This morning felt almost tropical. I looked at the gas water heater and it said 12C, this is the room temperature of course, but its two degrees warmer than yesterday but it does feel a lot warmer. This also could be because it has been sunny the last few days and the house is not feeling so cold and damp, maybe spring is on the way and the so the Corona Virus will leave us soon.

I went to the park around 10 this morning, I’ve been getting later and later because there are very few people in the park no matter what time I go and it is also a little bit warmer. It looks like I have chilblains on two of my fingers due to the very cold mornings last week. In the park there were a few families playing badminton and some were having picnics, albeit KFC. It has only being selling takeaway for the last month, in fact almost no restaurant is open where you can go in and have a meal but takeaways are permitted. There is one Starbucks open but again you can only get a takeaway. Thankfully I have a large supply of coffee and I have been experimenting mixing some of the more bitter ones with the milder and making my own blends. I am trying to keep to two coffees a day, any more than that I cannot sleep so well.

To go into the local supermarket you must now register your phone and enter your details and then you will have your temperature taken before being allowed in. The guys on the door have a full Bio Hazard suit on and double plastic gloves; mind you they will have close contact with many people throughout the day so I think that this is perfectly acceptable.

So three weeks today I have my flight from Pudong Airport which is over two hours away from my home. There are a few ways of getting there but at the moment I am still unsure of how I will get there. The Airport bus has been cancelled till further notice. I also heard that a Suzhou registered car may not go to Shanghai and so a taxi is out of the equation. So at the moment the only option is to get the high speed train to Shanghai and then fight public transport for about 3 hours which I am not looking forward to, but if that is the only option I will take it as I’m ready to leave this place I have called home for nearly three years.

Still not sure if I will be back. I have felt that I have been falling into a bit of a rut again and so I will consider what to do before I head to the UK later in the year. I would like to live in the UK for a few months but then it comes down to money at the end of the day so I plan to buy a Euro-millions ticket and win first prize to make things easier. After I have the money I will buy my Bottle Green Range Rover and head off on another big adventure and maybe make my way back to China, who knows?

I’ve tried not to collect too much while I have been here but my wardrobe seems to be getting smaller lately and so I have started to whittle down the contents. There is a clothes recycle bin in the complex but I have been giving most of my things to the old cleaning lady that looks after our block, some things she keeps but I like to give her first pick. I had an old phone had a pair of headphones that I gave her too. Mind you I have been doing a little bit of shopping on Taobao ( Chinese Ebay) for a few small items. 50% cheaper here than Australia.

I was thinking the other day, why did I book my flight so far out because I found a couple of flights for the same price, but a bit sooner and I’m ready to go but then I remembered. The other day Australia extended its travel ban for flights from China for another week and this is the real reason I delayed my flight, I was hoping that by the middle of March things might start to return to normal. I’m glad my subconscious is smarter than me.