Yes Prime Minister

OK...Drum roll please........... ("Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrmmrmrmrmrmrmrmrmrm....") Thank you.

This just in: I now personally know someone who has met the Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd. And that someone happens to be my wife. Yes, Michelle had the honour, the pleasure, the excitement, the privilege, the once-in-a-lifetime (perhaps) opportunity to meet Rudd himself, along with 100-odd staff at the Beijing Embassy. She even participated in a game of 'Where's Wally?'...or should I say 'Where's Michelley?'...

If you can find her in this pic, pat yourself on the back and be congratulated (she's really good at this!). You may need to click HERE to enlarge it first...
Anyway - this is her claim to fame now, so feel free to email and ask such questions as, "What did it feel like to meet the PM?"... "What did he say?"... "Did you shake his hand?"... "Can he really speak Chinese like they say he can?"....etc etc. And like me, you can tell your friends, "I know someone who has met the PM of Australia." You don't have to miss out on this either!

But seriously, Michelle was impressed. As far as first impressions go, Rudd fits the bill when it comes to being PM and leading our proud country, OZ.

So after coming all the way to China to take a break from Australia, it seems Australia couldn't handle it and came to us. So we get it. Australia - We're coming home. See you in July!

Advance Australia Fair.

Dig it.

Hawaii of the Orient...

It's the phrase that pulls you towards taking a short holiday on this Chinese island paradise...'the Hawaii of the Orient.' How could one resist...unless you considered the word Orient, which eventually turns out to mean paradise with population. If you want a deserted island or a taste of serenity and seclusion along with the sun and surf - look a lot further afield than Sanya, located south of mainland China, but a part of China nevertheless ('Google Earth' it: Sanya, Hainan, China).

But as far as we were concerned, seeing the ocean again, swimming in clean waters, getting a room with a sea-view, and taking walks on the beach and lazing around in the sun was worth every bit of the trip. And I almost forgot to mention that fish I caught. That small innocent fish with eyes that told the story of overfished waters and made one weep.

This was how we spent our Easter Weekend...

Here's the view from our hotel room... And here's me drinking coconut juice straight from a coconut...
Who would know that we're in China?! B.E.A.UTIFUL!
Michelle trying her hand at fishing the Chinese waters...without success...
And me enjoying the best part of the fishing trip...hehe
Michelle as a work of art...

And the art of Toes in the Sand...Holiday bliss.
Feet-tanning!
The life...for four days.And a death...for this little guy who's run out of puff.
The rest of the photos can be seen in the slideshow to the right...just click on it to enlarge.

Nowadays its back to work as usual. As they say, all good things come to an end. But like I say, all things will end good.

Yesterday was a public holiday in China - called Tomb Cleaning Day. Whoo-hoo! Who came up with that one? It's not like you can say to people, "Happy Tomb Cleaning Day!" is it?! Or "Say hello to your great-great grandfather for me,"...But nevertheless it serves its purpose and the customs and rituals are interesting to observe. Like when you see people on the side (or middle) of the road burning paper money, paper cars, paper houses and so on, hoping that their ancestors will recieve these in the afterlife.

Note for future: I want a paper Playstation3. Hehe.

Until next time,

This is China.

Dig it.