Returning from America, we had the bad news of mum’s second major stroke, and although I flew back as quickly as I could, mum passed away as I was transiting in Paris. I am happy that mum is now in her new heavenly body and reunited with dad, so is in a better place – but it is still hard to lose someone you love.

Routines have returned – life is busy at school, as always, and with my course. We did reinstate the ‘Saturday Walks’ – this is a chance to simply go out into the Singapore countryside. So, the first set of pics is from a treetop walk in one of the many national parks.



The second, another Saturday walk, was in the Chinese Gardens, another park in Singapore, but also home to a Turtle Museum - a great place to be when the sun is shining!


I had a mini health scare in the Autumn, blood in the urine made me go and see the local doctor, who sent me to a specialist with suspected kidney stones. Specialist was pretty sure that was not the case – but recommended an MRI to be sure.  The MRI was done with a colour dye, which revealed my left kidney was completely blocked with no dye getting through the system. I was in hospital and operated on the very next day for stage 4 kidney failure .   Good news is, operation was a full success, kidney is working fine again, and all is well (and medical insurance paid!).

Winter saw us heading back to Beihai to spend some time with Shanhong’s parents. We spent Christmas in our own home, putting up the tree and inviting friends around!, including unwrapping pressies on Christmas morning!

The big ‘surprise’, however, was going to the island of Hainan for New Year, where it turns out Shanhong’s parents had bought a new apartment! So – we arrived, and on day 1 had contractors in fitting the shower and doing the plumbing while we put together beds and other furniture! Three days later – almost everything had arrived, been built, and they were settled in. It’s a beautiful place with a fantastic sea view – so will finish this report at their new home!

That’s all for today – take care and keep in touch!    Love n Hugs,   Trevor, Shanhong & Teddy xxx