krisalis

I’ve been busy racing around like a mad thing over the past couple of days, sorting out general admin stuff like sorting out my bank account, filling in paperwork and standing in long lines at assorted government agencies to legally change my name to my husband’s surname.

Oh, and watching ‘American Idol’. That guy with the red hair sucks. Fantasia rocks.

Next on the agenda: operation Get A Mobile Phone.

If I can find one with the right service provider, I think I’m going to get one of these.

Well, I’m finally in Austin.

The guy sitting next to me on the plane from Washington read a magazine about guns from cover to cover during the flight. It made me feel just that bit more warm and fuzzy about my new home town.

Yesterday, I woke up a little after 7am in London.

I finally gott to bed sometime around 2am in Washington DC.

There were quite a lot of things that happened in between those two cornerstones, the highlight being Cara’s batchelorette party here in DC.

Today, I feel rather like I’ve been bashed about by someone with a lightly padded sledgehammer.

Time to explore. I’ve never been to DC before.

The trip is drawing to a close.

This time next week, I’ll be in Austin.

Mark has left for Canberra, and without him I feel a bit lost during the day, milling through the streets, idly window shopping, stopping every now and then for a cup of coffee.

Are there actually any Londoners left living in London now? Or even any English people? It seems that everyone I’ve spoken to today is from somewhere else: the German lady with the chubby baby who gave me directions when I got lost near Turnham Green; the cheeky Aussie girls who sat next to me on the tube, regaling the entire carriage with tales of their recent acts of drunken debauchery; the Russian man who shouted short sentences into his mobile phone, visibly furious and seemingly about to explode with rage; the American frat boy and his posse in the cafe at lunch, who pronounced his request for ‘toh-mah-to’ with an affected english accent, perhaps afraid that the pretty Hungarian girls behind the counter wouldn’t understand him otherwise, or maybe just because he thought it would sound cool; the well-dressed group of twenty-something Chinese girls chattering away on the street corner who I listened to for a moment to see if I could decipher any of their conversation, but in the end couldn’t even tell if they were speaking Mandarin or Cantonese.

Hi.

Still alive.

Now in London. Going to see the England v Wales rugby match at Twickenham tomorrow. Heading to Northampton on Sunday to spend Mother’s Day with my Mum and Nan and assorted other relatives.

Chamonix was totally excellent. Well, apart from some very minor incidents involving a blocked chimney, lots of smoke and a broken window. On the bright side, I have extended my French vocabulary to include the words for “chimney sweep” and “hinge”.

We’re in Chamonix.

Snow is excellent. I am bruised and stiff and sore from snowboarding and skiing. Fortunately, all aches ans pains are more bearable after consuming vin chaud. Brilliant.

Having trouble typing on dodgy French keyboard, as letters are not in the usual places.

Food consumed so far includes: salade savoyarde, salade du chevre chaude, raclette, tarte tatin, steak au poivre, baguettes, croissants and pain au choc by the dozen, haggis neeps and tatties, copius amounts of cotes du rhone. Oh, and vin chaud, of course.

Must go. Hope all is well in your world.

Did I mention that we’re in Scotland now? It’s a darn sight warmer than it was in Beijing.

We’re going to a wedding in Crieff over the weekend, and planning to catch up with some friends in Edinburgh.

Take a peek at this Scottish slang quiz. D’yous ken whit it’s talkin’ aboot like?

Have a good weekend!

Mirror photos from the Shanghai subway:

• Chubsy Wubsy
• Skinny Minnie
• Tall Paul

As you have probably realised, I finally have access to a computer that is compatible with my camera.

Rogan and Trish, Canberra.

Big stone horse, Gulangyu, Xiamen.

Riding a small stone horse, Gulangyu, Xiamen.

Mark demonstrates his superior horsemanship, Gulangyu, Xiamen.

I try to catch up, but Mark and his trusty steed are determined to maintain their lead.

Shadowfax and Bree, fresh from the market, getting ready for their epic journey to Austin from Beijing.

The Summer Palace is pretty. And pretty darn cold in winter. Wait, it’s March already. Is that still winter? It certainly feels like it.

Cans of coke, sprite, fanta etc all have ring pull openings in China. I like it. I kinda miss ring pulls.

We ordered minced eggplant in mini pancakes as one of the vegetable dishes for dinner last night, by pointing at an english translation of the chinese writing on the menu, from a list that said “vegetarian options”. Instead, we received little dish of about 15 deep fried fish and mutton nuggets and a side dish of salt mixed with pepper. It tasted pretty wierd. We have no idea whether this was a mix up or whether the chef just needed to get rid of the mutton-fish thing and figured the laowai wouldn’t/couldn’t complain.

We bought a set of two ornamental horses from the weekend market at Panjiayuan Jiuhuo Shichang. We didn’t necessarily mean to buy them, but they were rather handsome and somehow we ended up bargaining with the man at the market, and they were cheap, and the next thing we knew we were standing back at the taxi rank with a large bag containing two ornamental horses. We have christened them Shadowfax and Bree, and put them in the post to send them to Austin.