Western brands in China

I'm writing this purely because I'm sitting in a McDonalds sheltering from the biblical rain.

In the last few days I've spent time in a Starbucks, Tesco and McDonalds, which I did to kill time, but all these places are new China experiences for me. And bizzarely, except the obvious product ranges suited to the Chinese customer they are exactly the same as they are in the UK and probably everywhere else in the world. I know that's sort of the point of these international brands but it's strange to go half way round the world and discover that Tesco uses exactly the same shelf labels as they do at home. Tesco also are onto a winning name here, they call themselves 乐购 (legou) which translates as Happy Purchase.

McDonald's obviously has it's staples of burgers and chips, which are being devoured all around me alongside the more Chinese-esk bubble tea and black seasame ice cream. I don't go to McDonald's at home so I don't know how it compares to the UK but I ate the chips once and they were awful... Also I think the prices are more or less the same as the west so it's not a cheap meal by Chinese standards. Interestingly, I think I've seen more overweight people in the time I've been in here than I have all year. The future maybe doesn't bode well for the currently, generally lean, Chinese figure.

Starbucks was also a slightly surprising experience for me, when I ordered an iced green tea and ended up with this:

Not a clue what it was, matcha tea maybe, but it was definitely more decadent than I expected (but also quite nice). Also the Starbucks menu is pretty light on the coffee options which are instead replaced with wacky and wondering tea concoctions (as I discovered). China is not the place for coffee lovers...

H&M is also exactly the same as its European counterparts but it's harder to find larger sizes here, but unlike a lot of Chinese stores they exist here. The prices also aren't any cheaper...

G x

Things that move in the night..

Up until now my dealings with cockroaches have thankfully been minimal - some of my friends sound like they have been continuously fighting a turf war against cockroaches in their homes. My own personal dealings with the horrible brown creatures had up until today totaled 3, each on separate, well space out, occasions. I found them all in the middle of my floor, on their backs when I woke up in the morning. This  leaves me thinking, what kind of stupid creature ends up on its back (it can't right itself) for no apparent reason...

My go to method for cockroach dispatch is with the 3kg washing detergent bottle - one blow works a treat!

Sadly though tonight's cockroach experience was more traumatic than ever before. For some reason I couldn't sleep ( now I'm very awake!) and I was lying in bed when I heard a fluttering sound very close by. I decided to tell myself it was a moth (I dealt with my first Chinese moth the other day) but then it moved again and I knew there was no way I was going to sleep until whatever it was was gone. I turned the light on and directly above my head at the top of the wall was a 1 inch long cockroach! I didn't even know they could climb vertical surfaces!!! I'm also trying to convince myself that it was it's little legs scurrying up the wall that I heard (which is bad enough) and they can't actually fly. I'm hoping the rather large wings are for show, otherwise I'm turning my bed into a fortress!

Anyway, battle stations were quickly taken - not quietly I might add, goodness only knows what the neighbours thought I was up to - and I armed myself with the mop and my trusty detergent bottle. And I put some shoes on. No way in hell am I touching those things.

Once I'd taken the precaution of moving my bed, my attempt to kill it where it sat was unsuccessful. In hindsight I'm pleased I don't have a cockroach bloodstain on my very white wall. Instead though the horrible little thing fell off the wall and scurried under my desk (they move very fast) so more furniture moving was required. I ultimately found it under my laptop case before it was swiftly introduced to the mop and the bottle (which is sadly very light at the moment). I didn't realise until I'd cleaned the mess off my floor - FYI cockroach guts are black - how fast my heard was pounding. My fight or flight response went into over drive!

I don't normally have an issue with bugs and insects but I think the reason I hate cockroaches is I don't actually know what their purpose is or anything about them. What do they eat? Do they bite? How do they live? How long do they live for?  Where do they live? Do they fly? Why are they in my home...?

I've got no idea where the horrible thing came from but I'm hoping their only way of getting in is through the gap under the door and there isn't some secret cockroach lair behind my wardrobe. Otherwise there is going to be a lot of midnight screeching on floor 8.

One the plus side, I don't need to clean under my bed anymore. Every cloud...

G x

Ps I just heard scurrying in the hallway. I've blocked the gap under my door...

Monsoon Season

So when people told me that here in the south we get lots of rain I didn't really believe them - purely because I can count on one hand the number of times its rained here since I arrived in September. That is no longer the case. I'd quite enjoyed living in a country with predictable weather (where it's sunny all day everyday)  but at the moment it's either not raining or thunderstorms. The lightning flashes have been quite spectacular but you can't see them strike anywhere because of the pollution blanketing the sky.

My umbrella is certainly proving it was a good purchase - I definitely understand why the locals (especially those on bikes) opt for the poncho for weather protection.

Hopefully it will stop soon and the sunshine will come back. I'm fed up feeling like a drowned rat when I arrive at work in the morning...

G x

Singapore

So despite having more time previous trips to plan my holiday and make sensible decisions logistical decisions I still managed to spend the night camped out at the airport bench trying to catch a few winks before the departure of of my 2.30am flight - I'm endlessly jealous of the people who can sleep anywhere. However it did mean we landed bright and early (6.30am) so that I could make the most of my day.

Wednesday - 29/04/15

Thankfully I had given some thought to my first activity of the trip because in Singapore nothing really opens until 10am (like China) so that meant I headed to the only place in Singapore that opens at 5am - the Botanical Gardens. The gardens are lovely, but sadly not quite in season so there weren't many spectacular floral displays on offer but the gardens themselves are beautiful, due to their great layout and design. They are also very well kept, there was an army of people pruning and primping at 8am when I arrived. The 30oC heat was also making it's presence felt at that time - I now understand why the air-con on the metro was turned up so high!

The gardens are home to a huge variety of tropical plants - I still get overexcited when I see something exotic that would never grow at home - which are all split into various sections, like the healing garden (plants used in traditional natural remedies), the rain-forest and the ginger garden, to name a few. The gardens are put to good use as a public space (they are free to enter) there were loads of people walking their dogs, running, doing exercise classes and speed walking - I have never seen so many speed walkers in my life! It was very inspirational all these people getting fit around me but unlike them I had to spend the rest of the day in my clothes so I decided not to try and race them up the hills. I would have lost anyway (excuses, excuses).

After getting lost in the various corners of the huge garden I decided to head to my next destination of the day - Chinatown. Purely because I was hungry and there is always lots of food in Chinatown! I skipped all the tourist mementos - they had some nice things but I would have felt a bit silly taking Chinese souvenirs back to China at the end of the week - and headed straight for the food street. I seriously considered having frog soup, but I may have to build up to that one. I opted for some safe but tasty chicken instead. I followed it up with a delicious papaya frozen juice - it hasn't helped to dampen my feelings of wanting a blender! It's not the people and place I miss, its the kitchen appliances! So instead, I'm going to have to try and drink my way through as many frozen juices as I can to keep me happy. Despite this being my personal highlight of Chinatown I had a noisy around some of the impressive temples in the area before checking into my hostel.

My papaya smoothie...

Despite me feeling like it should be bed time, it was barely past lunch, I headed to an area of the city known as Little India. I don't think I've ever been anywhere like it. The streets are lined with coloured buildings with people selling all your clothing needs from socks to sarees. Scattered in between were stalls selling flower garlands (which smell exactly as you imagine), traditional Indian delicacies and treats and of course restaurants selling all the Indian cuisine imaginable. Obviously Singapore is all about its food.

As it was too early to eat my way through another culture, I headed to another area called Arab Street, which is centered around a magnificent gold dome topped mosque, or at least it would be spectacular if it wasn't covered in scaffolding! To me, it was a bit surreal walking along streets called Kandahar street and Baghdad street...

I decided to head back to little India for dinner - it's been a long time since I've had curry! And it was definitely worth the wait.

Thursday - 30/04/15

As I hadn't made any plans for my time in Singapore I decided to pick the brains of Jonas, the guy manning the hostel - he definitely knows Singapore! After much discussion we decided my best plan for the day would be to head to Pulau Ubin, an island to the north-est of Singapore. Pulau Ubin was described to me as what Singapore used to be like - in which case a rustic area full of tropical plants and well established forests. Before taking the little boat to the island with some of the other nature seekers I ate lunch at the Changi hawker centre. The hawker centres are the best, and cheapest places to eat. The centres, which are plentiful in Singapore, cater primarily for the locals so they are the perfect opportunity to try a huge variety of local dishes. Palau Ubin is where the nature lovers in Singapore go to play; there is a mountain biking track, plenty of places for fishing and a good network of roads and paths for cycling and walking. I decided to hire a bike for the day from one of the local shops on the island. I was so busy whizzing around on my bike - I'd forgotten how much I like cycling - that I had to make a conscious effort to slow down and look at the nature around me! The plentiful supply of shelters came in handy when I had to dive into one to avoid a thunderstorm - Singapore's weather is definitely unpredictable!

The island was nice, the scenery wasn't exactly spectacular but if you are used to living in the centre of a busy city it must be a little bit like paradise.

Palau Ubin -  I never get bored of palm trees!

In the evening I went to the Gardens by the Bay, Singapore's very adventurous garden creation. I was there quite late so I missed the light shows for the evening but I wanted to see what all the hype was about - I have to say I initially wasn't all that taken with it.

Gardens by the Bay

Friday - 1/05/15

Day 3 was my day of culture. The Presidents house, Estana, was open due to it being May Day (it only opens to the public for special holidays a number of times a year). The house was built by the British when they were there so it's quite an old building (it's been very well looked after) Only 3 of the rooms, which are used to entertain guests were open so there wasn't that much to see, I'd been hoping for a rake through the cutlery drawer type of visit but with the amount of military security keeping a very close eye on proceedings nothing but the planned itinerary was possible. They did have a number of gifts given to Singapore by other countries, when they were on state visits, on display which were interesting to look at. The huge grounds that surround the house are also quite impressive and even come complete with a 9 hole golf course.

Estana

I continued my cultural education with a visit to the National Museum of Singapore which had a really good exhibition about the last 700 years of Singapore - I really enjoyed it, especially because I knew nothing about the history of Singapore beforehand. After the museum I took a walk around Fort Canning park, which is the site of a colonial built fort (it doesn't exist anymore) before heading down to the Clarke Quay area of the city - home to the majority of Singapore's nightlife (alcohol is very expensive everywhere in the city) - for a spot of lunch and a stroll along the river. After very leisurely making my way along the river I went to the Asian Civilizations Museum which was very heavy on religious development in Asia, including China. Despite the sheer volume of information on various the development of religions I found it really interesting because religion is never talked about in China so I previously had no idea how the different religions had been introduced and developed in the country, despite China being home to so many temples and Buddha statues.  

Ice cream from a street cart - serving it in a slice of multi-coloured bread seems to be the thing to do...

Because it was such a lovely afternoon, even though it was very hot, I spent about an hour chilling out around the marina (surrounded by thousands of tourists), next to the famous Merlion statue before heading to the Singapore Art Museum in the evening via a detour through some of the memorial parks and a quick nosy at the famous Raffles Hotel. 

My attempts at trying to understand modern art failed yet again - art is most definitely wasted on me - so much so I managed to trip over one of the exhibits! I saw that as a sign...

Saturday - 2/05/15

My last day started off with a walk up and through Mount Faber park which promised to offer views over Singapore - it did but the trees are quite tall so from the top you only get to see little sections of the city, panoramic views are not an option. This was slightly disappointing but it was a nice walk none the less. The park is connected to another 5 parks in the area through unusual bridges and treetop walkways - it made for a nice scenery change for a few hours. In hindsight climbing a hill in 30oC when I wasn't going to have access to a shower for the rest of the day wasn't my smartest idea but I still enjoyed it.

After jumping on the metro to head to China town for lunch at the Maxwell Road Food Centre (another hawker centre), I walked through the city to a different side of the Marina to the one I had been to before and spent a while relaxing in the shade (I forgot my suncream) as well as under some outdoor fans (genius idea). I then headed to the Gardens by the Bay again to see them during the daylight hours. I spent a lot of time hiding in the shade trying to decide if I wanted to go up onto the Super Flowers viewing platform - i'm glad I did because it gives a good view over the rest of the park (and showed me all the areas I hadn't seen yet). I stayed in the gardens until the first of the two nightly light shows before heading for dinner and then off to the airport. I always brings you back down to earth when you have to hang around an airport for 6 hours before your flight leaves!

Banana fritter and kiwi and mango smoothie - trying out the local snacks

The 'Super Flowers' in the garden

My last view of Singapore

I really liked Singapore. Most of the older, historical buildings and structures have been restored to their original splendor, the city seems proud of it's history - it has certainly helped to shape an amazingly diverse city and culture. I think the city feels more homely than Hong Kong, and even China, because accommodation seems to be predominantly houses or apartment buildings with only a few stories - most even have gardens. Currently most of the skyscrapers are confined to the financial district - because of this I think the city feels quite spacious and relaxing. The city is also very clean and well kept - some would say it almost feels clinical and soulless because of this but I enjoy not walking along streets lined with chewing gum and rubbish! I was also pleasantly surprised to find that Singapore wasn't completely flat - there are quite a few hilly parks in the city - I went up as many as I could - I'm bored of living in a flat city! 

G x

Yuexiu Park

So this weekend's culture kick was a lesson in traditional Chinese paper cutting, in the lovely setting of stone pagoda in Yuexiu Park, in Guangzhou.

I was shown 3 simple types of paper cutting, There is no way I would have managed anything complicated some the paper cutting art that people produce is amazing! I definitely recommend googling it! The designs can be so intricate because small (and very sharp) scissors are used to cut out the patterns. Craft knives are also a useful tool.

The 3 traditional (and simple) types of paper cutting were Chinese lanterns (which are used as decorations for lantern festival), Shuangxi (双喜）(which means double happiness) and finally the snowflake (they are used to decorate homes during spring festival).We used red paper because red is a popular colour in China but any paper colour is used

Shuangxi - meaning double happiness. Commonly used for weddings

I'm most proud of this lantern - I decided to get ambitious and try and cut the pattern of a ram into it for year of the Ram. Not a bad first attempt I thought!

The patterns as always displayed against white so my white walls are perfect!

After my lesson foray into Chinese crafts I walked around the park as i'd never been before. It's a nice park in the centre of the city - I still can't get used to seeing skyscrapers soaring above the tree-line! The weather is very over-cast and the moment (I think we are experiencing a period of low-pressure). I'm no meteorologist, but the weather feels heavy and it makes me very sleepy - is that low pressure?!?! Anyway it's characteristic of this time of year but it doesn't make for the most inspiring weather for sightseeing. Yuexiu park is home to the statue of the five rams which is symbolic of Guangzhou. I have no clue why, nobody seems to be able to tell me why but on just about every piece of information about Guangzhou is this statue so I can finally say i've seen it!

The five rams statue

A part of the ancient wall of Guangzhou (which is half way up a (little) hill) with these amazing trees growing out of it.

G x

Time for another holiday

So just in case the whole of February off wasn't enough its time for another holiday.I have 5 and a half days off from the 28-3, it's a combination of my students having exams and the May day holiday weekend.

A 5 day holiday is too good an opportunity so i'm going to use the time to go to Singapore for 4 days.I'm excited that i'm finally managing to go.

By some miracle I was given two weeks notice of my holiday dates - I haven't had the opportunity to be this organised for any of my other holidays here! Saying that apart from managing to book my flights earlier than the night before I leave it really hadn't made much difference to my planning meaning I still have no idea what i'm going to do there...

It's safe to say though I think i'll be on a diet of bread and rice when I come back because Singapore on a Chinese salary is an expensive holiday!

G x

Cooking up a storm

Whilst Mum and Dad were here they bought me an electric hob so I can finally do some proper cooking, I recently decided I was fed up of microwave cooking. It's meant I can finally start buying raw meat to cook with - I might actually start utilising the market across the street for once! 

Being able to cook in an actual pan (that has genuinely been a cause of envy towards some of my friends) is allowing me to be much more adventurous in the things I try to cook and it's nice knowing exactly what is in my food for a change instead of leaving it in the hands of one of the many eateries around me. Mind you, 8 months without cooking is a bit strange and my first meal was a bit of a charcoaled disaster. But since then it's been stir-fry galore.

My little kitchen

So far, there have been a couple of note. I've managed to make salsa, quite successfully but it's really hard finding the right herbs here. Salad is something I've also managed to start making because I can now boil eggs without fear of them exploding in the microwave. My first salad in 8 months (it's not something the Chinese eat) genuinely made me sing with happiness and contentment, I didn't think salad would ever have that effect on me. I also cooked with raw tomatoes (of my own accord) for the first time in my life, they are normally something I avoid touching like the plague. But don't get excited Mum, I don't intend on eating them raw anytime soon. I used the tomatoes to make a lovely - if I do say so myself - chicken and vegetable casserole. 

I've also discovered millet as a good grain in place of much sought after couscous - I don't think it exists here. I also learned that millet used to be the grain of choice for the population before they started eating rice instead.

And my attempt to make a soya bean version of hummus went up in smoke (literally). I got bored of waiting for thr beans to cook and went to chat to Tom and by the time I came bank I'd stank the 8th floor out with smoke and was left with some very burnt beans. The unburnt ones were tasty though so attempt two will take place very soon.

Being able to cook has also reinforced my desire to do a chinese cooking course whilst I'm here, but they are proving surprisingly tricky to find...

G x