I was very overexcited on the 1 April in anticipation of the arrival of Ellie and Dan, so much so that I was nearly an hour early to pick them up at the airport! It was the first time we were going to be seeing them in 11 months!
They were in good spirits after their flight, Ellie had managed to sleep for about four hours. Dan, true to form, had watched five films back to back and had only slept an hour! However, our get over jet lag quick regime allows no time to catch up on sleep! As it was April Fool's Day we felt that we should play some sort of prank on them. We created a 'shrine' in our hallway and told them that as part of the Feng Shui of the house they had to pray at it!!
After getting to the house and leaving bags we took them to Costa, William and Oliver were particularly keen to do this! The rest of the day was spent having lunch, a massage, drinks at Big Bamboo with friends and a takeaway. The following morning they awoke, jet lag gone!
In preparation for Anna and Antony's wedding we went to the fabric market on the first day. Sam and Dan were measured for suits and Dan for some shirts. Ellie and I were measured for our bridesmaid dresses and Ellie also ordered several pairs of trousers and another two dresses!
The fabric market is hungry work so we headed to a private room at Din Tai Feng to introduce Dan and Ellie to the delights of xiao long bao.
Over the rest of the week we fitted in a trip to a watertown, hangovers for the boys, our first BBQ of the season, a typical Shanganese meal with a vegie menu, a drink at the highest outdoor bar in the world and, of course, a visit to the fakes market!
At the watertown we rented a boat which enabled us to see all the sights.
William and Oliver sang their own song in Chinese to try and compete, the resulting cacophany was delightful.
Ellie and Dan headed off to the Urban Planning Museum on the Thursday morning and we met them for lunch at Blue Frog followed by a trip up the Oriental Pearl TV Tower. I couldn't bring myself to stand on the glass floor but the others didn't have a problem.
They headed off to Beijing in the evening.
On their return William and Oliver were back at school, I picked Ellie and Dan up from the station and we headed off straight away for more sightseeing. One of our first stops was at the fabric market to collect the bridesmaid dresses and suits and trousers and dresses etc! The following few days were spent seeing more of Shanghai, meeting Sam for lunch and being the show and tell in William and Oliver's class!
Dan and Eillie headed home this morning after very teary goodbyes at the airport. We are all really excited about going back to the UK in August and seeing them again then.
They were in good spirits after their flight, Ellie had managed to sleep for about four hours. Dan, true to form, had watched five films back to back and had only slept an hour! However, our get over jet lag quick regime allows no time to catch up on sleep! As it was April Fool's Day we felt that we should play some sort of prank on them. We created a 'shrine' in our hallway and told them that as part of the Feng Shui of the house they had to pray at it!!
After getting to the house and leaving bags we took them to Costa, William and Oliver were particularly keen to do this! The rest of the day was spent having lunch, a massage, drinks at Big Bamboo with friends and a takeaway. The following morning they awoke, jet lag gone!
In preparation for Anna and Antony's wedding we went to the fabric market on the first day. Sam and Dan were measured for suits and Dan for some shirts. Ellie and I were measured for our bridesmaid dresses and Ellie also ordered several pairs of trousers and another two dresses!
The fabric market is hungry work so we headed to a private room at Din Tai Feng to introduce Dan and Ellie to the delights of xiao long bao. 
Oliver and William instructed them on how to eat them and they were well recieved. Lunch was followed by a ferry accross the river and a stroll up the Bund to the Peace Hotel, the metro back under the river and a trip up the tall, tall tower (Eliie and Dan have limited time so we were packing in the sights!) William and Oliver ran out of steam so Sam took them home for supper and Dan took Ellie and I for a drink!
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| Dan quickly latched on to the local way of posing... |
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| and never stopped!! |
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| Ellie, pleased with the vegie menu and the special chair for her bag at Ye Shanghai |
At the watertown we rented a boat which enabled us to see all the sights.
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| Oliver couldn't quite work out how to pose Chinese style! |
We then found a cracking place for a cup of tea on one of the canals and stopped for a cuppa in the sun.
The art of posing Chinese style is clearly catching!
After wandering around the town we stopped for a picnic by the canal and quickly became the main tourist attraction! A pair of musicians also foisted themselves upon us despite us repeatedly telling them that we were not going to pay for a song. Nothing like a peaceful picnic by a river!
Ellie and Dan headed off to the Urban Planning Museum on the Thursday morning and we met them for lunch at Blue Frog followed by a trip up the Oriental Pearl TV Tower. I couldn't bring myself to stand on the glass floor but the others didn't have a problem.
They headed off to Beijing in the evening.
On their return William and Oliver were back at school, I picked Ellie and Dan up from the station and we headed off straight away for more sightseeing. One of our first stops was at the fabric market to collect the bridesmaid dresses and suits and trousers and dresses etc! The following few days were spent seeing more of Shanghai, meeting Sam for lunch and being the show and tell in William and Oliver's class!
Dan and Eillie headed home this morning after very teary goodbyes at the airport. We are all really excited about going back to the UK in August and seeing them again then.
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