Thursday Thought

Tuesday Tune: Sleeping At Last cover of I'm Gonna Be (500 miles)

I know this song. You know this song. We all know this song.

Our parents play it at parties. We play it at parties. We screamed it underage in bars with bad Scottish accents and I have seen many an inebriated rugby team version.

And then this version came on. And it's soft and subtle, and suddenly you're like "oh, this song is quite sweet" and I tried to sing it to Blue Eyes but it just didn't sound as genuine. Enjoy x

Emmy Nominations 2015

Outstanding Drama Series

- Better Call Saul

- Downton Abbey

- Game of Thrones

- Homeland

- House of Cards

- Mad Men

- Orange is the New Black

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series

- Taraji P. Henson as Cookie Lyon, Empire

- Claire Danes as Carrie Mathison, Homeland

- Robin Wright as Claire Underwood, House of Cards

- Viola Davis as Annalise Keating, How To Get Away With Murder

- Elisabeth Moss as Peggy Olson, Mad Men

- Tatiana Maslany as basically everyone, Orphan Black

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series

- Bob Odenkirk as Jimmy McGill, Better Call Saul

- Kyle Chandler as John Rayburn, Bloodline

- Kevin Spacey as Francis Underwood, House of Cards

- Jon Hamm as Don Draper, Mad Men

- Liev Schreiber as Ray Donovan, Ray Donovan

- Jeff Daniels as Will McAvoy, The Newsroom

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

- Joanne Froggat as Anna Bates, Downton Abbey

- Lena Headey as Cersei Lannister, Game of Thrones

- Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen, Game of Thrones

- Christina Hendricks as Joan Harris, Mad Men

- Uzo Aduba as Suzanne 'Crazy Eyes' Warren, Orange is the New Black

- Christine Baranski as Diane Lockhart, The Good Wife

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

- Jonathan Banks as Mike Erhmantraut, Better Call Saul

- Ben Mendelsohn as Danny Rayburn, Bloodline

- Jim Carter as Mr Carson, Downton Abbey

- Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister, Game of Thrones

- Michael Kelly as Doug Stamper, House of Cards

- Alan Cumming as Eli Gold, The Good Wife

Outstanding Comedy Series

- Louie

- Modern Family

- Parks and Recreation

- Silicon Valley

- Transparent

- The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

- Veep

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series

- Lily Tomlin as Frankie, Grace and Frankie

- Amy Schumer as Amy, Inside Amy Schumer

- Edie Falco as Jackie Peyton, Nurse Jackie

- Amy Poehler as Leslie Knope, Parks and Recreation

- Lisa Kudrow as Valerie Cherish, The Comeback

- Julia Louis-Dreyfus as President Selina Meyer, Veep

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series

- Anthony Anderson as Andre Johnson, black-ish

- Matt LeBlanc as Matt LeBlanc, Episodes

- Don Cheadle as Marty Kaan, House of Lies

- Louis C,K. as Louie, Louie

- William H. Macy as Frank Gallagher, Shameless

- Will Forte as Phil Miller. The Last Man on Earth

- Jeffrey Tambor as Maura Pfefferman, Transparent

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series

- Niecy Nash as Denise 'Didi' Ortley, Getting on

- Julie Bowen as Claire Dunphy, Modern Family

- Allison Janney as Bonnie, Mom

- Kate McKinnon as various characters, Saturday Night Live

- Mayim Bialik as Amy Farrah Fowler, Big Bang Theory

- Gaby Hoffman as Ali Pfefferman, Transparent

- Jane Krakowski as Jacqueline Voorhees, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

- Anna Chlumsky as Amy Brookheimer, Veep

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

- Andre Braugher as Captain Ray Holt, Brooklyn Nine Nine

- Adam Driver as Adam Sackler, Girls

- Keegan-Michael Key as various characters, Key & Peele

- Ty Burrell as Phil Dunphy, Modern Family

- Tituss Burgess as Titus Andromedon, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

- Tony Hale as Gary Walsh, Veep

An Afternoon in Coloane, Macau

Sometimes one must wander alone (also sometimes one must leave the country briefly for visa reasons but that is neither here nor there). I had a delightful little solo adventure to the village of Coloane in south Macau. It is the quaintest of places, which is awfully refreshing to find in a 'country' that is the island version of Las Vegas. (Macau, like Hong Kong, is a Special Administrative Region of China so sort of it's own country but also really not, technically).

It's a 50min ferry between the two SARs, with a trip there and back costing around HKD300, midday midweek tickets being the cheapest. When you get to the Macau Ferry Terminal in Sheung Wan, HK there will always be someone standing near the ticket office selling slightly reduced tickets for the next departing ferry ride. So you really don't have to bother planning ahead with your ticket booking although you may end up running to the ferry. Immigration is a fairly quick process usually, visitors will take longer than HK residents who can just swipe through with their HKID cards. Hint: Always pack a jersey and maybe even socks for the ferry ride, whoever is in charge of the air-conditioning is rather very enthusiastic.

For this little adventure, I google mapped my route in Hong Kong before leaving, no roaming charges for me. Afternoons by oneself are all the more pleasant with no buzzing notifications, emails that always turn out to be from Groupon or the stream of (lately very depressing) news articles that hit mid-afternoon from my six hours behind homeland. I pressed pause. I had a day away. It was quiet and delightful.

From the ferry terminal in Macau, I hopped on the 32 bus towards Macao Tower. It seems one must make quite the effort to hail down the bus, even if standing diligently at the correct stop. Although Macau has it's own currency from Hong Kong, it is perfectly acceptable to use HKD coins on the public transport (and to pay in HKD in general, although you should expect change in MOP). I went 6 stops and alighted at Praca Ferreira Amaral, which seems a central exchange bus stop. From there I got on the 25 towards Hac SA Beach and went 20 stops to Coloane Village.

The village is bright and crumbling but somehow never seeming run down, just full of character. One can hire bicycles and there's a promenade along the harbour and fascinating little side streets that you are sure hold many secret memories. I chose to just meander along, my Lonely Planet guide in hand (such a tourist). The main sites to see include the yellow Chapel of St Francis, built in 1928 which sits behind a fountain and monument commemorating the final routing of pirates in 1910. There's also the Coloane library and some beautiful temples.

After my stroll I popped into Lord Stowe's Cafe for some pomegranate tea and to try their famous pasteis de nata (egg tart). I sat in the corner by a window with my book, I was brought more hot water for my tea without even having to ask and the tart was a perfect afternoon nibble. Today has been a wonderful day I think.

And then I get back on the 25 to Praca Ferreira Amaral, which from there one can take any of the 3 3A 10A 10B 12 to the ferry terminal, and then it's back on boat and hello Hong Kong before you know it. 

Air New Zealand Safety Video

Just New Zealand winning at safety videos...

Chanel No5 The One That I Want

Chanel's short films are worth your undying love.
And what could possibly be more beautiful and glamorous than a Baz Lurhmann vision starring Giselle? 

Thursday Thought