Last week it began to get cooler but the summer came back for a second bite of the cherry this weekend. It’s muggy and sweaty and really quite uncomfortable and I’m really looking forward to the cooler weather.

After a busy week the pace changed at the weekend. Saturday was a day for reading and lying on the couch and watching TV and it was great. On Sunday I caught up with a few folk for a short tour of “The Couples Retreat Garden” and the “Kunqu Opera Museum” which you will find in the old city in Suzhou. These expat events are held usually once a month and it is really the only time that I catch up with other expats, generally I try to avoid them. The conversation usually turns to Brexit or Trump or Hong Kong and frankly I don’t care anymore, I just want to get to the last page of these books to find out what happened, I struggle to listen to any of it for more than a few minutes………..mind you Trump is a complete numpty and so it’s still fun to listen to his ramblings at times.

We even got covered by the local newspaper, although I don’t have a copy of it just yet but I am hoping to acquire one for posterity. I’ve had my name and picture in the paper a few times since I’ve been here and I was even on TV…………..and on every occasion I was being very good, anytime I got a mention in Scotland was usually because I did something wrong 🙂

A translation from the local paper.

The translation was done through Google and so you will see a few strange phrases throughout the article

Foreign friends praised “100 foreigners tour hundred gardens” Suzhou gardens are more beautiful than imaginedGravitational broadcast2019-09-08 19:28

Well Well Well

Today (September 8th) afternoon, the “100 Foreigners Touring 100 Parks” sponsored by the Suzhou World Cultural Heritage Classical Garden Protection and Supervision Center welcomed a group of foreign friends who took a tour from Zhangjiaxiang to the North Road. Feel the charm of Suzhou gardens in the late summer and early autumn.

At two o’clock in the afternoon, the All-Jinhui Hall (China Kunqu Museum) in Zhongjiajiaxiang was particularly lively. More than ten foreign friends listened to the history of Kunqu Opera and Suzhou Garden, and felt the charm of Chinese traditional culture. “Look at this pool, the stone around the pool is the famous lake stone.” For the foreign friends to explain the translation is the Suzhou civil organization “Walk through Suzhou” responsible for Qu Weiqiang, he pointed to a pool in the Jinjin Hall Explain. Foreign friends are very interested in everything in the garden. Besides listening carefully, they are taking pictures, taking pictures and taking pictures with their mobile phones.

If the All-Jin Club is the beginning of foreign friends to know the gardens and Kunqu, then the coupling garden and Ming Xuan are the highlights of the in-depth understanding. In front of the main hall of the coupling garden, the interpreter tells the story of the love between Shen Bingcheng and Yan Yonghua, the owner of the coupling garden, and emphasizes the clever use of “coupling” and “even” and the symmetry of the design in the garden. Foreign friends are obviously puzzled by the meaning between the two characters. Qu Weiqiang uses “couple” to further explain. The foreign friends who listened to it seem to realize suddenly, and they all make a “squeaky” voice, and even erected the thumb to express their appreciation.

Jeff from the United States is a teacher at Zhangjiagang Liangfeng Middle School. His Chinese name is Li Yuanhang. He was very excited to tell reporters that the coupling garden is the sixth Suzhou garden he has played. He said that each of the Suzhou gardens is different. At first he thought that the gardens were the same. After the play, they discovered that the same garden elements, such as mountains, water, buildings and plants, combined to produce works with such different effects. “Every garden is a good piece of art.” Isabella from Canada is an elegant lady. She told reporters that Suzhou gardens are far more beautiful than she imagined. “I didn’t expect that in the garden.” With so many plants, I really want to bring the garden home and bring it back to Canada.” She also poetically said that the Suzhou garden culture is also very beautiful. The most precious thing is time. She is willing to use time to explore every inch of Suzhou. land.

It is understood that this event is one of the series of activities of “100 Foreigners Touring 100 Parks”. As a co-organizer of the event, “Walking Through Suzhou” invited more than ten foreign friends from the United States, Ireland, and the United Kingdom to participate. The person in charge, Qu Weiqiang, said that they used to hold similar activities in the past, but basically it was the first time to visit a place like this, and to launch a Suzhou garden tour line like this, for systematic and in-depth travel. “This kind of tour is like a garden culture study, so that foreign friends can have a deep understanding of the cultural essence and connotation of Suzhou gardens.”

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Copyright © 2019 Suzhou Daily Newspaper Group

China may have a reputation for being a clever and innovative country and over the years they have proven this to be true and yet many of the normal citizens are really quite stupid. In everyday life you will encounter the stupidly that I refer to. This morning for example I went to the park for my morning exercise and to the sand pit area where they have the equipment. I was the only one there when I arrived and then shortly afterwards an old lady appeared on the scene. She had a spinning top Yoyo combined with a skipping rope I guess is the easiest way of describing it and she whirls this thing around like a dervish. Now these yoyo spinning top things are a bit large and if it was to go astray, as it was doing this morning, then it would be a bit dangerous if it happened to strike you on the noggin. She came within spitting distance of me and she’s flying this fuckin thing around her head and then the next thing it shoots off in one direction, thankfully nowhere near me. I just stared at her, but she didn’t care a jot and so eventually I signalled to her to Fuck Off and she did………..she went back across to a large grassy area where there was no people at all and it wouldn’t matter if her YOYO went astray. Now why can she not consider my safety or the possible consequences if the yoyo’s trajectory brings it towards me? Is she stupid and does not realise? Is she just fucking ignorant and does not give a fuck? Either way both look very similar.

Chinese drivers are bad at the best of times and the same applies to their behaviour. When they drive through the community I live in they drive way too quickly. They pass row after row of parked cars squeezing through the narrow roads at speeds more akin to the motorway. They do not think for one moment that a child or an old person may wander out onto the road without looking. They only care about where they are going. When I see one coming through at an excessive speed I often go out on the road and walk in the middle real slow to make them slow down and I often get a strange look from them too. They must be thinking, “Look at that crazy old foreigner, what the fuck is he doing?” but they slow down………….Are they just fucking ignorant or is it that they just don’t give a fuck too?

When crossing the road at any place you really must have 360 degree vision because cars and ebikes will come from almost any angle and it does not matter what colour the lights are. When crossing a road in front of the ebikes they will almost never go behind you when they pass, instead they will try to squeeze through the gap that is left between you and the kerb and again they don’t give a fuck about you…………..they don’t seem to understand that I’m getting closer to the kerb and so therefore it would be safer for both of us if they were to go behind me. Our paths are converging and they take no evasive action until the inevitable might happen and then they brake dramatically. They do not have the capacity to see danger and react accordingly. They are completely reactive instead of proactive.  Are they Fuckin’ Stupid or is it that they just don’t give a fuck?……………

Of course not all Chinese are like this but I would say the majority are like this and so it can be a challenge some days. Just when you think you have seen it all some other nutter goes ahead and trumps it. Mind you the behaviour of the citizens does vary from city to city and at the moment I am currently in Suzhou and so you may find your experience different if you are living elsewhere.

I checked the weather forecast in Australia this morning and I’m so happy I ain’t there because it looks like summer has arrived instead of spring because it’s going to be bloody hot this week.

On Friday they are predicting a temperature difference of 27C, which is just crazy….

Last week I went to Tianpingshan and the heat was severe, when I got back home I drank many litres of water but I still didn’t venture to the loo before going to bed. In contrast, today’s weather is very different. Autumn arrived on Tuesday last week just one day after my gruelling walk at Tianpingshan. If I had gone for a walk today I would have been soaked to the skin just like last week but today it would be due to the intense rain. The weather in Suzhou seems to change very quickly, one day it’s summer the next it’s Autumn.

The last two days have been very wet and it is a welcome relief from the very hot weather we have had over the last few months. To be able to sleep at night without waking up in a sweat is marvellous. My morning coffee tastes better I think, although it does cool down a little bit quicker. My only real complaint is that I cannot go to the park in the morning to do my exercise. The rain is supposed to be here for the week and I’m sure by the end of the week I will be complaining profusely about how miserable it is, but for the moment I like it.

Staying home watching TV curled up on the couch is a very pleasant pastime although I do feel a little guilty at times. I really should be more proactive and do stuff, but I can’t be bothered. I have semi important stuff to take care of but I can leave it for another day because I have time and then I have other stuff that I don’t need to do but is way more interesting. For example I need to work out my travel plans for next year. I will return to the UK at some point and I want to take the scenic route and I have a few ides of where I would like to go but it all comes down to a matter of finance. I’m thinking of passing through India and then maybe Egypt, Greece and then onto Barcelona before I finally land in the UK. I have already planned my next two visa runs and I do enjoy spending time doing the research but it is very distracting and gets in the way of actually doing the more important stuff……….

I have the house to myself today and it is marvellous………..I could run around naked if I wanted but I won’t because, well it’s too cold now and so I will have to wait until next year and the warmer weather returns. A missed opportunity indeed and I hope the image of me doing that does not stay in your head too long.

I guess my biggest decision for today is what to eat, which is like most days really. I really enjoy the Lanzhou La Mian restaurant because their food is so good and does not break the bank. Their food hits the spot, not too much oil and the flavour is so much better than many other places. However I did have some satay dumplings the other day which were just bloody marvellous and I will have to return there soon, but the portion is too small to sustain me throughout the day and I do believe they are a bit fattening due to the amazing satay sauce. And so the dilemma of lunch is just starting and so I will go the noo to try and work out the best course of action………

They forecast said that it was going to be warm but it turned out to be scorching. Sissi had never been here before and so I wasn’t sure how she would cope but she did OK.

It was apparent as soon as we got off the bus that it was a lot warmer here than at home and it just got hotter over the next couple of hours. We walked about 8 km, which is the climbing of two peaks, last week I did three.

The mountain was quiet today no doubt because it was so bloody hot, but it was also good to get it to ourselves. We did meet a group of about ten that had no mountain etiquette at all. Instead of waiting for us to go down a rough stepped part of the path they just try to push passed, I of course tell them to wait and they don’t seem to understand why. They have so much to learn in this country and one thing is to be aware of other people and also the consequences of their actions, but that is what you face everyday on the streets too.

When we got to the end of the walk the pair of us were soaked to the skin with sweat, we lost so much water. I had two bottles with me and when I got home I would have drunk about three litres of water I think.

I got up at the crack of dawn, in fact before the crack. My phone illuminated the room as I found me slippers and made my way to the kitchen to switch on the kettle and toaster, breakfast is so important. I was heading to Xishan which is about two hours away and so I needed to have an early start. The temperature was pleasant in the morning due to the cloud cover, but later in the day it became very sticky indeed.

I was wanting to climb Piao Miao mountain but was unsure of the way up and so I took a punt getting off the bus on the southern side of the mountain which as it turned out was where I went wrong. I walked for miles and miles along through the collection of houses that ran along the bottom of the mountain and then I decided to venture into the labyrinth to try and find a way up to the top. I could see a pagoda on the top and so I headed for that but the concrete path that I was following was heading in away from it slightly.

The path ran out and so I headed through the tea plantation and followed the rough tracks between the plants straight up the side of the mountain. After about 20 mins or so it was getting very rough underfoot, the rocks were giving way when I stepped on them and the undergrowth too was starting to attack me. The thorns on some creeper attacked my trousers and skin and it was becoming a bit too intense because by this time there was no track and I was just trying to head up, but in the end I had to concede that the mountain had won and I was heading back down. Mind you that was easier said than done, but after a few more scratches and stumbles I made it back to solid ground relatively unscathed.

I had been clever enough to pack a small lunch and so after another hour or so I stopped under a shady tree and shared my meagre lunch with the ants. My goal was to reach the entrance to Piao Miao and all I had to do was to walk another 6 kms but I’m afraid it was all a bit too much because by this time the temperature had risen significantly along with the humidity and so I called it a day and headed home and will conquer Piao Miao another day.

I finished the day in a very different way, I went to a expat get together near my apartment which is in staggering contrast to where I had been today. Both of these worlds have their beauty and appeal. I was up on the 42nd floor when I took these pictures of Suzhou city. From up here the city looks quite amazing especially with the East gate building dominating the skyline and of course it es even more amazing when they have the light show.

I’m trying to figure out what to do at the end of the year, when to tour China, when to leave China and when to go on my last visa run and of course where to go for the last visa run. I have to leave by the end of December this year and I have been wracking my brains about where I should go and watching the cost of course, it’s an expensive time of the year. But I have finally made a decision and it was by pure chance really. I was watching a video on China, called “China from Above”. On this video it showed this amazing tidal bore that takes place near Hangzhou which is just about spitting distance from where I am and so I went online to find out a bit more about it. I went to the Time and Date website where you get all sorts of information and wonderful calculators and the one I was looking at was referring to the lunar calendar so that I could get the information about the tidal bore and then I happened to stumble upon the solar eclipse calculator and I checked that out. And so this is when I decided to go to Singapore for my visa run on the 24^th of December because there is a partial solar eclipse on the 26nd. So I will stay there for a few days and then work my way north to Chiang Mai where I will catch up with a few friends before I return to China for another few more weeks and then I will return to the UK and see what the wind brings.

I would really love to stay in the UK for a few months so that I could visit a few places that I haven’t been to for many moons and I would also like to cycle some of the cycling tracks that crisscross the UK, but I will wait until closer to the time to figure out what will happen and of course if I can stay in the UK until the summer I can then apply for my free bus pass because I will turn 60 and then I can travel for next to nothing…………..bloody marvellous…………

I have a policy with Westpac which is for Income Protection and I took it out years ago when I got the mortgage, just in case something happened. Now I am not working but instead I am an international jetsetter swanning around and this policy is up for renewal. Before I left Australia 3 years ago I questioned them why I should have this because I am not working and have no income to protect. I was told, now my memory is a little vague about this, that it would still be useful to me because if I insure myself for X dollars each month then I could still make a claim if I met the criteria of the policy, eg, got injured; even although I currently have no income and so it seems like an insurance policy, well that was my understanding. I contacted Westpac when I got the renewal to quiz them but guess what? I have to call them to discuss but because I am out of the country I can not discuss any specifics of the policy because there is legislation in place to prevent them from doing so. We live in a Global community and yet I am unable to discuss with them a product that I bought many years ago which I am now questioning and want more information on. I mean what the fuck?

This is the quote from the email,

This is due to the legislation around the general advice warning and hence cannot provide general advice while you are out of the country.

Me thinks I will be saving some money and cancelling this policy and I have also made a complaint about the advice I got 3 years ago