That lad's got a foot like a traction engine

We won the Anfield Cup on the 1st of October, a mini-football tournament for fans of various English teams - this year it was us (Spurs), Liverpool, Chelsea and West Ham.

Crucially for me, I finally scored a goal for the team. Very satisfying and kind of a relief. I'd gone through a whole season without scoring, although I suppose you could say half a season, since half the time I'm a fullback, and they're not expected to score too much. But the 50% of the time on the wing had created, in my own mind at least, a weight of expectation.

It was nice to get a first goal that meant something too, rather than just in a friendly or something. I started the final match at right midfield, against the Chelsea team. We needed a win to be sure of the trophy. Three or four minutes in, I lost my marker and found myself in the 6-yard box in time for a marvellous cross from our newly acquired Croatian left-winger Ivan, and all that was required was to shank it into the net from a few metres out.


Above: Goooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaal!

Our friends in the north

I have a work trip to Beijing over the weekend of the 16th/17th, flying up on the Friday.
Apparently I will be at the Shenzhou Hotel. I can only assume this is a hotel assembled out of leftover parts from China's space programme, which will be excellent.
Sadly I will be working all weekend - it's for a photoshoot, but there's nothing glamorous about it. Even VOGUE shoots seem pretty unglamorous, from what I gather via America's Next Top Model, and this is for a college Chinese textbook.
My one slim hope is that our mainland partners mess up the scheduling so I don't have to do anything. There's not a high chance of that happening, but probably more than you would expect. Especially since all of China is on holiday at the moment and has been for two weeks, mostly.

I have asked a friend what the weather is like there. I need to plan ahead if I need to dig any warm coats out of our long-term storage.
Mind you, Hongkongers should be getting their arctic gear any day now, as the temperature has plummeted - PLUMMETED - to 25 degrees. I wish I had their attitude to heat, it would let me wear my autumn/winter wardrobe.
It was still around 29/30 last week and scarves were sighted even then.

Still, it will be interesting to see the old place - I haven't been since CK moved to Jakarta, about three years ago. I'm told a lot has changed. I shall try to stop by my old flat. The thing they were building next door all the time I lived there has been completed and I hear won a bunch of architecture awards.
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