Dinner in Hong Kong

A great trip to Hong Kong whcih was over two weeks ago seems like a lot more.

Met up with ex art students from Rydal, Pandie Ho, Tim Tang, Billy L, Henry Leung, Kiwa Lam, Shazzy Sharon.  Lovely to see them all.

 

 

Spent the whole week with my Hong Kong penfriend and her family who I have been writing to since I was 11 (40 years) and this was the first time we had ever met.  Was lovely to meet Jenny, Frankie and their daughter Katie who I gave her english name to when she was born.

 

Now suffereing with a really bad cold but cannot be ill for at least 2 weeks as yesterday we had the talent show, next week I am hosting the first ever Dulwich Art teachers conference and then we have community day on the Sunday.............thought I was going to be starting to slow down, seem to have taken it up a gear or two again lol.

Off I go

Off to hong Kong today for 4 days................

Its Been a long week and it is not even finished yet :-(

It has been a very busy, hard and long week so far and it feels as if it has already been a month and there is still a day to go ..............

 

But when I woke at 5 am this view greeted me as I opened the curtains

 

 

It was the Macmillan Coffee morning today in school which I had organised and I baked 4 dozen cakes and iced them, then made chocolater fridge biscuits, and colleagues supported with cake and coffee donations.  The kids helped with the sael and we made 1800rmb (182.99 pouns) so really pelase and 50% goes to schools charity pot and 50% to the Macmillan support .

 

I need a holiday...............Oh yes I am off to Hong Kong on Sunday for 4 days to see ex rydal students and meet my penfriend for the first time ever after writing to her since I was 11 (40 years)........gulp am I that old :-)



Happy Moon Festival

HAPPY MOON FESTIVAL

 

 

Today is Chinese Moon Festival .....above is a picture taken from my bedroom balcony.

 

Yesterday was my 51st birthday and does not seem like a year ago I was just arriving here, making friends and then going out with them for my 50th birthday.  I has some lovely gifts from friends and students and some flowers via interflora from the UK.

 

Yesterday we went out for a meal to the Italian but did not call it my birthday meal it was just a meal out with friends which was very nice and lots of prosecco :-) .  After the Italian we went to sit outside on the decking of a bar on the 55th floor of the Fraser Suites and the view was amazing and the evening warm and the margharitas very nice.

 

Becaise it is the moon festival we have today and tomorrow off making it into a long weekend so today I have...............

Bought a bike to explore Suzhou ans with safety in mind and to soothe the worries of people at home I have a helmet and twinkly lights and will be only going round SIP which is quieter than downtown.

 

Then Jake and I met Dan, Rebecca and Sophie and we went to the opening of Fullmoon a craft gallery, workshop, cafe which has been set up by expat artists and crafts people so I will be visiting there quite often.

 

Then a quick lunch in Casa Zoe and the rest of the afternoon spent in the apartment chilling , sorting though things I have not managed to do since getting back and hopefully clearing the decks of work so that I can do some of my own work for my City & Guilds course.

 

Tomorrow morning an explore on the bike and then some work.  Looking forward to the exploring now I have wheels :-)

 



Sunrise

The view across the lake at 5.30am from my bedroom balcony :-)

 

Staff Chinese indoor BBq...............very warm on the inside, very warm on the outside 90 degrees and 80% humidity although it feels way way more .........a chance for new and old staff to mingle and geet to know each other..................now for a weekend to chill, unpack, catch up with sleep and get through the delayed jet lag.

 

 

Apologies

I must apologise to my sister and anyone else who reads this for:

1. How long it is since I have written it
2. For not informing people I was heading back to the UK
3. For not writing about my UK holiday

My main reason for doing it was that the link is saved on this computer here and when I finally found the link whilst in UK it did not have my log in details on it nor did I have them with me so I was unable to access it till now.

I had a great time in Wales with family and friends although the weather was not how I wanted it to be when I returned..........i left Suzhou in 102 degrees and 95% humidity and I got to the UK hoping for gorgeous Welsh rain to be greeted with a UK heatwave, not ass hot as china and the highest temperatures they ahve been having for 150 years but it was still hotter than I wanted it to be.  Had a lovely time though with my girlies who I am so proud of and my parents, sister and bro in lwa who I love dearly.

I am now back here in China in Suzhou and I arrived back on Monday after a 6.5 hour flight and an 8 hour flight and a 1.5 car trip from UK back to apartment, then was in work for 7 the next morning.  As yet jet lag has not caught up with me but I am still waiting and I am  sure it will do when the hecticness of this week finsihes and I collapse in a heap at the weekend.

I promise I will keep up to date with what is going on in my second year of China and it promises to be as interesting and as different as the first year.

My lovely Nan

My 103 year old nan yesterday on her birthday with her great grand-daughters :-)

Dragon Boat Day

First Dragon Boat Festival................lots and lots of people, 55 boats were taking a long time and when you ahve seen a few races and been pushed and shoved by quite rude at times people we had seen enough.  So reated ourselves to a little peace and space and went to Whittards for Tea and scones and then another bit of a walk then for lunch in Ganesh an indian restaurant.  All very chinese lol.

 

Sunday Roast in Suzhou

5 weeks today I will be nearly arriving in manchester.  Life here is good dont get me wrong and I have good friends, a brilliant social life and I am seeing things I only ever dreamed about but it will be sooooooooo nice to be in my house/home again for a while with my girlies and see my family............although there are a lot of people here who include me in everything and I really thank them for that I can be surrounded by friends but still be lonely at times.  So with only today free I decided to do a sunday roast for my friends , and dan brougth his home made sausages and dessert was chocolate frudge cake and apple crumble which all seemd to go down well.

Moth Eggs

Hows this ladies - Hatch from coccoon on Sunday, mate all day sunday and monday and lay eggs on tuesday......unfortunately you only live a week.............

 

 

The Family is getting bigger

New flat mate



I would like to introduce you all to my new apartment roomie "Silk worm Cocoon" soon to be "Silk Moth" ........grown from a pupae, then a caterpillar and now slumvering inside its protective silk cocoon ready to emerge at some point in time as a silk moth.......new hobby and maybe I will even unwind real silk when I have more of them................. 

Beijing pics

Apologies for not adding these pics sooner or getting to my blog sooner.  Since Beijing we have been busy at school with exams, and invigilation and preparations for the Arts Festival.  Plus I now leave my lap top at school in an evening which has all my pics on and I just use the i pad.....my shoulders were starting to suffer carrying the laptop plus other things backwards and forwards to work every day.

 

Anyway better alte than never so they say and below are the photos of my visit to Beijing with friends.  It was an incredible visit starting 1st may and returning 5th may and I visited places I never thought I would have the opportunity to visit such places and as a friend once told me you should "take the opportuity of a life time in the lifetime of the opportunity" and I did and am.

Here we go come with me on a whirl wind tour of Beijing :-)

5 hour train journey from Suzhou to Beijing on the fast train with Jake, Rebecca, Dan and Sophie - business class luxery

 

Night markets in Beijing, the food is for the tourists but people do eat them, live scorpions, starfish, seahorses, millipedes and pigeons.

 

 

Tianamen square never thought I would be standing here

 

 

 

Forbidden City..............so massive, so much to see seemed to go on and on forever, our guide told us that the emperor lived there with his one empress, 3000 concubines and 7000 eunuchs.  Never did I think that I would be in Beijing seeing all these things.

Temple of Heaven a beautiful place

 

We went to see a kung fu show that is the top in Beijing at the Red Theatre

 

THE WALL - oh what an amazing experience only in my dreams did I think I would be standing on the Great Wall of China

 
Rubbish littering the sides doewn below the wall .....nowhere is sacred.

 

The Summer palace where the Empress stayed and partied without the Emperor

 

Peking duck Banquet

 

Tibetan Lama Temple what a beautiful place

 

This has a guiness world record plaque outside it for the biggest statue made from a single piece of cedar wood and it is 3 storeys high.