Lost Heaven

Monday my friend Kathi took me antique furniture shopping and then we went to lunch at a beautiful restaurant called Lost Heaven. Kathi is currently building a house in Richmond, VA and so she is always on the look out for the next 'great piece' to fill her new home. We visited 2 wonderful shops that had rooms and rooms of furniture, some were reproductions of antiques and some real antiques. I made a note of the locations and took the business cards in case I feel like I need a piece to take home with us. Right now though I am not in need of anything so I just enjoyed browsing around.

The lunch was 'heaven', atmosphere, food and company all heaven sent. We celebrated my good fortune in obtaining employment and we wondered what I was going to learn from the students. We agreed that I was probably going to learn more than they will. What a cultural boon for me!! Kathi is a great companion to go to lunch with. She orders all the really good things that are bad for you.

We ate Spring rolls, veggie filled, crab cakes with spinach, sauteed broccoli and a lovely sliced chicken with what I will call an Asian salsa on top. This was made up of finely chopped spring onions, cilantro, red pepper (not too much) and some other leafy veg. Yum yum yummy. Oh and a bottle of white wine. We sat and talked and ate for about 3 hours, enjoying the wine and the feast in front of us. I took the left overs home to serve Tony, which he enjoyed immensely.

I did take a picture of the bathroom sink in the restaurant as I thought it was beautiful. As I was preparing for the shot I turned off the flash as I didn't want to get the reflection of the mirror. As I was standing there studying this beautiful sink I realized that the 'reverse' faucet was not a reflection but the men's room side of the washing up area.

One week until Chinese New Year

It's one week until Chinese New Year and this year it's the year of the Ox. I looked up the meaning of the Ox:
Oxen, as their animal counterparts, are strong. Both physically and mentally. They are good solid workers who don’t have time for people less capable than themselves. These people can be thought of as stodgy and no fun. However, they often have hobbies that could make other people blush! It’s their way of getting away from the normal everyday rigor. As long as it’s not silly, the Ox does not like to appear silly.

The stores are just bursting with merchandise and everything seems to be on sale. Here is a pile of dried pressed chickens - I guess you eat them.The Chinese tastes seem to be quite strange, here is a picture of Blueberry potato chips. They cost $1. I couldn't bring myself to buy them and try them, I am so sure it's completely gross.Here is a wonderful picture of the Shanghai Skyline as seen from our apartment building. You can see the Oriental Pearl Tower, left side of picture, pearl ball just peaking up behind another building. The Financial tower, looks like a bottle opener right side of picture. And the Jin Mao tower to the left of the Financial tower. In the forefront of the picture is the JW Marriott with the pointy pencil like top. We stayed in that hotel in Sept. when we came to look for housing. The pineapple topped building to the right of the JW Marriott is the Raddison Hotel. And the low brick buildings are old apartments that the Shanghai people live in.

Week in review.

I realized I have not posted this week and I also did not take any pictures to post for you. I came down with the flu and although I did get out a few times I kept forgetting to bring my camera, so many a good photo shot was lost.

The picture I really wanted to share with you was that of the McDonald's delivery guy. Yes! It's true, they deliver McDonald's here! And no the Chinese are not fat, but I am sure they will be soon. I saw him once in September when I was here searching for our housing and then I saw him again this week. OK, not sure if it was the SAME guy but I will get the picture for you.

So my week in review: Monday I had to go to the security bureau to give them my paper work, with my health certificate, so that they can issue me a document that will allow me to live in China. I guess I passed the health screening, although I have been feeling like sh*# since I got here so I don't know how good that screening really was. There was a snag however as I forgot to re-register with the police in Dec. when I came back from Hong Kong. Apparently when you leave China and then come back you must make sure you tell the police. So we waited in line for about 30 minutes, the police man reviewed my paperwork and studied my passport very carefully. He noticed that I had left the country and also noticed that my registration paper was invalid since, I as I mentioned before, I had left the country and had not re-registered. He said to me, in very good English, that he would give me his signature and that when I came back tomorrow I would not have to wait in line, just show him/someone the new registration and they would finish processing it for me.

The trip to the security bureau takes about 20 minutes with no traffic and 40 minutes with traffic. We hit traffic trying to get home. I immediately went to get re-registered and then made a little dinner and called it a day as I was feeling very flu-ish.

Tuesday morning I went to the Shanghai Centre Coffee Meet and Greet in the recreation center. It happens once a month I am told. I thought it would be a good place to meet people and I did! Turns out I was the only one who knew how to get to the grocery store via metro. So during our conversation I mentioned that I was planning on a trip on Wednesday and if anyone wanted to come along I would be happy to show them. We had a plan, we would meet at Starbucks at 9:00am and I would show them the way. At 1:00p I went back to the security bureau with correct paper work in hand and was in and out in less than 4 minutes.

Wednesday I met the ladies and took them to Carrefour grocery store. It was such a blast and it was so great to share what little knowledge each of us had. I learned a few new things regarding the metro card. You can buy the metro card and keep refilling it (this I knew) but what I didn't know is that it is good for taxi payment as well! Oh and the bus too. After we got home I just stayed inside as I was so sick and flu -ish and oh so tired. The weather was really nice outside and it was a shame to miss out on another walk but I just didn't have the energy. Later that day got an email confirming that I got the job I interviewed for last week. Whoo hoo!

The position is at Donghua (Dong hooaw)University as an English instructor. The classes are three times a week. Monday 8:15 - 11:30, Thurs. 8:15 - 4:30p and Friday 8:15 - 11:30. Classes start on Feb. 20th and end June 30. It's 16 weeks of classes with 'golden week' (spring break) tucked in there as well as May Day. 16 hours of class each week, plenty of free time left over during the week to keep exploring Shanghai. And think of all the things I'll learn from the students.

Thursday our boxes arrived. We shipped a few things from the states and after 3 weeks in customs and quarantine they sent them to us. It's nice to have a few of our things around us. We didn't pack much but I did pack a bunch of pantry items as well as toothpaste other bathroom supplies. Have I mentioned that salad dressing costs $10.00 for a bottle and they don't even have my favorite 'flavors'. I had packed 8 bottles of dressing and we are so pleased to have them!! I met with Mr. Pang to sign the contract at 5:00p. Mr. Pang also wanted to know if I wanted to do some private tutoring, RMB 200 ($30/hr). I said sure. Mr. Pang said that he would forward my info and the interested party would call me.

Friday I spent shopping for an alarm clock, the kind you plug into the wall with big buttons and big numbers. I cannot find such a thing. I don't know what the Chinese use to wake up - their phone? The only place I have not checked is Best Buy. I went to some local electronic stores which sell hair dryers, electric tea pots, washing machines, rice cookers, but no electric clocks with alarm function. No electric clocks. I know that the Chinese probably don't want to plug something in that costs money (the Chinese are cheap cheap cheap oh and poor too) but there has to be a store somewhere. I am going to try Best Buy tomorrow even if it proves not to be fruitful it will be a nice walk.

Also today the 'new ' student called and set up a time to meet - tomorrow Sat. at 9:00am at the Starbucks. This is going to be interesting. I am not sure if it's just a get to know you meeting or our first session. I will go prepared just in case.

And in conclusion now that I have hot sauce, American style, I will be making Buffalo wings tonight with a big salad.

YuYuan Gardens

Not sure why this area is called "garden" as there is not a speck of grass nor a tree to be seen. There is however an abundance of shopping. All kinds of shopping and eating, very strange eating. The buildings are styled with curvy roof top a style prevalent in the Ming Dynasty - it's a really cool place to come and if you like to window shop then you can spend hours and hours here. I was here for about 3 hours before I had to jump in a cab and head home, it all becomes so overwhelming for me. This is one of the side entrances to the YuYuan Garden, you enter through the center smallish pagoda with the golden sign hanging above the entrance.

Beef Soup anyone? I like the this crazy sign describing the dumplings. I think they mean ovaries (orary) of the crab. Actually what I really think is that they mean the fish roe or the eggs. The digestive glands I can't figure out. No I did not try any of it. I'm just taking pictures.

Spinach Quiche...sort of

Today I made a spinach quiche thingy. Ingredients are different here so I am experimenting. I bought some fresh spinach, it was filthy filthy filthy.
And I bought a blender/chopper thingy. (Seem to be using the word ‘thingy’ a lot here). I tried some of the blades and I don’t really understand them, but there is this sieve which you put in the blender and then throw in the veg or fruit and you can make juice. I like that feature and can’t wait to try that one out. The blender cost RMB 160 = $23.53. I’ll keep you posted on how long it lasts.I sautéed the spinach with some garlic and leeks. The leeks were really more like scallions on steroids…oh they probably were, on steroids I mean.

And then took the wilted mass and tossed it in the blender. I had one carrot so I chopped it up, threw it in the microwave to steam it and put that in the blender too. Added 2 egg whites and some salt and whirred the whole thing up. It was a bright green thick soupy mass. Poured it into a small baking tin and topped it with lite cheddar cheese from Australia.
I thought it came out quite yummy. I had planned to put in some mustard and mushrooms but I was so excited that the blades whirred the spinach so easily that I just immediately poured it into the pan and stuck it in the oven. As I looked around on the counter I saw the mustard and mushrooms realized my mistake, but as it turned out it tasted quite good without them.

My week so far.....

Tony was in Singapore and Bangkok this week so I was on my own in Shanghai. Monday I had to go get my physical, if you want to live in China you must go get a health physical. It was an easy process and didn’t take more than 45 minutes. They took 2 vials of blood – to check for HIV and I guess some other things. Checked my height and weight, and fortunately the electronic scale was wrong by 10 Kg. Yea! I am officially skinny again. Too bad my clothes don’t recognize the new weight and fit better. An eye check, ear check, x-ray of the midsection, sonogram of the belly, heart check, BP, and an EKG, each done in a different room, they shuttle you through quickly and without much hassle. I should know on Friday if they think I am fit enough to stay.

Tuesday I spent with a new friend Kathi Walton, she and her husband Todd have been living here for 2 years and she is a wealth of information. She took me around to some neat areas of Shanghai and we did lunch as well. Shanghai is so spread out that it is hard to see everything in one afternoon, but we saw a few of her favorite things and we will go out again perhaps next week to see more. I am taking notes on the places I like too so I can take Tony back at a later date. So far there is this one area called TaiKang Road which are old lane homes (remember the roof line I shared with you last post?), which are either being torn down or as I have just found out, converted into pedestrian outdoor shopping /eating areas. They are very quaint; I’ll take some pictures next time I go.

Wednesday morning I attended the American Women’s Club of Shanghai and became a member. They have some wonderful programs and I hope to participate in some soon. I met 5 new ‘friends’ and am looking forward to getting to know them better. They all had nice hair and I am now prodding them for their resource as it’s almost time for me to help Mother Nature in keeping me blond. After the fun morning coffee clutch, I headed over to Donghua University to have my interview.

Yes, I had an interview for a position teaching English, the position calls for 3 days a week, totaling 16 hours of class time. I thought it went well and hope to hear from them soon. The university is about a 10 minute car ride and maybe an hour walk from the apartment. I am very interested in finding something to do here so this may be it!

Shanghai Skyline

Today I was out and about and saw these roof tops out of a window, these buildings are being torn down at an alarming rate……..well actually I wonder, with the world financial crisis if there will be a big slow down here in Shanghai too. Anyway I think that in 10 or 20 years or so there won’t be any of these types of building left due to the modernization of Shanghai, it’s good and it’s bad. These buildings give Shanghai so much character but the buildings have no heat, plumbing is limited and the upkeep has not been what our standards call for, so taking them down is probably better.

New Years Eve 2009

Self Portrait

New Years Eve 2009

I can’t believe its 2009, wasn’t it just 1999? Wasn’t I living in Rome, Italy (10 years ago Sept.)? Now I am living in Shanghai, China. WOW. It’s quite a difference; I miss the food in Italy! And the weather and the people, and the churches and and and…..ok that’s just me reminiscing; I am loving our new adventure.

We went to a concert on New Year’s Eve here in our apartment complex. There is a very nice theater here in our complex, a short 2 minute walk up some stairs and then an escalator and bang your there! The theater holds about 1,000 people as far as I could tell. The theater was very cozy and had great acoustics. The concert was fusion music with Chinese instruments performed by a group called MOON. I was very interesting and actually quite good, I really enjoyed about 75% of the music, the other 25% sounded as if someone was skinning a cat alive – screech screech screech on one of the funny one string violin’ish’ type instruments. But overall very enjoyable and I am so glad we went.

We were home by 9:45p, concert started at 7:30p and turned out the lights at 11:00p. I was awakened by some fireworks at midnight and got out of bed to check them out. Since we are on the 28^th floor I figured I would be able to see something. Well, I saw about 3 parks across Shanghai (the small section I can see out my window) having their own little fireworks celebration. They shot them up about 6 or 10 stories high and it was very nice to see. I watched for about 3 minutes and then went back to bed.

I am excited to see this New Year and am looking forward to the coming months on all that we are going to see and learn.

Hot Pot Restaurants

December 23, 2008

While TJ was here we went to a Hot Pot restaurant. This is a place where you get a pot of soup for the table, the pot is placed in the center of the table on a gas or electric burner and heated till boiling.
You want to get it boiling as you just don't know where the water came from. You know, to kill all the micro- organisms. But it's not just soup it your own creation! After you choose your soup/broth you then select from another menu which are items you want to cook in the broth. Meat, shrimp, broccoli, cabbage, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, mushroom dumplings, pork dumplings, fish balls just to name a few items you would recognize and even eat.

We selected the dual mushroom broth hot pot. The center bowl was the SPICY broth and the outer ring was the plain broth. Both just bursting with mushrooms! Yum! We even ordered a few spring rolls, why not everything's good fried.

That's Jason our driver (Mr. Gu) and Melody our guide, she was with us most of the week taking us around Shanghai if you recall. After you are finished cooking and eating all the items you ordered and cooked in the broth, you then drink the broth which has become super tastey!

Some other items on the menu that we are told taste delightful in the soup and are very very popular - pigs brain, pigs lung, duck tongue, beef penis....yup there it is, I wrote it and now you know too! Organ meat is very popular at these hot pot places. And no I will not be trying it, I am adventurous but even I draw the line at that!

Shopping day

I went shopping today via the subway(.45 cents one way).

I spent $57.50 USD. All told I think I did ok. I had to limit myself as to what I was purchasing as I had to carry it home. Makes you think twice when you know you have to use a little muscle to get it home.

The big expenditures were : Olive Oil - $11.00USD

Salmon - $8.29 (it’s $14.41 a pound)

Land O Lakes Pepper Jack Cheese imported - $5.10

Mustard – $3.31

Chicken, 2 small boneless skinless breasts - $2.32 ($3.50 per lb.)

Wedge of Blue Cheese imported - $4.00 (I think I pay $4.99 at Kroger )

Dozen Eggs Brown- $1.46

Tuna fish, 1 can regular size (made in Thailand) $1.70

1 can tomato paste Hunts – $1.30

Small head of green leaf lettuce - .40 cents

2 small zucchini - .70 cents

Bread crumbs ½ lb package - .63 cents

Happy Cow ‘lite’ cheese -$2.19 (just like Laughing Cow cheese)

½ loaf of Whole wheat bread (6 slices)- .45 cents

Small head of broccoli - .62 cents

2 lemons - .95 cents

3 small red onions - .34 cents

2 long English style cucumbers - .50 cents

Saltine crackers ½ box - .63 cents

Green beans ½ lb - .40 cents

And a few other things.

Shanghai World Financial Center

On Dec. 24 we went up to the top of the World Financial Center which is 492 meters high or 1,614 feet high. The World Trade Towers in NYC were 417 meters high or 1,362 feet. The building on the left with the hole in the top is the SWFC, Shanghai World Financial Center. The building on the right is the Jin Mao Tower, the Grand Hyatt Hotel is located inside on the 53 through 57 floors, or something like that.

Here we are in the observation deck on the top floor, you can that looks down through the hole in the building.

We also went to the Jade Buddha Temple and the YuYuan Gardens. Here are a few pictures.


You are not allowed to take pictures of the actual Jade Buddha, bad Karma or something but here are pictures of the outside temples and a happy Buddha.




















































We also has a little lunch, which was quite yummy at the YuYuan Gardens.

Pick Pocketed!

Pick Pocketed!

You hear about it, you are warned about it and you really try to be careful but those pick pocketers are bold! Yes it happened to me. One evening this last week TJ, Tony and I were walking around, a bit lost. Our mission was to find an shop that sold DVD’s, ok so they were pirated and you may be thinking, serves you right as you were contributing to the illegal ways of China BUT we were FAR FAR away from the third story ‘shopping arcade’ which sold all kinds of fakey fakey purses, watches and the afore mentioned DVD’s.

Before I was accosted by the pick pocketer, we had been walking around trying to find a particular street and we were definitely lost. We were approached by a nice Chinese guy (the nationality distinction will become apparent later) who sidled up to TJ and began a small sing songy phrase, watch? Purse? TJ looked at him and said DVD’s? Sure sure I have everything, 5 minute walk come come. The three of us look at each other all thinking – never go with strangers. But there were 3 of us and TJ towered over him and really as a group (well Tony and TJ) could have taken him down! We shrugged and said ok. As we walked with this guy he whips out his Louis Vuitton business card case and hands us his card. And of course says ‘see nice case Louis Vuitton, I have everything’. Business card? Wow. He makes a turn into an alleyway and we were all thinking - what are we doing, yet continued to follow him up three flights of stairs. I know I know we should be dead right? This rickety old house was converted into a shopping arcade if you will, each room had different merchandise. I can’t tell you everything that was there as I was slightly nervous and didn’t take in everything, that feeling soon subsided as it really was a “legit” illegal shopping arcade. We had one focus and wanted to get out as fast as possible so I said DVD? And voila, hundreds of DVD’s appeared on the counter and we started to pick through them. We made a purchase and quickly left.

As we were walking home, still lost, our ‘beacon’ became the top of a high rise that has a light on top the shape of a ships smoke stack. We knew this was a building near our apartment. We would look up and continue walking toward our beacon knowing we were getting closer and closer to home. And then it happened, probably 3 blocks from home, off on a quiet side street I felt and heard the pocket zipper of my jacket being pulled down. Fortunately this jacket has faulty zipper pockets. The zipper always gets caught in the fabric edge and gets stuck. So this small guy came up from behind slipped his hand on to the zipper and began pulling, I did not feel it at first just heard the zip and then it got stuck. I realized immediately what was happening and turned around and just looked at this smallish white guy standing there looking right back at me. I paused and then just screamed, upon reflection not a good scream, but a scream nevertheless. Tony and TJ turned and came back toward us and I said hey this guy tried to pick my pocket. TJ and Tony were debating whether to take him down when this guy makes some gestures that I stepped on his foot. Finally we just turned and walked away; all of us really upset and jacked up. We were really surprised that a white guy was picking my pocket and we all were wondering where he was from.

We learned from our tour guide the next day that he was Uyghur.

Here is a little research I did about the Uyghur's.

The Uyghur’s are a Turkic people of Central Asia. Uyghurs live primarily in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (also known by its controversial name Uyghurstan or East Turkistan) in the People's Republic of China. The name Xinjiang, which means "new territory" or "new frontier" in Chinese, is considered offensive by many advocates of Uyghur independence who prefer to use historical or ethnic names such as Uyghurstan or East Turkestan (with Turkestan sometimes spelled as Turkistan).^[14]

Following the September 11, 2001 attacks in the USA, China voiced its support for the United States of America in the war on terror. The Chinese government has often referred to Uyghur nationalists as "terrorists" and received more global support for their own "war on terror" since 9/11. Human rights organizations have become concerned that this "war on terror" is being used by the Chinese government as a pretext to repress ethnic Uyghurs.^[15] Uyghur exile groups also claim that the Chinese government is suppressing Uyghur culture and religion, and responding to demands for independence with human rights violations.^[16]

According to at least one outside source, Beijing has "decimated Uyghur culture."

The piece of land in China that sticks up between Kazakhstan and Mongolia is East Turkestan.

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