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Sunday, May 1st, 2010

We're off to the Philippines today! Rory's already there, enjoying the sunshine. We leave at 11am and get there at midnight tonight. I've decided that there is nowhere on earth that you can get to from Nanjing without having to connect or sit in an airport for hours on end! We fly 2 hours to Hong Kong, wait 6 hours, and then fly 2 hours to Manila. Uuugh! At least we get to see Rory at the end of it all, and have a good vacation! Besides writing his exam I think he's enjoyed visiting Guam - what little there is too see!

Monday, May 3rd, 2010

Our flights to Manila were short, but the trip took a lot longer because of a 6-hour layover in Hong Kong. Thank Heavens it was Hong Kong though - the airport is great for shopping and dining and just relaxing. We flew Business Class so luckily had the benefit of the Business Class lounge as well - free food, free drinks, and free wireless internet!

We arrived in Manila shortly after midnight last night but took a while finding Rory who had arrived there a few days before us. We didn't know there was a designated pick-up point, and our cell-phones didn't work either. So, after hanging around for about 30 minutes we started wandering around and fortunately found him. After explaining to the guards he eventually let him across the road to meet us, otherwise I'm not sure we'd ever have found him!

Anyway, early this morning we caught a short flight to Mactan, a small island south of Manila. We could see the turquoise blue ocean and white sand beaches as we flew over. I think the pilot was giving us the tourist treatment because the plan kept swaying from side to side to we could see out each window. Our hotel is pink - everything is pink - the walls, cars, buses, chairs..
Instead of our usual two-adjoining-rooms, I booked us a two-bedroom suite. It's awesome; on the 18th floor with an incredible view looking down the beach. It has two bedrooms, two full bathrooms, and an open-plan living room and dinging room all with views of the ocean!

This afternoon we spent the afternoon on the beach and by the pool, enjoying the sunshine. As you walk through the open-air lobby, you pass by the pool, down some steps to a lush green lawn dotted with palm trees and loungers. From there you can enjoy the shade, or sun, and still be only 10 yards from the beach.

Maxine and Sydney went para-sailing! Rory went on the boat to take pictures. There was no safety instructions, other than "if you're in trouble, make circular motions with your hands". Rory said they were so far away you couldn't even see their hands! I watched from our room balcony, just to make sure I could see 4 little legs dangling the whole time! After the initial "reeling out" I think they enjoyed it.

Later that evening we had a buffet supper on the beach and watched a cultural show put on by the hotel. It was a really lovely candle-lit evening, with delicious food, a slight breeze and no bugs!

Tuesday, May 4th, 2010

Happy Birthday Andrew!

The breakfast at the hotel was one of the best ones we've had in all our travels! The local mangos were delicious! The coffee was good, and there was a variety of cereals, crispy bacon, perfectly fried eggs, freshly made pancakes, and waffles with blueberry topping - coming from China we couldn't ask for more!

After breakfast we hired a van with a driver to take us around Cebu and Mactan. The heat and the traffic was horrific so we didn't get to see a great deal. It took forever to get anywhere and when we arrived it was so hot we really didn't want to spend too much time out there anyway! We visited a Taoist Temple which offered a nice rest in the shade.
It was still fun and interesting to see the locals going about their daily business. With the elections only a few days away there were election posters everywhere! I don't think there was a wall, post or tree without a poster on it! On the wey back to the hotel we stopped at a curio market. We bought a few trinkets there. Maxine got some crocheted sandals, Sydney a keychain, and I bought some bracelets that I'm going to take apart and use the beads for bookmarks.

We had a late lunch back at the hotel and then the girls went for a spa treatment! I think Maxine had a facial and Sydney a massage. Rory and I enjoyed the alone-time at the pool.

I chatted with one of the pool-boys. He was actually interning for his Hotel & Restaurant Management degree. We chatted about South Africa - he was amazed we weren't black!

Tonight the girls ordered room service and Rory and I went to out to dinner. The meal was so good. Not too much, and quite scrumptious! We polished off a bottle of wine too.

Wednesday, May 5th, 2010

This morning we hired a boat to take us island hopping. At our first stop the water was riddled with little jelly-fish so the kids wouldn't get in, so we ended up moving on to another spot. It was just as beautiful with hundreds of brightly colored fish swimming around you. Rory got a bit intimidated by some "big" fish. While snorkeling he turned around to find a wall of fish staring at him! He felt like they were just waiting for the "attack" signal and that would have been him for lunch! I'm sure they were no bigger than a few inches though! I think things must look bigger through swimming masks!

After returning to the hotel we had lunch again, and the girls again went for spa treatments! Such divas! This time Sydney had a facial and Maxine a massage.

Not long after that they were hungry for action and went on the banana boat. It's a 30 minute ride up and down the coast! I think they were exhausted when they got back! Speed-demon Sydney, who was conveniently sitting behind Maxine, kept asking for the to go faster and faster, while poor Max was holding on for dear life!

At the end of a short jetty there's a tapas and wine bar. We had a light supper there tonight, on the patio, overlooking the water. We had some tempura shrimp, calamari rings, spring rolls with margarita sauce, and some other things that I can't remember. While we were dining we could see all the fish in the water below us! I threw a few crumbs out for them and the next minute there were hundreds of them! I think they knew it was "feeding time"!

Our stay in Mactan was great. The weather was awesome, the hotel was beautiful, the staff at the hotel were incredible - so polite and obliging, the food was good, and the cocktails weren't watered down! The perfect vacation!

Friday, May 7th, 2010

Shopping again today at Mall of Asia! We got Maxine a new cell-phone since her one stopped working the day before we left for the Philippines. It has pretty much lived out its life - the back cover kept falling off, the screen had already been replaced once, and the battery cover kept falling of. It was taped together and had started turning on and off randomly. We figured it was time for a new one. Unfortunately, that process took about almost 2 hours! Firstly we had to go through the whole "show-and-tell" then the credit card was blocked again, after we'd called about it three times already! Eventually we came away with a cell-phone - thank Heavens!

We visited a local craft and souvenier store a 5 minute walk from our hotel. Rory got a tall elephant carving - elephants stacked on top of each other - about 4 feet tall. I got a beautiful embroidered tablecloth. I'd wanted one since I saw my friends in Singapore. It a Christmas one - emerald green with red poinsettias embroidered on it. It will fit my very long dining table, and it came with 12 embroidered napkins too! I pretty much cleared out their leftover Christmas stock, buying things for the Hopeful Hearts Christmas bazaar. Maxine bought Ben a coin purse made out of a real frog! It's so gross and he's such a germo-phobe. She considered it the perfect gift!

Later in the day we went back to the mall next to the hotel and I got some clothes there too. Sydney got a really pretty dress for their formal end-of-year dance in June. Maxine had fun trying things on but didn't get anything. Rory bought some polo shirts and some tennis shirts.

Supper was a buffet dinner at the hotel. By the end of the day we were pooped and just wanted to eat and relax. The buffet dinner included free-flow wine and beer so we made the most of that. And…they had a crepe station! Yummy!

Before we hit the sack, I got the cases packed for the most part.

Tuesday, 11th May, 2010

We got a notice in our mail box yesterday that the whole development will have no water from 8am to 8pm today. L Maybe this is a good thing…maybe we'll have decent water pressure after they're done…if they ever get done…we're into our sixth month of this!

The sun is shining and blue skies are peeking through the trees as I look out my window. Dainty little baby-pink rosebuds are covering the front fence, and smell so sweet! I think my pansies are getting a tad bit leggy and I might have to replace them sometime soon. I just can't seem to bring myself to hauling them out when they're still flowering.

Talking of flowers and plants, look at these wonderful pictures of our Coppell garden that Sharrie sent. J

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

I spent this morning at school, in the PTA room, making up IKEA furniture! I think I could probably get a job at IKEA now. I wonder how much they'd pay to have an English speaking person on their staff? Because I sure would be the first! I made up 3 bookshelves, a desk, 4 coffee tables, 4 storage cubbies, and screwed the legs on two arm-chairs! I probably should have asked for some help but some things are just easier to do on your own.

Afterwards I came home and made a cake for a friend, Jeannette, who is having a joined 40th birthday / farewell party tomorrow. It's a tiramisu cake - and if the filling is anything to go by, it should be absolutely devine!

The girls are studying every afternoon when they get home. It's exam week next week. It seems there's a neighborhood craze to have chickens - yes, chickens! Jeannette's son had a few, Ben has a few (housed on his 3rd floor balcony!) Maxine came home the other day asking if we could get a goat. Some kids asked Jeannette if she'd be willing to keep a PIG in her yard for them! I'm not sure what's happening…I suppose they could be getting into worse things than farming! My only concern is WHO gets to keep the chickens when Ben leaves?

Thursday, May 13th, 2010

Happy Birthday Marilyn!

We had a lunch, outside in the sunshine. It was Jeannette's birthday and farewell. She had one of the local restaurants cater the food, and she made the desserts. It was nice to get together with everyone again - usually we see each other in drips and drabs at various events or group meetings.
Here's a picture of the crowd….Jeannette is the lady at front-center with short red hair and the necklaces on. She's my beading, card-making, fabric-shopping buddy and I'm going to miss her, even though she's only moving to Beijing (we think).

I wasn't going to…but here's a run down of who's who in Nanjing! It might help you when I start talking about someone….or give you an idea of the rough bunch I have to hang out with here!
Starting from back left…
Swedish Frida-she's 8 month pregnant and still looks great; in the green dress - Norwegian Katrine - she's so funny; don't know the lady at the back; in the bright blue shirt - Fweench Valerie - a neighborhood friend; to her left - Charlotte - Sydney's boyfriends mom; peeking out behind her - Marijanne - she's brave enough to drive here; with the red glasses - Lies - she's moving to Singapore in summer; don't know the next 2 ladies by name; then at the back is British Eleanor - we get along great; in front of her is Chinese Monica - she did all the recipe book translations; PHEW! To her right is Jing - she's a Hopeful Hearts volunteer too, at the back is a British lady - I don't know her name but we always meet at the orthodontist every time I take Sydney! Let's see, after that comes Britta - she's also a Hopeful Hearts helper and is also leaving; don't know the lady in blue. Then me! To my right is Lynn, another British lady; then another lady who I know will be really mad because I don't know her name; next is Chinese Jennifer - she's from Hopeful Hearts too; Sheryl is Australian and as crazy as ever; then little Noah with his mommy, Jasmine; then Suzy - Suzy get's around - I know her from everywhere!

Okay, the front row…American Jacci - runner extraordinaire and good friend; Italian Stephania; French Isabelle, another little Noah with his mom Jo; birthday girl, Jeannette; then in the orange cardigan is Jing - she the fitness class instructor - demon woman! Then there's Dutch Esther, up a bit is American Angela - another Celanese lady and neighbor; then back down to American Najjla - she's leaving too; up again to French Regina who is also leaving. To her right is South African Sonia and in front of her is American Backy who is moving to Mexico. Leaning over in the blue shirt is Claudia - Hopeful Hearts super woman moving back to Germany; in front of her - I don't know - oops; to her right is Italian Francesca - amazing photographer; and lastly, American Tonie another Hopeful Hearts volunteer.

And that's just half the bunch I see on a regular basis! Now can you understand why I don't remember everyone's names!

Saturday, May 15th, 2010

A van load of ladies went to Suzhou yesterday to do some pearl and stone shopping. I still felt like crap - cold and sinus thing going on - for a week now. I was planning on staying home and getting to the doctor, but Michael, our driver, wouldn't go if I didn't go! Which meant no-one was going!!
We left at 8am and were back by about 6:30pm! I ate some supper, and fell asleep straight away. I managed to get some stones to make bookmarks, etc. but really wasn't in the mood to bargain or shop too much so for the most part I just wandered around to see what they had. Some of the other ladies bought some things - mostly pearls - to take back as gifts for family since they're leaving China in summer.

I have to haul my butt around Metro this morning. Its the last thing I feel like doing. The shelves are empty though - no cereal, no bread, no pasta and we're on our last few liters of milk and last few eggs! I think Rory raided the freezer to come up with something for supper last night! I've got two pot-luck lunches to go to this week, so I'd better shop for something to make for those too.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

What a crazy time!

Not only have I been sick for over a week now, but not running fever or anything like that, so doc wouldn't be able to do much anyway. Almost over it - just a bit of sinus congestion lingering.

In the meantime, I've had a dozen things to do…I've been getting all the photos ready for the photo-wall in the PTA room. Something as simple as getting 20 photos printed has taken me three days! Oh, how I long for Sams Club online ordering….
Yesterday I had to be at the school for 8am, for a meeting about the end of year formal dance - which has somehow become my project??? I only offered to help last week since one of the other ladies had to bow out! Then, I spent the day running around getting dry-erase boards, more photos, photo frames, putting photos in fames, cutting photo frame mats to size because of their weird dimensions, all to try to get to school last night to install everything. Only, at 5:50pm I found out that I wouldn't be able to get in - new rules, starting Monday. Aaaaargh! So, since I'd move the tailor visit to Angela's house because I forgot I was going to be at school, and with that now cancelled, I could go to Angela's to get my things from the tailor! Home and to bed at 11pm.

This morning I was awake at 4am, as usual, with the exception that I can no longer come downstairs to read. It seems that if you turn our outside lights on which, strangely enough, have a switch at the gate too (???) they trip the whole house's lights. This has been happening for a few days now and we couldn't figure out why it kept doing it. Turns out that the guards walk around at night and if they see your gate lights are off, they turn them on. Yup, you got it. Our lights trip. Now I'm not tootling off down the driveway in my nighty at 4am no matter how desperate I am! Try and explain that situation to a Chinese guard in English. Uuuuuuh. So, since I have to be at school again at 8am today for a meeting with a potluck brunch to follow, I figured I would bake my coffee cake, at 5am. At least it's not pouring rain today, like it was yesterday!

Thursday, 20th May, 2010

Still crazy times....it just won't stop!

Yesterday I had to be at school at 8am again, for a PTA merchandise meeting. Then from there we went straight to the Hopeful Hearts meeting, about 45 minutes away, where we had a potluck lunch and presented thank you gifts to all the ladies that are leaving. One of our Hopeful Hearts ladies, who is Chinese, painted some amazing watercolors of Chinese birds in plum blossom trees, for the ladies. They were huge - we thought maybe an A4 size or similar, but they were about a meter tall and almost as wide, and exquisitely beautiful. She's got an amazing talent!
While we were at the meeting Michael drove around and pick up stuff that people had donated for our garage sale. I could barely squeeze into the van on the way home, and he still had another van load full to get! And more to pick up tonight amd tomorrow morning! It's all piled in the house. I started combing through it yesterday, grouping different things together. Thank Heavens we stipulated that clothes had to be clean and washed! I think rain might be in the forecast for the weekend, but we're going ahead anyway - this stuff is certainly NOT staying in my house any longer!

This morning I'm at the school at 8am again! And then on to another meeting at 1pm!

Friday, May 21st, 2010

I had a crowd of ladies come this morning to help me move garage sale stuff from my house to the clubhouse. The management company said we could use a small locked room to store the stuff in overnight so we don't have to haul it up there tomorrow at six in the morning!

Wang Yi has been shopping already - she was like a kid! Sooo excited, trying on all the clothes. I told her that if she comes to help tomorrow I would give her the clothes instead of paying her. (I would then give the money to Hopeful Hearts instead) She was very happy with that deal!

Before I even started on the garage sale stuff I had to bake a flourless chocolate cake and raspberry sauce. That was done by 7:30 already this morning! I am soooo looking forward to next week when I have relatively little on my calendar. So far, anyway!

Saturday, May 22, 2010

What a day! All our hard work paid off…today we made over 12,000 RMB at the garage sales…enough to pay for an operation! It was hard work, and a lot of ladies, and husbands, and a few teenagers, helped make it such a huge success. We sold donuts and lemonade, which really went down well come lunchtime when we didn't have chance to take a break. We still have some things left which the Ayi's are going to try sell on Monday morning. Wang Yi was amazing…she should open her own shop - she's an amazing sales person! Michael helped translate and price things. Apparently we'd underpriced a lot of things so he went around and re-priced some items, helping us make more money. Everyone was in such good spirits, it really made it a fun day despite the hard work.
My feet are so sore, having stood for 9 hours non-stop. I probably won't be able to move tomorrow! When I got home from the garage sale I had to make 2 dozen cupcakes for a farewell party tomorrow. I did them straight away, knowing that if I sat down I probably wouldn't be able to get up again!

I'm pooped - going to bed. Just couldn't wait to tell everyone the news though.

Monday, May 24, 2010

I'm really hoping this week is going to be a little less crazy, but I don't hold much hope!
Today I had to be at school for 8am again. I hate 8am meetings - I don't have enough time to blow-dry my hair! And, I'm out of "Curl Enhancer" so lately I'm just a huge frizzy ball of hair!

We got all the Garage Sale leftovers packaged up and handed out to the orphanage, and charities today. Sydney had an orthodontist appointment and as usual I got to meet and my friends and neighbors in the waiting room. The specialist only comes to Nanjing on Mondays so you know you're going to see a whole lot of your "braced" friends there!

This evening Rory took the train to Shanghai. He hasn't been for a while, certainly not since the EXPO opened. I'm interested to see if he thinks it's busier or not. From what I've heard, Shanghai is a nightmare right now! He's just gone for tomorrow, back tomorrow night, so I don't think he'll really get a good feel for the difference. Probably a good thing!
We have student-lead conferences tomorrow - usually a huge waste of time, but they're compulsory so we'll be going.
So far, Wednesday is free.
Thursday I have another Hopeful Hearts meeting in the morning, and then I have to work with another lady, Brigitte, to take stock of all the t-shirts in our store room - about a thousand of them, in numerous long-sleeved, short-sleeved, black or white configurations. Uuugh. I just see dust. Lots of it.
Then Friday is free too! I'm sure I'm forgetting something so I'm going to scrounge around in my handbag for notes with dates written on them!

Thursday, May 27th, 2010

Happy Birthday Shihong!
So the week started off relatively quiet.....it didn't take long to change...

I feel like I'm back at school again - there by 8am everyday for about 2 weeks now! Tuesday was Student-lead conferences then selling school t-shirts. Yesterday I had to run to a bunch of differtn places looking for plastic tubs for our PTA store. As luck would have it, IKEA do not make plastic tubs to fit their storage shelves..they're too big or too small. So after running around, I managed to get some at B'nQ. ONly to find that when I got back to the PTA room the shelves are not even - some are about 1cm shorter - which means the tubs won't fit. Tough. They'll be on the floor then. After dropping off groceries at home and boxes at school, Becky and I went to the flower and balloon lady to order the balloon centerpieces for the end of year dance. We also ordered a huge balloon arch - kind of tacky -but it was cheap. We were going for cheap! It makes a huge difference to your budget when there are only 100 kids in total from grades 6 through 12!

Last night we went out for supper to Taj Mahal - my favorite Indian restaurant. It's a bit of a dive but the food is always good and there's always a bunch of Indian people in there which is a good sign!

This morning I'm back at school again for 8am - to count money! Got to put together the deposit of the garage sale takings, then I have a Hopeful Hearts meeting, then got to sort t-shirts into tubs in preparation for tomorrow stocktake - another 8am morning! Oh, and I have to bake a chocolate cake today!

The kids are finished with exams so I have no idea why they are even at school...they still have another month to go. I find that very strange. The new building is open, with the new pool, etc. Maxine and Sydney's grades are the first to use it. They're both having hissy fits because they have to wear swim caps!

Sunday, May 30, 2010

What a wonderful weekend! Fantastic weather! Yesterday we went to our neighbors house, the school Director, for a thank-you barbeque for the PTA. The food was incredible! The Purchasing director at school used to be a chef, or heavily involved in the hotel industry catering side, and he cooked all the food. I've never had such delicious steak as I did yesterday. Everyone was asking where he got the food, and what he did to prepare it! It was nice to get together with husbands as well, with no kids to have to chase around.

I met with the director at school on Friday. I've been "hired" to help decorate the teacher's lounge and kitchen remodel. It's been quite a challenge - knowing what I would like to do, but not knowing fully what's out there. Fortunately they want it to look completely different to the rest of the school, which really opens up the possibilities foe me to come up with something creative. The challenge is not only the budget, but also trying to please 80 staff members and teachers! I'm really enjoying doing it though. I've been itching to decorate so I think Rory's really glad that it's someone else's money I'm spending!
Today Rory and I are going to take a look at furniture for the room. He actually volunteered to come with - to give me a male point of view!

The dogs got washed this morning. Buster is lying outside in the sun drying off. Frisco got washed in the shower. He's so skinny - no fat on him at all. I think if you rubbed shampoo on him too vigorously he'd shatter! He dodders around, legs shaking, totally deaf, completely confused more than half the time!

The school is doing "Alice in Wonderland" and Sydney is in the choir. We feel like we're at Disneyworld on one of the rides! She's had the music playing full blast, singing along with it for weeks now. It's really nice to see her get so into it though.