Spring has sprung

The weather here has definitely improved, so I’m beginning to emerge from my winter sloth. I was feeling a bit brave last Saturday, and went over to the pool. I arrived and there were about 5 other people there. Not bad, but when you’re used to having the whole pool to yourself (as I was in Russia), it’s still a bit crowded. The worst bit was to come though. I was minding my own business, and swimming up and down quite calmly, when 20 10-year-old kids arrived!! Agghhh!! They were running about, jumping in, screaming their heads off, and generally behaving like 10 year-olds in a swimming pool. I am so not used to that!! I gamely carried on, but at one point, one of the kids swam into me, and bruised my ribs with their head. Grrrr!! Enough is enough, and I left. It turned out that it was a birthday party, so shouldn’t happen ever Saturday. I was tempted to go yesterday, but I wasn’t convinced……but I was good and went back a couple of times last week. I hope to go later on, but that depends if I’m still waiting…..

Still waiting for what?? Well, you see, the factory closes for 3 days at the beginning of May, so I have a few days holiday. As usual, my holiday grew arms and legs, and I’m now meeting Sheila in Las Vegas for a week!! It was another of those holidays that started of as a few days as the beach…… Ah well, maybe one day. Anyway. I need to get myself to Las Vegas. Easy, you would think, just book yourself a flight and you’re there. Hmmm that’s the hard part – I’m in China. I found a website to book flights, but the website wasn’t working. So I phoned the number, but had to phone during the day – so come Saturday, I’m all set. Well, it was so complicated. I had to speak to 4 different people, there were 3 different emails, 6 phone calls, 4 text messages (in Chinese, so I’ve no idea what they mean) and 2 delivery slots. The tickets, when we eventually managed to get them booked were due to arrive yesterday, but then I got yet another phone call to say that they couldn’t be delivered until today. They should have got here an hour ago ……..! Sheila booked hers in less than 5 minutes. I’ve used up all weekend, and I haven’t got them yet!! And it’s been sunny all weekend!! Hmm.

I was out for a meal on Wednesday, with the folks from work. The place we went to was amazing. It was near People’s Square and Nanjing Road, in the old British Concession – and it looked like it. It was done up in the Art Deco style with mahogany, chandeliers and Tiffany lamps everywhere. Very nice place. I thought the food was fine, but my Chinese pals says that it was so-so. It was a good atmosphere anyway!

Nine Million Bicycles in Beijing, but 10 Million and 1 in Shanghai!!

Still able to do photos!! Long may it continue.

The big news today is that I’m in my shorts!! It looks like spring has sprung, and the temperatures are soaring. It’s been above 20 degrees since Friday (for at least some of the day!). It’s so nice not to be huddled under my sleeping bag all the time. Now I’m feeling all guilty because all my great intentions of getting fit over the winter have come to nothing – and it’s too late now!! I think I must have spent the winter lying on the couch, so now I have pay (or come up with some more excuses!)

Spring is here - and so is the blossom.

Another of my great winter projects was to do the tour of the museums. Didn’t make much progress on that either! So on Sunday it was either go and do some exercise or visit a museum. Shanghai Museum is pretty good – and the shop is one of the better museum shops I’ve visited. OK, OK – so I bought a book – is anybody surprised?

So, the improvement in the weather means that I’ll be able to take my bike for a spin - or to be more accurate – Sheila’s bike. Yes, the same bike that I borrowed from her in 2002 – 5 years ago; the same bike that went to Russia, and is now sitting on my balcony waiting for me to take it for an outing. It has already had its maiden voyage in China, thanks, mum! As you might imagine – there’s a story here!!

My bike arrived here with all my boxes in November, the weekend before it got cold in Shanghai, so it’s spent the last few months wrapped up in bubble-wrap; sitting on the balcony. Well, a few weeks ago, I decided that I needed to get it unpacked, so I attacked the bubble-wrap with scissors, and eventually the bike emerged. So far, so good! As I had no idea if my stuff was going to be transported by air from Russia, I let the tyres down. Easy – just blow them up again and take for a test drive…… Hmmm. Front tyre – no problem, but the back tyre would do nothing. I eventually looked at the pump – and discovered that the bit that opens up the valve to let the air in was gubbed. Ahha! The pump is broken, so I can’t blow up the tyre. I lost enthusiasm for the project after that, and went and had a cup of tea.

All over China, there are little shops of bicycle repair men, and I’d found one not far from my place. So, I asked mum if she would take the bike to the repair man, to have the tyres blown up. Simple job, I thought – but this is China, and mum’s a bit weak on speaking Chinese. So, the first part went well. Mum got the bike into the lift – and then things stopped going smoothly. The lift stopped on the way down, and a man got in – mum was standing there holding the bike, but both of them ignored the fact. You can just see them standing in the lift, ignoring the bike – it makes me laugh every time I think about it!! Anyway, mum pushes the bike out to the road and then down the street, and turns towards the bike repair shop… and the gets distracted. The place I had seen (and pointed out!) was on the main road, but before mum got there, she walked past a little lane; looking down the lane she saw a man waving at her, but carried on for a bit, then realised that it was a bike repair man, so backed up to see the man was still waving at her – so away she went to speak to him about blowing up my tyres. It turned out that the back tyre was perished, so there was no way I could have blown it up! Mum sat on a handy wall while the bike got repaired (until the man went to get her a chair). To replace the inner tube, blow up the tyres, give it a bit of a service and take it for a test drive cost 30 yuan – 2 pounds. I was well impressed, and will be going back to get a bell and a stand fitted!!

By popular demand, I have posted a couple of photos of Koshka - do you remember when she was as little as the first photo?

She's grown up a lot now.........

It's her birthday tomorrow - she'll be 2!! Happy birthday, Koshka.

Rapid Changes in Shanghai

Things move fast here in Shanghai! Here’s a wee example from the last week. It starts off in Scotland, when I was home at Christmas-time. I was up visiting Wendy & Gav, and we were standing in a field, surrounded by sheep, chatting with their shepherd about ….sheep, and sheepdog trials. They’d been looking out for a watch with a stop-watch, but hadn’t managed to get one. No problem, said I, I live in the country of cheap copy-watches. So, a week past Saturday, while browsing down Nanjing Road with my mum, I came across the ideal watch. It came in black, blue and purple, so, of course I choose the purple! Mum took it back to Scotland, and sent it up to Wendy & Gav’s. Just the ticket – but maybe I could get another in black, or something a bit more conservative (for the heilan’ shepherd – I should have known better!!). So this Sunday, I went back to Nanjing Road, to the same shop – and it’s gone! It’s all boarded up, and the walls are being knocked down ……..but I was just there the week before! What do I do about a watch now??? I searched all over town, and there was nothing! How can that be? Did I stumble on the only suitable watch in China? Last night, I popped into my local supermarket for a pint of milk. It’s in the basement of the building across the road, and to get to it I have to pass through lots of stalls. Last night, I realised that the stalls were all selling…….watches. I was getting a bit despondent after looking at 20 stalls without an appropriate watch, but the last one – it was there! So, I got it and will post it off this week!

On the subject of the fast-changing face of Shanghai, I’ve discovered what they’re building across the road. 6 months ago, there was a row of restaurants, with houses behind, and then they disappeared – knocked down. They’ve been working on the site ever since – and the foundations are laid now. Well, a week past Saturday, just before mum & I’s stroll down Nanjing Road, we went to the Urban Planning building. It’s great! There’s a model of downtown Shanghai – it’s amazing to see. There’s a raised walkway all around, so that you can easily find your way around. I eventually found my place – and discovered that the building across the way will be one of the highest in Shanghai!!

On that Saturday, when mum & I were out exploring Shanghai – it took us an hour to cross the road!!! No, the traffic is not quite that bad! We were using the underpass and got distracted by a replica of a street from the 1930’s, and ended up sitting outside a café, under the false sky having lunch (borsch soup, believe it or not!). Back to crossing the road – mum developed a technique for crossing the road – similar to her approach in Rome (which was wait for a nun to come along, and cross with her – she never had to wait very long either). Her Shanghai approach was – get herself in the middle of the Chinese folk waiting to cross, and stay there until the other side – worked like a charm!

I'm back - complete with photos!!

Yes, I'm back! I've had a couple of blog-free months - sorry about that, but I had a few distractions: the Scottish flu bug, freezing in Shanghai and the nice distraction of a visit from my mum and a whirlwind tour of China. I've just tested the blog thingy, and it appears to work, so I may be back in technicolour. We'll give it a go.


This is one of the millions pf photos we took on our recent Spring Festival tour of China. This was taken on a very atmospheric (= foggy) trip down the Li river in Guilin.

Believe it or not - we took so many photos of the Terracotta Warriors, even I got bored looking at them!!! Our visit to Xi'an was amazing. The warriors are even better than I ever thought they would be!

I'll test posting this, and hopefully do another instalment very so, especially if it works!

Scotland at Christmas

I've spent Christmas and New Year in Scotland - so I can post some photos from my trip. Enjoy!

A frosty morning in Perthshire.

Ruthven Barracks

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?