I have just noticed that this is my 500th blog post. I would never have thought when I started this project that I would have written so much. It started because a French friend in Nanjing suggested that as so many strange things happened to me, I should start a blog. So I have Pascal… Read More »
I had lugged a bulky tent and a sleeping mat from Shanghai and even though it looked wet, I was determined that I would go camping. I hadn’t brought all this stuff to leave it in the flat. I set off for the ferry terminal after lunch and as soon as I got on board… Read More »
I was getting so fed up of being in Shanghai. I love it but sometimes I just need to escape and what better place to escape than Hong Kong. It’s only a few hours away but it’s a different (dare I say, more civilised) world. I had organised some free accommodation near the racecourse and… Read More »
I was walking back to my flat in Hong Kong and the route took me past the racecourse in Happy Valley. There was a lot of noise coming from within and so I asked the attendent on the gate and she said there were races on tonight. Wow, now I can tick off another item… Read More »
When I look down at the floor of the Metro train I see almost everyone wearing training shoes, from the child just learning to walk to little old ladies, their backs bent double from a lifetime of hard work and mul-nutrition. Even businessmen wear trainers with their suits. It’s all the usual brands, Nike, Adidas,… Read More »
Why oh why I decided to go to the pie society for my evening meal when the weather forecast promised rain – I do not know. But I suppose I was driven by a desire for a proper pie. I ordered a very fine beef ad ale pie with mash and gravy and it disappeared… Read More »
I’ve been in this house for five years and for the whole of that time, there has been a problem with the guttering at the top of the house across the lane. For five years water has fallen from the top of the house (fourth floor) to the ground in a constant stream of drips,… Read More »
It’s one of my all time favourite books – The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time – and it was coming to Shanghai Culture Square in the form of a play from the National Theatre. I couldn’t NOT go. I paid my £40 for a ticket for the Saturday matinee and the whole… Read More »
I really love the Chinese – honestly I do. Every day I see something which makes me laugh or smile, or even reassess the way I have always looked at something. It could be someone walking backwards down the street clapping, a dog in a tuutuu, an old lady in fake Nike runners and an… Read More »
Who would have thought that it could be possible to make art competitive. That was the main reason I went along to SHMadness Art Battle in UCube this week – to see how that could be done. I was sorry I got there at the start time because it was an hour later that it… Read More »