Photos and secret gardens

Some of the great photos of Indonesia are now on the blog (adam.nomadlife.org) and the hundreds others, including some cool videos, are on the flickr site (www.flickr.com/adamsphotos) along with over 10,000 other photos. Eat your heart out!

It has been over 3 weeks since Chinese New Year - it ended with a bit of a bang, and not just the fireworks. Andrea and I went out to the countryside to visit a friend's friend's family who lived in a fairly poor, rural village of just a handful of small traditional houses. We set off the obligatory firecrackers, watched a local comedy performance, ate fairly unedible local food, drank plenty of alcohol and then clamboured up the hillside behind the house to a watchtower that is what remains of the Great Wall. It was a fairly memorable experience and nice to get into the local chinese way of life, even if it is painful on the liver!

Beijing finally broke its precipitation duck getting some snow around two week ago. It went 110 days or so without any rain or snow; which was pretty impressive, and certainly not enough to solve the drought situation which threatens to raise food prices even more. On Saturday it started snowing again and I got on a plane to come to Hong Kong for a couple of days. It was warm enough to wear a t-shirt and relax in the sun. I ventured to Hong Kong Park where I found an aviary, which is an undiscovered secret garden. a few minutes walk from downtown, literally, there is a tiny piece of rainforest with 600 birds from across Asia. The sounds of the birds, the joy of the children, the flowing water, and the fresh air from the trees made it a wonderful afternoon. And it was free. Another great legacy from the British. Hong Kong does make me feel proud. London too.

Today, at lunch in between meetings, I say overlooking the ocean at a trendy cafe, eating fancy (i.e. small portions of) food and enjoying the warmth and sunshine. A few more weeks to wait for the sun in Beijing; but there is no ocean or breeze. There is not quite the intimidation you feel in HK, dwarfed by the size of the buildings and variety of architecture that are everywhere, with the dramatic backdrop of the hills and port. Of course Hong Kong also has a huge number of very nice bars and cafes, conveniently quite close to the office. I recommend Life especially their African Stew and Carrot Cake. Not particularly cheap, but fantastic!