Hey Hey and a Big G'Day toya,
 
Do you ever sit and wonder where your time goes?
So do I and I think we all do!
Can't bring it back!
Bugger!
 
On this day thirty...um...cough cough, splutter splutter...years ago I had the nerve to put my mother through the pain of child birth just so I could relocate myself to China later in life.
 
What type of son am I huh?
 
My first birthday in China was spent in the lush greens rice fields of Guangxi Province.
My second was spent in the dry arid desert province of Gansu.
My third was spent in the wild bamboo mountain forests of Fujian Province.
My fourth I am still enjoying here in the green rugged mountains of Shaanxi Province.
 
I have The Sperm Birds on the iPod and next in line is The MC5 who I'm sure will kick out the jams to help me welcome in my 38th year on this crazy yet beautiful planet. I have a cold beer beside me and I am chatting to several friends on both MSN and QQ. QQ is Chinese Chat and is a cross between MSN/Yahoo and Facebook and it is HUGE! Facebook is very new to all of us but the Chinese have had their version for many years. It's like a One Stop Internet Shop that offers a lot more than what both Facebook and MSN/Yahoo offer combined.  
 
So what does a little Aussie-Roo do for his fourth birthday in the mysterious lands of China?
 
I woke around mid morning and decided that I would spend the day walking but the question was where to. I then decided to allow the day figure that one out for me. Not long after leaving home I was chatting to Ting Ting while walking along the river. The sky was a huge sea of blue and soon it was clear that the Birthdays destination was to be found at the eastern end of town.
 
I spent the next six hours walking through fields of corn that also housed an ancient Pagoda whose much larger twin I soon found in the sports grounds of the high school nearby. The tracks through the fields soon led me to small villages where families were busy doing anything and everything to corn.
 
So much corn!
I've never seen so much corn!
In these village grew the very rare Chinese Corn Tree!
 
So what does a little Aussie-Roo eat and drink for his fourth birthday in the mysterious lands of China?

Have you gone mad? 
Beers N Noodles of course!

 My lunch noodles were from a really greasy noodle bar down the road a bit. The place hasn't been cleaned for a million decades but the noodles they serve are so delicious. Along with my noodles I had a little bag of crispy beans and other assorted 'good for you' things in a garlic sauce. For dinner it was soup full thick flat noodles with cauliflower, bok choy, more beans, tofu and a flat round bread and later while on MSN/QQ it was an assortment of different Chinese beers.
 
When I left my school in the morning I came across a little snack stall that was selling various yummy things from a skinned monkey to freshly killed snakes. He also threw in different types of 'growth' some of which resembled Davey Jones facial hair from 'Pirates of the Caribbean'. Ok, it wasn't a snack stall but a traditional Chinese Medicine Man/Dude/Person/Thing.
 
So that is how an Aussie Roo spends his fourth birthday in the mysterious lands of China!
 
Beers N Noodles toya.....shane
_________________________________________________
 
The soundtrack to this entry was both The Spermbirds 'Joe'
And The MC5 'Live'
_________________________________________________
 
PS: I would like to thank Facebook for a bumper crop of happy birthday wishes this year!
Thank you everyone..I really do miss you all!