Champagne backpackers.

---

It's always better on holiday, it's so much better on holiday, that's why we only work when we need the money! Ahh, Franz Ferdinand definately got it right when they wrote these lyrics!

Right now we're living through our last day of our big trip..... it's about 6pm and we are flying home tonight at 11:40pm. Before we came away we thought that we'd be sorely disappointed to be flying back to the UK, but in fact we're really looking forward to getting home. This is partly due to the fact that we'll be heading off again to Europe on the 22nd June, but it's mostly because we're just looking forward to seeing everyone again - we have missed you all! It'll be great to have loads of non e-type conflabs, face to face and all that jazz!

This week in Honkers has been totally magic. We have thoroughly enjoyed being back here - it's such a fab place and we're very, very glad that we chose to give ourselves lots of time to mosey around at a gentle pace. We've basically shopped all week, and eaten nice food (for a change - NOT!). This time we stayed on Hong Kong island, and the next time we visit Honkers we'll stay this side of the water again. It's much less touristy and we haven't been accosted to buy tat a single time (a benefit which you mustn't ever underestimate in terms of personal irritation and psychotic behavioural inducement).

Last night we had a mega time - we went to see the light show which is held every evening at 8pm (viewing point down at the Avenue of the Stars), then had drinks in Aqua Spirit and dinner in the restaurant at No.1 Peking (Sara / Rob - you guys would LOVE it in there). Because it was our last night, we had a bit of a major blow out and ordered champange, real fois gras (not the pate, but proper pan seared goose liver), and the most delicious beef tenderloin ever. 2am saw us bundle ourselves into a taxi and head for home, a grand time had by all (well, us anyway).

To keep ourselves in the posh spirit, we headed for the rich kid stores this afternoon and window shopped. Shazza's favourite part of the day was when we went into the Dior store, and pretended that we were going to buy a new bag The Gaucho but even us champagne backpackers couldn't afford the 950 quid price tag!!! She'll just have to stick with her 2 pound D&G faky job from the Temple Street night market, and be content with that!

Right that'll do us for this time - we need to go and pack those bloody rucksacs for the last time - HURRAH!


See you all soon,
Shaz & Al. xxxxxxxxxx

UPDATE AS AT 1PM ON FRIDAY THE 9TH JUNE
Good Old British Airways cancelled our flight at the last minute and we're now holed up in a (very nice it has to be said - albeit reluctantly) Novotel near the airport on Lantau. We are scheduled to fly out tonight now at 11pm (we'll believe it when we see it) and joy of joys, we have a 5 hour transfer wait at Heathrow to contend with tomorrow morning now. This is the only flight / train which has been late since we embarked on our trip last year and typically its our first BA encounter since we left. Qantas are much better - we'll be bearing that in mind.

As I type, we've just rolled ourselves out of the hotel restaurant having had a superb lunch of 'uber buffet' including excellent mexican beef, tandoori chicken, roast lamb, saute'd tats, Vietnamese rolls and some fruit bathed in chocolate from the............wait for it......... Chocolate Fountain!!!!. They had two kinds of chocolate fountain - white and dark. Gosh - we really are such greedy pigs, although as Alan says - its not our fault the flight was cancelled - and now we are practically being force fed!!!

Now we're off to check on the BA website to qualify whether or not there are available seats to Edinburgh from Heathrow tomorrow morning on an earlier flight than they've stuck us on, really just so we can make our complaint that bit more smart-arsey when we get home. We're hoping for at least a few hundred more airmiles to be awarded to our accounts by way of compensation for wasting 26 hours of our lives............


Watch this space for further updates as they materialise.....!

---