Advertisement
Published: September 8th 2006
Edit Blog Post
Tower of Salad
The construction of a salad is art. Our weekly update (with many too cute moments)...
As of yesterday, we received word that we are officially expats for Freescale in China. Now we just need to get through the paperwork and decide where to live. Dave is a complex person and is now asking me if we should live in Tianjin or Suzhou. Both have equal advantages. We'll keep you all up to date.
In the mean time, I am keeping myself busy.
Last Friday I went with a couple of women (Liz and Linda A.) to a Chinese version of Sam's Warehouse. It had a decent selection of western goods. We went to a couple of shopping areas that I described in earlier blogs - Ancient Culture Street and Drum Tower Street. I bought some very nice presents for people. I will not tell you who, lest they start to get too curious. I know I will return to one shop. It had everything that I liked, mostly dishes and sculptures. Liz found a pair of PJ's for her mother-in-law. It had little dachsunds all over it. Too cute! We then went to Pizza Hut for lunch. Now this may sound strange until you look
Tangu and Haihe River
This is a river front park near the main shopping area. at the picture. I zoomed it in. If you look closely you will see the beginning stages of a cantelope wall. The salad bar is a one time deal, so people have gotten really creative to make the most of the salad bar. It starts with a bowl filled with potatoe salad or other dense salad. Then a "floor" of carrot sticks was added in a circular pattern. on top of this the first and second level of the cantelope wall is put in place. It is then filled with lettuce and other veggies. When this is full another layer of cantelope is placed and that is filled again with veggies. Of course they know how high they can go. this one ended up with four levels of cantelope topped off with peaches and tomatoes. I wanted to take a picture of the final product, but the one chinese person who was with us was embarressed by my curiosity. I did not want to embarass him further. I wonder what would happen if you tried this at Souper Salad?
Over the weekend, Dave flew to Shenzen to get his visa stamped. His 30 days were up and he needed
Tea Class
Our instructor Emma showing me how to make tea the Chinese way. It can be elaborate. However, one must be careful to not be too elegant in ones motions lest you bring attention to yourself. to leave China for the day. I went with Liz and Linda to an expat BBQ in Tianjin. It was fun. There were over 100 people. I met some interesting people. One girl was born in Hong Kong and raised in Vancouver, Canada. Another was from California. Both were teachers at the Tianjin International School. Another woman at our table has lived in China for 9 years and was from Spokane, Washington. She had just returned from the most interesting vacation. She took a cruise on a freighter from Hong Kong to Tacoma, Washington. She was the only woman and only passenger for 21 days with an all Indian crew. The pictures were amazing. Dave and I talked about doing something like this and now we know how to go about doing it. Who knows what adventures lay ahead for us.
Monday, Dave took Labor Day off and we walked around the shopping district and the river front. Nothing exciting. I showed him one of the apartment complexes I was considering. After a quick dinner, we stopped by a local shop to buy water. There was another western couple in the store. While I was waiting, their little blond
Tea Class
The tray must be laid out a certain way. Water is poured into the cup counterclockwise and from high up. boy about 3 years old, walked out and up to a group of delivery boys hanging out front. And with all seriousness in his face, looked at them and said...lah, lah, lah. (it is difficult to write a sound). It was very obvious that he thought he was talking to them in Chinese. The delivery boys just looked at him like he had lost it. Then they made the same sound back, thinking it was funny. I will never forget the serious look on that little boy's face.
Wednesday, Dave flew to Suzhou for business. I meanwhile I went to Tianjin for a class on Flower Teas and how to serve them Chinese style. This is by far one of the coolest things I have done yet. I learned about Jasmine, Rose and Chrysanthemum teas. There are some really good teas out there. The sad part is the difficulty of finding them in the US. I went with Peggy, Linda deV (we have many Lindas here), and Sue. Our instructor, Emma, told us the best jasmine tea is from the Fujian province, and the absolute best is called the King of Kings tea. It smells heavenly. I bought a
Tea Class
Our instructor, Emma small amount and look forward to a special occasion to share it with someone. I also found my teapot and cups. Joy, you will have to fight me for it. It is a brown pottery style and appears to be good quality. The class was in a small shop in the basement of a building with many tea shops. The prices are decent. I was fortunate to have Sue and Peggy. They have been in China for a few years and have taken Mandarin lessons. They were able to help me communicate.
After class, while we were busy buying stuff to fill our shelves, Peggy found a little a girl who was playing with nail polish. Peggy apparently cannot resist little kids. She got the little girl to paint her toenails.
After lunch, we headed back to TEDA on the lightrail. Peggy wanted to show us a new place for massages. Well of course we have to test it. We had a two hour foot and body massage. I was like a limp noodle afterward. I slept very well that night.
Thursday, took me back to the fabric market. I found some nice pinstripe brown merino wool
Little girls love make up
Peggy found a little girl who wanted to paint her toenails. Just too cute. for a suit. I got enough to make a jacket, pants, and a skirt. I now have to find the style I like. Yet another Linda (C.), is teaching me to knit. I know I tried it when I was a kid, but could not remember. She has be started on a scarf. If I can just stop adding and dropping stitches, I should have a nice scarf for winter.
It is starting to get cool here. Its funny, it has been hot here. September 1st, it turned cool. We thought our coats would be here by now and that we would be in an apartment. We most likely will get coats made here so we won't get too cold. It is a nice change from the heat.
This weekend we are going to Tianjin overnight to take a break from daily life in TEDA. Enjoy the pictures. More next week! Diane
Advertisement
Tot: 0.118s; Tpl: 0.021s; cc: 6; qc: 51; dbt: 0.0476s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb