Hoo hoo!

I found this little beauty at a hotel buffet last night!

It's the name of the dish, and was sitting alongside other cards saying, "waldorf salad", "fried steak" and the likes. This one says, "the card really braises the mushroom". Tee hee! I tried it and I see exactly what they mean.

Sorry, it's partially obscured by the flash, but the hotel were good enough to give us a free feast (and the food was great!), so I didn't want to risk drawing their attention towards my irreverence by taking another shot!

Happy weekend!

Bec
x

Deary me

Hello, how are you all? Thanks, as ever, for your emails!

Time seems to be in fast forward! Argh! Things are generally very good here, but I seem to be ridiculously busy doing this, that and the next thing. I have more photos, but my PC has taken a disliking to the Kodak software at present, so there's a minor (I hope) delay.

Just in case any of you are considering wandering east at any point in your life, I have been mentally compiling the following list over the last week:

Bec's China 'Best To' and 'Best Not To' List

1. Best not to step in puddles - especially on days when it has not been raining.
2. Best not to assume that the little green-light man making a walking motion on the opposite pavement is an indication to you that it is safe to cross without hesitation.
3. Best not to think that the left-turn traffic filter light will ordinarily not light up at the same time as the aforementioned little man.
4. Best to laugh at yourself when speaking Mandarin to locals.
5. Best to tell yourself that when locals laugh within hearing distance of your dodgy Mandarin, they are actually laughing along with your aforementioned mirth.
6. Best not to clean your bathroom with Captain Bathroom - he has an, erm, unusual odour.
7. Best not to order from the pictures in restaurant menus before establishing (a) exactly which part of the animal you will be consuming, and (b) how heavily chilli peppers feature in the composition of the dish.
8. Best not to start watching Chinese television advertisements - they are one of the greatest hypnotics known to man.
9. Best not to let people get on the bus before you.
10. Best not to wait until a lift appears to have enough room for another before you get in - unless you have a week to spare, that is.

I'm going to my first ever Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday! Woo hoo! Oh hell, I'm talking about food again! Photos soon I promise!

Take care of yourselves and wrap up warm now!

Zàijiàn!

Bec
x

Bec meets Beijing (the story continues...)

A selection of my favourite Beijing signs (take heed: leap not).

Our chauffeur, and the view from the back of his limousine!

The Forbidden City - how much room did one man need?

Bec versus the Beijing subway system (victory is mine).

Beijing: it's tree-hugging good!

Bec meets Beijing

Artist in Beijing bar...

Me, artist and, umm, me..?

Ooh, pretty! Beijing lights.

Tiananmen Square... and the military bods shooing us away! Boo!

Fingertip Mao: a necessary accessory for the modern girl

Phototastic

Hello, hello!

Time is very short because we're leaving for Beijing in an hour, but I finally have some photos to share!

My apartment:



















I'm not going to tell you what an agonising battle it has been to get these photos onto my PC! Argh! Have a great weekend - Beijing here I come!

Bec
x

Woooooooo

So, yesterday was Halloween. I recalled, with a pang of nostalgia, that on 31st October last year I was at Bethan's Halloween houseparty dressed as a black cat, and the stairs were lined with the candlelit results of the design a pumpkin lantern competition. I had been living in Cardiff for just a month, and I hadn't even tried teaching a real class! Here I am, twelve months later, spending Halloween in a teachers' meeting and hair salon. In a culture where superstition is alive and well, partying with ghosts and ghouls is not appealing. No, I did not venture to have my hair done yet - I let Lyn play guineapig instead, and the results are most encouraging!