Travel 2004 – Macau, Day 4

Wednesday, 17th November 2004 – Macau, Day 4 The fun started today, with the CTM Sprint Race, organised to publicise the 51st Macau Grand Prix. In previous years they’ve done all sorts of things from rickshaw races, to martial arts competitions, dragon boat races and calligraphy sessions. This year the competitors had to run a…

Travel 2004 – Macau, Day 3

Tuesday, 16th November 2004 – Macau, Day 3 We were living in interesting times, it seemed. Mind you, we weren’t the only ones. We weren’t able to meet up with Glyn till getting on for midnight on Monday, because… well, because of all sorts of things really. First off most of the race team people…

Travel 2004 – Macau, Day 2

Monday, 15th November 2004 – Macau, Day 2 Last night’s dinner was very good, but the restaurant staff delivered the disturbing news that they wouldn’t be doing lunch during the Grand Prix because the local government had booked the entire place from 6am to 6pm… So where were the teams, drivers, officials and press supposed…

Travel 2004 – London, Hong Kong, Macau, Day 1

Sunday, 14th November 2004 – London, Hong Kong, Macau, Day 1 The best way to fly long distances is definitely with the aid of narcotics! Friday’s flight was only 11 and a half hours, which is even better really than the usual flying times. I can only presume there was a tailwind or something, but…

Travel/Food 2004 – London

Saturday 23rd/Sunday 24th October 2004 – London Well, the weekend was fun (if somewhat damp – torrential rain seemed determined to get us). The Raphael exhibition at the National Gallery was well worth the effort, and thoroughly enjoyable. I’d recommend it highly. There was a fine mix of different works, including some amazing ink drawings,…

Travel 2004 – Valencia, Spain

Friday 15th – Monday 18th October 2004 – Valencia, Spain We made a reasonably timed start, getting away from the filling station in Mougins at 9:00, which is just after the rush hour traffic dies down. It was really just a case of pointing the car at the Mediterranean and then turning right. So long…

Travel 2003 – Macau, Hong Kong, London, Day 11

Tuesday, 18th November 2003 – Macau, Hong Kong, London, Day 11 Today was mostly devoted to combat packing as we all tried to stuff the extra goodies we’d acquired into various bags and cases. Lynne and I made the trip to the main (possibly only) post office with stuff for other people, which was fun….

Travel 2003 – Macau, Day 10

Monday, 17th November 2003 – Macau, Day 10 The day after the Grand Prix we frittered away pottering around the old town area and trying to achieve a few things. We started out at the post office where I wanted to buy the book of first day issues of Grand Prix-related stamps. This is a…

Travel 2003 – Macau, Day 9

Sunday, 16th November 2003 – Macau, Day 9 Sunday, of course, is race day with all that that implies, and includes as ever lots of behaviour that the Western drivers consider very odd. This includes a lion dance on the grid, before the drivers are all lined up to meet the various local dignitaries. The…

Travel 2003 – Macau, Day 8

Saturday, 15th November 2003 – Macau, Day 8 Saturday is motorbike day – and we’ve all agreed we’re not going out there while they are on the loose, so we arranged to have a late start, not bother with breakfast and then do lunch at the Clube Militar de Macau, which is a very splendid,…