going with you?
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I blinkin' hope not!
Yes, Monday sees the start of my world tour. We take off from Glasgow, and keep flying until we touch down at Stansted, where we have a hotel booked for the night.
The next morning we are flying out to Kuala Lumpur and we'll have a couple of days enjoying the karaoke bars there. A train journey to Singapore features next on our itinerary, and after a few songs and some (sight-seeing), we take a plane to Manila. We have 3 weeks in The Philippines traveling to loads of different islands. Quite a lot of people to meet, but we'll have lots of time to relax I think, as there are karaoke (or videoke as they call them) machines everywhere.
I'll have my lap top and drawing tablet (as I will be doing work that comes in), and will also take loads of pics along the way. I'm taking my eldest son along with us, and Lucy's taking her young lad, of course.
I'll let you know what songs I sing.
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stanstead is the home of ryanair so make sure you hold on to your wallet, even if your not flying with them they will find a way to get your cash . have a nice holiday
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Have a great time Peepsie.
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Thanks Robbie, and Rob! I will do my best. We're flying down to Stansted with EasyJet, but are due to come back with Ryanair. I've flown with EasyJet numerous times, and always found it a good experience, but haven't used Ryanair before. I know of their reputation, but Lucy's booked with them for the return leg as the timing is better I think. It just means we have to travel from Prestwick once we land, instead of Paisley.
I've been wondering who to leave in charge of the forum while I'm away. Any suggestions?
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Can we claim expenses?
And who's filling in for you at the Karaoke?
Have a cracking time, and don't work too hard, Peepsie.
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Happy Hols Nige and Lucy ;D
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Well, you're not putting me in charge again.
Choose peter.
And have a nice time.
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I'm touched.
I shall be looking in frequently. I really need to get my avatar back. Being able to see all the others would be good too.
Peter could make a good boss. Maybe he can take care of moderating posts, whilst Roger looks after the technical side of things.
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You really need to be missed, don't you?
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Sorry I missed giving you a send off, Peepsie. Been a bit off colour the last couple of days. Did another one of hubby's bush wanders on Sunday and managed to collect two grass ticks and a leech. Didn't know about the leech till it fell out of the washing machine when I took my clothes out. It was huge - looked like a slug, so obviously had a good feed on me. Wondered why the back of my heel was bleeding. It was the grass ticks that made me feel bad. Tiny things, but I'm very allergic to them and after I'd got them out, the area around the bites just swelled up and hardened red. Also felt woozy in the head and slept most of Tuesday. Fine now, but think I need to take some preventative action when I go out on Trev walks! Half a ton of Aeroguard probably, which is no doubt not very good for you either. ..0
Anyway, hope the trip's going well so far. You must be in KL by now. Come down and see us in Sydney - it's only a hop, skip and jump away. Looking forward to updates.
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Hi Joan! Yes, we're in KL now. Hot and sticky... Thunder and lightning too.
Was a long flight over - 13 hours, which I find really boring, and much of it towards the end was really turbulent. Worst I've experienced, although I'm told it can be a lot worse. By the time we got to our hotel room, it was almost 21 hours since I'd got up, so just crashed out into a deep sleep.
More later...
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Bloomin' Ada, Peepsie - I thought you were trying to sell the concept of these trips? Surely you meant it was a fun-filled flight of non-stop mirth and merriment?
Joan - we went for a walk too...along the banks of the Severn in sun-kissed Shrewsbury. We got accosted by a couple of lively Labrador pups and an ice-cream van. It was Hell, I tell you!
That's it - I'm never leaving these shores ever again.
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Okay - it's great in KL. I like the friendliness of the people. It's long journey to get here, but it's so well worth the effort.
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To recap: Joan invites Nige and Lucy to Sydney where there are giant slugs and evil sleeping sickness ticks that will knock a man out for two days.
(Hope you feel better soon Joan!)
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....and Joan lives in New South Wales. Imagine what it's like up here in the sub tropics!
Ok, I'm trying to steal Joan's thunder, but those bloody ticks are killers. I know a couple of dog owners whose animals have nearly died as a result of bush ticks. There are warning signs, and as soon as the dog seems listless or vomits, dog owners start combing their fur to see if they can spot the tell-tale lump or raw area. One case ended with the dog's hind leg permanently paralysed.
I've never been as badly "ticked" as Joan, but I don't do any gardening out here, owing to the fact that it's not about trimming the rose bushes or edging the lawn once every month like in the UK. We have a small citrus grove, plus palms and bushes twelve feet high which grow like triffids.
Trimming them often means being attacked by swarms of something or other which leave millions of bites.
OK, I hate gardening anyway.
Hope you're feeling better Joan.
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To recap: Joan invites Nige and Lucy to Sydney where there are giant slugs and evil sleeping sickness ticks that will knock a man out for two days.
(Hope you feel better soon Joan!)
I didn't mention that when we were clambering up the hill through the bush, Trevor remarked that this was definitely not a summer walk. "Why?" says I, "Surely it would be drier." "Snakes," says he. "Oh, definitely not, then." Trail walks only in summer. Can stand the bugs, but the snakes are something else. Had a couple of those in the garden and one tree snake (no fangs) in the house. Oh, and one in the water heater, which is outside.
Don't let me put you off - all visitors welcome! We haven't lost anyone yet. We only put Australians and New Zealanders to work in the garden. The rest get to have barbecues round the pool where the only hazard may be the odd golf ball on the noggin. Tuesdays and Thursdays are the worst - corporate days. When we take you sightseeing you go in the car and if you have to walk through the bush it will be on a path - the only wildlife I've seen with visitors was a friendly bandicoot (http://members.optusnet.com.au/~alreadman/bandi-uk.jpg).
Ben got a paralysis tick too, Malc - they're viscious things - I thought it was a bit of mucous under his eye, so didn't bother about it until it had been there for a while. I got it off and he was okay for a couple of days, but then got left in the hot house and went downhill fast. He pulled through but it was touch and go there for a while. Mine were just little grass ticks, but they obviously still pack a punch. I'm very allergic to all things like that as well. Feel fine now, but still getting the odd dizzy hit. Went to the movies with a friend last night to escape Origin fever (Malc will know what I mean) and she said that there's been a rash of people who have had ticks in our area who have gone into anaphalitic (sp?), you know when you need the adrenaline, shock when they've eaten meat. :o I've had meat and nothing seems to have happened - yet.
It's Thursday, bushwalk day, too. Better go hunt out the Aeroguard and find those thingies you put over your boots to stop the leeches getting up your legs.
Bloomin' Ada, Peepsie - I thought you were trying to sell the concept of these trips? Surely you meant it was a fun-filled flight of non-stop mirth and merriment?
I've had one of those TT - once. Can also beat you on the length of time being up when enduring long flights and crossing time zones, Peepsie. That particular one, it was 37 hours from when I got up in Sydney to touch down in the UK. Had about four hours sleep on the plane, but that was still after about 32 hours awake. I then stayed up another 14 hours - don't know what I was running on - even went for a walk in Balerno, which admittedly wasn't hot and sticky, but still. Slept for about 12 hours and was as right as rain. Coming this way was a different story though - not sure whether it's the direction or the fact that I'm coming back to the daily humdrum of normal life. On which note, I'd better stop rambling and get on with it.
Enjoy KL and Singapore, Nige.
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It's odd to see how Poms change their attitude to things like spiders and lizards over the years. We used to freak if we saw anything that we considered an "outside" creature inside the house. Spiders, geckos and other lizards included. I happen to know for a fact that we have about three or four redback spiders in the house, two in the pantry. In the old days I would have killed them and any others around the house, but then my boys were just babies.
No funnelweb spiders, thank goodness - oddly they are more prevalent down where Joan lives, and they are lethal.
Geckos we welcome. They are lovely, with their cute sucker feet and loud call. We have two who live in the air conditioning unit in the living room. It's supposedly not good for air conditioners to have geckos in them-they eat rubber seals, apparently, but we can't be bothered chasing them.
Other friends have carpet pythons in the roof space, which they are happy to leave there because they keep the rats and possums out.
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I do have two or three stories about funnel webs, but will refrain from telling them, as I don't want to put everyone off any more. As Malc says, you just get used to it and know how to deal with them. For instance, I would never put shoes on which have been outside without standing on the toes first and giving them a good shake, especially in summer. Funnily enough, spiders don't worry me as much as snakes, even though you're more likely to be bitten by one. We would let the huntsmen (http://www.australianfauna.com/huntsmanspider.php) stay in the house if Kate wasn't petrified of them. They're very good at eating other nasties. They just look a bit fierce, but not as fierce as a funnel web rearing up and pointing its fangs at you.
We have loads of little skinks, but no geckos, I think they like it a bit warmer. No ticks or leeches on our Thursday bush walk. It was very long though - 13.3km and a lot of climbing up and down - I was exhausted by the end, but it was still enjoyable. We're very lucky to have the national park on our doorstep. Got to stop for a coffee at the marina half way through! Here are a couple of pics:
(http://lh6.ggpht.com/_03GS3Izjqag/SkTUoxEy8zI/AAAAAAAAFN0/TwwVUpzphxU/s720/bushwalk090625warimoobobbinheadsphinx007.jpg)
(http://lh3.ggpht.com/_03GS3Izjqag/SkTU34aLeOI/AAAAAAAAFOQ/jav1TpDaVBQ/s720/bushwalk090625warimoobobbinheadsphinx014.jpg)
(http://lh5.ggpht.com/_03GS3Izjqag/SkTVMVhHonI/AAAAAAAAFPA/NIg49pXAvj8/s720/bushwalk090625warimoobobbinheadsphinx026.jpg)
(http://lh4.ggpht.com/_03GS3Izjqag/SkTVW540Q6I/AAAAAAAAFPQ/N6hfp4csOBI/s512/bushwalk090625warimoobobbinheadsphinx030.jpg)
I had to climb up this after about 12 km.
There are more here (http://picasaweb.google.com/bjjktg/BushwalkWarrimooTrackBobbinheadNorthTurramurraSphinxTrackStIvesChase?feat=directlink)
Sorry, Nige. Seem to have hijacked your thread somewhat. You'd better start another one for your updates. :)
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Great photos, Joan. I must admit I admire how you and Malc have adapted to life down under. I don't think I'd ever get used to shaking out my shoes in case there was something lurking inside that might kill me. I'm also not that keen on barbecues.
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13.3 KM through swamps: snakes, ticks, leaches... up slippery craggy hills. I think it is time to at least consider the question: Is your hubby trying to do you in?
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The swamps, snakes, (hopefully they're all asleep), ticks and leaches were on the other walks, Diane. The 13.3km one was just up and down slippery craggy hills. It's obviously not the right time yet for hubby to knock me off, as he would have had numerous opportunities on any of the walks we've done. ;)
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I've got a bite on my arm, which turned into a blister, and has been weeping all day!
Kuala Lumpur was great. Never seen such a melting-pot of different nationalities. The Petronas Towers are fabulous, especially at night.
Also really liked Singapore. Very clean and modern. Have been in Manila since Saturday.
I've put a few pictures online. I'll add more as we go on. http://picasaweb.google.com/nigel.sutherland/NewAlbum250620091158?feat=directlink
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Fabulous pictures, Peepsie. You're not in any of them. No that I'm correlating...
I hope whatever bit you is doing okay. It's awful when your arm turns into a blister.
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Great pics, Nige. TT is right though - we want some of you! Don't like the sound of your arm - nasty when it blisters. I've been on that cable car - many years ago now!
Look out for Charley Boorman he and Vonplanta are in the Philippines - not sure where exactly - been following them on Twitter, but Charley's not very good at typing on his Blackberry obviously - bit hard to work out what he's trying to say.
Hope the arm heals.
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Great photos, Nige. I take it you were also brave enough to pose with the python but simply to shy to post the picture on here?
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It looks like you are all having a great time. ;D
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Great pics from both of you.
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We're now in Puerta Galera, on the island of Mindaro, not far from Manila. It's such a beautiful place. We are by lovely beaches, beneath mountains. It has rained today, and I can hear loud sounds from outside, which are from frogs or toads.
There are so many great bars along the front, and we sit watching the lightning dancing in the sky, as we see every night in this country. The people here are the friendliest I've ever met in my life, as I've said before.
Believe me, this country is still very rough and ready in paces, but it has so much going for it, and it is heaven on earth. I saw the loveliest girl I've ever seen today, and she was a lady-boy! Unbelievable. Totally accepted as are many others, but these people are beautiful. Everyone is so polite and charming.
We sailed around much of Mindoro today, hiring a boat, which cost around ?13. The place is stunning. David thought he saw a turtle. Go to The Philippines before it urns into Thailand!
P.S. I typed all that after an evening at the bars on the beach, and have just had to go through it to make corrections! Just uploaded more pics to the web album too.
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It sounds wonderful, Peepsie. I am extremely envious. Kate's off to LA and New York tomorrow with a friend and apart from being a bit nervous for her as this is her first trip overseas alone, I've got itchy feet and I want to go too! Actually, her friend wanted me to come with, as she's never been overseas, apart from a trip to Armenia when she was little. Kate was having none of it, though - can't think why. :D
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Not trying to make you even more worried, but two girls that good looking (saw the Facebook pics) should have their mothers with them until they are about 35 at least
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Thanks a lot, Malc! ..0 I'm not that worried, though. They are so much more savvy than I was at that age, so despite the fact that, by their age, I had been by myself in Germany for six months at school, Switzerland for three months as an aupair and had done two Eurorail pass journeys (the first one disastrous), I know they're much better equipped to deal with "things" than I was. :)
They've arrived safely - Kate didn't enjoy the flight much - she's very tall and economy doesn't give you much leg room these days. They're also very jetlagged. I think that trip has to be the worst, as you go over the dateline and the time difference is huge - they're 17 hours behind us. However, they did the LA tour yesterday and enjoyed that and they were watching the 4th July fireworks out the window when I talked to Kate. The LA tour doesn't seem to have changed since I did it in 1979. Hollywood, stars homes, Farmers' Market, etc.
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I imagine the price of the tomatoes has shot up since your visit. ;D
What did you learn in Germany Joan?
I miss Peeps.
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I was in Germany (Berlin) for 2 years.
Ein bier bitte.
Danke shun.
;D
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It was an international language school, Diane, so apart from the German language and cultural studies, trying to learn German shorthand (that's a joke, there's no such thing, the words are so long), typing, etc, I learned a lot from the other students, who were from all over the world, including Japan, Thailand, Australia, England, Italy, France, Iceland, Venezuela, Columbia, Spain and Germany itself. Most of the stuff I learned from them I should probably have learned earlier in my teens, (I was 17) but I was at boarding school and led a very sheltered life - honestly!
Yes, my German did improve markedly, despite the fact that I spent a lot of the time speaking English to my english friend. We also had heaps of fun, travelled around a fair bit, and I even went to my first concert - Elton John in Frankfurt. I can still see him on stage - hard to forget, he had sparkly lime green boots with heels and wedges, a lime green suit with tails, a similar top hat and the huge specs, no doubt lime green as well. Those were the days.
That's all you really need, isn't Colin? I bet you can manage a bit more though, if you were there for two years.
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Where was your school in Germany, Joan? I was more or less brought up there, I lived in Wilhelmshaven, Hamm, Verden and Herford.
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It was near Koenigstein-im-Taunus, Malc, about 30 km North-West of Frankfurt. It was in a castle - just a big house, really - Schloss Rettershof. The school isn't there any more. I think it's a hotel now. In fact, here it is http://www.schlosshotel-rettershof.de/frame1us.htm (http://www.schlosshotel-rettershof.de/frame1us.htm) - amazing what you can find on the internet!
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I seem to be going through a German phase at the moment -lots of coincidences, like the new lad who wants to join my team having a German father who lived in Hamm the same time I did.
I could quite happily live back in Germany, I loved the place and had a fantastic time at my school reunion back in 1999.
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Diane is so sweet. I'm now on Mactan Island, which is part of Cebu. We have been in Dumaguete on the island of Negros for 2 days. Yesterday we decided we had to travel and could only get a rust-bucket ferry. The Philippines has the worst ferry record in the world, but it was calm.
I have to unashamably state that we are at the Cebu Hilton tonight. It's cheap by UK standards. There's a pier next to the hotel for trips to Olango Island. We went today and visited sevaral places. I've been here for 3 years now, and Olango Island left me gob-smacked. Clean, loads of small villages, fabulous nature reserves. I was really pleased to see it and discover it. I went on some walks.
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I've posted some more pics here: http://picasaweb.google.com/nigel.sutherland/FarEastHoliday2009#
I'll add more when I can. Local people are employed by the commercial enterprises, and although I know it's not perfect, it's going in the right way.
Take care all.
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Wonderful photos, Peeps. I've added you to my favourites in Picasa, so I get notified when you upload to your public albums. Keep them coming - fascinating. Nice pic of you and your son. :)
I miss you too. :-*
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So you've been there for three years and you discovered Olango Island. Any more absolute porkies you'd like to share with us?
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So you've been there for three years and you discovered Olango Island. Any more absolute porkies you'd like to share with us?
;D
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Good one, Malc! I've been on Bohol for several days, which is really beautiful. I'll try and upload some pics soon. We've returned to Cebu, and this city is manic and hugely unattractive. Just staying overnight, as tomorrow we fly to the jewel of the country - Boracay, where we're having a week doing nothing.
Cebu is probably twinned with Calcutta, but it came alive tonight. We found a square which was full off merchants selling barbecued street food. Loads of music too. Great atmosphere, and cheap.
Our destination airport (for Boracay) on the neighbouring island of Panay has been switched tomorrow. It was to have been Caticlan, but the runway is short, and lately two planes have gone off the end - one into a ditch and the other hit a wall I'm told. Anyway, the main airlines are now refusing to use it. The alternative airport means an hour's bus ride extra, but I'll feel safer.
They do have problems with transport here. In May, a small banca boat sank on the route to Puerta Galera (where we first went), and 12 poor souls were lost.
I'll keep you all updated!
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As they used to say in Hill Street Blues, be careful out there.
I kind of envy you, Peeps. I love being in far-off places but I'm not wild about the travelling. Long flights put me off going to lots of places. After three or four hours, the boredom, the discomfort and (mild) claustrophobia start getting to me. I'm toying with going to Montana again in September and the best route I've found is from London to Denver and then up to Billings. I think the initial flight is around ten hours, which is about two hours longer than anything I've done so far. It also doesn't help that all the airlines have got together and decided that only the most boring movies ever made will be shown in-flight. When you throw in the security levels at airports these days, getting from A to B takes in the rest of the alphabet. (My 87 year-old Mother-in-Law had her luggage AND her person searched recently prior to a flight from Birmingham to Dundee!)
I have somehow slipped into another grumpy old man rant.
Er....enjoy the rest of your holiday, Nige!
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Now waiting at Cebu airport, so killing some time by rejoining the forum!
I forgot to tell you about our trip to see the Tarsiers on Bohol. In the same enclosure, they had a caged monkey. It was quite cute, until it managed to pull the glasses of my face. Then it went berserk, managing to bend them out of shape and chew the end off one arm. Tried to hold on and get them back, but it was very powerful. Quite bizarre having a struggle with a monkey at one end.
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...which end?
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You need to get along with monkey's better Peeps - by now it could have told all its friends about you. Watch out for falling coconuts!
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You need to get along with monkey's better Peeps
Who is this monkey that has more than one Peepmaster, and are you saying we have the worse one?
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You need to get along with monkey's better Peeps
Who is this monkey that has more than one Twat Face, and are you saying we have the worse one?
Now you've lost me...
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I think some wag has configured the forum to substitute the words "twat face" for another, every time that word is typed by Mince.
I should think the target word is "Peeps" or "Peep".
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Och, you and your conspiracy theories, Malc. The truth is much simpler than that - he's talking out of his ar*e.
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:D
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Diane, we're looking out for falling coconuts alright, but not because of monkeys. We've been on the fabulous island of Boracay for 3 days, and we've been battered by tropical storms every day! Such a different place to the one we experienced 2 years ago.
It is technically the rainy-season, but we've been really lucky for the past two years, so were hoping it would be good this time too. Oh well, at least there's plenty of beer and the rain's warm!
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Back here in Scotland, it's the other way round.
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Back here in Scotland, it's the other way round.
;D