Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth

The following memorandum was passed out in my neighborhood today:

"Many people have the habit of often rubbing their eyes and picking their noses unconsciously and these habits may be difficult to change..."

"The eyes, the nose and mouth are major areas where harmful bacteria can enter your body and cause you to be sick."

Moral of the story? Don't pick your nose.

Not Such a Strong "China Hand"

Hah. Here's a funny story. After 3 weeks of Chinese food, I decided to treat myself to a simple pasta dinner tonight. I was happily cooking the pasta when I realized the lid of the Classico spaghetti sauce was really tight. Normally, I can solve this problem by wrapping a rubber band around the lid and using the friction to twist the lid off. Problem was, I didn't have a rubber band in the apartment. So I thought, why not ask the guards downstairs to help me open the jar? Clearly, if they were hired as guards, they were strong enough to open the spaghetti sauce. Besides, not to be sexist, but guys, who hasn't been able to twist off a lid? Or so I thought.

Speechless...

Much to my surprise, it took 3 guards before the 4th one finally opened the jar. While I was searching for the "strong" man, I thought (mind you I was walking around for at least 10 minutes), "Wow, I've never seen a man not be able to twist off a lid, let alone 3 men."

I certainly hope that if real trouble strikes, the guard with the strong hands will be around to save me.

The Final Hours in Hangzhou

My project in Hangzhou finally ended this Friday. Woohoo! After living out of a suitcase for 3 weeks straight, the final culmination came when I presented on Friday in front of an audience full of 100 industry experts and executives. In the end, my team and I pulled through, and I couldn’t be more proud of them. When I went into the office on Saturday, there they were, putting together the final touches to our project and even throwing a small birthday party for one of our colleagues. At that time, I thought while Hangzhou was a grueling city to work in, the people made this trip well worth it…but that was before my final hours in this city.

The final hours in Hangzhou were no less adventurous. On Saturday, a couple of colleagues and I went to see the fireworks display in celebration of our success and of the West Lake 10th International Expo. Mike caught the high-speed train from Shanghai and joined us too, thinking we would have half a day to do some last minute sightseeing and relaxation. Our plans changed when we realized we had to start driving at 2 pm to get to the outskirts of the city and beat the traffic. One of my colleagues drove, but being an inexperienced driver, our car stalled 10 times on the streets, and we rolled backwards a few times because she didn’t step on the acceleration quickly enough. After sitting in the car (and praying for safety) for 2 hours (and getting lost 8 times), we finally parked the car. With some extra time, my colleagues and I decided to eat an early dinner. One of my coworkers highly recommended a restaurant so we followed her lead. Well, when we arrived at the restaurant, Mike and I caught an old lady de-feathering two chickens ON THE GROUND. There they were, two chickens, kicking their legs without any feathers. Luckily, the lady picked up the chickens and walked away, but then we saw the fresh, bloody raw meat sitting on the ground as well. Needless to say, we were both traumatized and were in a daze when we realized the ladies worked for the restaurant we were about to dine at. Of course, my coworker ordered a chicken dish, and when the waiter placed it on the table, both Mike and I meekly picked up our chopsticks and tried to nibble as little as we could without appearing rude. Mike later told me he felt really ill and scarred after that incident. Meanwhile, I think I’m ready to become a vegetarian again.

When we woke up this morning, we packed up our bags, and I said good-bye to Hangzhou. Or at least tried to. When we went to the train station, I tried to buy tickets to Shanghai, but was told that all trains to Shanghai were SOLD OUT. I was about to panic and curse this city out when a scalper approached me and sold his ticket for 54 RMB. Then Mike found another scalper who sold him a ticket for 80 RMB. It was a good thing he inspected and compared the two tickets, because we later realized mine was fake. So what did we do? We found another scalper, paid her an extra 26 RMB in exchange for a legitimate ticket so she could hustle another poor soul with the fake ticket.

I couldn't have been more relieved when I sat down (in my legitimate seat) on the train, looked out the window, and said good-bye to Hangzhou.

Adventures of a Foodie Gone Wrong

I'm not a finicky eater, but I almost puked when a couple of people at dinner ordered duck and rabbit heads as appetizers last night.

Lucky me, the waiter placed the heads right in front of my face, so I saw their frozen expressions during the final moments of death. The rabbit even had his teeth sticking out.

QUACK! (rabbit in the back)

As if this wasn't enough of a shocker, I then found a cockroach in my dinner.

Ugh.

Lost in Translation

I've been asked to review someone's translation of a Chinese piece into English.

The problem is, I can't even understand the English part.

Now what am I suppose to do?

Oyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy...it's going to be a long night.

Better Travel Than Dead (Die)

Not exactly grammatically correct, but when I saw this ad posted on the wall of a restaurant, flanked with photos of its customers and their travels, I couldn't agree more.

Every time someone suggests the idea of traveling, my heart starts to palpitate, my eyes grow larger, and my head is filled with romanticized visions of backpacking thru unexplored territories.

Traveling defines my experiences, my perspectives on many things, and my soul. I was bit by the travel bug at a very young age, and I can't seem to shake it off.

Two days ago, my friends from home proposed the idea of spending Christmas in Hong Kong and New Years in Taiwan. DSpear emailed me earlier today about roundtrip deals from Shanghai to London for only 3100 RMB. What topped it off, however, was when a different group of girlfriends and I discussed the possibility of reuniting in...Africa?!?!?! Rwanda vs. South Africa? Hmmm...then again, we are all scattered around the world - London, Boston, New York and of course, Beijing. So what better place to meet up other than Africa?

Adventures of a Foodie in China

Here are some snapshots of my recent culinary adventures, courtesy of the iPhone:

Private Kitchen 44, Beijing

Before I left Beijing for the holidays, my buddy Chris introduced me to Private Kitchen 44 one night. Set in a hutong near Beixinqiao, this restaurant has been written up in many expat magazines and directories with rave reviews. When Chris first mentioned he was going to bring me here, I was excited to try its Guizhou and Sichuan dishes. Having never eaten Guizhou food before, I wanted to sample the food and confirm for myself whether this restaurant was truly spectacular.

We started off the night with a carafe of guihua mei jiu, otherwise known as Rice Wine infused with Osmanthus flowers. I really enjoyed the wine - it was sweet, but not too sweet, and the aroma of the flower petals added another layer of depth to it. The wine was also not too strong. By the end of the night, both of us drank our wine as if it was a fruit juice.


Dinner started off with Sticky Rice and Ribs Steamed in Bamboo Leaves. I really liked the presentation of this dish, and how all four rolls were neatly tied together. Chris said this was his favorite dish. While it was certainly tasty and yummy, it didn't quite wow me as much as some of the other dishes. This was probably due to the fact that these rolls reminded me of zhong zis, which I've eaten since I was a little kid.

Next we ordered barbecue beef cooked in a clay pot with an array of spices. Just looking at this picture makes my mouth water. The best way to enjoy this is with a bowl of mei fan or rice.


More food! The dish on the top left was a potato pancake with meat and vegetable fillings. Below the pancake was suanla mougu tang (spicy sour mushroom soup) and to the right of the soup was sauteed eggplant with garlic.

Overall, I would give Private Kitchen 44 a two thumbs up :). It's a quaint, cozy little eatery tucked away on a quiet street in Beijing's hutong area. In fact, I enjoyed this restaurant so much that I went back the following day and brought a Danish client to dinner. Needless to say, he loved it too!

Hot Pot Restaurants, Anywhere in China

Hot pot restaurants are a lot of fun. You get together with your friends, order lots of fresh food, and cook them together. The food is usually very fresh, and since nothing is fried in oil, it's actually quite healthy. Hot pot restaurants are quite popular in Beijing and northern China because of its bitter cold winters. Best drink to accompany this is with a shot of baijiu. So when the temperatures drop in Beijing, I know where to go for dinner.





Here's an image of my friends and I eating hot pot late at night in Beijing. See the pile of fresh raw meat and vegetables sitting on the table?




Speaking of freshness, here's a live shrimp speared with a kebab stick. Yes, they were alive - their antennas and legs were wiggling when the waiter placed the plate of shrimps in front of me. Luckily, we didn't torture them too long before we dunked the shrimps into the vat of hot, boiling soup.

Hangzhou
As the capital of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou prides itself as one of China's top tourism destinations. Its natural beauty, such as West Lake, and its rolling mountains and hills covered with tea fields make Hangzhou a retreat for those who want to escape Shanghai or other bustling Chinese cities. I'm not necessarily a fan of the downtown area of Hangzhou, but I love the outer areas - the air and streets are cleaner, there are less people and I'm surrounded by nature.

One of my colleagues took me here for lunch one day. Unfortunately, I don't know the English name of this restaurant, but it's set on top of the International youth hostel. When you first walk in, you help yourself to a cup of Longjing green tea. Hangzhou-rens pride themselves in the city's tea - Longjing cha. It is one of the few remaining teas that are still baked by hand, and it's quite expensive to buy a pack of Longjing cha.

Here is Lily, one of my colleagues. In front of her is a chicken dish covered with vegetables and lots of red chili peppers. Yum.


More yummy food! On the bottom we have sliced pork sprinkled with various spices (they taste like the spare ribs from Di Shui Dong but without the bones!). The upper top left is la ji ding, the upper right hand corner is sauteed string beans (note the purple color), and the white looking dish is sliced bamboo.

Shanghai

Now moving onto desserts...in Shanghai...


A Louis Vuitton cake at Cabler, on Dagu Lu. For 258 RMB, you get to own the LV Speedy bag and eat it too! Now that's a steal!





Here's a picture for the ladies who used (and still do) to go ga-ga over Whisk. Chocolate upside down cake! Enjoy!

Good times in Shanghai

Last weekend was loads of fun! Here's a quick run-down of the things I did:

• Dinner at Casa 13 for Mike's birthday
• Lost my ATM card but found it later!
• Haircut from Kanako at EXY
• Lunch with Sally my Chinese teacher (Wu Lao shi!!) from SHS
• Massages at Kangjun on Dagu Lu
• Hotpot with the birthday boys and Maria & Valentina
• Party at Cotton's!
• Brunch with DSpear at Element Fresh
• Visit to the new Shanghai World Financial Center
• Dinner at FU 1039
• DVD shopping on Dagu Lu

Not a bad weekend eh? Here are some pictures:

We kicked off the weekend with dinner at Casa 13, on Hua Shan Lu and Fu Xing Xi Lu.

Our dinner - braised beef cheeks cooked in a Chianti-reduction sauce and sea bass grilled with olive oil and sea salt. I liked the beef cheeks better than the sea bass.

Here's Kanako, my hair stylist, student and friend!

Acting silly after getting my haircut while waiting for our other friend, Ayako, to show up.

Group birthday dinner at a Japanese shabu shabu place with Maria and Valentina, two Shanghai newbies studying Chinese at a local school

The birthday boys: Tam talking up a storm while Mike quietly drinking away his baijiu shots

Party at Cotton's! Who else did we see? Morgan! Apparently, Katie H. also had her birthday party there, and we also bumped into Zack, Mike the jazz musician, Nathalie and a bunch of other SHS teachers.

Hanging out with the new friends

Picture with Jess and Lily, the Qingdao crew!

More pics of the Qingdao crew. Why does Dee look like a sad puppy?

Now he looks like a vicious dog while DSpear looks confused...

I had to get back at him at some point for ruining the other pictures

Cake time! The birthday boys blew out the candles

Then drank birthday shots together, courtesy of DSpear and Dee

Little did they know, the double D's had something up their sleeves...

Until it was too late...hahahah

Picture with the trouble makers

Went to the newly opened Shanghai World Financial Center in Pudong the next day. This is currently the world's tallest building by roof (if you count the spire on Taipei 101, then Taipei 101 is still the tallest building). Once the Park Hyatt Shanghai opens, it will be the tallest hotel in the world. For 150 RMB, you can go up to the 100th floor (top of the middle opening) and walk across the building. The neat thing with this building is that the floor is made of glass, which means when you step on top of one of the glass tiles, you can see straight down to the streets of Pudong. Not exactly for the fainthearted!

Other updates:

• Kanako will move to LA for career opportunities next year
• Sally now teaches 2nd grade at the Pudong campus (her kids are so cute!); Xiao Lei teaches 4th grade; Shirley is pregnant, Miss Hu and Maggie are still teaching 6th grade, and according to Sally, Johnson has been acting even more ladylike (Sally claims it's because Xiao Lei is no longer around to yell at him)
• I lost my brain on Friday night and left my ATM card at the ABC bank (STUPID! who does that!?!!?!?) - luckily the bank has it
• Enjoyed a long awaited "healthy start" breakfast - fresh yogurt, fruits and an egg white omelette at Element Fresh on Sunday
• Threw the healthy start out the window when I ate "dong pou rou" (fatty pork), hairy crabs, drunken chicken and hong shao rou for dinner at FU 1039

All I have to say is, I love Shanghai!

Back to Hangzhou for now...until next weekend!

Homesick

Ok, I admit - I'm a little homesick. Normally I don't feel this way, but when I saw this picture of Marci late last night, I wanted to go home. I don't mean Beijing either. I mean back home to New York or even New Jersey, where I can simply step out the back door of my parent's house and lay down on the grass. Or drive to upstate New York and camp out in the Catskills. Or hike in Mohonk while admiring the color changes of the leaves. Or even take Marci to Prospect Park at 8 am in the morning to watch her run around while drinking coffee and eating a warm toasted bagel with cream cheese. Oh how I miss those days...


I once sat in on a presentation, in which the speaker commented that the Latin origin of the word "to travel" was "to travail", which meant "toil", "labor" or "to make a laborious journey". He also mentioned that when the Greeks or the Romans traveled, they didn't do so for pleasure, but to war and fight with their neighbors. So the idea of traveling far and wide back in the day was not necessarily a pleasurable thing but actually something that people wanted to avoid. And here we are, living in modern times, with people like me who will purposely pack up and move across the world just to shake things up in our lives.

When I first moved out here, an expat friend told me one of his most difficult challenges was realizing that life does not stop for us while we're abroad. After being out here for a little over a year, I can attest to his statement. Since I've been gone, some people have moved as well, others have gotten engaged or married while others have continued on with their lives doing other things. We expats learn a lot and usually change our perspectives just by being in a foreign country, but that doesn't mean the people back home don't change as well.

I know I will eventually head back to the US. Another person also once told me that all expats have an exit plan for China. When will that happen? Not for awhile, not anytime in the near future. Then again, things can change, and I may decide to stay forever or move elsewhere. Technically, the US is my home, and all of the fond memories of New York and New Jersey will stay with me, but home is also not the same anymore.

All in all, I love living in China, and I learn something new everyday. And there is beautiful scenery outside of Beijing for me to enjoy. Maybe I'm feeling a little homesick because this week has been rough (although today was a good day for the most part). In the end, I don't regret any of my decisions, and I'm really happy with how things are going - professionally and personally. Maybe I'm just developing a deeper sense of appreciation for everything and everyone else back home.

The Little Things in Life

The holidays are over, and I'm back to the daily grind. I want to post some pictures of Qingdao, but first, I just want to dedicate this post to the little things in life.


Everybody experiences a bad day every now and then, but hardly anything beats a bad China day. We all have them, and when things don't work out in China, it can really get to you. Luckily, it's usually just one day, but I've been having a BAD CHINA WEEK, and I've officially decided that the worse thing than a bad China day is to experience more than one consecutively.

I can write a super long posting about all of the things that went wrong this week (and an even longer post about the things that went wrong today, i.e. THIS MORNING), but no, I'm going to be positive and think about the good things in life. In fact, I'm going to think about the little things that have been holding me up this week and keeping me sane. So here we go:

• Kedi runs - I finally did a Kedi run earlier this week! Kedis don't exist in Beijing (we have 7-Elevens but they're not the same). I never thought I would miss this little Japanese owned convenience store, but when I finally visited one on Monday night, I got very nostalgic and was reminiscing the good old times on Bai Se. Which leads me to the next thing...


• Muffins! - When I used to frequent the Kedis on Bai Se, one of my favorite snacks was the yellow muffin pack from the bakery section. I used to buy a pack of four, eat two for breakfast, and leave the other two on Jamie's desk for her to devour. Today I had two muffins for breakfast, two left over, no Jamie, but at least I get to eat my favorite muffins tomorrow morning again!

• Nescafe 2+1 coffee packs - Ok, so I don't really love these. In fact, the coffee snob in me was rather thankful when I moved to Beijing, ditched the instant powder and bought fresh coffee beans from Yunnan province (they are very aromatic!). But given that I'm staying in a rather remote area right now, the Nescafe coffee packs were a familiar and strangely enough, comfortable sight at the Kedi.


• Kao yu (roasted fish) - This is a new finding and one I'm rather excited about! I went out on Monday night with one of my colleagues and her college friends. There's nothing better than eating Chinese food with a bunch of locals who know what to order. One of the dishes they introduced me to was kao yu. Basically, the fish is cooked in a vat of red chili oil and spicy red peppers, and it's served over burning charcoal. The fish looks incredibly spicy at first glance, but when you peel away the skin and only eat the meat inside, it's not spicy at all! Somehow the spices managed to add flavor but not overpower the taste of the fish. After we finished the fish, we even ordered an extra plate of tofu and vegetables to cook in the oil - yummm...

• Fried bananas! - DSpear introduced me to this a few weeks ago at Di Shui Dong. I still don't remember the name, but had more fried bananas at the kao yu place on Monday night. Double yum!



• Ti guan yin tea - If I didn't stress this enough above, I had a horrendous morning today. The little thing that won me over was when a coworker knocked on my door this morning and asked me to try this tea. The taste of the tea had a lot of depth in it, and it felt nice and soothing when I drank it. I'm going to order some!
  

Hats off to all of these little things. If it weren't for them, I may have wallowed in my misery. It's Wednesday night, and I have a little less than two days left before the weekend. I can't wait to hop on the train and head to Shanghai on Friday night, and I hope there will be more little things to hold me up for the rest of this week!