Good Santa

Happy New Year everybody.

As most of you are quite aware by now, nothing I plan ever goes without a hitch. I have a feeling that oppression haunts people. The tentacles of oppression that once stung the Welsh stretch throughout history and sting you on the backside when you least expect it. This can range from a simple slip on the bathroom rug in the morning that ruins your day not to mention the embarrassment factor to the bank cancelling your card without warning whilst you are abroad thus leaving you stranded and penniless.

Yep, there is a big one coming but I decided that today I shall concentrate on the good stuff and then go sharpen my tongue for a couple of days and get to work on describing the cloud that eclipsed my silver lining.

So, there was an office Christmas party. The photo says it all.

Anyway, Christmas was good. Spent it at home, took me 3 hours to cook the dinner in our shoe-box of a toaster oven. Got some cool presents as always and relaxed, watched movies and sipped on mimosas as I started to get to grips with my new Harry Potter PS2 game. Sad but true.

Here comes the cool bit:
On the 27th we set off for Shanghai to see David. It's been two years since he braved Korea to come and see me. Time really does fly. As always though, makes no big difference whether you saw your best friends 20 mins or 20 years ago is the same.

We arrived late, in fact at 3am which was not particularly convenient. But, we just leaped in a taxi after fighting off the drivers that try really hard to squeeze money out of you. Is similar to Thailand however the Chinese have less sense of personal space so have no problems grabbing onto you in the process. Gets a bit annoying for normal people, makes me spit out obscenities at a rate that would make Twista proud.

I had heard bad things about China before I went. People moaning about the state of the bogs and the food being greasy and the people not so nice but I was very impressed. the fist day we bimbled around the old area. Although there isn't much left as they are trying to destroy all of it to make way for more skyscrapers. We saw most of it as David's sense of direction has not improved in the last two years. It was cold but we loved it. It was so great to wander round without breaking into a sweat. My feet were rather disgruntled at being trapped in shoes and socks - haven't worn anything but sandals in 8 months. We saw an old Chinese mansion and the gardens attached which were really cool. Chinese gardens are more focussed on the rocks than the flowers.

In the evening we went for some Chinese hot pot. This is a huge pot of boiling broth that you chuck stuff into and let it cook and fish it back out again and eat it. Great for winter. Lucky to have D there as the English menu left a lot to be desired. No real food names more strange descriptions like "leaping lion" "good luck pigeon" and that kind of thing. Not that Chinese names themselves are any better apparently.



We also got to see the futuristic side of Shanghai and the museum which was really cool. It took an hour to change money in the bank because they weren't familiar with Thai baht but can't complain, when I tried to change GBP (that's real British pounds) in Alabama they wouldn't and wanted to photocopy the notes, fax the copies to Florida to confirm they were indeed real and then call us when they were ready to change it. Because clearly you can tell if a note is counterfeit just by looking at a photocopy of it. Nuff said.

It was really intersting learning about chinese culture and history. The sex shops were weird, digressing a little but whatever. They look more like Chemists, tend to have glass windows and old women running them wearing white coats. A little intimidating. I was most puzzled by an aparatus I hadn't seen before. Namely a doll like thing - miniature - designed to be used under water for 'relief'. I just dont see the point. Any suggestions? OK, dipped my toe in the sewer, moving on.

Real Peking duck was cool. I also realised how much I had missed the communist attention to detail and service. It was great that they placed your food on the table and then hurled the chopsticks at you. Nice and friendly.

Of course, it all wasn't as clean as all that. Spitting is part of the culture, they can make as much noise as they want doing it. Kind of gross but you are at fault if you draw attention to the belching or farting. Got a cool jacket. I wasn't equipped for the cold so I needed one. The Chinese take bartering to new heights. D laid on the thick sob story that we were poor English teachers in Thailand not rich westerners. Things like that. Got a good price. Bought couple of watches, one of which we had to return as the hand fell off - oops. Got some cool Mao propaganda posters. A good haul really.

Lots more to say but am in the middle of cooking. Maybe you should ask your own questions and give me a direction to head in. Hint hint. Is a web page, let's be interactive etc.