happy tiger new year and Valentine's Day from Shanghai

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Happy New Year! After many weeks of anticipation, New Year's Eve was a loud and colorful affair.
Mark and the kids spent New Year's Eve day walking around our 'hood. They went to the park and also to have lunch at the mall. Nothing says Chinese New Year like Subway sandwiches and Dairy Queen. Not Mark's choice, I'm sure. I am fighting a cold (and so far, winning the battle), so I didn't leave the apartment until the evening when I went out front with the family to watch the fireworks show in our apartment complex.

Mark and the kids bought a few sparklers and one bigger fireworks bundle called Happy Boom. Mark prepped for the launch with great caution. He unwrapped the top of the package in our kitchen. We all watched anxiously and then went downstairs in the elevator after a long talk about how we needed to stay back when Mark lit the fuse. Just like last year, I felt conflicted doing this at all, but once again the "when in China" philosophy overruled my paranoid American mom philosophy. The Happy Boom was more of a happy sparkle. Pretty and fun but no boom.

The other fireworks being lit in our apartment complex were huge and put on by random people in the area as well as some of the security guards from what we could gather. They were big, bright and beautiful and we watched from the shelter of our building doorway as bits of fireworks fell around us. There was a lot of smoke and when our ears started ringing, we headed back inside. The party lasted all night.

After a fun Skype with the NYC Carlsons (we chatted while the babies ate breakfast), Mark and I put the kids to bed around 10pm and then spent the next few hours running from window to window as we were awed by the amazing fireworks all over town. We have a great view and the skies were clear. We tried to watch a movie but had to pause it several times due to the noise.

I took video and pictures from our deck and thankfully put the safety strap around my wrist--the explosions caused me to jump on several occasions.

Today (Saturday) we woke up to a snow covered park. This was a surprise, since it's the first time since we've been here that we've seen snow stick. It was gone later this morning, and the slushy rain continued on New Year's Day. We grabbed some Chinese food across the street. Emily tried this very strange loaf of white bread dish that seems to be quite popular with the Chinese customers at this particular restaurant. It's a loaf of white bread, hollowed out and chopped into cubes, put carefully back into the crust shell and topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. It comes with honey and sweet cream in side dishes. She loved it but did not finish her entire loaf. Thank goodness. We've seen couples order 2. A whole loaf, I say.

More stores were opened than we expected. We stopped into a few shops after lunch, one being the Tupperware store. I was intrigued since I don't think there are actual Tupperware stores in the US. I chatted with the women working there, and she told me they do have Tupperware Parties here too and gave me her card. I'm not sure I have the need but I do think it would be hysterical to get a group of women together for a good old fashioned Tupperware party. Plus they had some very handy gadgets that I'm not sure you would not find in the US. I was particularly impressed with the number of filled Tupperware pieces the store had in order to demonstrate the various uses. For example, they had a fully stocked freezer and she pulled out frozen whole fish and frozen whole shrimp and had me sniff the sealed container to confirm the fish smell was fully contained by the Tupperware.


The fireworks are still going off tonight, and will likely continue all week, but I don't mind. We're getting out of town. Off to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia tomorrow. Bali on the 17th. Don't worry. I have lots of sunscreen from our stock up trip home in December. Next blog will be from or about these sunnier locations. Gotta go finish packing. Early morning flight.

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Comments

[Geeze]

New Years from Shanghai
Go Tigers! Toasted bread ala mode reminds me of French toast? The pic of the skyline in the snow..Central Park? Hot pink Tupperware hmmm. Love the fish sticks..You are such a nut Lol!

[anonymous]

Dessert
I saw this bread/ice cream combo at the restaurant we ate at on Thursday here in Hangzhou. I gotta try it at least once before we leave China.