The latest new and events

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Now I know I said that I was going out for a quite one last Wednesday, but ahh...please someone tell me the last time I said that and it actually happened. Hmmm...I think never. It's kind of like all the times in Japan when I was just going out for one or two. Or the times in Australia when I was going to drive home but ended up leaving my car there. Or the times I was going to catch the last train / bus / whatever but ended up staying till the first train? bus / whatever in various places. Yep a quite drink is just not in my nature. On the upside I am becoming so accustomed to late night boozing that I am now able to roll out of bed and attend work on time. This week I have incorporated not skipping the daily run after a big one and i am fast becoming a professional piss head. With the price of beer in this country and the serious lack of commitments I have here, well is anyone really surprised?

Anyway, drank a few beers. Meet some more interesting people and had an in depth discussion about books. Always one of my favorite things to talk about indeed! Speaking of books and the curse of being a lit nerd, I watched The Reader recently and I actually don't think I've ever cried so much in one sitting in my entire life. Including break-ups. See I can emote, huh! You learn new things about yourself all the time. I guess I'm evolving or maybe I just love books a little bit too much?

One of the things I love about traveling in Asia. Apart from enjoying the rich and pleasant cultures and integrating with the locals you always tend to meet the most interesting people at expat gatherings.

Why I can't just stay home, drink tea and watch TV every night is beyond me, but I like to go out and meet people, just my social nature I guess but having a blast and it's not like I can go out to all hours of the night at home as I'm always working way too hard! This lifestyle is kind of like the student lifestyle but with more contact hours and less assignments. I recommended to anyone who needs a break from their career as it is doing me wonders.

I visited The Humble Administrators Garden and the place was well anything but humble. It was a great way to spend a Spring afternoon. I have loads of pics and will upload some to facebook and here in the next week or so. After that we discovered yet another shopping area with several silk shops that actually cater for western sizes. I got myself a very nice silk shirt which I will also upload a pic of at some point and I managed to bargain it down from 168rmb (about $35) to 110rmb (about $23) so was pretty happy with that indeed!

Finally I managed to get a new sim card. Have I mentioned that I love China already? It didn't cost me anymore than I was going to spend on topping up the old one and they come with credit here. Also for being a k - nob and losing my sim card I was rewarded with a supermarket gift card that will cover half my groceries for a week (saving it for the end of the pay month) and 2 bottles of shampoo that will last me the rest of my stay here. Have considered losing my sim card more often but have decided I don't want to fit the stupid white person stereotype. Plus it is kind of inconvenient having to change my number as I am meeting more and more people.

Well that's about all the news I have for now. Am off to Bookworm tonight for a quite beer (cough, cough) tonight. I may or may not be hoping a certain person I met there previously makes it this week! That's all I'm going to say about that for now, but err, watch this space. lol

Am planning to head off to Starbucks again on Saturday and nut out chapter 2 of the book. Have no plans for the day so hope to spend some extra time writing this week. Then on Sunday I will visit one of the parks or gardens in Suzhou that I haven't seen yet. Am heading to Beijing soon which will be costly so am trying to stash some cash by doing some local sightseeing for the next couple of weekends. Am so looking forward to The Great Wall. have wanted to go there for as long as I can remember. Also I read recently that 'you are not a true man until you have visited The Great Wall' or something to that effect. Am wondering if this means I'm going to mysteriously grow a pair after the fact? Hmmm....and on that note I sign off.

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