Are we slow learners?

Arrived in Munich and drove to Bamberg about 2 hours north.  The weather is superb - 28 Celsius or 85 F - so to take advantage of the weather, we decided to take a cruise for an hour or so on the Danube canal.... Now those who follow us, know that last year we did a disastrous Danube cruise... Well I will blame it on jet lag, but we forgot to check if it was in English and no it was not! Mind you it was relaxing but the scenery varied from industrial to rural and a few glimpses of old houses and included 2 trips through the same lock @ 10 minutes each. Hmmmmm Next on the agenda is a horse drawn carriage ride around town BUT it has to be in English. And according to tourist office no English language tours in Bamberg - so its off to early dinner and bed Dinner was white asparagus, which filled the bill for being light but it was a bit chewy, my Yakima asparagus last week was better.  Bed, I hear you calling...

Walla Walla

 Home less than 24 hours and it's off to Walla Walla, where I am judging this weekend. It is a premier wine growing area in Eastern Washington, famous for good red wines, excellent restaurants and a dynamic downtown area. We visied several tasting rooms both downtown and on the outskirts of town, and brought a selection of wine home to enjoy over the next few months

A Spanish Vineyard - Casa Felicino

It was a fairly easy weekend of judging, just 60 dogs the first day and then 80 the second. We enjoyed some great restaurants - Saffron, East Fork Grill & Brasserie 4. Then stopped in Richland WA on our way home and stayed at the Courtyard, which was set on a spectular location, on a marina

we then went to Bonefish Grill for dinner and had some wonderful Halibut and a bottle of superb Sauvignon Blanc from NZ - Infamous Goose

 - then collected some local fresh Asparagus the next morning, before heading for home. Now home for a week before going to Austria....

Details of the China Trip

Some of this was blogged while on the road - hence the current tense) but was blocked from posting, while in China)

Wednesday: The roundabout trip - Portland/Seattle/Tokyo /Hong Kong was taken as I was able to upgrade to business (a must on long trips) but also was a nice bunch of miles!

Business class to Narita was pretty empty and had lie flat seats, so had a good sleep. A couple of hours in Narita then onto an old United plane, but still in business but it was just like domestic first class. Due to air traffic control problems we sat on tarmac for another hour which meant we were late into HKG , arriving at 11pm.  A quick hassle free trip to Shenzhen to the hotel (arriving at midnight) a shower and a great nights sleep and I am ready for China.

Some things to note, which I had not expected. Outlet electrical plugs have the angled slots like Australia!

 I took this picture of the Beer Machine in Narita for David - he is fascinated with it!

Friday (Thursday was "lost in Transit):

It's cloudy outside. Had typical upscale hotel breakfast buffet - with many exotic fruits and just about anything you would want (both western and Asian food)

Mid morning we had a spectacular tropical thunder an lightning storm, could hardly see across the road. Satellite TV access was lost, but I am comfy in hotel room with iPod and books.

But then it changes and I am off to a shaky start here!

The Sheraton I chose and stayed at first night was good (naturally!) when the others came to pick me up - the 2 judges (the 3rd one was a last minute replacement and he does not arrive until Saturday  (and judges Sunday) They were green with envy as the host hotel was not stunning they said. They had been driving around all day until they picked me up at 2, in the rain and as driver and interpreter are not from this area, they had seen nothing and so it continued until 5, when we said take us to the hotel.  The big excitement of the afternoon was when we piled out of car to go into museum... Which was a office building! So back onto car.

I judge on Sunday only - 2 judges, 2 shows, 1 ring, 140 dogs - sounds a bit like Canada!

So pleased David didn't come

In fact I looked at returning early but too expensive, but am moving to Hong Kong on Tuesday and have booked Marriott near the airport for one night using points!! If we all get together we may actually go on Monday and spend 2 nights at Marriott as there is nothing to see or do here in Shenzhen especially if raining. Thank god for iPod and books!

Food very uninspiring, so on diet, can't wait to get to HKG, even shopping expensive according to other judges.

Big communication problem when could not get wi-fi working at this new hotel but eventually succeeded.

All other judges have been to china before and said this is a not the best part of China but that Beijing is wonderful.

View from my hotel room

 A wine at our hotel (Made in China - a little bit on the minerally side, as befits its name!)

 Saturday: As the other 2 judges were judging and my co-judge had not yet arrived I had the guide to myself for the day. So we spent 4 hours wandering around something called windows of the world, where they had 1/10 sized replicas of all icons of world - such as Sydney opera house, Eiffel tower etc - it's the best attraction in Shenzhen! But as it was hot and I had seen many of these sights for real, I decided to called it quits and went back to hotel to read a book

Fast turning into vegetarian  as any food with meat is terrible and even the shrimp comes with extra calcium (read shells on) the vegetable dishes especially those with eggplant are the best and everything is smokey & dirty - the toilets, the restaurants, the dishes - you get the picture! The hotel we are at is OK (on my floor - I have A/C, 2 of the other judges dont) but we are the only European faces. But it has a western toilet :-)

Also there are no paper products anywhere except at our hotel. Fortunately I had been forewarned and had my own supply of tissues and toilet paper. Toilets...now that's a whole new topic for discussion!

Gift from Kennel Club as momento of my assignment



Below scroll with National General Kennel Club logo

Sunday:  Work day - judging - Whilst the entry in many breeds was small, the numbers and quality in Border Collies, Samoyeds, Shetland Sheepdogs and Golden Retrievers was very high, and they were great fun to judge. My BIS was a lovely Samoyed. Then after the show we returned to our hotel and had dinner at the Seafood restaurant, which I have to say was a lot better than the Italian restaurant (at the same hotel) - but really Italian at a Chinese Hotel........ And something was lost in translation, as I ordered the Mushroom Risotto and it was made with noodles!

Monday:  Was designated as shopping day, and it was decided to put us in the car and drive us 2 hours away to Guangzhou (where our interpreter came from) as he knew this area and could better guide us to the shopping area. The 2 ladies bought nothing, but the guys bought shirts, pens, suits (all knock offs) It was interesting to stroll the stalls and have our interpreter be approached by touts, who then took us upstairs to highly secured rooms in the apartments and hotels above the stalls, to examine all the "fake" designer handbags. Our car was rear-ended, so we had to have a change of vehicle and so we were left at another Chinese restaurant to order and fend for ourselves (thank goodness all the menus have pictures!) Then the drive back to the hotel seemed long, BUT the reward was a 1 hour foot reflexology and neck/shoulder massage - SUPERB.

My room at the Marriott in HKG

Tuesday: Return to Hong Kong and the airport Marriott - LUXURY, with ocean views, an executive lounge, with heavy hors d'oeuvres and some good Australian wine.

Wednesday:  Return flight to Portland, unfortunately upgrades did not clear...long 12 hour flight in economy plus.

Off to China

I may be posting a bit to my blog in the next week or so, as I am not exactly sure how much internet access I will have in China and I have heard that Facebook is blocked. So this maybe my only contact point - we will see.

JIgsaw #9

After a long gap with no Jigsaws, we have now completed another one

Now on to the next.

Jigsaw #8

After a bit of a break from doing jigsaws (mainly because our whippet was helping too much, jumping onto the table and chewing up pieces), we have just completed one of New Orleans.
We bought a scat-mat (to deter her from jumping onto the table - it worked, one jump, one zap and she has not levitated since)
So back to the routine, we have several more to do.