The End of 2008

Time has certainly been slipping away from me since I returned home. Already one week has passed, Christmas is over, and New Year's Day is rapidly approaching. It was only this time last week that I was stepping off the plane at Manchester airport.

My return home was an incredibly long one, part of it being my own doing for wanting to save a few £'s -- the price between direct flights and connecting flights is outrageous. All in all, the travelling from Wenzhou to Manchester cost me over 33 hours; three plane journeys; and five hours in a hotel.

My flight from Wenzhou was a breeze apart from having to say goodbye to Kimi which I hated. It was very quick too, we barely ascended as the captain announced that we were about to descend. In one piece we arrived at Shanghai Pudong airport. Everything was going just as planned, which also meant that I had a wait of nine hours until my 6:30am flight to Dubai (because I flew with Emirates). While walking around the unusually quiet airport I bumped into a man -- I presumed he worked for the airport -- who was asking if I wanted to stay in a cheap hotel until my flight left in the morning. I didn't really want to, but his broken English and my broken Chinese was so bad that all I could do was tell him that I wanted to check the time of departure for my flight. Unperturbed, he escorted me to another terminal and helped me to check the time. I saw there was a bus heading to the hotel with other people inside. Before I could properly make a decision he had put my suitcase in the back and I was on my way to the hotel. It was only when the door slammed shut that I realised there was a small chance that this bus was going to park in the middle of nowhere at which point the £2100 that was stashed in my wallet would forcibly be removed from me. Fortunately the bus did indeed stop at a hotel where I paid a reasonable amount for a few hours sleep. Apart from a call from Kimi which brought all my fears of robbery back to the surface, I managed to have a few hours of sleep. The front desk woke me at 3:30 and I was taken to the airport for check in at 4 am. Worth every penny of the £18 I paid for it.

As I waited in the hotel foyer for my lift back to Shanghai Airport at 3:50am

The rest of the journey home was pleasant enough, although I was very disappointed with the Airbus plane that took off from Shanghai. I have become accustomed to Emirates' usual in-flight entertainment system, but this one was quite archaic in comparison. I actually had to change channels to choose what to watch, just like a television. Thankfully the flight from Dubai to the UK was back to excellence on a Boeing 777 plane -- even the food was nicer. Every time I have taken these flights to China I always have the pleasure of getting my meals before everybody else. It's great, there is always someone around my vicinity who I can hear impatiently muttering under their breath about the location of their meal, or why I've been given mine first. If you would like to have this luxury without having to pay any extra money, all you need to do is tell the travel agent you have a dietary requirement. There is a huge list to choose from, I go for the "Lacto-ovo vegetarian" option (that means I am a vegetarian who eats milk and eggs).

During my trip home I had the pleasure of staying in four airports. They are generally horrible and depressing places which could act as a kind of open-plan prison if one were to ever be decommissioned as an airport. I apply this rule to every airport I have been to apart from one: Dubai. If I have to be locked up anywhere for a day or two in between flights, I would choose there.

The gates at Wenzhou (top left), Shanghai (top right), and Dubai (middle) airports

Why I am rambling on about my trip home last week I have no idea. A whole week has gone by since then. Maybe another reason for the lack of posts here is because nothing too eventful has happened. Christmas was not ideal this year, mainly due to my mum being sick in bed with a flu-type illness. It seems to be slowly clearing up now, just a few days too late. On Sunday I also visited Dave (one of my friends from school). In February he and his girlfriend had a baby boy which they called Joel. I held him when he was just under one week old, he didn't even open his eyes then. Now he is completely changed, he laughs, climbs, crawls incredibly fast, and puts everything in his mouth. I am quite amazed by it all really.

It is brilliant to be home with my family and friends, although I feel like a huge gap is missing without Kimi being here with me. At least we have the incredibly bad quality of Skype to keep our lack of contact to a minimum. I forgot to mention that she bought me a fantastic camera for Christmas (this one), so there will hopefully be much higher quality pictures on here from now on. I had a go at using the macro mode and took this picture of a flower on some ivy in the garden (all of the colourful flowers are dead at this time of year). I am very impressed with it as no skill was involved and it managed to look like this:

So far the camera lives up to all of the reviews I read about it

Anyway, I have no idea where this post is heading so I should stop now. Happy last day of 2008 in the western world, and happy new year in China.

Butter Me Up

This morning I received a call from my manager, Grace. Since I worked in Hangzhou the sight of a colleague calling panics me because I think I am about to hear some bad news -- I've been conditioned well. The truth is, since I joined Web I haven't had any phone calls like this, and today was proof in point. I was told that my boss, Charles, wanted to have lunch with me today. Again, my mind was asking "Why?" I could only think there was an ulterior motive. Grace even remembered that I don't eat meat and let me choose the restaurant. I politely accepted the invitation and made my way to the hotel --where Web is located -- for 11:30. I met Grace first and then the boss and his wife joined us. We walked together to my chosen destination, the Hong Kong restaurant, which has the baffling title of "TFT Chamber". Things seemed ok, not awkward at all, in fact the bosses wife was speaking to me in very good English and asking many questions. Too much food was ordered -- a display of generosity for sure -- most of the dishes were even suitable for me to eat. And....that was it. No unveiling of an all-new contract, no sticky situations, not even a favour was asked, it was just lunch. Which was nice.

An example of the Hong Kong food served at "TFT Chamber" (the sandwiches make a welcome change from the norm)

All good gestures aside, I'm glad the holiday is coming up next week because I'm actually starting to feel tired at work. Some classes are beginning to completely drain me. I think it has something to do with the students. Some can give me energy and make me feel good, but others have the special ability of draining the life and soul out of me. This is why I would be so grateful to go back to four classes a day, it makes such a difference. National Day can't come soon enough.

Oh, I also saw the girl, who yesterday, asked where I get my haircut. I immediately noticed she was sporting a new hair-style....just like mine.

One Year Later

It amazes me that I came to China to work and live over one year ago, the time has just flown by so incredibly quickly. Something else I cannot believe is that it is exactly one year to the day that I met Kimi for first time (outside Pizza Hut, Wulin Square, Hangzhou). To celebrate this fact, we decided to go for a foot massage together and have dinner in a newly opened Macau restaurant.

Today was my first time to have a foot massage and it exceeded all of my expectations. We entered the neatly decorated building and were rapidly lead to a small private room. There were two comfortable chairs and a television which was playing an irritatingly loud Chinese play. The TV was instantly switched off and I sat back as Kimi chose the type of massage we would be having. The order was made, a man and woman entered the room, and the process of cleansing (or cleaning) our feet began (it seems that females get a male masseur and males get a female). As I watched the woman massage me and the man massage Kimi, it almost looked like a mirror image. They were working in exactly the same order, manner and timing. One hour later and I felt like my legs and feet didn't belong to my body any more, they had completely switched off. The lady put my socks on and I realised it was time to wake up. The experience was very pleasurable, she didn't tickle or hurt me at all (unlike a "blind massage" where they practically pull the bones out of your sockets).

We paid, left the building, and caught a taxi to D&L square where the Macau restaurant is located. Neither of us knew beforehand but this restaurant serves hot pot (not to be confused with the Lancashire kind), a slight disappointment considering my preconceptions of what food in Macau must be like. We ordered the soup and various items that would go into the pot. From the menu it looked slightly overpriced for a meal where you basically have to cook it yourself. Seconds later the waiters came bringing the vegetables, meat (for Kimi), and the pot -- which is placed on a hot ring in the middle of the table. We threw in some food, waited for the soup to boil, and tasted....it was disgusting. Of course Kimi liked it, but I could taste something revolting in the water and it tainted everything that went into it. Not only that, but I was sure there was meat or seafood in the "vegetable buns" and "cheese buns". The latter was especially horrible and didn't taste like cheese at all.

The Hot Pot (ergh!)

Since I became a vegetarian I have not eaten a meal that I thought was unappetizing once. Today was the first time in over four years I have admitted to disliking something. The reason for this was simple: I don't think the meal wasn't vegetarian at all.

After we paid the bill (279 RMB) and walked out of the complex, the Pizza Hut near the entrance suddenly looked more appetising than ever.

The Cost of Living

There are some perks to being a resident in China. For example, in Wenzhou it couldn't be easier to find an unoccupied taxi, they are everywhere. Once you are in the taxi, the fare will usually cost around 75p. Also, catching the bus is just like at home, but the cost of travelling to any stop in the city is rather different (approximately 15p).

Food is also on the cheap in China too. Of course you can find plenty of restaurants that will cost an arm and a leg to eat at; but for eating on a daily basis there is a different option. Previously I would shop at the supermarket and buy enough groceries to feed me for a whole week. I was saving money -- or so I thought.

Since moving to Wenzhou I found that my working hours meant I had to eat out more and more. At first the cost was worrying, but then I realised that by regularly eating at "sensible" restaurants I was actually not spending any more money than I did at the supermarket. The food in these places is simple home-style Chinese cooking which is actually very healthy and completely different from our Western-produced Chinese food.

Tonight we went to the local Chongqing restaurant that serves some spicy dishes, almost identical to Sichuan style food. Inside, the restaurant has been recently refurbished and would look quite modern and chic if it was 1978. It's a comfortable environment with adequate air conditioning (a must if spicy food is on the menu), plenty of tables and waiters that haven't learnt to smile.

Three dishes are usually enough for two people to share. Tonight we ate:

• Mapo Tofu

One of my favourite Chinese dishes is Mapo Tofu. It's filled with a variety of spices, some of which can actually numb the inside of your mouth temporarily. The heat of this dish changes from day to day, sometimes it's very pleasant to eat and other times completely unbearable. That's part of the surprise.

• Chinese Cabbage

I'm not exactly sure of the English word for this vegetable. It literally translates as "White Cabbage" but I'm certain such a name doesn't actually exist. The Chinese know how to do vegetables and this is one of the best examples of how effective simple cooking can be. There are no hidden calories or trans fats in this.

• Aubergine

This dish consists of slices of Aubergine (they're usually purple and thinner in China) with spring onion, garlic and soy sauce. Usually, the chefs like to add tiny pieces of pork into this dish (and the Tofu too) which doesn't really benefit the dish at all. For me, it can be annoying because I am a vegetarian. Occasionally when we ask for no meat ("bu yao fan rou"), they put it in anyway.

• One bowl of rice

Well, of course a Chinese meal wouldn't be complete without a bowl of boiled rice.

So how much does all of this cost I hear you ask? Considering there is strictly no tipping in this country, the total comes to a breath-taking £2.00.

And that's why I love eating in China.