 All the UK papers are talking about - the weather. | It was the penultimate day in our three-week UK visit and it just so happened to be our two year wedding anniversary. We were back at the Rafayel Hotel in Battersea and enjoying our full English breakfast outdoors overlooking the River Thames. All the morning papers were talking about – the weather. Literally from the moment we stepped off our flight from Shanghai we have had unprecedented sunshine and hot weather throughout. “Not since the summer of 1976 have we had continued heat like this…” read one article.
Downing the last of our fruit juices and slapping on some sun protection it was off to central London to mark our 24 months as husband and wife.
| Despite having a relatively long stay in the UK, there were still countless things and people we hadn’t managed to visit. One such location we could not leave without a viewing was Buckingham Palace. The Queen’s official London residence and perhaps the epicentre of all things related to the Royal Family. | Thousands upon thousands had lined the streets – more than usual. And it became apparent why. We had just arrived before midday when they were changing guards and a full marching band display was in process. I think the last time I witness such a glorious display of British monarchy etiquette was when I was a child during a family visit, funnily enough, from the Far East (then we were living in Japan). The marching guards in their brilliant red uniforms and tall black bearskins headwear stepped in precise unison as a loud brass section with accompanying percussion led the procession.
|  Marching guards in display by Buckingham Palace. |  Getting interviewed for the BBC World Service. | It brought the whole Buckingham Palace experience alive, seeing a Royal tradition of many years still very much alive today. We stood in crowds ten people deep. Everyone had their arms extended high with some kind of camera device, making it look almost like an act of worship. In the midst of the moving crowd of mainly international visitors was a lone BBC reporter, mic in hand, capturing people’s reaction to the day’s guards display. I don’t know what it is, but I seem to act like a magnet for the media and no sooner had she finished getting a brief statement from a German couple, I found her sponge-covered microphone under my nose.
The main angle of her story was people’s take on the pending birth of William and Kate’s baby. To be honest, I hadn’t really been following the story, but I managed to come across somewhat clued up (I think!) by relating to the fact that even in a place like China, the young Royal couple do generate a lot of interest.
| | I predicted that they would have a boy and that Kate being the trendsetter that she is, I was sure she would unmistakably become an icon for all things yummy mummy. Lezil got in on the interview action too with Lucy (the BBC reporter) commenting on how she loved her South African accent and how Cape Town is her favourite city anywhere. Our random rants were later broadcast on a BBC World Service Royal special that evening. A first for both of us.
With the crowds slowing dispersing, we went for a lazy walk up by St James’ Park towards Trafalgar Square. |  Soon the BBC mic turns to Lezil! |  The Union Jack lines The Mall leading up to Buckingham Palace in the far background. | Rows upon rows of Union Jack flags fluttered in the light breeze, proud and majestic. The heat of the day was really kicking in at 29C and so we opted to jump on a double decker bus to our next destination which was a surprise for Lezil. In fact, it was actually a lovely present from my parents and my sister Katherine. We were to enjoy afternoon tea at the renowned Grosvenor House in Mayfair, Park Lane (thank you very much darling!). Being a five star establishment, a quick change from our beachwear clothing in their super posh bathrooms and we were ready to blend in with some of London’s high society.
At £35.50 + VAT per person, it wasn’t cheap. But then again, here is a venue where since 1929 members of the royal family, celebrities and influential leaders have all stopped by for a cuppa. And this cuppa had the most exquisite taste. I want for a Pure Assam whereas Lezil sipped on her Royal Blend tea variety. | | A pianist provided a sound-soothing backdrop with the tearoom’s décor of pastel green adding to the calming effect. Our entrée was a cooling fruit cocktail which was then followed by a three-tier cake stand with more than seven types of sandwiches and colourful desserts.
You may have been hungry, but it seemed like as soon as you stepped into that tearoom, everything ran in slow motion, including our eating. Perfectly sliced rectangular sandwiches were held with more care than a new born baby which were, then, ever-so-delicately placed in the mouth for a bite that resembled more of a rabbit nibble. It was all so poised and la-dee-da (if you know what I mean!). Lezil and I were having such a laugh there as we both know how ‘un-posh’ we could be, but that afternoon we were Lord and Lady Freeman!
By the time the oven-warm scones with clotted cream and a selection of four different jams arrived at our table, we were stuffed. |  Lezil ready to enjoy her afternoon tea surprise at the Grosvenor House. |  Lezil with our 'food porter' boxes from the Grosvenor House. | It was surprising how full you became sipping all that tea and mini-munching those sandwiches. We had our desserts to go all boxed up in nice Grosvenor House food-porter boxes. (I call them ‘food porter boxes’ because using the word ‘takeaway’ seems unfitting for such a high-brow setting!)
A reverse clothes-change back to our more uncouth selves (well, me more than Lezil!) and it was the final part of my wedding anniversary surprise for Lezil. Love truly does make you do some crazy things including going up Europe’s tallest Ferris wheel, the London Eye. Those who know me, are aware of my utter distaste for heights. But I was willing to man up and withstand sweaty palms and a racing heart beat to give Lezil a sky-high panoramic London experience.
| | I had booked fast track tickets where for a few extra pounds, it meant that you could skip the general long cue for a much shorter one within your allocated timeslot. Admittedly, Lezil was very surprised and kept asking me if I was OK to do this. I wasn’t sure, but hey they say jumping in the deep end is sometimes good for you. Less than 10 minutes lining up and we were being shown into our glass capsule. Being open on all sides, you had a spectacular 360degree view of the city. Panic hit me as soon as the capsule door was firmly shut. The coolness of the air conditioning and the seamless slow rise of our bubble platform relaxed me somewhat.
|  Lining up for part two of our wedding anniversary activity - The London Eye! |  Two years married and feeling on top of the world! | It took about 30 minutes to do the entire round. At its peak, 135 metres, the evening sun was setting and it was the most picture-perfect moment to end our UK vacation. The sun’s rays were breaking through between some clouds and all before us you could see many of London’s iconic locations – St Paul’s Cathedral, The Shard, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, St James’ Park and the River Thames. London truly is a magical place. All proud of myself having survived the entire journey, I was even happier to know that Lezil had done and seen some of the best that the UK has to offer.
We were heading back to the underground for our train to the hotel when I got an unexpected call.
| | As I had mentioned before, being away for more than three years I had a lot of catching up to do with a number of people. It was tight trying to fit all the visits in and inevitably there were a few that we just could not accommodate at the risk of having a total burn out. On the other end of my mobile was a long-time friend Muyiwa. We had tried three times before to arrange a meet up but had failed. A formative music industry insider, nowadays, he heads up a leading Christian UK radio station (Premier Gospel) and has his own successful singing career both in Europe, the US and in Africa (particularly in his native Nigeria).
A few years back I partnered alongside him leading a PR/Marketing campaign for one of his album releases. A great guy to work with. He happened to be at the radio station’s offices and we were just two stops away. So 15 minutes later and I found myself in the studio’s hot seat. |  Dropping by Premier Radio to see my good friend Muyiwa. |  Feeling strange being back on radio again! | I hadn’t been interviewed since leaving for China back in early 2010. It felt weird being back in a radio environment after so long and, admittedly, I was feeling a tad nervous. Muyiwa’s laid-back manner soon put me at ease and we whizzed through two different pre-records for the station. I enjoyed it.
Stepping out of the recording session and I bumped into another guy who I used to collaborate a lot with back in the day. It was none other than DJ Redz – one of the UK’s top DJs when it comes to all things Reggae Gospel related. | | He was gearing up for his show on the station which was up next. It was one happy reunion with both of us showing mutual respect to our crafts as DJs who know how to mix and blend the tunes. He had a friend of his, Will, who upon hearing that I was the infamous DJ El Niño, commented: “Boy, I used to listen to you all the time back then…”. It was an honour to be complimented that way, even after more than three years away from the scene.
There’s something enriching about having a connection with people despite the distance and obvious physical absence. I have to say, I am so blessed to have incredibly sincere people who I call friends in the UK. |  Getting a new reggae mixtape from my buddy DJ Redz. | Each and everyone one of them play a part in contributing to my growth as a person, increasing my creativity and forever expanding my mind into new and wonderful things. I hope it won’t be another three years before I can share more life-building moments with them again. To all in the UK – thank you!!  With BBC World Service reporter, Lucy.  At Buckingham Palace.  Afternoon tea at the posh Grosvenor House on Park Lane.  One lump or two darling? |  Our three tier stand arrives! |  A lovely rendevouz at the quaint Grosvenor House tea room.  Delicious cakes!  Going up The London Eye by the River Thames.  About the enter the capsule.  The tablets inside give more information on the views. |  As we go higher, feeling a little jittery! |  Lezil enjoying the experience.  Central London from the top!  Lezil remembering the day she said "I Do"! |  The top of Big Ben with Battersea Power Station in the distance. |  Arrving at Premier Radio in central London.  With drive-time presenter "B".  Getting back into my old radio swing! |  Muyiwa at the controls. |  Reuniting with DJ Redz (second from the right).
London's M25.
| The distinctive London city rooftops became a haze on the horizon as I looked at my rear view mirror. Like small tributaries winding their way to a main river, we navigated out of the minor roads into the beastly flow of the M25 – the capital’s massive circular freeway. Everyone obviously had the same idea to escape urbanisation for more idyllic settings. We were headed for the small town of Thame in Oxfordshire and the traffic was particularly heavy in parts (not helped with a couple of lane closures).
| | The weekend was to offer Lezil a contrasting taste of what she had seen back in London. A real country escape. For me, it was more of an emotional journey and one that would see me reunite with my cousin Cristiana. Well, in actual fact she is not my real blood cousin, but we are connected via law. In Latin America, often when your own blood cousin marries, their spouse’s side of the family become like your own too. Call it cousins-in-law.
But she and her family have been around my family for the longest I can remember. So she more than qualifies. We arrived about 45 minutes later than planned and it was the most surreal thing seeing both her and her giant-of-an-eleven-year-old son Alex again. He easily surpassed Lezil in height and standing next to me, I could see that his feet were already three foot sizes larger than mine.
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Enjoying my drive (minus the motorway traffic!).
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Back again with my cousin Cristiana and her son Alex.
| It was straight into her car and zipping through the country lanes the scenery just got quainter as we past thatched houses, barns and communal ponds. The tiny village of Brill was where Cristiana had booked us in for lunch at The Pheasant with some of the most spectacular views anywhere. According to the pub owners, from where we were seated outside, you could actually see across five different counties. And adding to the wow-factor was a recently done-up windmill which completed the postcard-perfect picture.
The weather, too, was playing its part blessing us with even more sun than we could ever hope for.
| | We stuffed our faces with some hearty country dishes and it was an ideal time for Cristiana and Alex to get better acquainted with Lezil. Needless to say, she slotted right in as part of the family. Before long we were taking a gentle walk across to the magnificent windmill taking in the sweeping views of the English countryside. We had a lot to catch up on and with the enticing long daylight hours, we sat out at Cristiana’s back garden till 11pm when the last of the sun’s rays finally gave into the gentle luminous beams coming from the moon.
Sunday willed us out of our beds, again with a cloudless sunny sky. |
The view from The Pheasant pub in Brill across five counties.
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Sylvia (far left) serving up her delicious Arroz con Pollo!
| We had a busy schedule of a local Church service in the morning followed by more family visits. Lunch was at Cristiana’s mum’s sweet little bungalow in the nearby village of Haddenham. She lives there with her South African husband Gordon. Sylvia is a loving aunt to me and Gordon hypnotises me with his appetisingly-adventurous stories which took him from South Africa to all over the African continent. I was elated when I could smell the familiar mouth-watering hints of Sylvia’s famous Arroz con Pollo – a stable dish from Latin America made with a lot of love, chicken, seasoning and vegetables. | | That day was no exception and boy did we eat to our hearts content amongst the vibrant floral colours of their cozy patio garden out back. As was expected, Lezil and Gordon formed an immediate kinship with their South African roots. I was also happy to see one of Cristiana’s older brothers, Emmanuel, who was actually the first person I met out of her entire family 20 years ago back in south London when we attended the same college.
Sylvia had informed me that since I had left they had purchased a new piano. Me and big mouth relayed the story of how I was a minor childhood protégé learning to play at a very young age when I grew up in Asia only to rebel and ditch the instrument at 16. Cristiana being the cheeky ring leader soon had everyone chanting my name to get me on the old ivories for a tune. Did I know one? Uh, no!
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With Emmanuel who I met 20 years ago.
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At Miriam and James' cute country cottage.
| All I could conjure up was a pitiful presentation (if you could call it that!) of chopsticks which I would consider a ‘Dummies Guide To Playing The Piano’ type of tune. In other words, anyone could have done it!
Our party of people moved to our final country stop for the weekend, a tiny hamlet next door to Haddenham and the home of Miriam – an older sister of Cristiana’s. The cottage was right bang smack in the open with fields being dominating scenery all around.
| | A football-pitch of a garden surrounded the house with a gazebo and chairs at the ready to host our afternoon of socialising and tipples. Mir and her husband James hadn’t changed a bit. They were the same fun-loving upbeat couple with two strapping young sons who kept themselves busy playing football as the adults nattered away.
I leaned back in my comfy chair and took deep breaths of air in. “British country life,” I thought to myself. They made it look so appealing reiterated by them firmly stating that they would never, ever go back to the city to live. I had to give myself a reality check. |
With Miriam, James and their two sons.
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Cristiana and her black cat Kiki.
| Yes, in the hot summer weather we had been experiencing each day, the country is the best place to be. But when it does get gloomy, windy and overcast I can imagine that it can feel pretty bleak. Either way, Cristiana and her entire family seem settled, loving life and making the most of the opportunities out there. Even traffic is non-existent. Cristiana tells me she can’t remember the last time she had to drive “stop and start” as she put it. The country lanes are speedy and easy to get around in.
The sunny day turned to a sunny evening and it was time to say our goodbyes. It was awesome to reconnect with people who play a major part in my life and, now, in Lezil’s too. Setting the coordinates in the Tom Tom, we briefly made a re-appearance on the M25 but soon drifted due south on small A roads and country lanes for our next stay which was to be at my sister Katherine’s. Again, her and her husband Nathanael was another couple who dusted off the city smog in favour of a greener existence. | Pulborough in West Sussex is where they reside. No monstrous shopping centres or building complexes. Only country houses and local village shops where life moved at an obvious slower pace. The timing was all there. My sister had just given birth to her third child, a baby girl and my mum had flown in from Ecuador to help out. (My dad stayed in Quito “to water the llamas”.) Plus, I could see my nephew Zion who was just two when he came out to our wedding in Shanghai and the new addition Levi who I hadn’t met yet. They had all gone to bed by the time we touched down. | So that left us time to catch up with my mum and Nathanael who, in the end, had us back in his car and off to a nearby farm to show us their latest purchase – a puppy Labradoodle.
Their farmer friend’s mummy Labrador ‘Honey’ gave birth to eight puppies (four male/four female) who all came bounding up to us in the small field where they were kept in. The dog’s owner Carlene eased us past the main gate and soon we were bombarded with these energetic bundles of fur licking, jumping and pining for our attention. They oozed a cuteness beyond description. Nathanael picked up one of the chilled-out males which was actually the dog they had purchased and which my nephew Zion had named ‘Snowy’ owing to its white fur. All the puppies were ready for collection but Snowy was to be brought home at a later date as their household was full of visitors right now (i.e. us!).
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Labradoodle puppies coming at me from left right and centre!
| Country air coupled with long-distance driving was the potent combination for a total knock-out when it came to sleeping. Good to be home with family. The next few days we would be stationed at my sister’s and would provide the more chilled aspect of our trip so far.
Stunning views from Brill.
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Eating an excellent outdoor pub lunch in Brill.
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The Pheasant pub at Brill.
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Brill and the windmill!
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Evening at Thame where Cristiana lives.
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More food! This time, dining at Prezzo in Thame.
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The following day, Sunday, and I bring a bottle of Caribbean Twist to Sylvia and Gordon's for lunch.
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With some of Cristiana's family for a super yummy Arroz con Pollo lunch!
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Ready to eat! Myself, Cristiana and Alex.
Somehow after lunch, I end up doing a mini-recital!!
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Sylvia shows us all how it's really done!
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In the front garden of Sylvia and Gordon's (far left) village bungalow.
We all end the day at Miriam and James' huge garden at their country cottage.
Lezil, the hot summer babe.
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With wonderful family friends (left to right), sisters Miriam and Cristiana.
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Goofing around...love these guys!!!
That evening, we are in Pulborough (West Sussex) and Nathanael (right, my brother-in-law) shows us their new puppy, Snowy.
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Lezil gets all cuddly with a Labradoodle.
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This one can't stop licking me!! LOL...
Lezil is surrounded!!
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They soon tire and fall asleep...
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I had forgotten how obsessed people in the UK are with the weather. Even paying at a shop counter, two cashiers were busy chatting about how at the weekend it’s going to get up to 29C. “Here’s your change love. Enjoy the sunshine,” she said handing back my change. I have to admit, there are very few places that can rival the UK when it comes to basking in sunshine. London looks just that bit more majestic. The English countryside bursts with vivid greens and soft rolling hills as far as the eye can see. Everyone opens up more, becoming (dare I say it), less stiff-upper-lipped ‘British’ and more sociable like we were actually all living down south by the Mediterranean.
Meeting friends at Brixton's Bamboula restaurant.
| The timing couldn’t be more perfect especially as Lezil and I are travelling about so much – England is definitely showing its best side for my South African wife. We may be on vacation, but my organisational skills are not being laid to rest. It’s a bit like working in HR and a job advert has been sent out and now you are having to juggle some tight time slots to accommodate various people you need to see. Mid-week and we drove down to Brixton, one of my favourite south London suburbs. The rendezvous was at Bamboula, a Caribbean restaurant which worked alongside side our music organisation United by ONE (UB1).
| | They would sponsor a number of our past music events. So it was nice to go back to a bit of history and enjoy their sumptuous selection of Caribbean cuisine which was heavily Jamaican. That night we were joined by previous UB1 members: Maya Simeon and George Luke with long-time friends Syane, John Fisher and Natalie Phillips also at the table. Antonia and Chantal were present too along with Antonia’s sister Fiona. Both John Fisher and Natalie Phillips have established music careers with John heading up one of the hardest working and lasting Gospel choirs in the UK called IDMC. Natalie, again a major feature in the UK Gospel industry, has been faithfully honing her craft over the years and had just released her debut album ‘Unique Perspective’s a couple of months back.
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With Natalie Phillips and John Fisher - UK Gospel artists.
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An emotional moment reuniting with Anthony King - my friend and MC!!
| As to be expected, there was a lot of reminiscing of the early days and lots of new news to catch up on. And all the while we were devouring our jerk chicken, rice and peas, coleslaw and festival. A few other people were meant to have come but were unable to attend. But we did have a nice surprise towards the end of the evening and that was the appearance of none other than, my close friend and brother Mr Anthony King. His exact first words as he entered the restaurant were: “My husband’s back!” All the other eating patrons turned around to see what the commotion was about. Anthony is a big guy with a big voice, so it was impossible not to listen in on the conversation.
| | That’s his talent – speaking. From pretty early on, we became a formidable duo, me DJ El Niño and him, MC Pass-Da-Mic. We travelled up and down the country playing private gigs, club gigs, festivals you name it. We even went out to Barbados and took part in a Gospel soundclash, the first of its kind, in 2005 at Club xtreme which is the Caribbean’s largest nightclub. I have missed the guy, sorely. It was his first proper introduction to Lezil and he had nothing but incredible things to say about her. Not to mention the fact that he knows South Africa very well, or as he calls it “Cape Town, it’s home”. Loved seeing all my old friends again that night.
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Anthony meets Lezil for the first time.
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A night out at south London Jazz venue, Hideaway!
| Knowing Lezil’s love of live music, especially of the Jazz/Soul variety, Chantal had organised another night out. Hideaway was the name of the venue which was based in Streatham, again in south London (I am a south London boy!!). The venue had opened just after I left for China (more than three years ago) so it was new for me. The distinct orange keyhole branding of the club adorned the car park which was tucked away from the main road. And the club itself was literally hidden away.
Once inside and the music hall was impressive. Tastefully decorated with tables and chairs all of which had people enjoying drinks and dinner while they waited for the show to start.
| | What’s more it was practically a full house and it was only a Thursday night. Getting our cocktail orders in, the lights dimmed and the Street Soul band introduced the evening with featured vocalist Vanessa Hayes from Jazz outfit Incognito fronting the musicians. It was a night of pure Soul, Funk, Jazz hits from the 70s, 80s and 90s.
The atmosphere was uplifting and Vanessa really drew the crowd in with her easy-going on stage persona and interaction. Vocally, she was impeccable. Flexing some outrageous vocal gymnastics but also showing great poise and control. She even doubled her singing playing percussion which added to the visual element of the show. |
Vanessa Hayes performing at Hideaway.
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With Mr Roy Ruffler - owner of Hideaway.
| By the close of the night the whole venue was up on its feet unable to resist the infectious grooves coming from the stage (a big tune was the Jocelyn Brown cover ‘Somebody Else’s Guy’). Afterwards, I managed to grab a few minutes with Vanessa where she came across as down-to-earth as they come. A real gem of a performer.
I also had a good chat with the venue owner Mr Roy Ruffler who astonished me when he said that his background was in banking and that his was his first venture into music venue management. He is certainly hitting all the right notes (if you pardon the pun!) with Hideaway picking up Best Venue in The UK at the 2011 Parliamentary Jazz Awards and being featured on CNN as one of the nine best Jazz clubs in Europe. South London was in need of a reputable venue for homegrown and international acts to perform in. Hideaway is definitely leading the way and has set the musical benchmark very high indeed. | | And now back to that spectacular weather. If I had a RMB 100 note for every time someone commented on how we had “brought the sunshine over…” I would be very rich indeed, even against the UK exchange rate! With a hot sunny setting, it allows for so much more activity including dining outdoors – which is somewhat of a novelty in the UK. My friend Syane had invited us over to her little home in Crystal Palace which is another of my favourite south London spots. The ‘town’ itself resembles a provincial village with boutique stores, markets and a huge number of enticing eateries. But Sy had gone all out and actually set up a private picnic for us.
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My friend Sy and her private picnic with champagne and all!
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Sy's perfect little sanctuary in south London.
| A large satin purple bed over was in the middle of the back garden with Thai food, drinks, champagne glasses and, of course, a bottle of bubbly. It was so relaxing and fun sitting there all afternoon chilling in the sun (no umbrellas, to all my Chinese friends!) and catching up from the last three plus years. Sy’s home is also something of a rarity. I call it her little ‘log cabin’. It’s a gorgeous self-contained studio, well-kitted out in a wooden-type structure with an entire garden to herself. Looking around, you’d think she was right in the country and not in busy south London. A real sanctuary.
Afterwards, we went for a good wander around Crystal Palace ‘village’ and the nearby park. Then barely having just digested our yummy Thai lunch, it was goodbye to Sy and hello to Connie! (I told you we had lined up our meetings back-to-back!)
| | Connie, another incredible long-standing friend, had arranged a dinner that evening. It was to be Lezil’s first experience of an English pub. We had actually seen Connie about a year ago when we spent a month in Malaysia and had the honour of staying at her lovely three-bedroom apartment on the island of Penang.
She’s back in blighty for a bit and certainly gave Lezil the British grub experience – Fish & Chips. The Fox was the name of the pub and it was a beautiful historical building dating a hundred years back based in the Farthing Downs area of Old Coulsdon. |
Meeting up with Connie for our lovely English pub experience!
| Again, this was a place I had frequented a lot not only for walking my Labrador Sasha (R.I.P.) but a number of friends used to live within the vicinity. We sat there eating, drinking and chatting til 9:30pm and the daylight was still going strong, something which astonished Lezil. The perfect weather, for the perfect getaway. UK, keep the awesome summer coming please!
Our reunion at Bamboula restaurant - (left to right) Syane and Maya.
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(left to right) George and Toni.
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Amazing to see my bro Mr King aka MC Pass-Da-Mic!
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Lezil gets to witness the funny man himself!
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An honour to get a signed copy of IDMC's latest CD!
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Natalie Phillips also blesses me with her latest project!
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Some of my crew in London who I have known for more than 10 years.
At south London's hot new Jazz venue, Hideaway.
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With Toni getting our cocktails in.
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The stylish interior of the Jazz club.
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With Vanessa Hayes after her performance.
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Friends out to enjoy the sounds of street soul, funk and Jazz at Hideaway.
Syane organises a top notch picnic lunch.
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Lezil and I bask in the English summer sun.
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And...the champagne starts flowing!!
The view from Crystal Palace into central London.
Going for a wander through Crystal Palace.
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A cute second-hand market tucked away down a small alley in Crystal Palace.
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A bit of Shanghai in Crystal Palace.
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Going for a walk in Crystal Palace park.
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The mini-lake in Crystal Palace.
We go up to Old Coulsdon for a pub dinner at The Fox.
With Connie and her family.
Lezil getting her first proper taste of Fish & Chips!
London, what an incredible city. Before making the trip, I had spoken to a few UK friends in Shanghai, most of whom said that after the initial excitement of the first few days they were all ready to go back to China. For them, nothing had changed. The same people, in the same pubs. The same buildings, still work-in-progress. And the same depressing news from the British media.  Going in for 10:30am service at Ruach City Church - my spiritual home for ten years. | The days following the grand Nigerian wedding, it was time for me to re-acquaint myself with the city and for Lezil to be introduced for the first time. Sunday and it was off to catch the 10:30am service of Ruach City Church in Brixton which I attended for ten years before leaving the country. Since then the church has expanded with locations in Kilburn and in Walthamstow. The founder and head of the congregation, Bishop John Francis, was still on a flight back from the US, so that morning his wife, Sister Penny Francis preached.
The entire morning was a moving display of worship and passion – a form of Church expression we sorely miss being in China.
| The message was simple enough – stir it up. Whatever it is God has given you, use it, chase after it, live it. After those inspirational words, I managed to say a quick hello to Nicky Brown who not only heads up the music division in the Church, but is a renowned UK music producer in his own right. |  After service, catching up with Nicky Brown. | | | From Church and it was off to Chantal’s parents’ home. This to me was like a true homecoming. Have a friendship spanning more than 20 odd years the Daniels household is just like extended family. As Chantal’s mum explained to Lezil “James is a son to me.” And over an incredible Sunday lunch of English-roast-meets-West Indian-curried-mutton, they recounted the story of how I first taught Chantal’s younger sister, Tiffany, how to drink from a straw when she was just baby. Now sitting there, she is an aspiring 20 year old actress with a sharper-than-sharp witty humour.
|  At Chantal's family home for a delicious spread of Sunday roast and curried mutton with all the trimmings!! |  It's been 19 years since we graduated from Coulsdon College. | After a few hours spent there, it was back in the car and we decided to do a little trip down memory lane. Firstly, there was a quick stop at Coulsdon College – the very spot where our friendship (myself, Antonia and Chantal) blossomed. Posing outside the entrance, those passing by may have thought we were recent graduates (at a push!) taking photos. But in fact, it was exactly 19 years ago we finished our college education. Scary just thinking about how time flies!
Dragging our ageing butts into the car seats again, we took a scenic back route over to Sanderstead and the location of my family home.
| | My parents’ four bedroom property is in a quiet cul-de-sac and because it was such a nice sunny day, I spotted my neighbour’s daughter out in their front garden sunbathing. I motioned Chantal to stop the car. I stepped out and shyly said: “Um, I don’t think you remember me, but we used to be neighbours. Is your mum in?”
Immediately, her parents Jackie and Byran came running out for an unexpected reunion. In a short 10 minutes they updated us on the goings on of the road and mentioned that the tenants living in our house were great. And as if planned on-cue, the lady who had moved into our house pulled up in her car. It felt so weird being introduced to a complete stranger and not being able to go into my own home. She seemed nice enough and I guess I’ll have to arrange a time with the estate agents to make a formal visit. |  With our long-time neighbours Jackie & Bryan in front of our south London family home. |  With Antonia's mum. | The final stop was over at Antonia’s mum’s three floor town house in Thornton Heath. Like Chantal’s family home, I had spent uncountable time here over the years including celebrating her 60th birthday just before I moved to China where Antonia’s mum gave a moving farewell speech for me. She is an amazing culturally-rich woman who has such depth to her intellect that I can literally sit there for hours listening to her. It was through her, in my late teens, that I got a better understanding of African identity, civil rights movement, the Black British identity and her impeccable taste for interior design and the arts.
| | Two (out of three) of Antonia’s siblings were also there (Fiona and Gavin) along with adorable five year old niece Akilah. There was soothing Jazz music drifting throughout the house as we caught up from the last three years away. A wonderful way to end our first Sunday out and about. And I have to say, being around those who have that relationship-history with you proved to be a powerful bond – something that was a lot stronger than I expected. Do I want to go back to China? Not just yet. |  With Antonia's entire family, except for one additonal sister. | Below are more pictures from our additional two days in London. Highlights include Notting Hill, the iconic Big Ben, catching a West End musical and bumping into the most unexpected people. London – you ROCK!
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Day One. Hopping on the train to central London and we hit: Big Ben, the London Eye, Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square, etc...One of the craziest incidents was bumping into an ex-work colleague who I used to teach alongside with at a school in Inner Mongolia!! The world is small indeed.
 Lezil can hardly believe she is standing by the iconic Big Ben!!  The London Eye in the background. |  Westminster Abbey. |  We meet up for a coffee with Paul - an ex-Shanghai working colleague. |  Nelson Mandela in statue form at Parliament Square. |  London's famous red phone box. |  Hello Mr Prime Minister! Lezil by Downing Street. |  The Queen's horse guards. |  Trafalgar Square is transformed for 'Canada Day' with a free concert. |  A one-in-a-million chance of bumping into an ex-colleague (Amy) from a school in Inner Mongolia!! |  Arriving at Covent Garden. |  Antiques market at Covent Garden.  Looking at vinyl.  At London's Chinatown to meet our friend Deji.  He takes us to ECC - Experimental Cocktail Club which is an exclusive guestlist/word-of-mouth place. |  Although a bit pricey (£13 a drink), there is no doubting the calibre and incredible taste of our lovingly-made cocktails! |  Regent's Street with commemorative Queen's 60th Jubilee decór.  After our cocktails and we went to Vapiano - an italian resturant with an open kitchen and made-to-order dishes. |  Enjoying our pasta with friends Deij and Akin. | Day Two. And we hit St Paul's Cathedral, Notting Hill and taking in the London theatre experience.
 St Paul's Cathedral. |  A blue tree by St Paul's. Lezil reppin her SA colours!! |  Outside the cathedral (you are not allowed to take photos inside).  From the cathedral dome, a view of some of London's skyline.  Arriving at Notting Hill!  The area is so quaint and appealing! |  Lezil is outside the former home of renowned English novelist George Orwell. |  The colourful houses on Portobello Road.  The stores are all decorated so nicely. |  This is one product which didn't come from the Far East! LOL. |  By Portobello Market. |  Stocking up on our Jazz and West African music. |  Colourful street art. |  A novel way to advertise a shoe store! |  We grab an early dinner by Mike's Cafe which has been running in Notting Hill for many years. |  One of their crazy mottos! |  Inside Mike's Cafe. |  Excellent portions, excellent prices. |  We round off the day with tickets for the award-winning Matilda The Musical.  The show is about to start!
 Outside our hotel, ready to go to the wedding. | I looked at the time. 11:15am. The driver will be here any minute, I thought. Moments later and our room phone rang. It was Michael the driver who was apologising for being late. He was stuck in all sorts of diversion as central London was being closed for the big Gay Pride parade. “It’s OK,” I told him. “This is a Nigerian wedding. It’ll never start on time.”
Fast-forward 45 minutes later and we are making our way down the A3 towards Cobham in Surrey. Vidal calls Michael’s cell phone who, in turn hands it to me. “Hello?” I shouted. In the background I could hear, what sounded like, Church music. “Where are you guys?” Vidal replied barely audible above all the background noise. It turns out that this was ONE Nigerian wedding that was going against the grain and was actually starting on time. 12:30pm on the dot.
| | Vidal had stalled the bride’s entrance so that we could ‘sneak’ into the service somehow. After losing our way on the road a bit, we managed to find the not-so-obvious entrance to Painshill Park. The stunning 18th century landscaped gardens and walking grounds was where the ceremony was being held – at The Conservatory. It was a risky option going for an outdoor venue what with the unreliable UK weather. But just like the unexpected on-time start of the wedding, the weather itself did a total 360 degree turn from the day before going from miserable drizzle to glorious sunshine and a very warm 23C.
Vidal met us by the on-sight coffee shop’s toilets. He gave us a thumbs-up and we swiftly followed him to the covered venue.
|  Vidal meets us outside to sneak us into the venue. |  The wedding ceremony in full swing. | The Church band was in full swing. Inside at the back was a line of groomsmen ready to walk in. I said to Lezil that I was worried that if we came in now, we would cause a distraction once people would have clocked our presence. Waving his hand frantically, Vidal beckoned us inside. Like a shy geisha, I kept my eyes to the ground only glancing up occasionally to see where I was stepping.
Our friend Gemma, who also worked alongside me for a while in my previous company UB1 Music, was the first to spot us. “What? Oh my gosh!” she reacted. She was like a deer caught in headlights. I rushed over to her, gave her a huge hug. “How on earth…”she didn’t have a chance to finish her sentence as the groomsmen were next to see that we had indeed rocked up to the UK and that caused a next wave of commotion. So much so, that they were completely oblivious to the stunning bridesmaids already gracefully walking to join their awaiting male partners. | | I grabbed my wife by the arm. “We better sit down quick as we are going to mess up the opening sequence here,” I whispered loudly to Lezil. I gave those that knew us one big cheeky grin and a wave not unlike that of her Majesty the Queen (when in the UK!) and quickly plonked ourselves on two aisles seats. The music changed and Tiwa, the bride, started her controlled paced walk down the aisle towards her waiting husband-to-be Daniel. He brother S.O. (who is also an established Hip Hop artist) was walking her down the aisle. She looked immaculate all dressed in white.
Just as she walked past our row, that was when she saw me. “Oh my days!” she mouthed through her white veil. And she drifted past us. The ceremony had begun. It was a concise service around one hour 30mins with a few songs, vows, exchanging of the rings, a sermon, prayer and signing of the marriage register.
|  The beautiful bride, Tiwa, walking in with her brother. |  The couple saying their vows. | Just as the religious proceedings were coming to an end one of the pastors was about to close with a final blessing for the couple. That was when Daniel, somehow, managed to see me in the crowd. I had strategically positioned myself so that I would be partially blocked by the lady sitting in front of me who was wearing a colourful, and high, head wrap.
He was grinning like mad and shaking his head. I could see that he wanted to give a bigger reaction but as he was the centre of attention upfront, instead it was a controlled smile as he leaned over to Tiwa probably whispering something like “Did you know that James and Lezil were here?!”. | | The final benediction was given and the new couple were walking off stage now. As part of the wedding trail, both sets of family members walked behind them. I know Tiwa through Daniel. But it’s Daniel and his family who are ‘my’ family and the reason why we made the undercover trip in the first place.
Together with him and his four brothers – we had some crazy, intense, unforgettable times working and touring together for a number of years. It’s one thing working with musicians and singers, but when you bring in the fact that they are four blood brothers – the dynamics shift into a whole different realm. So it was inevitable my role would go that much further than just being a manager. A close family friend of theirs came up to me during the reception and retold the story to Lezil of her reaction when she first saw this skinny white guy “raising four Nigerian boys like a true father”. |  Everyone celebrates as the couple is now married! |  With Daddy and Mama Juba. | As a result, I have a close bond with both the boys’ parents – Pastor Juba and Mrs Juba. I had to juggle demanding touring schedules along with ensuring studies were being completed and Church commitments were being met. To this day, I am honoured as to how Mr & Mrs Juba have made me a part of their family and literally welcoming me as their son into their home.
And that was how we spent pretty much the entire dinner and dance that day, re-connecting with people whom I haven’t seen in over three years. For me, it was almost too much to take in. A couple of days ago and we were in the rhythm of Shanghai life. Now, we got sucked through a time vortex, got spat out the other end landing in the idyllic English countryside, celebrating a mass Nigerian wedding! How crazy was that?
| | Once the buffet had opened up, I didn’t hold back in piling my plate up with Nigerian PARTY food!! When I got to the tray where the plantains were, I told the server to give me three spoonfuls. That’s one thing we cannot get in Shanghai and I was adamant on making up for lost quotas! Man, the food was lip-smacking delicious and I think I suffered a case of ‘mouth bigger than my belly’ as I struggled to shovel in the last remaining mouthfuls.
A band playing high-life, afrobeat and Naija Pop got the masses up and dancing. Dollar notes were flying everywhere as guests blessed the couple dancing in the middle of the moving throng of people with financial gifts. I sorely missed all this. A sense of cultural community. Speeches followed with the cutting of the cake and the first dance. Then the DJ sparked up the dancefloor with all the big tunes from the motherland. Lezil and I partied hard! Daniel and Tiwa, along with the bridal party, all changed into traditional clothes for the latter part of the night. It was 9pm and Lezil and I were seriously battling against tiredness (the remnants of a seven-hour time difference).
|  I went for a triple portion of plantain! | We stayed for a couple more songs and thankfully our driver had arrived to take us back to our central London hotel. We left the jubilant party-people behind bidding farewell to all we had re-met that day. Operation: ‘London Surprise’ – mission accomplished!
 Mrs & Mrs Juba!  Pastor Juba sees me for the first time!  Perfect weather as everyone enjoys canapés and drinks outside.  The Juba clan.  The four brothers, their parents and Tiwa.  The reason for our trip - Dan and Tiwa!  Reuniting with Uncle Wale and his lovely family.  The wedding reception.  With Tiwa's mum.  The newly wed couple about to enter the venue.  Presenting...Mrs & Mrs Juba!!  Yum!! The buffet opens up.  My plate stacked up with amazing Nigerian flavours!  Dan gives a speech.  Cutting the cake.  Feeding his wife.  First dance.  And so, the party begins!! Big tunes from Nigeria!  Blessing the couple with dollars during the money dance.  Back again with my four brothers...(left to right) Vidal, Daniel, Deji and TJ aka Four Kornerz.  Another friend I haven't seen in the longest...Michael who performs under the name 'Faithchild'.  Catching with up comedian/actor Simply Andy who hosted the evening.  Meeting up with TV CEO Akin and his wife.  TJ with his two year old son Joshua.  With another good friend, Lola.  Dan & Tiwa change into traditional clothes.  Lezil partying away with Dan!  Having a blast at Dan & Tiwa's Yoruba wedding!
The date had been circled in bright red on our The Simpsons calendar hanging in our kitchen by our fridge. I was busy making my breakfast at 6am hardly believing that two of some of my closest friends from London were actually arriving in less than two hours’ time in Shanghai. Antonia and Chantal, or ‘Chantonia’ is I had at first mistakenly called them once, have been in my life for over 20 years. Chantal I met when I moved to the UK to study my secondary education whilst my path crossed with Antonia during our first year at college.
I sat there in the quietness of the dawning day with my mind jumping from any number of memories that an entire TV series would have been necessary to dedicate just for the ‘Previously on…’ bits of our past episodes. I wouldn’t have described it as nerves, but there was a certain element of the unknown when I thought about our soon-to-happen reunion. After all, it had been more than three years since we last saw each other and admittedly, in the last 18 months our actual communication has been a bit sparse. It would also be the first time for them to meet Lezil – my wife.
 Waiting for our first glimpse of Antonia and Chantal in arrivals. | The clock was counting down minutes to the grand moment as we sped eastward on Shanghai’s ever-so-efficient metro system. We pulled into the terminal station at Pudong International Airport. The time 9:30am. The direct Virgin flight from London Heathrow was scheduled to arrive at 9:35am. Once we got to the main concourse where the big screen with flight information was, we realised the flight had arrived early. We bolted our way to the arrivals gate. I wanted it to be movie-perfect like catching a glimpse from beyond the security railings to the emotional-rich embrace of being reunited after a long hiatus.
Lezil and I stood anxiously leaning against the steel bars watching passengers drift by. I started to spot a few Brits come through which Lezil couldn’t understand how I could tell they were from the UK. And as if to prove my point, a couple of lads in their mid twenties paused right in front of us with the one saying to the other “Do you fink it’s alright to ‘ave a fag ‘ere?”. I just turned to Lezil with that 'you-see' look on my face.
| | Twenty minutes later and I spotted the familiar silhouettes of Antonia and Chantal walking through the frosted glass exit of arrivals. As they both walked around the exit path, Antonia belted a very foreign-sounding "Ni Hao!" much to the amusement of the two taxi drivers standing next to us. Lezil and I scurried to the other end where the passengers come out with Chantal being the first to receive my deadly bear hug. Antonia looked on in a moment of emotion and reactive laughter before I launched myself towards her for much of the same treatment. I felt ecstatic standing with them both in Shanghai and even more so, to be able to finally introduce them to Lezil.
|  The emotional reunion! |  Trying to squeeze in the suitcases into the back of a Shanghai taxi. | Being a national holiday week, we decided to catch the bus back into town as the traffic would be much lighter than usual. Plus it would give them the chance to see Shanghai from the outskirts, in. Throughout the 40 minutes journey we just talked and talked and talked. We pulled into Jing'an Temple bus terminal where we had to transfer for a short 10 minutes taxi ride to their hotel. Waving down a taxi, the game of suitcase tetris began. I was adamant on us all getting into one taxi (remember their luggage too!). The taxi's boot (or trunk) wasn't the most spacious and after 2 minutes of trying different angles it was obvious it wasn't going to shut.
| By this time the taxi driver came out to see what the holdup was. He motioned Chantal to simply overlap the suitcases. He then nonchalantly lowered the boot which wouldn't close because of the bulging mass within. He then got back in the driver's seat. Antonia and Chantal turned to me and I responded: "Welcome to Shanghai!". "But..." Antonia started. I cut her off saying: "Don't bother about the boot, this isn't London darling, this is how things work here. Now let's go."
And it was on that note that their 10 day adventure is Shanghai began.
Below is a selection of photos from the first six days. Call it Part One of when 'Chantonia Hit Shanghai'!
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On Day One. After a 12 hour flight, Antonia and Chantal arrive blurry-eyed into Shanhai's Pudong International Airport.
 Meeting Lezil for the first time. |  We arrive at Jing'an Temple to grab a taxi. |  The taxi driver comes out to give us a hand fitting in the suitcases. |  Suitcases squeezed in and the boot semi-closed, we are off! | |  We arrive at their hotel for the 10 day Shanghai visit. | | Day One and Day Two. Dumping the suitcases at the hotel, we get stuck right in. On the agenda The Bund, Pudong and some live music.
 A hazy day at The Bund with Shanghai's fast-growing skyline in the background. |  We hit the fabric market where the ladies get measured up for tailored made jackets at rock-bottom prices. | |  Chantal eating her chips Shanghai-style, with chopsticks! | |  The ladies by the famed skyscrapers in Shanghai's Pudong area. |  Shanghai's Pearl TV Tower. |  Evening time and we meet up with some friends to eat Turkish food. |  After dinner, it was back to their hotel (Crowne Plaza) to catch the Filipino band in action called 'Voicexpander'. |  And soon, we are all up and dancing. |  The group enjoying some of the Pop sounds from the band. | |  Antonia with our friend Camille. | |  Soon enough, Lezil is called on stage to cover Adele's 'Someone Like You'. |  Even Camille gets in on the singing action dropping a reggae number. | Day Three and Four. Daytime was all about shopping and massages. In the evening, it was off to sample more of Shanghai's nightlife.
 Having a quick Italian meal before partying. |  We hit the Kee which is an exclusive private members club in downtown Shanghai. |  We are on our friend's DJ Cherokee's guest list. She spins the full spectrum of house music (soulful, funky, disco, tribal, etc...). |  Enjoying our expensive drinks in rather plush surroundings. |  With my beautiful wifey... :) |  Antonia soon catches the eye of a very rich (and very drunk!) Chinese businessman who tries to impress her with his moves!! | |  Our mate Deji also joins us. Group photo with DJ Cherokee in the centre. | | Day Five. It was all about the old town - Yu Yuan Garden.
 By the entrace to Yu Yuan. |  Random locals all line up to have photos taken with us! |  One of the back streets specialising in traditional kites. |  The main clothes street market of Yu Yuan. |  By the grand entrance for City God Temple in Yu Yuan. |  The main square at Yu Yuan. |  City God Temple. |  We grab a delicious dinner at one of our favourite Chinese Muslim restaurants - Yeli Xia Li. | Day Six. By far the most random afternoon! It was a hot and sticky day, so we opted for the leafy canopy over at Jing'an City park. It's quaint and a nice place to chill. At the weekends, (especially on Sundays) the creative lot (as I call them) are always out in force and that day was no exception.
First off, Lezil was coaxed into bellydancing with the locals. Then we got approached by a local drama student who interviewed us on camera about our thoughts on 'Cats' and 'The Phantom of the Opera'. Lastly, a local professor walked past, saw that we were foreigners and started chatting in English. Out came his violin and we soon had a crowd of people around us recording with their cell phones as we did renditions of 'Hey Jude', 'You Raise Me Up' and 'Jingle Bells' (in the middle of a sweltering summer heat!).
That's what I love about Shanghai. Absolutely ANYTHING can happen!
 By the large pond at Jing'an Park. |  A little trivia here. This was where Lezil and I had our first date way back in 2009! :) | |  Lezil joins the local dancers for a spot of belly dancing. | |  People look on as they 'shake their thangs'! |  Antonia being interviewed on her 'indepth' knowledge of the West End theatre scene!! |  Lezil singing with Professor 'Mr P'. |  Jingle Bells in the middle of a Shanghai summer...anything goes! | |  Enjoying an outdoor musical afternoon with Professor 'Mr P'. | |
 Arrving at the Argyle Hotel to celebrate Dragon Boat Festival food! | For the next three days, China basks in a national holiday that is Dragon Boat Festival. A number of folkloric stories surround the festivities with the most popular one being that of the Chinese poet Qu Yuan. It’s said that he was part of the Chu Royal House during the Zhou dynasty when the King at the time changed his allegiance to Qin Royal House and turned against the poet Qu. Consequently, in his desperation the poet decided to drown himself.
Being popular with the people, they all threw wrapped rice packets into the river so that the fish wouldn’t harm the poet but instead eat the floating food instead. So, it was with that setting we joined a few friends at the Argyle International Airport Hotel in Shanghai to try a hand at making these so-called rice packets. Actually, the correct term is zongzi, or rice dumplings. The hotel’s marketing manager Maggie was on hand to settle us in, asking to wash our hands before we delved in with the food-making.
| | A Shanghainese lady who didn’t speak a word of English was on hand to show us the ropes. A large dining table in a private dining suit had been set up with all the raw ingredients laid out in industrial kitchen aluminium trays. Despite the obvious language barrier (well, at least for Lezil and I!) – our teacher soon had our hands full with two strips of large water reeds which we had to fold in half, curving at the same time to then create a small closed funnel in our left hand. By our end of the table, there was rice soaked in soy sauce and Chinese seasoning of which we lined the inside of our hand-held funnel-shaped reeds.
Next step was to place a strip of pork belly (again seasoned and drenched in soy sauce) and top it off with more rice. Then came the fun part – the actual packet making. The long left-over strips of reeds were tightly stretched over the top of the funnel with the sides pushed down, and the firmly wrapped to the sides.
|  Busy learning how to make rice dumplings. |  With our good friend Nicoleen tying up our rice dumplings. | Grabbing a bit of string, you bound the reeds with force to ensure that none of the inside contents would spill out. And voila! One meat rice dumpling complete. After a few rounds at the station, we swapped for the vegetarian version which comprised of white rice and red beans. This time we used bamboo leaves instead as these were smaller triangular versions of the pork ones.
| | Once you got a routine going, it was pretty easy going to churn out a good number of those rice dumplings after which one of the hotel’s chefs took them away for cooking which normally is done by boiling but also steaming. It takes around 1.5 hours to two hours to cook them fully. We had finished our culinary activity and the same dining table was cleaned up, with a table cloth on top and a nice spread of fresh fruit, salads, drinks, and (you guessed it) rice dumplings were all served for us to enjoy.
It was a fun way to spend an afternoon, in keeping with a historical Chinese tradition. Kudos to Maggie from the hotel for organising the event. |  Another fun friend of ours, Christina, eating a cooked rice dumpling. |  Celebrating Burundi culture at Café Connect. | Completely jumping cultures, not to mention an entire continent, the following afternoon it was the bi-monthly Café Connect gathering. As part of Shanghai Community Fellowship’s welcoming committee, the social event takes place after the 4pm Church service where people gather in the small chapel next door to not only socialise but be treated to some delicious eats and drinks. Over the last couple of months, a new running theme had been launched whereby each session now highlights the diversity of people who actually attend the Hengshan Road Church.
This week it was the turn of three African nations: Rwanda, Nigeria and Burundi. West African Gospel music played as people eagerly filtered in after the service. Two opposite rows of tables provided people the chance to sample not only more standard snacks but nibbles from the respective countries including a very flavoursome Nigerian ‘Akara’ or bean cake and the Jollof Rice (a spicy tomato based dish readily associated with West African cooking) which disappeared in no time.
| | I like my African prints and it just so happened that I had some Nigerian traditional clothes in Shanghai that were given to me by a close friend in London as a wedding gift. Yes, I became an honorary Naija with one Nigerian friend commenting that I carried myself like a royal chief. She joked to me, saying that I must fulfil my role as a strong leader by finding myself three additional wives alongside wifey number one, Lezil. Sounded like too much drama if you asked me!
With the rhythmic uplifting music playing, I could only marvel at how even in a place as far flung as China, the vibrancy of the African spirit can bring such unity and positivity. We are already preparing for Café Connect’s second African round which happens on Sunday 23rd June focusing on Zambia, Zimbabwe and the Waka Waka nation itself – South Africa! Lezil will be cooking up a storm for that one.
|  Call me a 'Naija'! (left to right) Christina, me, Deji and Nicoleen. | We got home an hour later to the mother of all surprises right on our door step. (‘Mother’ being the operative word here.) Walking up our winding steps to our third floor apartment and just as Lezil hit the final corner she jumped back in shock. Sprawled out by our front door was a cat that was clearly in beginnings of labour. The ginger mother-to-be was heaving heavily and was clearly in a lot of discomfort. I came up to join Lezil on our floor and, rather embarrassingly, the first thing that came out was “Not again!”.
 Help!! This cat is in labour. Meanwhile Winne (right) is more concerned with eating! | You see, we had already semi-adopted our street cat – Winnie – who pretty much appeared in the same way as a weak 2 month old kitten and two years later, he’s still with us , albeit roaming the streets all day and night. We didn’t know what to do. The cat wasn’t moving but just panting away and you could see that her tummy was contracting. The stench was pungent which we amateurishly diagnosed as her waters having been broken.
In a daze, I turned to Lezil and said to her that I was sure this was our next door fruit lady’s cat. With lightning speed I jumped down the stairs, two at a time, and ran the 10 street metres to her store. She was busy slurping her evening noodles and in my gargled Chinese and accompanying frantic sign language, I managed to get her to understand me. She swiftly followed me back up the stairs to the tiny hall by our apartment door.
| She rambled on in Shanghainese to me, of which I don’t understand a word of, so I asked her to switch to Putonghua (Mandarin) and got the gist of her saying “Zhe bu shi wo de mao” (this is not my cat). She then started to say that her cat is longer and has more white markings. How could this be? I was so sure it belonged to her. Apologising for mis-alerting her, she left us with this bulging pregnant non-moving feline helplessly lying at our feet. | Like a mad man, I scrolled through my phone to see who I knew was a ‘cat-person’. Bingo! Our Jamaican friend Liza (who I also happen to work alongside with at the Caribbean Association in China). She dished out the necessary advice which had Lezil running back to the fruit lady store to get a large box. I kept monitoring the cat. We got a soft green IKEA bath rug and lined the box with it. Seeing sense, the cat actually dragged itself onto the rug inside the box.
By this time, we had Lezil’s mum all the way in Australia coaching us on what to expect over the next few hours. Her family are experienced cat owners and had delivered kittens before. Then to add to the action, Winnie, our boy cat, decides to make his grand entrance and became all bewildered with the unfolding scene. He cautiously crept up to the ginger puss in the box then planted himself solidly by our door as if to say, “they are my owners, don’t even think about…”.
|  Winnie closely looking at proceedings. |  Lezil lining the floor with plastic. | His food bowl was empty, so I stacked it up to try and distract him. It worked. So there we were, standing in between a cat in labour and another one busy stuffing its face. I was adamant that I didn’t want the ginger cat dropping her load outside our door. The last thing we needed was a hoard of more cats meowing to be fed. One was enough, thank you very much. (Can you tell that I am not a cat person? Give me a dog any day!)
I went back down to the ground floor and interrupted one of neighbour’s dinner to ask him if we could use a sheltered spot outside in the communal garden to place the cat-in-labour and her box? He wasn’t too pleased with the idea. Unfortunately street cats are like rats here and therefore not a lot of care is shown towards the creatures. Getting one of my Shanghainese buddies on the phone to explain properly the situation to him, he thankfully relented.
| | I was super nervous picking up the box with the cat in it, especially as it had one open side. But she was perfectly well-behaved not moving, almost knowingly trusting our judgement for her well-being. We used one of the outside shed areas, lined it with plastic on the floor (to make it waterproof) and then I gently lowered the box down. There was no rain forecast which meant a dry night and the overnight temperature was a warm 20C. Good conditions.
The mother cat soon relaxed and closed her eyes. In a way, that was our job done. Just call us the cat midwives! The rest was now in her court. At the time of writing, she was still busy nesting but no sign of new lives yet.
|  Settling the pregnant street cat in her new birthing sheltered spot. | Once we were back in our apartment and I had time to digest all that had just happened and I remembered that this was the other ginger cat that I had frequently seen Winnie playing with by the next door neighbour’s concrete back yard. So, the big unanswered question we have to ask ourselves…is Winnie the father?  With our lao shi (teacher) learning how to make rice dumplings.  Packing in the wraps with rice and meat.  Raw seasoned pork.  Good times with friends doing something culturally Chinese. :)  Some finished rice dumplings we made, ready for cooking.  With the Argyle Hotel's marketing Manager, Maggie.  Nigeria stand proud! At Café Connect with friends (left to right) Philippa and Bettina (daughter and mother - Jamaica/Nigeria).  With another friend, Francis (Ghana/UK).  (left to right) Ibere (Nigeria) with Christina (Germany).  Southern Africans! (left to right) Lezil (SA), Nyasha (Zim) and Thando (SA).  With the Nigerian and Burundi crew!  With some of my local friends who dropped by to sample some African delights!  And yes....this could be a picture of the future (me constantly in Nigerian clothes!). Not sure what you were thinking of... LOL! ;)  Yes! Akara in Shanghai!
Will it or won’t it? That’s the dreaded question when holding any outdoor event. Google forecasted rain for the weekend, but as the search engine site barely works in China these days, thankfully that too was a message which didn’t get through to the skies above.
 Lezil and I arriving at DAFF 2013. | Plus, Lezil and I were to embark on our longest bike journey yet – a 18 kilometres round trip from our home to The Wharf right beside Shanghai’s Huangpu River. DAFF (Design Art & Fashion Fair) was holding its spring 2013 event. The bi-annual weekend gathering is where many of Shanghai’s expat creative enterprises set up shop to promote, sell, network and generally have a good time. It was considerably overcast but at the least the temperature was in the high 20s making it the ideal T-shirt wearing day.
Having given our legs a good 35 minute work-out, we secured our bikes by the Cool Docks railings and walked the one block to where we could hear music being pumped out by one of the DAFF DJs. The distinctive fluorescent pink of DAFF’s logo was at eye level everywhere you looked. | | Over 80 different brands across a number of industries – fashion, food, hair, interior design, art – all lined the edges of the normally-disused river dock area. The city’s impressive skyscrapers just on the other side in Pudong were deceptively close, including the fast-growing Shanghai Tower. Slated to be finished in 2014, it will be the tallest in China (632 metres) and will be the second tallest in the world after the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.
Meanwhile down at sea level, we went for a wander throughout the entire DAFF grounds. We stopped by a number of unique boutique stalls, many of which had one-of-a-kind designs. One in particular caught my attention and that was of Spaniard Celia Bernardo whose bold use of different cultural prints was eye-catching indeed. Her Celia B range had a number of custom-made items of clothing especially using material designs from different parts of Africa. |  Two tall skyscrapers (left) the new Shanghai Tower, (right) the Shanghai World Financial Center. |  Lezil by the Celia B fashion stall.  Playroom co-founders (left to right), girlfriend/boyfriend CiCi and Andrew. | Stopping at another table, I read the slogan “Come play with us” alongside the company’s logo Playroom which used hand cuffs for the double “o” in “room”. It took me a split second to register what the angle was which turned out to be products for sexual wellness and pleasure. This caught my curiosity. Playroom co-founder Andrew McGregor wandered over to where Lezil and I were standing. Originally from Australia, he told us he had moved from New York with his Chinese-American girlfriend CiCi to set up shop in Shanghai six months ago. I asked him how did it work, marketing sex-products in a seemingly conservative country like China?
| According to McGregor, the industry for ‘intimate lifestyle products’ (as it’s often referred to as) in China is now worth a staggering $15 billion US Dollars a year. You only have to look on China’s biggest online retailer Taobao to see the huge variety on offer. But, Andrew said, where they (Playroom) differ is not only offering high-quality imported products but also enlightening their customers on healthy wellbeing when it comes to sexual practises.
| By now we had pretty much passed through all the vendors and had arrived at the fair end of the dock to where the food stands were. Why is it that one moment you are not hungry, but the mere whiff of sizzling outdoor food being cooked suddenly sets off hunger pangs? You could literally country-hop with cuisine from all corners of the globe on offer. We eventually settled for Haya’s Israeli Cuisine where we wolfed down a tasty lamb kebab of which I generously spread some kicking chilli sauce on. Owner Tzachi (from Israel) was manning the stall and he was surprised when I told him that we had never come across his restaurant before which he said he had been running in Shanghai now for seven years. Handing over my Israeli lamb kebab, he gave us a discount voucher to come and visit his eatery located downtown.
Just before leaving DAFF, we dropped by our friends at Studio Ebony who were busy readying their models for a fashion hair walk around the event.
|  Holding my lamb kebab alongside Haya's Israeli food owner Tzachi and one of his staff members. |  Lezil chatting with Bryonie, co-founder of Studio Ebony. | They had a number of hair products and actual hair pieces out on display to promote their services for African/Caribbean community residing in Shanghai. And of course, their invited hair stylist from the US (Ms Mikko) was in her element as she jazzed up various hair dos as she only knows how.
Biking back to our home, we had a quick turn around and we were soon cycling up town to a little complex known as Anken Green. | | It’s a converted six-floor building which now houses a number of upstart and established enterprises. Right at the top there’s an endearing rooftop area with a large-sized vegetable garden, outdoor decking and a renovated hall. The latter was the setting for the much-advertised and much-talked about play Black Is The Color Of My Voice.
The one-woman show is performed and written by American Apphia Campbell who has been working on the concept for several years but only really sat down since last September to piece together, what has to be said, something that has become a very hot topic today. An official movie of Nina Simone’s life is in the works with Latina Black actress Zoe Saldaña (Avatar/Pirates of the Caribbean) cast as the lead role. In the US it has caused all sorts of controversy not least because of Zoe’s apparent unlikeness (appearance-wise) to the late great Jazz singer, but also because of the lengths the movie’s producers have gone to adapt her look adding in a reported larger nose. |  Going up the elevator at Anken Green to see the play 'Black is the Color of my Voice'. |  Front row seats with our good buddy Deji! | No adversity was felt in Shanghai to the staging of Nina’s life story where we sat with our good friend Deji right on the front row of that cosy converted rooftop theatre. We were to witness Nina Simone’s life according to its script creator Apphia Campbell. The story focuses on ‘Mena Bordeaux’, a fictional character created by Apphia and loosely based around Simone’s journey. The first half was an exquisite display of Campbell’s uncanny way of playing several characters where Mena ends up in Liberia (West Africa) as she locks herself in a room, facing her past demons whilst yearning to free her future-self.
| | She reminisces about her late father and mother, her times at Church and the preacher’s messages. Growing up as a young black girl with an exceptional piano-playing talent soon began to open her eyes towards the prejudice that existed because of the color of her skin. Apphia portrayed each character in such a defined way that you soon forgot it was just her up there. And this wasn’t just a play full of dialogue but, pulling out her secret weapon, Apphia peppered her performance with various musical numbers, again inspired by songs from Nina Simone’s collection. |  Apphia Campbell in full swing as Mena Bordeaux. |  Performing "I Put a Spell On You". | Her haunting delivery of “I Put A Spell On You” was spine-tingling as she stood in a long purple dress, iconic green head wrap and a single spot-light where you could almost feel Nina Simone’s very spirit in that room. All around me, I could hear nothing but praise for Apphia’s work during the short 10 minute interval as people took time to digest the vibrant story-telling performance of the first half.
Up until then, the play had focused primarily on Mena’s personal and artistic journey. Whereas the second half highlighted more her involvement with the American Civil Rights movement. There was an excellent sound insert of various radio reports featuring speeches from the likes of Dr Martin Luther King and President John F. Kennedy.
| | Apphia dug deep as she acted out Mena’s despair and anger towards the death of Dr King and the inequality that ostracized African Americans during that time. None one in the audience moved an inch. The realness of the scene was simply sublime.
The play reached its rightful crescendo with the number “Feeling Good” seeing Mena belting out the hit song, arms extended wide towards her adoring fans. The figurative curtain fell. The end. What a ride. I had seen Apphia act in last year’s Blue Lane Productions of No Exit. And clearly, she stepped up what was already then, an impressive performance. There’s one more weekend showing in Shanghai before she takes the whole thing over to the Midtown International Theatre Festival in New York during the summer. All-singing, all-acting, all-writing the question begs, what’s the next story to have Apphia’s magical theatrical touch?
|  After her incredible performance, with singer/actress Apphia Campbell. |  DAFF under the watchful eye of Shanghai's many skyscrapers.  Celia B and her vivid African prints collection.  The food end of DAFF.  A cute little cart with its outdoor BBQ sausage grill.  People lining up for their fix if Haya's Israeli Cuisine.  DJs keeping the crowd entertained at DAFF.  Bumping into my Jamaican rude gyal, Camille!  With US hairstylist Ms Mikko at DAFF.  A full house at Anken Green's rooftop theatre for 'Black is the Color of my Voice'.  After the play, and it's off to a local wine bar, Magpie, for Mojitos!  Lezil with her daiquiri at Magpie!
| | Multi-coloured strands of hair lay strewn across the boutique floor. At one end of the shop was a make-up artist readying a model with her final touches. Right opposite, a stylist was busy sculpting a fluorescent pink hair piece with razor-sharp angles followed by lashings of hair spray to keep the new style in place. These were the artistic preparations from Studio Ebony. The one-of-a-kind Afro Hair salon first open its doors in Shanghai last November and today was their first foray into a fashion event.
F.Y.E.S.T.A. (Forever Young Extravaganza of Style and Arts), now in its fourth showing, was set up by French entrepreneur Sylvie Wen who has a desire to provide Shanghai’s emerging artistic community a platform for showcasing a variety of concepts and designs.
| | Taking place at the pedestrian zone of Jiashan Market, the monthly event recently moved to Café Sambal, a Malaysian bar/restaurant, taking full advantage of the venue’s spacious rooftop terrace.
The place was buzzing as people socialised and meandered between stalls which included unique clothing wear and accessories and a couple of foodie tables - a scrumptious display of Brazilian hand-made chocolate balls (Effa’s Brazilian Treats) and food from the motherland (Eat Ethio). |
Helina and Fatima selling Ethiopian food - 'Eat Ethio'.
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People selling unique clothing lines/accessories.
| That was our dinner right there. On our plates was a good helping of Minshet Abish Wot (beef stew) with Tikil Gomen (cabbage, carrot, potato stew) and Misir Wot (lentil stew) – all loving prepared and spiced by Ethiopian native Helina. Helping alongside her was Fatima (Morocco) who, between them, were doing a roaring trade and a couple of hours later had completely sold out.
Walking in between the different groups of moving people, you literally drifted past a different language being spoken each time. And, that international audience was about to feast its eyes on some of the outspoken Afro hair creations courtesy of Studio Ebony. | | Founders Bryonie Richards and Camille Lindo (both Jamaican nationals) were frantically looking over the models and tidying up any loose ends just before the show was to begin. Even Lezil got in on the act by assisting with straightening some of the hair designs. We realised the hair used wasn’t 100% human hair so she had to be super careful with the flat iron’s heat setting and how long she tended to the hair strands without risking burning them.
There was certainly a lot of curiosity bouncing about as this was to be a first for an event in Shanghai – displaying African/Caribbean hairstyles by a Caribbean-owned salon. The models, too, were an international affair with countries like Gabon, the US, Antigua and China all represented. Each came with their style-design name which was as colourful as the hair pieces themselves: Rastaman Vibrations, Flower Power, Cleopatra’s Creation, Cocktail Beret, Ebony Dragon. Café Sambal’s main restaurant area was packed wall-to-wall with people who, in turn, created a kind of human catwalk passage for the models to parade through. |
Backstage at the boutique, Lezil straightening hair.
| Each one strutted her stuff while Studio Ebony’s Camille gave a running commentary over some happening house beats played by Australia’s DJ Cherokee (one of three guest DJs to play that evening). China is a whole new market when it comes to the Afro hair industry. Unlike nearby Japan where a fascination towards Caribbean culture, in particular Jamaica, has spread the growth and understanding of this fast-growing hair sector – China still has a long way to go. But with Shanghai being the mainland leader in all things Western and with Studio Ebony’s presence right in the heart of the city – the salon is certainly in the right place for pioneering a new trend into the Chinese marketplace.
Studio Ebony stylist, April (Bahamas), working on one of her creations.
People enjoying the spring time weather on the terrace at Café Sambal.
Lezil with FYESTA founder, Sylvie Wen.
With Helina (left) and Fatima (right) from Eat Ethio.
My delicious plate of Ethiopian grub!!
The models and the Studio Ebony team getting ready.
Camille creamin de legs!!
April (left) with her Ebony Dragon design.
With the gorgeous ladies, before they work the runway!
Australia's DJ Cherokee laying down some soulful house tunes.
Out on the show....
Style: Cocktail Beret
Style: Cleopatra's Creation
Studio Ebony co-founder Bryonie Richards braids 8-year old French girl Camille's hair at the show.
With barely enough time to get the ringing out of our ears from clubbing hours before, we were up at the ‘crack of sparrows’ (thank you Kath & Kim – all my Aussie comedy fans know what I am referring to!). The weather had turned nasty. Five days earlier Shanghai had been basking in a summery 29C. Today, the thermometer plunged down to a measly 12C. It was windy, damp and raining – not the ideal setting for going strawberry picking.
Lezil looking a lot more freshed-faced than I on our early morning trip!
| Dragging ourselves out of our apartment, we made our way to a downtown meeting point. We were headed to Shanghai’s Qingpu district (a far suburb) where a cluster of farms grew a variety of produce including its famed strawberries. There are a number of public bus routes that can take you there, but knowing that we would have been tired and the fact that going the public transport option would have taken longer, we paid the little extra to join a day tour. RMB 115 (£10) got us a return trip on a private bus, access to the farm for picking, a lunch and an afternoon visit to one of Shanghai’s historic water villages. Not bad.
| | The trip, in fact, was organised by a small private Chinese language school called SN Mandarin. Geared towards their staff and students, I had dropped them an email a week ago asking if we could tag along which they graciously accepted. We were about thirty people in total on that bus as we set off, west bound towards the outskirts of Shanghai.
Little over an hour later and the roads had become small tarmac country lanes with plenty of land used for growing veggies. One of the farm workers came out to meet us in her bright pink scooter to lead the bus to the right patch. We piled out, thankful to stretch our legs.
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We arrive out at our farm destination in Shanghai's Qingpu district.
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Entering into one of the greenhouses where the strawberries grow.
| The rain had eased to a lingering drizzle which just made everything feel wet-to-the-touch. Walking about 10 minutes through the fields we finally arrived at the strawberry section. To keep them guarded against the cold, they were all sheltered in makeshift plastic greenhouses which did offer a welcome escape from the outside elements.
The farm owners enthusiastically handed us a basket each with a box inside for placing the strawberries in. There was an abundance of fruit everywhere and all pretty big sizes too. Our group leader, Bella, had told us that the farm prides itself on organic growing methods and said that we could literally pick the fruit and eat it straight. | | Knowing my stomach sensitivity, I avoided the temptation to do so. This was actually the first time I had seen strawberry growing plants up close and it was fascinating to see the different stages of the fruit from a flower to a tiny little green cone-shape, to its changing white colour and then the eventually blood-red fruit at the end of its evolving process.
We must have spent a good 25 minutes bending over and gently snapping the fruit off its vine using our thumb nail. Once we had our boxes fairly filled up, outside the greenhouse were some scales where you had your fruit weighed. |
Everyone gets down to picking strawberries.
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Enjoying my birthday treat with Lezil and the strawberries!
| Between Lezil and I, we harvested about 3.5 kilos of fresh strawberries which came to a bargain RMB 59 (£5.90) in total. With our boxes sealed up, we then followed our group trail past a small river and small houses to the main farmhouse which was to be our lunch venue.
Because of the recent meat scares, the only carnivorous choice given was stewed pork which we didn’t eat any way. The rest of the dishes brought out were all from the farm which included spring onions, carrots, green peppers, beans, cabbage and potatoes. | | There was also a delicious fried bamboo selection, a fresh water seasoned fish, tofu in a garlic sauce and, the Chinese stable, rice. Oh, and a plate of strawberries for dessert! The dwelling was a simple affair with our dining area opening up to a concrete courtyard which had smaller houses and an outdoor kitchen.
The school staff had organised a simple ice-breaker game which involved the popping of a balloon. Inside each balloon was either a prize or a forfeit. I got a slip with a prize on it (a Chinese language book), whereas Lezil drew the short straw and had to do a forfeit. She was told to pull five different faces for the camera. She was a pro as she put her years of stage experience to good use. |
With some of the group enjoying the start of our farm cooked Chinese meal.
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At one of Zhujajiao's main canal entrances.
| Bellies full, we briskly walked back to the bus. It was late afternoon and the temperature was beginning to drop. Once inside the warmth of the bus, it was a 40 minute drive to Zhujajiao – one of Shanghai’s prime tourist spots. Up until now, we hadn’t had the chance (or the time!) to make the trip out to this appealing water village.
It didn’t disappoint. The main north entrance area was deceptively small as once you got past the main canal area, the whole village became an enticing run of tiny alleys and hidden water canals. The bad weather even worked to our advantage as the place was very quiet with visitors.
| | The village is said to date back more than 1,700 years with its principle stone bridge – Fangsheng – being the longest and the highest giving a 360 degree view of the entire area.
Popularity has it double effect. On the one hand, the village has benefitted from the influx of tourist money. On the other, commercialisation can erode the appeal of an ancient historic site. The winding lanes were pretty much a collection of shops or independent coffee outlets and restaurants. These eateries were a labour of love as each one had its unique décor which many were like walking into someone’s private home. Very cosy and touching small details. |
At the top of Fangsheng Bridge overlooking the ancient water village. Cold!!!
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One of many picturesque canals.
| I can imagine in nicer weather, the open deck sections of these places would be where you would while away the time with a nice drink and watch the Chinese water gondolas drift by. There were a few out on the water that day, but we didn’t fancy sitting still in the cold and we had a limited time frame in the village itself.
Before long, it was back to Zhujajiao’s main entrance for a final group photo brandishing the school’s emblem printed on a flag. The bus trip back to the city centre was a silent one as everyone pretty much was out for the count.
| Birthday treat part two was an absolute blast and to think we had a truck load of strawberry supplies to enjoy once home – life was sweet indeed.
Our group makes its way to the strawberry fields.
Clean and fresh strawberries, ready for the picking!
Lezil fills up her box.
My own selection looking very ripe indeed!
Weighing our produce.
The fruits of our labour!!
A small river goes past our farmhouse.
At the farmhouse courtyard.
Lunch is cooked local-style in an outdoor kitchen.
We gather in the near-open-air dining room.
Fish on the menu...
Gambei!
We arrive at the ancient water village of Zhujajiao.
Fresh catch of the day!
Lezil by a quaint restaurant entrance.
Chinese water gondolas.
One of many tightly packed lanes in the village.
Calm and quiet by the waterside.
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