Who left the fridge door open?

Weather: clear skies, mildly freezing.
Sweeties: A subway ad for White Rabbit sweets. See, they're even popular in China.
Exchange rate: 1 RMB = R1,67 (what the hell is going on?)

Ok, besides the Rand being in free fall, it is now also really cold in Beijing. I mean wrap up in 4 layers and still feel the cold kind of cold. It rained last night, which is always good cause it cleans the air and today the skies are crisp and clear and the temperature has dropped by what feels like 20 degrees. And the wind is blowing. So it's probably wind chill factor more than anything else. Today, for the first time I'm glad that I did not have a job to go to. (I teach again on Monday)

I had all these big plans for today: clean the flat, go to Tianimen Square, maybe throw in some of the Forbidden City... Guess what? None of that happened. Ok, not none of it. I cleaned the apartment. And it is now official - I hate house work. It's boring. It ruins your nails and makes your hands look like they belong to a 90-year-old. Doing the laundry is even more tedious. And ironing has gone from something that I quite liked doing to a chore that I could give a miss. Can we all say it together? TEDIOUS.

Then I thought ok, the house work is done and as a little reward I'll go and get a massage. There is a place really close to where we live that advertise traditional Chinese massage. I haven't had one yet, but apparently it's not an oil massage and often leaves you slightly battered and bruised. But hey, sounds like fun, right, and try everything once. I swiftly changed my mind as soon as I stepped out of our building. Cold with a capital C. The thought of taking any of my clothes off seemed very unappealing. So instead I went to say hi to Jason, my estate agent buddy, who is, btw, all of 24. Then went to drop off a coat at the dry cleaners, popped to the shop to get some water and ingredients for dinner and hot-footed it back to the apartment. And this is where I'll stay me thinks till tomorrow. Frikkie mentioned that he wants to go to our local pirate DVD store to return Righteous Kill, which got stuck half way through, but I think he may be making that trip on his own.

And just in case you were wondering - Jason's office, the shop and the dry cleaners are all in our apartment complex - so I was outside for all of 10 minutes and still froze my butt off.