We live near a "no-future" alley, which runs through a vast expanse of "no-future" flat houses and decaying buildings.
Amid the deafening noise of electric saws and a repellent smell of lacquer, I found myself among a group of people in their late 30s scrutinizing doors.
I met my feng shui master in Lijiang, an enchanting, 700-year-old city with streets paved in cobblestone and snow-capped mountains looming over traditional Chinese tiled roof-tops.
Yep, here I was at a Beijing dental surgery being x-rayed by a machine that was far more intelligent than I am.
We have seen all sorts of eccentric cats, but never before has there been such a kitten who wails like thunder.
Ask me to list three things I can't live without on a hot summer day, and I'll say an air conditioner, a back-up air conditioner and several glasses of sweetened iced tea.
It is the parents, not the children, so she says, who suffer the most from separation anxiety.
A few days ago, I was cleaning the mess left by our yellow kitten and my wife was preparing lunch.
For every social movement like USA for Africa or Live Earth, there's something like Pitch Correction for Ashlee Simpson or Won't Someone Think of a Fulfilling Post-UN Job for Kofi Annan.
TV matchmaking shows used to be popular in China. In their heyday, you could find them on four to five channels every week.
Back home in Australia, I had a friend who was obsessed by a race horse called Little Red Dragon.
What is the most exciting job aside for being a movie or music star? Being a reporter covering the entertainment beat.