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IN THIS ISSUE

• Kate Brookfield comes to the end of her story about Shanghai
• Margaret Manning has arrived in Britain after an exhausting journey
• You are invited to participate in a survey
• Do you have an amaryllis you want to keep for next year?
• We have another winter disaster story from the west coast
• Ever wonder what he really means?
• Jay Sansum and Betty Fehlhaber suggest websites

Kate Brookfield concludes her story of her visit to

SHANGHAI

We had almost the whole of the next day to see more of Hangzhou area as our train did not leave until 7:00 p.m. Alice wanted to go shopping for silk items as Hangzhou is famous for its silk, so we got a taxi into the city. The first place we went to was an upscale silk retail store, with prices geared for tourists brought here for half an hour on tourist buses. We took another taxi to the wholesale market. This was more like the Yu Garden market in Shanghai: lots of vendors selling almost the same things, dresses, pyjamas, children´s outfits, shawls, etc. I bought a couple of pairs of pyjamas for my husband but was unsuccessful in finding anything that either fitted me or that I liked. We browsed the market separately and arranged to meet up again in three hours.

There was plenty to see as the market area was extensive, only it started to rain, making the walking area muddy. I wanted to know the results of the US Election so I found a little cafe with a television set. But they were watching a baseball game and I could not get anyone to understand my question about who won the US election. Finally, someone came in who spoke English and she asked the owner. He just said, "Obama," with no interest at all and went back to watching the baseball. My interpreter was equally uninterested in the news of a new American president.

Alice finally came back half an hour after the appointed time and she was absolutely loaded with purchases. She told me to wait a little longer as she needed to change an item. She went back into the market and returned some time later. I was about to hail a taxi when she said she had to go and buy a bag for her purchases. This time she took off across the busy road to a shopping mall. She came back with a large plastic suitcase with a zipper and put all her purchases into the one container. We then took a taxi back to the hotel.

We had already checked out of the hotel and still had a couple of hours before we needed to go to the station. She told me to meet back at the hotel in two hours. When I asked what she was going to do, she said she needed to go back to the stores near the water show. I did another walk around the lake as it had stopped raining and stopped for a coffee at one of the garden restaurants and sat and enjoyed the view.

The journey home was quick and uneventful and we had a meal at a restaurant near the MRT that was one of a new Taiwan chain of restaurants.

In the following days Alice and I mainly did separate things. She kept phoning people and making arrangements for lunch and breakfast meetings. I had an enjoyable visit to the Shanghai aquarium one day, and another day in the Bund area and Nanjing West shopping area.

We took two more day trips. One day we went to the water town of Zhouzhuang, known as the Pearl of China´s Water Towns. The other day trip was to Suzhou. I enjoyed both places, but hope to go back in better weather with more time and more research before I go so I know what to see.

The trip to Zhouzhang was with the local tourist bus. We had to be at the tourist bus area at 8:00 a.m. and had the same mad MRT ride with the early morning commuters and the long walk to the bus station in the pouring rain. The rain did not let up all day and I was literally soaked to the skin when we got on the bus to come home.

Zhouzhang is another ancient city that is a bit like Venice in that it is built on water, with canals and bridges. In better weather it would be very picturesque. We met up with a young man from Australia who was touring China and managed to see all the main attractions. The area is famous for pearls and there were many stores selling pearls and products made from pearl. There was also a section for local artists and I bought a set of four scroll paintings of scenes of the area from a female artist. Fortunately, she wrapped the box up well in plastic bags or the paintings would have been ruined by the rain.

The day to Suzhou was arranged by the owner of the apartment. Four of her friends from Vancouver were in Shanghai visiting a fifth friend now living in Shanghai. For this day, we had the use of the company car and driver. First, we went to the home of the Shanghai friend, which was similar to the one I visited in Taipei. It was a large house in a gated and protected community of Shanghai. When we drove through the gates, the driver had to show his permission and he was saluted at every turning by guards watching who came in and out. When we entered the palatial home, the four women and their husbands and two little dogs were seated at a large glass- topped round table loaded with food. We were invited to join them for breakfast, but we had eaten.

I was not introduced at first so I just sat there agog at the noise and the sumptuous surroundings. All the chatter was in Chinese, of course. Eventually, I asked Alice to introduce me. There was high- pitched laughter then each woman introduced herself in English, more laughter, as another said, "We are all Canadians here". Then they resumed their chatter in Chinese. Apparently, Alice had worked in real estate in Vancouver and had found homes in Canada for these women, all from Taiwan.

For the drive to Suzhou, I was in the seat next to the driver and the others behind. The vehicle was an SUV that seated the seven of us plus the male driver. I felt completely estranged from the group and there was no attempt to include me in the conversations. I use the plural as there seemed to be more than one going on at the same time. They were very loud with their laughter and talk. I listened to music on my MP3 player.

Suzhou is famous for its gardens and our first stop was the garden of the "Humble Administrator". When we all piled out of the vehicle, Alice took charge. Apparently, she was to be our guide for the day. She told me we would meet back at the main entrance in half an hour, so I looked round the gardens on my own. There was plenty to see and I would have liked longer than half an hour, but I was back at the entrance as instructed. We all piled back into the vehicle and we drove for about an hour through congested traffic to a lake area. We got out, took a few photos, and then got back in the vehicle again and drove for another three-quarters of an hour to a temple. Alice told me this was a famous temple.

First we went into a Chinese restaurant and had a typical Chinese meal with loads of dishes. They looked as if they were going to stay talking and eating forever, so I excused myself and said I would like to start looking around. I did not have any literature in English so did not really know what I was looking at so I strolled around and found another much bigger temple, and I think this was actually the temple that people come to see. When I met back with the others, they had not seen that temple at all.

We got back in the car and Alice told me were going to some famous lake area. Again the traffic was slow and after driving for an hour, they decided not to bother with this second lake as it would be dark soon, so we went back to Shanghai and spent another hour crawling through the Shanghai traffic.

They all had a good day. I don´t think it mattered to them where they were or what they were seeing. They liked looking at nice views, but were mainly interested in talking to each other. It was a day out. They seemed to know very little about China or its history and did not seem interested in learning anything new. As far as I was concerned the day was a disaster. I was grateful for the opportunity to visit this city, but would have liked more time at the sights and less time driving in traffic. I felt, at times, that I had been transported into the Stepford Wives movie.

This was our last day in Shanghai and I was more than ready to get back to Taipei. I have not heard anything from Alice since we got back. I did send her an e-mail thanking her for taking me to Shanghai, but got no response. I guess this is one of those friendships that is tested by holidaying together and the result of the test is that it was not really a friendship at all.

ED. NOTE: For Kate´s pictures of Zhouzhuang, go to http://arunaurl.com/2m4h

For her pictures of Suzhou, see http://arunaurl.com/2m4i

Margaret Manning continues her description of

A TRIP TO REMEMBER

We could hardly wait to get into the arrivals hall at Heathrow. We spotted Steve leaning against the barrier looking very tired - it was already 12:40 a.m. and we had a two-hour road trip to Suffolk ahead of us.

It was the first time I had travelled in a Range Rover and it seemed very luxurious. Steve drove very carefully and we thought quite slowly. He had only arrived back in England 24 hours previously after driving his other 4WD back from Poland, so we knew he was tired. What we didn´t know until some days later was that he had spent most of the 1st July fixing the Range Rover to make it roadworthy for the trip to collect us. Had we known that, we would certainly have had a night´s sleep near Heathrow and made our own way to Suffolk the next day.

We stopped en route to Suffolk for a coffee break and reached our destination at 3:40 a.m. - 58 hours after waking up in Auckland at the commencement of our long trip. By the time we finally got to bed it was just getting light. We had forgotten how early it gets light during the English summer.

A few hours´ solid sleep totally refreshed us and we were soon walking up to the town to buy groceries and visit an elderly relative. It was great to go into a large supermarket with such a huge range of products. Our only local one where we live in N.Z. is sadly lacking in many ways. That large, friendly supermarket became an almost daily "must-do" as we kept coming across little treats that we simply had to buy to try.

Many of the terraced houses in the town were built over a hundred years ago, and were intended for families whose living came from work on the railway, maltings*, and brickworks. Most opened straight onto a narrow pavement and had a tiny patch of garden at the rear. They were well-built simple houses that once had large families managing in two bedrooms, a lounge, and a tiny scullery. The toilet facilities were a basic structure in the back yard/garden. Today they have been tastefully renovated and extended and sport satellite dishes, but few have room for a garage or carport. Residents have to park in the narrow streets and often halfway up on the pavement, making it difficult for anyone using a wheelchair or walking frame to get past.

We walked across the "Rec" (recreation ground) that first day to visit Eric´s elderly sister. It was wonderful to see her again and the pleasure she had from being able to give us a hug - especially her brother. The area where she lived is on the opposite side of town from where we were staying and the homes were semi-detached, with three bedrooms, a front and back garden, and of about 1950s vintage. Again, these have been modernized to suit today´s living standards, but few have room for a garage. The road had vehicles parked both sides with only a single driving space between.

The town has a magnificent Anglican church, parts of which date back to the 14th century. Its spire at 120 feet is a great landmark. That church means a great deal to me - an ancestor was a church warden there in the 1630s. Also, Eric´s paternal father and grandfather made the copper ring that surrounds the church clock. I clearly remember having to go to Sunday school there and absolutely hating it, so I stopped going as soon as I was old enough to protest loudly enough.

The ancient market place still has a market on Thursday and Saturday mornings. It occasionally also has a "French" or "European" market. We went to the French market, which we found quite interesting but with very high prices. The French music, language, and colourful banners invading the old market place certainly transformed that familiar spot, and gave us a chance to practice a little rusty French.

Once we had had our fill of French everything we fled into our favourite cafe and treated ourselves to coffee and cakes.

* "Maltings" are described in my Collins Dictionary as (in the singular) "a building in which malt is made or stored. Also called malt house." Our home town had a lot of these buildings; making malt was a major source of work. Some of the old buildings still exist. I used to go roller skating (is it called roller blading today?) with a friend in the lower portion of a former maltings storehouse. My friend lived in the dwelling adjacent and I suppose it was once part of management accommodation. It was all pulled down years ago and the site now has a smart block of houses on it. One of our regular walks to Eric´s sister´s house was past this site, so it always evoked a lot of memories for me.

ED. NOTE: Eric´s oldest sister died on January 3rd of this year.

(To be continued)

A SURVEY

The best-laid plans ... I thought by sending the Spinner in plain text I would avoid those annoying foreign characters that PCs insert, but then Jean Sterling wrote that for the first time, she had received those funny characters. This was diametrically opposite to Kate Brookfield´s pronouncement that the issue was "perfect".

Obviously, PCs use different mail programs, and nothing is going to satisfy the requirements of all of them. So will you please let me know which format you prefer - plain text or rich text - and I will go with the majority. Just highlight this paragraph and hit Reply; that will avoid sending the whole Spinner back to me.

HOW TO KEEP YOUR AMARYLLIS ALIVE

If you received a beautiful amaryllis for Christmas, as I did, and wish to keep it over until next year, you could try this method I found in an old newspaper clipping:

While amaryllis are among the easiest bulbs to grow and get to flower, they aren´t always as easy to keep over. The key is to remove the old flower heads so they don´t have a chance to set any seed.

Then keep the plant in a good light in a warm spot. Water it as soon as the surface appears dry and feed it every other week with a very weak solution of liquid plant food.

For the next three months, the bulb should produce plenty of long, dark green strap-like leaves. Around the end of April, as hard as it is to do, water only a couple of times a month and leave on a sunny window sill.

In May, when the leaves should be turning yellow, no further watering should be done. Turn the pot on its side on a sunny, dry shelf, such as a porch or in a greenhouse if you have one.

This sounds like harsh treatment, but amaryllis come from South Africa and are in need of a hot, dry summer to ripen the bulb and ready if for flowering the following year.

In September, tap the bulb out of its pot. shake off all the old soil and replant it in some fresh potting soil. It will soon start to grow and flower again next fall. If you want it to bloom a little later, don´t plant it until October.

Marilyn Magid forwards another libellous story of

A BAD WINTER IN LOTUS LAND

Chilled Vancouver commuters faced their second day of winter hell today, as an additional centimetre of the peculiar white stuff fell, bringing the lower mainland to its knees and causing millions of dollars worth of damage to the marijuana crops.

Scientists suspect that the substance is some form of frozen water particles and experts from Saskatchewan are being flown in. With temperatures dipping to the almost but not quite near-zero mark, Vancouverites were warned to double insulate their lattes before venturing out.

Vancouver police recommended that people stay inside except for emergencies, such as running out of espresso or biscotti to see them through Vancouver´s most terrible storm to date. The local Canadian Tire reported that they had completely sold out of fur-lined sandals.

Drivers were cautioned to put their convertible tops up, and several have been shocked to learn that their SUVs actually have four-wheel drive, although most have no idea how to use it.

Weary commuters faced soggy sushi, and the threat of frozen breast implants. Although Dr. John Blatherwick, of the Coastal Health Authority, reassured everyone that most breast implants were perfectly safe to 25 below, down-filled bras are flying off the shelves at Mountain Equipment Co-op.

"The government has to do something," snarled an angry Trevor Warburton. "I didn´t pay $540,000 for my one-bedroom condo so I could sit around and be treated like someone from Toronto."

This one was sent to me by a man, so don´t blame me for the bias in this

MEN´S THESAURUS

"I´m going fishing" means: "I´m going to drink myself dangerously stupid and stand by a stream with a stick in my hand, while the fish swim by in complete safety."

"It´s a guy thing" means: "There is no rational thought pattern connected with it, and you have no chance at all of making it logical."

"Can I help with dinner?" means: "Why isn´t it already on the table?"

"Uh huh," "Sure, honey," or "Yes, dear..." means: Absolutely nothing. It´s a conditioned response.

"It would take too long to explain" means: "I have no idea how it works."

"I was listening to you. It´s just that I have things on my mind," means: "I was wondering if that redhead over there is wearing a bra."

"Take a break, honey. You´re working too hard," means: "I can´t hear the game over the vacuum cleaner."

"That´s interesting, dear," means: "Are you still talking?"

"You know how bad my memory is," means: "I remember the theme song to ´F Troop´, the address of the first girl I ever kissed, and the vehicle identification numbers of every car I´ve ever owned, but I forgot your birthday."

"I was just thinking about you, and got you these roses," means: "The girl selling them on the corner was a real babe."

"Oh, don´t fuss. I just cut myself; it´s no big deal," means: "I have actually severed a limb, but will bleed to death before I admit that I´m hurt."

"Hey, I´ve got my reasons for what I´m doing," means: "And I sure hope I think of some pretty soon."

"I can´t find it," means: "It didn´t fall into my outstretched hands, so I´m completely clueless."

"What did I do this time?" means: "What did you catch me at?"

"I heard you," means: "I haven´t the foggiest clue what you just said, and am hoping desperately that I can fake it well enough so that you don´t spend the next three days yelling at me."

"You know I could never love anyone else," means: "I am used to the way you yell at me, and realize it could be worse."

"You look terrific," means: "Please don´t try on one more outfit; I´m starving."

"I´m not lost. I know exactly where we are," means: "No one will ever see us alive again."

"We share the housework," means: "I make the messes, she cleans them up.

SUGGESTED WEBSITES

Betty Fehlhaber forwards a site showing the Butchart Gardens in Victoria buried under snow:

http://www.jamesfernandes.com/photos/2008/butchartlights/

Jay recommends this Discovery channel video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=at_f98qOGY0

Are elephants really afraid of mice? Find out here:

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=wXiMs65ZAeU&NR=1

For some of the weirdest stories of the year, see

http://www.thisistrue.com/blog-2008s_weirdest_stories.html