Fun with friends

I have been having fun this past week or two! In the company of various groups of friends, I have been up to Shenzhen three times;each trip a load of laughs from start to finish. We've tried on purple wigs and pink feather boas, we've bought bracelets, bangles and baubles and commented on,  encouraged and criticized each others choice of fabric, dress style and fit. We've borrowed and lent in two currencies to the point we almost can't remember who owes who how much in which currency.
I have also drunk wine and coffee, eaten lunch in a variety of locations and attended a concert, with another to come this week. In addition, I've been to a book launch (with free chocolate mmm...) and of course my  regular Wednesday  night poetry club.
Now Christmas is really coming to the fore and it feels strange now that the weather is so hot and sunny! A friend and I attended a carol concert, as a mutual friend was singing in the choir. We had wine and mince pies afterwards. I 've also been offered (and turned down!) mince pies at three other events this week.
Les and I joined two couples for a lovely pre Christmas dinner and today (Sunday) we began packing for the Christmas break. We leave in 2 days and the packing is complex as we need winter clothes for 10 days in Scotland over Christmas,and lighter clothes for 4 days in Dubai over New Year. Life is tough! Les is down at the pool having a quite sun top up whilst I dither about deciding on daft things to pack, like earrings and necklaces.
Tomorrow I will attend a Christmas breakfast party and on Tuesday morning I have my manicure booked. All the pressies are bought and packed but not wrapped and I will finish writing cards on the flight home.
So on that note Havers wishes you all a great Christmas and a wonderful New Year.
We will return in 2013,

It's already feeling a little like Christmas

We had our Corona Ladies Christmas Lunch on Monday, the first turkey dinner of the season. It was a lovely afternoon and also a good chance to make arrangements for the next couple of weeks, before everyone departs for the Christmas holidays.It was a busy week for me, with a bookgroup on Tuesday, dentist on Wednesday followed by "Life of Pi" in 3D (more crazy specs?). I loved the book, it is one of my all time favourites and it was the one I picked when I was a World Book Day giver two years ago, so I have distributed 24 of them around the world. At night I went to Poetry Club, so a very busy day. On Thursday I had a blank, yay! and on Friday, I went to a trial session of a new exercise class. Over the years, I've tried going to the gym, aerobics, cycling, yoga, zumba, aquafit and NIA. This one was Wing Chun kung fu. Wing Chun was a style developed by a woman, a Shaolin nun who realised she'd need to use her body differently to win in a fight aginst a taller and probably stronger man. We learned basic posture, how to be "centred" and then the first exercises or "formations" of the discipline. Next we knocked seven bells out of each other by punching and blocking and then kicking using the shin, not the foot. The reason is there are too many small bones in the foot, so the shin bone is bigger harder and less likely to break. All very interesting stuff.
Friday evening was spent with Susie, our Chinese /Scottish house sitter, who is over here for a family wedding. So strange to meet her in Hong Kong, her home city, but where we now feel more at home than she does! Anyway, our house is fine, she tells us and Ann and Robert will be checking things in her absence.We had a lovely evening, drinks, dinner and then back home here for cakes and wine.
Saturday was a quiet day but in the evening we went to a Christmas market, with real fresh trees, mulled wine, egg nog, all under the open skies with tall buildings all around, quite surreal.Sunday I spent the morning cooking, then we went Christmas shopping.
Next week is going to be busy again, with a charity concert on Monday evening, 2 bookgroups on Tuesday morning and afternoon, a book launch on Wednesday evening, lunch out on Thursday and another trip to the tailor in China on Friday. I collected one dress last week but the other one needs a bit of alteration..It's too big!! Woop woop!