Hello everyone How embarrassing! I don't know which state San Francisco is in and I'm too embarrassed to ask anyone here so you have a picture of New York at at the moment until I can change it! Well, this has to be my favourite city so far and we've been exploring it a little today. First stop was a street car ride to Pier 41 at Fisherman's Wharf to catch the ferry to Alcatraz - such an interesting visit. We had an audio tour; I had my picture taken in one...

I have walked MILES AND MILES in the last few days and my legs are aching so much! It's 11.30pm here in Tokyo as I write and, for those of you who know me well, it's long past my bedtime! But I'm committed to keeping you all updated so here goes: we bought a one-day travel card for the Tokyo metro today (about 5 pounds) and spend the day hopping on and off the underground seeing as many sights as we could pack into one day. First stop - the Imperial Palace i...

Hello everyone It is 9.10pm in Tokyo and I am using a very strange Japanese keyboard so forgive any errors! We are now 9 hours ahead of you, which means you are probably all thinking about tucking into your Sunday lunches right now! I was up at 5am this morning and a bus transferred us to Hong Kong airport where our plane was delayed due to engine problems - which didn't inspire confidence! It was pouring with rain and our take-off was a bit hairy, with some...

Hello everyone Travelled to Shenzen by overnight train on Wednesday and arrived in Hong Kong Thursday lunch time - over 20 hours travelling. We had to go through immigration at the railway stations, filling out departure cards for China and arrival cards for Hong Kong. First night spent in a very nice hotel which has 22 floors! All the buildings are high here (I was on the seventh). We had our final meal together in the evening at an Indian restaurant and t...

Not quite in Hong Kong yet, but heading there tomorrow by overnight train. I rose to the challenge and went cycling today - first time on a mountain bike and I needed it for the rough terrain. The weather was kind to us. Although it was still very hot, it was overcast for most of the day, which I was grateful for. The first ten minutes of the journey was on the roads out of the town - very scary with trucks and cars and mopeds and other bicycles all around me...