3 days to go!

Mum, Dad, David, Elizabeth, Mark and Matthew are all coming to visit - yep, the whole family!

I'm so excited. I can't wait to have them here, show them around, cuddle Matty... can't wait.

The weather here on Sunday was so beautiful! It was the warmest day we've had in a long time, but still not too hot. So I walked up to Hong Kong Park with my book, thinking I was exploring somewhere I hadn't been yet.

Once I got there I realised I actually had been there - mum and I had walked around it when she was here in July. Great memory! It has this massive aviary in it, and enough trees and quiet places to pretend you aren't in the middle of the city.

So I found a nice quiet park bench to sit with my book... until a small lady with massive lungs started yelling into her phone right next to my ear. So much for peace and quiet! Oh well, that's Hong Kong for you.

Anyway this is a photo of inside the aviary with a big walkway running around the top of it, and waterfalls underneath. Nice!

Book Week

I've just had my first book week in Hong Kong. As usual I've breathed a sigh of relief once it's over, as book week is always busy. Lots of fun though, and I love seeing the kids being so enthusiastic about reading.

Two big differences I noticed this week... firstly it is the responsibility of the entire language committee, and not just me. It took a lot of pressure off, with so many people to help out.

The thing I missed was that I am used to having a national theme, and the national awards for Book of the Year. Over here, it is just a school book week. That is, each school decides if/when they will hold their own week to celebrate books.

Anyway something I couldn't get away from was book character dress up day. I always seem to have a last minute panic deciding who to go as.

This year I decided to go as Tashi - a fabulous series I've introduced to our year 2 & 3 kids. I was glad they recognised me, even if the rest of the school didn't!

Snow in Beijing

I'm tired.

It was quite a busy week at school last week, thinking about all the new stuff I learned at the IT conference, and lots to do for the new library, and organising book week...

But there was no rest on the weekend. Three of us newbies from school flew up to Beijing after school on Friday, ready for a 3 day workshop. And I was so surprised to get up early on Saturday and see the world covered in white! What a nice surprise.

It snowed all morning, and on Sunday morning as well.

The school where we had the workshop (with hundreds of people from all over Asia) was amazing! It was really nice to look around it.

We didn't get much time to do sightseeing, which was a shame, but at least Abi and Kris and I managed to go to Tiananmen Square late Sunday, to take a couple of photos to say we had been there! But we were so cold and tired that we didn't last long.

We didn't get back till after midnight last night, so I am REALLY looking forward to next weekend.

21st Century Learning conference

Wow, what a lot of information to cram into my brain in the last 3 days. I've been at a conference, and it has been one of the more worthwhile PD opportunities I've had.

The first 1 1/2 days was on a bus tour, visiting other libraries in Hong Kong. I was thinking about our new library the whole time, what I should do, what I shouldn't do, and what I think I'm on the right track with. There are some really nice librarians in Hong Kong, so it was great to spend time with them and pick their brains about things.

The next 1 1/2 days was at the conference. There were some really inspirational speakers, and lots of great ideas on using technology. Hence the brain cramps. I've even joined Twitter!

Coming back on the ferry after the bus tour on Thursday, I took a photo of The Rainbow Warrior, the Greenpeace boat. I'm not sure why it was in Hong Kong or how long it is here for, but it was looking very quiet and peaceful at the ferry piers.

The photo is a little foggy - not because of my camera, but because of the weird fog we had for a few days. Not the kind of fog I'm used to, that lifts around mid-morning, but a fog that covered the city for a few days. It was very bizarre coming back on the ferry and not even being able to see all the city buildings.

Shek O

I always think that is a funny name - it is a place on the coast at the bottom of Hong Kong island, and it is nothing like the rest of Hong Kong. It seems like a little old village with a really good beach.

I went down there last night for dinner with some of the staff. We sat on the beach for a while, and froze our butts off! I actually thought the cold weather was over. This week we have had really pleasant weather of about 22 degrees, but the temperature dropped, and with the breeze off the ocean, it was quite cold.

Anyway dinner was at a little Thai place that had fantastic food! We ordered so much food, piles of it. And the bill was so cheap, I couldn't believe it.

We walked through the funniest little maze of narrow alleys till we got to an equally funny little bar, right on the beach. It would have been a great spot to stay for a while, except we were all too chilly.

I think I'll have to go back there one day and have a proper look around.

Oh, and check out the fog/smog we had on Friday. The city completely disappeared! This is the view from my library - normally a beautiful view of the city and mountains behind it.

Bali photos

Bummer, holiday is over. But what a great holiday we had!

In a nutshell, we explored Kuta, the beach, Seminyak (where we stayed), went inland to Ubud, saw wood carving, silver-making workshops, markets, the elephant park... and we did heaps of swimming, reading, lazing about, and of course fit in a beautiful visit to the spa for a body treatment.

Our beautiful pool

Lara ... Amanda and I hated the thought of these elephants living in a park carrying tourists around all day, but on the other hand we loved the experience of being able to meet Lara, she was beautiful.

Monica the baby orangutan... again, not happy thinking about Monica sleeping in a cage at night, but her "minder" obviously loves her and looks after her well, and I thought she was absolutely gorgeous!

Amanda and Eric in the rice paddies. Eric was our tour guide for our Ubud trip.

At the wood carving gallery. The pieces were amazing!

Mmm... one of the many lovely cocktails we tried.

Ha ha! I already said we did a lot of reading! Actually, we were checking our trusty Lonely Planet to decide where to go after the beach.

Some of the millions of markets around Kuta.

Relaxing in Bali

I love holidays! Amanda and I are in Bali having a most relaxing time - swimming, cocktails, shopping... bliss.

Right now we are waiting for our room to be cleaned so we can change from our "breakfast attire" to our "swimming attire", so I thought I'd come and check out the internet facilities while we wait.

Our pool is gorgeous. I will put some photos up on the blog on Sunday when I get home.