My six weeks at my Airbnb digs are up tomorrow and so that means I’m heading off on the first part of my travels. It’s gone so quickly but I’m looking forward to my next adventure. First stop Kunming and then the mythical Shangri-la which I’m really looking forward too. The air should be clean and fresh. I hope I don’t get altitude sickness when I arrive. Many folk suffer from this and it can affect any age, but I have a feeling I will be ok and if not I’ll let you know. 

It’s not often that you see the metro empty but I waited until I was the last person aboard and then I got this picture.  Usually you have to fight for a space nevermind a seat.  The metro in Suzhou is very good and cheap. Maximum fare is 8 rmb. The layout is really good because you can go from the north of the city to the south in less than an hour which is quicker than driving.  

It’s cold outside; it’s still and white,

The stars abound and the moon is bright,

A UFO appears and streaks across the sky,

We are not alone, who is this guy?

His annual visit is upon us once more,

His work is tireless but he will just laugh and roar,

There is never too much work; there is never an end,

How can he deliver all these presents my friend?

Well he runs a very modern sleigh, pulled by reindeer you say,

They are not normal of course but special indeed,

They feed on special grass which gives them more speed,

They’re as high as kites no matter the weather,

They can’t feel a thing just more pleasure and pleasure,

They’re here to help Santa on the one night of the year,

They park the sleigh on the roof while he nips doon the chimney for a beer,

So what happens if there is no chimney?

Do you think he might just climb in a windy?

Ah mean how does he do it? I’ve never worked it oot,

Our house had no chimney, yet the pressies were there,

Sometimes there were many, sometimes the tree was bare,

But it didn’t matter ‘cause that’s not what it’s about,

But I hear people say and I hear them shout,

That it’s Christmas and the kids should have plenty,

But all this seems to do is make them greedy and make their hearts empty,

The more they get, the less they appreciate,

The meaning is lost and the credit card is in deficit,

Too much is spent because we are told that we must,

The winner is the retail but the pressure will bust.

It’s a pagan festival after all high jacked by the Christians,

St Nick was used in as an example of tradition,

A poem in 1823 made the first reference to thee,

But it was Coca Cola that finally set you free,

They made you this big fat happy chappy,

With long flowing beard and hair to match,

Bright red clothes with a big red hat,

An invention of the commercial to make us drink coke,

But now we say he is Christmas, what a bloody joke,

Millions are fed a story of fake news,

But I don’t see many people condemning because the money is huge,

The almighty dollar is the truth and the reason,

Wrapped up in some pretty paper to appease even the heathen,

So we don’t mind celebrating Christmas because we know that it’s pagan,

And celebrates no more than a change in the season,

The days will get longer and we will be nice to our friends,

Hell we will even be nice to family although it makes you go round the bend,

We must enjoy ourselves, ‘cause it’s the season to be jolly,

But my friends I say that this could be a folly,

Although I do like the Christmas lights but that won’t make me believe,

I enjoy the Christmas carols but I’m not so naïve.

The shops are too busy and I only want to buy a loaf,

But instead I have to fight my way through all the oafs,

Panicking about how much they spent,

Panicking about what friend they missed,

I have to buy bigger ‘cause that’s what you do,

It’s not the thought that counts anymore,

Its’ the price tag or name,

Christmas could be so good but now it’s a shame.

You celebrate Christmas and this is your right,

Stop changing the language to suit the minority,

If the foreigners are not happy then they can grab the first flight,

You know you want to say it but no one will stand up and fight,

If the schools tradition is there from the first stone,

And you celebrate Christmas then carry on,

If your city or village is similar too,

Tell them all to bugger off and stick their head doon the loo

But every year it gets bigger and bigger,

Although the rules change and I begin to snigger,

There are more gutless wonders that can’t make a decision,

Christ I feel that I’m on a bit of a mission.

We should say Merry Christmas and nothing else,

We should not be sensitive to other religions,

Sensitive to a poor ethnic that complains about tradition,

Well I say bugger off and shove your petition,

This is a Christian country and I am a heathen,

But I believe in tradition and culture,

And we must protect it because of the future and for the past,

We must be more proud of our heritage and help make it last,

We celebrate Christmas and that’s just fine,

But don’t ask me to enjoy it, but I will have a wine………….

I finally did my tax return this evening and unfortunately I will not be getting a big fat tax return this year, mainly because I haven’t earned enough money. The only income I have is the rent that I get for the house and of course that is just enough to cover the expenses and have a wee bit left over to buy me dumplings in China. Pity I can’t get me brew money while I’m here………………………..

I also applied for my Myanmar visa this evening and so that means that the time will soon be here for me to jump on a jet plane once more and head of with the selfie stick in hand.

Of course before I leave China I will be going to the mythical Shangri-la.

The visa for Myanmar is $50 US dollars which I think is quite expensive. Maybe they don’t want to have too many tourists at this stage, but I have been wanting to go here for quite a long time and I have plans as far as Mandalay and then it’s going to be where the wind takes me for a while. I’m hoping to travel across to the border to Thailand at Mae Sai and then I’ll come down to Chiang Mai and stay there for a wee while if I can. My friend Anne lives in Chiang Mai and it will be good to catch up with her again. I have many places I wish to go but it will all depend if the wind is blowing in the right direction and of course if the visa card keeps working along the way.

I paid another visit to the True Colour Museum yesterday with my young friend Kang. She is studying Chinese Culture and Heritage and hopes that she can help to protect the history of China from the rampant development that can take place here at an incredible pace.

I’ve been to the museum before but, I had heard they had a new exhibition which to my disappointment was not really as good as the previous in my eyes. But it was still good to go and spend an afternoon away from the hustle and bustle of Suzhou city life.

I did enjoy these little caricatures of the crazy monks……………

This other night I noticed that there was a little damage to part of the building when I came in the front door. Last week was “Singles Day” 11:11 which is the biggest shopping day in China and this year the sales jumped up nearly 30% to over $25 Billion US. By the time I was heading out the following morning there were already many deliveries being made. I got a 32GB USB drive and a power-bank for the phone and so that was my 100 rmb for this year. So you are asking what has this got to do with the damage, well as the entrance is quite small and it looks like some people were buying the complete contents for their home, some of the items being delivered were rather large. Fridges, dishwashers, TV’s almost anything you can think of was bought and was being delivered. So somewhere in amongst the many deliveries part of the building was damaged.

According to Bloomberg,  it’s barely two hours into Singles Day and the Chinese have already forked over a cool $8.6 billion for friends and family.

To my horror and utter amazement it seems that this building I am in has some sort of polystyrene cladding. Now I’m sure it will have some good thermal properties but the real concern of course, “Is it another Grenfell?” I am here for another two weeks and I’m on the forth floor, which is really the third floor because they follow the stupid American way of counting floors. But never the less I don’t really want to have to exit via a window.

The cladding looks so convincing, it looks like stone and it makes you wonder if and possibly when will such a disaster strike China. There have been many fires around the world and many other tall residential buildings have some form of cladding that is actually fuel for a potential fire. Not a very comforting thought if you are living on the 30th floor.

Suzhou has a new shopping centre and it is vast, it has been under construction for many years and today I went there for lunch with a friend. We wandered about looking for one particular restaurant but it took us quite a bit of time even although we looked at the maps and asked directions twice, but it was worth the wait. It was a Xian restaurant and so the food was very tasty and a little spicy.

I only have a few pictures as the main reason for writing this is to show you what is on the top floor of the shopping centre. Mind you on the bottom floor there is an ice rink which of course is nothing unusual really but this one is very large indeed. I had to laugh as I watched a line of young folk edge onto the ice scared to let go of the rail and venture out on to the ice, although there were a few people doing quite well. I’m sure this will be a great place in the summer months when the temperature gets over 40c

But the pièce de résistance was the Pony Club on the top floor.

Now isn’t this the kind of thing every shopping centre should have? but maybe if they open this kind of thing in the west they will need to use Clydedales as I think the fat folk in the west would squash these wee Shetlands.

My Didi driver or Uber to you, was quite cute and her driving for the most part was very good.  However I couldn’t help but notice a few little problems with her driving.  The main one being the fact that the interior mirror was being used as a hanger for all manner of things and all I could see was the roof through it.  I’m sure if she looked at it she would have seen less than me.  There were also many cute toys and things plastered all over the dashboard and the techno Chinese music being played was interesting.

Her driving technique was interesting too. 2nd gear was engaged after about half a second but the shifts through to fifth were very smooth.  Coasting seems to be a big part of driving here and even the bus drivers do this a lot,  which I find quite scary because you can sometimes smell the brakes. But I am not complaining about my Didi driver,  but I am intrigued how she and many other drivers can happily and confidently drive without using the rearview mirror 😎 I think there must be some Chinese 6th sense at play here. 

This morning I have had a few emails from my real estate about repairs to the house and also about the current tenant. It looks like the skylight has been damaged by hail and needs to be replaced which is fine. However up until now I have been accommodating to the current tenant, they don’t have a lot of money and I know they are struggling a little and because of this I have allowed them to pay off the electricity and water bills. But they have not been keeping up with the payment plan that was agreed upon. There has just been a two new bills arrive which I have paid but they have not yet paid off the previous bills.

Now this is not all about money, I last was in my home in June of this year and was really surprised that they never even made an attempt to tidy the house before I arrived. The house was not particularly clean and the place was a shambles. The outside didn’t look much better. I was really pissed off and disappointed.

The lease states that there is the young girl and her two kids living at the house but I know and the real estate know that the boyfriend is also living there. I don’t have a problem with this because as I say they are struggling a little and if he is technically not there then he will get more government assistance. So I feel I have been more than fair and yet I also want to protect my home, my hoose.

And so it seems that they are now avoiding contact with the real estate because of the money that’s due. There is enough in bond money to cover any monies due so that’s OK. So I have made the decision this morning to end their current lease and get new tenants. This is not something I really wanted to do as it is expensive process, but at the end of the day I have to protect my home. I just hope I can get better tenants next time………………..