Okay, so maybe that’s a bit dramatic. Not marooned really, more stranded… but even that’s a bit harsh. Probably holing up in the Maldives would be a more accurate if less headline grabbing title.

I have LONG wanted to visit and suggest it every time a holiday discussion comes up. We have twice considered it but changed the plans, particularly once Kevin has researched prices!

It was definitely on my bucket list as a dream location, especially the houses on stilts, but that accommodation comes in at silly, astronomical prices. Several friends have visited and stayed in more normal accommodation and recommended it. Kevin remained unconvinced.

Until now.

What has changed? Well the Wuhan virus has caused severe disruption world-wide including our travel plans.

We set off on our Chinese New Year break knowing that Wuhan was in lockdown but not really appreciating that the virus would be so virulent or that it was contagious during the 14 day incubation period. We went, as planned to our friend Gillian in Brunei. (See previous blog). While there we heard the news that the school would be closed until 17th Feb to allow for children who had traveled to go through the incubation period and not bring any infection to school.

Then we were told that we weren’t expected back until 16th Feb. Woo Hoo – an extra 2 weeks. We knew that we were to support home-based learning but the beauty of online working is that with good WiFi you can do it from anywhere. Absolutely ANYWHERE!

Several colleagues chose to return to their homes in the US but we were reluctant to do that, partly because of the cold weather in the U.K. (& we had a suitcase of shorts & Tshirts) but mainly because we didn’t want to risk bringing it back and infecting my mother who is not only elderly but has underlying health conditions. It was too big a risk.

So where to go? On the Friday Kevin (in true Toner Tours fashion) got us a very last minute affordable deal in beach-side accommodation in the Kuredu Island Resort where we could hole up in peace and relative seclusion while waiting out the last days of the incubation period.

We were a little concerned about whether they would let us in particularly as countries were ramping up restrictions on a daily basis. But we checked in ok, despite having Chinese exit stamps in our new passports and residence permits (& very little else). They weren’t bothered.

At the departure gate, minutes before boarding all the Chinese nationals in the queue were taken aside. There was much talk in mandarin which we couldn’t understand. As far as I know they didn’t board the plane, which is very xenophobic as the virus doesn’t restrict itself only to Chinese nationals!!! We weren’t included despite having been in China…

When we landed everyone was required to complete a health form and we were totally honest about where we had been. We were half expecting to be hauled off and placed in quarantine for the next 5 days with a bag of groceries and a stack of dvds!!! But the immigration officer didn’t even look at the form. He just slapped it on a pile and stamped our passports. We were in.

Next was a trip on a sea plane (which again required people examining our passports). Neither of us had ever flown in one so that was pretty exciting.

The views from the window were stunning as we flew over the aquamarine seas and the green atolls fringed with frilly white beaches.

Our room is perfect. Right on the beach with the most amazing views across brilliant white sands to the crystal blues of the Indian Ocean. Bliss.

We even have an outside bathroom, which worried us at first but we have not seen any bees this time. (See Gili islands blog from July 2018)

It is idyllic here and I can not recommend it highly enough. Mind you I think other folks are paying WAY more than we did!!! We are on a basic room & food package so any alcohol is extra. We could have had a drinks package like pretty much everyone else here and worn a wristband but at $80 per person per day we felt we’d need to be serious alcoholics to get our money’s worth… besides I am working.

Once upon a time I wanted to stay in the houses on stilts but actually now I think that they are overrated. They just look over the sea whereas we in the cheap seats look at the white sand then the sea. Much better.

Naturally I have been working hard and work was much easier once we had paid an extra $50 for unlimited WiFi during the 5 days.

The home-based learning for both students and staff is a steep learning curve for all. Initially there were access issue as everyone became familiar with all the various logins. I have spent time tracking down specific titles in online formats for teachers and posting instructions on how to use the online resources. If only I had known to bring my work lap-top on holiday!!! It’s a challenge using a phone. We invested in a cheap laptop in Bangkok but it doesn’t have any of my links or passwords so I am slowed down by having to recreate everything.

The school have been great and it is a very supportive community. I really appreciate how much the management are keeping us informed.

It would be easy to spend the entire time online but we have been advised to make sure we get a balance each day. So in the evening yesterday we walked the cumference of the island. It is 3.5km and took us an hour. It probably took us that long because we kept stopping to look in wonder at the beauty of the natural environment.

Opposite our room is a man-made lagoon. Very shallow and ideal for a sit in the luscious warm water. Right there with us are lots of fish. I hope that you can see a few in this video.

Further round the headland we also saw this chap:

Quite possibly a shark! A small one but a shark nevertheless! And then this elegant specimen waiting for the smaller fish to swim by. I’m not good on birds so I’m not 100% sure what it was. A heron or crane perhaps? Maybe someone can tell me.

We also spotted multiple hermit crabs, some stingray and these enormous fruit bats circling overhead. Kevin’s shot here has also captured its shadow.

The walk was LOVEly.

It has been a great place to work and relax. The white sand feels so soft and delicious between your toes. It’s not like the sand in the Caribbean which can burn the soles of your feet in the heat of the day. It doesn’t get THAT hot here fortunately. All the paths are just sand on the whole island so we haven’t worn shoes at all for days. That alone makes you relax.

We leave on Saturday as the prices go up considerably next week probably because it is half term in the rest of the world. So we will push off and find our next location to work from. Watch this space as the journey continues …

This island has left us with many happy memories as we leave only our footprints behind. In the end even ‘sun-shy’ Kevin enjoyed himself.

The Sultanate of Brunei is a very small country (approx twice the size of Luxembourg) and not one which is a major tourist destination for reasons which I shall explain BUT if you do make the effort to visit you can find a beautiful and extremely peaceful place. Nestled on Malaysian side of the Island of Borneo, Brunei is awash with natural rainforest, teeming with wildlife and stunning virtually empty beaches. It’s official title is Nation of Brunei, Abode of peace and it certainly lived up to its name. It was about as lively as Bare on a Wednesday morning in February.

We were visiting a former Shrewsbury colleague Gillian and her son who relocated there at the same time that I moved to Shanghai. Gillian works at The International School of Brunei (ISB) one of only two international schools in the whole country. ISB is known for being an eco-school and I was curious to see what difference that made.

All around the campus I found boxes like this which promoted eco issues and made information easy to access. The school has only two photocopiers and very few printers to cut down on paper consumption. Recycling was prominent and the school boasted an eco-garden as well as an area of rainforest behind the main buildings which it plans to use as an outdoor classroom.

Gillian has been given a 3 bed, 3 bath house. Yes, a whole house with garden and to say I had accommodation envy was true although as she pointed out there are more expenses like having to get the grass cut.

Brunei is an extremely wealthy county being an oil producer (petrol was cheap out there). There are places with extreme opulence such as the golden dome of the Sultan’s palace which we could only glimpse from a distance. He is building a second palace we saw under construction (obviously this one isn’t enough!)

Known for his extravagant life-style the eldest son of the royal family, Prince Jefri, built the much-marbled Empire Hotel with its own private beach and idyllic swimming pools.

In actual fact the marble floor are fantastic to scoot on if you are a three year old who is obsessed by things that go! What a lucky coincidence.

And the many golden escalators provide hours of entertainment!

We had a sumptuous buffet lunch there and fortunately the waiting staff were very good at chasing after a lively toddler who saw it as his mission to ‘escape’. At speed. As often as possible.

The beach was idyllic palm-fringed white sand but almost empty. I couldn’t understand why until Gillian explained that recently an off shore island had been purchased by some Chinese businessmen who had cut down all the mangrove to build something for the oil industry. The mangrove, however was home to all the crocodiles and they have been displaced to all along the shoreline! I stuck to paddling only after hearing that. How the natural world suffers at the hands of greedy humans.

Altogether I was surprised at how few tourists there were in the little piece of paradise until I remembered that Brunei was a strict Muslim country that operates under Sharia Law. As such the sale of alcohol is prohibited and it is pretty much the only country where the airport does not sell duty free alcohol!! So I can see why it wouldn’t attract western holiday makers who really want to relax by the pool with a nice cocktail or a cold beer!

Brunei also bans smoking (which I highly approve of) since 2017 when the Sultan decreed that he would give his people good health as part of his birthday present that year. I understand that some cigarettes get smuggled in across the border but you cannot openly smoke or buy tobacco here thus is a great improvement on China where cigarettes are routinely smoked everywhere… this is us waiting at a road crossing behind some Chinese.

But back to Brunei. Some other things which are banned include

Drugs

Homosexuality

Unmarried couples sharing a room

Being in close proximity to the opposite sex while not being married

Adultery

Pornography

Defaming the sultan

Christmas

Yes, celebrating Christmas or putting up public decorations carries a jail sentence. Private celebrations can be carried out by special written permission! The reason given is that it might ‘undermine’ the role is Islam.

The version of Islam practiced here is strict but not the Fundamentalism which requires full Burka. Women are dressed in beautiful colours and stylish hijabs

The first stop on our tour was the Chinese temple. This contained some beautifully decorated tiles which clearly told ancient stories in the same way that stained glass windows do in a church

The mosques are splendid and dominate the city

The water town is apparently the largest in the world and a fascinating place to wander around. The walkways looked as though they had seen better days and some of them even swayed (which wasn’t great if you have a bit of vertigo!)

This water town boasts 3 schools, a fire station and several businesses. We stopped at the prawn cracker maker where we sampled and bought the most delicious fresh crackers. They were so good the British royal family had been to visit too and they proudly showed us the photos on their phone.

After that we had a lovely boat trip to see the proboscis monkeys

Unfortunately our own little chap who had been so very excited all day promptly fell asleep and missed them all.

The royal regalia museum was free and very well done. It was a great place to spend a couple of hours.

After a good old ratchet among the royal stuff we set off across the country (it only took a couple of hours) along fairly deserted roads to the heart of the rainforest for a jungle trek to see a waterfall.

At first it was ok

The track was wide and clear as you can see. But it rapidly changed. We had to Ford this leech infested stream…

Kevin did get one in his shoe. It doesn’t look much but they can be the devil to remove once they have latched on. You literally have to burn them off which isn’t fun. Fortunately Kevin’s sock saved him. Thanks sock.

The path became narrower and less defined until we were scrambling over tree roots or over muddy swampy places all the time being careful not to grab onto the razor sharp rattan for balance!

I have to admit to being somewhat outside my comfort zone particularly when something landed on my ankle and either bit or stung me. I shrieked and jumped so fortunately it fell or flew off but it sure was painful at the time.

We decided to call it a day and head back for my sake (wimp that I am) and I have no idea how Gillian managed as she was also carrying Daniel!!!!

We had a lovely time exploring Brunei and want to say a huge thanks to Gillian for organizing everything and accommodating us. Everything was so peaceful and serene you almost forgot what was happening in the rest of the world… but more about that another time

What a privilege to be IN China at Chinese New Year. This year the lunar festival falls very close on the heels of Christmas as we welcome in the Year if the Rat (mice included) so we only had three weeks back at work before having another holiday. Mind you I could get used to a pattern of three weeks off and three weeks on!!

The festival spans 15 days with different events being marked but all of them centre around the family. Everywhere is full of red. It’s all very bright and festive. This is our local supermarket

Here are some fun facts:

Legend has it that there was a beast called Nian who would terrorize a village every New Year’s Eve stealing livestock. The concerned villagers discovered that Nian was frightened of fire, loud bangs and the colour red so they hung red peach wood plaques by their doors, lit fires along the roadside and banged sticks loudly to frighten Nian away. This was successful and this forms the basis of the cultural traditions of wearing lucky red and set off fireworks.

Lots of decorations resemble strings of firecrackers. Unfortunately due to pollution concerns fireworks are banned. I am glad as personally I think they are a waste of money…

Every house is swept clean as families prepare for the festival. This is to remove all the old bad luck and originated from the ancient ritual of epidemic elimination.

On the 23rd day of the lunar month, legend has it that the kitchen god will report to the Jade Emperor all the good and bad deeds of the family. So people make many offerings to their kitchen god in the hope that these good deeds will outweigh any negative ones from the past year. Offerings include rice cakes, sweets or Tofu. Rich in nutrients tofu can be cooked in many different ways and in the past was useful during times of food shortages. This is an indispensable delicacy at New Year.

It is traditional for every family to hang the character’Fu’ on their door. Fu means happiness and fortune. Some paste this character upside down deliberately because the character for ‘upside down happiness’ sounds the same as ‘happiness arrives’.

Some doors also have spring festival couplets. Originally on planks made from red wood, nowadays they are just on red paper. Our landlord gave us some. Apologies for the dark picture but our hallway is very poorly lit. I have no idea what they say or even if we have hung them the right way round!!!

Here are some freshly painted couplets drying outside the calligraphy shop

As New Year arrives people bathe and put on new clothes. New clothes are lucky but they are even more valuable than that, apparently they help to remove evil spirits! (I knew I was doing the right thing with all that retail therapy!!!)

An interesting tradition is to pay attention to your words and actions during the festival period. Lucky words are favored such as an ‘Year of peace and unity’. This hanging sign says something about having a year of abundance.

To avoid accidents people refrain from using sharp objects and even go so far as to avoid putting any rubbish outside.

Money is the traditional gift from elders in the family to unmarried youngsters. This carries the hopes of the older generation that the younger ones will be healthy and free from trouble during the forthcoming year. As red symbolizes luck the money is given in red envelopes.

This shopping mall had a display with red packets being blown about inside. On our part we are expected to give our Ayi a months’ salary as a bonus. Fortunately for us Amy comes only half a day a week; some families find this expensive! Mind you Amy is so good I don’t begrudge it.

The Spring Festival Temple Fair is a folk culture event. This is where you can see stilt walkers, boat dancers and the lion acrobats who seem to defy gravity with an astonishing nimbleness. It is when they throw the small children into the air that my heart is in my mouth.

At school with all the concerns about the corona virus our CNY assembly was canceled but the performers walked through the corridors so that all the children could still see them.

The 15th day brings the first full moon and this point symbolizes the start of spring. Known as the Lantern Festival people gather to eat sticky rice balls, admire the beauty of the lanterns and to solve riddles. This part of the festival originated from the sacrificial celebrations of ancient courts and temples.

The main feature of the Lantern Festival is the Dragon dance. In China, the dragon is a divine creature that represents auspiciousness while also being the master of wind and rain. The dragon dance is not only to seek the dragon’s blessing but also to wish for a good harvest in the coming year.

The food is sumptuous and meals can last anything up to 6 hours! I was gifted some of this

It’s a type of sticky rice called 8 treasures. It symbolizes abundance and it is huge so you feel absolutely stuffed after eating it!

The streets and malls are highly decorated, just like we do at Christmas. This is outside our apartment

Lots of events have been cancelled this year due to the virus. All public gatherings are banned. It’s a worrying time. The Lunar new year in China is the world’s largest mass migration as people travel to be with family.

Let’s hope that the disease is contained and that the world can return to normal as soon as possible. The rat is the first animal of the Chinese zodiac and symbolizes new beginnings. Let’s hope that we are not ushering in a whole new era of pandemic!

On the eve of Chinese New Year’s Eve we finished school at lunchtime so my team took Kevin & I out for a meal.

The Hi Hot Pot is an extremely popular venue and bookings are recommended well in advance to secure a table.

This is a restaurant with a difference. As well as the food you can also have your nails done as part of the price

And have your shoes polished

Some branches also give head and should massages at the table (but not this one unfortunately)

And as for the food itself it was a veritable smorgasbord. You basically choose a soup which is kept hot and you cook the meat, fish and veg of your choice in it. We had a tomato one and a chicken and mushroom one.

As you can see there was LOADS.

Here Kevin is eating the green one (which I thought tasted like grass) which is healthy for your skin.

Helen and Amanda had squid (not my thing)

And we all had hot soya milk with some fried dough dipped in

As well as all that I was fascinated by the robot trolleys which the kitchen dispatched from time to time to deliver extra dishes to a table. They stopped if anyone came near them.

And then we had a noodle making demo and dance. You can see the robot trolley waiting in the background.

What an amazing cultural experience! We are totally stuffed now. And we even received good luck charms as a gift.

We cannot believe our good fortune.

We came to China knowing that we would have winter here. We were actually looking forwards to having seasons again after the year long relentless heat and humidity levels in Thailand. Don’t get me wrong, the heat was lovely but sometimes a bit much especially when you have to work in it!

Anyway, we knew that it would get cold here but then again, we’re British. Weather is our thing. We have done cold before. We will be ok. Obviously we needed our winter togs and we managed to dig some jumpers etc out of storage and schlep them over here at Christmas, which was great We had to invest in new coats though but that’s ok. The fake market here had loads on offer.

We actually like a bit of cold weather and have traveled to Iceland before now and with the right kit you can wrap up, keep warm and venture out into any weather. We’re British after all? We do all sorts of weather all the time!

And what did we find when we got here? Yes it does get cold, the temperatures do drop and sometimes to zero. Yesterday it was 6 and today it is forecast to be 3 degrees all day.

It is a nice crisp cold, not the infernal dampness that characterized our stay in the north west at Christmas. Although it can and does rain here. It’s not the pervasive depressing damp of home.

But… and it is a big BUT, the cold is great as long as you can get out of it. One thing which China doesn’t do very well is central heating!!!!! Or at least not in our building. We have a two-bedroom flat which is quite spacious by Shanghai standards with only one heater and a blower at that!!!

This behemoth of a machine is both air conditioner in the summer and heating in the winter. There are no draught excluders round the door and no double glazing; do you get the picture?

Now you would think that a country capable of building bullet trains which travel in comfort at 400 kph could also put timers on their heaters…but no. Something as simple as being able to have the heating come on for half an hour before you get up in the morning to take the chill off the air just DOESN’T HAPPEN. Some of the luxury housing complexes here do have underfloor heating but not us.

So this means that we wake up to perishing cold. We sprint across freezing floors and jig around waiting the 7 minutes for the warm water to come through in the shower. It’s tough, like living in pre-war conditions. And we are so not used to that (1st world problems!).

The Chinese are ‘hard’, their attitude is to put more clothes on! And I guess that the rest of the world should be grateful that the vast population here is not burning fuel and discharging even more CO2 into the atmosphere with winter heating.

On the plus side the monster heater does heat the main room up quite well and if we leave the bedroom door open it warms everything evenly. We have just had to invest in extra blankets for the night times.

It makes me laugh though when we do venture outside and see all the scooters. Here people don’t wear leathers for winter biking. Instead they wrap themselves in special Biker duvets. These come in quite a range of colours and designs.

This one is very colour co-ordinated

At the start of winter in ancient China, the Emperor would take a shower and eat no meat before performing the ‘welcoming winter’ ceremony with his court.

Legend has it that at the end of the Eastern Han dynasty (AD25-220) “medical saint” Zhang Zhongjing saves many people from a typhoid epidemic and their wars from being frost-bitten at the start of winter. He cooked mutton, hot peppers and herbs to dispel the cold and to increase body heat. He wrapped these ingredients into a dough skin and made them into an ear shape. Since the, people have learned to make the food which became known as a ‘dumpling’. Today in China there is still a saying “eat dumplings on the start of winter or your ears will be frost-bitten”. Personally I am happy to eat dumplings all year round as they are delicious.

Technically spring is due to arrive at the end of March this year but traditionally the Chinese New Year festival, which is happening next week, also known as the Spring Festival, heralds the first day of spring on New Year’s Day. We are skeptical about that but looking forwards to the start of the warmer weather soon.

Sadly, yes this is the case. And here’s why…

1) After the frenetic first term in China (see previous blog) I wanted a rest, a lie down in the sunshine for a few days. Just to chillax and to de-stress before the onslaught of the UK winter weather & Christmas festivities. And what do we get? Rain! Unbelievable, I was expecting wall to wall sunshine and glorious heat with being so near the desert and all that but what we actually got was grey skies, wind, rain and a bit of a sandstorm. Just look at the color of this sky!

Our tour guide told us how fortunate were were because rain is so rare in Dubai but honestly, it wasn’t what I signed up for, i needed a lie down in some sunshine- I can get rain at home. The area has so little rain that they rely on desalinated water for pretty much all their supply

2) The superficiality if the place. Yes it was lovely to see the Burj Khalifa which is iconic as the world’s tallest structure.

But Dubai is a totally modern city, everything has been built in the last 50 or so years. On Dec 2nd 1971 the 7 Emirati tribes were united to become the United Arab Emirates and from then the place really took off. Millions and millions of oil dollars have been pumped into creating what is essentially a playground for the super rich and the capital of commercialism.

On the one hand this means that everything is accessible, clean, spacious, and very efficient. Modern design at its best. All the sky walkways have travelators to speed up your journey and there are slopes and ramps everywhere. It is a wheel/push chair users’ dream.

But all the glitz, the glamour and the bling was blinding. Ostentatiousness on steroids. Even the reindeer street decorations were golden! I guess some people like that and are attracted to places where celebrities hang out. The Palm is built out into the sea and has private beaches. Allegedly David Beckham has a pad there. Kevin reckons that several celebs were given places just to boost sales of the others. It must have worked as 2 more even bigger structures are being planned.

Certainly the Dubai Mall with over 1500 retail outlets was a joy to us shop-deprived mites of China!!! I can’t tell you how excited I was to see M&S (until I saw the prices inside that is!!)

To be fair they weren’t all ultra high end shops. We saw a Japanese equivalent of the pound store which was doing a roaring trade in Christmas decorations (somewhat to our surprise given how Islamic the country is). Then we came across Mothercare and Hallmark cards which I honestly thought had gone bust (but maybe I am thinking of Clinton’s) anyway, there was a good range of retailers from all over the world including Waitrose, Kinokuniya and Hamleys.

The place is huge and contains entertainment as well as shops. There is an aquarium and an ice rink. This is the snow fight area (my boys would have loved that as kids) it is all plastic shreds apparently (which are harmless if ingested)

Then there is the waterfall wall which was a work of art in itself

Outside was the spectacular dancing fountain with 5 minute shows every half an hour.

It would have been lovely to sit outside in the warm air with a cold beer… but hey ho that’s not allowed here. I suppose it’s good to detox before Christmas.

The place is proliferated with luxury from the cars in the local showrooms to the hotels. This is the Burj Al Arab which is sail shaped and the Jamaira Beach which is shaped like a wave to reflect the regions’ ties to fishing and the sea (not my photo as it was too grey when we saw it- what a surprise!)These are 7* hotels no less – I had no idea that the star rating went beyond 5! We saw the construction work in the front of the sail hotel where they are creating a private marina for their guests’ yachts. It’s a world away from what I am used to and in someways a bit obscene when you consider all the poverty elsewhere.

The whole city was so new and shiny and tall that it reminded me of sci films where they predict futuristic living, (just without flying vehicles zipping around) It didn’t feel like a real place somehow. It’s hard to put my finger on it but I guess I didn’t feel as though it didn’t have any soul.

Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t all bad. The buildings certainly were intriguing shapes and admirable feats of engineering. We liked the curves on this one

And the picture frame museum for its sheer originality

Although a Muslim country it practices liberal Islam and women are allowed to drive and work etc. We visited the spice souk with it colorful and aromatic stalls

Then to the gold souk which out-blinged everything else! I think mainly people come here for their wedding jewellry like this golden piece which would sit over the wedding dress.

To be honest it looked more like chain mail than jewellery and the poor bride, she must be so weighted down she can hardly move!

This mosque is open to foreigners and I think the domes and minarets in the sandstone are beautiful

And we did eventually get a dip in the hotel pool even if it was chillier than I was hoping

I am glad that we have been here, it’s another place ticked off my bucket list. And the hummus … well it’s to die for

I can hardly believe that the first half of the school year is complete. It’s has been extremely enjoyable but exhausting.

I have moved in, furnished the apartment, coped without any decaf tea, made new friends, learned some (really really) hard Mandarin words, found my way around a HUGE city, and tried to remember the names of nearly 700 children and staff. Phew! My poor little brain is frazzled.

Concordia is a friendly school but you work hard and the last week of term it was our annual Book Fair and while it was great to see the children hyped up about reading it was frenetically busy and the temperature in the library space soared to melting point as a result I came home every day with a headache. Did I mention that in our school either the air con is on or the heating and that is that. All centrally controlled and very hard to get any thermostat variation (although I am trying very hard)

Probably the biggest change for us has been the technology. Not only have I had to migrate from Windows to a MAC environment but China is a virtually cashless society. It makes heavy use of WeChat which is an app that does pretty much everything. It works like Facebook, What’sApp, a translation tool and your bank. There is probably more that we haven’t got our heads around yet!!! I don’t use a purse anymore but I never go anywhere without my phone!

It has been a whirlwind few months with so many new experiences.:

We have seen cute pandas close up, experienced the enormous crowds at the water towns,

Seen beautiful moon gates

Been to a wonderful wedding

And seen the iconic buildings that make up the Shanghai skyline

But most of all we have eaten! The food here does not have the same flavors as Thai cuisine but my team have taken on a self-appointed mission to introduce me to as many different foods as possible. Probably too many as despite all the walking my waistline seems to have expanded!!!

Lots of fresh vegetables and pork dishes but dumplings are my favorite

But not this!!!

All that AND I fitted in a librarian’s conference in Kuala Lumpur where it was great to catch up with all my Bangkok colleagues. We had the pleasure of a cocktail mixology class in the evening led by a former UoC student. What a small world it is.

The best part though has to be the people we have met. It has been fantastic to re-connect with our Chinese friends

I have a very supportive library team

Some very friendly new colleagues

And the children are just adorable

These are from the Teddy Bears class who spontaneously brought us some chicken and mushroom soup as a Christmas gift. Secret Santa was also very active in the final week of school which was brilliant fun. The school is so caring that it is a pleasure to work there.

A pleasure that will get easier now that I have learned so much and got to grips with how everything works here.

And Kevin? Well he has signed up to be a sub in the library if one of my team is sick. And he even has a few hours of his own working in the High School as a maker space technician, trying to ensure that the kids don’t laser cut their fingers off.

All in all

We are however ready for a rest so have broken our journey home with a 4 night holidayette in Dubai. More on that anon.

On the tourist trail this weekend we decided to visit the attraction that is part of the iconic Shanghai skyline.

Built in the 1990s as a telecommunications mast (6th tallest in the world) the tower is also host to a series of tourist attractions. We skipped the Segway & Alice in wonderland experiences and headed straight for the Galleria or viewing platform on the second of the pink balls. There is a ‘space cabin’ experience in the tiny sphere near the mast but I’m leaving that to a visitor to take Kevin that far up.

Inside it was pretty funky with 153 floors and 6 elevators including this ‘sightseeing’ one

Not normally one for heights I braved this trip and was rewarded with the not too scary but spectacular views over the city.

The one that looks like a bottle opener is the Shanghai World Financial Centre. In front of it it is the Jīnmào Tower and to the right is the tallest building in Shanghai the Shanghai Tower.

This building which looks like a sail is a Chinese bank. Behind it you can see the Yangpu suspension bridge spanning the Huangpu River. This bridge carries 6 lanes of traffic and is among the longest suspension bridges in the world.

Kevin, mad fool that he is, ventured out onto the transparent platform (not my cup of tea)

And took this which turns my stomach just seeing the photo

Once safely returned to ground level our ticket included the Shanghai museum which turned out to be exceedingly good and a place we recommend for any visitors’ itinerary. You meander gently through old Shanghai streets and see a mix of intricate models ,waxworks and multi media which evoke the atmosphere of the different historical periods

The Chinese were not complimentary about the British bringing the Opium Wars to China (and rightly so) but they do appreciate some of the Colonial architecture we and the French left behind when we finally exited Shanghai.

A great day out for just £22. Bargain.

A definite must on the top things to see in Shanghai is the marriage market in People’s Square gardens. I am familiar with the concept of arranged marriages but never done so publicly.

Parents set up an umbrella with a piece of paper taped to it which outlines their offspring’s particulars. It was basically ages, height, weight, qualifications and current salary – all the important stuff for a good marriage!!!

Interestingly very few had a photograph. I suspect that looks don’t matter quite as much to the parent as the other factors.

Another crucial detail is the astrological details as this is important in finding a good match for the Chinese.

It was fascinating but it obviously works as there were hundreds of umbrellas and crowds around certain ones!

Obviously all the signs were in Chinese so we couldn’t read them but one did say in English at the bottom ‘willing to go on a blind date with a foreigner’ (how brave)

Judging by the dates some of the offspring were in their 30s or 40s and you felt a little sense of desperation on the part of the parents that they were here at all.

Apparently most of these parents do not have the permission of their children to do this and it has been described as match.com meets Farmer’s market.

Marriage is very important in Chinese culture particularly after the one child policy. You only get one shot at perpetuating your lineage!

It was good to know about this place and who knows we might invest in a couple of umbrellas of our own one day.

We were privileged to be invited to the wedding of NuoBei and Zhihao today.

NuoBei was one of the students who studied in the University of Cumbria and who spent Christmas with us back in 2015. We have remained friends and kept in touch via social media (what a powerful tool that is).

We travelled to her home town of Changshu, which is 20 minutes out of Shanghai by high speed train, to Suzhou and then 40 minutes by car. We met up with Cathy & Rofoam also students on the Cumbria exchange who have been shepherding us through the day, translating and generally explaining what was going on.

Witnessing a special occasion such as a wedding in another culture is a rare treat and we have felt particularly honored to be invited.

The day began with a ceremony at the home of the bride followed by one at the groom’s house for close family only. We met up with everyone for the light lunch in a restaurant

Well, when I say light lunch…

Here is some of what we were treated to:

Ice grass on the left was particularly delicious but I gave the ducks tongues on the right a miss (!)

This is fried fish in the foreground and a shrimp & egg dish at the back. Balancing on the other plates (it really got piled high) was some rather gorgeous Chinese bread, slightly sweet and steamed.

I was not at all keen on the scary fish especially those razor sharp teeth!

These two however were ‘safe’ to eat, a sort of savory egg dish with mushrooms and behind that Chinese yams and spring rolls.

Chicken soup (I didn’t get a picture of the pumpkin soup) but both of those were lovely. And this was only some… there was also chicken feet, pickled young bamboo shoots, mushrooms, large prawns in shells, pak choi and sheep’s stomach. It was a real treat to be able to sample so many delicacies. (Well perhaps not all)

Kevin and Cathy having a go at the crabs which are a specialty of the region and in season at the moment.

Every table had beer, strong spirit like a sort of schnapps but with a different taste and coconut water in the centre and one of the rituals was for the bride and groom to visit each table in turn for a toast.

The hotel had a soothing display on the main stage which changed scenes frequently. And kept any small children occupied.

NuoBei wore a dress of traditional red at this stage for luck (she had 5 changes during the whole day)

And her hair was decorated with golden ornaments in quite an elaborate style

With a traditional gold dragon necklace purchased in Hong Kong.

We ate for 2 hours (taking care to pace ourselves) then the couple departed for some formal photographs. In the west we see a wedding as a chance to dress up but here only the close family dress in formal clothes. Everyone else was quite casual.

Back to our hotel for a rest and then on to the formal dinner in the evening.

And oh boy! What a spectacle that was. A no expense spared event. We speculated whether this was a by product of the single child policy: Only one wedding to fund for both families so they make the most of the occasion.

This one was in an industrial sized hotel that clearly caters for huge weddings.

I would estimate 400-500 guests (of which we were the only non-Chinese). We were treated to screens showing the couple in a fashion show of bridal wear

There was no religious aspect. A MC kept things rolling along (+ he played the sax) and there was a script that the whole event followed. Things began with the bride walking in on the arm of her father and they both sang (this is optional apparently). At the end of the walkway both parents hugged her and placed her veil over her head ready to send her off to her new life. This was a very tender moving moment.

The groom then appeared and clutching a bouquet of red roses he sang beautifully to his love. Then going down on one knee he handed her the flowers. There weren’t many dry eyes in the room at that point as he had a strong clear singing voice.

There were promises, speeches, video shows of their journey together to date. Then they welcomed the parents to the stage and they made speeches too.

And another feast began, this time with lobster, pigeon, big crab, beef, pork, fish, dumplings and on and on it came…

Interestingly the dessert was watermelon and tomatoes. Not a usual combination but I learned later that this was served because of the auspicious red colours.

More toasting of the happy couple (in another outfit) at which point we said our much rehearsed piece in Chinese which wished them a hundred years of happy marriage. We gave a gift that I had stitched and framed ( it was hard knowing what to give! Money didn’t seem right as we weren’t Chinese. Quite a dilemma)

Most people gave red packets of money like this

A careful record was made of who has given how much. Apparently if the couple are invited to another wedding they give the same amount in return!

Then the games began. We scanned QR codes, shook our phones rapidly and winners collected prizes. Teddies and soft toys were thrown randomly into the crowd and before we knew it the whole thing was over (8.30pm). There was no DJ and no dancing, although it would have been good to have worked off a few of the calories we had consumed! This was a big difference to a UK wedding.

Another HUGH difference was the smoking. I have noticed that in general Chinese people smoke a lot more than back at home or even in Thailand. People smoke more on the streets and even in restaurants and we are not used to that anymore. It feels like stepping back 20 years to eat in a smoke filled fug. You don’t realize how much we appreciate clear air.

It is however, the custom at weddings to provide cigarettes for each table!!!

And they did in shockingly large quantities!!!

We arrived back at our hotel clutching a gift from the bride’s parents (everyone got one)

We were exhausted but feel culturally enriched. What a fantastic opportunity this was to experience such a special occasion in the lives of these two young people.

Thank you NuoBei and Zhihao