Arrival in Shanghai

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Well I made a successful if grim journey to China. The plane left Heathrow late, held up by the hoards of returning Chinese nationals buying up duty free. I was boarded 40 minutes earlier than the late shoppers meaning I got a rather nasty shock when my quiet, spacious section of the plane was stormed at the last minute and I was walled in by jumbo cartons of cigarettes, sickly fragrances by the latest feather-head celebrity and novelty boxes of Bassett's Jelly Babies . It is said that nightfall in the jungle is a wild and deafening experience. Try the night flight to Shanghai when the stewards trolley round the duty free.

It was harder than I had anticipated to leave and even at the departure lounge I flirted with the idea of abandoning my plans. But I'm here and it is hardly a prison sentence.

Although my spartan hostel room does resemble a cell. I'm kidding of course, prisons in the UK are much warmer. I'm showering out of necessity since the water is cooler than tepid. I pressed every button on the air conditioner and now it finally blows out warm air - no central heating here folks. A few mouse droppings in my otherwise clean bathroom would be my only complaint really. I kept the bathroom light on last night to deter any sleekit beasties.

I've only surrendered my bathroom twice in my travels so a mouse is of no concern to me. On the tropical island of Ko Samet, Thailand, the bathroom attached to my 'rustic ' beach hut quickly turned into a botanical garden sporting plant life, lizards, flying cockroaches and moths the size of my hand. I locked the door and never ventured in. And my hotel bathroom in Rawalpindi , Pakistan was ruled by this one wee bastard of a cockroach who was almost permanently throned on the toilet seat. I tried in vain to drown and squish him but in the end I let him have it, I couldn't bear ma wee bum to the toilet without images of his twitchy antenna swimming back up the u-bend. Oh how he mocked me.

Experiences of Shanghai so far have been pleasant, I'll write more later. But cucumber flavoured crisps are wrong.

Clare x

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Comments

[Baloo]

Congrats on your first blog!
Got a nice wee surprise when I checked my email this morning and the wee update message appeared. Wish I could be over there to keep you warm. Cucumber flavour crisps? Sounds like you'll need some emergency Scottish rations sooner than I thought.... love Your Boy

[Louise]

woohoo! Your 1st comment!
Glad to hear you have arrived safely. Everyone at work was thinking of you on Friday - there were a few who thought you would decide at the last minute to stay here, I won't give any names... except Harry. Hmmm, cucumber crisps - makes my beetroot and parsnip ones sound truely delicious now don't you think! L x