This morning felt almost tropical. I looked at the gas water heater and it said 12C, this is the room temperature of course, but its two degrees warmer than yesterday but it does feel a lot warmer. This also could be because it has been sunny the last few days and the house is not feeling so cold and damp, maybe spring is on the way and the so the Corona Virus will leave us soon.

I went to the park around 10 this morning, I’ve been getting later and later because there are very few people in the park no matter what time I go and it is also a little bit warmer. It looks like I have chilblains on two of my fingers due to the very cold mornings last week. In the park there were a few families playing badminton and some were having picnics, albeit KFC. It has only being selling takeaway for the last month, in fact almost no restaurant is open where you can go in and have a meal but takeaways are permitted. There is one Starbucks open but again you can only get a takeaway. Thankfully I have a large supply of coffee and I have been experimenting mixing some of the more bitter ones with the milder and making my own blends. I am trying to keep to two coffees a day, any more than that I cannot sleep so well.

To go into the local supermarket you must now register your phone and enter your details and then you will have your temperature taken before being allowed in. The guys on the door have a full Bio Hazard suit on and double plastic gloves; mind you they will have close contact with many people throughout the day so I think that this is perfectly acceptable.

So three weeks today I have my flight from Pudong Airport which is over two hours away from my home. There are a few ways of getting there but at the moment I am still unsure of how I will get there. The Airport bus has been cancelled till further notice. I also heard that a Suzhou registered car may not go to Shanghai and so a taxi is out of the equation. So at the moment the only option is to get the high speed train to Shanghai and then fight public transport for about 3 hours which I am not looking forward to, but if that is the only option I will take it as I’m ready to leave this place I have called home for nearly three years.

Still not sure if I will be back. I have felt that I have been falling into a bit of a rut again and so I will consider what to do before I head to the UK later in the year. I would like to live in the UK for a few months but then it comes down to money at the end of the day so I plan to buy a Euro-millions ticket and win first prize to make things easier. After I have the money I will buy my Bottle Green Range Rover and head off on another big adventure and maybe make my way back to China, who knows?

I’ve tried not to collect too much while I have been here but my wardrobe seems to be getting smaller lately and so I have started to whittle down the contents. There is a clothes recycle bin in the complex but I have been giving most of my things to the old cleaning lady that looks after our block, some things she keeps but I like to give her first pick. I had an old phone had a pair of headphones that I gave her too. Mind you I have been doing a little bit of shopping on Taobao ( Chinese Ebay) for a few small items. 50% cheaper here than Australia.

I was thinking the other day, why did I book my flight so far out because I found a couple of flights for the same price, but a bit sooner and I’m ready to go but then I remembered. The other day Australia extended its travel ban for flights from China for another week and this is the real reason I delayed my flight, I was hoping that by the middle of March things might start to return to normal. I’m glad my subconscious is smarter than me.

I didn’t sleep too well last night, had a bit of a nightmare but for some reason I was talking to Donald Trump and someone else and the last thing I said before I woke up was “Fuck off” to Donald Trump. We were in some high rise because I could see the city below through the windows and the other thing I remember was that his face was very flaky as if his skin was peeling, all in all very strange indeed.

The sun was rising and it was to be another sunny day, the third in a row. Crisp clear skies at night and clear blue skies during the day. Mind you three days ago we had some snow which made the temperature drop suddenly and with it came the wind to make it worse, but today was positively tropical in comparison.

I fired up the washing machine much to the disgust of Sissi’s mother; the look said it all as I stepped out of the laundry, if looks could kill. It totally threw her she did not really know what to do and to make matters worse for her I commandeered it for most of the day but she still had to try and rearrange a few things which I quickly put back, so that cheered me up.

The next thing that cheered me up was that I could finally get access to the outside world once more, my VPN was up and running. I updated all my software on the phone and download a few podcasts and scanned all my apps for news and gossip to see what was going on, not much happening, same shit different day. But I had the choice to go where I wanted which is all important.

I headed to the park for an hour for my morning routine and then came back for a shower and sat outside in the winter sun reading my book. Henning Mankell’s Inspector Wallander, I’m on the fourth book of the four I bought and I will finish it tomorrow but I am really enjoying his style of writing and will try to get more of his books once I leave China. I’m so glad I bought these when I was in Thailand.

So today felt good and a big improvement on the last few days and of course a few days closer to my flight all going well.

PS just as I was uploading this the gates shut on the firewall once more, I guess someone maybe left it open by mistake this morning…….or maybe the bandwidth is just so bad in the evening that everything comes to a halt, either way I’m looking forward to leaving here soon and not having this problem.

Not having a good day, in fact I wish I could board a plane today and get the hell out of this place. Being stuck in the house most of the time is driving me a bit crazy and to compound those feelings I have Sissi’s mother to contend with. As Sissi told me herself, her mother is like many other Chinese of her generation, they only consider what they are doing and not how it will affect others.

The kitchen is an absolute bomb site. She cooks and prepares food and there is not one surface that is clear. There are many containers half filled with food and it can lie there for days before it is finally eaten. I don’t understand this at all. The phone will ring and she will answer it and talk extremely loud, instead of what most people will do which is to retreat to another room as to not disturb others. And of course I have mentioned that she will use her mobile and play it loud even when I am watching the TV or reading a book and she is literally 6 feet away.

It’s taken some time to get her to clean her teeth in the bathroom rather than do it in the kitchen morning and evening which I really find quite disgusting. The mornings and evenings have the same routine. The teeth are cleaned and then the water is used to rinse the mouth and spat out and this is still happening in the kitchen sometimes, which I really fucking hate and can’t get her to stop. She sees no problem with it.  And then there is the god awful noise that’s made when she tries to eject a piece of phlegm the size of a pinhead, the noises made are disgusting and stomach turning and quite frankly make me want to vomit. This morning I counted a dozen such attempts.

She can’t sit on her arse for a minute and is constantly walking in and out of the house to the balcony where she will often fetch a basin of water which she will then take into the bathroom to use to flush the loo, this is saving water apparently but she has no qualms letting the kitchen tap run like Niagara Falls when washing a cup or plate. This is a common trait with many Chinese and it gets on my tits. So the door is left open and the cold air fills the house once more.

Having to stay home most of the time because of this bloody epidemic is highlighting the many behaviours that she has because normally I would be out and about and I would only come in contact with her in a limited way because I would deliberately style my day as much as possible to avoid her but alas at the moment it is almost impossible. My room is not very big and I can only sit on my bed with the computer or to read a book and so I will go out to the living room but unfortunately it can get busy at times………I miss my privacy which is something that often happens in China.

I really don’t want to be rude and to cause friction and make my last month in China an unpleasant one but I am finding it hard to be civil when she repeats something that I have asked her not to do or at least made her aware of what happens if she does something. She walks around in her own wee world oblivious to others reality. She is younger than me but she shuffles around like an old woman that is in her 70’s.

But I think one of the most difficult things to cope with is the eating. She will eat all through the day at random time’s sooking in air and chewing with the mouth open and it’s really fucking disgusting. Picking at her teeth and making all sorts of noises to dislodge said piece of flotsam. Lunch is at 12 noon and dinner at 6 pm, these are pretty constant although there are times in the past when I have stayed out so that I will miss feeding time at the zoo only to discover to my horror that she is just sitting down to the trough.

You might have gathered by now that I have a very low tolerance for these kinds of noises, other noises I can live with. I love to hear the birds sing, cat’s fighting can be OK too and the steady rumble of a large diesel engine is very comforting but this kind of noise is stomach turning. I wear ear plugs and then I put my headphones on and turn the music up but after a while this is uncomfortable and I just want to be able to sit with my naked ears listening to the tick of the clock, the hum of the fridge or the noise of the wind and rain blowing outside as the cold air descends from the north to fly through Suzhou.

If I could hibernate for the next month I would. I am already sleeping way more than I should be because I’m stuck in the house and now that the vpn is no longer working I have no access to BBC sounds where I can download books, music and podcasts. The last few days have got me thinking of the future and what to do and where to go and I haven’t got an answer yet, however I’m thinking that to return here to continue this life in China may no longer be on the cards. When I go to the UK later in the year I will still apply for the visa but at this moment in time I am also thinking that I may return to civilisation, I might return to my home because as much as I have had many good times in China I don’t have the resources to live the way I would like to live and this may ultimately make my mind up to leave China behind.

I love the food, I really love the food and it’s cheap so I don’t have to cook. The convenience of using my phone to buy online or in the shops or from anywhere really is marvellous. The integration of technology in China is just great. Being anonymous is good although I get recognised quite often now in Suzhou. I like to try to speak Chinese with the locals and this can be quite funny at times and I feel pretty chuffed when I am able to hold a bit of a conversation. As I’ve said before just going to buy bread can be a challenge. But what has happened over the course of the last few weeks with the draconian measures that have been put in place, some of them are really stupid I may add. The whole of China is being treated as if they are children by Mr Xi and his henchmen, of course many of them are but I have seen a taste of what this country can do to enforce law and order. The crackdown maybe necessary but it also shows me what they are capable of and it does not sit well with me, my freedom has been curtailed and I don’t like that one bit. And more importantly I am unable to use the internet; to go where I want…….this is really driving me crazy. It’s that bad that I am forced to use “Bing” as my search engine, I mean how sad and pathetic is that……………………!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And so my rant for this evening is coming to an end and I’m sure that tomorrow will bring me some more ammunition which I can transpose into words, to have a vent, to keep me sane, to give me something to do. Four weeks today I will hopefully be at the airport boarding a plane to Australia and to escape this madness.

In the park this morning all entrances big and small were blocked and had guards, the only way to get in was to sneak through the bushes which I did. You need to get your temperature taken and also give them name and phone number before you can enter, it’s just getting fucking ridiculous. It’s a big park and this just really gives the guards something to do and possibly increase the infection rate because we are coming into contact with more people than necessary. There is no common sense reason for doing this, it’s just another level of control from the Chinese government. However if you ask a local they will tell you that they are just being careful………..think for yourself people this is just fucking stupid

When I come back from the park I have to run the gauntlet once more as I come to the gate of the complex. There are about 10 of them all standing around directing people and checking vehicles, but we are not supposed to have any gatherings because it may spread infection. I quickly run through the gaggle at the gate and call the young girl over that took my temperature yesterday and then I walked away just as she asked me a question, no more questions I think they have asked me enough in the last few days.

When I got up this morning my vpn was not working and the WiFi in the house is so slow that it feels like we are slowly being cut off from the outside world. The Chinese can still access local websites where they can read government prepared propaganda that’s been churned out overnight. So most websites I look at or news feeds I have are not available today and the ones that I can get to load slower than my 28.8 modem that I had. The Great Chinese Firewall has been cranked up a few notches to try and stem the truth.

On top of this when I get home I have to put up with the chaos that is my house. Sissi’s mother will not just sit on her arse for a moment. As we are stuck in the house together tempers are becoming a little bit frayed as we all share the house 24/7. I am really looking forward to getting away from here, not being able to move freely outside now is not good for my mental health and staying in the house all the time is driving me fucking insane.

In the mornings I go to the park and I have been doing this for nearly two years and so my body is ripped and I have a six pack, I wish. In the summer months I will go around 7 am before it becomes too hot and also so I can get there when it is still quiet. There are many people out at that time of the morning, some doing exercise, some walking their dogs and others are on the way to work. An hour later the commuters are coming out of the metro station and heading towards the city and you have to dodge them as you walk along the path. There are also the Tai Chi groups and the old ladies doing some sort of square dancing and so it can quite busy. At the two locations where they have the exercise equipment there too can sometimes have many people and you need to wait for your turn. This current situation we have is making life in the park wonderful.

It’s not only me that thinks so, there are a handful of regular souls taking advantage of the near empty park. Central Park is quite large and can accommodate thousands of people and so when there is only a handful that don’t even outnumber the security guards then it is bloody marvellous.

The other big winners of this crisis is the wildlife. Now when you go through the park in the morning you can hear and see many birds, they are everywhere and they have reclaimed the park and I think that is just great. Many Chinese don’t seem to have the same respect for nature but I’m glad to see that the birds can at least enjoy the peace and quiet too. I would love to go for a walk to the local mountain but it means sitting on the bus or metro for about an hour and I really don’t want to put myself in the position of being with too many people. No need to tempt fate me thinks. But if my mate Peter was to drive us there I would think that the mountains would a great place to go at the moment. His wife unfortunately will not let him out the door, not even to go for a walk in park so he has no chance of going to the mountains.

If all goes well I’ll be out of here in a month which am looking forward to. Sitting at home all the time and having to wear a mask when you go out is not such a fun lifestyle. Today at my local Muslim restaurant they told me that they can longer let us sit inside and they can only supply takeaway. The police came by earlier today and told them that’s the new rules. Mind you I was wondering how long it would be before this happened, after all you do need to remove your mask when eating………well I do.

In Wuhan and places close to the epicentre of the virus outbreak I have seen many people wearing these Bio Hazard suits when they are in hospital or maintaining a road block but I was surprised today to see a lonely token security guard wearing one. There is always a guard on duty here and he is really here more to answer questions I think. For most of the time I have been in Suzhou they will stand at the top of the stairs under this umbrella.

I saw him today because I was going to the bakery which is just down the stairs from where he is standing. In the bakery the workers are wearing normal clothes and the only hint that there is any problems is the face masks that they wear. So why is Mr Security Guard all dressed up in his Bio Hazard suit? Well I think it helps to keep the levels of fear and paranoia that are permeating the community right now. I know this CoronaVirus is serious but to dress like this I feel sends the wrong kind of message to the rest of the citizens.

When I entered the main gate to the community today they took my temperature and then asked for then asked for my ID which I showed them. I said you can take a photo but I am not giving you my passport. They then asked for a copy of my lease, it took me all my time not to tell them to Fuck Off. I said that I had registered with the police 2 years ago and you young girl can basically go away. Just then an older officer walked over and said something to her and waved me through, he must have seen my frustration or he recognised me.

I can’t remember if I mentioned before, but yesterday on the way home from the market I got off the bus and crossed over to the park where they told me I had to sign in. I can walk another 30 metres and then just walk in through another gate……..utter madness. Mind you in the old city is is now becoming harder to walk around freely. You are unable to walk through a residential area unless you have good reason too, so most people stay home.

If it’s not raining in the morning I’ll pop over to the park and then grab a bit to eat at the Muslim restaurant before the crowds get there and then it’s back to the house to put on the lounging thermals once more. But hopefully this will all change soon because I have booked a flight to Australia for the middle of March and if all goes well and they don’t cancel this flight I should be able to escape this madness for a while.

https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/FT4OMya7aafilhOBWdeXhA

Click this link to see the rules of Suzhou city at this time

i was surprised when I read the news this morning that this young doctor had died from the corona virus. he seemed a very fit looking young man and even in the picture of him lying in bed with a respirator on, he had life and fire in his eyes or was it more like fear. So to hear the news that he had passed away was as I say surprising and sad.

He was the first person to report this disease and for doing this he was got into trouble from government officials and he was told to keep his mouth shut or there could be consequences. But it was soon apparent that there was a problem and then there was an announcement finally coming from the Chinese Government that a new strain of a flu like virus was spreading through Wuhan.

My first thought this morning was that he had been killed rather than died due to the virus. If he lived he might caused too much trouble for some fat cat in government. of course we will never know if he died of complications or someone else had a hand in his death. Either way, it is a sad day for someone so young to die, especially someone who puts their own life on the line to help others.