View from Claudia's apartment which is next door to where we lived. Typical HK weather for Jan - cloudy and no sun.
Sat 28 Jan
Good flight. Slick arrival process at HK airport and train into Central, then taxi to 76 Kennedy Road. Claudia was having a Chinese New Year salad party with colleagues from the US consulate. Graham Harris came so we had a great reunion. To bed by midnight.
21 - 27 Jan
Sat - prepping for tomorrows Yardie party. No real exercise.
Sun - Skyped with Lulu and JoJo in Sydney, Lulu looks tired as expected after a 24hr flight. Then Skyped with John in Dunedin where he is fixing their admissions process. Our holiday plans in NZ are shaping up thanks to him and Eve.
Ran to William Penn, sub 7m/k on way as its a quick up then mostly gentle downhill, but slower coming back, as amazingly its mostly uphill. 5.5k in 41 mins in total.
Laid out Tapas and Manzanilla. Found last.fm plays flamenco music online, and put on our Andalucia pictures on the Sony TV in the kitchen. All ready to go, just need guests now.....
well that went well, at least I think so. Food was universally admired.
Popped into Watford for Mrs M to buy some clothes for our upcoming trip to Aus/NZ at the end of the week.
Mon - Decided to give the new bike an outing. Cycled to Bovingdon to intercept the Harp Hill 100k that Chris took 4:30hrs yesterday (but I couldn't go because of the Yardie nibbles and dribbles).
I took 5:01hr - with a stop for lunch at the Wendover Woods Cafe.
It was cold (and it spotted with rain at the farthest point which was depressing as I couldn't cut out short and had no rain gear!), my toes lost all sensation and were frozen, but I grimly got round with the 4 major hills (Bison, Ashton, Ivinghoe, out of Berko). Only a few minor adjustments required to new bike, I think I'll put on one of the drop nose saddles. Back ached a bit with the more dropped position, but it all felt good, bike behaved very well on the rough roads and down the hills, no rattles or shakes. Gearing might be still not low enough for the pyrenees cols, I'll have to see how my hill climbing fitness goes.
So with the cycling to the start/back, I did 75 miles. De-tingled toes in a luke warm shower, then spent evening trying to get warm in full fleece - I must have been really chilled.
Nigel coming over for dinner as we won't see him for the next month. Finished off tapas in style.
Tue - Glad I'm not cycling today, very grey and continuous rain, temperature colder than yesterday but seems warmer, this must be an English January day. H's come over to learn about putting chlorine in the hot tub. Good choir in evening.
Wed - Discovered that my short sleeve shirts are all too big and sacklike, how did I get to that state? So all chucked out, now I have an empty wardrobe. Into Watford to buy some from BHS and M&S, put them into wash to see if they look presentable without ironing so that I can safely take them on our travels. Generally tidying up and sorting out things for the holiday.
With GH to Rex in evening to see The Help:
Slow to start, and acents hard to understand, but got going though a little obvious - I liked it in a quiet way.
Thu - No exercise. Weird weather - rain, then it suddenly brightened up and cleared, then kapoww - hailstorm, then cloudy, then clear sky for the evening. Into Uxbridge with Mrs M for her to change some clothes - I bought another two short sleeved shirts for the holiday from BHS, only £10 each. Final packing and attending to Granny & Nigel. Brian came round in the evening to confirm bathroom remodelling details, though many are "left up to his discretion" as we don't have time. I gave him £2,000 to be going on with. Am I too trusting or what?
Fri - Ice on cars first thing, and at zero C. After re-packing, posting FOCC letters, emptying bathroom, cleaning out fridge, shopping for the last supper, went for a run. It was glorious - sunny (warm in sun) clear blue skies and no wind - a joy to be alive and out, how lucky I am. And the run was excellent - 6km in 39.50 mins, average pace 6.38 min/k - best pace and distance so far, and I felt really good and relaxed about it, could have gone further. And even better, my post run weight was 86.8kg, the lowest so far.
Roll on the holiday - car pick up at 7:15pm and flight at 9:25 to Hong Kong.
Sun - Skyped with Lulu and JoJo in Sydney, Lulu looks tired as expected after a 24hr flight. Then Skyped with John in Dunedin where he is fixing their admissions process. Our holiday plans in NZ are shaping up thanks to him and Eve.
Ran to William Penn, sub 7m/k on way as its a quick up then mostly gentle downhill, but slower coming back, as amazingly its mostly uphill. 5.5k in 41 mins in total.
Laid out Tapas and Manzanilla. Found last.fm plays flamenco music online, and put on our Andalucia pictures on the Sony TV in the kitchen. All ready to go, just need guests now.....
well that went well, at least I think so. Food was universally admired.
Popped into Watford for Mrs M to buy some clothes for our upcoming trip to Aus/NZ at the end of the week.
Mon - Decided to give the new bike an outing. Cycled to Bovingdon to intercept the Harp Hill 100k that Chris took 4:30hrs yesterday (but I couldn't go because of the Yardie nibbles and dribbles).
It was cold (and it spotted with rain at the farthest point which was depressing as I couldn't cut out short and had no rain gear!), my toes lost all sensation and were frozen, but I grimly got round with the 4 major hills (Bison, Ashton, Ivinghoe, out of Berko). Only a few minor adjustments required to new bike, I think I'll put on one of the drop nose saddles. Back ached a bit with the more dropped position, but it all felt good, bike behaved very well on the rough roads and down the hills, no rattles or shakes. Gearing might be still not low enough for the pyrenees cols, I'll have to see how my hill climbing fitness goes.
So with the cycling to the start/back, I did 75 miles. De-tingled toes in a luke warm shower, then spent evening trying to get warm in full fleece - I must have been really chilled.
Nigel coming over for dinner as we won't see him for the next month. Finished off tapas in style.
Tue - Glad I'm not cycling today, very grey and continuous rain, temperature colder than yesterday but seems warmer, this must be an English January day. H's come over to learn about putting chlorine in the hot tub. Good choir in evening.
Wed - Discovered that my short sleeve shirts are all too big and sacklike, how did I get to that state? So all chucked out, now I have an empty wardrobe. Into Watford to buy some from BHS and M&S, put them into wash to see if they look presentable without ironing so that I can safely take them on our travels. Generally tidying up and sorting out things for the holiday.
With GH to Rex in evening to see The Help:
Slow to start, and acents hard to understand, but got going though a little obvious - I liked it in a quiet way.
Thu - No exercise. Weird weather - rain, then it suddenly brightened up and cleared, then kapoww - hailstorm, then cloudy, then clear sky for the evening. Into Uxbridge with Mrs M for her to change some clothes - I bought another two short sleeved shirts for the holiday from BHS, only £10 each. Final packing and attending to Granny & Nigel. Brian came round in the evening to confirm bathroom remodelling details, though many are "left up to his discretion" as we don't have time. I gave him £2,000 to be going on with. Am I too trusting or what?
Fri - Ice on cars first thing, and at zero C. After re-packing, posting FOCC letters, emptying bathroom, cleaning out fridge, shopping for the last supper, went for a run. It was glorious - sunny (warm in sun) clear blue skies and no wind - a joy to be alive and out, how lucky I am. And the run was excellent - 6km in 39.50 mins, average pace 6.38 min/k - best pace and distance so far, and I felt really good and relaxed about it, could have gone further. And even better, my post run weight was 86.8kg, the lowest so far.
Roll on the holiday - car pick up at 7:15pm and flight at 9:25 to Hong Kong.
16 - 20 Jan: Back to lower altitudes
Mon - I was washer woman and Waitrose shopper. Assembled my new bike and gave it a ride, gears were fine to get up Shire Lane, but I started to puff. I will have to get serious about hills for the Raid.
A classic. It is steel (springy for the nasty roads around here and stable fast descents) and all black with understated decals. It was not easy to find one with a triple chain set at a reasonable price that isn't cheap and nasty. The posture is like in the picture (plus pedals of course!), I'll have to get used to bending down more aerodynamically, my other bikes have a more upright position. This is the last bike I expect to buy, now I'll weed out the others so the garage looks less like a cave with stalactites of bikes hanging from the ceiling.
Friends of Chorleywood Common meeting in the evening.
Tue - Frosty sub zero morning, but decided to tog up hand runs round Common. Very pleasing result - 5k in 35 mins at a 6.99 min/km pace - fastest so far, and felt fine. What a difference to 6 months ago.
Brian came round to discuss turning the bathroom into a wet room - I like the idea of a digital shower (Aqualisa Axis). he will do it whilst we are away in Feb. Then to Ikea to procure under cabinet LED lighting for kitchen, and to Tesco to buy Neon Android phone for £79 - I can't face paying £600 for an iPhone (my Blackberry screen failed in Chamonix and it will not recover) - should do the trick of getting emails on the go, and its fun to find out about Android.
Fitted light, cricking my neck as you have to lie upside down on the worktop to work on it.
Sang some Choraline for the pieces we are doing tonight at Choir. Went OK.
Wed - 45min spin at William Penn, then a short 15 mins swim, my arms and neck ached from fitting the light yesterday so I took it easy and stopped before I got irritated with myself.
Played a lot with loading iPhone lookalike apps on the Android phone. Not as sleek or slick or as fast or as consistent and integrated as the iPhone but for £79 I'll put it with that.
Thu - Wet, drizzly and warmer. Dr M off to do exam stuff at RCA, we just got down for the 7:23 in time, having thought trains were at 30 past as 'normal'. 7:28 met line was cancelled. Clearly nothing is normal around the commute peak hours. Then I went for 55 mins swim. Didn't count the lengths as I was day dreaming most of the time and planning fox and chicken scenarios to get transport to/from Pyrenees and Spain in Sept with bike. Much less aching than yesterday, and ear seems to be back to normal DV.
Weather cleared and sun peaked out of clouds, so decided to go for a run. When changing I realised I had left my googles at William Penn, so ran there to see if they had been handed in or could be found. So sad, they hadn't, and I really liked them and can't buy them anywhere again. 5.5km and I ran pretty fast there, short break then ran back though walked a few mins up the hills. No Garmin as the batteries ran out. Then 3rd shower of the day, and change to go out to Sadlers Wells Nutcracker:
In evening took Lulu to Heathrow to catch her flight to Sydney.
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| Charge Juicer Mid 2011 - Tiagra Triple: click on picture for shop (if its still for sale) |
Friends of Chorleywood Common meeting in the evening.
Tue - Frosty sub zero morning, but decided to tog up hand runs round Common. Very pleasing result - 5k in 35 mins at a 6.99 min/km pace - fastest so far, and felt fine. What a difference to 6 months ago.
Brian came round to discuss turning the bathroom into a wet room - I like the idea of a digital shower (Aqualisa Axis). he will do it whilst we are away in Feb. Then to Ikea to procure under cabinet LED lighting for kitchen, and to Tesco to buy Neon Android phone for £79 - I can't face paying £600 for an iPhone (my Blackberry screen failed in Chamonix and it will not recover) - should do the trick of getting emails on the go, and its fun to find out about Android.
Fitted light, cricking my neck as you have to lie upside down on the worktop to work on it.
Sang some Choraline for the pieces we are doing tonight at Choir. Went OK.
Wed - 45min spin at William Penn, then a short 15 mins swim, my arms and neck ached from fitting the light yesterday so I took it easy and stopped before I got irritated with myself.
Played a lot with loading iPhone lookalike apps on the Android phone. Not as sleek or slick or as fast or as consistent and integrated as the iPhone but for £79 I'll put it with that.
Thu - Wet, drizzly and warmer. Dr M off to do exam stuff at RCA, we just got down for the 7:23 in time, having thought trains were at 30 past as 'normal'. 7:28 met line was cancelled. Clearly nothing is normal around the commute peak hours. Then I went for 55 mins swim. Didn't count the lengths as I was day dreaming most of the time and planning fox and chicken scenarios to get transport to/from Pyrenees and Spain in Sept with bike. Much less aching than yesterday, and ear seems to be back to normal DV.
Weather cleared and sun peaked out of clouds, so decided to go for a run. When changing I realised I had left my googles at William Penn, so ran there to see if they had been handed in or could be found. So sad, they hadn't, and I really liked them and can't buy them anywhere again. 5.5km and I ran pretty fast there, short break then ran back though walked a few mins up the hills. No Garmin as the batteries ran out. Then 3rd shower of the day, and change to go out to Sadlers Wells Nutcracker:
Thanks to Branson for yet again driving and with his unerring 'find-a-parking-place' capability. Nice meal at The Brassiere (renamed from the Fish Restaurant) in St Johns Street. Ballet was light and enjoyable, but I preferred the heavier Covent garden version. Afterwards, having by coincidence met Angela (of Helen Odell wedding fame), we were taken backstage by the Christian Wallace to see the gadgets and props.
Fri - G to hair, then eye appointment in Watford, then to M&S for me to buy some trousers, with success.
In evening took Lulu to Heathrow to catch her flight to Sydney.
12 - 15 Jan: Chamonix skiing
Wed - Off to Gatwick to catch 7:30 Easyjet to Geneva for 4 day break with Igoski in Hotel DBN in Chamonix. Get to hotel 9:30 local time for late supper.
Thu - Get skis/boots and lift passes. Weather glorious - sunny, clear, no wind. Snow good and hard (it last snowed on 8th Jan at the end of a stormy couple of weeks). Slopes are really empty as schools are back. Up cable car to Brevant/Fegeres.
Lunch at La Chavanne
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| View of Aguille du Midi and Mt Blanc |
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| Just water for lunch! |
Friday - Took bus to Grandes Montets above Argentiere. Being north slope, it was out of the sun and cold for most of the day.
Sat - Bus to La Tour/le Balme. Windy and cold to start with, then a lift broke down and we had to hike up to a drag. What a drag. Though sunny, it stayed cold.
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| View from La Tour down to Chamonix valley |
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| How empty can it be? |
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| View up to Brevant cable car |
Taxi arrived 30 mins late so a little worried about catching the flight, but it was fine. Back home at 11:45pm. A great 4 days, some of the best skiing we have ever had.
7 - 11 Jan: Helen Odell's wedding
Sat - up to Cambridge for Helen and James' wedding, staying at the Doubletree Hilton aka in our day as the Garden House Hotel along Mill Lane on the river. In morning went to the Scott's Rough Notes exhibition at the Scot Polar Research Institute - moving to see the actual scribbles in their diaries as they knew full well they weren't going to make it:
Then wedding at 2 in Sydney Sussex chapel, wedding breakfast at 5pm, dancing, supper (cake, cheese, port and sandwiches), more dancing, and finally walked back to hotel at about 11:30. What a fantastic day and event, well done Odells and Weavers. I'll let the pictures tell it all:
Sun - Woken by phone call from Lulu announcing breakfast at 9 so George and Grace could go for a swim late. Then we had a quick walk to Christs' for old times sake:
Tried to see Vermeer exhibition at Fitzwilliam Museam but queue was too long, so we looked at some of the other galleries which were delightful and just enough 'stuff' to not be boring. Left about 2pm to drive back home
Mon - Kirsten's memorial service at Bow Church, with drinks/canapes afterwards thanks to Abedeen Asset Management. Sobering occasion, ameliorated by the glasses of red wine I drank.
Tue - Lots of coughing during the night, keeping me awake. Decided drugs are required, so bought some Sudafed from chemist. Dampish start to the day, went for run around Chorleywood lanes and paths (up to Bullsland Farm) so lots of hills and slow pace - 52mins for 6.25km, but no walking so thats good, felt fine despite still-gummed-up feeling in sinuses.
Wed - Leaving at 2:30 for Gatwick to go skiing for 4 days at Chamonix. Not been there before, but its supposed to be good for a short break being quicker to get to from Geneva airport.
Then wedding at 2 in Sydney Sussex chapel, wedding breakfast at 5pm, dancing, supper (cake, cheese, port and sandwiches), more dancing, and finally walked back to hotel at about 11:30. What a fantastic day and event, well done Odells and Weavers. I'll let the pictures tell it all:
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| Ian and Angela looking too relaxed! |
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| Dinner the night before |
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| Mrs M and Angela leaving the hotel |
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| Mrs M and Lulu outside the chapel |
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| Groom and best man looking worried because bride was fashionably a few minutes late |
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| Lulu and Lucy |
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| I'm sure it will be alright |
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| Why we were there |
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| George Wallace, so good |
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| Biffy & Grace |
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| The Royal Masonic girls, all grown up |
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| with the bride |
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| John Minshall, the bride and Cherry |
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| Cutting the cake |
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| Dancing |
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| More dancing |
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| Supper - cheese, cake and port!!!!!!!!! |
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| Lulu and Melanie |
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| the bride |
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| Master Lodge |
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| Chatting to a young Charles Darwin in New Court |
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| Outside my old room S1 in 3rd court |
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| Christs' gate |
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| Fitzbillies resurrected as cafe - chelsea buns still same! |
Mon - Kirsten's memorial service at Bow Church, with drinks/canapes afterwards thanks to Abedeen Asset Management. Sobering occasion, ameliorated by the glasses of red wine I drank.
Tue - Lots of coughing during the night, keeping me awake. Decided drugs are required, so bought some Sudafed from chemist. Dampish start to the day, went for run around Chorleywood lanes and paths (up to Bullsland Farm) so lots of hills and slow pace - 52mins for 6.25km, but no walking so thats good, felt fine despite still-gummed-up feeling in sinuses.
Wed - Leaving at 2:30 for Gatwick to go skiing for 4 days at Chamonix. Not been there before, but its supposed to be good for a short break being quicker to get to from Geneva airport.
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