I am in China and I can’t sleep, so what better time to write a blog post. Since my last post, not much has gone on, which is good for me as it means I don’t have to write reams, but not so for you, as my precisely planned prose will only entertain you for a tiny part of your lives. Still, you must surely have more important things to do than listen to me warble on about nothing in particular, so in reality, I am doing you all a favour ;)

My week at work was literally hell, so bad that I don’t want to talk about it, so let us say no more. Friday eventually came and along with it brought Richie at the Warehouse Project which was something I had been looking forward to for a long time. Sadly, for reasons mentioned above, I had racked up less than ideal sleep hours the previous week and by 2pm, an hour before Richie even came on, I could take no more and bailed. Thankfully, according to a very knowledgeable and respected source, his set was only average and so my warm comfy bed now seemed like a fairly smart choice.

Once semi recovered it was time for Keith (or Unclesomebody productions if we are being formal) and I to pull some David Blaine shit and make the magic - can you feel it? We directed, starred, filmed, edited and produced. Tirelessly slaving away over hot stoves and on-screen Keyboards for 3 days until Galatea came to be. I am not sure if our creation will ever grace the public domain, and maybe that is a good thing. Your imagination is more entertaining than any film could ever be, and if you try hard enough (and know Keith and I well ;) ), I am sure you can come up with your own ideas...

Thursday found me in London meeting with some well known male magazines, ooohhhh HALAM, which was definitely a new and somewhat strange experience. I really dislike London. The hustle and bustle and attitude of a lot of the people does not agree with me but like a lot of things, once in a while won’t hurt. I think I got a little carried away with the cosmopolitan lifestyle, or maybe it was just from living the good life on company accounts, but on returning home that evening I took Emily out to one of Manchester’s best restaurants for a fancy farewell meal. The food was out of this world, and it was very pleasant to spend some quality time with Em after what has been a crazy few months. When it came to paying the bill, Emily produced some vouchers she had found online for 2 meals for the price of one and a big smile crossed my face. Great company, great food and a great deal, what more could you want.

Just over a day later I was saying goodbye to Emily and begining my long, staggered journey to Yangshou. Manchester - Frankfurt, Frankfurt - Beijing, Beijing - Guilin, Guilin - Yangshou.

I arrived in town in the evening and stumbled aimlessly up and down the streets in search of my hotel. After asking various people and finding the garbled chinglish directions of little use, a nice young man kindly offered to escort me and I gladly followed. Down back alleys and through restaurant kitchens, I began to get a little worried, but suddenly there it was. TNF had been kind to me once again and I wasted no time in collapsing into the luxury bed, shortly followed to a much needed visit to the land of nod.

After a day of chilaxing, I met up with some old friends and who took me rock climbing, which is something I have heard lots of good things about and felt strangely familiar, possibly I did some in a past life? Anyway I had great fun, despite the heat and must remember to try it again sometime. To escape from the sun, we went for a quick swim in a water cave, which was pretty cool, in more ways than one. Here are a few pics

We bailed back to town for a clean and a feed. I asked my friends to take me to the best Szechuan restaurant and arranged to meet them at 6pm. Once everyone had arrived, we all walked to the restaurant of choice, which happened to be right next to my hotel, and a place I had disregarded on a few previous occasions for reasons I don’t actually know. The food was amazing, the best I have had in China so far and I am sure I will be returning tomorrow.

We finished eating at about 6.50pm and I decided to go to my room for some work, a movie and an early night. It is now 01.20 am and I have failed to get to sleep for a second time. It is not fun and I don’t envy insomniacs in the slightest.