Goodbye Dragon...Hello Snake!

I loved the build up to Chinese New Year in Shanghai. The colour, the foods being prepared, the vibrancy, the mass migration as people started the long journeys home to be with family.

A celebration, a time for new beginnings, we were privileged to be a part of it.

I really missed the lead up to Chinese New Year this year. The Waitrose CNY displays of 'Chinese' food such as Pad Thai and Massaman curry did little to add to the meagre atmosphere. Really Waitrose...at least use Chinese foods for a Chinese celebration. I would even have preferred Sweet and Sour Pork to Thai and Indian!

I really missed the amazing fireworks displays from our apartment's 29th floor balcony!

We were so lucky to spend the day celebrating the outgoing year of the Dragon and the incoming year of the Snake with our extended family in central London.

Chinese treats for all.

Amazing home made dumplings! A huge feast was had!

We all went for a walk, to work off some of our feast. We wandered by the Cutty Sark.

Visited the amazing Painted Chapel at Greenwich.

We chanced upon a practice recital at the Old Royal Naval College Chapel...what an amazing place to rehearse!

We reset our watches at Greenwich, after standing on the Meridian Line of course!

Gazed over the amazing city of London!

We then wandered back to our cousin's house for a feast of Shanghai Noodles before heading home, satisfied that we spent Chinese New Year, not in China but more importantly with our family!

May your Year of the Snake be prosperous and full of good fortune!

The Six Bells

Friday Lunch date is back! After being interrupted by Christmas, New Year, school holidays and business trips, my husband and I have resumed our Friday lunch dates. Our initial plans were thwarted when we went to a highly recommended pub without a reservation...It was obviously good as it was packed! Off for a stroll to find Plan B! We came across The Six Bells...my husband had been there and shared a pint or two of real ale with a friend so we thought we would try out the food. It's a cute old pub, built in 1560, lots of atmosphere, old beams and roaring fires but on a chilly grey day was still very light and airy. Lots of cosy areas tucked away so has a nice intimate feel to it.

The menu had a great selection, from nibbles to starters, sharing platters, light meals and more substantial mains. Meals are prepared using locally sourced, seasonal produce. My husband and I are quite partial to a nice home made pate so we shared the Chicken Liver Pate with pear compote and toasted sourdough to start.  The pate was delicious and smooth, the pear compote a perfect companion and it came with just the right amount of bread!

A selection of 'Small meals' was offered and as we didn't want a big feast we both chose the small serve of Honey Dew battered cod fillet with triple cooked chips, home made tartare sauce and minted pea puree (mushy peas). I'd hate to see the large size as the small size was fairly large...I couldn't finish mine! Good rendition of Fish and Chips. It seems we are on a quest to find the best Fish and Chips in the country!

My husband was impressed with the care taken of the 'well kept' ales on offer and the information provided! He sampled a few and confirmed that they were indeed 'well kept'! I can confirm my lime and soda was refreshing! Someone has to drive!

Was a lovely place to sit and spend some time together after a busy few months. Nice atmosphere with friendly staff, we'll have to head back in the summer as they have a beautiful decked garden area. Family friendly, you can even take your dog!

I'm sure you can tell how good a place is by the cleanliness of it's bathrooms...these were spotless and I love the fact that the porcelain in the bathrooms comes from Thomas Crapper, the man who gave us flush toilets and possibly adding the word 'crap' to our vocabulary!

The Six Bells
44 Lower Hight Street
Thame
Oxfordshire
OX9 2AD
Phone: 01844212088
http://sixbellsthame.co.uk/

Great Mileage

In September 2012, our car arrived. Nine miles on the clock!

Shiny, red and new!

Now it's January and we have hit 5000 miles...and what a great 5000 miles they have been!

We have driven through the beautiful, local countryside on a foggy morning.

We have been down to the coast to soak up some sun.

We popped down to Winchester to visit the Cathedral.

We drove through country lanes and marvelled the the beauty.

We discovered some great places to take the dog for a run.

We went for hilltop walks amongst the colours of autumn.

We have been on adventures across the seas.

We have discovered historical places.

Went on long and windy roads.

We have been to castles in Ireland

Castles in Wales.

A pub....

Or two...

Safely picked up our girls from the snowed in school!

What a great 5000 miles 'Cherry'...or 'Big Red'...lets hope we have many more great miles together!

Australia Day

What better way to celebrate Australia Day when you are far from home than a mix of great Australian treats! We were lucky enough to have a friend from 'home' come to visit her family in England for Christmas and she bought a fabulous selection of Aussie food over for my little family. We managed to save most of our Aussie stash until Australia Day...though you may note that the Cherry Ripe bag has been opened by a little mouse....not me!

You can get Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate here in England...but it is very different in taste from the Aussie version. When I was living in Shanghai I bought some from Australia and an English friend bought some from England and we had a blind taste test. All the Aussie ladies preferred the Aussie version, the English ladies preferred the English, both could tell their own in an instant. The Kiwis and Canadians had no real preference!

The Cherry Ripe! Dark Chocolate, cherries, hint of coconut, very Australian and found nowhere else! Yum!!!

I know you can get marshmallows in the UK, but nothing beats the pink and white marshmallow from Pascalls, Australia...delicious ...and fat free...what is not to like? Light dusting of icing sugar on the outside, soft sugary middle! An Aussie friend in Shanghai could inhale about 2 packs in one sitting and not get a sugar headache..very impressive...he wouldn't even share with his children! It was his entry requirement that all his visitors bought him some Pascall marshmallows...I heard rumours that he turned friends out, onto the street if they arrived without them!

Vegemite! I think part of the Australian New Citizenship test should be having to eat Vegemite on toast and actually enjoy it, before you can become an Aussie citizen! Nothing beats Vegemite on toast for breakfast when you are sick or slightly hungover. What Aussie has never made snakes out of butter and Vegemite by squishing two Sao biscuits together? Black gold. A taste of home. An essential to every Aussie pantry!

I'm off now, to refill my glass of great Australian wine, get the pies out of the oven and finish topping my Aussie pavlova for dessert! AC/DC has just replaced Cold Chisel on the stereo!

Happy Australia Day! May all Australians unite, wherever we have come from, whatever our backgrounds or cultures may be and celebrate what an amazing country we have and how fortunate we are to be able to call Australia home, wherever we may be now. I am proud and lucky to be a born and bred Australian!

Walking through a postcard

Snow was forecast, but we awoke to a grey but clear sky. Disappointed the girls headed off to school, the dog and I went for our morning play in the field. Then the snow started to fall! It got heavier...and heavier. By the time we got home everything was white...the dog had a ball trying to catch all the snowflakes.

School now cancelled for the day...had to hit the road and 'rescue' the girls from school. Roads had become treacherous but beautiful. Local radio was now all about accidents, road and school closures.

The patio table and ruler method of measuring snowfall was mentioned...I had no idea what this meant...until I arrived home to a patio table covered with a white cushion of snow... I grabbed a ruler..nearly 10cm...now I get it!!!

Our street became a playground, snowball fights and sled rides...the neighbours thought we were mad! One lovely neighbour ventured out...to take photos of us crazy Aussies playing in the snow!

The dog loved catching snowballs!

We tried to build a snowman but the snow was like sand and wouldn't stick...so we ended up with a snow blob!

Our walk to the field became a magical walk to a white wonderland.

Was so excited to spot a Robin on the snow covered branches!

Our field was covered in white, so serene and beautiful.

Until we started a snowball extravaganza, all serenity gone as we ducked and dived, aimed and threw, laughed and played.

We giggled, loved walking in the snow, tried to catch snowflakes on our tongues, stopped to make a few snow angels and went for a walk in the village.

The village looked like it was coated in icing sugar, so beautiful!

Simple things taking on magical qualities. We may have stopped at that pub for a warming ale!

Really was like walking in a postcard, made my heart sing, happy days.

There's no place like home

I have been talking to friends back in Perth, Western Australia, where I was born and bred. Christmas and New Year greetings from afar. We went for a one year adventure in Shanghai...nearly five years ago. We now find ourselves in England with no idea of where we will be in the next five years. This is the first year since we left that we have not gone home to Perth for a post Christmas/New Year catch up. I am homesick now...for the first time since I left.

Swan River at Bicton Baths...have been going here for my whole life!

My little family always enjoyed our Shanghai Christmas together, before heading home to Perth, suitcases bulging with gifts. We would arrive and race out the airport doors, ready to breathe in the scent of eucalyptus trees...ignoring the diesel fumes coming from airport shuttle buses. We would revel in the heat of a Perth summer, Shanghai winters are bone chillingly cold. The big blue skies were overwhelming after the skyscrapers had surrounded us for so long.

 Many happy memories... I married my wonderful husband on this spot on my Mum's birthday.

Best of all was catching up with friends. I had incredible friends in Shanghai, friends, like me, now dotted around the world, some who have drifted away with the moves of expat life. Some that will be lifelong friends, as an expat in foreign lands, you form strong friendships far quicker than at home, you become each others family, support network. Lifelong connections made. 

Point Walter, many memories made here too!

I am starting to make new friends in England, but there is nothing like those friends that have known you for many years. They were there for all the life events that made me who I am today, good and bad. I have friends from the very start of school...it is thirty years since I left school this year...thirty years!!! 

The Aussie bush is like no other. All the more special when it is on the land of a much loved friend welcoming us to her little piece of heaven with open arms.

Friends who joined my life at various stages. Engagement parties, weddings and babies can be reminisced over...babies who are now celebrating 21st birthdays and some are planning weddings! Friends I travelled with, worked with, did crazy things with. Friends that got me though my divorce and the loss of my parents. Friends that bought pizza and wine over and watched the baby and the toddler so that I could have a shower in peace, when I was a newly divorced single mother.

The Indian Ocean, I smell that salty air and immediately feel at home.

Friends I met through my beautiful babies, day care, Mum's group and school, fun watching all the kids grow and develop. Friends that played cupid and reunited me with my long lost love who is now my wonderful husband. Friends that were so happy and supportive when I grabbed life and jumped...to China with my two little girls and my new husband.

The sun setting over the Swan river cleanses my soul.

Strong, solid Ghost Gum, my friends make me strong, able to withstand the winds of life.

Fishing Boat Harbour...I went every Sunday with my Dad to 'check the boat'...though looking back, it was a way to give Mum some kid free time!

Sleepy Aussie Icon

Willy Wag Tail, the cutest bird ever and my Mum's favourite. Whenever I see one I think of Mum.

Home!

Perth will always be home...I will be back one day. I miss the fresh air, the beach, the lifestyle, the familiarity but most of all I miss my friends, the family I chose for myself.