Here is the little tea cup ding dong bell. Isn't it cute?
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Beach Cruiser!
I got a little beach cruiser today! Yay! It's super cute, with white fenders and pink flower stencils, oh I also got a little white basket to go with it. The only problem is, I do not know how to ride a bicycle. But I am going to start learning today. At this rate, I am confident I'll be ready for next year's Tour de France. Ding dong ding dong, move aside Lance, Princess Cat coming through!
Here is the little tea cup ding dong bell. Isn't it cute?
Here is the little tea cup ding dong bell. Isn't it cute?
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Family Cat's Chinese Musical Chair
Mama Cat is going to China tonight, Papa Cat was in China two weeks ago and Baby Cat (i.e. me) was in China last week, so Family Cat is playing the Chinese musical chair. Ok, I am not a baby anymore, promise I'll grow up, like, eh, soon.
Anyhoo, jetlag sucks, it really sucks. Fell asleep at 8pm, woke up at 10:30pm, moped around a little, ate some cream puffs, blackberried a little, read a Chinese cook book, and it was 2am so tried to fall asleep to no avail, then I started counting: one little sheep, two little sheep, three little sheep, but still eyes wide open, blink blink, and then it was 6am, I started to feel sleepy and fell asleep and got up at 2 in the afternoon... just in time for breakfast!
Anyhoo, jetlag sucks, it really sucks. Fell asleep at 8pm, woke up at 10:30pm, moped around a little, ate some cream puffs, blackberried a little, read a Chinese cook book, and it was 2am so tried to fall asleep to no avail, then I started counting: one little sheep, two little sheep, three little sheep, but still eyes wide open, blink blink, and then it was 6am, I started to feel sleepy and fell asleep and got up at 2 in the afternoon... just in time for breakfast!
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Updated Potpourri
Decadence under the Red Flag: the rich and powerful sipping on tea and cocktails under red flags at a posh hotel in Beijing. Kind of contradictory, huh?
Kir Royale before flight: I guess I am not a member of the proletariat anymore.
Here is for you P: egg custard and sourmilk in mall underneath the posh hotel. In China, guess Asia in general, hotels are usually part of a humongous complex composed of shopping area, office area and dozens of restaurants. This one is no exception. I practically never left the hotel complex during my stay.
Kir Royale before flight: I guess I am not a member of the proletariat anymore.
Here is for you P: egg custard and sourmilk in mall underneath the posh hotel. In China, guess Asia in general, hotels are usually part of a humongous complex composed of shopping area, office area and dozens of restaurants. This one is no exception. I practically never left the hotel complex during my stay.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Country Life
I went back to my maternal grandfather's ancestral village ... here are some photos to share with you.
All the houses here have one layout: a huge metal door leading to a little foyer area (usually with tile work on the wall, this one has the Chinese character for fortune and propserity), then leading to a small courtyard, surrounded by the living quarters. One thing that's great is, almost all houses use solar panels for hot water.
Vegetable garden outside the house. In an attempt to out-do each other, most villagers no longer have spare land (as the village McMansions take up almost all the land) to plant vegetables so they make do with little plots next to the house.
Water sink... sometimes water pressure gets low (again because villagers try to outdo each other and elevate the houses so much (so that they'd be higher than their neighbors) that they can't get enough pressure sometimes.)
Country meal: Northern Chinese do not (or rarely) eat rice, instead they prefer congee made with "little rice" which resemble cous cous more than regular rice. Also, they love mantous (or mou mous as they call them here). Mantous are kind of like the northern Chinese equivalent of bread.
A game of chess
Shopping for lunch at the outdoor market (yep it's fresh here!)
See the bundle of veggies on the scale? It's a type of herby vegetable. It looks like dill but doesn't taste like it... they love to make vegetarian dumplings with this type of veggie.
Yay, my favorite! This type of pancake is unique to my ancestral area. See here the pancake maker folds up the dough into little squares, then his wife sprinkles sesame on top and then the squares are slapped onto the sides of the barrel...
Here they are! Golden and crispy on the outside...
...and layery and airy on the inside, so good!
Village life passing by...
Peering over my aunt's shoulder on the way to the market with skyscrapers and construction cranes looming in the horizon... most likely our village will be confiscated by the government (probably in collusion with developers) to make way for more skyscrapers... our farmland was taken away a while ago, and is now part of a master planned community complete with an artificial lake (eye roll)... But if they take away our ancestral village and force us to move into concrete blocks, I will fight until the very very end with the developers! Ahhhhh, charrrrge!
All the houses here have one layout: a huge metal door leading to a little foyer area (usually with tile work on the wall, this one has the Chinese character for fortune and propserity), then leading to a small courtyard, surrounded by the living quarters. One thing that's great is, almost all houses use solar panels for hot water.
Vegetable garden outside the house. In an attempt to out-do each other, most villagers no longer have spare land (as the village McMansions take up almost all the land) to plant vegetables so they make do with little plots next to the house.
Water sink... sometimes water pressure gets low (again because villagers try to outdo each other and elevate the houses so much (so that they'd be higher than their neighbors) that they can't get enough pressure sometimes.)
Country meal: Northern Chinese do not (or rarely) eat rice, instead they prefer congee made with "little rice" which resemble cous cous more than regular rice. Also, they love mantous (or mou mous as they call them here). Mantous are kind of like the northern Chinese equivalent of bread.
A game of chess
Shopping for lunch at the outdoor market (yep it's fresh here!)
See the bundle of veggies on the scale? It's a type of herby vegetable. It looks like dill but doesn't taste like it... they love to make vegetarian dumplings with this type of veggie.
Yay, my favorite! This type of pancake is unique to my ancestral area. See here the pancake maker folds up the dough into little squares, then his wife sprinkles sesame on top and then the squares are slapped onto the sides of the barrel...
Here they are! Golden and crispy on the outside...
...and layery and airy on the inside, so good!
Village life passing by...
Peering over my aunt's shoulder on the way to the market with skyscrapers and construction cranes looming in the horizon... most likely our village will be confiscated by the government (probably in collusion with developers) to make way for more skyscrapers... our farmland was taken away a while ago, and is now part of a master planned community complete with an artificial lake (eye roll)... But if they take away our ancestral village and force us to move into concrete blocks, I will fight until the very very end with the developers! Ahhhhh, charrrrge!
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Back in Beijing
I went to my ancestral village to visit my grandma this weekend and am now back in a rainy Beijing...
Passing the Great Hall of the People... the Commies are very tricky, they name everything People this People that, and at the same time they screw the people left and right. My friend was right, the Chinese Commies are not real Commies, they are a special interest group out to fool the people and reap all the benefit to themselves.
Tiananmen Square on a rainy night.
Passing the Great Hall of the People... the Commies are very tricky, they name everything People this People that, and at the same time they screw the people left and right. My friend was right, the Chinese Commies are not real Commies, they are a special interest group out to fool the people and reap all the benefit to themselves.
Tiananmen Square on a rainy night.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Beijing Cityscape
Streets of Beijing, does this look like a communist country to you? Yeah, Beijing is a lot nicer than Los Angeles, though aesthetically it is a bit off... See the odd looking building in the middle, that's the new state television network's office. Last year, a fire (caused by unauthorized fireworks set off by the tv network's employees) completely destroyed a $1 billion brand new soon to be open Mandarin Oriental hotel next to it... I've noticed this tendency in China: people are either too cautious and risk averse or completely reckless and careless, there is little balance in the middle.
Here is the charred remains of the billion dollar Mandarin Oriental Hotel and Chinese central television's new headquarters... it's, eh, so showy! Not feeling the odd shape at all, it feels like it may snap apart and collapse at any time.
Chang'an Avenue, the main thoroughfare in Beijing.
Here is the charred remains of the billion dollar Mandarin Oriental Hotel and Chinese central television's new headquarters... it's, eh, so showy! Not feeling the odd shape at all, it feels like it may snap apart and collapse at any time.
Chang'an Avenue, the main thoroughfare in Beijing.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Beijing!
I am in Beijing! So happy, finally back to civilization (no offense Wuhan...) and good food! Munch, chomp, munch... mouth too full to talk, later!
Five minutes later...
The crab shaped container in the middle has all the yummy crabmeat from Shanghainese Dazhe crab, and you scoop it up with your spoon and pour some vinegar over it, so yummy!
That's a special fish in the middle, it's a river fish from the Yangtze (they actually leave some scales on the side which can be eaten, lots of calcium) the dishes surrounding the fish are: steamed stinky tofu, boy it was stinky!, kaofu, friend wontons... ah, so content.
Five minutes later...
The crab shaped container in the middle has all the yummy crabmeat from Shanghainese Dazhe crab, and you scoop it up with your spoon and pour some vinegar over it, so yummy!
That's a special fish in the middle, it's a river fish from the Yangtze (they actually leave some scales on the side which can be eaten, lots of calcium) the dishes surrounding the fish are: steamed stinky tofu, boy it was stinky!, kaofu, friend wontons... ah, so content.
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