I was a bit worried about what I would eat when I came to Australia because I have really changed my diet in recent weeks, but I have had some great food at Maria and Danny’s. Last nights dinner was great and so colourful too boot.

I got into Cairns at about 8am yesterday morning and went for a coffee, changed clothes and had a coffee. The flight was OK although I did not sleep much. The food was passable but not the best I’ve had while travelling. I asked for a window seat but got the aisle, but at least there were only two seats. My fellow passenger was older than me and had the stench of fresh nicotine oozing from every pore and the clothes that looked like they had not been washed in a while and so the nicotine had an aged smell to it too for added flavour. This is way more disgusting because it has had the time to mix with the natural body odours and in turn it creates an overwhelming smell worthy of a vomit.

Anyway that was all behind me now and I was on my way to the Domestic Terminal to get my flight to Brisbane. I saw a Jetstar rep and asked her if I could get an earlier flight rather wait till 4.40pm and she said yes and so I got my new boarding pass and went to the gate.

When I arrived in Brisbane I got the train to Ipswich to where I will stay with Danny and Maria. They have been very good to put me up for about 2 weeks. They also have helped me a lot over the years and Danny will help me to check my PO Box and collect my mail. He’s also quite a good cook but don’t tell him I said that.

Today I went to see my Skin Cancer Doctor and I was still feeling anxious up until he checked the mole on my skin. He quickly said “it’s OK, nothing to worry about” I was so relieved to hear that, mind you be did freeze a few potential problem spots on me skull. It’s a very strange feeling indeed, a bit like my brain was on fire.

So I left there with my spirits higher than they were when I arrived and so I decided to go for a wee walk through Ipswich and to breathe in the fresh air, something that has been in short supply in recent months. The pollution in Suzhou is about 16 more than here. Ipswich has also many lovely old houses and everywhere is so green and lush. I was woken up at the crack of dawn this morning by the parrots feasting on next doors mango tree. What a racket they make.

I went for some retail therapy and then headed home for lunch. I have 23kg of booty to buy to take back to China. I have maybe spent 5kg today and so I have plenty more to do.

A walk to the bus stop to grab the #5. Then onto the high speed train to Shanghai and now I’m on the bus to the airport. It’s such a long way from Suzhou to Pudong and so usually I try to fly out of Hongqiao but I could not get a flight from there. But you know the total cost is about $15,which at the end of the day is OK compared to let’s say Australia. You will be lucky if you can travel more then a few miles for that amount. It takes around two hours for the journey from start to finish.

I wonder if I’ll get an upgrade to business class 😊

These visa runs come around fast, I feel that I have just returned from one and then I have to make plans for the next one. This is usually because I have to try to find a cheap flight of course and if I can buy the ticket in advance then I can save a wee bit of money now and then. It’s the Scottish blood that makes me do this. Last visa run I went to Hong Kong and for this one I had planned to go to Vietnam but my plans have changed a little. I will now be going to Australia.

The reason for this is to go and get a mole checked on my left side of my body. Skin cancer as you know is at record levels in Australia and because of this I have gone to see a skin doctor for many years. I’m not sure how long I’ve known my current doctor but it will be at least 10 years. A few months ago a black benign mole on my left side began to change a little, it began to get a little hard and then one day in the shower I managed to shift it a raised it off my skin. I was like…..SHIT!!!!……….. and thought what the fuck do I do now. I got out the shower and carefully dried it off and tried to inspect the damage but of course I ain’t that flexible enough and so I asked Sissi to take a picture for me. It didn’t look too bad but nevertheless I got a band-aid and covered it up, more to protect it than anything else and I guess I was hoping that it would miraculously repair itself.

After a few days I took the band-aid off and it did seem better, in fact it looked ok and so I was happy with the result. a few days later however while having my shower I bumped it again, FUCK!!………..this time it didn’t seem so happy. I put the band aid back on.

Catherine and Stuart came on holiday for two weeks and we travelled to yellow Mountain in the south of the country. On the first night we were sitting in the room talking and I felt something sticking to my shirt and as I lifted my shirt I noticed a trickle of blood coming from the mole, not good me thinks. The band-aid went back on. I did not want to keep it covered all the time because it needs to have fresh air, but then when I’m in the shower I would bump it and so hence the band aid. I really thought that it was on the mend and so when my shirt caught it I was very upset.

I had sent the pictures to my doctor and he advised to have it checked out here in China, which is easier said than done. Sissi took me to the local hospital and after waiting several hours I got seen by and old woman doctor that hardly gave me or my mole a glance. She said “Off with its head” and then shouted “Next please” So much confidence was instilled in me with the Chinese health system at that moment. A skin doctor here does not seem to understand skin cancer, in fact it is very difficult to find anyone there that has even heard of it. Most “doctors” are cosmetic, this is a skin doctor.

After my adventure at the hospital I made an appointment with Dr Bryant in Australia and booked a flight. He returns from holiday on the 7th of January and I will go and see him the following morning, first up. This is the only way to have peace of mind I think. I could not let a Chinese doctor remove said mole and be able to sleep at night, mainly because I don’t feel they have the expertise or understanding. About 3 weeks ago after my shower I took of my band-aid to give the mole some fresh air, as I had been doing every two days or so. As I did so, to my horror the head of the mole was left on the band aid and my skin had only a slight mark where the mole used to live. Now this really freaked me out because I don’t really know how this affects things. it can’t be good, but I’m not sure how bad it can be. The unfortunate thing is I have no choice but to wait because my doctor is on holiday. On the upside I don’t have to use any band aids.

Now Dr Bryant did say that the mole looked benign and he did say at the time to get it checked out within 6 months if things changed and of course now they have. So I’m thinking that it is just one of those shit things that happens from time to time. I have every confidence in my doctor and in my body. I don’t think that it will grow into a monster that can’t be stopped, but on the other hand I will feel a whole lot better on Tuesday after having spoken to Dr Bryant. He might still operate and cut it out, I have no idea what will happen and I have deliberately not asked Google because you will get a wide range of answers from the sublime to the ridiculous.

At least it will be good to catch up with a few folk when I’m back. I have already lined up a few coffee sessions and a few lunches and of course I will go and see my GP and Optometrist and basically get an MOT done while I’m there. I’m not looking forward to the heat, I hope the hot temperatures that they are predicting stay in NSW and don’t head north. i can’t use my car because I never renewed the Registraion and so I will have to use Shanks’ Ponies. If I’m lucky maybe I can borrow a car. apart from catching up with folk I will do some shopping. I can bring back two suitcases of 23kg and so I plan to bring back a few luxuries to China. As I said this is an unscheduled visit because I had no intention of returning to Australia this year, however now that I do I may as well make the most of it.

Not looking forward to the flight though………….it’s too long..

Yesterday I had my last English lesson with my students and we finished up by having power point presentations. Everyone gave a 5 minute presentation on subjects like 5G, Stray Dogs, Nantong City and of course Spring Festival. I was most impressed with them, even although the content is simple by the standards of a native speaker, but then again I have come across so called native English speakers that can not string a sentence together.

This year I want to be able to give a speech in Chinese and so I will have to really begin to study. I can engage in simple conversation, but to stand up in front of an audience and give a speech in Chinese is absolutley terrifying for me at the moment. Doing it in English is a doddle, even if I’m called apon at the last moment I can usually string a few words together. But if I can manage to have the confidence of my students to stand up in front of their peers and also their bosses, who gave them a great deal of praise by the way, then I will have achieved on of my goals for 2019.

Reading Chinese is also next to impossible for me at the moment and the only place I have any idea is at the restuarant when I look at the menu, at least I can usually tell what is on offer, but the other problem is I don’t know how to say the words……………..it’s such a difficult and challenging language.

Mind you this is where the phone comes into its own because I can scan the menu and it will give me a translation almost instantly. It’s not always correct but it will at least it will tell me if I’m eating innards or rump.

所以今年我需要让我的中文达到一个水平，我也可以阅读我刚刚写的内容，当然还有能力在没有谷歌帮助的情况下完成所有这些……….

This guy was still sitting in his car and trying to avoid eye contact. I guess he should keep an eye on the road rather than his IPhone 😅😅😅

After lunch I remembered that I needed bread and so I went to the bakers taking the long way home….. Knackered, hungry and cold….I need coffee ☕❄️😨🍨

Yesterday Sissi and I went to the Art Gallery to look at the new exhibition of Suzhou paintings. The theme for this exhibition is Suzhou and there were many fine examples on show. There were a few paintings showing a blend of the new and the old Suzhou and of course the amazing Dongfangjiemen building featured in many paintings. This is also known as the pants building.

Feeling completely underdressed I went along for this amazing dinner at the very very expensive and posh hotel that is the Jinji Hu Hotel. I was invited there by my good friend Amy who I haven’t seen for a while and so it was great to catch up in such a wonderful atmosphere. This is what greeted us when we walked into the reception room, so many wonderful looking starters and they even had Mocktails.

The main dining room was a sight to behold indeed and I’m not sure if I’ve ever had the pleasure of entering a room like this and being allowed to stay and eat. I was there as a filler for one of the empty seats, but that’s ok I had a great time eating food I’ll never be able to afford. Better still I was sitting near the front of the room and so it was perfect for watching the entertainment. I was also impressed that they got my name right, it was only after I saw my name I realised that I could stay. I have no idea what these snacks were in front of my name card because I was so full from eating everything else.

There was one person looking after two or people, our own personal hand. The young girl stood right behind me so I could not see her. Initially I was amazed when she appeared like magic to remove my first course plate. I had no sooner put down my chopsticks and there she was. The first course was a selection of meats and vegetables which was designed to look like one of the mountain ranges nearby Suzhou, in fact if you go to the Suzhou Museum you will see a similar representation made from cut stone near the central pond.

We had Musician’s and Kunqu Opera singers and as usual the volume is way too high, a common problem at Chinese events. To make matters worse I was about 6 feet from the huge speaker stack and so I had to put my finger in my left ear to stop it exploding, my ear that is.

The food kept coming, wave upon wave of perfectly presented dishes and I ate just about everything apart from the sweet and sour fish which was tasteless. The abalone dish was so so, but the tastiest dish by far was the small portion of Australian Beef that had been cooked for two hours and fell apart just by looking at it. Suzhou food is traditionally sweet and quite tasteless really, so I tend to eat the more spicy food and so this banquet is really wasted on me because I think that the food has little or no flavour. The surroundings and the presentation and the service and the entertainment was all marvelous but at the end of the day the flavours were bland. I have no idea what this would have cost in the real world but I know that I would have been disappointed if I had to foot the bill.