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Back to Yingtan, Part 2: Connecting with Lia’s Past

[Continued from Part 1] On our first full day in Yingtan, we drove to Mama Zhu’s house, located in one of the little villages on the outskirts of the city. The village is surrounded by rice paddies, and we had to park on the main road and walk the narrow alleyways to Mama Zhu’s house. […]

Back to Yingtan, Part 1: The Challenges of Travelling to China

We had an amazing trip to China a few weeks ago. One of our big goals for spending time in Asia this year was to travel to China at least once. As our time here progressed, however, we kind of lost sight of that goal. The kids have been doing very well in school, and […]

Quotidian: The Mahjong Table

When we checked in to our Yingtan hotel, we were given an “upgrade” to a suite. I say “upgrade” because while it did have two beds on separate levels which was great for parental privacy, it meant that we were located in the smoky gambling wing of the hotel right across from the “massage” parlour […]

Quotidian: Driving home from Mandarin lessons

Lia practising her Mandarin on the way home from school. With daily lessons and after-school tutoring, her Mandarin has progressed by leaps and bounds. She is now reading and writing dozens of characters, and in the video she’s reading from her lesson book. She adores her teacher and is very self-motivated; she’s even taking her […]

Quotidian: Rainy season in George Town

Rainy season has returned with a vengeance to our corner of Malaysia. Here’s what our view has been like for most of the day.