Gong Bao Chicken or Sweet and Sour Pork? place your orders!

I think im beginning to make small gains in my climbing- i led 3 routes yesterday, and one was a 6a that i did by hanging on a few bolts and at one point i climbed up until i could just reach the bolt, but the the last one was below my feet and i was in an unbalanced position to place the quickdraw and clip, so i backed down to the bolt. after doing this about 5 times, i eventually clipped the bolt! i have found some routes quite run out- 5s often have 3 metres or more between bolts so it doesnt make it easy to get confidence!
i took 2 days off in a row a few days ago now, and enjoyed sitting in a restaurant that was on the river, watching the bamboo rafts go past in the comfort of air conditioning, drinking a big pot of ginger and mint tea and reading my book! i realised i couldnt remember the last time i was on my own, so a break from the group was nice. i also went on a chinese cooking course. this was brilliant! there was a group of 8 of us, people from England, Switzerland and Finland, all in their 20s. we had to decide on 3 dishes to make as a group- after resorting to writting our decision down on paper after discusions didnt get anywhere- we decided on sweet and sour pork, Gong Bao Chicken and Braised aubergine with garlic and chili paste. we stood 4 facing 4 with a gas burner and wok infront of us each, various sauces and spices on the table, and our raw ingredients. it was just how i imagined a cookery course would be like! this set up was on the roof of the hotel so we got a great view while we cooked. we donned an apron and chef hat and set to work. cutting all the ingredients involved a huge knife (the square one, like a butcher uses- not sure its name!). we cooked the first 2 meals using a very hot wok, then went down stairs to the restaurant to eat our food, before returning to cook the remaining dish and then eating that too! all the dishes came out really well, apart from my aubergine had too much soy sauce in it so was a bit too salty.
i have the recipes so will test them out if i can remember how to cook them in 4 months time when i return to England! i now have the chopsticks so no excuse!
we had a goodbye party for Dave who has now left, and Hannah is leaving tomorrow so we will have a party tonight. the newbies arrive tomorrow afternoon which is quite exciting!

Gong Bao Chicken or Sweet and Sour Pork? place your orders!

Yangshuo, China