I loved my Fitbit. I was like having a friend on my wrist, a friend who knew where I was going, how far, how fast and how many calories I was burning. It knew how many flights of stairs I can climbed; in short it felt like there was a living being on my wrist.… Read More »
What a lucky break these girls have had to be born white, blonde, tall, pretty and slim. Then they hit the big time – move to Shanghai, put on some nice clothes and just be yourself. There are many companies which will pay such western beauties to merely hang out in their premises as these… Read More »
I have written here about the terrible water and electrics these old lanes houses have and I’ve been pretty fed up of the constant power cuts recently. There is a designated neighbour whose job it is to fix the electrics and what he does it strip off the plastic covering from an electric cable and… Read More »
What has happened to us? We are completely absorbed in own phones so much of the time. Dead time used to be filled by reading books or newspapers or listening to music with headphones but in China today, like so many place it’s the phone which demands our attention. I have found myself doing the… Read More »
Need to have a nice sit down in a warm cafe with comfortable chairs and nice background music? Like to sit and chat with your friends for an hour drinking filtered lemon-infused water? Don’t want to buy a coffee? Don’t want to buy a cup of tea? Don’t want to buy a croissant? No problem,… Read More »
I gave up Facebook in 2007 in favour of a new website called Twitter. My friends didn’t think it would take off. Nevertheless I signed up and because I was an early adopter I registered my surname as my twitter handle. After a few months it seemed my friends were right, nobody wanted to follow… Read More »
When I moved into this flat there were candles on every surface. Candle holders of all shapes and sizes held a vast array of cheap Ikea candles. I initially assumed that they had been bought by a romantic previous tenant. It wasn’t until the first winter came that I realised that they were more practical… Read More »
Having been to SheShan Mountain earlier in the day I decided I should stop off at Qibao station on my way back to Shanghai to have a look at the water town there. I had read conflicting reports of it and wanted to see for myself. I wasn’t expecting much, the town is just outside… Read More »
In retrospect it wasn’t a very wise decision to go to Sheshan Forest Park on a public holiday but the sun was shining and it was warm and I was kicking my heels. A friend had told me early that day, over coffee, that there was a Catholic church on a mountain and I couldn’t… Read More »
Strange lights in the night sky as beams struck out into darkness about People’s Square. I was drawn by the light, not quite the Christmas star but something akin to it – the Star Wars Force Awakens illuminated glory. Now I am probably one of the few people in the world who has never seen… Read More »