Marcus’ Blog

In Nederland heeft Pa heeft net iets op Youtube gezet - nog van het bezoek van “de oma’s” hier in Hong Kong.

Domino spelen met matthijs…

Something really cool is going on in a park near Robertson Quay in Singapore every night. A bunch of enthusiasts play with remote controlled motorized kites. The kites have colorful lights built in to them which makes for an interesting display against the black night sky.

I noticed this from far away while I walked towards Clark Quay and saw different colors of light move around in the sky. Coming closer these Unidentified Flying Objects turned out to be these RC kites.

It’s an interesting concept - the kites make hardly any noise and they seem to ‘magically’ fly around. They can do flips, inverts, rolls, etc - all quite spectacular.

This is pride - Matthijs built the biggest ever tower with his Lego…

Waren in het land.

Matthijs heeft zich dus goed vermaakt met oma en tante en zijn nederlands is er weer een stuk op vooruit gegaan.

Hij kent ook weer een aantal nieuwe nederlandse liedjes en verders is hij nu volledig in de ban van ‘chocolade hagelslag’ dat hij voor het eerst op z’n boterhammetje bij z’n ontbijt kreeg.

Toos en Mies hebben zich ook goed vermaakt - buiten het spelen met Matthijs in en rond het huis zijn de dames er bijna elke dag op uit getrokken om Hong Kong te bekijken.

Ook zijn we nog een avond wezen stappen in Lan Kwai Fong met een prima diner in Orange Tree restaurant. Cultureel zijn we ook geweest door eens in het Historisch Museum van Hong Kong te kijken. Daar was ik zelf na bijna acht jaar in Hong Kong ook nog niet eens geweest en ik moet zeggen - een aanrader.

Al met all een leuke twee weken - de tijd vliegt en inmiddels zijn moeders en tante mies alweer ruim een week thuis.

Hieronder wat foto impressies.

It’s been raining practically the whole day yesterday.

I just looked at the Hong Kong observatory station and in just one day, there was close to 240 MM of rainfall.

To put this into perspective: 240 MM of rain is just one third of the total annual rainfall in Holland dropping down in just one day! Even compared to the some of the wettest days in Hollands twice as much water fell down here in Hong Kong yesterday.

The 10 “wettest days” in Dutch history (since 1951): http://www.knmi.nl/VinkCMS/explained_subject_detail.jsp?id=26900

Yesterday in Hong Kong: http://www.hko.gov.hk/cgi-bin/hko/yes.pl?year=2008&month=04&day=19&language=english&B1=Confirm

The garden outside our house turned into a lake resembling the Amazon delta…

And Matthijs enjoyed walking about in his raincoat…

I’m sure you’ve seen this on your last flight and your previous one.

It just occurred to me that the Airshow is exactly the same in many different airlines. This is a mindnote to myself to figure out which company’s behind it. Could be interesting to do live inflight satisfaction votes by passengers. And then coupling that with a live reporting tool…

It’s a dusty and smoggy day in Hong Kong - as you will see in the background of this picture. On the right you see the hills leading up to Sunset peak.

I’m waiting next to gate 47 for my flight to Singapore. I’ll be there a bit more often in the coming months - so I better get used to taking this flight.

This looks to be a great weekend - it’s clear blue skies in hong kong and after nearly six weeks of cold weather that’s very welcome.

Today we’re having the “Nations Tennis Cup” here in Dbay, meaning all countries will strive to defend their honour in a game of tennis. I’m sure you’ll spot the red white & blue in this picture.

I’m waiting for pushback from the gate at beijing airport. Just spent two days here for a training & a client meeting.

Since the last time I was here - probably 9 months ago - there are quite a few new colossal buildings lining the ‘3rd ring road’. Definitely things are moving faster here than in Hong Kong now.

Back to hkg now & then off to cebu tomorrow. Thank god for air travel.

Matthijs is doing the old Kai Tak airport approach in the simulator here.

We’re in Skyplaza and this is part of the aviation exhibits there.

By the way - Kung Hei Fat Choi - a prosperous Chinese New Year, we’re entering the year of the Rat.