Christmas at Home

Here are a few photos from when I went back to beautiful snowy Farnham.

This was a walk I did with Mum the day I arrived home.





Christmas Day!





When the sun came out!






After a whirlwind of four months, as Christmas approached and the lights went up and the Christmas songs started playing, I could not think of anywhere I wanted to be more than home. Arriving back to a snowy Christmas Eve in London, I was met by Mum, Tim and Michael who had all come out ridiculously early to meet me!

Christmas is a wonderful time to be home aside from the obvious, becuase everyone at this time, has some time off and so I was able to see lots of people for much longer than I would have at any other point. To sum up my week, my days were spent eating and drinking! seeing family, catching up with friends, playing board games, watching films, going on freezing, country walks with Finlay!, baking, sleeping and more eating!

For those of you I managed to see, it was just such a treat. I enjoyed hearing everyone's news and I was so sad to have missed being there at the time for it all. I am so aware of how useless I can be at getting in touch and it's hard to keep in regular contact sometimes. However, having caught up on people's news, I am now determined this year to keep in touch much more regularly. There, I have written it now so I must keep my promise!

For those of you, I did not get a chance to see, it will just be even lovelier when we do meet however, judging by the time, we will need days and days free to catch up so be prepared! haha!

I had the most wonderful Christmas at home and I was so sad to be leaving everyone and going back to being so far away again after just having got used to being able to call people anytime, but I was also so happy to see my closest friends and family well and happy in what they were doing. I wish you all the very very best in exams, jobs, finding flats, law courses, applications, essays, marathon training! and I promise to be there more to hear how it is all going at the time. I am so lucky to have you all and miss you all already and want to hear all of your news as often as you can spare the time to tell it.

Luckily, after having such home comforts at my own bed, a lovely heated house, driving, home cooking, seeing friends and family daily, english tv channels etc, a piece of home, in the form of my family, (as well as as much pasta, cereal and tea that I could stuff in to anyone's case I saw!) flew back to Hong Kong with me to stay for ten days..

Satursday 12th September - My Very First Visitor!

My lovely cousin Maria and her friend Livvy came through Hong Kong en route from Thailand to Australia this week for a few days and I was lucky enough to be able to spend the day with them on Saturday which was lovely since they were my first visitor!

After having left their HUGE backpacks with me at the flat, we headed off to Stanley Market, on the south of the Island. The weather was lovely, and we wandered around the labrinth of stalls and shops there and then went to an amazing cafe where we had fresh juice and cakes which was such a treat! The waterfront was lovely, full of restaurants (pizza express! - little bit too excited!) and bars and cafes, which looked out over the waterfront and a really pretty covered pier too. It was very peaceul and a really nice way to spend a saturday afternoon. We also went to visit Tin Hau temple which was nearby who is, if I remember rightly the goddess of the seas and who in her lifetime, saved many lives out at sea and so there are many temples and shrines made to her around Hong Kong.

I wish Maria and Livvy a wonderful rest of trip around the world as they depart on the next chapter of their adventure! Thank you both for a lovely day!

Home Comforts!

I must just mention my two lovely friends from home who live out in Hong Kong and whom I have been lucky enough to spend some time with over the last few days. It has been like stepping in to another world and seeing how the other half live in Hong Kong and a lovely break from setting up flats and teacher training! Having supper in Caitlin’s incredible flat on the island with her lovely mum and sister was such a treat getting to eat a yummy home cooked vegetable risotto (with lots of peas – Julia murray!) and avocado salad and also an oriental style fruit salad, was just what I had been missing - no amount of restaurant food nor vegetables and rice would come even close! Thank you so much to Caitlin and her family for their hospitality! I am so appreciated!

I was also lucky enough to get to go and visit Alex, who lives in Stanley, on the south of the Island. Alex lives just by Stanley beach, one of the best beaches in Hong Kong and again, being in her incredible home, was such a welcome break from moving in to my flat! She cooked some yummy food and I had pasta for the first time (no I lie, I have had it for breakfast!) and dips and chips and also brownies and then we swam in her gorgeous pool which overlooks the sea. It was such a relaxing and lovely afternoon.

Thank you girls so much for your kindness! Caitlin, I am going to miss you. London is lucky to be getting her! xxx