Mug shots
(Our faces on the reverse of ticket for tourist area of Zhuozhuang: China)
When we were ushered inside the ticket office, we had no idea why we had to pose on a wooden bench for a photograph. As we rose from the bench, we were presented with our personalised tickets, presumably to enhance the security around the tourist spot and to discourage people from sharing these expensive tickets. You might just be able to make out that I am trying to hold back a giggle, I found the whole process hilarious and we were both in hysterics after we turned our tickets over to be greeted with our own mug shots. Even better is the tiny map with a short introduction, all on the ticket. On the front side there is a list of attractions running down one edge, so each time you arrive at the door, they punch a hole along the list so you can measure your progress.
Ying left for business meetings in Italy on Sunday morning and as soon as he departed, the warm, bright weather took a dramatic turn with such blustery, cutting winds that we have been forced to actually wear coats. (This is highly unusual and I have had to create further ballast with a selection of well-chosen cardigans, layered up not ulike a Russian doll.) Not only that, on Monday there was a wind chill factor of minus three degrees and Ying’s poor mum (fresh from sultry Singapore) was actually shivering under a plethora of shawls, cashmere and further jackets. For the past two days, the weather has been somewhat breezy and remarkably cold. Since Ying and I
are still waiting on duvets to arrive in our shipping from the UK, I had to go and purchase a winter one as the measly thin one Ying and I had for the summer left me waking up in the night from cold. Today, just as suddenly as it began, the winds have ceased and it was almost t-shirt weather today once again. It’s like being in a different country each day; the temperature and weather is so diverse all of a sudden – perhaps it’s the autumnal weather sweeping in.
