Two new guests came on Friday and I didn’t like the look of them at all. I locked the door to me room and to our bathroom before going out as they just didn’t look that trustworthy. A young couple that seemed to only care about themselves and no one else. It’s interesting how you get one good guest only to have the next one or ones to be arseholes.

I left the house today before they did but I wish I had been here when they left and maybe they would not have left the room in such a mess. Fucking bastards!

They even had the air-conditioning set to 30c

The towels also look filthy, I said to Sissi that she must give them a bad review and she tells me not to get angry but why should I not get angry? These wee fuckers will go and do the same thing somewhere else and maybe they already have, in which case Sissi would have known and maybe said “No sorry you can’t stay” She doesn’t want to rock the boat, me I’d drown the wee bastards……

The pollution is high today, so I thought I would try this mask. It’s a good look I think but the only trouble is that my specs are fogging up and I can’t see a bloody thing and so as I wish to ere on the side of safety I shall poison myself instead…..

A few days go a young student arrived to stay with us for a month. She is very petit and very skinny and has a cheeky smile and a twinkle in her eyes. On the surface she looks quite shy and innocent but I was not fooled by this exterior one bit.

Today Sissi and I went out early and the young girl headed out to class. Sissi and I went to the Suzhou Art museum which is where I went the other day, but today we went to another hall which has a static exhibition on the history of Suzhou covering all the people that have influenced the development of Suzhou over the millennia. There is not a lot of English on offer, but when there was an English translation I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was British English for a change, I mean it is so nice to see an inscription in stone where the English is elegant and spelt correctly………none of this American nonsense.

After the museum we went for lunch, which was mutton and vegetable soup with dried blood and tofu chucked in for good measure. On such a cool day it hit the spot and warmed me cockles. After lunch we went our separate ways as we both had things to do, I headed home. Just inside the door of our flat there is a small seat to use to take of your shoes. I had just parked my arse on the chair and I heard giggling and the bedroom door opened at the end of the hall and out stepped the boyfriend of the young girl in his birthday suit, he stopped so quickly and stared at me like a rabbit does when it gets caught in the headlights. He quickly covered his junk with a small square white towel and shouted something………..the young girl stuck her head out the door and just laughed and then they both disappeared.

There is a door that can shut off the living area off from the bedrooms and this door was soon closed. The young guy left about 30 mins later and he scurried out the house with his head hung low. About an hour later the young girl appeared as if nothing had happened. This innocent persona had returned.

The morning was cold and crisp and after I had been to the park for my early morning constitutional I caught up with Lydia for lunch at my new favourite North Eastern restaurant in the Wuzhong district of Suzhou. We went there last week too and had some amazing sweet and sour pork which was done in a lemon based sauce. The pork was tender and the batter thin. Dumplings and cabbage were also on the menu and after we finished every bit I felt fat and ready for a snooze. And so yesterday I was happy to have the same thing again but instead Lydia ordered spicy pork, mutton dumplings and eggplant and potato which was also very good, but I would have also preferred the sweet and sour pork. As you may know or not know, when you order food in China you can do it in two easy ways, which are the usual way ordering with the waitress or you can use the APP by scanning the QR code on the table and then doing it yourself. By doing it yourself it is usually cheaper and yesterday we ended up getting a 15% discount. It’s relatively easy to use but of course it is all in Chinese which makes it a little tricky.

After lunch we jumped on the No 26 bus to go to the art gallery and for those of you who know Suzhou then I will tell you how to get there. If you go to Renmin Lu between Beisita and the moat then you will find it on the south side of the road, easy n’est pas?

The art was varied and diverse and some were just a little too abstract for my liking but I  don’t spend too much time analysing the art I just like it or I don’t and I usually make this decision quickly………

We must have stayed in here for about two hours wandering around the gallery and in fact we were the last to leave. When we came outside the winter was once again on show as the cold wet night made the idea of hot food very palatable.

I arrive at the venue, I warm up the bones,

Do some stretches and feel the body moan,

I warm up my arms and get the body warm,

Just like the car in a darkened winter’s morn,

My legs soon forget the cold, but my hands get worse,

I feel that they are burning from the ice cold touch,

My fingerless gloves give my hands some protection,

But the bars are so cold, I need a thermal injection.

I go to the park wearing my shorts and a shirt,

Every morning since May, but this morning it hurt,

Fingers were numb and the bars were so cold,

I’m either a bit stupid or maybe a little bold,

Bystanders and commuters stare in disbelief,

I do some sit ups to get some relief,

From the cold and the cutting wind,

But don’t stop for too long,

Or the wind will blow off your thong………

A lap of the park to get the heart pumping blood,

Circulate the heat and work that butt,

Fingers move like playing a flying concerto,

And accompany swift feet pounding the ground,

Another lap done, that’s another round.

Chin ups and pull ups and push ups too,

Fire up the muscles with lingering burn,

Stretch the other way to let the acid run,

My breathing is heavy, I rest between reps,

Do some more sit ups and then some more steps,

One more lap and just one more round,

My fingers complain as the snow hits the ground,

It’s just above freezing my body is tired,

And that hot shower is looking good,

I think it’s time I retired,

For today………..

Sissi and I went out on Sunday at different times and with different friends and we were catching up later to go to an event in the cultural centre and to our surprise we ended up looking like a pair of bananas. 

              “Great minds think alike and fools seldom differ”

So today I started my search for a new place to have coffee and I came to the Sparrow Coffee cafe which I’ve been to before but today I was very disappointed with the coffee. It was no better than hot water with a hint of coffee, it was so so weak, which is a pity because everything else about this place is ok.

I saw this the other day in Suzhou and I’m thinking that this is the kinda thing I want to drive around here. I mean look at the size of the fucker, who’s going to mess with you when you drive down the street in this? You can go anywhere you want and by the look of it park anywhere you want. On the front wing is says T-Rex in red writing which I think is a rather elegant touch to such a beast of a machine. Even the black is intimidating. I didn’t want to get too close to it or even take the picture, I asked Sissi to take it just in case they thought that I was spying for Trump or something like that. You have to be careful in these tariff days……….