This morning I left for work while our Yue Sao was reading to Tanya. Every morning she reads to her for at least 20 minutes, while Tanya is transfixed by her voice and stories. However, when I came home after work the Yue Sao was gone. Canthy had a big fight with her and fired her on the spot. I can’t say I was surprised, as Canthy and her have had many fights and tears over the last two months. It wasn’t that the Yue Sao was bad at her job; infact she was very good and professional. But sometimes she was just too tough and her character clashed with Canthy. I felt a bit sad at the situation and I wish Canthy had discussed this with me beforehand. However, I have to side with Canthy and I told her as long as she was happy that she did the right thing, then I was OK with her decision. It just means that Canthy will have much more to do in bringing up our baby. And so will I—at least until we can find another replacement

I’ve passed this fast food shops dozens of time but have yet to try the food. It’s called Kung Fu Fast Food and is a very famous and popular brand in China. It uses the iconic image of Bruce Lee as its logo and has other images of him throughout the interiors. I don’t think there is any official link to Bruce Lee, but he is probably the most famous Chinese movie star ever. Despite the fact he has been dead almost 40 years his image is still very bankable. However, as I haven’t eaten there yet, I have no idea if the food is kick arse or not.

Our Yue Sau has already started to try and toilet train Tanya though she is just a few months old. Apparently they start this process young in China, even though Tanya will continue to wear nappies for long time. Basically this involves holding Tanya over a wastebasket and then making grunting noises, like your going to the loo. So this morning Canthy, Yue Sao and I, were all making grunting sounds but Tanya didn’t go. She just starred back at us looking puzzled, as we all made strange animals grunts.

Everyday our Yue Sao gives Tanya and bath and then an oil rubdown and massage. Tanya seems to loves it especially the massage on her back. When she puts Tanya on her front she is always trying to raise her head and crawl. But she doesn’t have the coordination or strength yet to move. So she just moves her fat little “Michelin Man” arms up and down without going anywhere. It makes me laugh but Canthy always feels 可怜 kělián, “pity” for her. However, I told her to be thankful for now, because when she starts to crawl, we will really have to pay attention on her movements.

Sunday afternoon is turning into a regular swimming day for Tanya. We’ve been taking her for several weeks now and she absolutely loves it. At first she just use to float there and not do much. However now she is kicking her little arms and legs and moving around the pool on her own. We bought her these cute little blue swimming trunks that had sewn on fishtails that make her look like a little mermaid. Then Canthy saw another little girl wearing a pink bikini and wanted to buy one for her. But I told her Tanya is too young to be wearing one of those so maybe when she gets older. Then the other mother told me her daughter was only six months old. Maybe I am old fashioned but it just seems to young for girls to wear bikinis.

I’ve have three iPods over the last three years. One I lost, one suddenly couldn’t be charged and the last one the screen broke. However I have still been using it but you just cant see what your playing. Frustratingly stupid, so I finally decided to buy myself a new one. My friend Neil told me that Apple are bring out a new iPod later this year but I just couldn’t wait. Especially as I had been complaining to Canthy that I couldn’t go to the gym without my iPod. The Apple shop was packed on a Saturday morning as usual with several hundreds people playing with the gadgets. I ended up buying a shiny new blue one, with a built in camera that I’ll probably never use. But now I’ve got one, it’s one less reason that I cant use for not going to the gym.

Tanya’s getting bigger and heavier so she no longer a little baby anymore. We have found a new position for her, which she likes as she can practice standing up. Well she doesn’t have the muscle strength to really stand on her own, but she likes to lean and kick her legs out. I don’t think she will be walking for a long time but our Yue Sao says it is a good exercise for her. Canthy as I both like it too as we can rest Tanya on our legs. Which is more comfortable and less tiring and gives us more freedom to play with Tanya. It also means I can watch TV over the top of her without worrying that I might drop her

Over dinner last night, my potential client was talking about his life in Guangzhou and revealed an amazing fact. That Guangzhou has the tallest TV tower in the world, which is also the third tallest structure in the world. I was amazed and initially in some disbelief, as I have never heard or seen of this since I had been in the city. The next morning I Google searched and he was right. The Guangzhou TV Tower is 620 meters tall and the second tallest structure behind the Burq Khalifa, which I visited last year. More amazing as I looked out of my window I realised I could just see it just hidden behind another building. Well it didn’t look so big, and I am not sure if it is open yet. It’s designed by Information Based Architecture, from Amsterdam, with an interesting lattice design which is suppose to create a “female tower”.  Well it certainly looks interesting so next time I am in Guangzhou I will definitely go and take a closer look.

I flew back to Guangzhou this morning for another series of presentations. We always stay at the Westin Hotel, which is situated conveniently across the road from our client’s office. Mooncake season has arrived, so all the hotels, restaurants and supermarkets are starting to display their goods. Mooncakes are a typical Chinese desert, which is only eaten during the Mid Autumn Festival, which is the 15^th day of the 8^th Month of the Chinese calendar. This year it is on September 22, which is when the moon will be the brightest. Most Mooncake packaging tends to be overtly Chinese, in shades of red and gold and covered in dragons and other Chinese symbols, which can look brash. However, this packaging looks very modern and sophisticated, which I suppose you would expect of the Westin. As Mooncakes are normally given away as gifts the packaging become an important part of the experience. Think I might buy some later and take back to my colleagues in the office.

We bought Tanya this great toy, which Canthy calls a “carnival” toy as it’s like the funfairs she seen on TV. It really cool as it plays different music and all the toys makes different sounds. Some rattle, some honk and other beep, which keeps Tanya’s attention while she lays there kicking her arms and legs about. She has just started to bite her thumb, which according to Chinese superstition means our next baby will be a boy! However, I told Canthy it’s a bit too early to start thinking about another baby as we haven’t even worked out how to look after this one yet