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

The Typhoon Lekima caused a few days of rain in Suzhou and at times the wind was very strong and nearly strong enough to knock you off your feet. I wore my wet weather gear yesterday but apparently it is only designed for showers and not a full blown typhoon. My trousers were waterproof, but my shoes and jacket were not but they did take quite a pounding. I was out for over about two hours and I was only a little bit damp and so I think they did a good job. I could not wear my real waterproofs because the temperature was still close to 30c even although the rain was horizontal at times.

This morning was calm and there was even a hint of sun as I sat outside having breakfast. After which I made my way to Central Park for my morning exercise to wake up the body and to burn off the breakfast I’ve just had, I’ve got to make room for lunch.

The paths were strewn with leaves and branches and the park cleaners certainly had their work cut out for them today. The water that flows through the park joining onto the canals was at least 400mm higher than the other day but it will soon dissappear when they open the sluice gates further along the system.

I enjoyed walking in the rain yesterday and it was good to give the clothes a run for their money to see how that coped. If I had been able to wear my winter jacket and if I’d worn my hiking boots I think I would have been as dry as a bone.

On Sunday Lydia and I went to the 6 Arts Museum, which is in the south of the city……in fact it is in Wujiang. There are many water towns in that area too and so we went to have a look at Lili Water-town.  The 6 Arts museum is very different to many other museums because its focus is on structural art, doors, windows, decorative beams, shutters and lots and lots of furniture along with many religious deities. In fact I have never been to anywhere like this before. The museum was void of people when we arrived. It took us around 3 hours to wander through the three levels of the museum and we only saw two other couples. Of course this might have been due to the extremely heavy rain or that it is in the middle of nowhere.

And so I will not say too much about the place but to say that if you ever come to Suzhou then you really need to make the effort to come and visit this amazing and very different gallery. The pictures can speak for themselves.

Lili Watertown

I got this email sent to my hotmail account and it had been sent to the junk mail folder, but I was intrigued. This kind email had told me that my computer had been compromised and that they had been watching me on my web cam for some time “pleasuring myself” which came as a great shock as you can imagine. I couldn’t believe that I had been caught doing such a thing because I am always very careful. How was I to know that when I was indulging my senses with my single malt whisky from Jura and eating my decadent imported dark chocolate at the same time that some filthy scoundrel was filming all the while to expose my perverted ways. And I may tell you here and now so I can feel better, I often mix my food groups and I know it’s a terrible thing to do but sometimes I just have to break out and say to hell with normality. I mean have to you tried cheese and chocolate? Ice cream and Pickled onion crisps? Pineapple and Chilli? so many different and wonderful combinations that I dare not mention or you will think I am a total freak……………………..

However below is the nice email, or should I say emails because I have received many all from a similar address all giving me the same information and you know it’s nice to think that there are so many concerned citizens out there that want to inform us when we have made a mistake or we have a problem and you know they will never tell anyone else of course……………it will be our little secret………….the world does not need to know what goes on behind the lap top screen. and so if you look below you will see the email that I have been sent for your information just in case you get yourself into a compromised situation like me and all for the lovely some of $800 worth of bitcoins and they will also show you where you can go to buy these coins…………….are they not just wonderful?

Recorded you – 2wsx3edc

Save You <SaveYou44@5779.com>

Wed 31/07/2019 11:49 AM

To: ME

Hello, I know your password is: 2wsx3edc

You got recorded – 2wsx3edc

Save You <SaveYou81@8161.com>

Wed 31/07/2019 11:49 AM

To:

• To Me

Hello, I know your password is: 2wsx3edc

Your computer was infected with my RAT (Remote Administration Tool), your browser wasn’t updated / patched, in such case it’s enough to just visit some website where my iframe is placed to get automatically infected, if you want to find out more – Google: “Drive-by exploit”.

My malware gave me full access to all your accounts (see password above), full control over your computer and it also was possible to spy on you over your webcam.

I collected all your private data and I RECORDED YOU (through your webcam) SATISFYING YOURSELF!

After that I removed my malware to not leave any traces and this email was sent from some hacked server.

I can publish the video of you and all your private data on the whole web, social networks, over email of all contacts and send it to your friends.

But you can stop me and only I can help you out in this situation.

Transfer exactly 800$ in bitcoin (BTC).

It’s a very good offer, compared to all that horrible shit that will happen if I publish everything!

You can easily buy bitcoin here: www.paxful.com , www.coingate.com , www.coinbase.com , or check for bitcoin ATM near you, or Google for other exchanger.
You can send the bitcoin directly to my wallet, or create your own wallet first here: www.login.blockchain.com/en/#/signup/ , then receive and send to mine.

My bitcoin wallet is: 1CSDpCjyVHsuTb6i7zZ8dr81iUGL5ff7vM

Copy and paste my wallet, it’s (cAsE-sEnSEtiVE)

You got 2 days time to pay.

As I got access to this email account, I will know if this email has already been read.
If you get this email multiple times, it’s to make sure that you read it, my mailer script is configured like this and after payment you can ignore it.
After receiving the payment, I will remove everything and you can life your live in peace like before.

Next time update your browser before browsing the web!

They say that home is where the heart is but at the moment I ain’t sure where that may be, but today I will return to Suzhou for a wee bit longer. I’ve still got this lurgy from the air conditioning from the other day but I’m certainly better, although everything is a bit more chunkier than before….. My snot is more viscous than ever. My voice is full of gravel and I think I need a hot toddy to cure my ails.

It’s always the left nostril that is the problem child, never seems to be happy.

Popped over to the Metro Cafe for a double expresso and it’s very good, a few more of these will fix me up. I’ll go for lunch soon. There are a few places nearby that only open for lunch and dinner and you can choose from maybe ten dishes for less than 100 TWD, very cheap.

In sitting here enjoying my coffee and like many others here we are doing our own thing and not being a nuisance to anyone else, we are minding our own business, keeping quiet or at least not talking too loudly. So different from the world I’m about to return to. I do prefer the civilised world.

I’ve enjoyed this trip to Taiwan because I managed to see a bit more and I was also needing to get out of China for a while. I now feel more enthused about travelling at the end of the year to far off distant lands.

Looking forward to Korea in about two months time and so I’ll start planning for that as soon as I can.

I had a terrible sleep, coughing and spluttering through the night. I finally got up at 8 and wandered down for breakfast. I didn’t take the happy lift, it was too much for me (I’ll explain later)

The breakfast lounge was busy and I had no sooner sat down to begin breakfast when this old dear that had sat next to me the day before sat down and she was still fucking sniffing, even me with my leaking snout was no where near as noisy as her.

Today’s mission was to go to the bus company and get my lost hat. The young girl on reception managed to understand my broken Chinese and after a few false starts I had an address and a time to pick up my hat……. Marvellous.

But first I was going to the National Museum of Taipei which has an amazing collection of artifacts saved from the crazy Chairman Mao days . Of course Mao is a hero to many but they seem to forget and forgive him for the destruction he brought to China. Thankfully Chiang Kai Shek and his boys managed to bring many items to Taiwan where they have been kept safe ever since.

I really enjoyed it and spent maybe two hours wandering around….. I could have stayed longer but the hoards of Chinese tourists can be a bit overwhelming at times. So many young princess’s and prince’s with no respect following the ways of their parents. They try to push between me and the exhibit instead of going around me, of course me being me, I just look at them and if they don’t move I point to which way they can go.

Photos are snapped and uploaded to wechat before you can say “Ming Dynasty” Some exhibits are over 2000 years old and they are lucky if they can command five seconds of reality before they are swyped right. I only saw a handful of parents taking the time to explain to their kids what amazing things were behind the glass.

I stand in awe at some of the pieces on offer because the skills needed to produce such quality are indeed out of this world and even more so when you look at the dates that lie beside some objects. Even today with all our marvellous technology we would be hard pushed to replicate many of them.

My advice is don’t go here at the weekend because it was so busy and I would have stayed longer if it had been quieter.

Later in the day I got my hat.