It is now Bonfire night in the UK, the clocks have gone back and so whilst waiting that extra hour for the football to come on thought I would update the blog.
Arrived home safely from India, no Delhi belly this time. Had a couple of fascinating experiences this time. We drove across Mumbai for a meeting and the driver cut through one of the poorer areas of the city. The shanty areas with living spaces made of gathered materials. Common in many pictures of India, however as my colleagues pointed out, many of these homes have a TV, and a fridge!. Even the unused concrete sewer pipe, being used as a home, had a TV aerial.
Before I left I was given something I have never seen or received before. A Happy Diwali card. Diwali is an Indian festival, and national holiday, like Chinese New Year, and Xmas. They also gave me a box of Cadbury chocolates. They didn't last long.
Geraldine and I visited Hangzhou for the weekend. We managed to get out and walk round the lake. It is a beautiful place. as I said before like Keswick / derwentwater but bigger, and better laid out. It was fascinating watching the Chinese enjoying the weekend. At Chinese weddings the bride and groom have their pictures taken weeks before the wedding. They can spend many days doing it. Consequently everywhere we went there were couples posing for pictures in their wedding dresses. (by the way they tend to hire the whole outfit for just the photos.)
We wandered around the city as well and found a great street market. Masses of people and silk stalls. There was a large fertility Buddha with lots of little children all over him. Many people came to pose to have their picture taken with him.
Further on we walked past a shop selling cloth and silk garments. The material was piled high either side of the aisle. At the end (nearest the street) there was a shop assistant fast asleep - face down - on the garments. The shop was busy too, and hundreds of people walking past.
We travelled on the new high speed train to and from Hangzhou. These work really well, comfortable and depart and leave on time. Today we went to try the Maglev train. My chance to be a train spotter. This apparently is the fastest passenger train in commercial operation. We went from Shanghai to inside the airport terminal building in 6 mins, 431km/h (265mph) and 30km! Fantastic.
They have decelerating glass on this and the high speed trains, which enables you to see outside clearly, without everything seeming like a blur.
Last weekend we went to the Shanghai golf masters which Mcilroy won. One chip worth $1.3m. The difference between first and second place. It was fantastic day, warm, some sunshine and enough people to create an atmosphere but not to create mayhem or a crush. As such we were able to clearly see McIlroy fluff a chip - it went 6 feet!, watch them drive over water. As there were five of us (all expats) I said as we were walking in the entrance we should have a bet on who finds someone they know in the crowd. I won half an hour in, one of the local Chinese guys tapped me on the shoulder, I have played golf with him a few times. been here too long - starting to be recognised - need to move on.
My move to Dubai is being planned, and it seems I will depart on the 22nd December 2011. Sad day. So I have not renewed my golf membership, and we are eating things up out of the freezer. I hope I get to eat my oranges out the tree before I go
Still I aim to be in Dubai in time for the first test match against Pakistan.
Off to watch the football
Arrived home safely from India, no Delhi belly this time. Had a couple of fascinating experiences this time. We drove across Mumbai for a meeting and the driver cut through one of the poorer areas of the city. The shanty areas with living spaces made of gathered materials. Common in many pictures of India, however as my colleagues pointed out, many of these homes have a TV, and a fridge!. Even the unused concrete sewer pipe, being used as a home, had a TV aerial.
Before I left I was given something I have never seen or received before. A Happy Diwali card. Diwali is an Indian festival, and national holiday, like Chinese New Year, and Xmas. They also gave me a box of Cadbury chocolates. They didn't last long.
Geraldine and I visited Hangzhou for the weekend. We managed to get out and walk round the lake. It is a beautiful place. as I said before like Keswick / derwentwater but bigger, and better laid out. It was fascinating watching the Chinese enjoying the weekend. At Chinese weddings the bride and groom have their pictures taken weeks before the wedding. They can spend many days doing it. Consequently everywhere we went there were couples posing for pictures in their wedding dresses. (by the way they tend to hire the whole outfit for just the photos.)
We wandered around the city as well and found a great street market. Masses of people and silk stalls. There was a large fertility Buddha with lots of little children all over him. Many people came to pose to have their picture taken with him.
Further on we walked past a shop selling cloth and silk garments. The material was piled high either side of the aisle. At the end (nearest the street) there was a shop assistant fast asleep - face down - on the garments. The shop was busy too, and hundreds of people walking past.
We travelled on the new high speed train to and from Hangzhou. These work really well, comfortable and depart and leave on time. Today we went to try the Maglev train. My chance to be a train spotter. This apparently is the fastest passenger train in commercial operation. We went from Shanghai to inside the airport terminal building in 6 mins, 431km/h (265mph) and 30km! Fantastic.
Last weekend we went to the Shanghai golf masters which Mcilroy won. One chip worth $1.3m. The difference between first and second place. It was fantastic day, warm, some sunshine and enough people to create an atmosphere but not to create mayhem or a crush. As such we were able to clearly see McIlroy fluff a chip - it went 6 feet!, watch them drive over water. As there were five of us (all expats) I said as we were walking in the entrance we should have a bet on who finds someone they know in the crowd. I won half an hour in, one of the local Chinese guys tapped me on the shoulder, I have played golf with him a few times. been here too long - starting to be recognised - need to move on.
My move to Dubai is being planned, and it seems I will depart on the 22nd December 2011. Sad day. So I have not renewed my golf membership, and we are eating things up out of the freezer. I hope I get to eat my oranges out the tree before I go
Still I aim to be in Dubai in time for the first test match against Pakistan.
Off to watch the football
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