Dinner at Pi's

I sure miss home cookin' and since I can't cook worth edible squat, I was super excited when Pi invited us over for her home cookin! It was mm mm delicious! A 6 course meal nonetheless! Thanks Pi for SH home cookin!

NY Resolutions

why do we need the start of a new year as an excuse to work on the things we should be working on anyway? no clue. anyhow, here's what i want to do for 2010:
1. lose some frickin weight. 1 lb., 50 lbs, i no longer care. this has been ongoing since i was old enough to understand the concept of weight.
2. be more active with BEAN. i love my orphans but others need help too. i will see my orphans this weekend then help with the animal shelter next weekend. give give give!
3. improve my chinese to some extent. i have been super lazy about boosting my vocab but within the next 365, i want to see some improvement in my mother tongue.
4. join more community organizations to do what i came here to do, which was to meet interesting people in SH.
5. find a new home on the globe. i've worn out SH's welcome, and i hers. as someone once said, once you start losing your sense of humor about things, it's time to pack.
6. go zen. after visiting many temples in xi'an, and reading some buddhist mantras, i've decided i like them enough to give it a go. i think i'd be a much happier gal.
7. have a healthier lifestyle and foodstyle and thinkstyle. whatever that may entail. includes all of the above, really.
8. cook more often and better.
9. actually pursue and maintain these resolutions.

NYE.

spicy cauliflower

spicy squid

local girls chomping away

NYE was a blast. Dinner at Laifu restaurant serving yummy Sichuan food with funny ass conversation about sex and foreigners. Surrounded by my 2 favorite local girls Pi and Jingjing, and meeting a few extra new people, all of whom were super cool, and ringing in the new year in a warm pad with dkf by my side, watching fireworks on TV in different cities in china, was the perfect way to celebrate the 2010 transition. Great and interesting conversation ensued, related to the most popular topic on earth, Love and relationships, followed by a drunk and brutally honest dkf who spit out whatever was on his mind. ah dkf, never a dull moment.

Here's to an even better year, a new year, which is super cool cuz it sounds like a year that a science fiction movie would feature.

Happy 2010 from Shanghai.

yummy bowl of hand-shredded noodles with minced meat.

i wasn't supposed to take a picture of the adult goods store products.

our xmas santa elf.

our xmas tree.

The Xi'an train ride.

It has been a long time since I rode a train in China. The last time was 12 years ago on a 30+ hr train ride from Guilin to Beijing. Not the most comfortable of rides but definitely one of the most poignant memories in my brain.

We decided to train it to Xi'an. It was 14 hour night journey. We got 2 soft sleepers, because I wanted to sleep comfortably so the next day when we arrived, we could be fresh and ready to go. dkf got sick the day of our trip. Unfortunately that lasted throughout our entire trip, resulting in me getting sick the last day of the trip. The ride was generally smooth and comfy aside from the sound of the train gliding on the tracks, the emphysemic man coughing, a soft chinese radio playing, and muted announcements, pretty peaceful complete with a lullabic rocking back and forth of the car. The only unpleasant parts were the totally stinky bathrooms (I held in my bodily fluids almost the entire trip, peeing only once before the train started) and the smoker man who insisted on lighting his cig inside our car. The beds were sorta small which meant dkf and i couldn't cuddle on one bed. I also had a slight female problem which is a pain when traveling on train. Plus we didn't bring enough water and i forgot to take out my contact lenses. Other than that, i slept thru most of the night but laid awake as the train suddenly stopped and didn't move for quite a while. Poor dkf was feverish and coughing. We got in 2 hrs later than planned, around noon and then began our journey to find a legit cab to take us to our hotel. Lots of scammers around the train station but we finally snagged a cab, which u have to jump into before the other customer is even out.

I wouldn't really recommend travelling long journeys via train esp as a female. Maybe once for adventure sake. For me, I think holding it in for about half a day was enough. Not to mention no showers, filthy bathrooms, little privacy, smokers in the hallway, little room for cuddling and mothball and old linen smells. Even with a soft sleeper, which cost us as much as our plane ticket home, it wasn't worth the money. But we did it and trains are just as podunk as they were 12 years ago when I last rode them in China.

I do have to mention our journey to the Shanghai Railway station via metro to catch our train that night of our departure. Complete nightmare. Reminded me of my aforementioned 30+ hour train ride back to Beijing. Before we got on that train, my friend and I agreed to run onto the train and to look for each other once we got on, should we be separated. Well, we were separated. Our hands let go. She got on first, I was nearly trampled to bits. I couldn't even breathe. Dejavu of 12 years ago happened when I was trying to exit the metro that night. Imagine millions of rats trying to cram themselves thru one rathole. People bull rushing you, pushing u as hard as they could to get on the metro. No concern for human life, no ounce of human dignity. I was standing at the exit of our subway car, preparing to exit. As soon as the door opened, tons of mostly men trampled their way in, pushing me all the way back into the back of the subway car. I could not get out. I screamed for them to let me off first, to be patient. Fell upon deaf ears. I felt like I would get stampeded to death. I nearly lost my luggage. My foot got caught in the hole between the subway car and the platform. I heard of death stories like that. Finally, I was able to exit. It was so bad and ridiculous, I could only laugh at the absurdity of what had just happened. So this is another reason I would not want to travel via train from SH.

Xi'an, city of Western Peace

Xi'an (Chinese: 西安; pinyin: Xī'ān; Wade-Giles: Hsi-An; literally "Western Peace"; Postal map spelling: Sian^[1][2]; historically known as Cháng'ān^[1]), is the capital of the Shaanxi province in the People's Republic of China and a sub-provincial city. As one of the oldest cities in Chinese history, Xi'an is one of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China because it has been the capital (under various names) of some of the most important dynasties in Chinese history,^[3] including the Zhou, Qin, Han, the Sui, and Tang dynasties.^[3] Xi'an is the eastern terminus of the Silk Road and home of the Terracotta Army which was made during the Qin Dynasty.^[1] The city has more than 3,100 years of history, and was known as Chang'an (simplified Chinese: 长安; traditional Chinese: 長安; pinyin: Cháng'ān; literally "Perpetual Peace") before the Ming Dynasty.^[1]

^{Xi'an was a blast from the past, literally. It is an old city in China, full of history, yet modernized like all other industrializing cities in China and of course, home to the Terracotta warriors. Things I liked about Xi'an:}

^{1. People were quite helpful when I was lost and generally quite nice. In fact, when I was walking around the Bell Tower, people would ask others if they didn't know my destination or point in the right direction or simply tell me they did not know, nicely. The exception of course applies to taxi drivers, with the exception of our Terracotta Warriors and Qin Hot Springs cabbie, Mr. Li, who spent the whole day driving us around, waiting for us and not taking us to tourist traps or leaving us stranded anywhere, for 220rmb total. I tipped him for being so nice. A gesture of my pay it forward motto. And dkf will advertise for him on the expat forum to hopefully bring about business for him should any other people visit Xi'an and need a cabbie.}

<sup>2. The tap water did not stink of minerals and pollution. When walking down the streets, I did not constantly smell trash and sewage.
3. People seemed happier and more relaxed there. Kids were playing and running around in the streets. Couples generally seemed happier and smiled more. Girlfriends were arm in arm with big smiles on their faces. Older couples took strolls in the cold arm in arm. 
4. There wasn't that much unnecessary honking by cabbies, buses, or cars. People spoke more quietly.</sup> 

^{5. Things were cheaper. The cabs started at 6rmb compared with 12rmb in Shanghai. Cost of living is lower there, that was pretty obvious.}

<sup>6. There is so much history there. You can feel all the old dynasties converge there. From the Terracotta warriors, the Qin hot springs, the Qin mausoleum (which we didn't see), the Drum and Bell towers, Muslim street, The Great Mosque (another thing we didn't see), Big Goose Pagoda, City Wall, and old Bar Street, you can really feel the history there. The Qin, Tang, Han, Zhou and Sui dynasties all had empires there. Imagine life there during the 3 kingdoms. 
7. People try to speak English there and can do so quite well. This was probably mostly due to one of us being caucasian. In fact, one worker at the Shanxi Provincial Museum asked us to help her complete her English homework. Another old man came up and asked us what some English medical terms were that he had on a piece of paper, all in English. The hotel staff greeted and spoke to us in English. And the tour guide at the old Gao House spoke splendid English. I was rather surprised given how low the expat population is in Xi'an.
8. Light construction. I think I feel this way b/c right now in Shanghai, construction is the rule not the exception. There were splotches of construction here and there interspersed with old old homes, cool long lines of streets, untouched areas and urban planning that seemed like a throwback to old china days.</sup>

^{My first dislike applies to China in general. Nothing specific to Xi'an. What I didn't like:}

^{1. Food and smoke. I am not a big fan of lamb and because of the presence of a large Muslim population there, lots of lambs have been sacrificed for food. There were many Muslim restaurants and vendors there, selling both lamb and beef but I smelled lamb everywhere. I couldn't stop smelling lamb. Aside from the Qing Zhen (Muslim) eateries, we ate at other Chinese places and people smoked SOOO much and the stench of the food oils and grease was overwhelming. And the food wasn't all that great. There were also fewer food options there, it seemed, mostly because it isn't drowning in expats. dkf's coat was out of commission for a few days and as a result, he bought a good low quality China made Nike knockoff.}

<sup>2. Cold and aridness. We originally really wanted to go to Xi'an to see some snow in addition to the Warriors. We didn't get any but instead got some frigid below 0 weather. Brrrr...I had to wear my long johns under my clothes for most of the time. Because of the dryness of the area, our skins were literally peeling off, I grew hives and rashes, and was itchy and quite uncomfortable most of the time. I think the cheap hotel shampoo, soap and HYPERallergenic lotion didn't help. I still have some residual hives.
3. There is sorta a podunkness to Xi'an. To me, it's the type of place I would visit, soak in the history, see all the surrounding sights and mountains and scenery, then get the hell out of there. Ideally, I would like to live in a metropolis but visit historical places, not the other way around. I grew up in the burbs. It would seem I have that set-up right now, however, Shanghai has been far from my ideal metropolis.  For now, it will do. 
4. Industrialization. Although IMO still sorta podunk, Xi'an definitely is starting to become quite industrialized. In about 10-15 years, I speculate it will be quite similar to Shanghai, without the large expat population. You can find large malls, franchises and fast food eateries in Xi'an, which is sorta sad to me. Along with the beginning stages of overcrowdedness, people are starting to become pushy, impatient and inhumane. Soon it will lose its somewhat small town feel and become like the rest of modernizing China.</sup> 

 

what happens when i'm late for work...

i went to do a school visit a while back. it was early in the morning, it was dark out, and it was cold. the school was far far away and i was already late, as usual, running on lusa-time. while i was in the classroom, i noticed a little girl look at me then my feet. and she kept doing that. i decided to look down to see what she was looking at, and saw this..

on the way home on the subway, i noticed a man do the same thing as the little girl.

sometimes i just have 2 left feet. i have never done this before. i should set a new fashion trend..