Crazy busy - but we're out the other side

The past five weeks or so have been crazy busy for both of us. We've been travelling a great deal ... I've been to Singapore and to Beijing 3 times; Joss once (we went the same week before xmas ... but not at the same time ... we waved at each other as we passed over the South China Sea). Joss has been to Tokyo. And we all went to the UK and Sabah (Malaysian Borneo) for a two week holiday over Xmas. I feel the worst is over, but then I look @ the calender and see between us, we're travelling to Seoul; Tokyo; Sydney; London; Bangkok; Singapore; Bangalore and possibly Taipei between now and the end of Feb ... so maybe light is not at the end of the tunnel after all!

Travelling like this is getting very matter-of-fact ... I try to get my usual seat on the plane etc. And I tend to fall asleep straight away - only waking up during actual take off and landing.

The mainland Chinese are funny on planes -- they push and shove to be first on/off ... none of this row-by-row etiquette for them. The never sit in their appointed seats. They drink as much whisky as they can neck in a 4 hour flight. And they burp; puff and snort as loudly as possible throughout.

I'm beginning to become an expert on airports - I'm off to Bangkok next week (hopefully no coup this time) - landing @ the new airport there. It's meant to be quite spectacular - so I'll take a couple of pics and write something on the airports I've seen over the past few months (Jenny Beechner are you reading this? Want to commission me for Jane's??).

Anyway, one of the fun things about travelling is you get to see new things of course. Check out the picture - an ad I saw this week in a Beijing taxi (saw another person on a bike go under a car in Beijing this week) - ad is for 'smokeless cigarettes'. You put a fag in one of these contraptions and no smoke exudes. What's the point? Dunno! But amused me. Smokeless pipe also available.

M