Work Hard, Play Hard.

Sleep too long, study too little, work, waste the afternoon and repeat. Just days back from China and things were already starting to follow an oh too familar pattern. Something had to give. It was time for a change. It was time to get tough.

Work Hard, Play hard.

Which, of cause, began with Step 1: Play Hard.

Friday night saw Dave out on the town, in a posh little French way rather than the ever-increasingly-vulgar British way. Surrounded by a select handful of some of his closest friends, and Macca, he sat down to a delightful French meal in some forgotten corner of Liverpool. It was relaxed, joyful and fun.

Saturday morning saw Dave and his fair maiden off to the wonderous little town of Chester. Walking the old wall, along the riverside, through the strange mix of modern shops in old town buildings, seeing the Cathedral and best of all the Squirrels. How can anything be that cute?

Dave did feel a little sorry for the pigions though. A squirrel jumps from a tree and everyone thinks it's so cool. A pigion can fly and it's met mostly by indifference. What does the humble pigion have to do to earn respect?

One of the strangest things about Chester was McDonalds. Dave had been to McDonalds from Portugal to China and they all were exactly the same. It had always felt like he had magically been transported back to England whenever he had entered one. How strange then, that here in Chester, a mere hour away from the Liver Buildings, McDonalds had an entirely unique feel. The chairs, the tables, the colour scheme, all different. Unfortantly the food remained unchanged.

Saturday night and it was back to Liverpool for yet another meal with a different group of friends. Just to try something new they went for Chinese. Whilst everyone was speaking Manderin or Cantonese it felt reasuring to have the sweet little french girl on Jean's otherside mirror his look of absolute "uh?".

When the clock struck 12 it was HAPPY NEW YEAR! china time.

Sunday saw Dave and Jean out and about again. China town was putting on a show for the locals and Jean was bursting to see it.

One little dragon waved about aimlessly, surrounded by more people than Liverpool could safely hold. It was time for plan B.

Dave and Jean met up with his Big Bro Baldy and the newly appointed Mrs Baldy and dissappeared off to the Albert dock for a day of looking at tasteless tacky tourist shops. It was great. He hadn't been for so long, it was nice to see everything exactly how he had left it.

The rest of the weekend was spent chillin' on Dave's home turf. He went to see his Mother dearest and Good ole Papa.

Step 1 was coming along nicely.