End of the Ivs shower

Well, I can't wait for this set of IVs to end and to have that lovely first proper shower without worrying about getting my cannula wet - I also haven't had the sense of smell for the last ten days possibly thanks to the Meropenem. And the runs. it's all good fun ;-) ...also; I've been thinking about this a while but I don't think the IVs are having as big a clearing effect on me as they used to, it's taken till the end of the 2 week course for the IVs to start to kick in on clearing my lungs...I swear it used to take 3 days before my lungs would go clear...why this is now I don't really know - I suspect it may be because my small airways are getting more knackered (losing their elasticity, otherwise known as COPD) so it is getting harder and harder for me to bring up the mucus from the small airways. I was also wondering whether it was down to the IV Tobramycin causing a problem in a similar way to the nebbed Tobi which caused my lungs to produce more sputum. Don't know. Maybe I need to chat to the doctors about trying something else...maybe a three week course instead of just two (shudder, hurl), or maybe with prednisolone?? anyway here's hoping the holiday air will clear my rubbish lungs just as much as the IVs...

Off to France tomorrow (Vendee) with the kids, via a car, ferry, and getting lost in France...hope the sense of smell returns in time to smell the sea, the sun and the French food ;-)

Ibiza In Pictures

Turkey Break in Pictures

30 hours in Paris

Urgh, this blog is a bit out of date, I clean forgot to post this blog last month about our short trip to Disneyland Paris with Abby and Oscar.

Last (Halloween) weekend we went for a very short trip to Paris staying at Disneyland Paris. We caught the FlyBe from Manchester in the early Friday afternoon to Paris Charles De Gaul. We then got a bus then a train to straight to the Eiffel Tower with kids in tow. Abby was quite keen to climb the tower, especially when she saw it all lit up at night. Problem was, it was much busier than we anticipated, so we then had to pursued her that it was much better to head to the Hotel in Disney Village.

Anyway we arrived late at night at the hotel and everyone went straight to bed.

Saturday: we then spent our one full day in Disneyland. It had a Disney Halloween pumpkin theme with lots of men dressed up as pumpkin men. Abby was very excited by all things Disney-princess-like, so we basically spent the whole day in the fantasia (Disney castle) part of Disneyland. Halfway through the day Abby got exhausted so we went back to the hotel for a rest before heading back for the Disney Halloween parade. Abby was very scared of the Halloween monsters and kept hiding behind me when they tried to talk to her ;-)

Sunday, we caught a taxi back to the airport and were back in Manchester late Sunday morning. Maybe we should have stayed longer but Abby may have found it too exhausting!

Boston in the Fall

Well, me and R finally decided to go to Boston for a long weekend to celebrate our tenth wedding anniversary. The in-laws offered to look after Abby and Oscar for the weekend so we were all set. We took the afternoon flight to Boston via Heathrow, during the main flight there was a choice of films to watch, and because we don't usually get the chance to watch any films during the flight (because we're usually trying to keep the kids entertained) we both crammed as much as we could into the flight!) I watched Moon, The Last King Of Scotland and Che part 2. Of the 3 I'd recommend Moon if you like intelligent sci-fi, and The Last King of Scotland if you like to be terrified...Che part 2 was a bit boring for me; well acted but devoid of tension because I knew the ending. I was also left not really knowing who Che Guevara really was...
We arrived in Boston late on the Friday and caught a cab straight to the hotel where some champagne was waiting for us in the room, we then stumbled around looking for a restaurant (I wanted to try an Afghan restaurant around the corner but R fancied an Italian so we eventually found one inside another hotel after going round in circles for what seemed like a long time ;-)) and then we were truly knackered so we went straight to bed.

In the morning the view from the hotel looked a bit too much like Manchester; cloudy, grey and raining but we decided to make the most of it, went to the shopping centre next door to buy a couple of rain coats for the baseball and then set off on the freedom trail. The freedom trail is a redbrick trail that starts off in Boston common and takes in loads of historic sites relating to the American revolution and the historic break from Britain, and the shaping of the American government and the constitution and bill of rights. It was interesting but I felt a bit funny as a British tourist reading about the British army being vilified and the British parliament hated for their taxes! (I think the paper tax, a tax on all forms of paper was the last straw!) In the guide book the walk was supposed to take 90 minutes, but when we did it it took us most of the day, we did stop for lunch and go into some of the state museums though. Beware when ordering lunch in diners/restaurants; sometimes the portions are huge! Me and R ordered a couple of basic pasta dishes from an Italian diner and the plates that came with the meal were enough to feed a family of four; we would have been better off ordering one meal between the the two of us! It is true what they say about America, if you are there for a long period you would easily put on at least a stone...
When we got back to the hotel it was time for a quick shower before going to see the Boston Red Sox on the Metro; R had always wanted to go to an American baseball match since I can remember. The match was good, The away side (The Cleveland Indians) started off well but the Red Sox seemed to have a bit more quality and after a massive score with a home run with 3 other players on the bases in the 3rd period they always looked the likelier winner (if that makes sense to anyone let me know, I'm not sure I understood it ;-)) Baseball is much more of a social affair than the football we have here, there's lots of chatting through the match and a constant procession of boys carrying food above there heads shouting "Clam Chowder! I got Clam Chowder Right Here" and "Hot Dogs! Get your hot dogs here" So you can scoff your face through the match without having to get up! I've got to say the local clam chowder is worth trying especially if you need warming up on a cold night!
On the Sunday thankfully the weather was brightening up. We decided to book the whale watching at Boston harbour; it's a three hour round trip and apparently it can get a bit hairy if the sea is rough. Thankfully for us it was a beautiful day and there were plenty of humpback whales around. They are quite breathtaking to see close up. When they surface they do a really loud exhale creating loads of steam -they exhale something like 90% of the air from their lungs so they can take a deep breath before diving back down- humans exhale 25% to give you an idea of the super-FEV1 that a humpback whale must have ;-)
On the way back we had a wander though the City, I was going to buy R something nice from Tiffany's but we didn't find anything she really liked so we decided to console ourselves in the Cheers bar. As you might expect it is a bit touristy in there. On the last (half) day we got a quick coffee and bagel (or cwoffee and baygel as they say in Boston) and had a wander around Harvard trying to look intelligent (!) before a last meal in the Cheesecake factory (desert is literally 100s of different flavours of cheesecake) and then home. I've got to say I really like Boston, there's less to do than in New York, but the people seem friendlier, and there's more of an old colonial/British-Irish feel that made me feel really at home. We missed the kids terribly though!

Four Sleeps 'Til Boston...

Only four sleeps till me and the misses go for a long weekend in Boston for our tenth anniversary! Boston in the fall. I'm torn; I'm excited, but it's the first time we've been away from the kids for longer than a night, so we'll miss them big time. It'll be strange being husband and wife rather that mum and dad for a few days. What the hell will we talk about? ;-)

We've been "mum" and "dad" for so long I've forgotten what we used to talk about before the rugrats arrived. Mealtimes will be strange as well without having to figure out what Abby will eat on the menu and quickly then wolf down our food before Oscar gets bored and attempts to swallow dive off the top of his high chair...:-)

parte dos del Menorca...

Menorca came and went in a blur of sun, sea, sand, swimming pools, hyperactive children and more annoyingly hyperactive reps. We stayed at the Victoria Playa hotel, which was very child-friendly and did some really nice (half board) buffet food. The buffet was a bit bland but they did do some more adventurous traditional Menorcan dishes like tapas, lobster soup and a tripe casserole with chick peas and chorizo. Abby did OK with the food because there was a kids buffet section with chips, beans and ice cream. Oscar took a fancy to the french baguettes, they helped with his teething. I was eating like a king; a cooked breakfast every day with danish pastries, toast, something with chips for lunch and a full three course meal in the evening couretesy of the buffet. I swear a normal person would have put on half a stone after 6 days on that diet; I'd just gained 1 pound when I got back, Grrrr ;-)

The pictures below are from when we hired a car for a couple of days and went up El Toro, a mountain in the middle of the island with a church at the top. On a clear day you can see the whole of the island. from the top. We also went to the two main port towns on the island; Ciutadella and Mahon, they are both well worth visiting for their fantastic architecture. As for the kids, well, Oscar was a real handful (crawling everywhere, opening and closing doors, ripping up other peoples Heat magazine, putting our plane tickets down the hotel toilet, etc) and Abby had a great time, she's getting very confident in the water, diving underwater in the swimming pools and even ventured out quite far in the sea. She didn't quite get into the social side of things with the other children until the last couple of nights though. The only complaint I'd have is the rooms, they were a bit cramped with Oscar in a cot on one side of our bed and Abby in a single bed on the other side. This meant that we always woke up early because whoever woke up first would always wake everyone else up...

Well, ho hum back to work and I'm still ridiculously overworked doing two people's jobs. I'd complain if I wasn't so pathetically thankful of having a job in this recession (another friend of mine has just been made redundant and he's been working for the same company for 20 years+

Anyway, to cheer me up, here's is a little video of Abby's new favourite "wash up" song as she calls it (The Boy Does Nothing by Alicia Dixon), they play it a nursery at the end of the day when they're tidying up :-)

The water in Menorca don't taste like what it 'orta

Here's some pics from Menorca. Menorca's lovely, I'd definitely go there again. A cheesy Judith Charmers-style write up will follow when and if I get some time ;-)

Shanghai Part 3; Jin Mao

Thursday: Decided to walk to the Yu Garden & Bazaar (Tea) area with everyone together this time, it seemed the safer option ;-) After a bit of haggling with the shop owners (tip: They always start at a price at least double of what it's actually worth, so play them at there own game and start by offering them 1/4 of what it's worth or less and meet them in the middle. That was the plan anyway, but me and R kept fluffing our lines and confusing ourselves instead of the sellers ;-)

Friday: Last day, so we took Abby to the massive Aquarium in Pudong, which was great, although Abby spent almost as long in the gift shop choosing a toy than in the aquarium(s) checking out the fish! After that it was another swim in the hotel pool with the family at Abby's request ;-) It was then time for a farewell Japanese meal (with more sushi and sashimi and extra wasabi, bliss ;-)). After that R's brother and the in-laws kindly babysat so me and R could go to the highest bar in the world at the top of the Jin Mao tower for some romantic cocktails; they were very expensive but very worth it just for the fantastic view over the city at night. We both had champagne cocktails so we could pretend to be rich and famous for half an hour ;-)

Shanghai Part 2: Pudong and Dumplings stuffed with the Ovary and Digestive Glands of a Crab...

Tuesday: I should mention that the weather was not so good; it was a bit grey and murky, the temperature was round about 14 Degrees C, not as cold and wet as back in Britain; but still, it could have been better! Talking to R's brother, in the summer it far gets too hot and humid in the city, so if you're thinking of a trip the ideal time would probably be in the spring/autumn. Who knows you may even get some sun ;-) Anyway, today we took the kids into Pudong, up the second highest tower in the world, the Financial Center or the "Bottle Opener" as it is affectionately known. Going up the lifts your ears pop about 10 times due to the change in altitude. At the top of the tower there is a glass bridge which forms the top of the tower, quite scary, but Abby seemed to take it all in her fearless stride. Oscar was less impressed ;-) he fell asleep while I was taking photos from the top of the tower, bless! Then back to the hotel for another swim ;-)




Wednesday: Went (back) to Pudong, as that is where all the major touristy things are. went to the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum , which was massive and full of lots of kid experiments and learn/play areas for Abby to enjoy, like a robot arm that drew a picture of Abs. We then had a walk around the nearby Century Park (Shiji Gongyuan), Shanghai's biggest park. Unfortunately/fortunately Abby fell asleep before we found the arcade rides ;-) We then got some vegetable and *ground bone* baby food from the nearby supermarket for Oscar as he was running out. We then had a bit of a nightmare as the taxis don't seem to like going out of their district in the rush hour, so we had to take a two stage taxi ride.

R's brother took me for an expedition to get some cut price DVDs (DVDs are 50p a shot over there, I picked up about 10 of the latest films for about £4!!!! Highly recommended, not sure about the legality of it all...;-) had a quick meal in a pizza place (R's brother was totally bored of Chinese food after 6 months there so kept trying to find us western food restaurants, grrrr! It's actually a good idea for Abby because she prefers plain food, but I just don't think the Chinese do good western /Italian food; I think they should stick to what they're good at, and we should stick to eating it ;-) We then went to the Yu Garden & Bazaar (Chinese Tea area), but lost the in laws and R's brother. Even though we asked to go to the same place the taxis dropped us off in different areas and we had no way of knowing where each other were...what did we do before mobile phones?



We then found an *interesting* eatery (see left photo), I was all up for trying it but no one else seemed interested, for shame ;-) anyway we decided to try KFC so Abby could have some chips, but she fell asleep before we could order, KFC did do delicious crab claws in breadcrumbs as a side order, so not all bad. After that it was back to the hotel to meet up with the in-laws, who were a bit worried. A bit of a drama but no harm done; we were all safe and sound. R's brother had scared us all a bit with tales of unlicensed taxis taking people down back streets to do impromptu kidney removals for lucrative transplants, but I'm not sure how much truth there is in this, probably just an urban legend?! In the evening we decided to try the the Japanese restaurant that was attached to the hotel via a secret passage, and ordered Sushi (gorgeous, but why is there never enough of it? I swear I could eat 100 sushi pieces and still not have enough ;-)) and lovely big Ramen noodles with roasted eel. Funnily enough this turned out to be the best restaurant we found on the trip, and it was right next to us.

Shanghai Part 1: Batman,TiredMan and Fish Head Curry

Saturday-Sunday: Finally, after all the immunisations and injections it was time to go! The alarm went off at 5.30, everyone except Oscar got dressed and we got picked up by taxi to go the airport, met up with R's parents at the check in and headed off for an incredibly overpriced airport breakfast. The flight (Finnair) to Shanghai changed at Helsinki which was covered in snow, part of me wanted to stay there for a day or two and build a snowman or two with Abby and maybe try and see the northern lights, but no such luck! The rest of the (night) flight went OK although it was a bit long -Oscar managed to sleep fairly OK with the baby cradles they have at the front of the rows of seats, but Abby was just too exited to settle for any amount of time. I did manage to sneak a look at one of the many films on offer - The Dark Knight, which I thought was good but a bit too long, the late Heath Ledger was brilliant as the nihilistic, unhinged Joker and he pretty much blew everyone else away whenever he was on screen, including Christian Bale, who I thought was a bit lame as Batman. Arrived at Shanghai ready to go to bed but couldn't because it was early morning over there...jet lag here we come ;-)
When we arrived R's brother was there to meet us, he is teaching over there and he took us to the hotel via the Maglev, the futuristic train that floats on a magnetic field and travels at up to 450 KM PH, it doesn't always get up to full speed, but it did for us! After a scary taxi ride we arrived at the hotel and got unpacked. I'd forgotten my DNase. Bugger. Big phlehm for me this week then ;-). We then mis-ordered some food. I was fading fast so we headed out to the Bund to get some fresh air by the Huangpu River, which overlooks the Pudong Skyscrapers on the other side of the river, like the Oriental Pearl TV Tower and the Jin Mao Tower. We got some tea at a restaurant, then we meandered back nearly getting run over by the many Shanghai cyclists and had a swim in the hotel pool which Abby loved, although Oscar got tired pretty quickly as the pool was a bit too cold for a wee baby. We then ordered a meal; had a brief scare about R's peanut allergy as her dish had whole peanuts in it even after we had expressly told the waitress about peanuts being life threatening. Anyway the food was nice, but then it was time for a very early bed, as by then I was so tired I felt like a corpse. ;-)




Monday: Had breakfast with dim sum and boiled eggs soaked in tea (actually very nice.) Went to Peoples Square, got a ropey meal (Italian/Chinese fusion which didn't really work) and went to see the museum, which was a bit of a showpiece for all the new architectural development, probably where they bring all the business suits to wow them. Anyway, Abby was very excited by it all and went charging around checking everything out, which was very cute. We then had a wander around some shops, then me and R's brother took the underground Metro to a superstore while R, Oscar, Abby and the in laws went back to the hotel for another swim at Abby's request. The Metro store was near the Maglev, it is the only place in Shanghai were you can get imported european foods like Cadbury's chocolate animals, chocolate fingers, and Old Speckled Hen ;-) we actually went to get some spoons, plates and emergency baby/kid supplies for Oscar and Abby, some baby food and some pasta, tomatoes and beans, which is Abbys fall-back food in case she doesn't take to any of the stuff in the cafes and restaurants.
Me and R then went out for a meal while the in-laws babysat in the beautiful lantern road area; which was slightly traumatic ;-). First of all some of the restaurants wouldn't accept us because of R's nut allergy, and when we finally got into a restaurant the menu was a bit, well...challenging ;-) I like to think I'm quite open minded, you know, when in Rome and all that, but some of the dishes on the menu together with the in your face photos and descriptions completely threw me; Fish Head Curry, Pigs Feet Curry, Sheep Stomach Lining curry, steamed Perch with Pigs brain. It's probably the first time I've struggled with what to order on a menu. Anyway, I eventually ordered some langestines and R ordered some Dim Sum, and both were actually very nice, although they wouldn't serve us any rice, not quite sure why as the explanation was lost in translation; we reckoned either the rice had nuts in or they had run out of rice...

Shanghai Surprise

OK, so it's not a surprise, but next weeks trip to Shanghai has sure come up on me quick. I've only got 2 full days left to sort out all the packing, and remember important things like tablets and passports, EEk! The most worrying thing is the long (12 hour) flight, how the hell are we going to survive it with a 7 month old boy and a hyperactive 3 year old?

In the last week I have, amongst other things:

• Bought a new (diesel) car with little tiny DVD screens in the back to keep little troublemakers ;-) amused on long journeys.
• Cleaned up copious amounts of sick from the interior of the new car when the self same little troublemaker was sick after a party at her cousins.
• She was also sick all over Oscar as he was in the baby seat next to her...
  
• Gone out for a lovely Valentines Day meal (Malaysian!) with my lovely wife and drank copious amounts of wine and late night whisky.
• Woke up later on in the night as R became really ill and needed another one of my Omeperezole tablets to calm her raging gastritis (fizzy lager, wine, whisky do not mix!)
• Become extremely annoyed at the top 100 sex symbols when Pamela Anderson came higher in the chart than Brigitte Bardot, and Angeline Jolie came first ahead of Marilyn Monroe...
• Completely lost my enthusiasm for work, does anyone know where I can find it?
• Fell in love with Goldfrapp's last album all over again.

The Annual Bavarian Beer Market

Well, I've been back over a week from holiday and the post-holiday blues are starting to kick in, so I think I'll cheer myself up with some pics of the kids being cute in Egypt! We've also planned a trip to Shanghai next year to visit R's brother so I will need to book some immunisations next month. I was due to get them before Egypt but the GP Nurse got worried when she found out I had CF and basically just deferred and faffed until it was too late. At work it's the Christmas party on Friday, (which will be a bit odd because I've only been there a few months really) followed by meeting some friends at the annual Christmas Bavarian market in Albert Square. They always do great mulled wine and black beer, the trick is to avoid hypothermia whilst sitting outside for several hours in December... ;-)