A quick update to say that the holiday is going really well. We’ve done a fair bit already, with some more exciting things to come. I haven’t got time now to go into them, but I am planning on posting a day by day account when I return to MY, albeit 2 weeks after the day actually occurred. Oh well, I’m lazy, and would rather spend time here in Sydney enjoying it, rather than blogging about it.
Have fun…
Tagged SydneyI’m here, in body, if not quite here in mental capacity yet (jet lag).
Friday was a funny day. I hadn’t slept well as I’d been in the sleeping bag, having decided to put as much (including the duvet) into storage the day before. I had a shower, then got the last few bits for the storage, my suitcase and bag ready in the garage. Just as I was doing that the roofing guy came to fix the lead flashing around the chimney. He didn’t need to come in, an so just got on with it. A quick vacuum and tidy round and I was ready to go. Stops for storage and petrol, and then on to Wisbech, two and a half down the road. I got there within 2 minutes of my ETA (3pm), although Dad was out until 4pm. Oh well, an hour to kill dozing in the car and watching some woman clean up horse crap in the field opposite. Oh the great outdoors.
Thursday morning started by packing up the remainder of the shipping, which was fortunate as the shipping guys arrived 5 hours early. As I’d already self-packed it into boxes, there were happy for their first job in the morning. The rest of Thursday was spent getting the final few jobs done, getting some bits from the shop for Katie, and getting the remaining stuff into storage. Overall, we did pretty well, and I’m sooo glad I didn’t have o do it all on my own!
Friday night we went out - firstly to a pub, then a restaurant, then another pub. In both pubs we met up with Terry and Tracey (nicknamed Munchkin due to being a short ass). Now I don’t believe in some coincidences, so there must have been some arrangement made to meet up for the second time, though I must have missed that particular conversation. We also took Nan and Charlie for the meal in the restaurant (it was at the Woolpack Inn, where I’d actually been a couple of years ago when Anna was visiting from Canada), and met Lucille, the friendly Aussie landlady. A very nice meal and evening, leading to a slight hangover in the morning.
Saturday was travel day; the day I left the UK. Starting with tea and toast to soothe the upset stomach and lack of sleep due to excitement/nervousness, we then headed down t Heathrow. I checked in, went through security, waited a bit, then walked to the gate. I got chatting to Natasha, who was going to Malaysia for a week to create a database for her company. Nothing odd there, except her company had given her Euros instead of Malaysian Ringgits as the currency of (poor) choice.
The bus ride from the gate took at least 10 minutes. I know Heathrow is big, but you would have thought someone might have remembered to park the plane somewhere near the terminal. Comments such as driving to Malaysia or flying from Gatwick were abound. On the bus I got chatting to someone (never found out her name) who, along with some other people who she’d never met, one of who was eventually going to be sitting next to me on the plane, had booked a holiday via explore.co.uk. They were flying to KL, then straight up to Bangkok, and then had a 2 week guided tour from Bangkok in Thailand down to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. Sounds interesting, and something I might look into, especially as we’re over in this part of the world anyway.
The flight was largely uneventful - 4.5 films, 2 albums, 2 meals, some snacks and no sleep helped pass the 12.5 hours we were on the plane. For the taxi back from the airport I was met by Razali a nice guy, who’s life story I found out about during the 2 hours trip. He’s 41, got three daughters, 16, 15 and 10, and a son, was in he army when he was younger and did a tour in Bosnia-Herzegovina, bought his wife a 850cc car for RM8000 (£1142), lives in a small village, likes Manchester United and insists all his passengers wear a seat belt. He also thinks I’m “simple” and smart - but he likes me, so that was fine; we didn’t end up in the back of Malaysian beyond, though I did have slight concerns at one point.
The rest of Saturday was mostly spent dozing, though Katie insisted I didn’t sleep as otherwise I wouldn’t sleep in the night. We went to a restaurant down the road, commonly known as Cliff’s. It’s mainly a seafood place (I don’t eat most seafood as it doesn’t agree with me) but does do a nice Chicken Maryland in black bean sauce. We sat, ate, and watched the sun go down, before heading back to the apartment, watched a bit of TV then went to bed. Due to some strange environmental anomaly, there always seems to be lightning storms forming in the Selat Melaka (Straits of Melaka) between Indonesia and Malaysia, and last night was no exception. The sheet lightning forms up in the clouds, with few actual ground strikes (mainly because it’s over the sea). The weather is humid, with little wind, and until much later, it didn’t rain either. This makes it an impressive sight to see, which is why, not being able to sleep (she was right), I sat outside on the balcony watching it for over an hour from 3:45 this morning.
Katie has now gone to work, and I’ve got the day to decide what I want to do. We head off to Oz for two weeks tomorrow, so repacking the case and preparing for that are the main jobs. Otherwise, 8 months of considerably more nothingness starts today.
Tagged Dad, drink, food, hangover, house, Katie, Malaysia, Melaka, Nan, pre-flightThe stuff for shipping is just about sorted, with the exception being the computer and monitor. That is being picked up tomorrow this afternoon and is being whisked away, never to be seen….for at least 2, maybe 3, possibly even 6 weeks. Consequently, fewer blog posts, fewer Battrick sledging board arguments, and fewer Facebook updates.
The suitcase is also packed, though trying to fit two weeks worth of Australia clothes into a suitcase designed to hold a few days worth of clothes for a fly is less than ideal. However, through the wonders of having had my Weetabix this morning, along with the flair of Poirot, I can reveal that “ze case, my friend, is clozed”.
Which basically leaves just about everything else to go into Storage. Dad and I have done a couple of trips, and we’re confident of being able to fit it all in. The stuff for the charity shop will go either today or Friday, a quick run round with a hoover and that will be that.
I’ll be at Dad’s on Friday night, to leave the car there, then we head to Heathrow early on Saturday. From then on, we’ll see what happens.
A personal note of thanks to my Dad for coming down to help do the DIY and pack stuff - I would still be here come 2008 otherwise.
Tagged Australia, Basingstoke, Dad, diy, house, pre-flightJust felt the urge to blog after installing a loft light all by myself. An odd thing to be chuffed about I know, but I am, so there. Bit of a git to get it wired up in the junction box with 4 cables (therefore 12 wires) to manage, but gave it a go, whacked the power back on, started to put in a bulb[1], then realised the switch was already on, turn the switch off, put the bulb in, and switched the switch - job’s a good’un. If I had a camera I’d show you evidence…
Now why doesn’t twin plus earth cable already have sleeving on the earth wire? Must frustrating when you trying to put the wire and all you’re doing is moving the sleeving instead.
[1] Energy saving bulb of course.
Tagged diy, houseLast night I headed back down to Dorch for the last time, for the leaving meal for work. A very enjoyable meal, with lovely company, and some laughs and chats. All great, and pictures should be following shortly. Many thanks to Alan who also paid for mine and Sarah’s meals, as well as being official photographer for the night, AND organising getting my remaining stuff back from work. Ta muchly for Sarah for driving to and from the meal as well - I hope the “puncture” clears itself up!In the end there were 9 of us for the meal (another 3 had come for earlier drinks), although initially 18 had said they were come. Some colleagues hadn’t been able to make the meal, and had either met me earlier for drinks, or told me they couldn’t make it for various reasons. Fair enough. Some just hadn’t bothered turning up - they (and others) know who they are. They may have had their reasons, but there’s never a reason for a lack of politeness. Consequently there won’t be the chance to say the goodbyes which might be just as well.
Well that’s me done with Dorset for the time being. I’m still technically employed by the college until the 16th November, though I’m now using up all the leave I had left, so I can get out to Malaysia quicker. I’ve just received a nice supportive email from one of the lecturers, so that will be archived to remember my time there. Overall I enjoyed working there, and would want to work in prisons again given the chance - my stock saying is that you can teach there, rather than child mind, like you do in school. The good news is that there might be some odd days of work creating spreadsheets and the like, while I’m away in Malaysia, giving me something to keep my brain occupied, and some pocket money to boot.
Am I upset at leaving? Not really - I’ve done my time there, so to speak, I know I’ve worked damn hard to make sure the department as a whole ran as smoothly as possible, as well as just from my employer’s perspective. Added to that, knowing what’s coming up in the future (though as with most things it seems with me - plans change) in heading to Malaysia, and a holiday in Australia as well, means I’m a happy little soul right now (apart from the prep needed for the house and stuff before I go!).
Tagged Australia, Dorchester, drink, food, friends, Malaysia, WorkAlan teaches in the classroom,
We know as the gold fish bowl,
Means we can see who’s winning the fight
Between some dude and Anthony Cole.
Jim said one day he had a sore tooth,
And was going to get it checked out,
I asked him the next day how was the dentist,
And he said, “Oh, he looked down in the mouth.”
Livia is the crazy girl,
She makes me smile, she’s nice,
Though there’s something we all know sunshine,
That was never your Muller Rice.
Upstairs Allan obviously teaches cleaning with a good few tricks,
They chat, drink tea and watch videos and still get a certificate for BICS.
Richard does the magazine,
Though now he’s also a dad,
We all wish the family well,
With Luca, their little lad.
Christina does the Yoga,
“I love it!” a prisoner said,
Though he then did fall over,
As he had his leg behind his head.
The IAG team at Dorchester,
Is Richard, Jackie and Lynn,
The great service that they provide,
Is offered to all who come in.
Margaret teaches on D Wing,
Which is always rather merry,
Especially trying to control our friend,
The wonderful Mr Perry.
Jane does the IT,
Including how to type a letter,
I wish her well and hope,
That her back soon gets better.
Margot teaches Literacy,
Down in room 3,
Even I now know,
How to use the apostrophe.
Anne, Judy, Ginny and Roger are great,
They can cover anything,
I know that when I am stuck for a class,
I can always give them a ring.
Lesley teaches lots of groups,
With lots of different lads,
The one I think she most enjoys,
Is Story Book Dads.
Karen teaches Barbering,
Which is something quite rare,
Would you let a prisoner with clippers,
Come anywhere near your hair?
Marion joined us recently,
Though she hasn’t lost her ties,
Half the time she’s not here,
As she’s forced to work at Guys.
Lisa is seen to run the show,
And is very often stressed,
We all know there’s chocolate though,
Somewhere on her desk.
Stuart is more in the background,
Making sure we all have our goals,
And that is why he works,
As the HMP Dorchester HoLS,
And then there’s me, little old me, like Mickey Mouse in Fantasia,
I’ve done my best, so I’m having a rest, and now I’m off to Malaysia.
Gary : http://www.twitter.com/garyj. 2008-05-08
Amazing Melaka MNNC.net Katie @ LiveJournal
