This guy better watch out!

Thought this was strange, I saw a random rooster strolling around the streets.  He stopped here and it looked like he was staring at this lunch vendor.  I wonder if he was worried if he was going to be the "special" of the day or if he was waiting patiently to order his lunch.   But I was also wondering where is home for this guy?  Asia, always a surprise around the corner.

To begin......

 Website picture above,  picture of me below.  I had to do some photo shop to remove the ugly sidewalk fence that can be seen - see unedited picture. I missed removing the high electrical wire or the boat, oh well. By the way  I did not have to push anyone off the ledge so that I could sit there and enjoy the view.

Unedited version.

The trip was fantastic! Perfect weather everyday, wonderful beach for swimming, spectacular sunsets and a great pool, in addition we split our time at two resorts.  Both were beautiful.   The Shangri -La has two resorts in Kota Kinabalu, one 15 minutes from the airport and the other 45 minutes from the airport.  We couldn't decide which we preferred so we decided to stay at both.   The resort further from the airport had it's own rainforest sanctuary with orangutans. More on this later.

Yes, we deliver.

Incredible, right?

Bean Salad

What is this delightful little green bean you ask? FAVA Bean!

 I didn't know what they were when I bought them, but I was curious and jumped in with both feet and bought a 1/4 pound (100 grams).  Upon inspection I noticed that there seemed to be a soft shell encasing the bean.  Having never bought fresh fava beans and at the time not even sure what they were, I was absolutely fascinated.  Do I peel them and then boil them? Are they tasty like fresh uncooked peas? Do I boil them in the shell?  After some consideration (but no thought to looking all this up on the internet, where all answers can certainly be found) I boldly decided to boil with shell on. I boiled for about 7 minutes and then began to peel them.

Actually you just "pop" them out the the shell, a rather fun job.  I then mixed them up with a can of large white beans and a can of small black beans.  Before serving I added halved cherry tomatoes, feta cheese,  chopped avocado and a fresh dressing of lime, cider vinegar, cilantro, salt and pepper.  Which is not shown here.  After I took this picture of the beans in the bowl I then added the above mentioned ingredients, sat down and ate it. After completing the delicious meal I realized I neglected to take a picture of the finished product.  You have to trust me it was very pretty and very tasty.

Good news and more good news!

My Application Results

Tuesday, April 24, 2012 9:26 AM

From:"Tracy Wang"

To:"Mollica Elizabeth"

 

Dear Ms. Mollica:

 

Good evening!

 

I have received an offer from Arizona State University (Research Assistantship for Master), and plan to go there. Today I pass my VISA, and book the fight on Jul.25th.

 

I just want to say thank you, because you are the first person that made myself believe that I can conquer the speech impediment.  I know it would still be a barrier for me for a while, but now I am not terrified, and will seize every chance to improve the oral English. 

 

Best wishes!

Tracy Wang

Donghua University

 

 

I taught Tracy almost 2 years ago when she was a Sophomore. I am so proud of her! 

 

The thing is, I woke this morning thinking about the fact that I only had 3 more days left of my 6 month contract and wondered what shall I do to fill the time here in Shanghai, I really should work part-time at least. I made some coffee, fired up the computer and received the message from Tracy.  A great way to start the day!

 

Next was an email offering me a part-time job, which quite frankly is exactly what I want, this full time stuff interferes with living a full and happy life in this vibrant city of Shanghai.  I have missed out on all the adventures that my friends go on and I am now looking forward to continuing to discover this interesting city.

 

 

Donghua University

Tuesday, April 24, 2012 3:58 AM

From:"dhupang"

To:"elizabethmollica"

Dear Mollica

I am Marc Pang with Donghua University. Do you still remember me? We are looking for foreign teachers for the following academic year. My boss thinks you are very familiar with our working environment since you worked with us for more than two years. Plus the students gave us good feedback about your teaching here. Therefore she asked me to contact you to see if you are interested in our position. All are the same in the contract except that the monthly pay will increase.

I am looking forward to your prompt reply.

Best regards

Marc Pang

 

Well, there you have it, one door closes and another opens! I am pretty sure I won't stop smiling today!

 

 

Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia

In two weeks I will sitting where this lovely lady is sitting, I hope she doesn't mind that I am going to push off the edge if she doesn't move willingly.  

This looks like a great place to watch the sunset.
(I pinched these pictures off the website.)

On April 28th Tony and I are going to the Malaysian State on the island of Boreno for a nice week long holiday. I am looking forward to relaxing on the beach, snorkeling, and perhaps even climbing the tallest mountain in Malaysia, well maybe not as it takes two days to do it.

Goodbye to good friends.

 My dear friend Brenda and her husband Jim have left Asia after living here for almost 20 years.  They lived in Taiwan and Shanghai for that time and have had an exciting and interesting life.  Brenda has been a good friend and we have shared some wonderful  and interesting times together.  We all went to brunch together at Abbey Road as Tony was not going to be able to go to the going away party at the end of the month.

 Here we are at Southern Belle, Brenda's favorite BBQ restaurant in Shanghai.  It was a great goodbye party, Brenda even got a ride in a motorcycle sidecar from a friend that night! 

 I decided to walk home after the party and ran into some food carts.  I just love how they hang the supplies off the cart in shopping bags.

Just like any drive thru in the US, isn't it fantastic! It did smell good, one vendor (to the far left) had a bbq and was grilling meat and seafood.  The vendor on the right, with the drive up customer, sells noodles with veg.  You would think that would be hard to make on a cart but it's quite common to see all around China.

Huh?

Is this the hospital you go to if want electricity to power your machines to help you get better?
Is this the place you take your electrical items to get fixed?
Is this for the state employees who work for the electrical company?
Is this even a hospital? Is this the office building for the electrical grid for the city?
Hard to know, but I am intrigued by the sign.

What do you think?

Easter Sunday

 On our way to church this morning Colette and I saw some young children playing in an empty lot.  The little one below is wearing traditional baby pants. Pants that have a large cut out in the bottom. Why do they do that you ask?  Easy toilet access.  Diapers are very expensive and cloth diapers are for night time only.  When you have to go you just take a squat.   The smaller babies that cannot walk are, at times, held over a garbage can while the little one pushes him/herself to victory!  Other times they are just held nearer to the sidewalk and a present is left for all to see.  (Just like a dog, in China they only sometimes clean up after their dog and I never see them cleaning up after the baby.)  One time - I kid you not - a shop keeper (could have been the owner) held her baby over the front step of the shop, left a present and then went inside.  When you entered the store was a nice baby pile just for you.  What are they thinking?   In the winter their bottoms are red and chapped and in every season the bottoms can be quite dirty looking.   You can see some wonderful baby butts (pictures taken by my friend Robyn W.) here: http://www.surpriseshanghai.blogspot.com/2010/11/shanghai-baby-butts.html

 This is the first time I have attended St. Francis Xavier Church and it was beautiful.  The inside had been redone for the World Expo 2010, with the governments help I am told.  This is unusual, the government's favorite religion is the Communist party but there are seven recognized religions in China. It is possible to worship without breaking the law in China.

 Here is Colette in her Sunday best! All my pictures seem to have a blue hue to them, I had the camera on the wrong setting.  Oh well.

 Inside the pretty church, everything was so shiny and golden!  Colette said I was like a bird, attracted to all the shiny things.

 Outside the weather was 70 degrees with a light breeze.  After a great service with a fantastic choir, I took myself  for a nice walk while Colette went off to a friends house.

 Happy Easter everyone!

Connected!

 As I was walking down the street I passed by a small store front selling Mantau. Mantau are steamed buns, they are filled with either pork, or vegetables.   Sounds kind of weird, steamed bread but if done right it's very tasty.   Imagine soft white bread that has been freshly made that morning, on the second rise of the bread the dough is made into small buns and a stuffing is tucked into the center, folded over and left to rise a second time. The owner of the shop (this woman?) wakes at 3am to begin her bread making and the shop opens at 6 or 7 am.  The cooking process, steam, seems very strange but the bread is not wet has it develops a type of skin while steaming.  Think Wonder Bread with a slice of meatloaf only neatly produced in a round bun shape.  Yummy!  I don't know if I prefer the vegetable or the pork.  It depends on my mood and the vendor. Some put a funny tofu inside with the veg, some use mushrooms and some use a very strong tasting veg that I find unpalatable.  The pork, never lets me down, salty and juicy.  Pork - is it the national meat of China?  It should be as it's everywhere.

 In the picture below it looks like you couldn't swing a dead cat around in this small shop or an alive one for that matter. There is just enough room to stand and make bread, no toilet or break room in this shop. Which is just as well as they never seem to wash their hands so I rather she didn't use the loo on her 12 hour shift.  And this of course begs the question - how long is her shift? Does she get a break? And where does she go to relieve herself?  While the basics seem far away in this shop, she is connected! Wireless I wonder? Or is she watching a DVD?

What a terrible day.

Speedboat death toll rises to 4 after bodies found

By Lu Feiran and Cai Wenjun  |   2012-4-6  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION 

I returned to work after a 3 day holiday only to learn of a horrific accident that happened during the holiday  You can read about it in the article below.  It has really affected me as one of the freshman students who perished was a student of mine.  I cannot imagine the heartache and pain the parents must be feeling, I feel such a loss and sadness.   Please pray for the parents, friends and families who have suffered this loss.

---

THE bodies of two students missing after a speedboat accident on Taihu Lake in Suzhou were found yesterday, bringing the total death toll to four. They were found about 100 meters from the accident site.

Three students who were injured are being treated at Shanghai's Ruijin Hospital.

The Shanghai Tourism Administration said the students who died were three freshmen from Shanghai Jiao Tong University and a female post-graduate student from the East China University of Political Science and Law in Shanghai who was working as a part-time tour guide.

On Wednesday, the students' speedboat collided with a cable behind a cargo ship which was being used to tow another vessel. "It happened all of a sudden," said Peng Zifeng, one of the injured. "I heard a big bang, and then the speedboat was thrown into the air. I felt being knocked by something hard, and lost consciousness."

Peng said that when he woke up, most of the people on the boat had been thrown into the water. There had been eight on board, including the guide and the skipper. The guide was lying beside him with blood all over her face. When the boat reached shore it was found that two students were missing.

Peng said that no one on the boat had been wearing a life jacket. Before boarding, they asked whether they needed them but the boat owner said it was not necessary.

Two of the injured students, who were also from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, suffered skull fractures and one of them had a spinal injury.

The third student left hospital in the morning after a checkup, but as he complained of a headache later, he was readmitted. Doctors feared the possibility of a cerebral hemorrhage.

"They are in a stable condition," said Zhang Mili, a hospital official. "We will carry out further checks and treatment. So far no surgery has been arranged."

The first 48 hours are critical after a head injury and if there are no complications the three are expected to go home in one or two weeks. The skipper is in a stable condition in a Suzhou hospital.

Yesterday, the Suzhou Maritime Bureau said the owner of the speedboat should bear main responsibility of the accident.

"Speedboats don't have a fixed route between the two islands the students went to," said Zhou Baoqing, an official with the bureau. "The route is chosen by the owner himself but he miscalculated."

The owner is being questioned by police and the accident is still under investigation.

Shanghai Literary Festival

March was a busy month for us, we attended the literary festival, restaurant week and we had to move from the 28th floor to the 17th floor of our building, more on this later.  As usual  I am weeks behind on my blog, the literary festival began on March 3rd and I am now just getting around to posting the pictures and reporting the event.   We have never attended the event and I thought that this could be a nice change of pace for us. So off we went on a Saturday afternoon to learn something new. 

The venue was at The Glamour Bar on the Bund.  The Bund is on the waterfront of Shanghai and there are many famous and historical buildings facing the Huangpu River.   The famous Peace Hotel, is located on The Bund and you can read about it here:  http://www.surpriseshanghai.blogspot.com/2010/10/drinks-at-peace-hotel.html. 

We went to hear Mr. Arvind Subramanian speak about China becoming the next Super Power. He has written a book about it in English and as it is favorable to the Chinese point of view and it supports the theory that China will be the number one super power it will be published in Chinese as well.  He told us it will be published in Chinese after the government vets it, edits it and makes sure it is completely without a negative comment against China. I am not sure why he would want his book published as his thoughts will be changed but I guess it's all about the money and the honor of having some of your ideas spread in a controlled society. It was fairly interesting but we didn't learn anything new, just a confirmation of what we suspected.    I suppose if you don't live here you don't have the same understanding of the power house that China is, but our US leaders know and try to manage it the best they can without upsetting the citizens.

Although the festival was a week long I did not see any other lectures listed that I was interested in attending.  Matt Groenig  the Simpson's cartoon creator was here but the Simpson's never did much for me and I probably have only watched a handful of episodes in the past 10 years.   Next up - restaurant week.

New Apartment vs Old Apartment

OK, OK, it really does look the same but it's not.  There is new lighting in the ceiling, and the window dressing is different, there are wooden floors instead of wall to wall carpet, kitchen wine storage changed and counter changed.  I don't dislike it but I don't love it enough to have to change apartments.  The worst part for me -  when we were on the 28th floor I could see the sky, on the 17th floor I only see the middle portion of various buildings - yuck!  The management tried to soothe me by telling me that I now had 2 balconies.  I looked at her with a sense of wonder.  The Chinese use their balconies for storage, hanging laundry and they usually enclose it as well so that it becomes more valuable space - a room.  Here at our building we are forbidden to enclose our balcony, in addition, the air quality in Shanghai is pretty bad so there are relatively few days a year when you can sit out and enjoy the outdoors. Plus now on both balconies I see the middle of the next building where as on my one balcony on the 28th floor I could see the sky!  We were "forced out" but we will be able to return to the 28th floor in October after they do the silly renovations to our place.

Old apartment with green walls, new apartment with beige walls.

The moving was terrible - I began at 5:00am and stopped at 4:15pm and unfortunately was not completely done. It's not that I had a lot of crap (as my loving husband calls it) but I wanted to move it, put it away and be organized right away.  So no dumping boxes, each one unpacked and carefully put away in a new apartment with different and LESS storage space. I know, looking at the pictures you would think the storage is exactly the same.  Oh well it's done now and we are all moved in.  I am sure I will grow to love this apartment and then be bummed I have to move all over again back to 28........or maybe not.

Following directions

 

This is the sign I encountered at the airport the day we were leaving for Vietnam!

Enough said.

Ear massage!

 

Yesterday I went to my favorite hair salon - Contesta Rockhair and in addition to a wonderful cut and color I received an ear massage during the shampoo.  So strange, yet oddly comforting.  The tops of my ears were lovingly rubbed and then the side lobes as well.  The Chinese seem to have a thing about ears.  

In the summer you can find the "ear cleaners" in the park with their odd instruments poking and prodding into peoples ears.  

Here is a picture of a typical instrument used.  One end to scoop the wax the end other to brush away the particles.  Actually I have no idea how the puffy end is used and I am not up for an ear cleaning adventure. There is usually a candle nearby but what the cleaner uses it for is beyond me.

 

 

Great Wall Wine!

 Saturday night, it's St. Patrick's Day and we are not going to the ball. Here in Shanghai (in the Expat community) de rigueur is to attend balls and galas which are events to raise money for charity and also where you go to be seen! The St. Paddy's ball is considered the best ball of the season and it is the hardest ticket to get.  We have attended this ball for a number of years and always had a marvelous time. Last year Tony and I decided that in 2012 we would not attend any ball or gala.  If we wanted to dress up in our long gowns and tuxedo we would just go ahead and do it and hit the town in our fancy dress. Or perhaps even prance around in our apartment looking fine! I wish I could tell you last night we did get dressed up and pranced around but we didn't. Instead we opened a bottle of wine given to us by our good friend Julian who has a great nose and pallet for wine.  We were skeptical when a few years ago he said he had had a delicious bottle of Chinese wine and was going to buy a couple of cases to have at home. He broke open a bottle at a dinner we had at his apartment to share with us and we were surprised at how good it was. 

 Two weeks ago we asked Julian over for dinner as his wife Gaby was still away in the UK and we thought he could use a little pampering and nice home cooked meal.   He brought us a bottle of Great Wall as a small token of appreciation.  So last night, with great fanfare we opened the bottle.  We noticed the fine dust on the bottle as we lifted it out of the attractive wooden box and thought, oh my an nice old wine, it must be good. (We are suckers for a good visual and fall right into the marketing trap...keep reading)  Tony started laughing and said "look at the vintage"!  It read - Since 1992,  now that leaves a lot of room for when the wine was actually bottled.

 As he began to pour I worried that he would have dust all over his hands and get the dust into the decanter.  But NO! Not to worry, the dust is not dust but instead the bottle has been tossed into a large machine (I am guessing here) with small stones to "chip" or scratch the bottle.  As you run your finger nail over the surface you can feel the chipped glass.  But looks like dust, right?  Now I am worried there are fine chips of glass in our wine!!!  But the wine felt smooth and silky on our tongue and we enjoyed it immensely.  Great Wall wine has similar characteristics of a good French Bordeaux. I did notice this nice little brochure which accompanied the wine.  Inside there is a map showing that China is on the same latitude as France and California, implying that of course it will be as good as their wines! 

The wine was very good and we really enjoyed it!  Cheers Julian!! (Who by the way was as the St. Patrick's Day ball with his wife Gaby!)

P.S. I do not think all Great Wall wine is equal.  I believe that this wine (vintage circ. 1992 - 2012) is of a higher grade then other Great Wall wines which may carry the Expo 2010 logo, or have a different color label. I do not know how to tell the difference except IF I were to buy a bottle of Chinese wine I would buy one with the same label as the one Julian gave us.    But I am pretty sure this isn't going to happen!

University of Michigan -Shanghai Jiao Tong University Joint Institute

 

As of October 2011 I have been working at UM-SJTU JI as a marketing consultant; in February my responsibilities increased and I began teaching a writing course as well. I have two classes, one is comprised of 40 Freshman  and the other has 40 Sophomores.  It's tough, I grade 80 papers a week, each class meets three times a week for a total of 9 hours of class time. I have to be available to the students so I have four office hours weekly and I must prepare the lessons, which takes me about 9 hours a week as I have to relearn/learn all the rules for writing.   Tough, tough, tough!

 

 

 This day was very exciting as a cat wandered into the classroom and was sniffing out the kids breakfasts begging for a bite.  My student, Martin, accidentally stepped on the cat's tail and the cat let out a loud squeal and raced out.  I was in the process of taking a picture of the cat begging for bites of food but instead caught him mid-flight.

You can see how dreary the sky is, we have had 32 days of rain and cold weather!

The school is right next to the nuclear power plant.  China loves nuclear energy and you see quite a lot of these cooling towers around China.