My winter blogs have been mainly about my shopping trips around Beijing where I buy my needs for daily life or for presents for those at home. I am hoping that soon springtime will come and at that time I can write about some Beijing outdoor cultural and beautiful sites which I visit.  My desire for the winter to end has been aided in the last few weeks when, shortly after the Chinese New Year, I made a trip to Singapore and Australia. In Australia, I had a lovely visit with my friend, Marcia, in her wonderful town of Bairnsdale. The weather during my visit to Australia was, of course, very hot and the first two days were above 40 degrees. I enjoyed visits with my friend Marcia in her beautiful home, her sister Cheryl and husband John who invited me for a nice lunch and Marcia's friends Lynn and Warren who entertained me at a delicious outdoor Australian BBQ. Marcia and her sister took me for interesting drives in the Australia countryside where I was fortunate to view a Koala in a tree very close above me. It was unfortunate that the area I visited was stricken with bush fires which did great damage to nearby towns and caused the sad deaths of many Australians. While visiting Sydney I was able to see many of the well-known sites such as the Harbour Bridge and the famous Sydney Opera House. 

　　  Back again to Beijing, I am busy with my daily living. Although I get many of my grocery and household staples at a local Chinese grocery store, I usually make one trip out each week in Beijing to get foreign-type groceries. I have visited most of the sources around Beijing to shop for foreign grocery items. There are large foreign grocery stores in several plazas and department stores throughout Beijing such as the one in the basement level of The Pacific Century Department Store and in the basement level of The Lufthansa You Yi Department Store. I find both of these stores to be a bit overpriced and lacking in a large selection of specific items. Also, I do not like walking up stairs in the You Yi basement store after shopping with heavy groceries although The Pacific Century Department store has an escalator which is appreciated. I prefer to get my foreign groceries at smaller stores such as the outlets of Jenny Lou's, especially the Jenny Lou's which is located in the Lido area. My favorite grocery store of them all is a small store, Nick's, which is located outside the back entrance of the Lido Holiday Inn. This store, I have found, has an adequate supply of the various goods which I need and the prices are usually less than the other larger stores. When I am grocery shopping, I often like to pick up treats to take home from a deli. The deli in the Lido Holiday Inn, in the rear foyer area, has delicious made-to-order sandwiches on fresh rolls, some import meats and some other ready-to-eat foods to take home. It also has loaves of bread which are quite good. I also buy bread at the Lido area Jenny Lou's where there is a large selection or bread items such as: regular loaves of white or wheat bread, French sticks, bagels and banana bread. My other favorite deli is in the Kempinski Hotel in the Lufstanza centre. (continued on next page)