|
This month marks the 20th Anniversary of my blog, and I've decided to call it a day. The blog was originally set up to record and share my adventures in China. Now that I'm back in the UK, things are somewhat less newsworthy and, now I'm in a country which doesn't block it, Facebook is a much easier way to share special events.  I reckon I have made about 4000 blog entries over the years, though the first 4 years or so were on a different blogging platform and only exist in Word format (hence the occasional "Flashback" entries). At one point the blog was getting almost 100 views clicks a day. Now it's rarely above 10. Understandable. My hope is that one day someone (like JD?) will delve back into the old blog entries and relive some memories or find out something fresh about my life and adventures.
So cheers for reading this final entry and, if you are one of the few who have been dipping in and out of the blog since the very beginning (or thereabouts), a big thank you! I really appreciate it. Leave a comment below if you like. From "Ocean of Morality", Goodbye!
It's been decades since I last gave blood - China would never accept my offer! But having been to Albania this month, and having lived in China for 20+ years, and being on three prescribed medicines, it took the nurses over an hour of admin to clear me. The blood itself was out in 5 minutes.  Nice visit today from my Uncle Graham and Auntie Alwyn. They live just 45 mins drive away, so we've been able to make mutual visits since returning from China, which helps to build family bonds.  We left Ratch and Steve this morning, visiting Nene Car Boot Sale for some bargains before heading home. It's been a long and, at times, quite tiring whistle-stop tour of England and Scotland, but very enjoyable overall. Some 1500 miles spread over nine days! 
 We then drove on to Northampton to spend the night with my good friends Ratch and Steve. Ratch cooked up an amazing lasagne and roulade dessert. We played some board games and headed to bed.  After a free youth hostel breakfast and a final paddle in the sea, we headed to York. The delayed start and traffic on the way meant we didn't have much time there, which was disappointing. But JiaJia found an authentic Chinese restaurant and we splurged on some of the food she misses most. A little walk around the old "Shambles" streets and we headed off to stay the night with my College friends, Andy and Liz.
Andy cooked up a lovely Asian infused dinner which we shared with their son and daughter and their partners. Andy lived next door to me at College for a number of years, and we'd previously only met up once in the last decade (by accident as it happens), so it was great to catch up at last.
Today was our longest drive - nearly six hours - to Amble on the Northumbrian coast. We were rewarded with this view from our AirBnB; a surprisingly empty and high-end youth hostel.  Highlight of the day though was receiving an e-mail saying that JD had not only passed his GCSE in Mandarin, but scored a 9. This is equivalent to an old A* and, while we expected him to pass, we didn't anticipate him doing so well (he's 4 years younger than the normal GCSE age).
 Long but picturesque drive from the Lake District to Loch Ness and our AirBnB in Inverness. Later we drove out to Dingwall for a lovely meal and walk with Ruth - a friend from College days (and daughter Izzy).  Andrea and Vaughn treated to a full English breakfast before we headed into Scotland to explore the impressive Stirling Castle.
Then to the Lake District, sopping at Lake Windermere for JD to play with his Remote Controlled boat and JiaJia to wonder at the beauty.
 We drove on to Kendal to stay the night with my cousins - Andrea and Vaughn Swindell - but not before enjoying their amazing food!
After visiting a large Car Boot Sale, we drove to East Riddlestone Manor for our National Trust picnic.  On we drove to Haworth to see the Bronte Sisters' Parsonage - somewhere JiaJia has long dreamt of visiting since reading "Jane Eyre" as a teenager in China.
 We started our 9-day drive around England and Scotland today.
We've been trying our hand at a little barbecuing this Summer, with mixed success. It reminds JiaJia of street food back in China while JD is just a sucker for meat, meat, meat!
We headed out of Tirana yesterday to the seaside town of Durrës. The highlight for me was the 2000 year old amphitheatre. JD was keen to swim in the sea, but it didn't really live up to his memories of the warm, fish-filled bays that he enjoyed on holiday in Malaysia a few years ago.  We've tried some Albanian food over the last few days, but haven't been that impressed with the rather stodgy stew/bread based cuisine. Instead we found an authentic and well-priced Chinese restaurant within walking distance of our hotel and have enjoyed meals there more than once! We fly back to the UK this evening.
We flew into Tirana, Albania today. Albania only has a population of 3 million so, despite being the capital city, Tirana still feels quite small (½ million). We've started to have a look around including the quirky Bunk'Art (a museum/gallery situated in an underground bunker) and the beautiful Namazgah Mosque.
We visited Corfe Castle today. So much to see and do. We loved it. Plus it was free, as we are National Trust members! Woohoo!   Today we drove to the Tank Museum in Bovington, Dorset. JD was in his element, explaining the name, function, strengths and weaknesses of each tank from memory, before we even read the signage. There must be over 100 tanks on display and we were all tanked-out by the end! The highlight of the trip was definitely, "Tanks in Action!" where we watched a variety of tanks belting round a large arena firing at each other. Awesome!  On our way home from visiting my parents, we stopped at Basildon Park Manor - a National Trust property more or less en route.  Its main claim to fame is the Shell Room, with furniture, ornaments and pictures covered in shells [bottom right]. JiaJia was more fascinated by the various Chinese vases on display, however, and roped in the property's top historian to help her check for authenticating marks [bottom right]! He, in turn, was very grateful to get more background information on many of the pieces from JiaJia who knows about this sort of thing!
14 years of marriage is an ivory celebration apparently, though no elephants were injured in our celebration!  We drove down to Sidcup today to spend a few days with my lovely parents. Dad loves nothing more than colouring in patterns(?!) while Mum is forever trying to work her new phone!
They find aging difficult at times, but still manage to keep a tidy garden and spotless house, while Mum also cooked up a delicious Wedding Anniversary meal for JiaJia and me. Not bad in your 80s!
A year ago, Julian visited us on his birthday (in our old house) with his brother, Chris. A year later, he visited us again (in our new house) with his son, Jonathon. We celebrated his birthday yesterday and spent a nice day in Avebury today (despite some light rain).They will be back in China in a week's time.  After a flurry of last-minute interviews, demo classes and paperwork, I've been offered a job at Ivy Lane Primary School - the school where I've been volunteering this term. So, starting in September, I'll be working with two Year 6 classes.  It's a lovely school with very supportive staff and polite children. Plus it's just two minutes walk from my house! Ideal.
We had a lovely visit from Miki at the weekend. We worked out we have known each other for some 30 years and, when I dropped her an email the other day, it turns out she's currently working in Bristol - not far away - on the musical of Moulin Rouge.  We had late lunch and put the world to rights before she headed off on her bike/train home. She's "one of a kind" and it was great to catch up!
|
 AuthorPaul Hider started this blog to share his rather odd life living in China for over 20 years. Since returning to the UK in 2024, the blog now records his more "normal" lifestyle! Past blog entries
August 2025
Tags
All
|
