Malta

It's been really hard to blog b/c of all the cool things we've been doing, with little time to spare when internet is available. But in short, a Good Time has been had by all.

Malta is great, with the amazing weather, food, hospitality and unique architecture among the highlights. The weather is just perfect this time of year, with a little rain but mainly warm and sunny.

Our hosts, Joseph and Maria made us feel at home, and made sure we didn't go hungry. We won't feel hungry for some time!

And now with the shuttle bus leaving momentarily, this post will need to be short. But we will try to put together a more detailed one on the trains we will now be catching (long train journeys all).

One More Sleep to Go

Only one more sleep until Jack arrives and I can't wait. I know this will sound a bit corny but it's been two and a half weeks since I saw him and I have been missing him so much. It's the longest we have ever been apart since we met. I think it may even be a bit harder since we are used to living is such close proximity to each other (in the studio). He arrived in Frankfurt this morning so at least we are in the same timezone now!

Weekend Highlights

This weekend was a nice mixture of touristy sight seeing combined with hanging out with friends as a local would do.

On Saturday we walked around the Citadel and went to the Museum of Archaeology which was quite interesting. It was funny because you are supposed to pay to see all the exhibits but my clever auntie told everyone that she was from Gozo so shouldn't have to pay and they let us all in for free! This didn't work however at the one exhibit where the attendant was female...go figure! After walking around in the hot sun all day we came home to rest our weary heads before watching the sex and the city DVD and having some dinner. I know what your all going to say, you watched it again! but my cousin hadn't seen it and I have only seen it three times before (he-he). OK so I'm a bit obsessed, I get it! After that we headed out for a few quiet drinks and then it was off to bed for this old chook.

Sunday found us getting up reasonably early to catch the ferry to Malta. It's a nice 25min ferry ride from Gozo to Malta but the bus to Mosta leaves a little to be desired. The buses are pretty old school (which translates to - they look cute but are pretty uncomfortable and a little scary). It was about a 45min ride with middle age couple in front of us who really needed to get a room, if you know what I mean.

We met Rose's boyfriend and went to Mdina which is the old capital of Malta. It's a medieval town, with narrow quiet streets, situated in the centre of the island. It has a magnificent view of the island, which we enjoyed sipping coffee from a nice little cafe.

Our next stop was lunch at the bayside restaurant in Bugibba, which wasn't too bad at all. Although I did order fried calamari and chips expecting it to be like what we would get at home but that wasn't at all the case. Its not battered and it's cooked in some kind of tomato sauce, very similar to my mums octopus stew, luckily i really like that!

We spent the afternoon watching the football (soccer) with some of my cousins and their friends at a bar near by. I'm not really that into it but its a lot of fun watching everyone get so carried away with it all. Another coffee later it was time to head back to the ferry terminal to start making our way home. It really was a fun day out.

Cousins and friends - Joe, Rose and Marco

Chillin in Malta

The last few days I have just been relaxing and taking it easy. My cousin Rose has gone back to work after three months of vacation (sob), so I have just been hanging around the house until she gets home around 2pm. It's good though cause its given me a bit of time to catch up on my emails and upload photos etc for you all to see. In the afternoons Rose and my Auntie Maria become my tour guides. They drive me around to see the sites, and even print out information of the places we are going to and read it out as we go. It's so much fun and even though we haven't spent much time together since they moved to Malta some 14 years ago its like they never left. We really are so similar in personality and looks, a couple of people have told us that we look like sisters, which we love hearing :).

I have been to visit some of my relatives here in Gozo and in Malta, although I'm related to so many people here I really doubt I'll get round to seeing them all. I did however mange to meet my cousin Joseph who I think may be the last of the cousins that I have never met before.

Yesterday we went to Dwerja Beach where people go diving and snorkeling. It's probably the most beautiful place I have seen since arriving, well except for the Church's I guess. The churches here are amazing. In contrast to the houses which are all sandstone and pretty much cardboard cut outs of each other, the churches are huge, colourful, ornate buildings and you can tell a lot of work must go into building them.

One of the churches we visited called 'Ta Pinu' is a very religious site. People come from all over the world to ask for help if they have a sick child or relative. Apparently what ever you wish for here will come true. The back rooms of the church are lined with children's clothes, plaster casts and messages asking for help and thanking Mary for healing there sick family members. Its quite moving reading everyone's stories although most of it is in Maltese and I'm a bit rusty so can't really make sense of it all.

Anyway that's about all my news for today, here are some photos I have taken in the last week

Hope everyone is safe and well

Mosta Church

Azure Window Dwerja Beach

Rose, Ryan and Me at Marsalforn

The altar at Ta Pinu Church

The Maltese Love to Party

It's lunch time and I have only been awake for an hour! Last night we went clubbing in the Grotto till 4am! I can't believe I stayed out that late. It's been a long time since I've been out that late....actually who am I kidding I've never been out that late. I didn't realise when I agreed to going out last night that it meant we would be leaving at about 11pm to go and have a drink somewhere so we could then get to the club around midnight. And apparently I'm a bit of a piker for wanting to go home at 4am.

It was a fun night and I met loads of people, half of which I'm probably related to, but its a bit much for this old chook, I'm really feeling it today!

The club was an interesting place most people were well under 18 wearing next to nothing and dancing to doosh-doosh music, not really my scene. There where a few young girls passed out in front of the bathrooms who could not have been more than 15 years old! Despite the under age drinking and drug taking, it was a nice looking club quite large and open air, which I guess is what you need in this heat. Today I think I'll just take it easy and recover.

Hope everyone is well, missing you all terribly. Only 10 days until Jack gets here...yay! I think its going to be interesting to see what he makes of the place.

So This is Where I Come From

Arriving in Malta is a bit like coming home, which is a strange thing to say for someone who has lived her whole life in Australia. It feels quite foreign to me to look around the place and see that everyone looks like me. I guess im feeling it a bit more this time after spending the last year living in North Sydney.

The heat here is almost unbareable. I thought Hong Kong was hot but this is so much worse. Its probably due to the fact that know one really has air conditioning, they just kind of put up with it.

I arrived here at 3pm and it was about 34 degrees so if i wasn't already wiped out from the long flight i certainly was from the heat. I crashed out at about 9pm which i feel terrible about as one of my aunties was visiting, but i really just couldn't keep my eyes open any longer.

After a long sleep I was refreshed and ready to start exploring Gozo. First up we went to do a bit of shopping in an airconditioned centre. I know its a bit weird to be excited about that but when your this hot its heaven!

We spent the afternoon in an english pup watching the football (soccer) jam packed with about 50 other people. One things for sure, Malta is mad about football, and its not a good idea to say that you don't like it. its kind of like hating cricket in Australia

Sorry I haven't put up any photos yet but I can't figure out how to put them up on this computer! I'll try and do it soon.

Hong Kong Xpat Style

The interesting thing about Discovery Bay is just how western everything is. You might think you were still in Australia. The only real difference I found were all the 'helpers' (who are all Philippino) running after blond haired children, in their jeans and t-shirt 'uniforms'.

We did manage to get out and about to see a bit more of the real Hong Kong however I have discovered just how much harder it is to do anything with two small children. Veronica I'm not sure I gave you enough credit for the job you do looking after your two angels. William and Ella were great, we made them put up with so much travelling around in the heat and delaying meals and nap times so we could fit a bit more in.

Although it was such a short stay I did get to experience some of what Hong Kong has to offer. We went to Central to have dim sum with Breck at a place called Maxims Palace. It was fantastic food and somewhat difficult to find. I'm so proud of us for finding it and of William for walking the whole way and not complaining once even though he was 'Berry Berry Hungry'. Hong Kong has coped with the lack of reasonably priced real-estate by moving a lot of restaurants to the upper floors of buildings, as ground floor is the most expensive. This is an ingenious idea however it does make it difficult to find anything, especially when most people just point rather then talk to you when you ask for directions.

We also went up to the peak for dinner. It has a great view of the city and at night when all the lights are on you don't notice the haze of pollution that hangs in the sky during the day. Having said that the pollution levels aren't nearly as bad as I thought they would be and they do vary somewhat each day.

On the last day we went in search of the big Buddha. We caught the scenic cable care ride to the top which Will thought was great. You feel like a bit of a celebrity travelling around Hong Kong with a little white baby. The Honkys all crowd around you oohing and ahing over Ella. Its quite amusing since they try to talk to you in Cantonese and we assume they are saying how lovely Ella is but really have no idea what they are saying so we smile politely and walk on.
After a little Gelato stop it was back home for us so we could get out of the heat and we could all get our naps.

I'm not really looking forward to the next part of the trip. It involves a 12hr flight to Munich and then a 7hr wait for my 2hr flight to Malta. Hopefully I wont be too tired and grumpy by the time I see my family in Gozo which by the way is another hour of travelling from the airport. Oh well I'm sure I will have plenty of time to rest up on the beach.

Thanks for taking care of me Veronica, Breck, Will and Ella. Sorry I looked so tired all the time, I had a great time and can't wait to see you all again.

Bye Hong Kong...Malta here I come

Arriving in Hong Kong

Yesterday was a rather emotional day for me to say the least. Saying good bye to family and friend is something that should be avoided at all costs! I think I got through the goodbyes OK but walking through those doors sent the tears flooding. I had to stop for a sec and pull myself together or everyone on the plane would think I was a freak.

I was quite apprehensive about flying with Qantas after all the bad press they have been getting lately, but my fears were greatly misguided. The flight was great, i had two empty seats next to me so it was very comfortable and i basically spent the whole time watching movies and reading. The service was fantastic, everyone was kind and polite, and I'm happy to report that you can still get the free wine on board in economy! They even give you ice-cream and chocolate so i was set!

The welcome I received from William is a memory that I will hold dear for a long time to come. He ran out to me calling my name and gave me a great big hug, which as you can imagine sent he tears running again! It is so wonderful to see Breck, Veronica, William and Ella again, although it has only been six weeks since I saw them last I have missed our weekly visits terribly. The apartment here in Hong Kong is great it has a lovely outlook and is in a fantastic location. The ferry and bus terminals are literally at your doorstep so travelling is a cinch. William has been kind enough to give up his room for me so I even managed to get in a great night sleep. It looks to me like Breck and Veronica have set up a nice little life out here!

Arriving and Departing

Departure looms.

To understand where you are is to leave it - a paradox that gains little significance on the long haul flights that depart Australia daily.

Is it arriving or departing that is more anticipated?