Longhua Temple

Actually, it's not just Longhua Temple, but a mish mash of photos from the last week.  The above photo is the pots that I made up from the succulents I bought at the flower market with Mum for a bargain 20p each!!! I fully intended on keeping the blue pot, but the bottom left one just sung to me, so that one is now on my windowsill looking fabulous.

A couple of funny cat pictures...

Below was Mum's last night with us in Shanghai, when we went to Pistoleras Mexican restaurant for chimichangas and coconut margaritas. Yum!

On Monday, Mum and I went for an explore at Longhua Temple, which is a very nice area.  It's a working temple just like the Jade Buddha Pagoda but it somehow felt more 'real'.  It was very relaxed and not at all commercialized like the other ones we have seen.  Just very chilled and a nice atmosphere.  We also visited Martyrs park, which is next door and had some lovely sculptures and a beautiful pond full of lotus flowers.  It was just too hot.  So hot you couldn't really think properly.  And so humid it made just being in the shade unpleasant.  So, we didn't stay very long, and ended up getting a cab home rather than facing the metro.  We went for Yang's dumplings for lunch too because we were feeling sorry for ourselves with Mum leaving and nothing cheers you up quite like a Yang's dumpling!

Then we had our few days in Xi'An (see earlier blog post), and the successful doctors appointment.  On Friday evening we went to a great restaurant called Sichuan Citizen, which did the most delicious and spicy food ever.  They have a signature cocktail called a basil drop, which may be the nicest thing i've ever had to drink.

I also had all my hair cut off on Friday, which feels much cooler in this crazy Shanghai summer heat.  The hair dresser literally cut off 12 inches of pony tail!