Cool security guard

Lap of luxury? This guy works in his glass enclosed guard hut, made all the more comfortable by the wall-mounted split system air conditioner. You can even see the compressor unit at the back. Decadent.

The irony in all this? This was taken outside the State Grid building in Nanjing - the government organisation responsible for electricity distribution.

Craftsman

In Suzhou last week I came across a man selling marble hand-carved stamps. They were essentially polished marble about the size of a medicine bottle and he used a sharp point to etch out on the bottom. I got him to carve a pair for Max and Zara - it has their names in English as well as Chinese characters. Watching him work - digging out the marble bit by bit - was amazing. I should post a photo of the finished product. More amazing was that it was all done for about $8 a stamp.

Smile of the day

Nut feast

Max and Zara pulled out the macadamia cracker on Saturday and chowed down on some of Grandad's macadamias while colouring in.

Spectacle

This actually happened today when we had stopped to eat some soft serve frozen yoghurt. The kids sat down on the step to eat their sweet treat and within a matter of seconds there was a frenzy of clicking cameras. The kids didn't even look up though - the yoghurt tastes that good.

Eating it really brings back childhood memories of delicious creamy, tangy soft serve frozen yoghurt at Oxford Pantry.

Florist on wheels

What I saw while walking today

And what of it!

Weather

At the risk of sounding boring, I do feel it is necessary to mention how spectacular the weather has been in Shanghai the last week or so. Temps around mid 20s and beautiful blue skies. Perfect for bike riding, walking and exploring. All of which I have been doing.

Shollywood?

Movie set or photo shoot seen on Wu Yi Lu, Shanghai.

Chinese eggs

Yesterday I bought organic eggs for the first time in China. They weren't that much more expensive than regular eggs. I am told, though, that China lacks legislation that governing organic food standards - meaning that anyone could label their goods "organic" without having to comply with a regulator's guidelines. Nevertheless organic eggs it was for us. When I opened them at home I was surprised to find them individually wrapped in a layer of styrofoam - not unlike a precious ornament. As for the taste it was hard to tell as the first one went into a batch of pikelet batter.

Mongolia Adventure

Some photos of our trip to Mongolia - click here.  Make sure to click on the first picture to display a larger version - then you can use the arrows on the keyboard to move to the next photo.

Mongolia

It's October National Day holidays and we are off to exotic Mongolia this afternoon for a week.  Mongolia is a land locked country sandwiched between the Bear (Russia) and the Dragon (China).  Located on mountains and plateaus, it is one of the world's highest countries, with an average elevation of 1,580 meters (5,180 feet) and the dubious title of the "Coldest Capital City in the World".  We have all our winter clothes packed.  Hope to post some pics during the trip if we can get wireless internet.

Morning picnic

Today Max is home from school - he had a fever yesterday and I was called to pick him up. We decided to keep him home today although he doesn't seem to be too gravely ill. He asked if we could have a picnic so here we are enjoying coffee and biscuits in the compound playground. Oh, and Max had a haircut on the weekend.

Stale bread

I find myself using Google to find out the strangest things. "How to clean a capsicum?" or "what is the Chinese word for fabric softener". Today's query to the all-knowing guru was "can stale breadstick be used for bruschetta?". Apparently yes.

The thing you see in China

Cactus for sale by the kilo.

Tianzafung markets today

China Post

Aunty Melva is visiting and I took her to a post office to send a couple of post cards. In a blast from the past, postage stamps are still stuck on with a brush and what seems like Clag glue.

Canal

A canal beside the school. Touched up with Instagram.

Summer to autumn

The warm weather is still with us - but the days are much more pleasant temperature wise. It's the perfect weather to cycle or walk around Shanghai - something I plan to do starting next week when the kids are settled back into school. It won't be long until we're back into jumpers and gloves.

Like a pro

These were taken while boarding our flight home from HK earlier in the week. Max has flown a *few times in his short life and pretty much knows the drill now.

First day

Today was Max's first day at kindergarten and he joined Zara on the school bus for the first time. I went along for the ride - to make sure he got to his classroom. I hung around for a couple of hours to help him settle in. His teacher has suggested I do the same thing for the rest of the week.

Breaking news

Zara has a new doll friend who she wants to replace her faithful 5 year old bunny for cuddling in bed! She is serious!

Heading back to Shanghai

At Hong Kong airport - heading back to Shanghai this afternoon.

Disneyland 3

Disneyland 2