Two years on...

Last weekend we went to Miri for a break with our good friends the Downeys and went for an excursion to Lambir Hills. The last time we were there was the lead up to New Years in December 2008. Iman was 6, Jack 3 and Ayden just 2.

And how they've grown....

Ayden's Day

Today was all about Ayden. Our big boy not only turned 4 but also started Kindy. Trying to take a picture in the morning would have been impossible so I waited until we got home to take his first day at school picture - and with his presents which he was not interested to open in the morning. And despite giving me the big wail treatment on separation, he actually admitted that he loved his day and excitedly told everyone all about it!

And later in the afternoon the cousins came over for pizza, pasta and a slice of the tennis cake which Ayden was very happy with (well done to his P-N). We almost thought he wouldn't blow the candles when he hid himself for the birthday song but the big boy surprised us all and he was so proud!

More of Shanghai

Only just getting round to posting these.

The queue for the Apple shop!

View of the Bund from Pudong

And from the Bund side

Typical laundry day!

Upmarket cafes and restaurants of Xitandi

Where's Madang Manor?

Most of the buildings on the Bund had these interesting plaques

1st October when all of Shanghai decided to go walkabout

Rats

Iman for two nights this week performed in her first ever school production, a musical based on the Pied Piper of Hamelin which we went to watch tonight. All the hard work put in by the kids and the teachers involved paid off as the show was sensational! And all my friends reading this will know I am not exaggerating considering my lack of interest in musicals and the theatre in general. Iman's role was one of the rats and she looked happy to be performing with so many of her friends. Poor Ayden fell asleep but Jack loved it (for the second time) and says he wants to be in Rats next year!

Well done to all in the show which also included cousins Hariz and Zahra and especially to our very special singing rodent!

Old Shanghai Teahouse

Walking around the Old Town of Shanghai we needed a sit down and took the recommendation from the Lonely Planet for a cup of tea at this tea house full of Chinese antiques from the 20s, 30s and 40s.

A bamboo menu was handed to us and the owner in very basic English pointed out "good tea" to us. I think I went for a pu erh and Donncha went for a green. Then the lady of the house brought the tea!

It all looked neat but what to do with it?! Thankfully she came back pouring hot water over everything. I was chuffed that my tea had the smaller cup and fancier pots :)

Donncha's shocked expression that this tea was going to cost us B$30! We must have been given the tourist menu as I don't suppose the locals behind us would be paying so much - but hey it was a nice place and the tea was to say the least fancy!

And complete with rather ancient hot water flask which even had a wooden stopper!

In conclusion a very relaxing place for a lovely cup of tea ~ but I must admit though mine looked good I ended up drinking Donncha's green tea which tasted better!

Old Jazz Band @ Peace Hotel Shanghai

We managed to watch these old boys perform on our last night in Shanghai. Most of them are in their 70s and 80s and put on an entertaining show - even though one old boy kept looking at his watch probably thinking it was way past bedtime! And despite being an early session, the place was packed. Sorry about the poor pictures but we only had the phone.

Shanghai Pictures - The Maglev

Shanghai - what a city! Unfortunately I couldn't access blogger there so I will try to put up some pictures this week. The best thing about the trip was being able to walk for miles and miles without usual complaints of sore feet, tiredness and constant wee-wee stops (mind you in Shanghai our boys would have had a field day - phrase "When in Rome..." comes to mind here!). Unexpectedly, the city was easy to make our way around and very safe - I think we did miss a couple of crucial tourist spots on our tour but we were more than happy with the daily Shanghai scenes we saw. What we didn't prepare ourselves for were people. It was (unknown to us until we got there) the Chinese National Day with a week's holiday. And it seemed the whole city went walkabout. Needless to say we were both overwhelmed and in awe.

To start and finish the trip we went on the Shanghai Maglev, the only commercial operating maglev train which operates to and from Pudong Airport and the city. The 30km distance is covered in just 7m 20secs!

We caught the 15:32 (which left on the second)

Peaking at 431km/h