I used to hear people saying, when they retired, "I don't know how I found time to work!" Now I agree! It is a rollercoaster life out here. There is such a range of activities and I am constantly meeting people who do something that I think I might be interested in, if only I had the time.
Last week we spent two days in the greater Shenzhen area, looking at apartments, visiting cinics, shopping malls and meeting school principals to get an overview of what the expat life there would be like. I must admit, having visited Shenzen several times before,I was not looking forward to trying to make the experience sound positive. The reality was that I would certainly consider going to live there now. The apartments were in the main spacious, with more rooms and bigger kitchens than any we saw here in Hong Kong.We also saw several huge town houses, too big for us but ideal for families. Almost all had two balconies, at front and back, giving a lovely through breeze and thus cutting down on the air conditioning bills. Towards the coastal area, the air quality was much improved and the pace of life seems less frenetic than in the city centre. There were street cafes, Mediterranean-style squares with fountains, promenade walkways and everything to make for a pleasant lifestyle. A most enjoyable two days, even if I now have to write a report! No such thing as a free lunch right enough!
We returned to Hong Kong by ferry which was pleasant but took a little longer than the train, so we had a quick turnaround before going out to meet Les' new colleague and his wife for dinner. They were a lovely young couple in their late twenties, keen to experience all that this opportunity in Hong Kong will offer. Turned out they had only been married two weeks; what an exciting honeymoon for them, house hunting in a new country!

Saturday saw us at a booksigning in the morning, followed by a look round a shopping mall on the first day of it's Festive Event, which meant fabulous decorations and loadsa free stuff...ice cream, cup cakes, sweets, popcorn, wine. We didn't need much lunch!
We were saving our appetites for our first ever Thanksgiving dinner invitation on Saturday evening. We had a fantastic time, ate turkey, sweet potatoes and pecan pie and walked home in balmy heat at midnight.