Things of note that happened on my England trip

Not in England but at Hong Kong airport - and just look at the haircut on display... talk about clinging to the belief that you are not balding...


Almost impossible to convey in a mere photo, the exquisite skyline of Hong Kong island was just as spectacular as it had been on my last visit in 2000, despite the pollution...

The ceiling of the airport (yeah, boring, but it was the first thing I saw after waking after a glorious 2 hour crash, having had almost no sleep since Japan and a terrible fever)...

Sums up the state of England pretty well really...

At a family lunch in a big hotel, my grandma proceeds to knock back the red wine like there's no tomorrow, culminating in her pinching a man's bottom (not my Grandad's)...

Arguably the best part of the trip was visiting my other Grandma's house, where we played scrabble, wrestled with her many wooden puzzle games and ate our weight in cheese and biscuits and piccalily and home made pickled onions with chutney. We went there four times.

It was whilst at Grandma's that I realised that she has an original dansette record player, which is like something straight out of a 60s living room. Great sound too, especially considering the small speakers...

When we visited my dad, we found out that he lives in the oldest house in the area (built in 1310 and retaining a lot of the original structure). My wife and I stayed there for a night, and whilst it was a good experience, the lack of heating and hot water made it a bit unappealing for the long haul...

On the same night, my Grandad (or Father Christmas as Yoko calls him) took us out to the local Japanese restaurant. Despite the fact that he harrangued the waitresses to death and had to physically escorted from the premises at midnight, it was lots of fun, and he expressed a wish to come and visit us in Japan (grief... will Japan ever be ready for such a visitation?...)

At my dad's house, there were tens of boxes stacked from floor to ceiling with all of my various books and videos collected over the years... the only one that I wanted to bring back to Japan was Rainbow Six, and lo and behold it happened to be in the top of the first box. It's so satisfying when things go in your favour for a change...

Whilst at my Auntie's house, my cousing Tom took a phone call from a mobile phone company trying to get my Uncle to upgrade his service. With my Uncle still at work, Tom and my brother Oliver proceeded to string the hapless staff member along, inventing phone plans and somehow managing to get a ridiculously cheap, minutes-heavy deal before hanging up and getting back to their alcohol...

Staying with the little brother theme, this was the monstrous piece of haddock that he procured from the chipshop (yes, it really was that big)...

And here is a photo of me, feeling pretty heavy after tucking into my much smaller supper...

Look at this - outside a new shopping mall in Norwich, they powers that be have not only ploughed straight through a graveyard, but used the stones as decorative edging... unbelievable...

We were persuaded to visit a new chocolate stall on the market, and the owner was bang on the money when he said that his fruit and chocolate skewers were messy...

It had been long on the cards, and staying with Diamond and Freyja for a couple of days allowed Diamond and Ken a long overdue chess match, complete with a dinosaur standing in for an errant knight... it was a close game, and Diamond had the iniative and an early point lead, but misjudged a queen exchange and soon resigned...

There was a reunion of sorts, as the old high school gang assembled and headed to an Indian restaurant in the city, allowing me my first Indian meal for more than 2 years... opting for the lamb vindaloo, I wasn't disappointed...

Diamond loves it when a plan comes together...