Back to Cyprus life, Ochi Day and green grass

It's hard to believe we've only been home in Cyprus for just over two days now. Our travels feel like a different world - or a different life, perhaps. It's always like that when we've been away. Perhaps it has to be. One life switches off, another switches on.

The cats are extremely pleased to see us, and very affectionate. They've been well looked after by our house-sitter. The plants are looking healthy, too. Our clothes are all unpacked and I've done one load of laundry, although the basket is overflowing. I'll catch up slowly during the week. I only have space to hang out one load at a time.

I have papers all over the study - receipts, magazines, random notes and jottings, cards, opened mail... tomorrow I hope to sort through all that and get our accounts up-to-date, and get back into some kind of routine. It's been good to have the weekend to recover in. It was nice to go back to our various churches this morning, too, and feel welcomed by friends.

A few random things that have struck me since returning:

- it's great knowing where everything is in the supermarket
- putting toilet paper in a bin (rather than down the loo) feels surprisingly natural
- I like the way that drivers stop for pedestrians here, rather than speeding up
- the weather is perfect: 26C, sunny, but not at all humid
- it's nice to have home-cooked food again rather than eating out all the time

We're not as tired as we were. Having the extra hour this morning helped, although I woke rather early. The first thing I heard was a drum band practising (yes, at about 7am); I remembered that it's 'Ochi Day'. Anyone who has no idea what that is, if you're interested, can look at last year's post about Ochi Day.

When I came out of church, I noticed that the police had started putting up traffic barriers so that the roads would be free for the parades that would follow shortly. As I walked past the library, I saw the Larnaka Municipal Band and another group gathered in front of some burning incense, waiting to get going:


I didn't hang around. We used to go and watch the parades when Daniel played clarinet in the municipal band, but it's much the same each year. And I don't like standing round when the sun is shining. Besides, the parade goes on for ages since all the schools and uniformed organisations are usually represented too.

But seeing this photo does remind me of one thing that always puzzles me. We've just had a hot summer, and I'm told it hasn't rained yet. There's a hose-pipe ban, and serious fines imposed for breaking it. Lots of grass looks parched and brown... but there in front of the library it's fresh and green.

Why? Because there are sprinklers running, most days, during the morning, right through the summer. Owned, I assume, by the municipality. Hardly a good example to set to home-owners if they're trying to discourage them from using excess water. Inefficient, too, since the water evaporates rapidly during the heat of the day.

But... this is Cyprus.

Oh, and I quite forgot to mention that Friday, when we arrived back in Larnaka after our seven weeks away, was a special date for our family. It was exactly ten years since we first arrived in Cyprus.

A few more photos while not in Cyprus

Today I uploaded 417 (!!) photographs to my computer, taken in the last seven weeks. I had no idea we took so many. That would have been about 16 rolls of film in the 'old days' before digital cameras, although I suppose we would have been a lot more careful if we'd been paying for processing.

I have chosen ten of them, which show a bit of what we did in the last ten days, since I did upload a few photos of Kota Kinabalu, and the Joint Birthday which was our main reason for going.

In that post, I mentioned that we had seen almost no rain since arriving.

I spoke too soon. That evening, it poured with rain.

The following evening, a friend of Daniel's from Cyprus, who is doing a short-term programme on the Doulos, came out with us for a meal. We sat outside at a Malaysian restaurant by the sea, drinking fresh apple juice and eating... then we noticed that it was spitting with rain. People started to leave, or go inside. A waiter came and asked us if we wanted to go in, but we said no- it was only a little rain, and we were under a parasol so were quite dry.

Twenty minutes later, it started bucketing down with rain. The waiters moved the parasol down lower, and we pulled our chairs in as far as we could...


but when we had finished the meal, it was raining even more heavily. So we lifted the parasol and made our way back under shelter, then got a taxi back to the hotel.

I guess we could say 'Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in Malaysian rain' except that I think mad dogs probably have more sense. Particularly if they're hydrophobic...

The following day we decided to take a ferry trip out to one of the islands nearby. It took about twenty minutes to get there on a little ten-seater boat:


I was immediately struck by the vast number of little fish swimiming around just by the jetty.



Then w discovered the reason. Fish food could be bought very cheaply. Daniel tells me this isn't at all good for the environment, but it explains why so many fish congregate in one place.

We didn't do much exploring on the island. We didn't swim or even paddle, since there was a warning about jellyfish. But it was a pleasant place to sit and read.


Our ferry came back for us at 3pm, by which time it was rather windier. The boatman went a great deal faster on the return journey, leaping over the waves:


The day afterwards, Daniel had to work since it was the big 'international night' which the Doulos do at most ports. Sometimes it's done in a theatre, this time it was in a large church hall attached to an Anglican cathedral. We all went with him for the day; so many people had bought tickets that the entire evening had to be simulcast onto a screen in the cathedral itself. Daniel is on the AV team on the ship now, and his responsibility is multi-media.

He was a bit worried in advance about how it would all work out, but the church hall was well equipped, so with the Doulos equipment too it worked well, although there was a huge amount to set up in advance. Here's Daniel mixing the video:


A true 'chip off the old block' as he said, a few months ago. Richard and Tim got roped in to be cameramen for the evening, and to help generally with technical things. I sat in a corner and read a book!

Two days later, we went with some friends to a resort about 10km from the city centre, where there were supposed to be some sailing boats. The only one easily available was a catamaran, so Richard, Daniel, and one of the friends (who is an experienced sailor) rented one for a couple of hours and had a wonderful time, despite there being not much wind:


If anyone would like to know more about this, Richard wrote a post called 'Cat on the South China Sea' which goes into rather more detail.

Other than that, we mainly chatted, read books, did some shopping, and enjoyed meals out. Here's the view from the window of The Coffee Bean, a place where we went most days to use the free wireless Internet facilities to check email:


And here's the outside of the excellent hotel we stayed in: Kinabalu Daya. It was recommended particularly in our Rough Guide to Malaysia, and we were very impressed. For one thing, a good-sized and comfortable room cost about the same as the tiny clinical guesthouse Richard and I stayed in during our first week in Hong Kong. Except that breakfast was included in this one too. And when we booked for a week, they gave us a discount.

Then when they made a slight mistake in our booking, they upgraded us from a double room to a suite - so we had a small living room as well as the bedroom. The boys' room was next door. When we said we wanted to extend our booking for another four days, they gave us the same discounted price and the same upgraded suite.... all in all, we thought it an excellent hotel:


The last picture I'm including from Malaysia is from Kuala Lumpur, on Thursday, where we had to fly from Kota Kinabalu. Kuala Lumpur is a thriving city with a population of seven million, according to one taxi driver. It has a pair of famous towers, each 88 storeys high, so we went to see them and then Tim took the standard tourist photo, lying on his back so as to get them in properly:


Most unflattering of Richard and me, but never mind.

In the evening while in KL, we couldn't decide what to eat. We wandered around various places in a mall - expensive Indian food, inexpensive sandwiches... somehow none of it appealed. We went to a food court... and as we looked at the various stalls, we saw one which instantly appealed. It was a Gyros kebab place! We hadn't realised until that moment that what we really missed was Cypriot food....

So now we're back in Cyprus, still tired but mostly unpacked. Yesterday was the tenth anniversary of the day we first arrived here (for two years....). I'm very glad to realise that tonight is the end of Summer Time, meaning that we put the clocks back and thus gain an hour.

At last we're back in Cyprus

Our 'break' in Kota Kinabalu with Daniel was great. We didn't do a whole lot - he was very tired and needed lots of sleep at first; he also wanted a chance to read, to browse the Internet at a coffee shop, and just to hang out and chat. We enjoyed eating out at various places around the town, had one day trip out to an island, and a morning when Dan and Richard were able to rent a small boat and go sailing for a couple of hours. But we didn't climb Mount Kinabalu, we didn't visit any museums or other culture/history places, and we didn't visit the rainforest or wetlands.

Boring...? No. We went there to see Daniel and spend time with him, and that's what we did. We all relaxed, and enjoyed having the hotel as our base.

We took him back to the ship on Wednesday night, as he was working the early shift (8am-3pm) on Thursday, and we had to be at the airport by 9am. KK airport is very small and informal, but the flight was reasonably comfortable and Kuala Lumpur airport, our first destination, is an excellent place - well laid-out, plenty of shops and restaurants, with sufficient comfortable seating and efficient baggage handling. We had a twelve-hour stopover there, so since we had visas for Malaysia anyway, we took the express train into the city for a few hours.

Our next flight left KL at 1am, arriving in Dubai at 4am. It was a seven-hour flight, since there's a four-hour time difference, and none of us is good at sleeping on aeroplanes. I did manage a couple of hours of dozing, but since we were given a 'snack' at about 2am (KL time), and then breakfast at about 2am (Dubai time) it was impossible to get more. I read some of the time, and watched a film since Emirates have excellent in-seat entertainment, with hundreds of films to choose from. I chose Northanger Abbey, which was OK.. I knew the story well so didn't have to concentrate too much!

Then we had four-and-a-half hours in Dubai airport early this morning, leaving on the last stage of our journey at 8.35am. We arrived in Larnaka at the expected time, 11.15am (with another hour of time difference along the way) and were home by noon. The cats were all looking healthy and sleek, and were very pleased to see us; our friend (who stayed in our house for the whole seven weeks) has looked after them well.

We're very, very tired. I rested for a couple of hours this afternoon but didn't really sleep. We did a bit of supermarket shopping but it was rather random. I'm sure I've forgotten some things, but at least we have plenty of fruit and veg now.

Tomorrow I hope to sort out all the photographs taken in the last month (several hundred of them) and post a few on this blog.

When we were waiting for our luggage in Larnaka airport this morning, I was amused to note a new snack bar right by the baggage carousels, next to some some seats under parasols. It seemed to me to typify the relaxed attitude of this country.

Other airports manage their baggage reclaim rapidly and efficiently; in Cyprus it comes much more slowly, and it's not unusual for something to get lost (though thankfully none of ours was lost today. )

Moreover, most people tend to be in a rush at airports, hurrying to the carousels, pushing their way forward, looking at their watches, impatient for whatever they're going to do next. It was easy to feel frustrated as we waited at Larnaka airport for about twenty minutes before the first of our bags came through. In Hong Kong, a much larger airport, all our luggage appeared within ten minutes of our arrival at the carousel, and in Kuala Lumpur it was about five minutes.

But why rush? The Cypriot attitude to time is much more casual, and probably far healthier. The baggage will arrive eventually... and in the meantime, they might as well sit and drink coffee, chatting with friends, relaxing after a flight.. and probably laughing at the people who are in such a hurry to get through their lives as fast as they can.

Three more days out of Cyprus

In some ways our seven weeks out of Cyprus have gone very quickly... in other ways, time has flown past. We've now had four weeks with Daniel - about ten days in Hong Kong, then ten days on the Doulos including the voyage to Malaysia, now ten days in Kota Kinabalu. It's been wonderful seeing him and taking a break in this lovely town. Yesterday we and a couple from the Doulos went to a resort a few miles away so that Richard, Daniel and one of our friends could go sailing. There wasn't much wind but they rented a boat for a couple of hours and had a wonderful time.

Photos and more updates will follow eventually...

Kota Kinabalu and some birthday photos (while not in Cyprus)

Here's the port where the Doulos arrived last Friday, after a remarkably calm four-day voyage from Hong Kong. People said it was the calmest sea they had seen in at least two years. The view from the port looks over Mount Kinabalu and some lovely green rain forest. We thought it would be wet here - there's more rainfall in October than any other month here - but so far it's mostly been fine, with a few showers and a dramatic thunderstorm late last night.


Here, as promised, are a few photos from the ' joint 71st' birthday yesterday. After a leisurely breakfast in our hotel about 9am, they opened the large number of cards people had given us to bring, and some presents from the family. Here's Richard, opening the present he had chosen from me:


And Daniel enjoying a new book he was given by one of his uncles:

We were all a bit tired so we didn't do anything much during the morning till about noon, when we went to the Coffee Bean cafe to check email etc, and had lunch there too. They do rather nice toasted sandwiches with salad.

After that we went back to our hotel for a bit, then walked to the Doulos as Daniel wanted to see various people... and he was greeted with ' Happy Birthday!' and a hug from most of the people he met, so progress was rather slow.

At 5.30pm, along with 18 of his friends, we loaded into Doulos mini-vans and drove out of the town, to a Malasian restaurant where we had a very nice meal. It was a bit like a Cyprus mese, with courses arriving a few at a time.


We had managed to order a cake from The Coffee Bean - a delicious chocolate one - which we took with us. The restaurant didn't mind at all - they put it in the fridge until we'd finished the meal. There were even two candles... Richard cut it into 24 pieces (convenient, since two people had been unable to come with us) and everyone sang the traditional birthday song.

The long awaited birthday! (Not Cyprus but Kota Kinabalu)

Yes, today is the primary reason we are all here together in this beautiful city. It's Richard's 50th birthday, and Daniel's 21st. Their joint 71st, as someone put it...

Lots of cards which are now up in one of our hotel rooms, and various gifts. We're now sitting in Coffee Bean with three computers linked to the Internet, and will probably have some lunch here. Then we're going to the Doulos for a couple of hours as Dan has various things to do and people to see, then are coming back to the town with several of his friends to have a meal out together. We're going to try and organise a cake as well.

Photos to follow eventually; I hope it will be before we return to Cyprus in ten days time.

photos from Kowloon Park, Hong Kong (while still not in Cyprus)

On our last few days in Hong Kong, we did some shopping, and also spent an afternoon in Kowloon Park. This is described in the Lonely Planet guide as an oasis in the middle of the town, and that's exactly what it felt like. Who would ever guess that there was this beautiful, peaceful array of greenery just next to the busy Nathan Road shops and the many high-rise tower blocks?


It was only when we found our way to the small lake that we could see the high-rise buildings in the background. But somehow the noise all disappeared as soon as we entered the park.



We had bought some sandwiches and drinks at a small bakery not far away, so we found a bench to sit and relax on for a while. It was rather more humid than the city, but so much pleasanter.



There were a lot of modern art statues to browse around, which I didn't really understand, and also - slightly bizarrely - a statue of Newton:



And in the lake there were more flamingoes than I have ever seen, far closer than they ever come to people n Cyprus:

Still not in Cyprus, but Kota Kinabalu

So, I'm way behind with blogging, and my photos are on Richard's notebook but Daniel's using that at present so I'm on Tim's. We're sitting at ' The Coffee Bean', a very pleasant coffee/tea (etc) place that seems to be Asia's excellent answer to Starbucks.

However it's Richard's notebook that is powering the wireless access to the Internet, and its battery is running low so I had better stop. I will try to organise and post some photos in the next few days.

Tomorrow is the main reason we are all here together - Richard's 50th birthday and Daniel's 21st.

Still not in Cyprus: first week in Hong Kong

So, it's now four weeks since we flew out of Cyprus, three weeks till we return. It's great being with Daniel, and we're looking forward to taking a good break with him at the next port. But I'm also starting to feel that a month is long enough to be away from home. I miss the cats. I miss having my own computer. I miss everyday life - Hong Kong is a fascinating place, but it's very busy, rather noisy and crowded, and I'm beginning to get a bit overwhelmed and looking forward to peace and quiet back in Cyprus. Although we will miss Daniel a lot when we say goodbye.

Anyway, I've finally got around to uploading some photos from our first week in Hong Kong. First, here's the MV Doulos, moored in the Ocean terminal at Harbour City, in the region of Kowloon Island known as Tsim Sha Tsui. The misty background of buildings in the distance are on the nearby Hong Kong island:


Here's a busy marketplace a little further away, where Richard and I went one morning via the excellent MTR (Mass transit railway) that's like an efficient and spotlessly clean version of the London Underground. The stalls sold tools and electrical goods of many varieties. Far more his scene than mine, and even more crowded and noisy than the area where we were staying:


Back to Ocean city, and this is a shot which doesn't begin to show the spectacular 'Symphony of Lights and Sound' that is shown at 8pm every evening, from the buildings we can see from the Doulos. They light up and have laser beams in time to some music (if you're in the right place to hear it). It must cost a fortune...


Here are Richard, Dan and Tim looking at something on Daniel's notebook in the small room at a guesthouse where Richard and I stayed for the first six days. The owner was friendly, and it was very clean, but not exactly huge. It was on the 12th storey of a building with a shopping mall at the bottom, and a rather worrying notice in the lift saying ' When the building is on fire, do not use the lift'. We would have been a little happier with the word 'if' rather than 'when' and just hoped that it was an inaccurate translation.


One nice touch in the guesthouse was the provision of plastic sandals to wear in the bathroom. Very useful, since the shower went over the washbasin, toilet and floor. However Daniel tells me this is standard practice all around Asia:


We moved to the Doulos on Tuesday, with the boys' help. Daniel took the day off, so after we'd moved our cases, we decided to have a day on Hong Kong Island, and visit 'The Peak' - one of the high spots with excellent views. We went to the nearby Star Ferry terminal and caught an ancient ferry which is probably much the same as it was 80 years ago - just a shuttle bus on water, really. We paid HK$2.20 each to sit on the top floor going over, since we didn't have exact change for the lower deck. HK$2.20, incidentally, is about 22 euro cents (or 30 US cents)...

When we got to Hong Kong island, in about ten minutes, we decided to take a taxi to the Peak terminal rather than try to find a bus. For four people, taxis are pretty good value anyway; up to 2km costs HK$15, or about one and a half euros... that's however many people are in the taxi.

At the Peak terminal, we queued for the tram, which is pulled by cables and (our Lonely Planet guide assures us) has never had an accident. It wasn't as scary as I expected, and was fairly quick. However I didn't sit near the edge! Richard took a few photos as we went up:


At the top is a mall with a few tourist shops and various restaurants, and an outside path that gives wonderful views all around. We could even see the Doulos in the distance:


When we booked our tickets for the tram, we just had the basic package rather than paying extra to go on the sky Terrace. When we saw the Sky Terrace, I was VERY glad we were not going on it:


We found a pleasant place that sold sandwiches and drinks for lunch, and a good bookshop to browse around, and enjoyed the views for a while. It was very windy, with some rain, and we got very blown about. Eventually we reversed the journey, looking at a few photography shops on the way back.

Here's a rare photo of me with Daniel and Tim on the ferry, the lower deck this time (Dan insisted it was more interesting as we could see the engine) which was even less expensive than the top deck. A decidedly unflattering photo as we were very windblown!


Oh, and I nearly forgot to mention: last Monday was China national day, a public holiday, and late in the evening was a stunning firework display:

Some random photos while not in Cyprus

We're now half way through our seven weeks away from Cyprus. I have finally managed to select a few relevant photos from our travels, which may or may not be of slight interest to some.

First, this is what Sophia did when we were packing. Ralph, Daniel's rather vicious racoon puppet was in my carry-on bag waiting to be taken, and Sophia thought she should come too:


A friend is living in our house while we are away, looking after the cats. Some other friends are staying in our guest flat for three weeks. We've heard nothing, so assume all is going well.

Now to our time in the UK. Here's Tim having a play around on the St Stephen's Church (Selly Park) organ, prior to a meeting one evening. He's really a pianist, but loves the sound of old organs. This one isn't played much these days - the church uses music groups with electronic instruments - but apparently it's still in good condition.


Keeping to the church theme, we were able to see the official bishop's visit to the new Christchurch (Pershore Road, Selly Park) building which, like many websites, is under construction. The Bishop was supposed to lay a foundation stone, but unfortunately the scaffolding was in the wrong place. However he donned a hard hat and luminous yellow jacket and was shown around, and then told everyone to pat themselves on the back...


Here's a quick picture of Tim on his 19th birthday... he has one more year as a teenager in which to rebel. He has tried growing his hair (and is continuing to do so) but since we don't mind in the slightest, it's hardly rebellion. He is now planning to shock us by starting to drink tea. Although he can't quite bring himself to do so yet. We never touch the stuff.


Oh, and here's a shot of the marketplace in Southhampton... or at least, the place I spent a few hours while Richard was at the boat show.


So much for our time in the UK. I wrote more about it in the previous post and Richard has written far more than I have on his blog.

I'll post some Hong Kong photos another day.

Not in Cyprus for seven weeks

It's now almost three-and-a-half weeks since we left Cyprus. It feels like months ago - we've done so much. No way can I blog about it all, but I have half an hour or so, with Richard's notebook computer, sitting in a Starbucks in a large mall in Hong Kong while Richard browses some computer shops... there are dozens of them. I spent a couple of hours looking at some with him this morning but I don't like shopping at the best of times, and computer shops are some of the least interesting in my view...

But I'm rushing ahead of myself.

We flew by BA on 7th September, arriving at London Heathrow about 9.30pm. Picked up a rental car (oddly enough, Avis turned out to be the best value) and drove to my mother's house in Birmingham. Then we slept!

We were in Birmingham for 11 days. During that time we spent four individual days with other members of the family, went to two evening house groups with meals, were invited out to evening meals by four different sets of friends, and two lunches. Oh, and on the first Sunday we went to three church services (Richard doing slots at two of them) and on the second Sunday we went to two (Richard doing two slots at one of them).

It was a busy time! We also did a bit of shopping and Tim spent one Saturday at the Birmingham University open day.

Then we drove to Sussex to spend four-and-a-half days with Richard's mother. Not so busy - we don't have friends in Sussex, and by then were pretty exhausted anyway - but Richard did spend one day at the Southampton Boat Show (I went with him for the journey, then went and sat in an outdoor shopping centre and read a book while he went round the show). We also helped clear out Richard's mother's loft, with several trips to the local dump, and did a bit of local shopping (there's an excellent Lion's bookshop that sells everything at 50p in her town).

Then we celebrated Tim's 19th birthday - Richard's brother came over for the day - and on the Sunday Richard took the 'preaching' slot at two services.

Monday 24th Sept we drove to Gatwick airport, and flew via Emirates to Hong Kong via Dubai. Unfortunately we had a very long overnight wait at the airport... so were shattered by the time we arrived. Richard had pre-booked one night in a guest house, which turned out to be in a noisy shopping mall. The rooms were clean but cupboard-sized, and when we turned on the air conditioning it smelled of cigarettes. It didn't feel very secure, either.

So the following morning, armed with the 'Lonely Planet' Guide to Hong Kong and Macau, Richard and Tim went to look for somewhere else, and found the 'Cosmic Court' guesthouse, nearby, which had rather larger rooms, a friendlier lady in charge, and much better security. So we moved our things there.

Then, at last, to the Doulos to see Daniel for the first time in nearly a year. He is now one of the three audio-visual people, in charge of running technical things for all the on-board programmes. He generally works either 8am-3pm, or 3pm-10pm so has half a day off.

Since Richard and I don't yet have a cabin on the Doulos (that becomes available tomorrow) we've been hanging out in the AV room when Dan is working - a bit small but Richard and Tim find it interesting, and I've been reading some of my books...

However, there was a bed available in Daniel's cabin, and he got permission for Tim to sleep there, which made life easier - and nice for Tim.

Today the Doulos has had to go out to anchor so Richard thought he'd explore some of the vast numbers of computer shops and malls. I didn't really want to stay in the guesthouse on my own all day so I came with him... but sitting at Starbucks typing is a lot more interesting!

Strange, really. In Cyprus, we never go to Starbucks or McDonald's. The former is very expensive there, and I'm not keen on burgers and chips. But since coming to Hong Kong, we've been several times to each... Starbucks because it's the only way we can get an Internet connection (besides, the drinks are very good... and about half the price of Cyprus Starbucks).

As for McDonald's, or the related McCafe, we've been because (dare I admit this?) I'm not actually very keen on Chinese food. We did find a good vegetarian Indian restaurant one night (courtesy of our Lonely Planet guide - we would never have found it without!) and have eaten several meals on the Doulos. But the rest of the time we've either bought sandwiches at McCafe, or meals at McDonald's. We must really be horribly westernised.

We've uploaded photos from the camera to this computer, but I don't have any idea how to access them, so that will have to wait for another occasion!