Tuesday 11^th June, 2019 1200

The dim sum and goulash turned out fine. I am finding the beef I get from BHG is far superior to the boot leather they sell on the Muslim stall around the corner, the supermarket stuff so far every time has been nice and tender.

Once the girls left, because Alice had confirmed the dates she will definitely be free in summer (she hopes to be accepted for two volunteering stints in rural Gansu – good for the CV), I searched for Shanghai hotels. Where I like to be is not well served by my preferred chains (Marriott would be ideal but costs an arm and a leg) so I was drawn to the serviced apartments I have stayed at before.

But then I looked at the Ramada Plaza, which was slightly cheaper and offers western options for breakfast (not that I'm ever up in time when I stay in Shanghai!) and ended up booking for a week in August. Pointless even considering executive lounge access because I would never be there either for the free drinks in the evenings. Even better, because I'm a “Genius” with Booking.com I was given a 10% discount. Location is perfect, it's opposite the Marriott and close to my preferred street in Pudong – easy walking to the Flying Fox Irish pub.

Now I just need Joan to let me know A) if we can visit her for a couple of days beforehand and B) where the hell she will be. If she's not receiving visitors then we fly to PVG, if we are then I have no choice but to use the trains. However, with the savings on flying I reckon I will get Alice to book an entire soft sleeper compartment just for the two of us, still cheaper than by air and privacy guaranteed. With a 24 hour journey or thereabouts, I will be sure to roast some chicken legs, make bread pudding etc so there will be no need to resort to pot noodles or worse – train catering. Even the Chinese don't eat THAT! It does make me nostalgic for the 70s in the UK when there were dining cars and freshly cooked meals, albeit for a price.

Not the summer holiday I had envisaged but money is King. I have plans for next year instead.

Janet sent me a text this morning to let me know my Friday afternoon class is cancelled due to the CET exam. As the test itself takes place on Saturday I can only assume it's to allow some last minute swotting. I think I have only actually seen that particular class five times all term! I don't care, it just means two hours work in the morning and at noon I can come home. What it does mean though is that the bloody internet will be turned off all day on Saturday. I need to download as much iPlayer content as I can beforehand so I have plenty to watch!

Sunday 16^th 1100

I had a slight panic on Friday night. The VPN and the internet failed at about 2230. Nothing unusual in that, it's a regular occurrence, disconnecting and reconnecting normally works and if that fails, a reboot for both laptop and router invariably restore service.

So I ended up with a restart but that triggered an automatic update (which I thought was from Windows but turned out to be Asus) and on restart it presented a screen adjusting BIOS – I have never seen that before. And on completion I still had no internet. The CET blackout always commences shortly after 0800 so I worried that the update, once I discovered it wasn't a Windows one, had buggered up my computer. Considering I lost Windows completely on the previous laptop when I did it, there was no way I was going to attempt a system reset. I hoped I would have access Saturday morning but I didn't. I had no idea if my set was knackered or not and had to wait until 1730 when to my relief I was back online. I had visions of having to go back to the computer shop today to get it fixed.

Alice is dismayed because her application to volunteer was turned down for the second year. She is desperate for something to put in her CV so I told her she can always say she accompanied a foreigner to Shanghai to translate for him! Not entirely a lie!

Tomorrow's meal will be spring rolls (shop bought), roast pork and crackling (the crackling by special request from Annie) and I thought I'd make a lemon tart. Considering previous attempts at sticking meringue on top resulted in failure, cream will have to do this time.

And two weeks of exams left this term. I have explained countless times I only want half the classes each week to present themselves but what's the betting at least one class will turn up en masse next week? I always look forward to finishing the exams and the term, this year though more than previously. This term has been a slog and I am hoping my enthusiasm will be rejuvenated next year by students who actually understand me.