By a strange coincidence I have finished Hilary Mantel’s, The Mirror and the Light, exactly 480 years to the day since Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex, was executed. Definitely a masterpiece, and getting on for 900 pages!

Oh good, it’s the time of year where I have to explain to the TV Licensing Authority why King George III hasn’t paid his TV licence since 1820

For sale, baby shoes, never worn.

THE MEAT STONE OF TAIBEI Treasured by Emperors for generations and now one of the highspots of the Palace Museum, this meat sculpture in stone dates from the Qing dynasty and uncannily mimics the look of pork belly marinated in soy sauce. 1/2

When I was three my parents lost me on Halloween at the American School in Tunis and spent a frantic hour until they found me in the library reading Clifford the Big Red Dog

Brigadier Dan Blanchford. Mastermind of Operation Pitting. Wonderful colleague and friend.

‘This essay is spirited, polemical, engaging - but fundamentally misguided in approach’ My first term studying history really thought me down to earth.

By far the hardest part of watching Squid Game is trying to work out how much a million/billion Won is in pounds. Can’t tell if they’re being ripped off or it’s a fantastic deal

Contenders in the #BlackChair tonight: Julian Sutcliffe, Gary McKenzie, Krittika Bhattacharya & Alison Jay, answering on: The Novels of Alan Hollinghurst, Harold Larwood, The Vicar of Dibley & The Life and Works of Édouard Manet. Tune in at 7:30pm on BBC2. #mastermind

Taking a welcome break from my Chinese lessons to eat my body weight in tapas. Anyone wanting Seville recommendations, let me know…

The best Chinese homework is always the practical stuff - gongbao chicken (宫保鸡丁）and fish fragrant aubergines （鱼香茄子) for a Sichuan food night

From the front cover of an old passport of my grandfather - fascinating the specific Foreign Secretary used to be named!

Heading off on the biggest adventure of my life - 9 months in Taipei to finish my Mandarin training, followed by a posting in Beijing at the British Embassy! Excited and terrified in equal measure but I know it’s going to be unforgettable.

First day studying at the ICLP in Taipei!

First tasting menu in Taiwan - delicious, but I will make a millionaire of whoever invents a dignified way of eating crab.

Iced coffee, The Fence Magazine, cat, southern Taiwan sun in December - what more can you want?

Really special experience being able to visit the church (Holy Trinity Shanghai) where my grandfather and great grandparents lived and worked in Shanghai nearly 100 years ago - thanks so much to Historic Shanghai for organising!