Fun in the Sun...

Wanning Warning!

Don't go if you think it will be hard to return to reality after a relaxing, sunny weekend at the beach. Especially if you plan to fly back to gloomy, polluted, fogged in Shanghai, which it was the day we returned! quite a let down, indeed.

This past weekend we took off a day and flew to Hainan Island, about 2 and a half hours from here, then drove about an hour and 15 min to the resort, in Wanning. It might be about the nicest hotel I have stayed at, with the exception of the Montage and I am not sure that counts since its so darn expensive! It was a new Le Meridien, just opened in Dec 08. Our room had a private pool, and it was a room big enough for 2 twin beds for the kids in addition to a king and the other furniture. They had great pools, and a beautiful beach. Now, don't forget, it is still China - the ocean - meh - I was not keen on - it was a bit choppy so looked not as good close up and I of course had in my head that is is the East China Sea!! It was also a bit chilly so we dipped a toe in but didnt actually swim. We did spend time on the beach, and of course in the pools. We rode bikes, hit the gym, the spa, the kids center and the disco, to boot! Connor lived out his dream of performing on stage with the band in the bar - he sang Bon jovi and just was so excited! Did I mention rest? Well yes, I think I had the best sleep that I have had in the almost year we have been here! I slept - get this...almost 11 hours every night! yes, that's true. Here at home I am getting much less than that -sometimes only 4 or 5 and its not a good sleep. I can't tell you how much better I feel.

Anyway, we are back to reality and in the midst of final plans for D's bday party this Sat..as she turned 5 last sunday! what a great bday trip - I would be thrilled to do the same for my next bday! I'll post a couple pics I have readily avail and come back later with a few more! It's past my bedtime!..

well ok..I wont leave you with a picture as it won't upload tonight, but will try again tomorrow! G'night!

Note to Self.

When spending the day at the office in foreign country. Bring food. Lots of it.

I spent the day at our site about an hour and a half away yesterday - we held a women's conference and I was on the committee that did all the set up and execution. It went really well - over 300 people attended, which is quite a lot, probably had 70% of total female population here in Shanghai. A few came from Beijing and Chengdu, but that was not really encouraged due to cost efficiencies. Anyway, I was in charge of obtaining the speakers, ensuring the content was aligned to the theme, etc. Also ensuring everyone was where they needed to be at right time. All was good with the exception of lunch...oy. I had some rice. and picked a few carrots out of some mystery meat medley coated in oil. And that was it. I walked out of the house without my apple, cookies/almonds/ granola bar. Never again.

Flower Market...spring is here!

China has a market for most everything. You want copies of purses - you go to fake market, you want clothes made - fabric market. There are streets that sell all things related to music or art supplies. Well, there are also flower markets, which are fun to poke around in. The one I like best is pretty far away, so I don't go there much but the one close to the house works for the basics. As spring is surely here, I went a few weeks ago and got a few things to brighten up the front porch and I must say, I think it looks quite nice. I now have two neighbors that want me to pick out flowers and pots for their porches, too! Maybe my new side business for me after I bake all my bread????

Quote of the week....

the other day C says to me, "mom, you would make the best ayi"...I wasn't sure whether to take that as a compliment? or ..? I think I will consider it a compliment!

Go Green....

Recently I bought some Soapnuts. "Soapnuts"you say - "what are those?". Don't feel bad, I hadn't heard of them either. They are, by definition:

Soapnuts are the fruit of a tree (Sapindus Mukorossi), found primarily in India, Indonesia, and Nepal, and they are an EXCELLENT alternative to traditional laundry detergents. How are soapnuts prepared for use in your wash? They are simply harvested, de-seeded, and then dried in the sun. And they WORK .

The outer shell of the soapnut contains saponin, a natural substance known for its ability to cleanse and wash. (That’s what makes them so GREAT for cleaning your laundry!) They are 100%, totally natural. They are organically grown and are free of harsh chemicals, so they are incredibly gentle on clothes AND skinRead more: Soap nuts: an amazing, 100% natural cleaning product.

I bought them as part of a group buy here - we bought over 100 kilograms as a group - and it was about 20 rmb per kilo...so $3 and it will wash about 150 loads of clothes, no softener needed, no chemicals, etc.

Anyway, I bought them as our Tide with Downy we brought last summer is just about gone. sadly. The detergent here is not same - even if it says Tide - it is different - and is harder on your clothing than what we have at home. I thought it was worth a try - certainly cheap, and also good for the environment. You can make dishwashing soap, household cleaners, etc from these same nuts. I haven't done that but I started using them today to check them out. If you have a hot enough wash you just put some nuts in a sock and tie it off. If you have a cool wash you can make a "syrup" with boiling water and nuts and let them soak. So I did both today - and they are both working great. The clothes come out of the wash clean and soft.

Here is a website where I found a bunch of my information ...I dont know if I would do this at home or not, but I plan to keep using them here!

http://www.laundrytree.com/

Look out Orowheat seven grain....

I tried a loaf of bread. I found so many recipes and finally just picked one and made it...have to say it turned out pretty well for my first attempt! kids thought it tasted like what we would have at home and immediately had salami sandwiches, E included. I will for sure make again - may or may not use same recipe - was certainly easy, but may try another one for comparison sake. I did get quite concerned as it wasn't rising very well the first rise - but it did finally puff up some, and for the second rise it did even better. I had bought new flour and had yeast that should have been ok, but I was quite nervous. It really didnt take too long, either.

Carrefour on a Saturday - ay-yi-yi....Just say NO!

we were having friends over Sat night for dinner and I needed a couple of items that required a run into Carrefour- its a French based grocery store chain that is wildly popular here. They have tons of Chinese products, meat, produce and then household items, too - kind of reminds me of a superwalmart but its all in Chinese? they do have a small imported section with a few items I can only buy there, so I go if necessary. The bad thing are the smells - blech - the downstairs where you walk in is all food courts and the smell just makes you gag- I guess this is good for weightloss -- as after you walk through you don't feel like buying much! Then the fact it is so SO crowded - 3 generations shop together - people everywhere. ugh. Anyway, I ran in, got my stuff and ran out. Yu Wei told me he didn't think it would be busy as its Tomb Sweeping weekend and that people should be sweeping the cemetaries instead of shopping - but unfortunately he was mistaken as they were all there. Maybe all that sweeping worked up an appetite and they all had to hit carrefour for groceries!

Speaking of our dinner...I had found out about a lady from Mexico that cooks authentic mexican food - you just pick it up and heat it up and you are good to go. We ordered a beef, pork and chicken tinga and enchiladas- they were cooked in different chiles, etc and all good - and rice, beans, homeade tortillas, salsa...was quite good and couldnt have been easier!!! We will for sure use her again.

Delaney Cate had a farm, e-i-e-i-o...

D is taking an art class every week here and she wanted me to share her first masterpiece.

The class is pretty neat - they are all projects and they spend several weeks on each item. She had to plan what animals, the colors, etc she would have in her farm, and then they did in steps - as the animals were made with clay, had to harden, then paint, etc . She really enjoys it...her teacher really recommended we put her in something art related as she seems to have quite an eye and knack for it in school. It lasts for 10 weeks, and at that point we will be going home for a few weeks, but I will likely sign her up again. The other bonus is we can walk or scooter to class - always a good thing!

..

"did you mean to type Warning, China"...asks Google..

In a couple weeks we are going to the Hawaii of China. Yes, for real - Hawaii of China. Not "a great beach location in China" but Hawaii. It seems to be a theme here, to find something remotely similar and name it the same here - I found that when we were looking at neighborhoods - there is Rancho Santa Fe, Beverly Hills, Palm Springs...you get the idea.

So, we are heading for a long weekend to the beach to relax and work our on our tans. It takes time to figure out travel here as all the sites are different online and airlines are different, so finally I pieced it together. The city, though I dont think its much a city - is called Wanning. When you google that, it says - did you mean "warning, china"? I hope not! The resort looks great - kind of like what you might find in the real Hawaii. Its a new Le Meridien that just opened and has gotten good reviews. We will be sure to fill you in when we return!

Lantern Festival

finally I post some pics of the lantern festival, which is Day 15 of the New year. Folklore says that the soft glowing lts of the lanterns help guide wandering ghosts home. Later, everyone watches for the 100 foot long paper and silk dragon to come out of hibernation.

Dragon means strength and goodness and in the new year dance, it chases after the sun ball, the source of power. Lanterns come in all shapes and sizes. Some like fantastic crabs with moving claws or birds with wings that flap. There are lanterns called pacing horses which spin when they are heated frm the flame of he candle or fan. Some lanters as large as houses.

In N. China, where winters are cold, lanterns are carved from blocks of river ice. Kids make lanterns at scool and hang riddles on them Example of a riddle: ..."when drawn it is round, but when written it is square. In cold weather is it short and in hot weather long. Answer :sun or day

It is the last night of the chinese new year and signals the end of the new years celebrations, hence end of the fireworks, at least for a couple days! We went to Yu Yuan gardens, a famous temple here to see the decorations and eat dumpling with some of our friends. here we are, in all our glory! The lanterns were very festive, but as usual, we were main attractions with people taking our pictures left and right. Some come and ask for a picture but many try to to it slyly then quickly turn away when you look at them.

Delaney has found a new store she likes here....

yes. Barbie. They have a 6 story "House of Barbie" here...with spa, dining, etc. It was nicely done, really. Not as good as the American Girl stores but D liked it very much. She picked out somethings for her upcoming birthday. And she is planning her return trip back!

Top Chef contestant?

Who knew that when I moved to Shanghai I would have the skills to try out for Top Chef upon return! I have not applied, no, but it would be fun. I love to cook and you do have to be creative. I was seriously saved today - as I was going to make ricotta cheese. Don't ask me what possessed me to look that up, but I did, and you can! Luckily, the store I was in today had it, so I can save my culinary experiment for next time. I also am going to make some bread next week...note - havent done this yet, but I will and will post a pic of my final product. I have made croutons, birthday cake for C and soon one for D as her bday is in April. I have also made pancakes and brownies from scratch- which I never do, and been quite creative with some of my other ingredients. I made the mistake of figuring out how much we spend on milk. Yes, we have milk again - its UHT in boxes. We use about 2 boxes a day, give or take. We spend $5/DAY. yes per day! on milk! gack!!! That is crazy. There is some local milk that is cheaper but not that much cheaper and it tastes yuch. So, what are you going to do? We aren't going to buy a cow to milk! Anyway, C will be glad, lasagna for dinner, and I am glad, as it was much easier than I was anticipating!!!

CDR ...the boyscout?

well, he is one...but he kind of wishes he wasn't! He was pretty fired up about it at the beginning, as lots of boys do this here, but after awhile it wore off a bit. The den lasts all year, so we are almost done. These were at their latest award ceremony and he got several badges and was asked to carry the flag. The other is him with his Derby Car, a couple of weeks before.

And one more because how cute does she look?

This was before swim lessons a few weeks ago.

Another lost tooth!

This is crazy, but D has lost her second tooth and she hasn't even hit the ripe old age of 5 yet! She did get them early and they say that makes a difference, but I was still surprised. The first one she lost on Xmas Eve and now another on St. Patrick's. The other tooth was already coming in behind the baby one, so it was surely ready. She wouldn't stop being silly for a pic, but here was my attempt, and we are now anxiously awaiting the Tooth Fairy's arrival!

You know you must live in China when...

1. you dream about shopping at Target. I did so last week and woke up so happy until I realized that full basket of bargains wasn't real. I had so many really cute things, not to mention magazines and books galore!

2. you debate about buying the lastest movie at the grocery store where you pay $2.20/movie or from the street cart for about 60cents.

3. you can walk out for a foot massage on a thursday night at 9pm with the neighbors...as everyone has an ayi at home to hold down the fort for them...

So, not all bad, but I was so bummed when I woke up from that dream..I made up for it with the foot massage outing that night!

Oh and the good news...WE HAVE SUN! After February only have 2 days - yes 2 DAYS of sunshine, and every other day either rain or the threat of rain, we finally have had sun the last 3 days, along with near tropical temps of 20C! I can't tell you how excited everyone is...we rode bikes up to the Blue Frog for lunch Sat and there were literally traffic jams on the sidewalks!

Our japanese girl....

Everywhere we went in Japan, people had on on their masks. I read that it is to keep themselves from getting sick, not to keep them from passing germs to others. D thought they were pretty funny, and when we saw some with hello kitty on them, we just had to get them! She hasn't yet taken to calling herself Japanese, though I know both kids could live there - but she does call herself Chinese when she talks about who in her class is chinese...I think she thinks if she can speak some, it must be so!

The birthday boy..

Here's a quick picture of Connor and his friends that he invited for his birthday party last month. He had 6 boys over to play football, box (we hired a blown up boxing ring with gloves, etc), eat pizza, watch a movie in the clubhouse theater and spend the night. It was quite tame and they all had a great time. Sister, of course, was right in the thick of it!

We won!

with a great Australian cab coming in close behind. Was fun, will load some pictures as I can get them downloaded.

Meanwhile, I am really having issues today as I NEED to go shopping. I really need to get into Target, or Nordstroms, even Fry's! I just did some online shopping, which isnt quite the same - but got some things for D, who needs nothing, at www.boden.com...they have the cutest things. I also had some Luna bars shipped to AZ, to have when I get there this summer... now I realize that is aways a way, but I just needed to get them on their way. They have a new flavor that I really liked - White Chocolate Macadamia...very good! A guy from work flew over for mtgs this week and brought some things from AZ - Luna bars, other granola bars you can't find here that kids like, something I had ordered for D's bday, etc. With the travel so constrained due to budgets its putting a crimp on my supply line!

Off to get our day started, figuring out how we are supposed to submit our tax stuff to the company that will process them and get that started...sounds like fun, I know. Happy March 1!!!