HKGaz

Well after the uninspiring dressage phase of the three-day eventing in Olympic equestrian things picked up on Monday for the cross country. Waking up for the third day in a row at 5am was not, and never is to be fair, fun but at least this time there was more excitement to report on rather than the placid affair of the weekend's dressage. Actually, the most amusing thing to come from the dressage was the plethora of Hong Kong locals who, like pretty much the rest of the world, had no idea what exactly it entailed and when the horses started moving from one side of the arena to the other many thought it was simply a warm up to a race. Afraid not, the subtleties of the aforementioned movement scored the riders points - movements ... read more

Busy weekend covering the horses in the dressage. The early morning (6am) starts were livened up with the addition of a couple of protests during Saturday's first day of equestrian action. First, a girl was thrown out for attempting to unveil a Tibetan flag but having her dress removed, accidentally, in the process. Secondly, rather unfairly, some protesters chose to voice their views when a decent young fella raised in Britain but representing China came out for his dressage. I can see where protesters are coming from but, as with anything, there is a time and a place and when a teenage lad is making his debut for his country, its unfair to spoil that for him no matter how gallant your initial motives may be. After starting at 6am on Saturday I didn't get finished ... read more

This month I'm on Olympic duty but, a little unusual for an Olympic Games event, I'm not based in the host city of Beijing but some 1200 miles in Hong Kong where the Equestrian events are taking place. Not the most glamorous of sports admittedly - for some reason the general population of the world are not quite taken by the prospect of horses dancing - but its got to be handed to the organisers its all very well set up that you cant help but get swept up in the wave of Olympic fever. The competitors, volunteers and organisers are all friendly and approachable, its actually a bit refereshing to speak with athletes who are happy to speak to the press without giving off an overriding sense of distrust or contempt that I have come ... read more

Well it finally happened. I got my call to go to Nam the other month and here I am. Granted its over 30 years since the Vietnam war and my assignment - to cover the Women's Asian Cup- is a little less fraught with danger, but I am here nonetheless. I've been sent to Saigon, no called Ho Chi Minh for two weeks to cover the football, but I am using my free time to get out and about and see as much as possible. After spending the first week mainly working and finding my feet I managed to get out for a couple of hours this afternoon with my colleague Nick to see some of what Ho Chi Minh City has to offer. After the daily monsoon dissipated we headed out to visit the Jade ... read more