After a suitably large last flat dinner at Lonestar, I was finally off – of course I had some thirty hours to get used to this idea. Apart from the numerous episodes of Conchords on the plane, the SAP signs at Hong Kong airport provided a little amusement for my tired mind.
Along with similar ads for Porsche & Asics, the footnote says “The Best Run Businesses Run SAP”. I couldn’t help wondering if this was in spite of SAP and also why was there no poster using NZ Steel as an example.
Arriving, I managed to lug my bike & other two bags through three tube stations & a long way down the road to friends’ house. Also a quick look at Harrow on the Hill & Harrow School where Churchill went & some of Harry Potter was filmed. Thankfully, the shift work preparation managed to negate most of the effects of jet lag.
After a few days of replacing various worn parts on my bike, making sure it goes again & giving it a good clean (maybe it will get through quarantine with less mud on it) – the bike is packed up in its bag for the first time in two months. The big question is – can I fit a suit in there too without damaging it (the suit, not the bike)? I sure hope so, because I don’t want to wear a suit for close on twenty-four hours.
All this of course is in preparation for next week’s departure to Europe. The trip has been prompted by my cousin’s wedding in Italy (late June) – which is a great reason for finally packing up my bike & myself for six weeks to have a look at what the UK & small parts of Europe has to offer in the way of mountain-biking & sights. The basic outline is depart for London next Wednesday; one night in London then off to Basel, Switzerland for the weekend with a uni mate (coincidentally, one of the Euro 2008 quarter-finals will be on in town that weekend – should be good, not that we can afford tickets; back to London for a week of visiting friends & probably a lot of museums; eight or nine days in Tuscany for the wedding; then back to Britain for a road-trip up to Scotland & down to southern England with my parents.
