Invisible Insects and other developments
Just while I'm waiting for a code build to complete, and to prove to my mother that I am still alive – some updates.
Zara has returned to school yesterday, and is very pleased to be back (as we all are, after 7 weeks off). She has started to take invisible insects with her to bed, which is probably scope for a major psychological investigation, and Bambi is her current favourite movie, followed closely by Dumbo then (sigh) the Little Mermaid. Disney really went down-hill for a few years in the 70s and 80s.
Zac is still kinda-crawling, which means dragging himself across the floor commando-style. He sadly still wakes up at about 5.30am, except when he wakes earlier (last night, for example, was 1.30 then 4.30) but is a happy bloke when this happens.
Unlike his parents.
Reid has spent a few nights in the spare room trying to catch up on sleep as a result (I am a lot better at passing back out after an interruption). Zac is loving the solids and is adept at spreading some Apple Custard around entire rooms.
We've had a bit of turmoil in ayi-land recently. We'd hired a new cleaning ayi to work under Yu Mei. She came in in the mornings and Did Stuff at a furious pace. Unfortunately the Government kicked her out of her house for some reason (probably redevelopment) and the only new place she could afford was out near the airport, which made the commute hideous. So she quit and we got a new one on Monday.
From the start, there were problems. The new ayi wouldn't listen to Yu Mei's instruction, she was hired as a cleaner but actually wanted to cook, she wanted more hours that we didn't need…. it all finally came to a head yesterday when her and Yu Mei had a furious bust-up for 1/2 an hour while I cowered in the office pretending nothing was happening. Chinese can be a fairly harsh language to listen to, but you should hear a full-on fight going down.
Finally the new ayi stormed into the office and managed a few words of English: "I no work here now".
So – back to the drawing board there then.
I'm continuing my anti-social workathon, with one month to go before everything is supposed to be accepted for the Thailand project (which does not mean the end of work, you understand, just a milestone. The whole thing then gets the Big Tick at the end of the year). This means two more trips to Bangkok in September, which I know I will enjoy immensely. In fact I am now so committed to the place I have a frequent-flyer card for the train system there.
Finally…. Ikea. The LA Times has a lovely story on how Beijinger's treat Ikea as more of a tourist destination and play area than a place to shop here, featuring the photo I always wanted to get but never had a camera – the locals testing the furniture.
Ikea Beijing - from LA Times
August 20:
2004 – Delicious, then Crow Bar, Auckland
2005 – St. Mark's Church, Carterton, then Glenmorven, Morrisons Bush
2006 – Logan Brown, Wellington
2007 – The Green T. House, Chaoyang, Beijing
2008 – Olympic Basketball. Australia versus the United States, Olympic Basketball Gymnasium, Wukesong, Beijing
2009 – Dali Courtyard, Gulou, Beijing