Shanghai living & Dim Sum chilling

What a whirlwind fortnight it has been, firstly apologies for the lack of updates but a combination of non-stop travelling and sightseeing, combined with the inconvenience of China's internet service left me offline during the trip. Enjoy reading and welcome back for this summer's adventures!

In two weeks myself and my dearest mother, Pat managed to race through Shanghai, Xian, Beijing and of course Hong Kong. We had booked onto a Wendy Wu tour, so everything was inclusive and arranged, all we had to do was sit back relax and take photos. We had a national tour guide and local tour guides at each city and I would highly recommend Wendy Wu tours for anyone who wants to visit China but is unsure on how they'd cope alone. This group tour was immense, a great mix of people young and old from all over the world and for our group we were like a family within days.

Shanghai Living

Shanghai was the first stop as we waited for the full group to arrive. It consisted of couples and families from Australia to America and also closer to home from Kent to Cambridge, the Aussies were quick to throw in the shouts and the coach was soon a source of some quality laughter for everyone. Each day consisted of an early rise and lateish finish, we were on the road at 8am on the first day off to the water canal town of Wuzhen to explore the ancient ways of life there and of course to experience the local dishes. Shanghai itself offered a glimpse into the past life of the great city, trekking through the old French and British quarters showed how different cultures stamped there presence all over Shanghai. A boat tour/dinner gave us a special sight of the iconic skyline at night and showed just how vast the city is.

Yu Gardens of Shanghai

Xian's 600 year old city wall

Xian was our next stop in the heart of China, there was no pollution here and temperatures soared to well over 30c. It was great to finally see some sunshine and fresh air, Xian is certainly a great city home to the Terracotta Warriors and start of the Silk Road. It was quite nostalgic for Pat visiting somewhere I was nearly 19 years ago and seeing the transformation of the city. There is a clash of old and new everywhere, on one side you have a 600 year old city wall and next to it a state of the art shopping centre with a 40ft television screen for a ceiling that displays waterfalls and meadows. The downside is only spending two days here and I think this city has a lot more to offer, we managed to cram in a few markets in the Muslim quarter and the Little Wild Goose Pagoda next to one of the National museums that provided an insight into my motherland's history.

The clash of old and new in Xian

I fit just right in...

Great Wall CONQUERED

A quick flight over to Beijing provided the final destination of this fleeting tour and it did not disappoint. We climbed the Great Wall, visited Tiananmen Square plus the Forbidden City and strolled through the Summer Palace. I had visited all of these sights as a small toddler and now revisiting them as a small adult, I learnt to appreciate it and marvel in the magnificence of my countrymen's achievement of the past. But of course, the stop over would not be complete without a trip to the Bird's Nest and Water Cube home to the 2008 Olympics and although it is basically derelict like most Olympic venues, it still stands tall and testament to a fantastic games. The last two nights proved unbelievable, a Kung Fu and Acrobatics show left me stunned at some of the shit they can do, the final piece of the Acrobatics show was ridiculous and simply unreal, have a watch here

Pat, smashing the Great Wall

Forbidden City

Although the tour ended in Beijing, it was not the end of our holiday... HONG KONG was our final destination and despite going every year, it's a place I consider my second home where I can speak cantonese and feel at least average height. There wasn't much to do in terms of attractions, it was more about seeing family, paying respects and eating our body weight in food. Sweating is always an issue in HK and this year proved no different, but the safety of any commercial building soon cooled us down.

This holiday has been a different type of adventure, although there has been no serious boozing and shaping throwing, spending time with Pat on holiday has actually been great. Now that I've finished university and off into the working world, there won't be many opportunities to spend such time with her and I've appreciated it a lot for this holiday and exploring China with her. This adventure was all about family and even though the next adventures are going to be without a doubt immense, this is one adventure that I'll always remember since, after all it's family that really matters :)

Some of the wonderful HK fambo

Keep watching.x

The Last Hurrah

"Patience is a virtue"

This phrase has stuck particularly hard with me over the past few months, I had my doubts over the Summer and whether the trinity of Eurotrip and Asiatrip would be completed with the missing piece of the USA. I nearly gave up hope of it happening and settled for a more `typical' holiday, but just when I thought the fat lady had sang, she sat her booty back down and listened to the boys discuss one of the greatest adventures to date.

Not only has America been penned into the itinerary, but within an hour of frantic facebook messaging another equally emphatic holiday was secured. A little getaway to Portugal to a villa followed by a quick hop over the border to Seville to finally visit one of our greatest pals and regular star of this blog, Phil. Things have fallen into place nicely and all there is to do now is to enjoy every second of this glorious summer before I'm shackled down by the working world.

Let me give you some insight into a summer that most probably will top 2012 even to my own disbelief:

• China & Hong Kong with Mamma Kwong
• Portugal & Spain
• USA
• Sweden

Not only is it the number of adventures that I've managed to secure, but it's the quality line up that will be alongside me, for the second leg of this awesome quartet of journeys I will finally enjoy a week away with a man, most would consider a giant amongst men. Someone, the world doesn't fully recognise but deep down appreciates with awe. To some he is a myth, to others he is simply known as Colin... to us he is a legend.

The strip is getting torn up by this hunk of a man

That's correct ladies and gentleman, we have managed to acquire the company of the elusive Mike Wilson for a whole seven days, and what a week that will be. Let us not forget Alex Yoh though before he starts bitching, a dear old pal of ours who has always wanted to come travelling but just somehow never managed to do it. But now he's stepping up, not just Portugal & Spain but also the big U-S-of-A but who knows if he can hack it with the veterans of travelling, myself and Mr Jack England who together form an unlikely but deadly trio that will have Obama sending his daughters straight to Air Force One for the duration of our visit.

A few other events that will mark this summer as one of the finest includes Tough Mudder with my fellow yellow Chen and old Cornelius, along with a welcome surprise addition of the big fish himself, John Wilson. It's going to be a harsh couple of hours in the cold depths of Leeds but it will get bossed like all other things in life. Granted, there won't be much time to train for it but when you're part of the Picton Muscle Club, who needs it?

One tough mudder fucker!!!!

Last but certainly not least, is the return of Pebbles to the UK and a family BBQ to celebrate an immense year abroad, but sadly a year lost without her, not to worry though a family weekend away will soon have us all caught up and looking ahead to more good times.

Nothing matters more than family

So that's the summer schedule, it's going to be busy and it's probably going to fly by but I will savour every moment of it before the dreaded employment comes, so stay updated and.....

Keep Watching!x