lawn' in the blazing sunshine (after a torrential downpour) and a
picture of a tree after the rain.
Monday 24 September 2012
Nanji 4
lawn' in the blazing sunshine (after a torrential downpour) and a
picture of a tree after the rain.
Nanji 3
strange D shaped window looking out over the bay, An Early morning
picture the next morning and a view out over the sea from a beach of
'dinosaur eggs' as a tour guide pointed out, but cool rounded stones.
Nanji Island pictures 2
a cute kid from the boat.
Nanji Island pictures
like a Chinese coach, and you sit scarily below the waterline!
Monday 10 September 2012
Nanji island
The second day on the island we got up at 7 and got the bus over to the "natural lawn" that was the islands main attraction. We arrived and wandered into the park it was in, we walked to a rocky beach and took some pictures before the clouds rolled in and the heavens opened! It was definitely a tropical island and had a tropical islands weather. It rained heavilly for half an hour, during which we took refuge in a shop entrance and then it blew over and became sunny again and baking hot! We tried again and this time climbed the the hillside to this "natural lawn" a suspiciously nice green patch 30m long by 10 wide on the top of a cliff looking over the sea, it had a no walking sign was a suspicious number of footprints and paths over it.
We took a few pictures in the sun and then headed back well and truly cooked!
We got the bus back to the hotel and decided we had time for a quick swim so got changed and in the heat of the day went for a 20min swim.
After the swim and a shower we both checked out and got the bus back to the boat again, a great short break!
This time the boat back was packed with people but luckily the waves were not as strong and rocked me to another nice nap arriving back in the late afternoon.
Pictures to follow!
We took a few pictures in the sun and then headed back well and truly cooked!
We got the bus back to the hotel and decided we had time for a quick swim so got changed and in the heat of the day went for a 20min swim.
After the swim and a shower we both checked out and got the bus back to the boat again, a great short break!
This time the boat back was packed with people but luckily the waves were not as strong and rocked me to another nice nap arriving back in the late afternoon.
Pictures to follow!
A short break
chris elaine and i had planned to go to a famous island nearby for a long time and since time was running out we finally went recently, unfortunately chris wasnt available but elaine and i still wanted to go.
First we had to go aoujiang, a nearby town around half an hours drive from lingxi, and then from there take a boat, we stayed a night in aoujiang and ate some tasty beijing duck, the best ive had! Then in the morning went to the ferry port... Only to find it wasnt there! Very recently they had built a new ferry port and it no longer docked in the middle of town but way outside! Damn! We got a motorbike 3 wheeled taxi out to the new port but the boat had randomly left 20minutes early! Damn! So we had missed it! At least now we knew where it went from so that was good!
we got a bus back to where we parked the car and from there we went to get some lunch, after lunch we bought some snacks (everything on the island is expensive) and some water and drove over to by the ferry.
We made sure to arrive with plenty of time to spare and got the tickets before going down to the boat and went to see our transport.
The island we were going to was called nanji island, a chain of islands about 50km off the coast of the chinese mainland, its pretty famous around the wenzhou area but not that famous elsewhere but i still really wanted to go. The boat waiting for us for this 50km journey off shore was a very low slung boat, seating about 100 people and completely enclosed with only some small windows set above seating level. It looked designed for fast river transport not open sea, and these fears where not encouraged when elaine told me what happened last time.
It turned out that a few years ago a whole school went for a teachers outing there and after a few days the principal had to come back early so left with a few teachers in rough seas, and never made it back, the boat capsized and sank and they all drowned! Scary!
The seas today looked very flat and the weather forecast was good so off we went. No matter how good the sea was supposed to be the waves really affected this long thin boat (like a chinese bus with a boat around it) and so it rolled around quite a bit, i was ok but elaine got a little sick.
After a nap on the boat we arrived into a beautiful small island around 10sqkm over 4 islands, we were staying on the largest at 7sqkm.
We paid the entry for the island, the ferry ticket, and then the bus ticket from the port to the hotel, the hotels here are a little expensive, unless you want friday or saturday night, in which case they are very very expensive! We found a room each for 200rmb (20gbp) and although not great, a bit old, not new, sand in a few places, it was the closest place to the ocean! The same room saturday night was at leat 700! This is because thats when most people come and they need to make their money then as it only really gets tourists june to october and even then on weekends. We were there sunday night so that was ok!
We checked in and then went for a swim at the beach less than a hundred meters away for a few hours and before long it was getting dark.
After a change we found a restaurant on the beach to eat at before collecting some shells and then getting an early bed.
First we had to go aoujiang, a nearby town around half an hours drive from lingxi, and then from there take a boat, we stayed a night in aoujiang and ate some tasty beijing duck, the best ive had! Then in the morning went to the ferry port... Only to find it wasnt there! Very recently they had built a new ferry port and it no longer docked in the middle of town but way outside! Damn! We got a motorbike 3 wheeled taxi out to the new port but the boat had randomly left 20minutes early! Damn! So we had missed it! At least now we knew where it went from so that was good!
we got a bus back to where we parked the car and from there we went to get some lunch, after lunch we bought some snacks (everything on the island is expensive) and some water and drove over to by the ferry.
We made sure to arrive with plenty of time to spare and got the tickets before going down to the boat and went to see our transport.
The island we were going to was called nanji island, a chain of islands about 50km off the coast of the chinese mainland, its pretty famous around the wenzhou area but not that famous elsewhere but i still really wanted to go. The boat waiting for us for this 50km journey off shore was a very low slung boat, seating about 100 people and completely enclosed with only some small windows set above seating level. It looked designed for fast river transport not open sea, and these fears where not encouraged when elaine told me what happened last time.
It turned out that a few years ago a whole school went for a teachers outing there and after a few days the principal had to come back early so left with a few teachers in rough seas, and never made it back, the boat capsized and sank and they all drowned! Scary!
The seas today looked very flat and the weather forecast was good so off we went. No matter how good the sea was supposed to be the waves really affected this long thin boat (like a chinese bus with a boat around it) and so it rolled around quite a bit, i was ok but elaine got a little sick.
After a nap on the boat we arrived into a beautiful small island around 10sqkm over 4 islands, we were staying on the largest at 7sqkm.
We paid the entry for the island, the ferry ticket, and then the bus ticket from the port to the hotel, the hotels here are a little expensive, unless you want friday or saturday night, in which case they are very very expensive! We found a room each for 200rmb (20gbp) and although not great, a bit old, not new, sand in a few places, it was the closest place to the ocean! The same room saturday night was at leat 700! This is because thats when most people come and they need to make their money then as it only really gets tourists june to october and even then on weekends. We were there sunday night so that was ok!
We checked in and then went for a swim at the beach less than a hundred meters away for a few hours and before long it was getting dark.
After a change we found a restaurant on the beach to eat at before collecting some shells and then getting an early bed.
Back to lingxi
I got up at 6, got the metro to the airport at 6.40 and arrived just after 7 for my 8.50 flight.
I checked in my bag and straight away there was trouble, i had a bottle of water in my bag! They instantly stopped the bag, brought it around and had me hop over the luggage conveyor / scale thing and open it with a security guard who swished it a few times before putting it back, a bit strange considering i also had sun cream, mosquito repellent and deodorant in my bag but they didn't care about them!
I hadnt managed to get breakfast and at 9.30 on the flight they served breakfast, i dont know if its because i hadnt eaten, or they chose well, but the noodles and sauce was very tasty, and a small bottle of water to go with it, perfect!
Landed and walked past all the taxi hawkers to the bus i knew to take, asked to get off after the motorway and away i went.
I checked in my bag and straight away there was trouble, i had a bottle of water in my bag! They instantly stopped the bag, brought it around and had me hop over the luggage conveyor / scale thing and open it with a security guard who swished it a few times before putting it back, a bit strange considering i also had sun cream, mosquito repellent and deodorant in my bag but they didn't care about them!
I hadnt managed to get breakfast and at 9.30 on the flight they served breakfast, i dont know if its because i hadnt eaten, or they chose well, but the noodles and sauce was very tasty, and a small bottle of water to go with it, perfect!
Landed and walked past all the taxi hawkers to the bus i knew to take, asked to get off after the motorway and away i went.
Back to the motherland
Didnt worry too much about a super early start but did have one more (horribly unhealthy) thing to tick off our food list, a cooked breakfast!
We looked online and found a place near wanchai station the internet recommended so we decided to give it a go. We walked there without too much trouble and once there ordered a small breakfast, and an orange juice, and a beer! When it came it was an awesome breakfast, and we ate it surrounded by people still drunk from the night before, or still drinking gin shots at 10am, or ladies of a certain type, of negotiable affection, strategically sat around the bar looking lonely and thirsty... Haha.
After breakfast we got the bags and the hotel told us how to get to the airport, first over to kowloon by bus, then on the metro all the way out to the border. We went to the less used border and apart from whole loads of school kids going home of the border for the weekend we had no real trouble. The only problem was letting me out of hongkong, the guy didnt beleive it was my passport and so asked for other id! 2 driving licenses, and 5 bank cards later he accepted it!
We crossed the border (a bridge over a river essentially) and entered china again!
We got the metro to the district our hotel was in and then got a taxi, all seemed fine at first, busy, and lots of cars, and then we joined the motorway....!! What?? I asked him where we were going, oh about 40-50km he said! I told him to leave the motorway at the next exit and just find a coffee shop (internet!) and so he did.
We looked online and the hotel we had booked was way out in another town the other side of the airport and then some! Maybe ok for me but no use at all for chris as tomorrow i was flying up to wenzhou again and chris off to guangzhou to meet some people he knows.. Or wants to know ;).
We looked where we were and found that we were right near the airport, and then on ctrip found a hotel right near a metro which went one way to the airport and another way to the train station, perfect!
We got a taxi to the metro station and i was trying to talk about the economy with a random taxi driver, good fun and we arrived just as i was starting to get out of my depth! Phew!
We got to the hotel and checked in using chinese, the room was nice and clean, i dont mind old fittings but i cant stand it if its dirty, especially the bathroom!
We went out for some food first and found a cool snack street in which we got some fried rice, bbq chicken and a few drinks and then chilled out before bed.
I had an early start the next day and was straight out!
We looked online and found a place near wanchai station the internet recommended so we decided to give it a go. We walked there without too much trouble and once there ordered a small breakfast, and an orange juice, and a beer! When it came it was an awesome breakfast, and we ate it surrounded by people still drunk from the night before, or still drinking gin shots at 10am, or ladies of a certain type, of negotiable affection, strategically sat around the bar looking lonely and thirsty... Haha.
After breakfast we got the bags and the hotel told us how to get to the airport, first over to kowloon by bus, then on the metro all the way out to the border. We went to the less used border and apart from whole loads of school kids going home of the border for the weekend we had no real trouble. The only problem was letting me out of hongkong, the guy didnt beleive it was my passport and so asked for other id! 2 driving licenses, and 5 bank cards later he accepted it!
We crossed the border (a bridge over a river essentially) and entered china again!
We got the metro to the district our hotel was in and then got a taxi, all seemed fine at first, busy, and lots of cars, and then we joined the motorway....!! What?? I asked him where we were going, oh about 40-50km he said! I told him to leave the motorway at the next exit and just find a coffee shop (internet!) and so he did.
We looked online and the hotel we had booked was way out in another town the other side of the airport and then some! Maybe ok for me but no use at all for chris as tomorrow i was flying up to wenzhou again and chris off to guangzhou to meet some people he knows.. Or wants to know ;).
We looked where we were and found that we were right near the airport, and then on ctrip found a hotel right near a metro which went one way to the airport and another way to the train station, perfect!
We got a taxi to the metro station and i was trying to talk about the economy with a random taxi driver, good fun and we arrived just as i was starting to get out of my depth! Phew!
We got to the hotel and checked in using chinese, the room was nice and clean, i dont mind old fittings but i cant stand it if its dirty, especially the bathroom!
We went out for some food first and found a cool snack street in which we got some fried rice, bbq chicken and a few drinks and then chilled out before bed.
I had an early start the next day and was straight out!
Friday 7 September 2012
Visa pickup
We had been told we needed 2 days and all the visa information said two days but when we dropped it off they said only one, we thought this a bit strange but thought we would give it a shot, we arrived fashionably late with no queue, straight up to the top, again no payment queue (unlike last times huge queue) and straight to collect, 10 minutes and 50gbp later we had our visa! At 50gbp it was cheaper for a rush service z visa in hongkong than a slow tourist visa in the uk!
After a very painless visa experience we went to a local place for a damn tasty breakfast burger with real bacon and curly fries, part ouf our very unhealthy goodbye to western food. After that we walked down to the harbour and across to kowloon, took pictures on nathan road, (awesome), chris argued for half an hour over painting and i got offered drugs. i Also did some chinese homework in a pacific coffee over an iced coffee.
Chris was sick of kowloon by that point so we got the star ferry back over to the island, mooched around some more and then found that hongkong has a cinema! This cinema had a single showing of the new batman and so we managed to get tickets to see it, a film we really wanted to see in the cinema! We got tickets for 4 and so went and bought some kettle chips and snacks before the film.
The snacks made me laugh as for two drinks and a popcorn if we got the "couple meal deal" we got a free hotdog so we did that. Haha. The film was awesome and although a bit pricey, a lot easier than finding english movies in china, often a turn up and guess affair!
After the film chris went to his second guzheng lesson and i spent an hour in starbucks doing some more chinese, chris came out of the lesson really buzzing, he had learnt how to play happy birthday!, and i started a really tough chinese chapter on job interviews, tough but pretty relevant for me.
After starbucks we went back over to kowloon and got a kebab in the eastern district, again tasty, before back and bed after a very unhealthy day!
After a very painless visa experience we went to a local place for a damn tasty breakfast burger with real bacon and curly fries, part ouf our very unhealthy goodbye to western food. After that we walked down to the harbour and across to kowloon, took pictures on nathan road, (awesome), chris argued for half an hour over painting and i got offered drugs. i Also did some chinese homework in a pacific coffee over an iced coffee.
Chris was sick of kowloon by that point so we got the star ferry back over to the island, mooched around some more and then found that hongkong has a cinema! This cinema had a single showing of the new batman and so we managed to get tickets to see it, a film we really wanted to see in the cinema! We got tickets for 4 and so went and bought some kettle chips and snacks before the film.
The snacks made me laugh as for two drinks and a popcorn if we got the "couple meal deal" we got a free hotdog so we did that. Haha. The film was awesome and although a bit pricey, a lot easier than finding english movies in china, often a turn up and guess affair!
After the film chris went to his second guzheng lesson and i spent an hour in starbucks doing some more chinese, chris came out of the lesson really buzzing, he had learnt how to play happy birthday!, and i started a really tough chinese chapter on job interviews, tough but pretty relevant for me.
After starbucks we went back over to kowloon and got a kebab in the eastern district, again tasty, before back and bed after a very unhealthy day!
Thursday 6 September 2012
A long day in an old colony!
We had an early start and arrived at the visa place for 8.30 to join the queue of sad looking foreigners trying to get in to china. Every place in hong kong is inside and air conditioned away from the humidy and the heat, everywhere except of course the chinese visa queue! This was outside in the scorching heat, enough to make you sweat standing still, lovely!
It opened at 9 and we went through an xray, had any food or water confiscated and then went up to the visa office, once there we filled out the 6 page form, asking for various addresses, phone numbers, insurance, previous trips etcetcetc, we followed the china rule of fill everything in, even if its not entirely accurate, leaving the address as 'ningbo university ningbo china' and putting my mobile into any unfilled phone number boxes seems to work, they dont really need the information but dont want any blank spaces!
After you fill out the visa you go to get a ticket and sit down to wait, luckily it only took 10 minutes or so for my number to call and i handed over all the documents and she checked them, accepted them, and that was it, come back tomorrow, cool. Chris also got his stuff in ok and then we had the rest of the day to kill.
First we went back to the hotel, dropped off all the documents and things we had brought but they didnt actually want, and then we had a day in hongkong!
First we went and had some breakfast, sweet bean juice (much tastier than it sounds) and some fried youtiao, also very nice, we surprised the waiter by ordering in chinese. After breakfast we went down and got the ferry over to kowloon on the other side from hongkong island, we had a look through chongqing mansions, a lot of middle eastern food and culture (and shady watches bags etc) and found online a computer shop.
The computer shop was up a tiny escalator from the street (one way, one person wide) and had no visible way down! we went in and up and found it like the crazy chinese markets but due to hongkongs lack of space, compressed down in size, cool! We looked around and visted all the floors, picking up a kindle case at last and a little travel router, very cute!
After the computer shop we walked down to the longest escaltor in the world! A free series of escaltors right up the side of the mountain on hongkong, we rode it for a bit before getting distracted by a place to buy beer! We stopped for a cold corona and watched the people walk past in the sun.
After the beer we investigated the antiques street and chris was very tempted by a sextant (???why??) but luckily didnt meet the 300gbp asking price!
On the escaltor we had seen a music shop offering lessons so chris went in now and asked about some lessons for the guzheng, an instrument he had for a long time, a traditional chinese instrument (played almost universally by women) that he wanted to learn.
He managed to get an hour today and an hour tomorrow for 40gbp so took it, and while he had his lesson i walked down to the docks to take some pictures as the sunset of the water and the famous star ferry line.
We met up again afterwards and i had found a surprise gift for chris, i had found a bottle of his favorite wine in the world (yellow tail) and had bought one (for more than 10gbp!) as a late birthday gift. We had heard that the roof of the ifc mall here had free seats and since it was now dark went and sat on the roof of the mall and chatted and drank our bottle of wine looking at the buildings and the lights on hongkong, very relaxing.
After a couple of hours (and no mosquito bites!!) we walked back to the hotel, stopping off (at 10.30pm by this time) to get some noodles from a backstreet noodle shop which was ok.
Another good day and if we can pickup the visa ok tomorrow a very successful day too!
Pictures are the tiny escalator to the computer market, and the present for chris!
It opened at 9 and we went through an xray, had any food or water confiscated and then went up to the visa office, once there we filled out the 6 page form, asking for various addresses, phone numbers, insurance, previous trips etcetcetc, we followed the china rule of fill everything in, even if its not entirely accurate, leaving the address as 'ningbo university ningbo china' and putting my mobile into any unfilled phone number boxes seems to work, they dont really need the information but dont want any blank spaces!
After you fill out the visa you go to get a ticket and sit down to wait, luckily it only took 10 minutes or so for my number to call and i handed over all the documents and she checked them, accepted them, and that was it, come back tomorrow, cool. Chris also got his stuff in ok and then we had the rest of the day to kill.
First we went back to the hotel, dropped off all the documents and things we had brought but they didnt actually want, and then we had a day in hongkong!
First we went and had some breakfast, sweet bean juice (much tastier than it sounds) and some fried youtiao, also very nice, we surprised the waiter by ordering in chinese. After breakfast we went down and got the ferry over to kowloon on the other side from hongkong island, we had a look through chongqing mansions, a lot of middle eastern food and culture (and shady watches bags etc) and found online a computer shop.
The computer shop was up a tiny escalator from the street (one way, one person wide) and had no visible way down! we went in and up and found it like the crazy chinese markets but due to hongkongs lack of space, compressed down in size, cool! We looked around and visted all the floors, picking up a kindle case at last and a little travel router, very cute!
After the computer shop we walked down to the longest escaltor in the world! A free series of escaltors right up the side of the mountain on hongkong, we rode it for a bit before getting distracted by a place to buy beer! We stopped for a cold corona and watched the people walk past in the sun.
After the beer we investigated the antiques street and chris was very tempted by a sextant (???why??) but luckily didnt meet the 300gbp asking price!
On the escaltor we had seen a music shop offering lessons so chris went in now and asked about some lessons for the guzheng, an instrument he had for a long time, a traditional chinese instrument (played almost universally by women) that he wanted to learn.
He managed to get an hour today and an hour tomorrow for 40gbp so took it, and while he had his lesson i walked down to the docks to take some pictures as the sunset of the water and the famous star ferry line.
We met up again afterwards and i had found a surprise gift for chris, i had found a bottle of his favorite wine in the world (yellow tail) and had bought one (for more than 10gbp!) as a late birthday gift. We had heard that the roof of the ifc mall here had free seats and since it was now dark went and sat on the roof of the mall and chatted and drank our bottle of wine looking at the buildings and the lights on hongkong, very relaxing.
After a couple of hours (and no mosquito bites!!) we walked back to the hotel, stopping off (at 10.30pm by this time) to get some noodles from a backstreet noodle shop which was ok.
Another good day and if we can pickup the visa ok tomorrow a very successful day too!
Pictures are the tiny escalator to the computer market, and the present for chris!
Our hotel room in hongkong
A few pictures of our hotel room in hongkong, the view of the famous tram from the window, and the amusing view if you try to go to the 2nd floor bar, a blank wall with an apology pined to it!
leaving home...
We had managed to get our medical and passport in one mad day and so now we were all clear to fly to hongkong the next day.
Another early start and i drove the 2 hours drive to the airport in wenzhou, from there we got through security only to learn our plane was delayed for an extra hour, damn! Chris nearly got stopped by security as his name was spelt wrong on his ticket, and because his name was too damn long they cut the last few characters of his middle name off, this was a problem and he nearly lost his place on the flight!
We boarded and i was sat next to a crazy german head product buyer for siemens, he had had an amazing life, alternating quarters in germany and china, speaking fluent chinese and now going to hongkong to meet his family for a week, and returing in december to travel the world! Amazing, and with a very loud laugh and a love of dodging his wife and going travelling.
We landed in shenzhen, the city nearest hongkong without paying the expensive direct flight, and then had to find a way across the border!
After collecting our bags we went to the arrivals lounge and found a coach willing to take us right to wan chai where we had a hotel booked for 13gbp, not bad! We also converted some money at a crazy expensive rate, stupid hongkong dollar!
We found the bus and it took us to the border without any problem, and then we entered the almost empty chinese border crossing, we left china and went to enter hongkong, alas i am now old it seems as my passport from a few years ago caused much discussion, i was asked a difficult question (what is my name) and then they asked for some other id to prove who i was, luckily i had a few driving licenses and they eventually accepted me!
We went through to the other side, picked up a bus that had driven around and carried on right down to hongkong island, dropped off a few hundred meters walk from our hotel. A very painless trip and much nicer and easier than our last agency organised!
We found our hotel, pricey for china but the cheapest for hongkong, (40gbp a night ish) and it was lovely! A small room but very clean, great service, comfy beds, and the same price as the crazy place we stayed last time!
After checking in we went for a wander and found the only problem, our phones were useless here! Damnit! No chinese providers work in hongkong, i could buy a simcard for 6gbp but for 3 days and with very limited funds that was out of the question.
We found some indonesian food and wandered around ending down by the harbour and watching the boats at night before an earlyish bed, first thing tomorrow off to the visa agency place, i hope it goes ok!
Another early start and i drove the 2 hours drive to the airport in wenzhou, from there we got through security only to learn our plane was delayed for an extra hour, damn! Chris nearly got stopped by security as his name was spelt wrong on his ticket, and because his name was too damn long they cut the last few characters of his middle name off, this was a problem and he nearly lost his place on the flight!
We boarded and i was sat next to a crazy german head product buyer for siemens, he had had an amazing life, alternating quarters in germany and china, speaking fluent chinese and now going to hongkong to meet his family for a week, and returing in december to travel the world! Amazing, and with a very loud laugh and a love of dodging his wife and going travelling.
We landed in shenzhen, the city nearest hongkong without paying the expensive direct flight, and then had to find a way across the border!
After collecting our bags we went to the arrivals lounge and found a coach willing to take us right to wan chai where we had a hotel booked for 13gbp, not bad! We also converted some money at a crazy expensive rate, stupid hongkong dollar!
We found the bus and it took us to the border without any problem, and then we entered the almost empty chinese border crossing, we left china and went to enter hongkong, alas i am now old it seems as my passport from a few years ago caused much discussion, i was asked a difficult question (what is my name) and then they asked for some other id to prove who i was, luckily i had a few driving licenses and they eventually accepted me!
We went through to the other side, picked up a bus that had driven around and carried on right down to hongkong island, dropped off a few hundred meters walk from our hotel. A very painless trip and much nicer and easier than our last agency organised!
We found our hotel, pricey for china but the cheapest for hongkong, (40gbp a night ish) and it was lovely! A small room but very clean, great service, comfy beds, and the same price as the crazy place we stayed last time!
After checking in we went for a wander and found the only problem, our phones were useless here! Damnit! No chinese providers work in hongkong, i could buy a simcard for 6gbp but for 3 days and with very limited funds that was out of the question.
We found some indonesian food and wandered around ending down by the harbour and watching the boats at night before an earlyish bed, first thing tomorrow off to the visa agency place, i hope it goes ok!
Wednesday 5 September 2012
Last minute rush
So the new job were pushing us to arrive asap and yet we had to go to hongkong still before the new term in a week. And this was sunday night.
this would be ok and a week would be enough except that our passport was in wenzhou and needed collecting, we then had to go for a medical too, and we had a flight booked for the tuesday, so monday we had a lot to do!
Monday early i got up, feeling very sick, and not wanting to do any long journey, we held off leaving until 8 and elaine brought some medicine and we set off with me still feeling sick and so not driving.
The medical place had a last registration time of 10.15 and we were arriving into wenzhou at 9.30 and we suddenly thought that we needed our passports as id for the medical! A quick change of plan and chris and i ran into the police station, paid the 15gbp visa extension fee and grabbed our passports mercifully quickly before jumping back in the car to the medical. Amazingly we made it in time and the three of us checked in just in time.
We went through the standard battery of tests, eye, ears, height, weight, ultrasound, xray, heart rythm, etc, and got our included breakfast thrown over the counter, a grotty cake and a carton of milk. Chris handled the blood test much better and managed to grit his teeth and power through despite an old and incredibly slow woman doing it. I neglected to mention my asthma and the 8 different types of pills i had taken that morning (chinese doctors recommendation) and the food i had eaten (against their orders), of course we all passed the tests with no problems!
After taken the tests we had to wait until the afternoon to collect our certificates and so had 5 hours to kill in wenzhou....
We drove to a restaurant for lunch and ordered lots, i was feeling pretty destroyed by the chinese pills i had taken that morning (chinese prefer medicine that makes you drowsy so you "feel it working") so i was so tired and was not hungry at all. i curled up on the couch opposite those two and had a nap, elaine was also really tired and since we were the drivers after lunch we went and found a hotel and the three of us checked in for a couple of hours, pretty common in china, and got a nap for an hour or so.
After our nap we picked up the test results and i drove back as the least dead of the two.
When we got back we packed any unneeded stuff up and left it in the school and packed to leave the hotel tomorrow to go to hong kong. As we were leaving stuff in the school we got spotted by my lin our old boss! He called to ask elaine what we were upto and so we went up, gave him a gift of some english tea and said thank you and goodbye, a lovely man, he talked with me about the 7 types of tea in china and insisted on giving us a sample of some of them as a gift, i doubt we will ever have a boss as good as him!
After saying goodnight i really felt the tiredness kick in again and back to the hotel for a much needed bed!
this would be ok and a week would be enough except that our passport was in wenzhou and needed collecting, we then had to go for a medical too, and we had a flight booked for the tuesday, so monday we had a lot to do!
Monday early i got up, feeling very sick, and not wanting to do any long journey, we held off leaving until 8 and elaine brought some medicine and we set off with me still feeling sick and so not driving.
The medical place had a last registration time of 10.15 and we were arriving into wenzhou at 9.30 and we suddenly thought that we needed our passports as id for the medical! A quick change of plan and chris and i ran into the police station, paid the 15gbp visa extension fee and grabbed our passports mercifully quickly before jumping back in the car to the medical. Amazingly we made it in time and the three of us checked in just in time.
We went through the standard battery of tests, eye, ears, height, weight, ultrasound, xray, heart rythm, etc, and got our included breakfast thrown over the counter, a grotty cake and a carton of milk. Chris handled the blood test much better and managed to grit his teeth and power through despite an old and incredibly slow woman doing it. I neglected to mention my asthma and the 8 different types of pills i had taken that morning (chinese doctors recommendation) and the food i had eaten (against their orders), of course we all passed the tests with no problems!
After taken the tests we had to wait until the afternoon to collect our certificates and so had 5 hours to kill in wenzhou....
We drove to a restaurant for lunch and ordered lots, i was feeling pretty destroyed by the chinese pills i had taken that morning (chinese prefer medicine that makes you drowsy so you "feel it working") so i was so tired and was not hungry at all. i curled up on the couch opposite those two and had a nap, elaine was also really tired and since we were the drivers after lunch we went and found a hotel and the three of us checked in for a couple of hours, pretty common in china, and got a nap for an hour or so.
After our nap we picked up the test results and i drove back as the least dead of the two.
When we got back we packed any unneeded stuff up and left it in the school and packed to leave the hotel tomorrow to go to hong kong. As we were leaving stuff in the school we got spotted by my lin our old boss! He called to ask elaine what we were upto and so we went up, gave him a gift of some english tea and said thank you and goodbye, a lovely man, he talked with me about the 7 types of tea in china and insisted on giving us a sample of some of them as a gift, i doubt we will ever have a boss as good as him!
After saying goodnight i really felt the tiredness kick in again and back to the hotel for a much needed bed!
Tuesday 4 September 2012
Badminton Break
Had a free afternoon in Lingxi so went with Elaine to play badminton,
she is pretty good and I still need some practise it seems, she lead
the chinese side for a decisive 3 - 0 victory! Alas every game was
close but she grabbed it in the end, a definite rematch is called for
I feel!
The Chinese people in the sports place we went to got steadily more
and more undressed as we played in a large gym with NO AIR
CONDITIONING, it was like a sauna inside! But good fun, and not too
many people there to stare at me playing!
( Also Elaine demanded I include this; Zui hou pai wo ying le )
she is pretty good and I still need some practise it seems, she lead
the chinese side for a decisive 3 - 0 victory! Alas every game was
close but she grabbed it in the end, a definite rematch is called for
I feel!
The Chinese people in the sports place we went to got steadily more
and more undressed as we played in a large gym with NO AIR
CONDITIONING, it was like a sauna inside! But good fun, and not too
many people there to stare at me playing!
( Also Elaine demanded I include this; Zui hou pai wo ying le )
Swimming in yuliao
i had a free afternoon and really wanted to go swimming in the sea,
something we didnt managed to do last time we went to the beach near
our town!
So elaine and i drove over to the beach and i dodged the crazy chinese
people (who can't swim but still try with just a rubber ring and no
lifeguard) and headed out, i swam for half an hour or so, did some
widths of the swimming section but unfortunately the water was not as
clean and beautiful as hainan last time, but still not cold and a
lovely relief after a hot day!
whilst i was swimming i left elaine taking pictures from the beach of
random people, and got some very random photographs!
After that i took some pictures around the beach as the evening set
in, with ok results, before going for a meal with chris.
A nice fun relaxing day out!
something we didnt managed to do last time we went to the beach near
our town!
So elaine and i drove over to the beach and i dodged the crazy chinese
people (who can't swim but still try with just a rubber ring and no
lifeguard) and headed out, i swam for half an hour or so, did some
widths of the swimming section but unfortunately the water was not as
clean and beautiful as hainan last time, but still not cold and a
lovely relief after a hot day!
whilst i was swimming i left elaine taking pictures from the beach of
random people, and got some very random photographs!
After that i took some pictures around the beach as the evening set
in, with ok results, before going for a meal with chris.
A nice fun relaxing day out!
Saturday 1 September 2012
Yucang 4
Us posing on the top of the mountain with self timers!
Yucang photos 3
Chris really working it with Elaines bag,
Some pictures half way up and on the climb!
A butterfly resting in the shade
Yucang photos 2
Elaine walking over a bridge (in a totally not set up way ;) )
A random sign in Chinglish
A dove tower from the nearby temple
Yucang picures
in a corner mirror of the car. Also a picture of me at the restaurant
for lunch, all ready to go climb a mountain!
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