I Love China

The very next day after my marathon day trip to Guangzhou, I took a train to Hangzhou to catch up with my parents who are touring China all the way from England. Shanghai wasn’t on their itinerary but as Hangzhou is just a short train ride away, I decided to meet them there.

This is how rail travel used to be not so long ago – overcrowded waiting rooms with very little options for refreshments.

I rarely take trains in China, so this was the first time I visited Shanghai’s new South Station. The last time I went to Hangzhou was a decade ago back in 1999 when it took 2 hours. The new CRH (or “D train”) service costs around 50rmb (one way) and takes a mere 75 minutes. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m at home in London feeling lazy, hanging out with the family, playing Wii Tennis and eating lots of mum’s tasty home cooked food, which is a rare treat for me.

Here’s a clip of my 4 year old nephew Tate and his dad playing a game of Wii Tennis. Sadly none of the bootleg Wii games I brought over work on the UK Wii, but Wii Sports has enough to keep all of us occupied for days!

I’m leaving next Sunday for Shanghai, so that means one more week of doing not a lot, watching lots of telly (that’s television for you non-Brits) and perhaps a bit more shopping in the winter sales.

Normal blogging will therefore resume next week.

Happy new year!

View from my aunt’s apartment in Hong Kong’s very exclusive mid-levels district.

So I’m back from my 5 day trip to Hong Kong for a family friend’s wedding. The trip itself was smooth and uneventful, except for the slightly mad lesbian tomboy that was sat next to me on the flight back (why, despite flying frequently, do I NEVER get a hot young thing sitting next to me on the flight?). When the flight attendant came round giving out the immigration landing cards, she wasn’t paying attention so she didn’t get one. Then in a mild state of panic, she raised her hand and asked for one. As soon as she got the landing card, she looked at it, then hit herself on the head 3 times before screwing up the card and throwing it away. I guess she suddenly realised she didn’t need one after all.

Every time I go to HK, I’m reminded of some of the very big differences between HK and mainland China. In the elevator at Times Square in HK, as I was walking in, the girl inside had her hand on one of the buttons. I was shocked to see it was the “door open” button which she kept pressed until everyone was safely inside the elevator. By contrast, EVERYDAY in my office building, there’ll be someone in the elevator with his or her finger pressing the DOOR CLOSE button while people are still trying to get in, because they’re in so much of a hurry. I’ve said it before, but people should not be allowed a door close button if they can’t be trusted to use it properly. In England, lifts do not have a door close button at all.

WoAi and Kelvin, the groom. He lived opposite our house when I was growing up in London.

The wedding was a very pleasant affair, mostly attended by Chinese Brits like myself. It was a little odd being at a wedding in HK and listening to grooms, brides, best men and matrons of honour all doing speeches sounding like they’d all come from Croydon (probably because most of them did!).

First dance – Emily, the beautiful bride with her new husband.

The groom with a rare appearance by WoAi’s mum all the way from London.

There was a very touching speech from the groom, including a touching and deserved tribute to his proud mother. The bride also said a few words before emotion got the better of her. Even WoAi, ever the cynic, was holding back the tears at the sight of these two people so very much in love.

Congratulations Emily and Kelvin, you lucky bastard!

What’s in a name? A rose by any other would smell as sweet.
- Romeo and Juliet.

So folks, as you know, I became an uncle again last Friday and now dear readers, we need your help with the difficult task of naming her. If it helps, her older brother is called Tate, so something modern and British is what we’re after!

Please vote from the list of 7 names or suggest your own in the comments section.

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Update : (27th Oct 2008) The poll is now closed, thanks for voting.

I apologise for Caturday fans hoping to see the latest pictures of Tommy, but this week’s Caturday has to make way for an important announcement which is going to change my life forever and it has only just happened. So, are you ready for it? Are you sitting down? Okay, here it comes:

WoAi has just installed satellite TV in his apartment!

Yes, I now have an impressive list of channels to keep me entertain during those rare evenings I am not doing some entertaining of my own.

Oh, and apparently my brother and his wife gave birth to a baby also. I’m not sure because he called right at a very exciting part of Depserate Housewives (his timing is always poor) so instead of picking up I let the call divert to voicemail and can’t be bothered to check the message as it involves navigating several keypad menu options in very bad English. But I’ve seen photos on Facebook of his wife holding a small person who looks much too small to be my 4 year old nephew, although I’m not really an expert on these matters.

My new – yet to be named – niece with her delighted mother. For those interested in the stats, she was born some time yesterday at Ealing Hospital in west London and weighs about the same as most babies weigh after just being born.

Congratulations Rich. You’ve got one of each now, a complete set.