Birthday week!

Hey hey! So, yet again the week has flown by. This time last week I was celebrating my 24th birthday. I had an average day at work and then by the evening I was happy, excited and relaxed. I’d organised an Indian meal at one of my favourite Indian restaurants, Masala Art. I had such an amazing evening and I felt so loved. I hadn’t expected it all, but my closest friends gave me birthday gifts of flowers, ornaments, beauty products, jewellery, flowers and a big cute teddy! My best friend, Furkan, even organised a surprise cake for me with candles! I didn’t have that last year, so it was really nice to celebrate my birthday away from home with the sorts of things I’d have at home. I must admit in the taxi home, especially having spoken to my amazing Grandma who I love so much, I felt pretty emotional. That’s normal though really. I mean come on. It’s not that I miss England and am dying to get back there. But it is a matter of missing those loved ones, missing out on a whole year of their lives… because I know especially… that a lot can happen in a year.

So, the next couple of days were work and back to reality! I feel so mature and “adult” these days. I’m so busy all the time, there’s not much time for drinking excessively and clubbing. I quite like it though. Working, travelling, exploring and keeping fit. I’m currently particularly in “saving mode” due to the Spring Festival coming up! I’ve been told I may potentially have two months off! My heart is set on India. I have this inner-urge, and I think I’ll do it! Anyway, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday flew by with work and MMA/coffee shop working evenings.

In no time my favourite day arrived – FRIDAY. I went to my regular Chinese lesson at 11-12 and then headed to Shanghai Foreign Language Book Store on Fuzhou Lu to work. I got some lesson plans done, other TEIC work and started looking into travels for the Spring Festival. The weather was lovely again which was nice. I had tutoring and then went home as I was exhausted after a long week! Furkan and I ordered a takeout and helped me to book my HSK 1 examination on the 4th December! (currently studying for this I’m really enjoying Chinese)

Over the weekend, the weather was LOVELY again. Hot, sunny and great. On Saturday I woke up feeling fresh and happy due to the lovely weather. I decided to challenge myself to ride the scooter all the way from my home to at least West Nanjing Road. I’d be meeting a friend, Lesley, at 3:30 at East Nanjing Road. So I dared to do it! I happily enjoyed my ride with the lovely sun shining and my final destination was West Nanjing road. From here, I decided to park the scooter, shop around and gradually walk towards East Nanjing road where I’d meet Lesley for a coffee and later Grace for a Chinese lesson.

I treated myself in Innis Free to some lovely green tea skin products and other pomegranate Jeju beauty products. After this I headed to meet Lesley. We wandered until we saw a really cute book shop tea café. It was here I had a lovely tea and a catchup! A bit later, at 4:30, Grace arrived to teach me Chinese for an hour. I love our lessons. I feel so great afterwards having spoken one of the most difficult languages ever for an hour!

After my lesson, Sarah, Lesley and I had a dinner at a lovely, Cantonese restaurant. We had a scrumptious meal and chatted the evening away. After this, Sarah and I headed to a friend’s place to hang out. They had an amazing view of Shanghai and a beautiful house. After a lovely evening we ordered a BBQ from a Chinese app (YES we ordered BBQ loved it) and went to sleep!

Yesterday, I had quite a productive day of tutoring, Chinese lesson, lesson planning and lunch with a friend.  Life’s just relaxed I guess. Got my routine going. The next big excitement is the build-up towards Spring Festival. I’ve been told I’ll finish teaching after Christmas!

I’ll be in touch,


Sabrina Xxx





Location: Shanghai, China

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