The Rock around the clock
It’s been a 22 hour day!
Gibraltar is fantastic. It's like a little bit of Surrey, or maybe Kent actually, 1000 miles from England and attached to the arse end of Spain.
Well, I wanted an adventure I guess
I came to Dubai for the journey, not the destination.
I guess there's worse places to find yourself short on fuel than in the Middle East, eh.
Jumeirah sunset
Ah, what a lazy day.
I watched it drop and drop and drop until I couldn't see it any more, which took about 5 minutes in total.
Do Buy
I’m glad I went to Dubai but I’m happier to be back.
Basically Dubai is being turned into an enormous version of Vegas without the decadence.
Send off
Bring on Hong Kong, Singapore, and Tokyo.
But now I'm about to escape Europe's gravitational pull and be out of the UK for the longest continuous period in my life so far.
Monday 18th September did not exist
London to Sydney. A 2-leg 1-number flight taking me over 10,000 miles away from London.
It leaves London on Sunday and arrives in Sydney on Tuesday, so Monday doesn't exist.
Been there, photographed that
The weather in Sydney was phenomenal.
I kid thee not, this bird in her fancy wedding dress was sat on the pavement eating a meat pie, with a bottle of coke next to her to wash it down.
Lioness
It was a really nice day and zoos are cool.
Even though I'm not uploading anything to flickr yet, I just can't resist spoiling everything by uploading what is possibly my favourite of all the photos I've ever taken.
Monorail!
I had a ride on a fucking monorail!
Well look: I've got a problem gambling -- I can't work out how to do it.
Never been this far away from home
Bit odd being so far in the future though, innit.
The good news is: it's nearer pub time for me than it is for everyone back home.
Auckland, day 1
Saturday was my first full day in Auckland.
Foreign coins always confuse me but New Zealand coins are terrible, because the 20 cent piece comes in two different sizes.
The Englishman who went up a volcano
Lava is cool, the plants were cool, etc etc.
I took way too many photos of very very samey things.
The Englishman who went up a Sky Tower
Did I mention I’m not a big fan of heights?
Back into the lift I went, eyes closed and holding on to the hand rail because I thought my legs were going to give out.
Sunrise, clouds and gambling
They do love a gamble them Aussies.
Never seen a gull move so fast, I really hope they have a sense of fun because it didn't half look like it.
For those about to blog
I figured a pilgrimage was required.
I took my hat off, and a few pictures, uttered "Good on ya, Bon" and made my way.
Hong Kong, phooey
Astonished by Hong Kong’s breathtaking ugliness.
The Peak Tram isn't a tram, but a funicular railway, the steepest one in the world at that.
Nags
Drinking, betting, losing, drinking, betting, losing.
Where I fell down was that I didn't know how to win, as I didn't get a single dollar or cent back all day, even when I picked the runaway favourites.
Tian Tan. Cantonese for "fucking huge".
I’m touring big cities and living big city life.
If I wanted traditional chinese society I'd go to some crazy-ass province by fucking mule or whatever transport and sit drinking hooch with the rice farmers.
Singapore of six pints
I was treated like royalty!
As far as I know people are only met at the gate for one of a few reasons: they're VIPs, they're disabled, they're criminals, they're in danger of missing their connection, or perhaps their luggage has gone missing.
Shoes and zoos
Or should that be zooes? Anyone? ;-)
Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun but wtf are you supposed to do, if you're on holiday, and it's too hot to go out for 5 hours in the middle of the day?
Singapore sling your hook
Like an Englishman with a mad dog for a pet I went out in the midday sun
Eating Singapore pepper crab requires, and in fact demands, that you use your hands.
Pier and loathing in Hong Kong
I’m leaving Singapore today
But possibly related to all of this is that I found Singapore too sterile, too clean, too nice.
Morning in Hong Kong, evening in Tokyo
Out of the window I could see all the platforms of Tokyo train station, including the frequent Shinkansen. Cool!
However in Tokyo I thought, no, I want a pint, and I'm not going to cop-out.
He is the one and only
So this was my first full day in Tokyo.
The fucking Emperor of Japan was off to get a train (I assume) and I happened to be there when it happened.
Every day's a holiday
A fucking blinding day, that.
I'd managed to "get" Tokyo, visit 4 different places and have a great time exploring without running back to the safety of my hotel room.
A day in Hakone
So yeah, Tokyo, cool.
Turns out that having beautiful weather and a good view of Fuji is a pretty lucky combination.
Time travel
I’ll no longer be in THE FUTURE because I’m flying to THE PAST.
Headfuck time: I leave at 1755 on October 11th and land at 1715 on October 11th, just over 12 hours later.
I hate New York
Airside equals no longer in New York so far as I’m concerned.
Going to Manhattan was a mistake. I'd rather have been bored to tears in the hotel than here.
That's a wrap Newest
So that’s it then.
The descent from luxury was completed with a 285+281 bus combination to get home. Back down to earth in style, that.