Dom, Tan, Leilei, and Xixi in China: A Wu meal

We've been here long enough that jetlag shouldn't be an issue but that was my excuse for another 6am wake-up. Today I couldn't be bothered with a run, so I languished in bed until the guilt tripped me into going to play ping pong. I was duly beaten but I sweated more than enough to justify my time and got back in time to get the kids' breakfast. It's becoming as predictable as it has been in previous years, except they no longer want dou jiang. So I end up buying four eggs, one you tiao, and a couple of yumi bing and a portion of jiao zi if they have them and it costs about 80p and there's always enough left for me to have some lunch later. Despite prices rocketing for many things, and the horrible exchange rate from a post-Brexit point of view, this is one of the things that remains nicely affordable.

Tan took the kids out at lunchtime and I knew I'd need a kip but I called A Wu and Ma Laoban to see if they were available for lunch but neither was. This is a bit of a strange experience here but I think of it as a good thing; people are actually busy as opposed to some previous years' experiences.

Tea was at Waipo's, which she really appreciates, even though she eats earlier than us and doesn't eat at the table any more. I don't know why this is but I'm not going to question it. While we were at Waip's, Tan showed a video of a recent kerfuffle in Pingguo where a bloke was covered in blood after a fight with someone. It filled the kids with the heebie-jeebies and meant I had to get them home reasonable early tonight. I'm quite annoyed at that...we get these sort of stories now and again in the local news in London but we don't change our livelihood.

A Wu then called me to go to eat with him and some bosses at the office behind the KTV. I've hardly seen him since I've been here so drove over and it was just like old times with food and beer and cai ma. I excused myself at 9.30 as needed to pick up the kids from Tian Yang Po's bbq where Tan was eating with Huang Chun and A Xia, and took them to the supermarket before heading home for a shower and bed. Tan got back at 2am.