Shanghai again

Back to Shanghai to stay with Dave and Sarah and their two children, Alex (N's one-time best school-friend - see 15 Feb post) and Yasmin. They live in a big apartment in the suburbs, but with more amenities than some of the other places we've seen, though it still doesn't really feel like China. By now we're a bit knackered so we spend the weekend relaxing and chatting about schools (again), where to buy food, work, language, what to ship and what to chuck etc. The weather picks up a bit although by the time I venture out to the old quarter of Yu Yuan (see photo) it's raining again.

It's also the weekend of the Shanghai Grand Prix. Button and Hamilton finish 1st and 2nd so Dave, who follows F1, is in better spirits than the previous day when Chelsea, his team, lost to Spurs and Man U won in the last 15 seconds.

Back to Bangkok by Monday night. Seems less like a holiday and more like a research visit which of course it was. Bizarrely, Ian (whom we stayed with during our first session in Shanghai) was on the same flight as us, making a factory visit to Ford's Thailand factory. In fact in the same row!