Two little Ducks left school one day ...

As the school year came to an end, so did William and Oliver's time at DUCKs.  They are now preparing to go in to Year 3 and the junior school which is on a different site up the road.  For an infant school Ducks is large.  It is six form entry and has over four hundred children.  One year group is the size of a village primary school in some parts of the Uk.  However, despite this it retains the feel of a village school and everyone seems to know each other.  

As usual we had different events leading to the end of term.  Unfortunately sports day was cancelled due to the pollution, a sad side effect of life in Shanghai.  The end of term production however, was excellent and this year William and Oliver both played the recorder and glockenspiel.  

       

                                   

       

The last week of term was taken up with Speech day and parties.  I taught William's class for the last three days which was fun.  Especially as I got to take part in the Year 2 water fight!

                                     

On the last day we posed for a few photos by the school sign as we had done on the first day.  It was amazing to see how much they had grown.  

        

        

Mooching around Moganshan

Moganshan is a mountain retreat about a 2-3 hour drive from Shanghai.  It was developed in the 19th century by Shanghai's elite looking for an escape from the sweltering heat of the lowlands.  These rich

Europeans built fine stone villas among the lush bamboo forests, perched on top of the cool misty mountains.  During the Cultural Revolution, they, like so many things, fell to ruin but in the last fifteen or so years the area has seem something of a revival.  Like everywhere else in China there is tons of construction going on as villas are renovated or rebuilt.  It had been on our list to visit since arriving in Shanghai and along with the Mistry's and the Harland's we finally got around to organising a trip at the end of June.  

Over the last five years some luxury hotels and retreats have sprung up in the area and tempting though they looked the exorbitant prices put us off!  After much research we found a hostel in the area which was much more reasonably priced and looked as if it would cope well with eight children under seven.

 Rather than risk using our cars and drivers on unknown roads (Shanghai is enough of a struggle itself) we decided to take the train and hire a minibus to pick us all up.  We were certainly quite an attraction on the train with eight children including two sets of twins! 

       

Despite some bad experiences with pick ups in the past at Hangzhou Station everything went smoothly and we were soon packed in to a mini bus and on the way to our hostel.  After a rather bumpy journey and some near misses where no one wanted to give way, we arrived.  As we entered the courtyard we were greeted by three snarling dogs who luckily turned very friendly once they realised we were staying there.  The hostel was perfect.  It was a series of old farm buildings which circled and totally enclosed large, green courtyard.  All of our rooms opened on to the courtyard and there was a barn at one end for dining.  

       

       

Within an hour of our arrival we were unpacked and sitting down to a freshly cooked feast.  The food was full on Chinese, which a few years ago would have been tricky with children but now none of them would bat an eyelid if their food was still swimming on arrival!

                                   

       

After lunch we lazed about the courtyard while the children all played and discovered the local wildlife. 

       

       

       

 We then went for a walk around the hostel to get our bearings.  We truly were in the middle of nowhere.  

      

       

Following another delicious meal all of the children played in the courtyard and then went to bed with no protests when asked!  It must have been the fresh air! We all then spent a pleasant evening enjoying the cool air, peace and quiet and some cheap (60p a pint), very weak beer while deciding to hike up the mountain the next day.

       

At breakfast we all carb loaded on noodles ready for the day ahead.  Although it was cooler than Shanghai it was still pretty warm so we loaded rucksacks with water and snacks.  This, in hindsight, was an excellent plan as the one and a half hour stroll up a mountain quickly became a three hour, steep, strenuous hike!  

       

The whole time we were walking through a lush bamboo forest with no signs of civilisation.  In fact, remarkably for China, we did not see another person until we reached the top.  The only sign of life was a ramshackle hut guarded by a very ferocious dog.  So ferocious that Mark drove it back with a bamboo stick while we got the children safely past, who were convinced it was actually a bear!

                                

       

Gradually, as the mountain began to even off we started spotting signs of a past civilisation.  Our footpath of bamboo leaves turned in to a laid stone path, steps were in place of a slope and we saw the remains of buildings.  

                                  

       

       

Without warning we emerged on to a building site and we were among the old villas.  

                                   

                        

After a bit more of a climb we ran in to a tour group who were more interested in taking our photos than the scenery.  

                         

Their guide directed us to a restaurant he felt sure would cater to our Western needs.  However, when we arrived and saw the menu and the hanging meat we weren't so sure!

       

                                 

Everyone flopped at the table and we ordered loads of food which was eaten as it arrived!  Although the hiking was hard, everyone was pleased to have done it.  The children were particularly impressive. Among the older ones there was no moaning and they walked well and the younger ones, all three years old,  did it with very little carrying just lots of encouragement.  

       

The restaurant ordered us mein bao che's, literally 'loaf of bread shaped vehicle', to take us back to our hostel.  On our arrival we discovered that it wasn't quite as peaceful as before as a huge party had arrived and literally filled the dining area!  I was amused to see the division lines.

        

We had a BBQ and again the children, summoning energy from somewhere, played in the courtyard. 

        

 Getting them to bed was a little harder as the other party were drinking and playing hard!  Much to our amusement the beer had more of a effect on them and after lots of shouting and a fight between a husband and wife, where she wrapped him round a wooden pillar, they were all in bed by 9:30pm!  After an hour of us sitting chatting the roles were reversed and some of them came out to ask us to keep the noise down.  

On our last morning we were up and off pretty quickly, stopping at a panda reserve on our way back to the station.  

       

       

       

Seventh Heaven

     

As we have done for the past two years we decided to spend William and Oliver's birthday at the Intercontinental in Sanya.  Having developed a good relationship with the General Manager and Resort Manager over the last two years, Sam decided to chance his arm for an airport pick up again and also an upgrade.  The pick up was confirmed and they said they would see what they could do about an upgrade.

On arrival we were met and transported to the hotel, where we were greeted by both managers and about five staff! We were served drinks and presented with flower garlands!   As we were led to our room we stayed on the ground floor and thought we had been upgraded to the slightly superior room. However, we found ourselves in a poolside villa with a bedroom, dressing room, sitting room, outdoor seating and dining areas and our own pool! 

                                   

       

       

Our four days in Sanya were very relaxing and were mainly spent swimming, eating and drinking.  On Oliver and William's birthday they opened presents, had breakfast and then swam.  

       

       

We went for a special birthday lunch followed by more swimming!  

                                  

                                  

      

In the evening at supper they were each presented with a birthday cake and sung to.  

      

      

       

Happy 10th Birthday Dulwich!

This year Dulwich College Shanghai celebrates it's tenth birthday.  In honour of this achievement the annual Founder's Day was dedicated to celebrating this.  Founder's Day is a school fete type of event which takes place at Dulwich College every year.  It has been taking place in Shanghai since 2012 and we went to the first year, but were unable to attend last year.  Over the course of two years the day has gone from strength to strength with lots of activities, stalls and food tents.

This year William and Oliver had the honour of performing as part of the Mulan Choir.  They performed two songs in front of a pretty large crowd. 

       

 Once the performance was out of the way they changed out of uniform and enjoyed exploring the different activities with their friends.  At one point they returned to tell me they had been strapped to metal poles in order to take part in a life sized table football game!!

Once the main school choir and orchestra took to the stage picnics were produced and we settled down to listen to some wonderful music. 

       

 The evening culminated in Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance including audience participation in Land of Hope and Glory and some amazing fireworks.  

      

Introducing Mr & Mrs Clark

And so to the second week of our UK visit and as has been the focus for every visit we have made whilst we have been living in China, it was time for a wedding, on this occasion of my little sister, Zoe to John. The build up began with us all heading over to have breakfast with Zoe and Chloe (unfortunately for John he had to work). It was lovely to see them and also meant we were able to handover the 30 pairs of dancing shoes that we had brought over from Shanghai. 

Lucy then set off with Zoe, Chloe, Kaytie, Alice, Jo and Amy on a girly day down in Bognor Regis . They had a great day having manicures, given by 3 Vietnamese men, which I think Lucy found slightly strange and when she started to excitedly chat to them about her recent holiday to Vietnam they then had to admit to never actually having been there themselves.

Whislt Lucy was enjoying the pampering , I headed over to Bucket Nut with the boys. We had a lovely day with my Father, Harry and my Aunt Ilse. The weather was lovely and William and Oliver had great fun playing in the garden with their cousin Charlie and having a ride across the field on the tractor.

       

Jeremy and Natasha then arrived and we all headed up to the Gallipot for lunch. As ever Father played the perfect role as landlord and we enjoyed some lovely food and drink in the beer garden. 

       

After the lunch had been polished off the three boys happily headed off down the garden to play and sometime later came up to announce to their Grandpa that they had come up with a plan to make him lots more money by making his garden furniture look wonderful, which they had achieved by flower arranging, luckily not with Granny's flowers!! 

       

On Friday, we met up with Zoe, John and Chloe, Kaytie ,Richie, Alice and Charlie, Harry and all of my cousins and my aunt Ilse at the Weald & Downland museum. It is an open air museum, with a collection of houses and buildings from a variety of different periods of British history that have all been moved to a single site set in the beautiful Sussex countryside. Both Lucy and I had visited several times as children, so we really enjoyed being able to take Oliver and William there. It was a lovely sunny day and we all enjoyed wandering around the grounds and enjoyed eating lunch by the lake.

      

                                  

It was a great chance to catch up with my family, given that we are all scattered around the globe. I then took the boys back to Guildford whilst Lucy and the others headed to the hotel to get settled in. By the time I arrived everyone had clearly not been missing me as they were enjoying drinks on the terrace, where it was lovely to finally catch up with my aunt Nita. More guests gradually arrived and we got a chance to meet John's family. We enjoyed a lovely meal and then as people gradually made there way to bed us youngsters settled in for the night at the bar, staying for possibly one or two drinks more than we should have! 

We had an early start on the Saturday and made the most of the buffet breakfast with proper British bacon and sausages. Lucy then went to have her hair and make-up done whilst I went to collect the boys from Guildford. 

 Eventually everyone was ready and piled on the coach to go to the venue and I had the honour of driving my little sister on her last journey as a Hawkridge. Richie was taking the Bridesmaids and as we were setting off I thought I should just check that Zoe knew the way. She has never had any semblance of a sense of direction so I should not have been surprised when she said she did not, but fortunately Richie had the trusty sat nav. A quick look through the list of recent destinations saw a post code that Zoe and I both recognised, so we assumed that must be the one. Richie led the way but just as he pulled on to the dual carriageway and I was about to start imparting some pearls of wisdom to help Zoe with married life, Zoe suddenly turned to me and said 'oh hang on, that's my house's postcode' After a few quick phone calls I managed to get hold of Richie and call him back, set the correct destination and we still made it to the venue with plenty of time to spare!! 

It was another sunny day and the wedding venue was a beautiful converted barn complex. The ceremony was lovely; Zoe looked gorgeous, John scrubbed up well, Kaytie's reading was excellent, William, Oliver, Alice, Charlie and Chloe performed their duties and reading brilliantly, Justin sang wonderfully during the signing of the register and Harry just about managed to operate the iPod correctly for the music. 

                                       

       

       

       

       

With the formal part of the day over with, the children made the most of being able to run around and play and also eat lots of sweets, naming the tables after sweets proved very popular.

                                    

                                 

The meal was excellent, as were the speeches and then it was time for the dancing. The whole day and evening ran smoothly and on time thanks to the considerable skills of the mc!  It all got started with a barn dance, which was a lot of fun and then the DJ arrived and the drunken dancing began. 

                                   

                                       

Some of the children even re-appeared to join in the fun!!!

                                    

 As midnight arrived it was time for us to all make our way back to the hotel on the bus and whilst the boys slept we enjoyed a good sing along, not sure who could have started that off!! Finally, with the children tucked up in bed, all of us youngsters found ourselves back at the hotel bar for a few more whiskeys before finally collapsing in bed, proving we had clearly not learnt from the night before. 

All in all it was a fantastic few days, a great chance to catch up with the family and I hope John and Zoe will look back on an amazing start to married life, as we certainly had a good time.