Tag Archives: china

The Emperor of China, Tom Forrest, an absent wife, and a widower (Rousse)

Posted on October 30, 2014 by Dreamaticus

Ancient tradition in China required the donning of a long black robe (similar to an academic gown) whenever the emperor visited. Every day during my imprisonment I was on standby for this eventuality. Meanwhile I joined in with the activities … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged academic, ancient, Archers, bars, bed, bedroom, black, blue, Bob Arnold, border, breach, china, chinos. shirt, couple, darling, dead, delight, dress, emperor, English, escape, foreigner, foreigners, gesture, gestures, gown, green, guest, hand, host, hosts, imprisonment, invisible, lake, land, language, minder, restaurant, robe, sad, sign, speak, streets, table, Tom Forrest, TPR, travel, upstairs, weight, westerner, westerners, widoer, widower, wife | Leave a comment

Facilities at the best hotel in China (Rousse)

Posted on January 3, 2014 by Dreamaticus

On a recent business trip I enjoyed the facilities of the best hotel in China. Each room boasted: A bathroom mirror that was so sophisticated that it could show you the state of the back of your teeth; A cellophane-wrapped … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged bathroom, best, cellophane, china, English, facilities, fluent, hotel, maids, mirror, room, teddy, teeth | Leave a comment

Why Diet Coke is bad for you (Rousse)

Posted on October 24, 2013 by Dreamaticus

EH and I plus a couple of others joined the queue at the canteen. My choice of dinner plate was obvious: not the plain white china, nor the bright orange-glazed rough pottery, but the Highland Stoneware Celadon rock pool dish. … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Apfelsaft, bad for you, beer, canteen, Celdadon, china, colleague, Danish, delay, Diet Coke, dinner, drink, eat, exit, Finland, flight, fridge, glaze, highland Stoneware, late, market, meat, miss, Orange, plane, plate, plea, pool, pottery, rock, rough, smoked, spirits, staff, Throwing sheep in the boardroom, venison, watch, white | Leave a comment

Herman and his (twenty-first century) hermits take a trip to Manchester Airport (Rousse)

Posted on September 24, 2013 by Dreamaticus

“It’s Herman the German” hissed AW when I asked who was at the wheel of my car. Now I understood why WB was chatting away in her native language in the passenger seat. Herman was driving us all to Manchester … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged airport, Birmingham University, business, car, china, coincidence, departure, documents, driving, German, Herman, Herman and the hermits, hermits, holiday, language, LinkedIn, lounge, Manchester, Manchester airport, Manor House, park, parking, recycle, sofa, trading, travel, trip, University of Birmingham, vehicle | Leave a comment

Chinese clamour for Christmas goods (Rousse)

Posted on April 3, 2013 by Dreamaticus

The day before our trip to China I wandered around the warehouse watching the workers select goods for the trade exhibition. Christmas-branded materials were supposed to be very popular amongst the Chinese population. Now I understood why the Chinese cash … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged cash and carry, china, Chinese, exhibition, goods, range, trade, warehouse, worker, workers | Leave a comment

Nick Hewer waves off candidate for china restoration and robot building roles (Rousse)

Posted on May 3, 2012 by Dreamaticus

I grabbed my iPhone and camera and made a dash to board the ferry back to the mainland. When Nick Hewer (Lord’s Sugar’s advisor on The Apprentice) told me that I had left my pink notebook behind I said to … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Alan Sugar, antique, apple, Apprentice, boat, camera, cardigan sea, china, Chinese, dummy, employment, engineer, ferry, grant, hearing, Hewer, iPhone, journey, limb, limbs, Lord Sugar, mainland, marketing, massage, model, Nick, Nick Hewer, notebook, pink, project, proposal, proposals, research, restoration, restore, robot, service, student, students, support, tea, technical, therapies, therapy, tourist | Leave a comment

Beware imitations: the case of the “handwoven” oriental silk rug (Rousse)

Posted on March 28, 2012 by Dreamaticus

I was in a flap. My parents would be arriving for breakfast in 15 minutes. We had no food in the house, and our silk rug from Singapore was filthy from the ashes that had spilled onto it from our … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged ash, ashes, bacon, breakfast, carpet, china, clean, cleaning, cod, decipher, dirt, eggs, fake, fire, flap, food. filth, freezer, gas, hoover, hoovering, imitation, panic, print, printing, real effect, rug, silk, Singapore, sofa, Sweden, Tesco, text, TPR, vacuum, vacuuming | Leave a comment

Rousse is left holding the rag doll baby

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Dreamaticus

The excitement invested in anticipating the trip to China and meeting SC, her husband and their children, was eclipsed by the nature of our one and only encounter. We sat in front seats of the Landrover, then they opened the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged baby, car, child, children, china, Chinese, doll, driver, exit, family, feed, feeding, kid, kids, Landrover, passenger, rag | Leave a comment

A footballer and a phone (Rousse)

Posted on November 24, 2011 by Dreamaticus

Even though he was brought up and lived in Cardiff, my cousin played soccer as an England international. I was so proud of him in his white kit. How strange it was, however, that TPR admired my cousin’s hairstyle of … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged athletic, athleticism, blond, boots, cell, charity, charity shop, china, England, football, footballer, hair, hairstyle, husband, kit, mobile, phone, shop, soccer, straight, TPR | Leave a comment

Father Christmas explains quantum mechanics (Rousse)

Posted on April 11, 2011 by Dreamaticus

The first guest speaker was an absolute marvel. Anyone would surely struggle to beat that performance. When GR invited TPR to take to the stage, I really felt for him. He, however, showed no concern. The session began in a … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged china, Christmas, counters, Father Christmas, kitchen, metal, models, pyjamas, quantum mechanics, Santa Claus, showroom, speaker, students, tartan | Leave a comment