Mandarin Teacher
Cecile is doing 4 hours mandarin classes per day and already picking it up pretty quickly. I'm a bit behind with 1 1/12 hours per day but can order a beer and get a Taxi so doing OK! On Thursday we went for dinner with cecile's teacher Emma:
Wo xueshi Hanyu!
Winners!
Went to Hong Kong on Wednesday for meetings and to attend the Media Magazine Awards which are the biggest Advertising Awards in Asia. Our agencies either won or came runner up in pretty much every category and Ogilvy had a clean sweep winning every category they were eligible for - really amazing!
Jing An Temple
We went to visit the Jing An temple which is Shanghai's oldest temple and an active buddhist temple, now nestled in between skyscrapers and shopping plazas. In fact most f the ground floor has been converted into retail space!!! It was originally built in 247AD and once inside it is pretty tranquil.
Ambassy Court Xmas Party
Our residence had a Christmas Party last night so we went along:
View of the festivities from our balcony
Cecile with the Xmas lights
The entrance with christmas lights
Local school choir singing xmas songs
Christmas dinner (roast duck!)
Chinese Santa with his friend!
Medical Results
You may remember the fun we had going through our Chinese medical examinations, well this week we got all our permits/visas/certificates back at last and are all fully legal.
"I'm an alien, I'm a legal alien..."
Not only did I fail the colour-blind test which I already knew but the report said I had a "slight fatty liver" whatever that means!!! They helpfully suggest I : "Take proper rest" Brilliant!
Christmas Party
Last weekend some of our neigbours Dan and Lauren who live in Tower 2 had a Christmas party. We had a Secret Santa but a US version where you take it in turns to either open a gift or steal one you like off someone else! never really got to the bottom of the rules but it was all good fun!
Girls, choosing and stealing their gifts!
Happy winners!
The boys
JeanMichel and Des
Our Flat
So this week all our stuff we had shipped out from the UK arrived which means our flat now feels a lot more like a home and is a lot less empty! Below are some pics so you can see where we live:
Cecile outside the entrance
Tower 2, we are in 3 next door.
View from the front door.
Dining Room
Dining room through to kitchen
Living Room
View from the balcony
The office
Our room
Your room - you are all welcome to come stay!
M50
On Sunday we headed to Aomen Road to buy some plates dishes etc so we can actually eat at home rather than always in a restaurant!
We picked up a nice set, 8 settings of this:
All for less than £20! So now you can all come round for dinner!
We then went to
M50 on Moganshan Road, this is an old factory district where all the warehouses/workshops have been converted into artist studios. Some great Chinese contemporary art which whilst way cheaper than in London is still way more expensive than it was when I first came here 2 years ago! Didn't get any pics but its just behind this street:
