I went to Algeria...

Even though I went to Algeria, I didn't see much.

I went to Algeria with Donna's colleague John. I wish I had a passport - then I would have had it stamped! But instead, John left home at 4 in the morning, brought me with him to the airport to catch our flight to Algiers, we went to a few meetings, and then came home. It was a long day - the flight there is about 3 hours, and there and back all in one day is hard.

A lot of people say that Algeria is a scary place and dangerous.

I didn't think so. Donna has also been to Algiers - she liked it a lot there.

Algeria is located in the northern part of Africa. They speak French and Arabic in Algeria. My French is getting better, after going to lessons with Donna, but I don't speak Arabic! I wish I did! The sounds are very interesting.

People have lived in Algeria since 10,000 BC, when the Berbers inhabited the region. Berbers still live in Algeria even today. The French colonised Algeria in about 1830, and then Algeria became independent in 1958. That means that there is a bit of a love hate relationship with France. Algeria had a civil war from 1992 until 2002, since then it has been relatively peaceful, but there is a big conflict there still between the people who want to have Islamic political rule, and the people who do not think government should be ruled by religion.

Even though there is a bit of danger there, Algeria is a really beautiful country. It is the northern part of the Sahara, and it has mountains, sea, and desert. Over 33 million people live in Algeria. Energy (oil and gas) are a major part of the economy.

My trip to Aldeburgh

At the end of March I got to go to Aldeburgh, which is in Suffolk County on the East Coast of England. It is on the map with the red dot.

The great thing about going to Aldeburgh is that it means you can walk along the sea. The seaside in England is pretty, but cold. And the beach at Aldeburgh does not have sand - it has stones, or shingles. It also has lots of flowers, grass and birds. In the 1500s Aldeburgh was one of the main ports in the UK, but now it is just a nice seaside town to visit.

Here is a picture of me walking along the beach. In the background is a sculpture of a scallop. This was sculpted by Maggi Hambling, who is a famous British artist. It has been on the beach since 2003, and is dedicated to Benjamin Britten, one of the most famous composers from the UK, who lived in Aldeburgh.

Behind me in this picture is the Moot Hall, in Aldeburgh. It was built in 1650, and has been used for town meetings ever since. It is built from timber, so it is amazing that it is still standing!



A trip to Aldeburgh is not complete without a stop by the Cross Keys, one of Donna's husband's favourite pubs. His grandfather used to come here too! I am picture with an old-fashioned cask of gin. But I did not drink any alcohol. I just enjoyed the atmosphere!

I met Richard Corrigan!

This evening I went out with Donna and her work colleagues in central London. We met up with the guys who I met in Yemen - Jean-Pierre and Olivier! The world is really a small place!

Here is a photo of me at Piccadilly Circus. You can see the famous lights and the underground sign in the background.

We went to dinner at Bentley's, which is a very traditional British seafood restaurant. Jean-Pierre said he has been going to Bentley's for over 20 years now!

http://www.bentleys.org/

Bentley's is now run by Richard Corrigan. He is a famous chef in the UK, who is originally from Ireland. He is often on TV, and his restaurants are very well known. He is especially well known for his fresh food from the British islands, and good quality ingredients. The oysters at Bentley's are particularly famous. So is the fish pie.

Here is a picture of me with Richard Corrigan! I was so excited as this is the first famous person who I have been able to take a photo with! He won the London Chef of the Year award in 2006, and has even cooked for the Queen (Queen Elizabeth II that is)! He was a very nice person and was delighted to help out with Hamish's school project!

My weekend of culture!

This past weekend I got to enjoy some of what makes London so great - culture!

On Friday night I went to see Doctor Atomic. Doctor Atomic is a modern opera about the making of the first nuclear bomb. It was performed by the English National Opera, which means that it was sung in English. It was pretty cool, the special effects and video screens were really fun to watch too. The music was a little too modern (no real songs, more like screeching!) for my taste though.

On Sunday I went to the exhibit of Le Corbusier, a French architect. This was shown at The Barbican. It was a great way to spend a Sunday. They had all the designs and models from his many buildings, and they also had the artwork that inspired him, and the furniture he designed too. I really enjoyed it.

My trip to Borough Market

Today I went to Borough Market. This is the big food market in London, where people can buy really great quality fruit, vegetables and meat. They also have a lot of speciality producers at the market, including people from France and all over the UK.

Lots of tourists go to the Market, as it is famous especially within the UK. On the Food TV Network, they feature the market in the programme "Market Kitchen", which you can read about by clicking onto the link below - they have great recipes on that programme!

http://uktv.co.uk/food/homepage/sid/6136

We bought nice food for the weekend meals at the market, and then enjoyed a bit of lunch. I am really enjoying my time with Hamish's mom's friend and her work colleagues!

Beijing or Bust!

I arrived in Beijing on Monday the 3rd, after a busy but fun weekend in Seoul, South Korea.

Beijing is the capital city of the People's Republic of China. It was also the host city for the 2008 summer Olympics.

China is one of the world's oldest countries - you can actually trace its history for about 6000 years! It also has one of the oldest written languages. They use Chinese characters, completely different from the English / Roman alphabet. There are about 1.3 billion people who live in China. Beijing is China's second largest city (the largest city is Shanghai) and it has a population of about 18 million people.

Some things in Beijiing are very familiar! Here is a picture of me at the Beijing Airport Pizza Hut!

We stayed at the China World Shangri-La Hotel, in the Central Business District. As it was a work trip, I did not have much time to sightsee, but I did enjoy the nice hotel!

On Wednesday the guys finished their meetings early, so I was able to go to the Park. We went to the Temple of Heaven Park (Ten Tian Do). It is a park that was built in 1420, in the Ming Dynasty. The temple was built to honour the gods, also as the Chinese Emperor was called the Son of Heaven, it was his way to honour his ancestors. They made regular sacrifices at the temple.

Here is the circular main altar of the temple. It was very impressive.

I also had a chance to see the oldest tree in Beijing (at least that is what they say!) - it was more than 500 years old!

My adventures in Korea

I arrived in South Korea on March 1st, at 6 pm. Bum-Hee took me along to meet his family in Seoul. This is a picture of me at Inchon airport.

We went to his sister's house - she has an amazing garden. Here is a photo of me with some traditional Korean ceramics. They were originally used to hold soybean paste or red pepper pastes (sauces for Korean cooking) but now they are used for plants.

I also had the chance to see a Korean garden. Here I am pictured with orchids. They were amazing! Unlike other orchids, Korean orchids have a great smell, kind of like roses but different.