thebrunners.com

Where have I been?

noreply@blogger.com (thebrunners) — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 18:02:00 +0000

Well, I guess things kind of got on top of me starting a new job, moving back in to our house, having a 20 foot container full of boxes turn up and having to get out for some golf, it's all a lot to deal with!

I am currently sitting in a lounge at Paddington Station in London waiting for a train to Swansea to go and join my girls for the weekend. It has been nearly 2 weeks since I have seen them and I cannot wait until I do.

Things are chugging along nicely at the moment, work going well with lots of productive stuff to be getting on with, just about too much at times and none of it made up to look busy, I think! I have been issued with a 12 handicap at the golf club which will probably mean I win nothing for about a year the way I am hitting balls at the moment. But it is about being out there, having fun and meeting people so what can I say.

We have hit the start of the birthday season in our family as well, part of the reason I love the end of the year so much, so many parties to shell out for...!

Looking forward to a result for the All Blacks tomorrow, surely we are good enough to take Aussie down, they have nothing and we have our Diamond back! Fingers crossed and it would rub salt in the wound if England won the Cricket as well so for once, I will cheer for England, but only once! Hurah!

One Life, Live It

noreply@blogger.com (thebrunners) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:28:00 +0000

Today I picked up my new station car, I could not resist the temptation and got a 1996 Land Rover Discovery. Exactly the same colour as the one we had previously only this time I went for the Diesel and not the V8.

I have bought this as a bit of an ongoing project. It runs perfectly well as it is but I will be looking to set it up to be out green laning on the weekends which the girls are looking forward to doing again. From the chat I had with our friends form the club they have been all over the UK on all kinds of holidays seeing parts of the UK very few people get to.

A Busy Week

noreply@blogger.com (thebrunners) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 06:01:00 +0000

Last week was busy but some good results came out of it. I all but have work secured (just have contracts to sign yet), the garden is coming along, the BBQ is in the garden, the girls have a school and I should be picking up my station car today after sorting it last week.

I'll write more on this soon but wanted to post a quick update...

Life in the Garden

noreply@blogger.com (thebrunners) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 09:14:00 +0000

We got back to a very overgrown and tired looking garden but there was definite signs of life there. After clearing an awful lot of thistles and a few still to go it is already looking a bit fresher and we found some pretty clear signs of life. The Kiwifruit vine that we planted about a year before we left for Hong Kong has kept growing well and we actually have the first signs of it bearing fruit, this is actually very exciting...(sad but true)

I also notice a nest in our Honeysuckle that is growing on the Trellis. I expected that this was an old nest but several times I saw an adult bird fly to the fence with worms in it's mouth and then on to climb into the honey suckle. I lifted the girls up on my shoulders and they both said that they could see small birds in the nest. I got one of our patio chairs and stood on it to get a view. There were indeed some birds in there. This caused a lot of excitement amongst our younger family members.

Back from Wales

noreply@blogger.com (thebrunners) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 04:01:00 +0000

The video below was taken from inside the house at 4:30am this morning. Why am I up? Who knows..but I could not get back to sleep so decided to go mad.

We got back from Wales on Wednesday. We had planned around me coming back first and Catherine and the girls following but Catherine managed to chase up a few schools and it all made sense for us to come back together. I was happy with that as it meant I did not have to fight my way home on public transport from dropping off the rental car.

I played a round of golf on Wednesday at Machynys which ended up being a much to real UK Links golf experience. The forecast had been bad and getting to the club there was a definite darkening cloud cover but no rain.

It started on the first tee, a few drops but it was not going to stop us. I had my waterproofs out after they had enjoyed a much earned rest over the last 2 years so a bit of rain was not going to bother me. It got worse and worse and never really go any better. I was reminded how cold it can be in the summer when it rains here.

The golf was really enjoyable though and although we came off after 15 holes when the wind and rain all just got a bit much I had my 30 points in the bag and had just missed 2 birdie opportunities, one of which include 2 unbelievably fantastic shots playing across and into the gale. I manage to reach the green side bunker in 2 and the shot out of the bunker was just about perfect. Unfortunately the 4 foot putt for Birdie proved a little too much!

I am out on the course again today at my old club playing in the guest day. If I can play anywhere near as well as I have the last few rounds I should be able to put together a decent score but this is golf and we will have to wait and see.

Next week the holiday is over and the Job Search starts in earnest. I have a couple of appointments set up in London and will be trawling the net for anything that looks suitable. I am still confident I will find something even in the short term and that things will just work out. They always have for the last 15 years so why should it change now.

Golf in Sensible Temperatures

noreply@blogger.com (thebrunners) — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 18:06:00 +0000

I played in my first competitive round of golf in over 2 years today at Coed Y Mwstwr Golf Club in Bridgend, Wales. It was a great day for golf with temperature in the Mid 20's and a nice gentle breeze blowing the entire round.

The golf was not so good but playing off my previous 13 handicap on a course I had never played before and probably totalling less than 10 rounds of golf in the last 2 1/2 years I was pretty happy coming in with 25 points and I am pretty comfortable that if i play on a course I do know I should be able to score relatively well if I can perform like today.

Catherine and the Girls walked through the farmers fields to the river where Alys was keen to go for a swim but that will have to wait. It sounds like they had a great time and the excitement for the cows coming into the fields tomorrow has been growing for a while. The girls can't wait to see the field full of cows.

Better Weather

noreply@blogger.com (thebrunners) — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 06:18:00 +0000

The weather has improved. Yesterday I was sitting outside watching the girls play in the garden in glorious sunshine. I had forgotten what it feels like to sit outside in the sunshine and not have sweat pouring out of your pores soaking your clothes.

We went to dinner at a pub in Felinfoel which is close to Catherine's parents house for Joyce's 70th. It was a good night and Joyce had not expected everyone to be there that was there. It was great to see the surprise on her face and it really was a nice night out.

I am out golfing today with a family friend. He used to work for Ford so I we are attending the Ford Golf day at a golf club in Bridge end. I am looking forward to my first round of competitive golf in a couple of years.

I am back on with pictures you will notice. There are also some updates in the gallery. Click Here to see.

A Decent Drive

noreply@blogger.com (thebrunners) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 16:33:00 +0000

Firstly, sorry for the lack of pictures recently, just got a couple of hardware issues that need sorting and we will be back in action, soon!

We decided we would head out to Wales on Thursday after our white goods had been delivered to us. It was an interesting day as we also found out that there would be very little chance of getting a car in our budget in Wales which we had hoped for so we decided to speed the process of buying a car through.

We did a lot of searching, we were tempted by a very nice SAAB which was over budget but only 2 years old. We did some research and it was a good price but I was a little uncomfortable with the price. The guy would not move on it much so I looked at other options. We ended up going for a Volvo V70 which was a fair bit under budget and although very high mileage it had a good service history and looks to have been cared for. With a Volvo it is a risk I decided was worth taking. We are now the proud owners of yet another Volvo.

The drive to Wales was great from all aspects. Traffic was pretty quiet most of the way and just being able to drive for 4+ hours in one go was excellent. There was the most incredible red sky sunset I have seen in a long time and considering we were driving west we really got the best view. It blew me away that at 10pm there was still enough daylight to see rolling green country side for miles.

Being in Wales I really notice the good side of being back in the UK. The air is so fresh (although a little crisp) and the kids can run riot on open fields and in big gardens everywhere we visit. Alys has never really experienced this and she is just loving it. She spends most of her time by the door say "side". They made 2 trips to the playground today and have just been running around non stop...hopefully they sleep well when the time comes.

The Jet lag is gone, a good effort but we are all back into a normal sleeping routine. The only thing still missing is the car seat and we have been told by Cathay Pacific that we can buy a replacement and they will reimburse this for us as well as refunding the expense of renting a car seat. It's a good thing as the Car seat was not the smallest investment ever made!

I'm off to get a Curry from the India tonight....must start running again soon!!

Back in the UK

noreply@blogger.com (thebrunners) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 06:35:00 +0000

We made it. After a dinner at Jaspas in Sai Kung and a very wet trip to the airport we were ready to go. The flight although long was smooth and the kids behaved and slept like angels.

We landed in London and to the great British rain and it was COLD. 12.5 degrees according to the car which after Hong Kong feels pretty cold.

We got back to the house and were actually pretty happy with how things looked other than the Garden. Our first day was pretty productive, by the end of it we had a washing machine, fridge, dishwasher and sorted a few other bits and pieces.

The sleep routine is still pretty much back in order for all of us although the daylight after 9pm and before 5am is something we have to get used to all over again.

We are off to Wales today for a 70th Birthday, hopefully I will have a bit more time to catch up and finally switch this to the new blog.....

It's Getting Closer

noreply@blogger.com (thebrunners) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 06:39:00 +0000

Well and truly counting down the days now. With less than a week to go and million still things to do I can hardly afford the time to be sitting in front of a PC typing up blog entries. But I am doing just that mainly because it is one of the few things that is keeping me sane at the moment.

I have been to places in Hong Kong in the last few days that I never thought I would see and don't mind if I don't see them again. The paperwork is now all done and we can leave knowing that nothing official will be missing for us and we won't be tracked down by the HKSAR Government in the UK.

We now have a home for Frankie and we have committed to taking Ci back to the UK with us. After getting her back it was just too much for us not to take her. She will follow after 6 months so if things change in the meantime at least she does not have to move twice. We have a great place for her to stay in the meantime with a loving family who already have a dog that Ci enjoys the company of.

The car is still the one thing that is annoying me. We have a solution and will not have to sell it at the massive discount I was worried we would have to sell it at which is good, all we need now is a buyer to come in a relatively short space of time, fingers crossed on that one.

Nothing else to update really, the girls are enjoying their last week at school, we are running around like mad people and still have acres of clothing, toys and other 'stuff' to go through over the next few days.....wish us luck.

DON'T MENTION THE CHIEFS!

5 Minutes

noreply@blogger.com (thebrunners) — Fri, 29 May 2009 03:37:00 +0000

A Long Walk

noreply@blogger.com (thebrunners) — Fri, 29 May 2009 02:53:00 +0000

Yesterday was a holiday in Hong Kong. I had agreed to walk Maclehose stage 1 and 2 with a couple of friends. I have walked this track before and I was surprised at how much it did actually take out of me as I was told it was flat prety much the whole way.....it is not!

We started at around 7:45 at the entrance to the country park under cloud cover. It had threatened to be either a very hot day or a very wet day but the conditions ended up being perfect for hiking. The cloud cover stayed the rain never fell and there was a nice breeze the whole way.

The first stage of the walk is a little tedious, it takes you around the road that circles the side of the High Island Reservoir. There are some good views but it is most nondescript and all on sealed road so ne real excitment.

One you get to the end of the road you walk up over the hill and you are confronted with the view of Long Ke beach which is the view above. It is a great view and the beach is just beautiful. There were only about 10 people on the beach.

After the beach you climb the mountain on the other end of it, if you open the photo and look carefully you should be able to make out the track heading up. It is a real slog up this Hill, it starts from sea level and goes up to 314m above with out a flat section in between. The last time I did this it took an incredibly long time but knowing what was coming and not having the sun beating down it was a lot faster this time round.

After this the route pretty much evens out until you get to the down hill to Sai Wan Beach. This is a great section of the track, you follow the coast after Sai Wan with a couple of good climbs and drops and then end up on Ham Tin Beach. From Ham Tin you go back inland. The first part of this is along a tidal area and we have to negotiate a couple of streams that were flooded and the bridges to cross them were under water, nothing dangerous though!

From there the walk to Pak Tam Au cover another 2 very decent climbs. We ran into a team of medics who were out walking the trail. One of our party who will remain nameless asked them what it is that they do and when they told him he proceeded to fall off the track into a stream....probably the single best piece of comedy timing I have ever seen. (I was concerned initially as it was a nasty fall) but we got a live example and the question was properly answered.
We got back to the road in pretty much 6 hours all 3 of us knackered and happy to see a taxi come by.

I will get some more pictures posted later today and get the link on here.

NOT SO NICE - SATURDAY

noreply@blogger.com (thebrunners) — Tue, 26 May 2009 14:41:00 +0000

Come on the Chiefs!

noreply@blogger.com (thebrunners) — Fri, 22 May 2009 13:09:00 +0000

What a game....well maybe not so much but the ending was so cool. I could have sworn we were going to lose it at the death. In all honesty what ever way that game went it was going to be fair.

I thought the Hurricanes were a bit absent for a lot of the game but not quite absent enough to let the Chiefs get away. Once they started firing I was worried and a 4 point buffer is just rubbish for a comfortable final few minutes.

Well done to both of the teams and especially the Chiefs. Now all those people who laughed at me when I wear my Chiefs Jersey can swing!!!

Fire Sale

noreply@blogger.com (thebrunners) — Fri, 22 May 2009 02:39:00 +0000

Folks, here it is thebrunners fire sale. We are looking to leave in the first 2 weeks of June so make a move as quick as you can.

thebrunners Fire Sale Website

Please spread the word as much as possible

Golf Swing

noreply@blogger.com (thebrunners) — Thu, 21 May 2009 02:08:00 +0000

This was my second shot on the Par 5 18th at Kau Sai Chau East Course.

4 Iron from 288 with wind behind....although I obviously thought I had made it I must have missed buy enough to roll to the bottom of a big hill at the side of the green.....must have been the back spin!

Busy Week

noreply@blogger.com (thebrunners) — Wed, 20 May 2009 05:57:00 +0000

Over a week since my last post, good effort it must mean I am busy elsewhere. This is pretty much true and amongst the fun I have managed to get several things up and running.

We are now very much in the process of moving back to the UK. Things are being finalised in Hong Kong and I am now looking forward to the challenges ahead. At this stage we may be putting our belongings in Storage in Hong Kong while we test the market and see if anything does come up in either NZ or Asia. I am not overly positive on the chances but anything could come from anywhere at this stage and I am sure something will come good.

I am in the process of setting up a website with all our belongings for sale and will post a link here once it is done. The car is the bain of my life yet again. We have a 100% buyer for it in the dealer that we bought our first car off but it will be a huge hit to take and I seriously need to look at taking the car back to the UK and what that means all round. If any one reading this is interested in a 7 seater Subaru Tribeca, 1 year old with 20,000 on the clock let me know, make me an offer...nothing can be as silly as what the dealer is offering and I would rather offer a good deal to some one then let the dealer profit from it.

Monday I was out playing the East Course at Kau Sai Chau. What a great course, it is long and it is pretty tough but great all the same. Lots of Risk/Reward holes, I played safe a few times and it didn't work, neither did going for it in most cases but it sure was more fun trying to make the carry. It cost me nearly as much in Golf Balls as green fees! I have posted some pictures on Picasa for those that are interested.

The big event since the last post is that we have got Ci (our Golden Retriever) back. That is a long story but the short version is some one found her walking around and took her in. They were in Sai Kung during the last week and noticed one of the posters we had put up and called us. I could not believe it when it was actually her! She has put on a few pounds and seems to have been well cared for, it is a massive relief.

noreply@blogger.com (thebrunners) — Mon, 18 May 2009 07:29:00 +0000

A Post will follow later!

Back to Work

noreply@blogger.com (thebrunners) — Tue, 12 May 2009 14:55:00 +0000

Well, for Catherine it is. I continue to enjoy the freedom of being made redundant and the joy of not having to go to the office everyday talking about when I am getting laid off and seeing all the excited faces. Today I left home at 8:50 to go to a meeting in town, sunroof and windows open, 27 degrees and just taking my time amongst all the people stressing to get to their offices. Once in town I sat down for a coffee, logged on, checked some news and my emails and then eventually pottered over to the office. It's great watching the rat race when you are not one of them.

It also became clear to me today that work will come my way again and most likely in the not too distant future. The longer I am in this predicament the better I feel about it. It's the break I was yearning and I have realised there are jobs out there that are so much more me than what I was doing.

Anyway, the weekend was a good one. Great weather and steaming temperatures. Saturday was a lazy morning around home followed by a swim and dinner at the club.

Sunday was mothers day. We made a visit to Disneyland which was a great day out for all. Catherine enjoyed the day out with the kids and we all had fun. The big girls rode Space Mountain for the first time which they both loved.

The play in the wet zone was the end of the stay, another Disney dress was required for the trip home and that always gets expensive when you have 3 young daughters....but hey, life is for living. I have posted some pics up on Picasa. Click HERE to see them.

We've been to see the Inland Revenue about our taxes to pay prior to leaving as it looks pretty likely we will be back in the UK in the very near future. A bit of a shock there and the number needs to be confirmed and paid in the next week to get everything in order for us but it all looks like it will be under control. The process has started, keep your eyes peeled if you are in Hong Kong for anything we will be selling, I will post details or links to details here soon.

One More Thing

noreply@blogger.com (thebrunners) — Fri, 08 May 2009 04:57:00 +0000

Typhoon/Cyclone/Hurricane season has started again!

What to do on a Sunny Day

noreply@blogger.com (thebrunners) — Fri, 08 May 2009 04:13:00 +0000

The Roller Coaster

noreply@blogger.com (thebrunners) — Fri, 08 May 2009 02:04:00 +0000

Well, Brunner life continues to be full of changes and uncertainty. Last Wednesday I got the message that I had been waiting for since the collapse of Lehman Brothers. I am surprised it went on as long as this. When you are a Client Service rep and you have no clients the job life has to be limited. So I was told my role has been eliminated and I am now a man of leisure....well a job seeker to be more exact.

So although I was expecting that day to ruin my life and plan and I love life in Hong Kong I suddenly decided that this might not be the worst thing that has ever happened.

Spending time with the kids has been great. I get to go to all the school events without having the feeling people think I am skiving work and I can put the kids on the bus in the morning and pick them up in the afternoon. I get to spend time with Catherine on her half days and I am in general less stressed. It has also made me realise that being in Hong Kong is not the be all and end all.

So we are now looking for work in Europe, Asia and New Zealand. We would love to stay in Hong Kong but we would be fine with leaving as well. The job market here is really bad at the moment so we are open for any location, it is a ll pretty exciting.

So the last week has been spent trying to look at options, playing golf, enjoying the sun, looking for work and so on. The only thing I have not actually managed yet is a sleep in and I don't fancy my chances. Not that I care, after spending the last 2 years getting up before 5:30 sleeping until 7am is actually a good start. I am sitting here now on the porch in glorious sunshine typing out a blog entry watching my youngest daughter chasing a spider. If I put the uncertain future aside for a moment things could not get much better.

Tee Time 08:42

noreply@blogger.com (thebrunners) — Mon, 04 May 2009 16:46:00 +0000

Tomorrow for the first time in what feels like ages I will be playing golf out at Kau Sai Chau. I tested the shoulder out again and it all seemed to work quite well so thought it would be worth giving it a go at a whole round. Hopefully the scoring is reasonable so that I don't do any unwanted damge.

I'll be on the KSC boat at 8am joining up with Shane and his colleague Stein. Should be a good day with 3 dcent golfers out, Shane probably gaurented to take the cash home but I will defo fight for it!

I'll update on the result tomorrow.

There are a couple of new albums on my Picasa. Still need to add the detail and these have previously been on our Mac website but feel free to take a look.

Singapore Zoo, Feb '08
Golden Hill Road, Jul '08
Tioman Island, Mar '08

Update on Ci

noreply@blogger.com (thebrunners) — Sun, 03 May 2009 00:04:00 +0000

We got a message while at the Wetland Park to say that the Lady who has found the dog that could potentially be Ci has recaptured the dog.

She has said she will take her to the vet on Monday to get the Microchip checked and will get back with the result of that.

Hong Kong Wetland Park, May 2nd 2009

noreply@blogger.com (thebrunners) — Sat, 02 May 2009 14:00:00 +0000

Go to Album

Today's plan had been to go ice skating in the morning first off and then head out to Yuen long in the very north of Hong Kong to meet up with some one who has found a Golden Retriever which is in a post a few days back. This plan was blown up when we got to Megabox for skating at the perfect time and there was an all day Ice Hockey tournament in progress.

The girls were upset and Nia was just not having it that she was not allowed to go skating but I managed to convince her this WAS the case and we got back into the car and headed off. It was too early to call about seeing the dog so we decided to go to the Wetland Park which had been on my agenda for this weekend anyway.

It's a great drive out to that part of the world, big quiet roads and with 30 degree heat we had the windows and sunroof open and the music blaring....only in remote spots will I play this music so loud and I won't go any further than that.

We got to the park and the guy before us got the last park. We were told to try again n about 2 hours, what is it with these people! We went and parked down the road and got a taxi back after a quick early lunch.

The girls enjoyed bits of the park, things like the Hides, the Crocodile and the Swamp Adventure Playground. Other than that though it was really just a walk on a prety hot day which went down quite well until nearly the end. I'll let the photos do the talking but the place was not exactly teeming with wildlife. Still I guess that proves it isn't commercial and it's nice to see hey have not figured out how to pay the animals to come yet!

It is agreat facility and it is so well set up I would definitely go for another look, probably not on a public holiday Saturday though.