14th September 2009 - 16th September 2009: We took an overnight train from Beijing to Xi'an but when we were booking the tickets they only had 'hard seats' left. There are a few different classes of seats on Chinese trains and this is one of their lower classes. We thought that it would be okay but……… it wasn't! Literally, hundreds of people crammed into the carriage, some even without seats just standing or sitting on the floor. Everyone was smoking and ...

8th September 2009 - 13th September 2009: We arrived in Beijing on Tuesday 8th September and to be honest for the first couple of days we found it quite tough as it has been a big culture shock on so many levels. We finally realised just how big an adventure we were undertaking and the home comforts we were giving up, including seeing our friends & family. It was also difficult to grasp the cultural changes in China - the people here have very different vi...

Its been a manic week since we got back from Dublin with some last minute shopping and various visits, so what a better way to chill out than with some friends in Match Bar on Thursday Night for my leaving drinks from work. I did manage to make a bit of an entrance by being an hour late for my own bash...... was too busy getting my hair done! Everyone was very well behaved, except for Christy, but I won't talk about that in this public forum ;) On Friday we wen...

We flew to Dublin to see my family before we set off on our adventures. We had a really FAB day and a lovely meal in Luigi's. Mam had banners & balloons up when we got home, it was soooo nice! We are going to see The Script tonight in the Olympia with Catherine, Niamh & Gary. Really looking forward to that. And I am sure there will be some fab eats & drinks along the way. Can't believe it is only one week now before we fly off to Beijing, it is...