Now that I’ve moved in Japan and have a bit of hindsight and perspective I thought I’d share my thoughts for those of you considering making the big move to Shanghai, or perhaps elsewhere in China. I moved to China for a teaching position at an international school at very short notice and had an…
Category: 1st year in Shanghai
Beijing’s blossoms in April
With the weather getting hotter and more humid every day, I thought it’s time to finally write about our 5-day spring holiday with his parents in Beijing. We were lucky as it was sunny with low pollution levels on most days and the Tomb Sweeping Holiday had just ended, so the sightseeing places were not…
Wicked!
Last night, I went to Shanghai Culture Square on South Shaanxi Road to see Wicked, the musical. As many friends have recommended it to me, I had bought the tickets with colleagues ages ago (just after we went to the Christmas fair!). What can I say – it was the best musical I’ve ever seen!…
Kyoto Fairytales
We absolutely love Japan. Our holiday in Kyoto just exceeded all our expectations! Just as we landed and the Chinese tourists pushed us off the plane, I was overwhelmed with the friendliness of the Japanese airport and train station staff…
Living in Shanghai is like…
#1 International Literature Getting really exciting about finding a bookshop only to realise while browsing inside, that they only sell Chinese books. #2 Being a Foreigner People either staring at you in fascination or ignoring/being rude to you, because you’re a foreigner. #3 Fake Everything When you don’t believe any branded items to be real…
Misconceptions about Chinese New Year
Happy Chinese New Year! It was beginning to feel a lot like… well for me Christmas… but in general the big festive season! Our compound and work place has decorated everything nicely with fairy lights outside and red Chinese decorations on the walls and windows. (I swear, I smelled mulled wine on the streets of…
Culture Clash ‘No.’
This post just outlines one of the many culture clashes and is my story of being told ‘no’. The first time I encountered this was at the Hyatt on the Bund in Shanghai, when we visited the bar with a couple of friends, it was my turn to order and I pointed at the menu…
German Christmas Markets in Shanghai
Paulaner Christkindlmarkt (Pudong) Over the last two weekends, I have visited two of the various Christmas markets in Shanghai. Two weeks ago I went all the way to the German Christmas market at the Paulaner Hofbräu (Expo) in Pudong with colleagues. The weather was fabulous with warm temperatures and blue sky, the entrance fee very…
Fresh sushi, Australian steak and Belgian beer at the K11 Art Mall
It’s a while since I have blogged here. It’s been a busy few weeks! So now that the initial shock of living in China is slightly subsiding (it already feels like we’ve been here forever!) we’ve decided this blog could usefully serve as a place to review the many excellent eating and drinking places that…
Golden Week madness – Xintiandi and Qibao
This post is long over-due, but we feel like we still haven’t recovered from Golden Week yet. (For those I haven’t told yet: the first week in October is a national holiday in China). It started off as a relaxing holiday as we visited the Xintiandi district for the first time and went into the Tim Burton exhibit…
Jitensha Adventure 