Hi all,

I'll start with the highlight of my week shall I?... I tagged along to my bosses latest Laundry visit. For those not in the know, a laundry is a place where all the garments go to be dyed & finished.
Denim fabric for example starts off so very differently to how it will appear when you buy it in the shops. It can be washed with different chemicals, processes (such as stone washing) and different heats to change the colour and then afterwards may be hand sanded to achieve that 'worn in' look we all seem to love so much! I wont bore you all with the specifics but it really is fascinating and complicated and there is SO much to learn!

The laundry was massive with huge dyeing baths / washing machines and hundreds of Chinese workers with pieces of sandpaper rubbing the colour away from jean panels!

To get to the laundry I had to take a ferry from Hk Island which took 2hours and then a car journey for over an hour... needless to say it was a looong day as after I got back to Hk I had to travel back to Shenzhen (another 1.5hours from south Hk!!).

As I was working in the Hk office for part of this week work booked me a hotel which was quite a bonus.. ended up meeting my boss for drinks in the evening and got into a state (he loves the red wine!). Also joining us was a lady from the US office who is my new role model! By the age of 25 she was managing 3customer accounts and is super determined and hard working.. she went back to work just 2WEEKS after giving birth.. crazy! I have adopted her as my new mentor and plan to bug her for tips and info.

Other brief news this week...

-I forgot to mention that last week in Hk they were filming the new Batman film, quite exciting as Christian Bale and Morgan Freeman were all over the news from central (on Hk Island).... cue hundreds of Chinese people whipping out their cameras!

-Dad sent me some post last week to the Hk office and it arrived so quickly so this is defo the recommended plan in future.

-I woke up one morning this week to discover that apparantly my feet make for gourmet feasting.. I had 19..!! bites, so damn itchy, and it looks like I have some repulsive foot disease now!

-I found a place in Shenzhen where you can buy lunch for 10RMB.. thats only 60p!! insanely cheap!

-My GHDs no longer work so life as I know it is over... Im hoping that it is just the fuse that needs replacing, otherwise I may have a nervous breakdown... no one in China has even heard of Ghd's and god knows where I can buy a fuse in Shenzhen!

-I have discovered yet another new love I never knew existed... Coffee!! WOW so amazing, its all I have been drinking this week (with excessive amounts of cream and sugar mind you!)

-Do you know, my Chinese friends have never heard of advent calendars.. how can this be? I have a lot of crimbo related teaching to impart over the next month, starting with finding a miniture tree for my desk!

-Finally, I managed to get my ATM card sorted so I can finally access my Hk cash.. about time too!

Going Hiking in the Chinese countryside tomorrow on a trip with work (around 130 of us going!) so on Sunday I will be able to upload lots of beautiful pics... I am planning on doing sweet F-all on Sunday, lots of catch up rest and will maybe pick up the sketchbook again and treat you all to a long overdue new illustration!

Bedtime for me now in preparation for my long day tomorrow.
Hope that all is good in the UK... keep those updates coming through the wonder of the internet!

Much love Tx