Nanjing 2010

After much hand-wringing and stressing over details (and coming to the conclusion that our male colleagues are a helluva lot more troublesome than the women will ever be), we made it to Nanjing. Two long days on the road to and fro, which included an impressive hour-long ride on the new express train between Shanghai and Nanjing (and back), and three days spent getting to know each other. It's been quite a journey.

Nanjing surprised us with its modern buildings, and our counterparts' warmth and hospitality was incomparable. Apparently, they just don't do things by halves there. Meal times consisted of at LEAST twenty different courses each time, and much of it was never finished anyway. And the many, many dishes of fatty braised pork...oh man! I think we just shaved a couple of years off our lives with the clogging of our arteries...Of course, we had to legitimize the trip with some charity work, and some team building thrown in. Coupled with all that, some were obviously only too pleased to show off their entire (newly acquired) Winter Wear Collection 2010.

All in, I think it was a good trip. I'm quite confident there'd been sufficient people signing up for the next trip, if we can muster up the budget for one...Vietnam 2011? :)

Lucky Star

Finally, another item crossed off the agenda. The bamboo chicks have finally been installed in the patio. The impact has been more than I had expected. Instant warmth added, and the patio now looks complete, as opposed to its previous not-quite-there self.

I have sat outside on the patio in the late afternoon, cup of soya bean milk on the table, and a book in hand, enjoying where I am in life. Should I feel guilty? Is it too much temptation for Fate to feel like one has lived under a lucky star, managing to land on one's feet somehow, despite circumstances?