More every day life

Paige got to Skype with BF Ellie while Ellie was visiting Susu and Poppy. They talked for about an hour and a half - late night for Paige, early morning for Ellie. So much fun to hear them giggling and laughing like they had seen each other yesterday.
Friday night was a fun school event: Bingo. Tons of people showed up and we had many rip-roarin' games of bingo with lottery ticket fun baskets being given away at the same time. Winners of the Bingo games got to choose from a table of yummy baked goods.

One of the breaks was a chicken song. Two middle school teachers leading the charge. YMCA song was another get up and jiggle around song. Lots of fun and laughter, pizza, popcorn and new friends. We met the new family from Australia who live down the street from us. Their children, Hugo and Pearl, are adored by the girls who have taken them under their wings on the school bus.

I had a fun romp through a wet market I found next to Storey's Saturday morning pottery class. This guy was cracking me up. He was running around cutting, weighing, chopping meat up for clients, all the while this cigarette hanging out of his mouth with ashes about 1/2" long precariously dangling on the end. When he saw me laughing and taking a picture, he started laughing and finally removed the cigarette - probably just until I walked away!

A chicken was being removed for a customer while I took this, so I moved quickly so I wasn't there for the rest of the process. They do it all right here for you - the defeathering, etc. Anything you would like.
The Chinese eat a lot of fish, and all kinds of fish. Some of the lovely choices.


Fresh dumplings.
Hand made noodles.
Rice and grain.
Beautiful, fresh veggies. I can't get enough of the vegetables over here. So many different kinds and all so delicious.

Yet more fish.
The choices of tofu here are like the cheese counter at home. Everything from stinky tofu to fried tofu, dried, wet, soft, firm, aged..... Our cook makes the best tofu pudding we have ever had (actually, never had tofu pudding before!). It is creamy and smooth with ever so slight almond and vanilla flavoring.
More grains, nuts, rice, beans, spices.
Storey was taken by friends to a gymnastic class yesterday, after an afternoon Girl Scout outing. We went to pick her up and couldn't find it! The address was correct, we knew we were in the right area, but everyone we asked kept sending us back to the previous place we had been. It was a bit of a circus. I finally called another mother who explained over the phone how to get there. All buildings have guards, and we had asked several guards who had all said it didn't exist. Such is the world in Shanghai. We found Storey who loved her new class. It will be easier next time!

From gymnastics we headed to Otto's, an Italian restaurant around the corner from us. As we were driving by the corner, we saw a huge truck filled top to bottom, front to back with pineapples. The men were throwing the pineapples out onto the corner. There were pineapples under the truck, in the street, and piled high on the sidewalk. We were marveling at the brashness of it all. When we exited from dinner and started walking home, there on the corner was a gal selling the pineapples from a very reduced pile. I went to ask how much and had to ask twice because I couldn't believe the cost. 5 RMB for 3 pineapples. So we paid about .73 cents for three gorgeous, and salivatingly delicous pineapples. That was good as it helped off-set the price of the far too expensive Italian restaurant! Anything western costs 10 x what the Chinese equivalent would be.

It is a rainy Sunday afternoon. Storey has taken to making dinner for us every Sunday. We have had yummy spaghetti, meatloaf, and tonight it is lasagna. We haven't found any lasagna noodles in any of the stores, so Storey and Ridley are down making the noodles. I am sure it will be the best lasagna ever! Happy Sunday.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY and HAPPY BIRTHDAY

It is Susie's birthday on Valentine's Day. We are loving you, missing you, and can't wait to see you in a little over a month. Here are our Chinese flowers we are sending you on Valentine's Day.

My dad, Susie and sweet Kalea, my niece.
Feast your eyes on the Chinese Valentine's floral arrangements!

Julie surrounded by the advent of spring at the Pudong Flower Market.


Yes, a bouquet of feathers and bunnies!

A little tulle with your blue sparkle roses!

Feathers!
Real roses hidden under a coating of blue sparkle paint.

Have a wonderful Valentine's Day.
We are sending our love to our family and friends - and particularly to Grandma Susie on this special day!

Shanghai shopping

I have had some fun Shanghai shopping adventures lately. My friend Liz found the deal of a century on some copies of the Terra Cotta Warriors, so I met her at Dong Tai Lu to place some orders. My tutor, Dean, came with us as the vendor doesn't speak English very well and we had some high finance to accomplish. We met on the street with all the vendors: Dong Tai Lu is a fabulous outdoor "antiques" market, full of all the Asian trinkets, old and new, you could ever wish for. And those you didn't even know you were wishing for! Liz was placing numerous orders for co-workers, and I was placing orders for friends, as well. After meeting in front of the stall, the vendor took us on this route down several alley's.........A beautiful warm day to be washing clothes - although it is done in the freezing cold as well. Once you get off the main streets into the back lanes, like ours, you can really begin seeing daily life. Behind the green bucket is a corrugated stone that she was scrubbing the clothes on. I would say that the average Chinese person is very "green" in their living. They hand wash their clothes and air dry them; don't turn on lights during the day; don't turn on the heat (even if they happened to have it); hand wash dishes in one bucket of water (as with the clothes - no water waste). Lessons to be learned. And for the most part ride bikes, walk or take public transportation.

Liz with a co-worker, Susan.
We truly felt like we were doing some back lane dealing!
After several lanes and twists and turns we made it to the "warehouse."
This room couldn't be larger than 15 x 15 and stacked to the brim. We had to stand in once place or step outside the door.
Dean making sure the everything is proceeding as it should.
Our lovely vendor with her treasures surrounding her.
The day before I had taken my friend Julie out to a furniture warehouse out west. She is looking for an opium bed to take home and we had fun being educated on the difference between opium beds and wedding beds. Wedding beds envelope you in a canopy-like setting, with different kinds of tops and sides to be had - painted, carved, openings to hang fabric to stay cozy and private. Opium beds are more like large day beds with a portable small table in the middle to put all the opium paraphanalia that might be needed. I think it would be fun to use the small table for gaming, instead! Anyway, another far and away fun hunting adventure.

I strolled around Taikong Lu after dropping Storey and her friend at pottery on Saturday morning, never tiring of the beautiful buildings and every day life going on.
Such beautiful grey brick.
Fresh vegetables for sale, never mind the clothes drying above!

Work has resumed on our lane after the holiday break. The front gates are being repainted, with no attention at all given to dripping the black paint all over the gold portions of the gate. I guess they will go back and repaint the gold! Power washing was done on all the lanes today, maybe helping to sweep away all the fireworks residue. More painting, touching up, is also happening. It never seems to end. It is a beautiful lane!
The girls are home from school. Storey is needing help hanging some magazine pictures from a teen magazine that Marianne sent them! We had a great care package from mom and Marianne with stuffed animals, American Girl dolls, Berenstain Bear books and Valentines goodies. Thank you Mom and Marianne!!!

The End of Hong Kong

This was our last day in Hong Kong, therefore our last opportunity to head out to what is called the largest sitting buddha in the world. It is on Lantau island. After a 20 minute metro ride (we have ridden the metro everywhere around here. so well laid out and easy to use) we arrived at the famous Ngong Ping Skyrail. The description of the Skyrail: "Embark on the ride of a life-time on this spectacular 5.7 km skyrail with ever-changing picturesque panoramas across the lush terrains of Lantau and South China Sea." After waiting in line about an hour to board this famous ride, here we are, ready to see the sights!Paige and Ridley already enjoying the ride!
Mmmmm...... the spectacular views begin. The South China Sea. Can you see it???
This was the best landscape picture we got over the next 5.7 km! The hiking path below that disappears into the fog. It was the most unbelievably foggy day out. Not one vista to be had. The ride was still fun!
We arrive to the Po Lin Monastery nestled in the "spectacularly scenic mountains" and found this little diversion on the way to the Buddha. Don't know what happened to my camera. Too much fog?
THERE HE IS! THE LARGEST OUTDOOR SEATED BRONZE BUDDHA IN THE WORLD!
Mimicking the giant Buddha. Can't you tell?
The fog was shifting ever so slightly so I kept snapping away hoping to get a glimpse. We decided against mounting the thousand steps to walk into the fog with the Buddha.

We had just missed the bus to Tai O fishing village (which we discovered we were very grateful for since the 20 minute ride down the mountain was narrow and twisting)so grabbed the only available cab. Tai O is a traditional fishing village. We started walking through the stalls of every imaginable sort of fish product and Storey could hardly breath. (A sensitive nose, this one.) We decided to go quickly through the village, but not too quickly that I couldn't grab some wonderful shots.
I won't even begin to make-up what these items could be!
Heading to the live tanks.

The stilt houses.
He was selling fish out of his boat. The buyers were up where we were and kept asking to see different fish that he would then display in his net.
A very windy taxi ride back to the metro line to head home. A fun adventure, though not quite what we had imagined.

We had a leisurely morning the next day and headed to the airport to come home. Shanghai was blue skies greeting us. Always nice to come home!