Ho Ho Ho!!

It's Christmas time in Shanghai. I didn't know that they celebrated Christmas in China, but they do… at least he shops and restaurants do. Myh first exposure was last weekend when I went to get a pizza from Pizza Hut. I know, I know, all these great places to eat and I end up in Pizza Hut – well, it's close, I was tired, and I like the pizzas. Anyway, all the staff were dressed up in Santa outfits and there was Christmas music playing – there was even a Christmas pizza! I've been out and about in Shanghai today and was amazed by the number of Christmas trees in public places – some of them very high tech, as you would expect here. Christine and her boyfriend came round last weekend, and I put them to work putting up my Christmas tree – first time they'd decorated a tree!!! It's on full view of all the skyscrapers round about – and of course the cathedral!!

Last Friday night I was out being sociable. Angie had signed me up with a membership of the Australian Women's Social Group, and they were having a get-together last Friday. I walked in and looked around trying to work out who were the Australian women. I got it wrong, but got invited to join a birthday party anyway. I said I would if I didn't find the Australians – but I did find them in the end. I met some nice folks – including a couple who'd just come back from an adventure-filled trip to Tibet. Sounds like a challenging place to go. The bloke had been all over Asia, and this was the first time he'd got ill. He must have eaten something that didn't agree with him (yak, probably, as that was all there was to eat!) and the altitude didn't help. Lhasa is fine for backpacking, but there's nothing posher than that! After a couple of glasses of wine they invited me to join them for something to eat. We ended up in a pub! A real genuine-looking Irish pub! The food was good, the décor traditional-pub-like and a good atmosphere. Yes, I went to the pub on a Friday night – I've not done that in a long, long time! I'll be back! It did mean I was out late though – I was in the taxi home at 10:45 (which is really late when you get up before 6!) and we drove past a hairdresser's – they were still open. In fact, all of the hairdresser's we passed were still open! Not like Scotland then…

I had a go at cooking Chinese this week. I got out my wok (which I'd bought in Scotland, then taken to Russia and is now in China) and had a go with some of the ingredients I'd found in the supermarket. I had some pork in chilli black bean sauce. I tasted the sauce before I cooked it, and it was so hot my lips swelled up! It was fine after I'd cooked it though – thankfully! Then I did some vegetables in oyster sauce with garlic and ginger. Yum!! The greatest thing is my cooker. The gas rings are so much more powerful than back home. There are 2 sets of jets, and the pressure seems much higher. The stuff cooked in no time at all – just like proper stir-fry should be. There are a quite a few ingredients that I can't read. I'll wait until next year to give them a go.

I was heading off to the metro the other morning, and saw a moped drive by. There was half a pig draped over the back of the seat, as casual as you like. I had to look a few times – it wasn't even 7 o'clock yet, and I wasn't sure my eyes were open, but yes, it was there. Shame I was too slow to get my camera out though!

I went out Christmas shopping today, but before I could buy anything for anybody else, a dragon jumped into my bag and demanded that I take him home. So the dragon collection has started … Shame I can't do the photo thing – but look back next week for lots of photos!!

Boxes, boxes and more boxes

Why do I have so much stuff? Where am I meant to put it all? Hmmm. The great thing is that all my clothes have arrived. I was getting really, really bored of wearing the same things all the time. The down-side to all my clothes getting here is that they all need washed, and dried, and ironed. As the weather has got chillier, it takes much longer for things to dry – so I now have first hand experience of what it's like to stay in a Chinese laundry!! Who knew I had so many clothes??? Why do I like to iron everything? I've watched a good few films as I've turned my ironing mountain into a foothill (even with my shrimp-sized ironing board!) – and not everything is washed yet…..

 I attacked the bathroom boxes earlier in the week, and had to laugh at myself. I sorted all the toiletries into piles, and discovered that I had 16 different types of shampoo. I believe that you shouldn't keep using the same shampoo, but that's just taking it too far, Rhona. There were shampoos in English, French, Russian and Chinese (I think the French stuff was just being posh in Russia). The biggest laugh of all was on Friday. Everybody in the factory got a present – 2 bars of soap, shower gel – and SHAMPOO!! I'm up at 17 different kinds now!! Guess what I don't need for Christmas.

I have a water distributor in the kitchen for drinking water, and I'd get a bottle of water (22 litres) the day I moved in. It cost me just over £1, but it tasted horrible. I decided that I would move up a grade when it ran out. It ran out last Saturday afternoon. No problem. I'd been told what to do. I phoned down to reception to ask them to bring me up a new bottle. That was where the trouble started. I tried in my best Chinese – no success other than understanding I wanted water; my most simple English, hmm, not much further forward. A while later somebody with a bit better English asked me how much I paid for the water. That was too complicated. I tried to ask what the prices were, but that didn't work. They hung up on me. OK, charades it has to be. So I got in the lift with my empty bottle of water, and went to see about getting some drinkable water. I didn't know how easy I had it in Scotland, just turn on the tap and out pours lovely tasting water. Down in reception we have a bit of a conference, with lots of people being involved. Eventually they understand that I don't want the same kind of water as I've just finished (they even understood that I thought it tasted bad), but am more than happy to pay more for the next quality. 5 minutes later, the water arrives at the door, and I pay my £2. It's much better tasting, but I still screw up my face at the first mouthful of the glass.

Mum's booked me in to get an eye test when I'm home at Christmas. No, I wasn't joking about this getting older lark. She had a bit of a laugh when she made the appointment though. She'd explained the problem to the receptionist, and then the optician asked what the problem was, the reply – the trombone effect!! Just 'cos I feel that I have to hold my book a bit further away than I used to …….. Cheek! I pass some time on the metro to work deciding what type of specs I'll get, if I need them. There are 19 people in my office, and all but 4 of us are under 30 – and 17 of us wear specs (that may increase to 18 after my visit to the opticians…). So why do I think I need a specs test. I think I mentioned that I had to have a very thorough medical by the Chinese government before they would issue me with a work permit. During the medical, I had to have an eye test. When I got as far down the page as I could go, I said that was it. The doctor said 'Really??' That of course made me all sensitive. I used to wear specs for reading for a few years at school. When the optician told me I didn't need them any more, he did say I would be fine until I was 40. Guess what!! I'm 40. I have noticed that my reading position has changed too. I had the chance to give myself an eye-test one time I was out shopping with Christine. She was seeing about contact lenses, so was blethering to one of the assistants. I'd looked at all the sun-specs and decided I didn't need a new pair (I'd stocked up in Florida last year, and haven't lost them….yet!), so was looking for a distraction. I saw there was a booth with an eye-test, and decided to have a go. Problem was, you had to look in the mirror to get the correct distance, and I couldn't do that without going and sitting in the chair. So, I counted the number of floor tiles, doubled it and then went and stood that distance away. I tried one eye, and then the other, and seemed to get on fine. I couldn't do the bottom row, but the rest were fine. Maybe I don't have a problem. Anyway, after my test I looked up to find almost everybody in the shop laughing at me. Glad I was able to lighten their day. Need to see how I get on with a proper optician now. Do I really have trombone syndrome?