De Silva Family Blog

October is always a difficult month for I'm often away for most of it with work trips. In fact I've just returned from LA, where I was staying at the Beverly Wilshire hotel (sounds difficult - I know). Perhaps it's more difficult for my family... This time, however, the boys didn't mind me leaving as I happened to meet some very important people. They weren't bothered by my work colleagues, nor even President Obama! They were far more impressed by the Avengers! The boys adore the Avengers, so my meeting them in LA made the whole ordeal worthwhile. Particularly when I told then that I would be bringing back their favourite Avengers' costumes. The look on their little faces as I walked in the door was priceless. Thanksfully, I won't be going away for a while.

Hi from Oz! I've been in Sydney with work and given the ridiculously long flight, I've decided to tag a few days of holiday onto the end of the trip. I've walked for miles, had some great food and caught up with my cousin and his family. The highlight of the trip was Taronga Zoo this morning, where I saw boxing kangaroos, a newborn gorilla breastfeeding, a cute baby elephant playing football and many other amazing animals. Check out some of my snaps... Nevertheless, I can't wait to get back to the UK and my own little zoo!

I spent this week in Shanghai, attending a Board meeting for one of my clients. It's my first time in China and I've been blown away by the scale of development going on over here. The picture shows the Pudong district of Shanghai (my hotel, the Shangri La is the little orange building to the right). This whole area, all 500km2 of it has been built during the last 20 years! Unfortunately the most I've seen of this place is the back of a cab as, during the two hours I had free, the driver and I failed to communicate in any way. Finally, when I realised that we were going round in circles, I got out and walked back along a very busy road. I felt cheated, despite having only paid half the fare on the meter, so you can imagine my horror when I realised that I'd left him my camera too! At 500 times the cost of the fare, I'm sure that driver is celebrating right now. As for me, I'm just looking forward to getting back home.

Went to Boston this week for the CAS Annual Meeting (an actuarial conference). It was a great conference and the US actuaries were very welcoming, so I really enjoyed myself. I even found the time to wander around Boston for a while. I learnt about the start of the US revolution by following the "Freedom Trail", visited Fenway Park (the home of the Red Sox), and even went clothes shopping for the first time in a decade! I then checked out the US version of Cambridge and their top university, Harvard. It doesn't quite match ours! Here's a statue of John Havard, also known as the "Statue of Three Lies", because he wasn't the founder, the founding date is wrong and it isn't even John Harvard!!! The best thing about Cambridge was the cool toy shops I found: Joie de Vivre and Curious George & Friends where I got a little carried away. Luckily it'll be Christmas soon.

I've been travelling with work this week. First to Bermuda and then on to Montreal. Everyone seems to think I'm on holiday and it certainly would appear that way - upgraded to first class on the way out, luxury hotels , great food , swimming in the sea, etc. However it's the longest I've ever been away from my boys and following our time together in Centre Parcs two weeks ago it's even harder to be away. We've managed to see each other on Skype, but Leo's comment, "I thought you were dead, Daddy!" almost had me on the next plane home. In fact I've seen virtually nothing of either country, spending most of my time working or in meetings. Fortunately I did manage two hours to get some souvenirs and hopefully I can buy my way back into their favour. I can't wait to get back home.

In times of recession entrepreneurship thrives. So as daddy's pay rise disappears down the drain, Leo thought he'd help pay the mortgage. A wise man once said, “Find something you love to do and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.” Well, Leo has certainly taken these words to heart as he set up his car washing business (the boy loves cars, hosepipes and water). He doesn't do a bad job for a two-year old and at £2 a car it's good value for money. Unfortunately for our mortgage, he insists on being paid with chocolate coins!

I went to Hong Kong for work last weekend and unfortunately spent most of the time inside our (very nice) hotel! Hong Kong seems great for food and we had an amazing eleven-course Chinese banquet at Yung Kee , including 1000-year-old eggs, dry ice and all sorts of other weird and wonderful stuff! I managed to find a few hours to explore an in that time managed to find a traditional "wet market" (where the fish are sold alive to keep them fresh), the Ladies' Market (to find a handbag for the Missus) and about 50 shopping centres. Hong Kong is certainly heaven for shopaholics. As I never seem to find the time (or the inclination) to go shopping these days, I managed to get a decade's worth of suits and shirts made for me! It turns out that I can even order online , so no more traipsing around Oxford Street for me - wahey! I'd just better make sure my measurements don't change.

I spent last week at the annual GIRO (General Insurance Research Organisation) convention. You may laugh, but unless you've attended one, you can only dream of the hedonistic, depraved event that is an actuarial convention! Unfortunately for me, it didn't last long as I twisted my ankle in the mosh pit of a dance floor on the first night! I spent the rest of the convention in bed catching up on sleep (Leo has been up a lot recently) and hobbling between lectures on crutches. At least I got the chance to catch up with some mates. The convention hotel, the Celtic Manor , is a great five star hotel. Especially if you're into golf as it's the host of the 2010 Ryder Cup. It seemed to have everything - great restaurants, spas, swimming pools, etc. They even had crutches for my dodgy ankle! I'll have to make sure I go back again to make better use of it, though perhaps next time I'll choose a more sedate event. In the meantime, I'll get into training fo...

Things have been so busy at work recently and I've been dying for a break and a chance to spend some more time with Leo. Finally that day has come and I've got ten days of holiday - known as "Daddy Days" to Leo. I'm not sure its going to be very a relaxing time, but as they say, "A change is as good as a rest".

We had Thomas Miller biennial summer ball last night. It was a black tie event so I had to dig out my old dinner jacket. Unfortunately the shirt was looking a little worse for wear, so I had to make a quick dash to John Lewis to pick up a new one. What do you think? The ball was held on the Silver Sturgeon - a luxury cruise boat on the Thames. Apparently it was used for Rod Stewart's engagement party! It was a gorgeous evening and sipping champagne whilst waving at the tourists on the Millennium bridge was certainly a novel experience. I'd forgotten how beautiful London can be - the houses of parliament, Tower Bridge, etc. - perhaps I'll have to do the tourist thing soon. Can't wait for the next one.

Returned to work this week :-( Missing him a lot and worried about Mary as this is her first time home alone with him. All seems to be going well, however. Mary sent me this picture to make me feel better. I can't wait to get home!