G’Day and welcome to another update,
We’ve had some good news – we’ll be expecting our first international guests at the end of September with my folks coming to visit! We’ll be meeting them at the airport in Shanghai, spending a few days in Shanghai at the Expo before coming down to HangZhou for the remainder (about a week).
Naturally this has put us deep into planning mode. We went out to Metro on Sunday and bought a Japanese-style soft mattress (futon style) which will go on top of the guest bed (which is rock hard) and actually isn’t too bad (Rob tested).
We picked up some extra plates (we nominally only require two decent plates) and some extra essentials, so we should be in good shape. With summer (hopefully) winding down somewhat, we’re hoping for a September of low 30s/mid 20s which will be a refreshing change from the mid to high 30s of late.
Speaking of Metro, we picked up some more excellent silverware, some more feta, a pizza baking pan and I picked up two new shirts (I think I’ve reached my limit on shirts now). It’s great how far the Renminbi can go here, you really can get some excellent quality items at fair prices.
Toni’s off to Uni tomorrow to enrol in the upcoming semester which begins next month. This time around she will know exactly what she is in for, and as her Chinese is vastly better than when she arrived (i.e. no knowledge vs. a working understanding), I think she’s in a much better position this time around.
Other news? Well, we’re both working on our exercise – a bit tough in this heat – but managing to stay healthy and somewhat fit. I’m cycling to the office every day (about 6 kms return) which is a great way to stay in shape, and to commute. The only trouble is the many obstacles on my trip, which mostly includes other cyclists, pedestrians, cars and buses. On a good run (taking advantage of as many green lights as possible) I think I’ve managed to get my trip under 15 minutes.
Social news. Not much to report here! We’ve been keeping to ourselves lately, we’ve actually missed the past three nights of trivia at the Vineyard (each week we hope to go, but something comes up). There haven’t been as many events outside of club raves, so we’ve mostly amused ourselves by cooking nice meals at home, or the odd night out at a local restaurant. Actually, late last week we stumbled on a very nice Japanese restaurant not far from home.
Last thoughts.. Sanders Technology (home of my technology blog) was recently migrated away from Windows Live Spaces (which has gone from bad to worse IMHO). If you’re interested, pop across to there for a peak at what I’m up to, technology-wise.
Anyhow, that’s about all for now.. Check back for more updates soon!