Halloween in Bangkok, Thanksgiving in Yangshuo, plus everything before, after, and in between.

It has been a busy couple of months since my last post.  

While I may have settled into a sustainable flow state at work.  I am still quite busy during the week.  I am maintaining my fitness routine of at least 3 weekly gym days and a weekly swim.  If I skip the swim I add a gym day.  

On October 19th, the day after my last post, Faye and I went for a walk and stopped at a bar where I enjoyed petting the owner's dog while we had a refreshing drink. 



On October 20th the high school bio teachers got training on some new lab equipment from MiniOne. 

The training was focused on gel electrophoresis but we also bought a PCR, micro-pipettes, mini centrifuges, and a bunch of other resources from them. 


We took a quick weekend trip to Bangkok over the weekend of Halloween.  We departed from Shenzhen late on Friday the 31st and got back late Sunday November 2nd.  We spent our time there relaxing, shopping, and I introduced Faye to the sensory deprivation tanks at the Bangkok Float Center.  She enjoyed it as much as I did. 




On November 22nd and 23rd I judged a speech and debate competition in Guangming.  It was a neat experience judging for a public forum debate, the school provided 5-star accommodation, and I got paid for it!














On the first day of my Thanksgiving break, November 27th, I took a trip to a newly built indoor ski resort here in Shenzhen.  











Then from Friday November 28th- Sunday the 30th Faye and I went to Xing Ping Town in Yangshuo for some relaxation and adventure in the country side.  We took a bamboo raft tour, did some light hiking, walked around some historic areas, and did some caving.  The food was rich and flavorful, the beer cheap and plentiful, and the experience was enriching and fun.  I will put all the videos first but am not putting them in order.  Apologies in advance for what seems to be repeated photos.  Sometimes, when you hand your phone to someone to take a picture for you, they take way more than you need.













































































Last weekend I went hashing for the first time in a long time.  We ran up Yangtaishan.  The weather was cool and lovely and I have been in pretty good cardio-vascular shape so the hike wasn't too hard.













This weekend I judged another speech and debate competition but this one was online so I could do it from home.  I got paid 140 dollars per day for between 3 and 5 hours of work (in total) per day.  The events I judged for were spaced apart so I had lots of down time to work on this blog post.  Faye and I went out to dinner on Friday night to a new Sichuan restaurant. 


On Saturday night we went and got steak and salad and then went out for some drinks.








I managed to get this blog posted just in time for my upcoming winter break trip.  I will be flying to Changchun on December 19th where I will stay one night, then I will take a train to Jilin where I will get a ride to Lake Songhua.  For those who read my blog for my winter break in December 2023 you may remember this is where I had my first ski trip in China.  It is by far one of the best ski resorts I have ever visited and I am looking forward to this trip.  I will ski from the 20th until the 23rd and then will make my way back to Changchun for my return flight to Shenzhen on the 24th, I will spend Christmas Day in Shenzhen (on Faye's request) before flying from HK to Phuket with my friend JJ on the 26th.  We will hang there until January 4th and Faye will come to join me on the 1st so we can celebrate our anniversary together in tropical bliss. 

My next post may have to wait until after our Chinese new year plans.  It depends on if I have time to write another post in the week between winter break and CNY. 







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