This n That (Marcus)

We've had a pretty busy week really. It feels like it anyway. I think the muggy weather is largely responsible for how tired we feel - oh and the fact that last night we both had an absolutely shocking nights sleep.

Why?

Oh only because there were 6 or so mosquitoes in our bed net. Yes, SIX!! How they are getting in there god literally only knows. Courtney and I have been debating it. I think that where the 3 zippers intersect, the mozzies are getting in via the very small hole between them. If you zip them up very very carefully, the hole is absolutely tiny - too small for them to get through(I think). If you zip them up and don't double/triple check it, it leaves a very small hole, but I think still big enough for them to get in. It really is annoying having to be so paranoid - but man the pain outweighs the fun of having them biting you ceaselessly in the dark.

Courtney thinks that when we're entering/exiting the net(again via the zip holes), the mosquitoes are making a break for it and coming in with us. I don't know if they're that smart..or rather, that opportunistic. She however feels the hole is too small - or more accurately - how would they even find it?

I have read up on them(looking for a way to bring in mosquito genocide) and I know they have super good senses - comparable to a jet fighter plane(no shit!). I don't know how well they can see in the dark, nor do they seem to crawl all over the place exploring. They seem to just land on the wall and observe. I think they are more than aware of the hole being there and make good use of it.

If it's not one of the above two reasons - well like I said, god only knows how they're getting in there. It hasn't been every night, but there's been a few nights now.

At 1am I had had enough. My right hand was so itchy in multiple places that I couldn't possibly ignore it. I got my mobile phone out and used it's light function(it has a really strong lamp on the back of it) to search around the inside of the net - unfortunately waking Courtney. It wasn't for nothing however as I killed two mozzies. A third was already dead- probably inadvertently squashed by my flailing about.

Aftermath of the battle.

Come 2am I am still itching and in more places so I figure there are more there. I didn't want to turn on the mobile light again, as I hate waking Courtney, but worse, I just can't deal with being freely bitten like that. Moreso when it's warm in the room and I am not sleeping under the covers - aka I am a human smorgasboard. So I turn on the light and voila, at least another 3 die to the racket of death. I managed to sleep for the rest of the night, but still feel overtired. Courtney didn't fare so well unfortunately - though it seems that I was the main mozzie target anyway.

So enough of mosquitoes for now. I hate the little pricks and they are getting far too much blog attention! Unfortunately they are on my mind most of the time though :(

So in a recent post I spoke about tiled/bricked roads and how poor quality they were - as they were always broken. Well take a look at this lovely stretch of path outside our old favourite restaurant(the one that has since disappeared)



This is not an uncommon site either! I did crack up in the city the other day. I have written previously about stepping on bricks and having water come out from under them and swamp my foot - when I looked down, the water was gone, my foot soaked and I had no idea what caused it - remember? Well in Wuxi CBD the other day we were walking along, and I watched the exact same thing happen to this guy - BUT - it wasn't water - it was jet black liquid - like oil. He stepped on the brick, SWOOSH out comes the wave of black shit, soaked his shoe then away it went back into it's brick hiding place. He walked on none the wiser. Ahh, it amused me.

And completely unrelated - I suspect that as the newer generations of Chinese grow up; thanks to western cultural influence(ie: Starbucks..Pizza Hut), I think the population is slowly going to become fatter and fatter. As a whole the Chinese are a very, I guess you would say thin race. Certainly compared to your average Australian, American or English citizen they are. Many are stick thin in fact and they just have typically smaller frames than most westerners.

Well with the advent of fatter more western foods, I can see that changing. The Chinese seem to have an absolute love of ice-cream and cream. Now this I don't think is western influence as there are ice cream fridges in practically EVERY store everywhere. You name it, it has an ice-cream fridge. Clothes store? check. Mechanic? check. I even saw one as a stand-alone unit combined with a trailer out in one of the food streets opposite a factory. Check out the two photos below:

Here we have two women drinking frappucinos in Starbucks. Now i happen to absolutely LOVE mocca frappucino's(and I feel like a dick saying that out loud as it sounds so oooh coffee try-hard!), but if you haven't had one before, they're basically a big tasty ice-coffee and absolutely laden with fat. The two girls above were onto their second. They always order the largest size and often drink multiples.

Again here are another pair of girls whoofing down their frappucinos. *Note - when I order these, i ask for it without the cream on top - I just don't need that extra fatty goodness in my diet. 'Mid-frappa' one of the women ducked out, then returned with a tub of ice-cream(seen in centre).

We have only been to Starbucks a few times - not because we are fans of Starbucks, Courtney in fact hates them, and I well, like i said, I have a weakness for frappucinos(they're so awesome!) - however, it's also one of the only places in China you can get a proper coffee. It's 50/50 in most other coffee houses - I've had some good, some bad. The one across the road from our campus for example makes a cappucino with a huge clump of this disgusting sweet cream(which is kinda hard on the edges) and a piece of shaved orange peel in the middle. Mmm mmmh. So anyway, we have been to Starbuck's several times, and each time marvelled at these people who seem to just sit there all afternoon and drink these huge fatty drinks one after one.

The Chinese are also mad about KFC, and it's rare to see Pizza Hut without a queue waiting outside its door for people to leave(such as the one we got stuck in for an hour one time). I don't think I have seen a KFC here that is quiet - and Wuxi must have around 6-7 at least. KFC, Starbucks, Pizza Hut, McDonalds - they're always packed with people.

How will this effect their future generations? The younger people now 1. love junk food, and 2. love the internet - sitting in net cafe's or their homes playing games for as much free time as they have(which if they are a student, is bugger all).

Time will tell!