Keeping up appearances

Hoping to look as flawless as this guy!

Ahhhh....the joys of living in China!

Yesterday Tracy (who is heading off to Saudi Arabia), and myself went to try and get our passport photos taken. We were pointed in the right direction and were told to speak to the older gentleman who knew what to do.

After preparing a long speech in Chinese, we walked in there, he looked at us and said 'Passport'. Gutted!
We were shuffled along to have our photo taken with a blinding flash and then next minute our photos were up on the screen. Not too bad for once, we both were saying until our self esteem went right out the window. The younger of the 2 started smoothing out our lines, hiding our blotches (AKA heat pimples) and even adjusting one side of Tracy's hair that was kinky.

We were in hysterics! No longer did we have pimples, dark under eyes or messy hair! We were transformed in to clear faced, not so bad looking people!

Ahhhhhh China! Always good for appearances! xo

YAY for swimming!

Today was the first day of our swimming program for this part of the school year! Thank goodness! We are also having a water play afternoon tomorrow with paddling pools and water play fun things like water guns and scoops!

With a huge change in temperature the learning has really gone right out the window and this is when we really have to pull out the teachable moment and think of creative ways to keep the children learning and in focus!

I am definately getting a swimming pass for my measly 7 and a half weeks left here....there has to be some way to survive in this heat!

Arohanui,
Love Amy xo

Sweating it out!

Anna, Tony, Pete and I enjoying the warmer weather at Pete's Birthday Bash at Ronnies

The past few days have been off the scale! 35 degrees yesterday in 90% humidity does not happy people OR children make! Being on duty I had to deal with more than a few altercations in the playground!

Thankfully (and I LOVE summer so I rarely say this) the temperature has dropped today so we are probably hovering around a balmy 27 degrees!

My air con is on full blast and I am still waking up sweating and unable to sleep, walking around feels like you are in a sauna - very stifling. People are crashed out everywhere in their cars or under shade (not much better than full sunlight), it seems the only way to cope is to sleep through it! Hmmmm.....I wonder if school will let me get away with that!

The winter was a VERY mild one compared to last years 'coldest winter in 50 years', with me being snowed in on day 3 of arriving, so I was prepared for the summer to be pretty hot! Unfortunately a friend of mine told me yesterday that this is the earliest onset of summer in 100 years!

Oh, how the Chinese love their numbers.......preying they are wrong......rainy season IS coming!

Hope you are all well!

Arohanui,

Love Amy

P.S - This was not to rub your noses in it, fellow NZers! I hope it warms up for you!

What a life!

Yesterday as most of you would know was Mothers Day in NZ and a few other countries! Now instead of going on about how much I wished I could be there and how missing these things when everyone else is having a great lunch and time together sucks (well it does), it made me realise that in less than eight weeks....the China chapter of my life will be over.

This is a very scary thought!

I have so much to do before I leave, so much to pack and organise and sort out and a lot more sightseeing to do!

Unfortunately it looks like I won't be able to make it the 3 gorges as planned, Dunhuang (Singing sand dunes), Harbin (ice festival), or the Northern parts of China. The silk trail will have to be missed, among other sights that have been recommended!

What I will do thou is definately have a Chinese photo shoot done in Suzhou, obviously visit Suzhou, trek into Shanghai at least 2 more times to get some more clothes made (while I can afford it) and do a little bit more sight seeing around Wuxi - Ferry Island etc.

One thing for certain is that while living in Hong Kong, I may not be able to afford to travel as much as I have been doing but China is just a skip, hop and a jump away and I should be able to visit the south of China a little bit more! Bring on Macau!

I also have to realise that I have been extrememly lucky to have had the opportunity of living here as I have travelled to so many places in the past year:

• Nanjing - 3 times
• Suzhou - numerous times
• Shanghai -numerous times
• Beijing - twice
• Xian
• Guilin
• Yangzhou
• Hong Kong
• Signapore
• New Zealand (twice) - once for free and the other half price - my Dad loves me!!
• Chengdu - Yay for the Pandas
• Lijiang
• Philippines - Bohol (May 2008), Boracay (May 2009)

So really, what is there to complain about........bring on Hong Kong!

Avert those eyes- as riske as we got!

Anna and I were highly entertained by these jandels everytime we walked past them everyday on the way to eat, swim or shop! On the last day we finally relented and gave into the obvious reaction!

Me being an idiot aside......think about it....who would really wear penis's on their feet and who would think to make them in a children's size!??????????????

No holiday would be complete without......

a holiday romance!

Or lack there of, however Anna and I managed to entertain ourselves with PJ a member of the Asya staff who we stood up on our 'date' we had planned....we were TOO tired! Man, what idiots, however he still loved us in the end and let us have a picture with him!

I think the restraining order is coming through in June! xo

Fancy a Festival?

Boracay in May is the place to come!

The Third Annual Boracay Dragon Boat Festival (3 Hong Kong teams *picture me rubbing my hands together)

Mr and Mrs Boracay.....now THIS was hilarious, considering the island is only 9kms' long and 2kms wide!

There were also various other events that were in full swing, even an Orthopedic one! Party on, doctors!

Eating and Drinking, oh my!

Cinnabon at 5am in Manila airport - VERy tired, VERY yummy!Eating at Aria (Italian) in a powercut! Candles lit up the beach!

Anna reclining at Happy Hour - Go the San Miguel!

Cheers to hotness and the beach!

A Mexican Restuarant and Boat Station 3 - I loved the swing!!!!

Yummy first and last dinner - fresh stuffed squid and blue marlin!

The best Lemon Tart - I have EVER tasted! Eating it on the beach in togs...EVEN better!

Dessert crepes for brekkie-so good we had 2 each!

Our first feed - we were so tired and it was SOOOOO good!

Steamy! My first try of Paella! YUM!

Sangria and Paella - check out that crab!!

Mohito's to go with the golden table godess!

Not our finest idea - Strawberry Margaritas in a can!

OH YES!!!!!! Mango sensation sundae! Oh the joys of Mango! I LOVED this seat!

Our BEST idea - We found a deli!!!

INDIAN!!!!! Fantastic curries!

Enjoying the squid!

Reclining on the cushions at True Foods (Indian)

Just after the powercut! Sitting on bamboo mats right on the beach!

Juggling 2 Margaritas in the steaming heat at Happy Hour - not so easy as I found out!

Greek is the word! Spicy Feta dip = sensational!

Lessons on Religion

No holiday in Asia would be complete without paying our respects to the religion of the particular land we are on.

Here is us wading out and paying our respects to the Virgin Mary, who sits upon 'Willie's Rock'.....GO FIGURE! I really thought that that was a joke....nope!

Daredevil Amy.....

Being away on holiday usually does one of two things - restores you to your old self or brings out the rebel in you, doing things you normally wouldn't do......usually that is buying dresses or sunnies that you'll wear on holiday but never dare to wear back in your 'real world'......however I decided to go one step further and be a REAL rebel:

I got a tattoo!

Not just any old tattoo, one that was done with a needle on the side of the beach....man I am a daredevil!

For those of you that know me, by now you would realise that because of the fact that I HATE, HATE, HATE needles, this is not really the case!

The big thing to do in Boracay was to get a Henna Tattoo, everyone had one and I was keen to not miss out!

A friend of mine Jen had a tattoo that looked great - small stars behind her ear....now I'm not a huge tatt fan, so this is a compliment coming from me. So I decided to test out the tattoo artists of Boracays' skills, designed this one and had them do it!

I must say, I quite like it and keep forgetting about it, quite a good place.....a good way to test if you will like a permanent one....however.....if it becomes permanent..........hmmmmmmmm, somehow I doubt it!

Mum you can exhale now! xo

Spa Day!

Before we left every internet forecast predicted lightening and rain everyday we were in Boracay!

Thankfully we only got rain on the third or fourth day and it was only overcast and occasional spattering from then on! So hot thou!

The day it rained it was time for some relaxation therapy and we decided to indulge and treat ourselves to a spa treatment.

4 hours later, we were scrubbed, rubbed, wrapped, massaged, Jacuzzied and facialed and left feeling a tad antsy (4 hours of lying down does get a bit tiring!) BUT so relaxed and our skin felt AMAZING! Must of been the thermal pads during that detoxifying wrap!

I would definitely recommend it to anyone as a treat, however for me it might be a long time until I do one again - finances need to be put back in order for Hong Kong!

Rocking Chairs at Mandala at Boat Station 1

Mohito's to go! Yum!

The next day we got caught out, right down the far end of the beach, while we were enjoying a happy hour on cane rocking chairs on the beach and sipping Mohito's to go! It poured! Thinking we could wait it out was not a good idea and it continued with vigour! Luckily we were wearing our togs and began to walk home stopping for a swim as we got back!

Me drenched at our end of the beach

The Cove

Instead of having a plot on White Beach, the 9km stretch of beach along the length of Boracay, Asya decided to use the bosses private Cove.

Everyday we could choose to get taken to the cove and enjoy the privacy of the beach and ocean there! We chose to do this twice and loved it! Once we had it all to ourselves and the other time only a Japanese couple came aswell.

We were so spoilt having so many staff to cater to our needs and also had a cooked picnic there on the second to last day.

The water was clear and warm and even when we Kayaked out to the deeper parts you could still see the bottom....however we avoided the darker parts.....no shark nets!

Doesn't look it, but it is VERY deep (and scary) here!

Locals that Anna got us involved in a water fight with! They kicked our arse!

You could even ascend the stairs and walk up through the greenery to the deck that overlooked the ocean and had a double bed to relax on.....awesome! Took some great photos looking back to White Beach.

A slice of paradise