SECRETS FROM THE OTHER SIDE of the desk.

I’m no stranger to hating a receptionist, I’ve hated MANY receptionists and most of them have been the abrupt, seemingly nosy ones that man the phones at my local doctors surgery. So it was quite interesting being on the other side of the desk and phone for a year during my working holiday visa.

When I started my job I vowed that I wouldn’t be the impatient, uncaring woman who I was used to hearing when I called up for my appointments (that is when I actually managed to get through.. over 50 attempts it once took me!). No, I was going to be the thoughtful, patient lady that I wished would pick  up the phone when I was sick.

Two separate occasions in one year.

So, after a year of being the other woman, here are some of the lessons that I learnt.

Note:These are from my personal experience, working in a single private surgery for one year, I can’t speak for receptionists in other situations especially the NHS.

1. Contrary to popular belief, we do not think that we are doctors.
   Sure, I’ve had to ask people what their appointment is for and it’s actually very logical. If patients are coming in for a general sick appointment then fine, 15 minutes should do them. However, if their problem is more complex i.e. they need something removed or it’s a psychological issue then they usually need more than the average 15 minutes. Other reasons we could be asking is if a child needs a vaccination there may be a shortage of vaccs or there may not be enough staff on that day. If there’s a bad strain of cold or flu or something worse (like last years threat of MERS) we may need you to go to a different type of clinic altogether. If we didn’t ask then we wouldn’t be able to schedule people correctly which may result in your time being wasted or may result in the doctors running severely behind.. which takes me on to my next point.
   
2. Doctors running late.
   I know it’s terribly annoying and inconvenient when the doctor is running behind schedule, and I know the only person you can complain to is the receptionist and that is fair enough. Often times we have a good idea of why they’re running behind and there’s usually a very good and a very sensitive reason why you’ve not been seen on time. It would be easy if we could tell you that unfortunately the current patient has just been given some very bad news and that’s why you’re having to wait 20 minutes longer but that breaks confidentiality laws and is just downright wrong! And don’t think we’re sat there filing our nails behind the computer screen, no, we’re trying to prevent the doctor from running further behind and letting other patients know the situation, all whilst fielding incoming calls, emails and tending to other admin duties at the same time.. it’s no fun for us either!
   
3. Again, we are NOT doctors.
   There seems to be two types of people, people who think doctors receptionists think that they are qualified medical professionals and those who think that receptionists actually ARE qualified medical professionals. I heard a lot of symptoms in my stint, I had lots of questions regarding child vaccine schedules and medication and what temperature constitutes a fever. Eventually I could answer most questions, but I didn’t because I’m not a doctor nor a nurse and I do not want to be responsible for giving the wrong information. You’d be surprised that for every person who complains about being asked about symptoms, there are 2 more who happily volunteer the information.
   
4. We’re not ignoring you.
   My biggest irk was when I was sick and I called up right on the dot at opening time to get an appointment and then nobody would answer my call, I seriously redialed about 50 times once. I was sat there wondering what they were all doing, eating weetabix and talking about Britain’s Got No Talent? Giving each other manicures? All having poo’s at the same time?
   You know what they’re doing when you can’t get through?
   They’re on the phone with all the other geniuses who had the same brilliant idea as you.
   
5. You develop a stronger stomach.
   Common conversations:
   Patient: Hi I’m here to drop off this sample.
   Me: Ok I’ll pass it to the nurse.. Ok I’m going on my lunch now.Patient: My kid has pretty explosive diarrhea and is coughing up green mucous.
   Me: Ok, come in at three thirty.
   Bye guys I’m going on my lunch now.

   Patient: I’m having some really strange discharge.
   Me: Actually.. I think I’ll skip lunch.
   

6. The NHS is amazing.
   I got to see a whole lot of medical bills. Granted, I was working in a private surgery and prices for private care are more expensive naturally. But living in a country where you have to pay for your healthcare whether it’s government of private (unless you have amazing insurance) has opened my eyes up to how lucky the UK is to have a national health service. There’d be some days that people would be complaining about the doctors running behind and even when there was a legitimate reason for the delay I’d actually feel myself getting irritated with them, they’re paying for this service, they deserve to be mad!
   Then I thought of myself, sitting in the doctor’s waiting room in England, making a loud sigh as I look at the time  ‘I should have been seen 10 minutes ago’ I’d think to myself, but soon enough my name would get called and then 10 minutes later I’d walk back out, maybe paying the steep charge of £8 or whatever the prescription fee was. When you consider that a trip to the doctors here can set you back around £50 if you go to a cheap doctor, well over £150 if you go to a highly regarded one and God forbid if you get SERIOUSLY ill or want to start a family, you’d spend a small fortune.. the UK is pretty damn lucky.

When all’s said and done I’m still going to get pissy when things don’t go my way at the doctors or any other similar situation, it’s just worthwhile being mindful that there are other factors contributing to your ‘bad’ experience and – like I’ve actually said to customers in the past – why would somebody go out of their way to make give you a bad experience? Why would they not answer the phone and why would they not give you an appointment if one was available?

Signing off, Dr Allen.. uhh.. I mean.. Sarah..

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This is meant to be a humorous post about things I encountered working as a receptionist, it has nothing to do with the clinic I worked at and these are my own personal views and not those of my previous colleagues or anybody else. 

Nobu? No, boo.

 

Oh how times change so quickly.

Just this weekend I was fine dining at Nobu Hong Kong, this Wednesday afternoon I’m looking at ‘Top 50 Ground Beef Recipes’ online whilst listening to the sweets sounds of a snoring, overweight dog and the noises of the mechanic shops below our apartment.. all of which are complemented by the power ballads that someone on our street is playing a bit too loud (but the only complaint I have is that they skipped Bohemian Rhapsody.).

I’ve always been aware that Nobu is quite the celebrity spot, at least the branches in New York, LA and London are, but now that I’ve looked in to their clientele I’m disgusted that I’m now part of the elite along with the Kardashians (blergh.). Because of that I can now only assume that Nobu is the ‘Nando’s’ of the celebrity world.

That being said, the food was good. My miniscule meal of 4 chunks of pork belly was DELICIOUS and the soft shell crab hand roll was spot on. The dessert I had of mini donuts with stout ice cream and candied bacon was.. so so and all of it tasted like shit when it came back up my throat for a couple of seconds after I saw just how much money had been spent within a 60 minute sitting.

Some donut holes, with ice cream.. and bacon.

If you look very closely, you may see some pork belly.

The service was great, the views of the harbour were fantastic and the restaurant itself was lovely. But I ultimately left with a somewhat unsatisfied belly wondering what all the fuss, and the expense, was for.

Sipping on a virgin mojito and admiring the view with the back of my head.

---

If Japanese food is what you crave, try..

Jan Jan Kushikatsu – For grilled and fried yakitori delights.
2/F, 100 Queen’s Rd E, Wan Chai, 2157 1408.

Yakitoritei – More yakitori goodness..
Shop C, G/F, 49-51, Shing Wo Road, Happy Valley

Basically, what I’m saying is.. yakitori is the best.

A LITTLE PUPDATE

On the subject of having children I’ve always said I would prefer to have dogs, I’m still on the fence about having children one day, and by on the fence I mean I have one leg firmly planted in the field full of dogs and my other leg is dangling into the child field, kicking them in the face if they get too close. The last couple of days have stressed me out to no end, am I keeping the dog warm enough? Should I be more pushy about him eating? Will force feeding him water with a straw accidentally drown him? I can’t imagine how hard it would be to look after a baby alone, for instance I was unsure if my dog could eat sage or not so I just Googled it (they can), with a child you just shove it in it’s mouth and keep your fingers crossed that it doesn’t have an allergic reaction.

After struggling to get Little to eat food so he could take his pills I just relented and shoved them down his throat anyway. Afterwards I felt bad in case they were too strong on his little stomach, but he seemed to relax afterwards as his painkiller started working. Later on I spoke to the vet who said I should really try to get him to eat before he takes his next pill. I spent the day trying to craft a meal that would make his mouth water, I tried his special prescription food, mixed some chicken broth with it (for hydration) and warmed it up so that it would smell appetising, it got my stomach rumbling, but he turned his head away from it in such a dramatic fashion. I left him for a while and returned to the kitchen, this time I tried some of their regular wet food in chicken and pumpkin flavour. I microwaved this and oh my word, it was like I was cooking a lamb roast dinner! It smelled amazing. Apparently Little isn’t a fan of rosemary as again, he turned his head away. In fact he got up and walked off.

He was unimpressed with the chicken soup monstrosity.

Little is little, he has a prominent spine and ribcage and his back end is significantly narrower than his chest area, he shivers a lot and I have to make sure he’s wrapped up as it’s quite cold at the moment in the apartment. If it was Fatty that wasn’t eating I wouldn’t be as worried as he’s fat and will be on a strict diet to lose some pounds soon. But as Little is so little, and so sick at the moment this situation was stressing me out. I tried a lot of random mixtures from the fridge but he just looked away from everything.

Paul came home from work and started cooking his dinner, spaghetti bolognese, he came in with some plain cooked minced beef…

Are you kidding me dog.?!

He annihilated it. I was a mixture of pleased, relieved and secretly annoyed that daddy saved the day. Just kidding, it’s not a competition of who is the best dog parent or anything..

So today I’ve spent a bit of time researching how to make the plain minced beef even better for Little, again, not because it’s a competition.. just for the wellbeing of the dog. That’s why I was Googling sage, I found that some herbs are good for different problems so I threw a load of our Italian seasoning into it and boiled it instead of frying it, because I’m a very good dog parent… :).  He’s ate a lot more today and has shown signs of getting stronger and has got quite an appetite on him.

Devouring the Italian minced beef. Note the blurry face of a Fatty.

It’s onwards and upwards for Little, he looks like he’s just going to get better and better and I’m excited for the day he pees outside in under a minute!

It’s going to be this smug little Fatty’s turn for some surgery next week.. though I can’t imagine him going off his food much..

Inconvenient dog.

I fear this is going to become a dog blog, sorry in advance.

Sarah.

 

RETIREMENT

I’m currently on dog watch. Yes, dog watch. That is how much things have changed since I last updated the general public on our life abroad. I’m still very much in Hong Kong, but a lot has changed.

My job ended 10 days ago and my visa expired 6 days ago so I’m now back to unemployed, tourist/housewife status. I have had a slight promotion however, as mentioned above, I’m now also the dog watcher, the dogmother if you will. After spending a year working in a fast-paced environment dealing with many sick people (not as a medical professional mind you, I was on the REAL front line – reception) it came as a big shock to be let loose from working life and have my free time handed back to me. I was pretty sad about leaving work, I made a ton of amazing friends and I actually really enjoyed my job for the most part. The location was excellent, pay was decent – for Hong Kong- and the patients were generally friendly and polite, and if they weren’t it was usually down to them being sick and you can’t blame somebody for being grumpy when they’re sick!

I needed a retirement companion and Paul wouldn’t cough up to buy me a Paro Seal, so the decision was that we get a little old dog for me to shower with attention and talk to and sing to and dance with during my lonely hours in the apartment. I wasn’t completely against that idea, as it was always my idea. After a few ‘let-downs’, so to speak, in the search for the perfect dog we visited a rescue centre on Sunday 6th and had some special little dogs thrust upon us to take for a walk, this was a walk to remember. Paul and I had a chihuahua each, a set of brothers around 6 years old who had been abandoned for unknown reasons. They would have been put to sleep if the rescue shelter hadn’t saved them, this thought makes me feel really emotional in general but I can feel my eyes filling up thinking about if these guys had been put to sleep instead of getting picked for rehoming. Anyway, after a long walk and a play in the dog park we took the dogs back to the shelter to speak to the volunteers. Putting these guys back into the pen was awful, some of the dogs there are quite boisterous and loud and well, obnoxious, and our boys were having a hard time of it within a few minutes of going back in – I know this is usually a psychological thing but their big eyes were pleading with us to take them.. Or maybe I’m just a crazy dog person!

Anyway, we opted to take the dogs on a trial to see if they fit in with our lifestyle and then we can decide to foster or adopt. It’s already been a rollercoaster as our little boy, currently named Little, has had some major issues with his peeing, it just wouldn’t come out quick enough! He literally stands with his leg cocked for 5 minutes whilst he’s having a very weak dribbly pee. Both guys were booked for neutering (which is part of the HK government’s rules of rehoming) so when I took them in yesterday (which happened to be the wrong day) I asked the vet to examine him. The vet said despite me being there on the wrong day they’d book Little in straight away and do some investigating and also neuter him at the same time. Well, I went to pick him up today and the vet explained to me what happened, the poor little guy had a shit ton of stones or crystals (unfortunately not swarovski) in his bladder and urethra and everywhere in between which were slowing is pee from coming down. I saw the xray and I saw the actual stones in a sample tub and I can’t believe how agonising it must have been for him. God knows how long he’s been like this for but anyway, he’s been sewn back up and is now donning the cone of shame.

It’s going to be a long night for me as Little is constantly getting up to pee and is a bit unsteady on his legs (as he is quite underweight also) so I’m keeping an eye on him and making sure he doesn’t slip over on his own pee and do the splits. I also have to keep his worried brother away from him. His brother, who we have lovingly called Fatty as he is somehow overweight, is very concerned and is keeping a watchful eye out. Unfortunately he is also trying to help by sniffing and trying to lick Little’s wounds so I have to make sure he stays a safe distance away.

We’re absolutely smitten with these little boys, they’ve come to us completely unsure of what is going to happen next but we can slowly feel them getting more secure and comfortable in our home. They’re completely house broken and they love sitting in their carriers so they can be taken out in taxi’s and they go straight to sleep in their bed together at night. Hopefully Little heals soon so that we can take them both out on many long lovely walks.

My chin fits nice here.

Just one chip plz.

Poor Little after his operation.

Those teeth.

Comfortable and happy!

Just after getting home from the vet.

First day at the new place!

Hiding in his comfort blanket.

Posers

Zzzz.

Walkies at the rescue centre

Big brother carefully watching Little.

Poor Little and his scars

Look at that smile!

Are you ok Little?

Selfie!

Cone of shame.

Handsome men!

More updates soon!

Sarah

A LONG TIME AGO..

It’s been a long time since I posted, a long long time. I don’t even want to look at the date of the last post because I’ll realise I don’t have enough excuses to cover that length of absence. Here are a few though; we moved apartments, we’ve been busy working, we’ve been social butterflies, we’re lazy.

The main thing there is that we moved apartments, we left the fancy rich district of Happy Valley and moved 5 minutes away to the less fancy district of Wan Chai, famous for its bustling sex trade, grimy bars and also the recent case of the ‘American Psycho’ style prostitute killer Rurik Jutting.

We had been flat hunting for over a month and I had a new agent lined up to show us some properties but we ended up rescheduling as there was torrential rain and we couldn’t be bothered, the next day we still couldn’t be bothered but after some lunch we decided to just meet up with guy. Our new agent announced that all the properties we were going to view had terraces, which was one of the things on my huge unrealistic apartment checklist. The first viewing didn’t go well, the door man wasn’t present so we couldn’t get in the building.. The second apartment was above Wan Chai street market (noisy and smelly) and was a studio with a stained, mouldy old couch in the middle. I tried to be positive but Paul just came out with what we were both thinking ‘No way.’.

Feeling like our time had been wasted and just wanting to give up, we walked to the third apartment in a quiet street away from the markets and the bars. The door to the apartment had a touch keypad for entry (another one of my dream features) and when the agents finally got the code right we walked into what would be our new apartment. It has a dining room, a long kitchen WITH BUILT IN OVEN! A bedroom with separate storage space, a huge (HK standards) living room and most of all a big terrace with table and chairs and a gas barbecue. I was on  cloud nine and completely in love with the place. I thought it was a simple decision but Paul had other thoughts. He kept me hanging for so long, I had given up on the apartment and started gazing aimlessly at gohome.com and squarefoot.com, certain I’d never find anything so amazing ever again. And then he whatsapped me, whilst I was pretending to work (I don’t know how you pretend  to be a receptionist but I definitely wasn’t actually receptionisting) and told me he’d confirmed with the agent that we’d take it. I immediately cancelled my flights back home and told my mum not to bother making my bed for me, I was going to stay with Paul after all.

Since we moved in we’ve had one awesome barbecue party and now the weather has turned a bit rotten we’ve not really used the terrace much except for hanging out washing.. but as soon as the weather stabilises we’re going to be terrorising our neighbours a lot more frequently!

 

It’s amazing to sit more than two feet away from the TV and have an actual coffee table, to have space to cut up veg rather than using a chopping board that’s half hanging off of the one small section of worktop that’s not covered by an oven or kettle or dirty plate.. and it’s also great to not have to depend on a drier to dry our clothes!

So Paul made me a very happy Allen when he accepted this flat, and when I’m no longer working I will make it up to him by baking him shortbread and brownies every night.

We’re back to England on the 16th for Christmas, hard to believe we’ve been here for long enough to be flying home for our second Christmas. Time is really flying and that’s another reason I haven’t posted in a while, it hasn’t actually felt like that long since I last pressed publish.

More soon.

Happy Allen.

 

I HATE PEOPLE MORE AND MORE EACH DAY

Tonight Paul and I went to see one of our favourite actor/comedians, Dylan Moran.
If you haven’t seen Black Books please go away, watch it and come back once you’ve sewn your sides back together and put your socks back on, as it is side splitting and you will laugh your socks off.

The show was great, we were on the front row dead centre which would be scary if it was any other comedian but Dylan Moran isn’t the audience heckling kind so it was a pleasant experience to be so close and actually make eye contact with the guy! His show was so morbid and dark and true and was full of long rambling sentences where he didn’t seem to take a breath for minutes at a time.

It was fantastic! I just wish that I was able to fully switch off and enjoy the show and block out the people around me, because the people around we were absolute tools. There was 4 girls sat beside us on the front row who came in armed with cans of beer and constantly taking selfies, cheering every time somebody walked around near the stage and being excitable and happy. No problem there. Within a minute of the show starting one of the girls got told to put her phone away by Dylan himself, the only audience participation for the whole show. However they continued to take their phones out and not even just to take pictures, the girl next to me was on Facebook or some other bullshit social media page probably telling everybody about the show that she was at that she wasn’t paying any damn attention to.

Being on the front row (can you tell I’m bragging a little bit) I could clearly see the looks he was shooting at these girls every time their phone lit up in the darkness, he was pissed off, I was pissed off, we were pissed off. They didn’t get the hint though. When they weren’t on their phones they were having full on conversations with each other, on the front row, at a stand up comedy show.

I have been at a few shows like this now, not just in Hong Kong, in England too. I wonder what is going on in these people’s minds to not be aware of what’s going on around them, those girls constantly checking their phones and talking made my night less enjoyable and I’m sure Dylan Moran didn’t appreciate it either.

I’ve been in a love hate relationship with mobile phones for a while now, I hate to be without it but sometimes I want to throw it into the sea. A lot of the time I want to throw other peoples phones in the sea too. They stop us from engaging in things 100%, conversations aren’t as deep when somebody is constantly checking Facebook, meals are ruined when you’re trying to compete with the 17 other people your partner is currently whatsapping and it’s hard to motivate yourself to clean when Candy Crush Saga lets you know you have 5 new lives.

I enjoy being able to communicate with whoever I want, whenever I want, wherever I am especially as I’m living abroad but I think it’s time to *attempt* to cut back on the mobile phone usage when I’m spending my time with Paul and friends.

So, a night out watching Dylan Moran turned into a one-woman show on why technology is good but sometimes bad.

I advise you to go and watch Dylan Moran, and leave your phone at home.

Black Books Wikia

HALF DAY ADVENTURES!

I’m, begrudgingly, working this Saturday morning which means I’ve worked two Saturdays in a row. On the flip side, it means I’ve qualified for time off in lieu so I decided to take it as two half days this week. So today I started work at 8.30 and by 12.50 I was packing my bags ready to leave. My colleagues asked me what my plans were for today and when I told them I was going to have a solo picnic in the botanical gardens they looked at me like I told them I was going to walk naked through Central station.

‘Why would you want to do that?!’ I was asked.

I was frankly gobsmacked as I’ve posted about the zoological and botanical gardens before and the only reasonable response to that question is ‘Why WOULDN’T you!?’.

Such a beautiful place to sit and relax in the shade, watching the animals and having some lunch. Every time I’ve been, there has only been a handful of visitors, you’re not fighting to see the animals or to find a spot on a bench. The animals are well looked after and the enclosures are constantly maintained; You can see that the staff truly care about the animals and enjoy their job.

It’s definitely one of my favourite Hong Kong spots (and it’s free!).

I have another half day tomorrow.. I wonder where I’ll go!

ALL WORK AND NO PLAY = very boring blog.

It’s very nearly been a whole year since I flew over to Hong Kong for the first time and I must say I’ve becoming slightly lazy with keeping this blog up to date. Unfortunately, life sometimes gets in the way of fun and you just end up plodding along for a little while and not experiencing new blogworthy things. That has definitely been the case for Paul and I recently as we’ve had work and personal issues to deal with. After spending a whole day on the couch yesterday (Sunday) doing a grand total of nothing I’ve come back to my senses and realised we ought to make the most of our lucky little selves as time flies so fast and who knows how long we’ll be in this glorious country for. One year for Paul went super fast and for me it’s gone super duper fast and we’ve done a helluva lot of new things, been to new places and met an absolutely huge amount of new great people.

I’m not saying we’ve done NOTHING at all for the past couple of months, we’ve had our fair share of amazing food, nights out, shopping trips and general days out and about but what I mean is I’ve had nothing super interesting to write about.

An interesting thing that is about to happen is that it’s almost time for us to pack our cardboard boxes up and move to somewhere else in HK! So I’ve been frantically searching for a new location for us to explore as, as much as I love Happy Valley, it would be nice to live closer to an MTR station and have a better kitchen (we literally are both dreaming of a better kitchen).

One other interesting thing that’s going to happen is my lovely friend over at Hong Kong A Teacher Abroad will very very soon be flying out and I will get to meet the girl who I’ve been talking to for the last 5 months! Super excited to welcome her to this great place! I always enjoy writing this blog and always maintain that it’s purely for myself and any other friends and family to read and keep up with our adventures (when we’re having them) but it’s been really awesome actually making a friend through it.

Well, that’s all, just wanted to post an update and breath a bit of air into this dying horse. Here are some random photos from the last month.. they are truly a mish mash.

My Hong Kong adventures will resume shortly. I promise.

SHE ALWAYS IN THE AIR BUT SHE NEVER FLY COACH

At home, messy bedroom as usual!

Looking tired at the airport at 3.30am zzz.

Trying to look awake, waiting to board O_O

I’m currently back in England for a very short time with some family business. I’m having very mixed emotions about being back at home, literally on every point I can think of.. It’s amazing to see, first and foremost, my dogs and obviously also amazing to see the people I call my family and friends, however I’m missing Paul something drastic! I’m happy to have some respite from the over populated, highly polluted city streets of Hong Kong, but I’m so eager to get back in and amongst it all, I’ve recently realised the act of barging people out of the way on the MTR is my version of therapy. I thought I’d enjoy being in the UK during Summer, to get away from the humidity, however I’d rather take humidity over the piercing cold wind that has been raging through our back garden the past few days!

An actual mojito on a plane!

Twin peaks whilst having dinner..

I’m sure the good outweighs the bad really, I just like an excuse to complain. The thing is, if I didn’t travel back to England on my own I wouldn’t have had the chance to write about the outrageous experience of getting upgraded to business class by Emirates (my number one favouritest airline :D). I have no idea how I managed to get it, it’s most likely just plain good luck mixed with the fact I cheekily asked the check in lady for a free upgrade (she said no) but I’m going to say it’s all down to the power of positive thinking and wanting it BADLY.

I did the things the websites told me off the Google. I dressed somewhat smart, I waited as long as I could before joining the check in queue, I asked for an upgrade and I also made sure my Emirates Skywards card was linked to my booking and somehow it worked. Upon boarding my second flight – Dubai to Manchester – the scanny bleepy machine bleeped as my boarding pass was scanned and I heard those delightful words ‘Ms Allen, you’ve been upgraded!’ and off I hopped taking the stairs to the top deck of the plane two at a time, grinning at all the staff whilst they looked back at me knowing that there is no chance in hell I paid for business class.

Feet up!

I was treated like the Princess that I was born to be, I was offered champagne, cocktails, wine and I drank them all. All of them. I was served arabian food and loin of lamb and then I tucked myself into my massaging seat which, with the touch of a button, converted into a massaging bed and a lovely sleep I had. When I woke up, with a hangover, I ordered my pre-landing snacks and watched some ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ with my noise cancelling complimentary headphones. My personal attendant, as I choose to call him, brought me a mint tea to sooth my post wine/champagne/mojito belly and I settled down for a bit more of a snooze before landing where I disembarked before all the riff raff who were seated in economy. I’m well and truly spoilt when it comes to my future flights.

Pikachu!!!!!

There is nothing at all I could fault Emirates on, and even if there was I wouldn’t blog about it as I wouldn’t want to harm my  chances of a free upgrade in the future – All I’ll say is keep them coming and I’ll keep the good reviews coming (as if anyone who reads my blog can afford Emirates business class pft).

I fly home in a few days and I’m keeping my positive thinking cap on in hopes that I’m upgraded again – on both flights. To first class.

Well, I’ll continue making the most of my time in the UK and I promise next time to arrange my images in a much more tidy way as this post is atrocious.

A lovely sunset from my bedroom window.

Cheers!

MALAYSIA PART ONE – found footage.

It was my birthday a couple of weeks ago and Paul got me a gopro! I’ve wanted one for a while so my birthday plus our trip to Malaysia made for the perfect time to get one I guess.

So, despite the fact I’ve not been base jumping, skiing, white water rafting or even just cycling, please enjoy my video of one of our days in Malaysia!

(I’m still getting used to the software, so the sped up parts are too sped up but there’s not a great deal to see anyway!)

Lazy blogger is lazy, I’ll write soon.

Sarah