Irreverently irrelevant.
Sysadmin, developer, web dude in a science research organisation. WordPress, Japan, planes, trains, Arduino, Raspberry Pi/Pico, puns, dad jokes, etc
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Ancient smurfs, terracotta warriors
We felt like really little package tourists today, from eating a hot buffet breakfast to following a flag toting guide. Up early to eat bacon and eggs and to meet our guide for the day, a young lady in pink with the English name of Ruby. Our minibus stopped at two other hotels, further from…
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Sacrifices and cadavers
I feel like we had a little bit of a China Day today. We made it to Xi’an, but this hote, the Xi’an is not, as Ms Joe described it, at a great location. It’s outside the walls and away from the bright lights and I’ve only had pot noodles and junk food for dinner……
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Forbidden City and the onwards journey
We now know what we are doing for the rest of our time in China. I returned to the CITS headquarters before 9am and met Ms Joe to book our onwards itinerary. Over two hours later we had thrashed out a plan. By this time B had come looking for me. Joe had to contact…
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The Great Wall
The Great Wall of China is truly one of the world’s great engineering wonders. I have read much about it recently and seen many photos. But they cannot prepare you for standing upon Chang Cheng with your own feet and seeing the wall snake across the tops of the mountains with your own eyes. We…
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Marble boats and fried scorpions
We’ve done it! Tonight we ate scorpion and silkworm on a stick. The former was just a crispy shell and the silkworm so disgusting that it did not go down the throat but straight out into a rubbish bin. Crispy on the outside, squishy inside. Awful! In fact all of the street food that we…
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From Hong Kong to Beijing
I am writing this on the train to Beijing. We are near Zhengzhou in Henan Province. The brown stained concrete apartment blocks are back, bare deciduous trees between the gaps, untouched yet by Spring. The sky is grey, with morning myst or coal smog I am not sure. I’m certain that, for the first time…
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Hong Kong Island
The first mission was to find breakfast. We walked south from our hotel and past the Tin Hau Temple. Inside, spiral incense burned from the ceiling. Outside, the daylight, more grey than yesterday, revealed intricately carved roof decorations atop the temple. Further along were street stalls selling fresh produce. We ate some egg tarts, a…
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The Markets of Hong Kong
Unbelievable as it sounds, our flight was actually 45 minutes early into Hong Kong and we landed at around a quarter past four in the morning. The airport was mostly deserted at this hour, though the queue for the toilets was still quite long. B was feeling a bit sick, but eventually we made it…
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Flight to Hong Kong
Friday was a panicked blur as I attempted to fit in last minute tasks before our departure overseas. In the morning we said goodbye to our 7 month old puppy, leaving him with the in-laws and their two cavalier king charles. B returned home, but I had a day at work, though I arrived late.…