Unappeeling 01/02/2012
 Apparently I'm allowed to show you a photo of my peeling leg, but banned from showing you Ava's peeling back, with bikini-shaped white patches. Strange that. Kunming has been having some lovely sunny days recently. We're still technically in Winter, but our solar-heated water is reaching temperatures of 60-70ºC each day without any help from the back-up electricity heater which makes for a hot shower. Mind you, that doesn't stop one of our household (let's call her "la-in-maw") from boiling up a kettle of water each evening for her strip wash. Some habits die hard. Add Comment Boxing day 30/01/2012
 Thankfully Ava and I have a week off work to "recover" from our holiday away. We're both still sniffling, itching, limping, peeling and trying to unblock ears and noses! With my school and her shop closed for Spring Festival, we have had no option but to take things easy; lie-ins, DVDs, internet, meals with friends and, today, some crafts. Ava decided she needed a sock storage system and so commandeered an orange box and decorated it [see photo]. She's now making another one for her doll's clothes!! Well, it keeps her occupied. I'm warming you 28/01/2012
 This sign is in the men's toilets in Kunming airport. The "aim carefully" bit makes sense (not that anyone seemed to have taken any notice), but "warm tips"? This odd translation is cropping up in an increasing number of signs around town. I guess it's better rendered as "gentle advice"?? Welling wall 26/01/2012
 On arrival back from hols, I found water running down the wall of our spare room. It must be a leak from the flat above, but they are away for Spring Festival and uncontactable. As you can see, the various work information I've stuck up over the months is now all soggy. But unreplaceable is the B/W print [top right] which was a one-off and is now destroyed. Back to chilly and chilli 25/01/2012
 We arrived back home to cold Kunming yesterday. Despite aches and pains, we had a good holiday overall, and managed to do everything we'd hoped to. Hopefully it won't be our last visit to the Philippines. [L to R: View from boat, floating restaurant, starfish collection] Cebu zoo 24/01/2012
 Still awfully stiff from sunburn and with nose-bleeds (Ava) and ringing eardrums (me) from the scuba diving yesterday, we decided to take it a little easier today and visited Cebu's very own "Crocolandia".  This place apparently started as a santuary for abused crocs, then added some snakes, an iguanan, a few parrots and... well, before they knew it they became a small zoo with a very odd selection of animals. We seemed to be the only visitors there and it made for a pleasant hour's wander. Scuba do 23/01/2012
 Snorkelling is great fun, but scuba diving is something else. You're not just looking down on the fish, you are moving amongst them or looking up at them. It's also more intense (you only have about 30 minutes of air) and more dangerous (you need a guide and you can't simply stand up if any equipment malfunctions!). It was actually 15 years ago here in Cebu that I qualified as an "Advanced Open Water Diver", so it was nice to return and dive here again.  Ava had only done one shallow dive in China before, but after a quick briefing, she bravely sank down 15m (50ft) with me and our two dive guides. We saw lots of sealife - starfish, seahorses, puffer fish, clown fish, parrot fish, green beltfish, lionfish and a majestic shoal of metre-long silver dolphin-fish swimming slowly in circles above us. We'd both like to do more diving in future holidays. Bites, burns and beans 22/01/2012
 A mixed day today. Ava and I enjoyed another day of hopping between islands and snorkelling - if you hold a little bread under the water all manner of fish swim up quite boldly to have a bite to eat. One large fish took this too literally however, and bit the end of my finger. Blood everywhere!  However, on our return to the hotel, Ava and I realised we had been under the strong sun a little bit too long. We both had bad sunburn and struggled to walk to our favourite restaurant! But worse was to come. No sooner had we tucked into a fried vegetable dish than we both started to feel very dizzy. I nearly passed out and Ava said the room felt like it was spinning. After five minutes we recovered enough to leave and stagger back to our hotel room. We were told later that the local dish contains a bean which, if not cooked properly, can be quite toxic. Hmmm...! Tarsy, tarsier, tarsiest 20/01/2012
  An early start today for a 6.00am pick-up to Bohol Island. What we weren't told is that, at that time in the morning, the tide is out and we had to wade through deep mud to get to our boat! The boat trip took 2½ hours and we were met by a mini-bus to take us to the main sights of Bohol. Tarsiers [photo left] are the smallest primate in the world and indigenous to Bohol. I could easily hold 2-3 in one hand. Nocturnal creatures by habit, we were lucky enough to see a few with their big eyes wide open. Very cute. The other famous sight on Bohol Island is the "Chocolate Hills" [photo below] - over 1000 strange bumps stretching as far the eye can see. The odd name comes from the fact that tey turn chocolate brown in the dry season.  Hopping for the best 19/01/2012
 Ava and I are sharing our holiday trip with a Kunming family we know well [above]. "Catherine" speaks very good English and gave a speech at our Chinese wedding. Her husband, Liu Zhen, is a kindly man with more English than he lets on. This is his first visit to another country. And their daughter, "Chrysanthemum", is full of fun. It's her first new country too. We spent today island-hopping together, which involves skimming between small islands on an outrigger boat we'd hired, and snorkelling whenever we see some fish or coral in the clear seas below. Great fun.  |  AuthorPaul Hider lives and works in Kunming, China and regularly blogs about his rather strange life there.
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