Tag: dogs

China Coronavirus Life

Day 37 in China during the Coronavirus

Emily Short

Happy birth month to me!!! Yes, birth month is a thing and my birthday is on 11th March (note that down people). I take birth months very seriously after Zac and I made a deal (coincidently) just before his birth month. The deal was ‘the person who’s birth month it is, does not lift a finger, doesn’t do anything and basically gets waited on the whole month’. Initially, I thought this was an excellent idea as I couldn’t wait for it to be my birth month, which is now here. However, this deal was made and then it was October, Zac’s birth month. Day to day, I do most of the house work and stuff like that just because I’m quite particular about how things are done and Zac does an ‘above satisfactory’ job, he has definitely improved though… due to this, I proactively sort things before Zac gets a chance, although, he is the chef in the house which is great for me! So in October, I didn’t think it was a big deal for him to not lift a finger and me wait on him, but then, things started to change throughout the month… I got him a cat for his birthday… then we got ourselves a very needy dog 3 days later… and it was still the deal of ‘Zac doesn’t lift a finger’ because of his birth month. I was not ready! I needed his assistance but cmon, I wasn’t ready to be a mum to these animals by myself! Obviously, I needed Zac to start helping out, unfortunately it was (only) 2 days before his birth month ended and he will never drop it… I mean I did a pretty good job for the rest of the month!

So, now it’s the first day of my birth month and the deal, but guess what I did all day… CLEAN AND TIDY!! To be fair, Zac didn’t get any sleep last night so I’ll let it slide as he also made me a yummy yummy shrimp pasta for dinner. BUT aside from this anomaly we should have an easy month ahead of us people. I get to just sit back, do nothing as Zac becomes my butler… in the buff 😂 How exciting! So, yes I thought I’d share the update of this yearly event with you all.

Okay so onto the day, well after a very nice, sunny yesterday, we found ourselves back inside today. Yesterday was a one off but a good sign, as there are more local shops opening and malls are starting to open up again and it’s looking positive. We’re slowly getting back to normality – Just waiting on the most important place to open up, the gym! We’ve decided that if the gym doesn’t open then we have no choice but to fly to Thailand and go to the AKA Thailand MMA gym… its the only way we could think of to stay sane 💁🏻‍♀️

Yes, so even though we’re back to being trapped inside I was still very proactive and got myself a very accurate picture of Zeus just for visual proof of his sneaky dickness, during this time he was using his paw to pull my bowl away from me and closer to him (basically tug o’ war with a cereal bowl!)…

“If I stare long enough, human will have to give me some” Mr Zeusykins France

I was also proactive as I went for a run… I know I had a break but a niggle just made me run today, probably had something to do with the whole packet of cookies, 2 dinners, 2 chocolate bars and the ice cream I ate last night, whoops! I also did an hour HIIT class from a YouTube video, never done one before so thought I’d try it out since I needed more than a run to work of those mega kcals I consumed last night. The video was tough actually, a little boring but tough, only boring because there were a lot of repetitive body weight moves and it would be better if they switched it up but hey, it’s their class and I stuck through the whole thing! Man I had a sweat on! It felt good, I mean it won’t get me ripped or anything but a nice little home sweat is more rewarding than doing nothing!

Annnd that’s all I think. Nothing else happened today… see what happens when I’m back trapped inside the house, there’s only a certain amount of things I can talk about, very restricting, I’m not a fan. Well, there is one more thing, Lola and Bella have basically been asleep all day because of their busy day yesterday, just look at this!

Nap nap time 😴

Hopefully there’s more to tell you tomorrow! I also hope that the person who lives above us stops constantly playing their piano from 9am to 9pm!?!? Who even plays a piano for that long…?

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Day 19 in China during the Coronavirus

Emily Short

Well, what an entertaining 24 hours! I’m going to go through the different various events in the order of; the most shocking, the smelliest, the funniest, the most surprising, the tastiest then mention any add-ons. Okay, here we go…

The most shocking award goes to the time of 1am last night, where Zac heard screaming and shouting outside, he looked out of the window and saw a young boy getting escorted away from the building by people in hazmat suits. He was probably screaming about the fact he doesn’t want to be taken just because his temperature may be a little over. That is the intensity of how strict the patrolling suit people are here! Not only have we seen people being escorted away but our friends also have seen many from their buildings, and when out and about! We are definitely making sure our temperatures are set before stepping outside because 1, I don’t want either of us being taken into quarantine and 2, it would be pretty inconvenient for the hazmat people to call in 10 of their guys just to take Zac alone. We’re thinking of the whole system here!

Next, the smelliest award goes to Zeus! Remember when I said Zeus was a dick. Well, he is! He decided to do a big ol’ poo poo on our bed covers, oh and of course he wouldn’t be a complete dick if he didn’t add a wee at the opposite end of the bed! It was disgusting. As a result, we had to go to the shops to buy a new duvet. Thank you Zeus. The cat is a twat. It rhymes and it’s necessary. However, that does lead us nicely into the funniest award, it goes to me. Yaaay! We were in the supermarket and Zac said he was making brownies, so I said great, can you put Oreos in them? He said no because they’re going to be Toblerone brownies. Why would anyone say no to Toblerone x Oreo brownies!?!? Anyway, I insisted on getting Oreos and he said No just like a parent would… he’s got to be careful, he’s quite a few years older than me, easy mistake to make (kidding!). So, it carried on, I would ask and he kept saying no. I had to take matters into my own hands. I went to run for the Oreos but Zac grabbed my hood like some sort of dog lead. What is that about huh. I got myself into a situation so I used my smartness and distracted him, I started talking about protein or something because protein, gym or rugby will always get his attention. Then I ran! I was freeee! I grabbed my beloved Oreos and put them on the scanner but no, they didn’t make it through. Party pooper Zac hid them. We walked out of the shop and we realised we forgot bread… “Emily can you go back inside and get some bread please?” “Yes, of course darling!” Little did he know, this was fab for me because I could get my Oreos without any stoppages this time. I got my necessary item and the bread, left the shop by skipping towards Zac because guess who got their own way… ME! Yeah yeah yeah yeah!!! Don’t mess with me boss man, I am the boss!

On to the most surprising. Well everyone, I did it, I went for a run, 3 laps of our plot, no stoppages (accept one, when Lola launched herself into a bush, we had a graceful recovery) I took the first step to completing my challenge! I’m going to be a marathon runner in no time…orrr not. Unfortunately, I didn’t get around to handstands BUT did do the best leg workout I have done since being in isolation! This made me feel like I deserved this next bit of information I am about to tell you!

OMG! By Jove! Bajeezuz! The dinner, no no wrong word, the GODLY creation Zac made tonight was undoubtedly the best meal he has ever cooked, and maybe even the best meal I have EVER had IN MY LIFE! Seriously, it was extraordinary. I’m dribbling thinking about it. The cheesiest pasta sauce with the meatiest most tender meat balls and the most al dente pasta… put some slow music in the background and this description could become sensual. It couldn’t be true, I fell in love all over again. He’s sat there and I’m thinking, you may have just tied me down forever because I can’t go anywhere and not have that meal again… Obviously I’m not going to go anywhere anyway but this made it even more assuring! Carrying on, so yes, the tastiest award goes to his divine dinner we had this evening meaning it is going to be very difficult for him to top this one!

Finally, today I had to do my first online class videos, I didn’t like it, I know I’ve got to do it but I hate talking to my camera. Talking to a class is so much nicer because you don’t look crazy guessing what the student’s responses would be when you ask the questions like “Can you guess what this is?”… “No, it’s not your mouth, it’s your eye!” and you don’t even know if they thought the answer was Mouth, it’s just nuts. Although, I did get a lot of the content in that I wanted to and I think I could get used to it but at the moment it definitely isn’t sitting well. Let’s hope the students enjoy the videos!

Here’s a picture of walking Lola and Bella at the same time, it’s ridiculous!

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Day 15 in China during the Coronavirus

Emily Short

Well it seems like this isolation thing isn’t stopping anytime soon as all large and small Chinese businesses/factories were supposed to be opening again tomorrow (we thought we were finally going to see a gym again!) but no. They have postponed until 17th February now and more delays to be predicted! I will tell you now, on 17th February places will not be open. It wouldn’t be so bad if only restaurants were open as I would LOVE a green tea java chip frappucino! They don’t have Nando’s here but a Nando’s would make me so happy! See, that got me thinking about all the foods that I miss from England since I really love going to Asda, Sainsburys, Lidl… I don’t care where, I just love food shops! Restaurants! Cafes!

Here’s a list of a few foods I miss, prepare yourselves… Dairy Milk chocolate, most biscuits (especially chocolate digestives, custard creams and Shortbread), COOKIES like the white chocolate chip or twix – the baked ones from the superstores. MRS POTTS CHOCOLATE HOUSE, I actually dribble thinking about their cakes. Okay, I may have a slight sweet tooth. Carrying on, I miss roast chicken that you can buy already cooked from Sainsbury’s, all quiches, Heinz baked beans and real sausages… basically a real English breakfast ALSO a roast dinner! I really miss scones with jam and cream on with a cup of tea! Doritos to make nachos, and ice cream, just a big tub of Half Baked Ben and Jerry’s. Dominos! What I would do for a stuffed crust chicken pizza brought to the door (since I’m stuck inside anyway). The thing I have been craving most is a Manor House cake… How boring you’re thinking BUT if you tried the cakes here, they are literally just cream. A manor house cake is such a MOIST cake it’s just the cakiest cakey cake of all the cakes! Obviously there are more foods that I miss but it’s just too much and my fingers will get tired.

I know you’re probably thinking that its’s all fatty and unhealthy things… Well, yes it is. This food makes me so excited and happy that it is all I can think about while stuck in the same four walls everyday! Generally, I have a good diet, I have my five-a-day, protein and complex carbs BUT this is the stuff I want so bad. I basically have constant PMS-ing cravings right now, so us females know the strength of the cravings that I feel!

Today, I tried to calm the cravings by trying to make pancakes… They were disgusting! I fired myself from the chef job I gave myself yesterday. Firstly, I was missing 3 of the main ingredients (sugar, baking powder and nice toppings). Secondly, I don’t have weighing scales so I completely misjudged the amount of flour I put in and they ended up being described by Zac as “Flour Sponges”. Thirdly, I knew when cooking them, they were going to taste gross so I just covered them with yoghurt to see if I could hide the disappointment I created… No that didn’t work… Blehhh! Buh bye pancakes!

As my pancakes failed, the only thing we ended up eating today were dumplings, Oreos and Snickers… I swear, I do have a good diet!

Update on the security of our accommodation, on entry while they take your temperature, they now also take your picture. Right, can anybody else see another 5’10, white, British, blue-eyed female in the accommodation or Guiyang for that matter (as nearly all British citizens have now gone back to the UK), NO I didn’t think so! I’m nearly 99% certain they could recognise me if they looked at me, I’m basically the amazonian woman of China. They also see me 3 times a day walk out with a massive golden retriever, yet they still need a picture for reference just in case I don’t live here. Craziness! I wonder what the next update is for the security is tomorrow.

ALSO! I was supervised picking up my dogs poop today… Lola went for her morning poo sesh as usual. Suddenly, I have two groundsman stood right next to me making sure I pick the poop up and put it in the bin. They spoke to me in Chinese and were doing the actions of picking a poop up. I looked at them, turned around, picked it up, walked back up to them and showed the poop in the bag… Happy now!? What is this!!? Firstly, why are they stood so close to me? AND why are they watching me pick up poop? Probably think I’m going to leave it there to spread the virus of something. Pffft.

Anyway, that’s basically how the day has gone. Ooh yes, fortunately, I have now confirmed with work that we will still be getting paid, regardless of how long this virus takes to blow over! At least we’re getting money while just sitting inside these four walls and sending some videos to our classes. I guess it’s not all bad!