Chris goes to China…

There are actually no compulsory vaccinations needed to visit China, at least not here in the UK. That’s the good news then! But.. they do recommend a few. Actually, it’s a lot. A very lot. I had to fill in a form at the doctor’s and they sent it off somewhere… Basically they wanted to know which part of China I would be living in, what type of accommodation I would be staying in and crucially how long would I be there… OK, I filled it in and waited for the response..

YIKES! I need what? How many??

A previous post lists the total jabs needed.. I’ve had a few already, I’m almost half way there.. Here’s what I’ve had..

First visit to the docs:

In my left arm, Typhoid, Diphtheria and Tetanus…. In my right arm, Hepatitis A and Polio. Sooo.. No problem there then! Easy peasy.. Except my left arm went totally like lead for 24 hours and when it came back to life I developed ‘flu like symptoms for the next 24 hours. Not nice!

Still.. It was 2 more weeks to the next lot. This time I had Hepatitis B in my left  arm and Rabies in my right arm. Absolutely no problem, after all I’m getting to become an expert now!

24 hours later I’m up until 5am vomiting for the Olympic Gold medal.. I at least deserve a podium placing. This was vile. I assume the Rabies jab was to blame for that one! The Hep B was actually quite wonderful.. As the fluid was going in I became instantly light-headed and uttered the word “wow!” as the adrenalin rushed to my head somewhat.. The nurse said “Ahhhh.. Some people react like that!” Fortunately I have 2 more of those - Bring it on!

I was there for about an hour, with doctors and nurses arguing about what I should and should not be having.. Various other vaccines were added to the list including Malaria, Cholera and Tick-Borne. But the big talking point was Japanese Encephalitis.. Boy, that caused some rumbles! The doc said he wouldn’t bother, the nurse didn’t know much about it, and I was almost insisting on it.. It’s a nasty condition if you get it although I admit it IS fairly rare. (You have to be bitten by a mosquito that’s already bitten a pig or a bird). BUT…

If you are that unlucky then 99% of people have no symptoms whatsoever.. The brain just swells to bursting point by which time it’s too late of course, and 30% of people just croak. The rest don’t have too good of a time for the rest of their natural.. So I’m pretty keen to have it! BUT AGAIN, there are problems with the actual injection.. The drug isn’t licensed, it causes the most weird side effects, and it’s expensive. I can understand the cost, the serum is made from infected mouse brains… WHAT? Yeah, I suppose they are on the rare side, and it might explain the side effects.. Squeak squeak..

No more arguments… No more heartache… It’s over! We had a long MSN today which is too personal to publish here… She is history.. I’ll have to think of something else to talk about in this blog! Any ideas?

Hello again.. Some of you may know that I run another website: http://www.harphampix.com which is a photo community website. At the top of every page I proudly say, No Ads, No Banners, No Popups, No Way… because it’s an ad free site which I’m quite proud of..

Recently, there has been massive news interest here in the UK for a missing 4 year old girl who was snatched whilst she was on holiday in a quiet resort in Portugal. The parents have had an audience with the Pope and a massive search for her has been launched. The idea is to give maximum exposure worldwide in an attempt to recover the little girl. I thought I’d do my bit by placing a banner at the bottom of each page. (By the time you read this, I hope the banner is removed and Madeleine has been found) However, here is a transcript of a phone call with my other half… This was a couple of days ago.. I didn’t speak to her today!
“Hi, I’ve just been looking at your website”

“Oh, that’s good. Did you see anything interesting today?”

“Not really… But I saw the advert at the bottom of the page for some missing kid! I’m really surprised at you!!”

“Why?”

“Because you state No Ads, No Banners, No Popups, No Way… at the top of each page and then you have an ad at the bottom of each page! That’s contradicting!”

“Well, it’s not really an ad… I’m not getting any financial gain from it or anything…”

“But it’s a banner, and you said no way to banners!”

“Yeah, but this is for a missing kid!”

“I’ve never heard about this story!”

“Which is why I’m trying to promote awareness around the world, in my own small way.. ”

“It’s not been on the news in Austria!”

“No.. But maybe it will in the next few days, hopefully!”

“I’ve just looked at the BBC website… She was snatched whilst the parents were eating!”

“Yes, that’s true”

“So they deserve all they get!!”

“What?”

“They don’t deserve any help, they deserve their kid to be be snatched!”

“That’s a bit harsh, they checked on her every 20 minutes.. This was a planned kidnap”

“They’re milking it, and you’re encouraging it.. Thousands of kids are snatched every year!”

“Maybe there are a lot of kids snatched, but every little helps, and I’ll do what I can to help promote the search”

“Why aren’t the parents searching?”

“They are, but what can they realistically do? The Portuguese police are in charge.”

“They’re just touring Europe enjoying publicity!”

“You really think so?”

“YES!!!”

“OK - Bye for now, speak to you soon…. “

Oh well… It seems you enjoyed our rant on MSN earlier… Here’s today’s argument! For background information it may help you to know the following:

• She doesn’t live in the UK any more, she lives in Austria. Where?? Austria, it’s a puppet state of Germany.
• She hates the UK.
• She loves Austria
• Why? Who knows, or cares…
• Austrians speak German, along with 2 or 3 other non-descript countries.

Today, I happened to mention that I had been to Germany… Kaiserslautern to be precise… I was there for just 2 hours! I bought a VERY undercooked burger/hotdog.. I returned it to the vendor and tried to explain it was not cooked, in English, because that’s what I spoke when I purchased it! English was spoken by the vendor quite fluently when I was buying it…

Surprise, surprise!! When I was complaining the vendor could no longer speak any English! I happened to mention this fact to my other half…

Oh my! You know when you’ve said something “not right” don’t you? Here’s a brief transcript from my Austrian/German based ENGLISH other half:

“Oh! So you EXPECT them to speak English do you??”

“No, but they were speaking perfect English when I bought it”

“Ah! How much German did you speak?”

“None…”

“So you come to Germany and expect them all to speak English?”

“No, but they were all speaking English before….”

“And I doubt you even bothered to learn German!”

“No, I was only in the country for 2 hours!”

“You make me sick!”

“Oh, I should learn German for a fleeting 2 hour visit?”

“Yes, it’s only polite! You cannot expect them to speak English!”

“I don’t! But they COULD speak English perfectly well when I bought the thing.. When I complained about it, they couldn’t”

“Football hooligans deserve all they get.”

“Right… I’ll speak to you again tomorrow… Bye”

This is NORMAL these days… I cannot win. Suggestions welcome!

Tiling is FINISHED! That was hard work! Tilers deserve all the money they earn.. Never again for for me!

Well.. I was totally immobilised from the previous day of tiling.. My knees are are sore and bruised.. The tiles still look like badly laid tiles.. Tomorrow will get the photos after I’ve cleaned up, again.. Maybe!

Today, I received 4 books I ordered from Amazon about China. 2 translation books plus the “Rough guide” and “The Lonely Planet” - Very interesting reads.. The Rough Guide being the best of the four.. so far at least!

Harbin seems to be split across a river, and the northern inhabitants seem to have the rough deal… Frankly, there’s no bridge! Just a ferry or the cable car! This could be a great problem! Watch this page!

Chris says (12:31):
Did you get a reply from Nicole?
Joanne says (12:31):
no
Chris says (12:31):
She’s not been online all weekend, maybe she’s moving..
Joanne says (12:31):
do you chat to her on msn?
Chris says (12:32):
No, cos she’s not been online
Joanne says (12:32):
normally?
Chris says (12:32):
I’ve never spoken to her on MSN
Joanne says (12:32):
so what do you mean then, sh’e not been online?
Chris says (12:33):
She’s in my contacts, and I’m in hers..
Joanne says (12:33):
for msn?
Chris says (12:33):
yes
Joanne says (12:33):
but you’ve never spoken to her?
Chris says (12:33):
that’s right.. This is hard work!
Joanne says (12:33):
it certainly is!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Joanne says (12:34):
why have you never spoken to her on msn if you’re in each others contact list?
Chris says (12:35):
Because I added her to mine, and she added me to hers.. presumably when I was asleep
Joanne says (12:35):
so how did she know your contact details?
Chris says (12:36):
She sent her details for msn in an email.. So I used those
Joanne says (12:36):
so how did she know your contact details?
Chris says (12:37):
If I add her to my contacts, she gets mine.. Or something like that..
Joanne says (12:37):
yeah right!
Chris says (12:37):
You got the same email
Joanne says (12:38):
don’t remember seeing anything about msn contact details
Chris says (12:38):
oh well, they were there… Otherwise how would I know?
Joanne says (12:38):
know what?
Chris says (12:39):
her MSN details
Joanne says (12:39):
because you obviously asked her for them
Chris says (12:41):
23/05/2007
Chris says (12:41):
email from Nicole to BOTH of us, with her MSN contact details
Joanne says (12:42):
after sending yours to her on 22/05/07
Chris says (12:42):
and I copied you in on it!
Chris says (12:42):
It’s no secret
Joanne says (12:42):
if you hadn’t how would i have known you sent her your details
Chris says (12:43):
What have I done wrong now? When she sent me her MSN I added her
Joanne says (12:44):
after you had sent her your details
Chris says (12:44):
which I told you about… What’s the problem?
Joanne says (12:44):
who said there was a problem?
Chris says (12:45):
I add lots of people to my MSN. I use it a heck of a lot.
Chris says (12:45):
It would be very useful to talk online rather than via email
Joanne says (12:45):
especially as she doesn’t reply to e-mails
Chris says (12:46):
That’s hardly fair.. She’s been brilliant up to now.. For some reason she may not have internet access this weekend
Joanne says (12:47):
its exactly fair, i send her an e-mail and she hasn’t replied, i’m stating a fact!!!!!!!!!!!
Chris says (12:48):
one email
Joanne says (12:49):
the only one i have sent and the only one that hasn’t been replied to, if i had sent her 50 e-mails and she hadn’t replied to 50 then its the same isn’t it?
Chris says (12:50):
She’s replied to all the others, plus she was quick to send the first one. As I haven’t seen her online this weekend I am assuming she doesn’t have access, or she’s doing something else.
Joanne says (12:50):
well you asked if she had replied to my e-mails and i said no
Chris says (12:52):
Take it up with her if you feel it’s not right
Joanne says (12:52):
maybe i should because i’m obviously getting nowhere with you
Chris says (12:53):
ok - I can’t speak for her, I have no idea why she hasn’t replied, I can only surmise
Joanne says (12:54):
i’d better be going anyway, we’ve obviously got nothing to say to each other today
Chris says (12:55):
take care
Joanne says (12:55):
bye

Well, I’ve finally stuck all the tiles to the bathroom floor, and some of them are level too! Tomorrow is grouting day. Had another weird MSN exchange with Joanne… Apparently it’s my fault that someone else doesn’t reply to her emails. Of course it is! Silly old me!

Trying to find cheap one-way flights to Harbin is becoming an ever increasing nightmare. I will be booking flights as soon as I get my “Z” visa and that can’t come quickly enough as the prices seem to be going up on a daily basis.

In just over three months time I will be in China for at least 11 months. I’m leaving behind a house and a mortgage, which I won’t be able to afford on my measly £350 monthly Chinese wages. Well, it’s measly compared to UK wages, but it’s quite a lot in Harbin apparently. However, my mortgage needs to be paid in Pounds, not in RMB which gives me a slight problem.

I need to re-furbish the property to a decent standard which will allow me to rent it out and with the income I can pay the mortgage. So… I need to do the following:

• Tile and decorate the bathroom
• Rip out old central heating
• Install new central heating
• Rip out the old kitchen
• Put new electrics in the kitchen
• Put in a new kitchen
• Carpet and decorate living room
• Carpet and decorate 3 bedrooms
• Sort out the garage and garden.

On top of that, I need to sort out my working visa and residency permit for China, and book flights… Oh, and did I mention the list of vaccinations needed?

• Hepatitis A (2 jabs)
• Hepatitis B (3 Jabs)
• Rabies (3 Jabs)
• Typhoid
• Diphtheria
• Polio
• Tetanus
• Japanese Encephalitis
• Measles
• Mumps
• Rubella
• Tuberculosis
• Malaria (If travelling within China)

The good news is that I don’t need the last 5 So, just the 13 jabs then, that’s a relief!

Welcome to my latest blog. This is the very first entry!