Airbnb have spoken to the host about my stay and he offered me $20 compensation. Airbnb said that $40 was a more reasonable offer. I asked Sissi and she said ask for half the money back and so I did. Airbnb came back with an offer of $60 which I have accepted.

This is not something that I am completely comfortable with, but as I said before the over all experience was not good and so I feel that I have had a win but I’m not jumping for joy.

I left my digs in the north of Brisbane and drove to the airport around 6.30 am. The roads were quiet and I just put the cruise control on and sat back and enjoyed the scenery. Before returning the car I had to fill it up with fuel. I repacked a few things into my case and then threw out all my snotty hanky’s and detritus from the car before returning to Hertz rental. I was a bit apprehensive about this because you never know if they will try to stitch you up for a scratch or something you missed whilst picking up the car. But I could not have been more wrong. I parked the car, took out my bags and the young guy checked the car quite quickly and then said thanks very much and I hope you enjoyed the hire. It was a painless and efficient and then I was on my way to the terminal with my 36kg of luggage. And then you know what happened next, I got the pleasure of chatting to the lovely soor faced Rachel.

The flight was long and was as comfortable as you would expect. Mind you I think the seats are way too hard because my gluttonous maximus was not very happy and I had to constantly shift to get comfy. I did go to duty-free before boarding to try to find a nice whisky to buy but I did not see anything that took me fancy, however I did try quite a few half’s at the whisky bar for free. This was part of the plan to have a few drinks here followed by a few glasses of red and then I would fall asleep but I think it was not as effective as I had planned.

After landing I got through immigration quickly, mind you for a few minutes the border guard looked at me, looked at the passport and then finally asked where I had flown from. This seems all part of a drama that they must play when they get bored or they just want to play with someone’s head. This is something that I would do to just for fun.

I got a taxi to my hotel, staying near the airport was a good choice because by now I was knackered. I’m glad I didn’t have to lug my suitcases back to Suzhou. 45RMB to my hotel. I contacted my friend Lydia on my arrival and she was telling me that she had organised a car to take her and her Mother tp the airport in the morning and I happened to say that I wish I could do that to. Well she organised a car for me and so after a good nights sleep I was picked up at my hotel and dropped off in Suzhou for 90RMB. It’s a two-hour journey from Pudong to Suzhou, the taxi hd been only 10 mins. What a relief to have a car bring me home. The alternative would have been to go back to the airport to pick up the transfer bus to the train station and then get a train to Suzhou, however train tickets are few and far between. Once again the gods have looked after me, or should I say my friends have looked after me.

Climbing the 4 flights of stairs to my apartment with a case in each hand was quite a struggle but I was glad to be back. Mind you Sissi has her mother staying here at the moment and I think there is a bit of tension in the air between the pair. You don’t have to understand Chinese to get the drift of the conversation. I think Sissi’s free spirit attitude to life is not conducive to the way her mother thinks.

I decided to stay in the north side of the city so that I could explore that area. I booked this particular Airbnb because it had a private bathroom. It was quite a distance from the ocean but every other listing had shared bathrooms.

When I arrived I was shown the house and my room and the bathroom and all looked OK. They had a builder working there and as it turned out he also had access to my private bathroom.

First impressions, not very happy with my choice. The host Michael looked a bit dodgy and as it turned out he worked in the police. Him and the builder also liked to drink. They were both well oiled when I got there.

This is about 4 hours worth for the builder.

I contemplated leaving there and then because I just did not feel comfortable. I was tired and so I thought I might check out the next day.

At breakfast the builder had a Red Bull drink and a meat pie to recover from the previous evening. You couldn’t get more Neanderthal if you tried. I also had to get him to turn down the TV because apparently all that drinking made him deaf.

I wrote to Airbnb and asked them if I could get a refund because I did not get my private bathroom, instead I had to share with a neanderthal. They called me later that day and I asked them to wait till I checked out before pursuing any further information. Airbnb take this very seriously by the looks of it.

The overall stay was OK. The bed was comfortable, but I feel I paid too much and it was also falsely advertised and so I will wait to see what the outcome of my complaint to Airbnb will be.

Hair swept back so tight that she had managed to smooth out the years of wrinkles. The face paint is heavy completing the soor faced look. She works in the business class check in but this morning she has to deal with the peasants because it’s quiet. I’m lucky that I get Rachel. I give her my British passport and she asks me “when I will return?” and I said “I don’t know”. “How long am I staying in China for?” “I don’t know”

Me “I have a business visa”

It “that’s what I was referring too”

Me “I thought you would know that if you go to China you need a visa”

It “I did not know that, that’s why I asked

It Makes a phone call.

It” Do you have another passport? ”

Me” Yes I do 👍😊”

She’s not happy, and I’m about to say something but decide to keep me mouth shut.

I assume that Rachel is as thick as pigshit if she is working the check in counter and does not know about needing a visa, but I just think she didn’t like me. Was it my British passport that upset her or was it my charm and charisma?

Rachel has tried to upset my day and she could have so easily if I had allowed her. I hope Rachel has a miserable day and I’m sure she will because she only wants to talk to the business clientele and not us poor ethnics. But she has a plane load of Chinese to look forward to. The mere thought of that brings a smile to my face.

Bon Voyage Rachel 😂😂😂

As soon as I’m through immigration I go to the Whisky tasting and have a few free half’s. Unfortunately they do not have the whisky that I want and so I will return empty handed to China. 😐😣😭

I went for a drive through the Glass House Mountains today, through Beerburrum and then onto Montville. Very pretty countryside but there are so many people here due to the long weekend in Australia. It’s normally a very busy spot but more so this weekend.

I went for a bit of a bush walk earlier and I climbed up to the top of this peak.

The path was so steep and I began to walk up backwards to give my calf muscles a bit of a rest. The path was certainly a lot steeper than it looked. It felt as if gravity had been increased and maybe it had. Maybe there are forces here that we just can’t explain.

But I made it to the top and then I went for that shit coffee at the bottom before continuing onto Montville, which is such a pretty wee place.

At the foot of Mount Beerburrum, shit service, shit coffee….. Don’t be fooled by its decor and its ambience. Oh and did I mention the shit customer service……

I don’t care about sport and I certainly don’t watch tennis, but what really gets on my tits is that the media in Australia are so obviously biased when it comes to reporting what happened. This headline should read “Samantha Stosur and Zhang Shuai” win the doubles title but no they have to take all the credit. This is the first time the Australian has won. anything for a long time and it would seem to me that it was the Chinese player that got Stosur over the line. If the Australians lose at any sport, it’s not because their opponents played better…. Oh no it’s usually because they were robbed or just unlucky. Have the decency to give credit where credit is due.

I have a new family in my garden

My tree has grown so much in the last few years and it’s great to see that this family has moved in.

I came back to Australia to get a mole checked on my side and thankfully all was well with it and I got a clean bill of health.

I then went to my GP and got a check up and got blood tests and today I got my results and my doctor told me that it looks like China agrees with me. All levels are good and my cholesterol is even better than before. My blood pressure was sitting at an all time low and I feel very thankful. And so my doctor tells me that I should return to China and that is what I will do. I’ll be leaving on Monday and I’m looking forward to getting back. I just hope that I have enough room in my suitcase for all the shopping 😂😂