After the informal photos from our wedding celebration, we were keen to get some more formal pictures too. My brother Dave and his wife Sarah managed to arrange for a photographer to give us a few hours of her time, and found a magnificant crumbling castle as a unique backdrop. The resulting photos were great, as you can see. Click here for more. We were particularly fortunate to have made contact with a lady who owns a gorgeous Bed & Breakfast cottage next to the castle. She kindly allowed us "strangers" to use her rooms for changing clothes and her beautiful garden for bonus photos. She even cooked us a cake a supplied is with drink. What a star!
As part of the attempt to fulfil Jiajia's, "I want to be a princess" wedding wishes, my brother Dave arranged for us to go horse-riding in the Brecon Beacons today. No sign of any dragons to slay, though we were technically in Wales. I had a bit of a dodgy start. Whilst everyone else's head took 1-3 attempts to find a hat that fitted, mine took 22! Is my head really that oddly shaped? But then it was Jiajia's turn to have difficulties, as her horse insisted on taking a different route to the rest of us, and grabbing whole branches of trees to munch as he went. Our instructor was very patient though, whilst Dave and Esme - old hands at this horse-riding lark - trotted around at will. The scenery was fantastic and the two hours flew by. Having said that, we were all walking funny for the rest of the day, so perhaps it was best that we stopped when we did! Great fun! We chose the coldest and windiest day of our time in the UK so far to visit the very exposed Dover Castle! Ava's romantic views of castle life were quickly blown away! Entry should have cost us over £30, but came free with our apartment. There's a lot to see and do in the castle area, but much of it includes outdoor queuing. We did one of the tunnel tours, but passed on the newest attraction as those brave souls waiting an hour in line for it looked frozen. We gave it few hours in total but were happy enough to get back to the car and return. Jiajia and I drove to Canterbury today, using my parents' car, lent to us for the week. The cathedral - Jiajia's third in a fortnight - was quite expensive and very busy, but had lots to see inside. The cost of parking in the city was even pricier though. Jiajia bought lots of fruit and I had my first Burger King in a couple of years. We'd thought about joining a tour of the river but, having seen one of their punts from a bridge, decided not to bother and headed back to our castle. "A princess in a castle" was how Jiajia first described what she wanted her UK wedding to be like. This first manifested itself as a bouncy castle at our Winchester celebrations (which turned out to be a monkey, rather than a castle!), but then my brother Dave tracked down a fantastic rentable apartment in Walmer Castle [above the greenhouses in the photos above]. Not only is this in the grounds of a certified castle and just down the road from the holiday home where we were staying at the weekend, but it has 10 acres of beautiful flower and fruit gardens (Ava loves gardens) and includes free entry to all the English Heritage sites in the area. The apartment itself is superb - spacious, clean and fully equipped. We arrived to find displays of flowers and a large food hamper which is keeping us well-fed. We are enjoying self-catering in the kitchen, which looks out onto blooming flowerbeds. We are loving taking evening walks in the gardens as we have private access after the tourists have left for the day. There are acres of flowers, fruit trees, perfectly manicured avenues of bushes, a wilder forest area and immaculate lawns. There is also a pretty garden designed around a lily pond, built for the Queen Mother when she was warden of the castle. We're having great weather, too. Most of our friends and family have arrived at Walmer now and it's lovely to catch up with them in a relaxed atmosphere. We walked to the sea this morning, where Vix made one of her famous stone artworks. Then suddenly the heavens opened and we all scuttled back to the house, soaked to the skin! This afternoon couldn't have been more different, with warm sunshine and clear skies. So we made the most of the fine weather with a garden bowls tournament. Sixteen competitors started with high hopes and it was finally won by Dave, Vix's boyfriend. But can it be a coincidence that his job involves advanced aerodynamics?
My parents drove Ava and I down to Walmer today. Ava has only really experienced tropical seas before and was intending to have a dip into the Kentish seas ...until she felt how cold it was! We are staying at "Westwood" - a beautiful London City Mission holiday home - along with various family and friends (sany of whom couldn't make it to the wedding celebration last weekend). Some are arriving today - others through the weekend. Ava and I also had a little look at Walmer Castle, where we'll be honeymooning next week. But more about that later. An ex-VSO friend of mine, Michael, kindly arranged for his daughter Ruth to show us around her fashion design studio in London today - of particular interest to Jiajia who has a background in design and would like to add her own clothes creations to the brands that she sells in her store. It was a hive of activity, full of inspiration and ideas for Jiajia to pursue when back in Kunming. We planned to visit the British Museum afterwards but the rain and a rather punishing sightseeing schedule this week saw us heading home instead. Another day in London today for Jiajia (Ava) and I. We spent a relaxed morning with our friends Jo, Rob, Aled and Ben. Harrods was first on the list for a looksee, followed by a walk to Hyde park for lunch and a visit to Princess Di's memorial. Then off to Covent Garden (Ava needed more "Lush" soap) and a Chinese buffet. My friend Miki had very generously bought top tickets for Ava and I to see "Mamma Mia" in the evening, including one of her famous backstage tours. She also got discounted tickets for my boss Robert and his Chinese wife Rachel, over in the UK for the school's Summer Camp, so were able to meet up to see behind scenes and then sit together to watch the show. It's a great musical and the two Chinese girls were the first to stand up and dance at the encore! A second day in London today, starting with a spin on the London Eye - fast changing from a "must-see" to a "not worth the silly price". After lunch with my friend Cathy, Jiajia and I wandered down the bank of Thames to the Tate Modern art gallery. As ever, there was the usual mix of thought-provoking items and absolute tat (should that be the Tat Modern?). I particularly enjoyed "piece of paper and a biro" (I kid you not). Actually, I tried to take a photo of "chair and fire extinguisher" but the gallery attendant told me it was just where he sat and not art. What does he know? Jiajia, at least, was taking it all seriously and got very excited on spotting a painting by her all-time favourite artist, "Modigliani". Later we crossed the Thames on the "formerly wobbly" Millennium Bridge and arrived at St. Paul's moments before it closed for tourists. I let Jiajia explore alone however, as the £15 entrance ticket seemed very steep for somewhere I used to go for free in my youth. Ironically, people claiming to "simply want to worship" were still let inside, and for free. Any liars could always ask for forgiveness once inside, I guess? Jiajia and I spent our first day up in London today. We just managed to get to Buckingham Palace in time for the changing of the guards, but Jiajia wasn't that impressed. Nor for the Palace itself or Hyde Park or Trafalgar Square. However, we hit gold dust with the National Gallery. As an art graduate in China, Ava had only seen world-class oil paintings in books. She loved seeing them up close, and it was a struggle to drag her away after a few hours. Covent Garden also hit the spot, with the "Lush Handmade Soap" shop parting her with a wad of money. Out with history and culture then and, next time round, we'll stick to oils (and lotions to remove oils). Jiajia and I enjoyed a fabulous wedding celebration today. Ava coped admirably with the daunting task of meeting 100+ friends and family, and maintaining her smile. For me it was trying to place the multitude of guests from so many different spheres of my past life - college, work, social, relatives, etc. It was so kind of so many folk to travel large distances to join with us on our special day. If you were one of them - thank you! Despite minimal preparation (on our part, at least) the day went really smoothly and was full of memorable highlights - the venue (unorthodox perhaps, but with plenty of space to spread out), the bouncy castle (which kept young'uns and a few young-at-hearts happy), my brothers' drama "speech" (all lies, I tell you), the costume changes (Jiajia got through three dresses during the day and looked stunning in all of them - thanks Jo and Krista!), the picnic (guests bringing their own food saves so much hassle and expense!) and the ceremony (mixing formal and informal, traditional and less traditional, Chinese and English, religious and secular - thanks Dad for juggling all that!). Thanks too to all the youngsters who helped with the dress-holding, confetti throwing and car-mangling! The decorations were expertly arranged (thanks, sis-in-laws) - no mean feat in a building that size. And the cake that my parents sorted out was a fabulous creation, and tasty too. Dave and Andy did such a great job planning and running the day. I doubt many folk would have realised that the final schedule was only decided on the evening before, and the ceremony itself was rehearsed for five minutes just half an hour before the first guests arrived! The day rushed by for us, but is full of happy memories, aided by the 1000 photos the guests kindly copied for us before they left. Despite having technically got married a couple of months earlier in China, this will be the day we look back on in future as our wedding day. For more wedding photos, click here.
Ava and I are in the UK now, having arrived safe but tired yesterday evening. We're both a bit jet-lagged and my gout is worse than before, so we're taking it easy for as few days. Ava is really enjoying the flowers and vegetables in my parents garden, keen to help dig up potatoes and water the roses! I've been enjoying my Mum's cooking and starting to sort out more of my stored boxes in the attic. We have a fairly busy schedule ahead as we approach our wedding celebration on Saturday. I've been following the build up to the UK election, on and off, and was disappointed to miss the first televised debates. But overall, it all seems a bit distant and irrelevant. When I was young there was a real choice between parties with very different policies. Now they all seem to be different shades of the same basic idea, with only personalities differentiating them. Maybe it's time for a hung parliament to force some consensus? We'll see, later today... My last day in the UK for a few years and the inevitable goodbyes from family and friends. I went to my parent's very friendly church this morning and was surprised how many people there wanted to give me a hug goodbye and pass on their best wishes. To them I was heading for a strange, distant land - to me it's going home! Then there have been a number of phonecalls and e-mails from others [including this doctored "goodbye photo" from my brother Andy as his crazy family!]. I don't find "goodbyes" very easy, but I accept they are important and, of course, it will be hard to be away from loved ones for another 2-3 year period. Looking back on my 3½ months in the UK, I'm quite pleased at all I've managed to get done. I've had lots of meals out, travelled on 20+ trains, seen a Premiership match, an American basketball match, a large family reunion, holidays at Micklepage and Longleat Centre Parcs, two West End shows, a nativity play, a birthday and a Christmas. I've driven a car again, been to the cinema, cleared out my flat in Wootton Bassett, visited the Thames Barrier and flown to the Isle of Man. I've also met up with pretty much every friend and family member I'd intended to. And this is despite three visits to Accident and Emergency, 18 visits to the local clinic, 6 injections and two ear syringings! I certainly can't say it's been a dull trip!
It's still a week or so until I leave for China, but with the few extra days that the Guernsey cancellation freed up, I thought I'd make a start with my packing. I only bought one bag out, but I'll be taking two back (thanks largely to the wardrobe's-worth of clothes my brother Dave kindly donated to me!). Weight-wise I seem to be within the limits, but there isn't a lot of room left for those last-second items (hairbrush, shaver, socks, passport, etc). I can see the pockets of the clothes that I wear back being full to overflowing! I'm spending a fantastic few days with Dave (my brother) and his family and friends at Centre Parcs, Longleat. Yesterday morning, Esme [pink in photo] and Joshua [green] tackled the terrifying "High Ropes" activity. Esme was her usual fearless self [here about to leap off the top of the pole onto a trapeze!] while Josh did the best he could with rapidly freezing fingers and toes! I was in awe - you wouldn't have seen me star-jumping 50ft up in the treetops, safety line or not! Then, this morning. we woke to a major dump of snow. Were were based in a fantastic apartment with three en suite double bedrooms, each with cable TV, kitchen with dishwasher, etc. Ours was in the middle of the enormous forest complex, so we were able to walk straight out into beautiful scenery. The kids took on the snowball fighting duties (with other families, thankfully) as we mooched our way from coffee bar to restaurant to heated swimming pool... ... and what a swimming pool. Thankfully, the tropical pool was one of the few free activities in the park, because we used it a lot. With large seperate pools for adults and children, tube runs, death-slides, a wave machine, paddling pools, jacuzzis and an outdoor "rapids" section, it had eveything. Our favourite was the rapids - alternatively floating or sliding headlong down an outdoor "river", in heated water, in the falling snow [see photo, faked for illustrative purposes!]. It was amazing and the kids (inc Dave) couldn't get enough! Shame we're leaving tomorrow. Happy Christmas readers! I'm spending Christmas at a large holiday home in Walmer, near Dover, with all my family plus other close relatives. Delicious food, fun games, ages ranging from 2 to 72, heaps of presents and plenty of space to enjoy ourselves. The kids built a snowman in the garden on arrival, we had a little rain when were happily tucked up inside and then warm, bright sunshine when we went for walks (or runs for some!). Some pictures to give a flavour... The HIDER Family
Back (L to R): Dave, Sarah, Ali Middle (L to R): Me, Dad, Mum holding Daisy, Andy holding Louie Front (L to R): Esme holding Briany, Harry, Josh [See "Family Tab" at the top of this page to see who is related to who!] There have been forecasts of snow in southeast Britain for a day or two, and at last I awoke to a white world this morning. Not as much snow as in many parts of the country, but enough to feel Christmassy. The only other snow I've seen this year was back in January when I was trying to climb a snow-covered mountain in the dark at 6am to visit a Tibetan monastery. Today will hopefully be a little less nerve-wracking! Today, Dad and I had a trip out to the Thames Barrier. It's a 20 minute drive away. The barrier was built in 1982 to remove the risk of flooding to London. When tides get too high, which has apparently happened 114 times since it was built, the enormous gates rotate up and block the waters coming into the Thames. It's an impressive site, especially with the Millenium Dome in the background and planes landing just over the river in London City Airport. We decided not to spend £7 on tickets to the Visitor's Centre however, preferring to buy a coffee and look through the free information pack we had swiped earlier! I planned my visit to Lodge School to coincide with the Infants' Nativity Play. It was a very cute affair, as you can see. It actually felt odd to be enjoying it without having played a teacherly part in producing and practising it! One of the very different and noticeable things between my old school in Purley and my school in China is the wide ethnic mix in Lodge School. A quick tally of the faces in the Nativity Play revealed less than half of the students are "white", whilst the surnames in the Programme suggested that even those with white faces include many with origins outside the UK. I do miss that when I am in homogeneous China I spent today at Lodge School, where I used to work before leaving for China four years ago. It's changed an awful lot since then, due to a merger with another school which (theoretically) was to lead to a significant increase in student numbers and money for expansion and upgrading. Unfortunately, the recession and various other factors turned that dream into someting of a nightmare. The infants bulding where I used to work has had an enormous extension built [white building and beyond, in photo] but few extra students to fill it. I had a lovely day there though, getting a warm welcome (and not a few hugs) from teachers, students and their Mums who remembered me. Yesterday I hired a car and headed for Wootton Bassett, Wilts. This is where I used to live and where I still have my flat and a number of friends and relatives. Despite not having driven for 4 years, I got there safely and smoothly. Wootton Bassett is a small village outside of Swindon, but has become famous in the last year or two: just down the road in RAF Lyneham, where soldiers killed in action are flown back to the UK. The funeral cars have to pass through Wootton Bassett to get to the mortuary in Swindon and the residents of the village are now famous for standing by the road to honour the dead each time. During my 24 hours there, I managed to catch up with quite a few folk. Steve [left] is an old friend from College, here with his wife Julie. I had a lovely lunch with them. Colin [top right on the left] and Denise and Alan [to the right] are friends from when I worked in Swindon with National Power. And the Prictor family [bottom right] are my cousins and their kids who let me stay the night and laid on a delicious Mexican meal (before hammering me at various computer games!). Before I left, I was able to inspect my flat (which has been rented out for 15+ years). I also wanted to remove the 2-3 boxes I'd stored in the attic. But on climbing the ladder, I found more like 12 boxes there, and heavy with books and ornaments too! So for each box, it was a case of dragging it down the ladder, climbing down the stairs, then balancing the box on top of a 2m wall which drops down to the road (there used to be concrete steps down to the road, but these have disappeared since I last visited!?) Then, I had to jump down into the road, fetch the overhanging box back, cross the road and pop it in the car. Then, back over the road, climb up the 2m wall, climb the stairs, climb the ladder and start again with box number two! I was exhausted by the end!
I've not been too well today with the shakes, dizziness and a headache. It's probably a reaction to yesterday's trip which was the most I'd done in a day for some months. Thankfully my good friend SiJia (Emily) had already agreed to travel to me from Brighton, so I was able to take it fairly easy today. Emily is Chinese, but moved to the UK from Kunming just over a year ago. It was lovely to see her again and chat about all things Chinese (and British!). We were able to enjoy my Mum's cooking too, which is always a bonus, but I did forget to take a photo of her for the blog. So this one of Jake [centre] will have to do... When I left Teddy Jake in the care of my girlfriend Jiajia (Ava), he was a bare bear with no real teddy friends. But as you can see from the photo, under Ava's influence, he's now had trendy clothes bought and knitted for him and spends his days with bunny-girl friends! From cute, naive little bear to supercool playboy dude! Is this my fate I wonder? My daily trip out today was to Bexleyheath for a spot of shopping. Its most famous landmark is the clock tower [see photo] which usually seems surrounded by hoodies, thugs and community police officers! My treat after the trauma of shopping was a Burger King lunch. Unfortunately, the second bite left me with a small, sharp bone stuck in my gum! I recovered it and, this afternoon, sent it off to Head Office along with a moany letter, in the hope of some compensation! That's how exciting life is these days - bus rides, shopping and writing letters of complaints. Two months 'til I return to China...! |
AuthorPaul Hider lives and works in Kunming (SW China) and regularly updates this blog about his life there. Past blog entries
April 2024
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