How Totally Tastless and Tacky can you get?

The Lisboa Hotel & Casino Macau -

Various views out and in - it had to be seen to be believed!

Macau!!!! . . . .

Macau . . . Wow!!!

Making Almond Biscuits

Bamboo Scaffolding . . . don't knock it 'til you've tried it!

Just another street scene

. . . and another . . .

And some footage of the average journey to work . . .

. . . and the mall {Whampoa - pronounced "wompoh"} where we're working . . .

Here's a sample of how clean and pleasant this land's underground system is . . . .

More from . . . . The Vertical City . . . and how we commute!!!

Here's an edited set of bus-rides around for us HK commuters :-) . . . . we're travelling from kowloon to or from Hong Kong Island . . .

The Vertical City

Unbelievable!!!

With land mass of 1,104 km² (426 sq mi) and a population of seven million people, Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated areas in the world.

The city's population is 95% Ethnic Chinese and 5% from other groups.

You can't get a fag paper between anything!!!

With three other Examiners here, it's been a very different experience to India or Abu Dhabi - we're all working and it's a very sociable group, hence the lack of entries here . . . sorry :-)

This is a last attempt to get something onto the blog before departure this saturday on the red-eye at midnight after a day's work!!!

Watch this space over the next few days for more entries, meantime enjoy some general pics . . .

Clean Safe Subways and Mosaics

Promenades and Fountains on The Corniche

The Arabs LOVE water (as you probably know) since it's such a precious commodity in the desert - so there are fountains a-plenty all around. Here are a few vids of the sights around the 5-mile long Corniche Promenade . . .

Abu Dhabi Evening tour by Harley Davidson

A selection of views as Rob takes me on an evening tour of the town on his Harley Davidson Road King . . .

Thanksgiving on a Harley D in Dubai!

Just a few excerpts of our trip to Dubai for Thanksgiving Lunch . . .

Jazz at The Club

"Beachfront pics" at 'The Club'

{They should be stitched together as a panorama}

"The Club" has got some history to it - and it's where alot of Ex-Pats of many nationalities hang out.

Here's a brief taste of outdoor 'Cool Jazz Duosville' one night after a hard day at the office . . .

Desert Sand Trials with 4x4 and Camels

Here are some short videos for your Desert Delectation . . .

Crazy Desert 4x4 driving exhibition . . . . and the 'Desert Oasis' set up for the tourists

Belly Dancing for the Desert tourists . . .

Western Infidel Arrives in Abu Dhabi

The call to prayer as we look out over the balcony . . .

{watch for updates - I've uploaded this after arriving in Honk Kong Dec 1st so will be adding and editing for the next 3 weeks}




More call to prayer amongst the traffic on the The Corniche above and below

An evening at the Sree Poornathrayesa temple

We went to the Sree Poornathrayesa Temple in Tripunithura, Cochin.

"The temple is famous for its yearly Utsavams or festivals. The main one being the Vrishchikoltsawam, which is conducted every year in the month of Vrishchikam (Nov-Dec).

The deity in this temple is Lord Vishnu who is in the form of Santhanagopala Murthy. It is strongly believed that childless couples will be blessed with children on praying Poornathrayesan.

Poornathrayeesan is the Family deity of Cochin Royal Family (Perumpadapu Swaroopam)".

You need to hand in your shoes before entering the Temple

The Heffalumps will stand like this from about 7-11pm and an earlier afternoon session too. Keepers keep them topped up with munchies, and as you can see in the video they seem very content.

http://www.cochin.org.uk/religious-places/poornathrayeesa-temple.html

"The temple is famous for its yearly Utsavams or festivals. The main one being the Vrishchikoltsawam, which is conducted every year in the month of Vrishchikam (Nov-Dec)."

http://shripoornathrayeesa.4t.com/poorna.htm

Cochin Last Evening

If you're going to own a fishing boat, then get it in PINK!

One of the many Chines style Fishing Nets in the area

A one hour boat trip around the immediate area, taking in some of the Chinese Fishing Nets that feature so often in the travel brochures

Coming back in to the dock at the rear of the hotel

Fuzzy pic of the Cochin Port control tower . . .

. . . and the same. with the Taj Malabar on the right of the shot

Long distance of the ones that probably get photographed (up close) the most

. . . and the local nippers waving enthusiastically at the silly tourists :-)