Where does the time go?

Weather: polluted haze
Say it like you mean it: I love China graffiti outside the 798 Art District

I honestly don't know where my day went. I went back to Dr Goa this morning for an ultra sound. Don't worry, everything is fine and where it's supposed to be. Even better news is that I'm not pregnant.

I then came home, did some laundry, looked for jobs online etc. Then went to Wish for lunch with Frikkie and his team. I had the most delicious prawn curry - it reminded me of Cape Malay curry. We discovered a great local vineyard called Grace Vineyard. Both their wooded and unwooded chardonnays would have John Platter in rapture. After lunch I headed off to the 798 Art District, which is sort of close by. I have this idea to now sell some stuff from here in SA, so went to source some stuff there. As I was cycling back it occurred to me that I lost my Puma top somewhere. My favourite Puma top. My one and only Puma top. Very annoyed with myself, but hopefully our boxes will arrive next week and then I'll have more clothes, cause right now I have my jeans and a few t-shirts...

We're off to Shanghai tomorrow and on Monday we have a meeting with a Ms Brits at the SA embassy to get the our partnership formally recognised. Hopefully the Chinese government will then accept this and I will get a residency permit.

HOT off the PRESS: I'm teaching on Wednesday! HOORAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!

A whole new city

Weather: fine and mild
Caption: High, Ho, Silver - riding the Eastern Dragon. Although I believe this is a lion...

It's amazing. Our bikes have opened a whole new city for us. Being independently mobile is great. We went to the 798 Art District today. We worked out that it's about 6kms from out flat and we cycled there and back. On our way we stopped at Miss Me Cafe next to Lido Park for coffee and croissants. You pay about 30 RMB per cup of cuppacino, but this morning it was definitely worth it.

Riding a bike, is well, like riding a bike. Once you know how, you never forget. And I cycled to school for 6 years, so it's all coming back to me. Dodging through the Beijing traffic is a new skill I'm still developing.

So back to the 798 Art District. I have never been to a art presinct of this magnitude. There are a gazzilion galleries and some great cafes and eateries. Some better than others. It's impossible to do it all justice in a day. And Frikkie, who's been there before said that most of the exhibitions have changed since he was there 2 weeks ago. There were loads of over-sized outdoor sculptures. And video installations. We saw some very interesting art, especially the exhibition about coal miners and their life at the Long March Space. But after a whole day of galleries, it all got a bit much. Nothing a lovely pesto and goats cheese pasta with a good glass of Chilean chardonnay at the Art Cafe couldn't fix though.

Riding back we stopped at the flower market and City Shop, a chain specialising in organic products. I've started doing some research for pricing NoMu and MyT Chai Rooibos products. How exactly to start selling it is still a mistery. But some ideas are starting to form in my head. The flower market is connected to another market selling anything from clothes to Thai soaps. We picked up a DVD copy of Shaun of the Dead, but the cover is in French... Do you think Shaun et les zombies is going to be in English with Chinese subtitles? I certainly hope so. The flower market was great. Frikkie said that the market would have a few Pretoria mevroue in rapture. Some of the lanterns were beautiful and I can honestly say that I've never seen such old bonzai trees.

Some more pics from the art district.: