So much planning for a two week holiday and yet when the time finally arrives it goes in the blink of an eye. Catherine and Stuart arrived at Pudong Airport a little late I may add. The flight time said 18:30 but it was closer to 19:30 before they came through, but we had organised a car to take us to our digs for the night.

Those digs were not too far from the Bund and was really a business hotel. Our room was a studio apartment with views of the city and it worked out really well. Shanghai was surprisingly clear and so we went for a walk and took a few pictures of the city.

The next day we explored a little but did not go too far. At night we went to Grandma’s Restaurant which is famous apparently but it’s not for the food. There were many Chinese there but to me the food’s not good and well over priced.  After there we went to the Captain’s Bar which is nestled between two buildings and also sits on top of a youth hostel. I’d been here before with Pete many years ago but I was shocked at the prices this time. It was $40 for two beers and a gin and tonic, I certainly didn’t have enough money to get drunk, but you are paying for the view and not the beer. This time however the bar was mobbed and just like last time I was here it began to rain.

 

Next day we went to the Sculpture Park which is well worth a visit, the rain persisted but it did not spoil the experience. Afterwards we had local dumplings or wantons and then headed to the French Concession area where we had to have some coffee to recharge the batteries. I used DIDI to get around, this is the Chinese version of UBER but I was quite chuffed because I was able to use my language skills when the driver called to confirm locations etc. My Chinese was getting put to the test.

Next day we headed for Suzhou and got the high speed train form Shanghai. After arriving and checking into the hotel we went for a little wander around Suzhou to give Catherine and Stuart a quick look at the city I am living in. We didn’t have a late night and so after dinner and coffee i headed back home and left them to their own devices.

Over the next few days we visited a The Lingering Garden which is a typical Suzhou style garden and one that I had not been to before, but I enjoyed it very much. My friend Lydia accompanied us which was good because she was also able to translate much of the Chinese for us.

 

We went to Dongshan of course which is one of my favourite haunts and did the walk over the mountain and into the village, but unfortunately as it was later in the day there were so many noisy Chinese tourists everywhere which kind of spoiled the ambience of the place.

On the bus back to the main town centre one of the locals was chatting to me and started to laugh and she said that Stuart had a big nose and so the whole bus was laughing. The bus we got on was full of the old folk going to pick up the kids from school.

WE went to Tiger Hill and also had a quick look at the Suzhou Museum and then our time in Suzhou was just about over and so it was time to pack up and head to Beijing.

We met at Leqiao Metro Station and headed for Suzhou railway station. We arrived early as I always like to factor in a fuck up factor and thankfully on this occasion it was large enough to accommodate my fuck up. I only looked at the tickets when I arrived at the station and to my horror realised that we should have gone to Suzhou North Railway Station and not Suzhou Railway Station. Quickly back on the metro and changed onto a different line and watched the minutes tick by. It’s amazing how time flies in these situations. Each stop seemed to take for ever but time kept ticking. I’ve not been to Suzhou North for a long time and so had no idea where to go, but I headed for the south entrance which was a lucky guess.

We got through security and into the queue and then two mins later the line begins to move. Thankfully we got on the train and settled in for a 6 hour run to Beijing approximately 1200kms.

We stayed in a 5 star hotel in Beijing called the Prime Hotel and it was because it was the only place that we could get a family room a with a good location.

We went to the Great wall, the Forbidden City, The Temple of Heaven and the Summer Palace. The air quality was not so bad in Beijing and we even had some blue skies. The Great wall for me was by far the best experience and it was also challenging but a great day out which was organised by my friend Jasmine. We were lucky to have dinner with Jasmine the following evening and she took us to a local restaurant where many pf the waitresses come form the DPRK and I guess this explains the poor service we received. I think they thought we were Americans, I just hope they didn’t spit in the food.

We all had a great time and surprisingly didn’t want to kill each other…….I think’

And as all god things have to come to an end I jetted off to Hong Kong for my visa run and Catherine and Stuart headed back to Australia.

I came to Hong Kong after being in Beijing with Catherine and Stuart to do a visa run, although I’m about 2 weeks early. It was also cheaper to fly from Beijing than to return to Suzhou and then travel from there.

The airport bus stopped opposite the Shamrock Hotel on Nathan Road, which is a business hotel but centrally located and within 2 kms of the harbour. I love the fact that Hong Kong has double decker buses and this reminds me of many a happy time back in Scotland when I used to drive them there.

It’s plain to see the influence that the British has had on Hong Kong, from the British electrical sockets, the lack of Chinglish, the almost British number plates on cars and of course they drive on the left hand side which of course is the correct side of the road to be on. But I think the freedom and civilisation left in the wake of the British is still strong.
The driving is better and drivers mostly stick to the rules. There are openly gay people walking around, many young women smoke. There are orderly queues at the bus stops and people wait their turn. There is a sense of order in the chaos that is Hong Kong. Oh and there is and abundance of Indians here which is something I remember from my very first trip here 10 years ago. They of course are trying to sell you clothes but they are always too pushy and to be honest I wouldn’t trust them as far as I could throw them. They always seem to be scheming a new plan and look guilty, how they manage to do business is beyond me. A tad racist you may think, but I think not.

On the street behind the hotel there are the usual small restaurants and a market which at night time seems to double in size and it is also the haunt for many young ladies that you can hire for an hour or more, mind you I never asked the price as I nearly passed out at the price of a coffee never mind anything else.

Hong Kong

On this trip I asked my friend Grace to show me some nature in Hong Kong and so she took me to one of the local reservoirs which was on the road to the airport. When we got off the bus I could not believe that I was still in Hong Kong. After a short walk up the hill we were in dense forest and there were piles of shit on the ground but not from dogs but from monkeys and cows. Go figure………less than half an hour ago I was in the metro and the chaos of Hong Kong city.

It was quite hot and still early but thankfully for the most part we were in shade. The path has been well trodden and we met many people on the way round. It’s such a scenic spot and on the doorstep of a very busy city. When I look at the pictures I took later I find it hard to believe that such a place exists in Hong Kong, but I think this is also we have to thank the British for this, because these areas have been protected from development just like they are in the UK.  But rather than prattle on about the beauty and beast aspect of Hong Kong, I shall leave you with some photos to look at.

Well I got back to Suzhou after my trip to Beijing with Catherine and Stuart and my visa run to Hong Kong. I’m having a lazy morning and will soon put pen to paper once more as it’s been a little difficult when I’ve not had the time or my computer for that matter.

A wee stroll along the wall was what we did today and at the start it looked a little daunting but after a few hours of walking mostly uphill we finally reached the top.

On the second day in Shanghai we decided to go to the Sculpture Park and we were not disappointed.

   

 

There’s an army of mainly old folk that wander this city and I know it’s the same all over China, collecting rubbish that can be recycled. I watch so many people throwing rubbish away and they don’t care where they drop it but these folk if they find it will collect it.

In the complex where I live I often see,at night, a woman in her 40’s with a child go through the bins and search for plastic or cardboard. But she has competition because sometimes there is an older woman but I don’t have any pictures because I don’t feel comfortable taking their picture.

What amazes me more of course is the way that they bundle all of this stuff and transport it to wherever they take it in the city, it’s great and so I have given you a few examples of the bin men and women in Suzhou………

 

When I first came to China many months ago I thought to myself that this would be the safest place to live at this time after Trump got into the White House, but how quickly things can change. The crazy Korean in the north has been atagonising the west for a long time and shouting at its mortal enemy America, but this week things have progressed to the very brink.

Kim is the spoiled brat child in the room that no one likes but they tolerate. every so often the brat will push one of the other guys in the room or name call or just generally be a dick. The brat could be taken out in a heart beat as his bark is worse than his bite but the trouble is that many people would suffer as a result of the actions taken by the rest of the folk in the room. Many of Kim’s people would die for no reason other than that of a fucking lunatic getting a bit too lippy. What’s more, his people have no idea what the world is like because they live within this virtual reality created by the Kim family. They are told that they are the most powerful country on earth and that their technology is second to none, where as all of us really know that this is shit.

So when the gutless bully in the corner decides to overstep the mark, how do we deal with this. We can’t be too pussy with the response, but at the same time we have to go in and literally King hit the wee prick and take him out and him alone. Thee are so many innocent victims in all of this.

The Japanese must be shittin” themselves along with the South Koreans.  The Chinese are also very unhappy and those closer to the action are very worried. Since Friday of last week there has been a lot of activity from the Chinese Air force around Suzhou. They have been flying in formation and flying low. It’s good for many of the plane spotters that you don’t get in China.

My sister and brother in law come for a holiday next week and we will be doing a little sightseeing around the east coast of China and I will be really pissed if this wee arse starts any more nonsense and upsets oor travel plans. I mean what a selfish wee prick he is. It’s the usual wee man syndrome and to top it off he’s just a wee fat bastard, I wonder if he can find his dick or maybe he has a special dick attendant that helps him in that department.

The DPRK fluffer.

So much sorrow and so much pain,

Everyone seems to suffer and very few gain,

War is big business these days,

An opportunity for a quick thinker,

For someone to make a quick buck,

Someone with some spare Kalashnikov’s to squander,

To let some child loose to wander,

To sell to the highest bidder,

Because loyalty is meaningless, the dollar is your friend.

Happiness is a cigar called Hamlet

 

 

We fight for land, we fight for food,

We also fight for religion which of course is no good,

They all believe their god is the greatest,

When will they discover it really hates us?

Is this a sport for it?

Where does it sit?

Why does it watch?

Why does it ignore its believers?

Why won’t it face its detractors?

I think there are too many factors.

We have leaders and sheep; it’s the way of life,

But Happiness is a cigar called Hamlet.

 

 

They say ignorance is bliss,

 Let’s try it someday,

To live in an another reality,

To live like an American let’s say,

To see the world through Star Spangled Glasses,

Distorted and skewed.

Where hatred is real and stupidity rife,

No wonder they have a Trump president with a Glamorous wife.

Did you ever watch Marty McFly in Back to the Future?

Biff was in power and this is America’s Future.

Happiness is a cigar called Hamlet.

 

 

So what is happiness for you and for me?

I like to listen to music; I like to be free,

To wander through this life as I choose,

To escape the rat race to find a new muse,

To be out my depth maybe up to my waist,

To think quick on my feet with much too much haste,

To be challenged every day and learn something new,

To have a good single malt or a glass of Shiraz

And of course some dark chocolate to add some pizzazz.

But happiness is a cigar called Hamlet.

 

 

So what about you?

How do you stay away from the colour blue?

Please share and tell us, I’m keen to know.

I might need your advice someday and your shoulder to lean on,

I’m just lucky just now that I have Karma in the bank,

I’m positive and gaining interest.

But life is full of ups and downs and old foes,

And it can be easy to let those woes,

Eat you and feed the fire of depression but don’t let it win,

Talk if need be, go for a walk have a cup of tea,

But always remember,

Happiness is a cigar called Hamlet.

 

 

SO who is Hamlet? I guess you want to know,

Well he made cigars many many years ago,

And he always told me that if you were sad or blue,

That you sought him out and he could cure you,

By making you smell funny but relaxed and new,

To be cool,suave and be debonair even if you lost all your hair.

But whether it’s a Hamlet a dog or a book,

Find your happiness wherever you look,

It might be under your nose just open your eyes,

And I’m sure one day you will get a very pleasant surprise,

Happiness is a Cigar called Hamlet.

 

A poem sent into the Bremer Forum for this weeks topic and I thought I would post it here also.

Freedom for All

Well it seems to be, but why is it so?

How can they do it? I just don’t know.

But if I did, wouldn’t it be magic,

It would be free to me, which is not so tragic.

But is it better when it’s free?

I think so, don’t you agree?

Your pocket will be happy and you will have a smile on your face,

But after awhile I would feel a disgrace,

The guilt would rise, which is no surprise.

But will I get over it? I’m sure I will,

I’m Scottish after all and Freeeeedom is our call.

 

But can everyone be free?

I don’t think it’s possible you see,

In fact there are more slaves today since the plantation days,

Since the fall of the Roman Empire in fact.

 

 

Our modern slaves are from all walks of life and sometimes even end up as a wife,

Transported with the promise of a better life than before,

But only to end up bruised and battered and lying on the floor,

Under the guise of a Student or Nanny or Friend,

They are transported from their home to this bitter end.

 

 

So Freedom for all is a dream I believe,

The reality is powerful and will not be conceived.

And all through history we have had orators a plenty,

But not one of the promises was filled, they were all empty.

SO Freedom for all will never be achieved.

This is the sad reality of such a dream, a nightmare in fact.

It will be assigned to the past, to gather dust in a corner.

 

Freedom for all is a powerful thing, but greed and cruelty still thrive,

So the nightmare is real and many still feel,

But we don’t see it, so it doesn’t exist.

But it’s under our noses and we have just missed.

 

From 7/11 to the farms in the country they work from dawn till dusk

But their efforts are only rewarded a little bit

And so they end up being treated like SHIT!

 

Freedom is a dream for many, but should be a right.

But how long will it take for them to see the light,

To feel the wind on their faces and the pleasures of life,

To wake up free of their chains and to live as they intended,

And to be free like you and me.