Preparations

Preparations are well underway. Tickets have been purchased and the visas are being processed. But there is still much to do.

We've just been back from a shopping spree of sorts at High Street Kensington (good place for travel shops btw), hauling back bags of expensive and alas (to my mind at least), not very fashionable travel gear and clothing. Family have been sending useful chinese phrases, written phonetically ("Chia chien chih thwoh?") since I cannot read chinese and JD is making a nuisance of himself, constantly making silly high pitched "shrrhh shrrrhh" sounds trying to sound Pekingnese...

Oh, and if anyone's interested, I've written down the thought processes that we've had to go through when planning the trip. True to form, I've included checklists for everything.