Gentlemen, start your engines!

Everyone knows that I am really averse to competition, living by the motto that "it's not if you win or lose..."

Just kidding, it's still me.
The time of the year is upon us for the annual Boy Scouts of American Pine Wood Derby - wooohoooo!  This year we will offer 3 cars, two now officially racing under proper BSA guidelines (Riley and Reid).  And one that Rowan is entering in the "open" category.  Reid and Riley's cars are both under construction still, so I'll share those photos later.  Suffice to say they both went with Reid's "snakebite" design from a few years ago.  I'll refresh everyone's memory on my conversation with the 7 year old Reid on design selection back then because I think it sums up the type of parent I am:

Me:  Reid, do you like this design?
Reid:  It's OK, but can we look at cooler ones?
Me:  Sure, but first answer this:  would you rather the car look good or win?
Reid:  Can't we do both?
Me:  That's not how life works.
Reid:  I'd rather win.
Me (Declaring loudly): That's my boy!

Preferring to live in the present, I won't digress more than that.  Just know that he chose the same car design this year, as did Riley.  What I really love about BSA is how much time we spend together on these projects.  So far we've put about 5 hours into the cars this year and still have another 1/2 day!

Rowan and I are already done with his car though, see below.  It features a ducted fan and a battery pack and is not street legal at all.  The car has a switch on the front and when the pin drops to start the heat, the fan comes on!!!  Hopefully we can enter it without any issues, or at least see it do a few runs.  Maybe we should make a 4th car just in case this one is too "hot"...

Note the helmet, which we typically use for the scooter.  He thought it would be wise to put it on...

Year One Review

Well we’ve now been here over a year!  We thought it would be a good idea to put down our observations about how we’ve changed (mostly for the better).  Overall, it’s been a great experience so far, even with all of the challenges that come with living in a foreign country.  Thankfully the “Ugly” things we’ve picked up are easily beaten out of us upon returning to the U.S.

The Good

·         Surprisingly, we have gotten to know a lot of Europeans through church and the neighborhood.  The experience of worshipping and hearing others worship God in another language has truly been an amazing experience.  Also, the funny little similarities and differences in how we view life have been enjoyable to learn about.

·         Riley says he now “speaks a bunch of Chinese”.  He is also our “tone expert” as he has an ear for it.  He said the best thing in the last year was “Seeing how other people do things differently, like using chopsticks instead of a fork”.

·         Overall we’re now barely functional at ordering food, directing a taxi driver and shopping.  We can also take the bus without fear!

·         It is no longer unusual for us to be the minority.  Living in Williamsburg and Indiana the last 10 years, we were solidly in the majority when it came to race.  In Suzhou, Western expats are about 10,000 out of 10 million when it comes to country of origin.  We don’t mind being the minority, but the staring and picture taking we still find to be a bit annoying.

·         The boys are all “Silver Elite” on Delta; they proudly show off their luggage tags which we affixed to their backpacks.  We also no longer consider a 4 hour flight to be long.

·         We can make change in pence, pounds, kuia, maos, and jiaos.

·         The boys throw their trash in the rubbish bin after using the loo.  They tie their trainers while standing in a queue.  Rowan can recite the alphabet from “a to zed”.  Yes, their mum still tucks them into bed.

·         They are able to sleep through the mortar shelling of fireworks that comes with living in China and staying for the New Year.

·         Dave is down about 20 lbs since moving here (it was 30, but then they improved the meal at work and we found some places to eat good burgers and pasta).

The Bad

·         The sound of people hocking loogies no longer sends chills down Dave’s spine, but Rebecca is still affected.

·         Reid had been sucked into the vortex of the ipod touch.  Thankfully, it is now a huge lever for behaviour modification!  He does return to Legos when the ipod is off limits (we only allow weekend use).

·         Riley smacks his lips when he eats, but his chopstick skills are the best of the children's and fast approaching Rebecca's.

·         Rowan has no qualms about dropping his trousers and peeing where ever is convenient.  He also expects older strangers to give him candy and pat his head.  He does yell at them when they giggle at his cuteness, saying “It’s not funny!”  We’re working on that.

·         They are all aware of the “star rating” of a hotel is when staying there.  Reid and Riley were fine when we did some primitive camping with the scouts, so I think this is just to compare with friends.

·         Dave is getting picky about wanting to eat “authentic” cuisine, unlike the Americanized versions we get in the U.S.  He also mentioned to a coworker that he has a list of specific dishes he likes for each category (i.e. Lumpia spring rolls / Philippines, Yangze style fried rice / Jiangsu China, Pho noodle soup / Vietnam), to which his coworker replied “You’re just getting old, man”.  Also, Rebecca maintains that the American versions just taste better.

·         Both Dave and Rebecca will need to be put on some sort of detox program to ween them off of foot massage.

The Ugly

·         We are waaaay less polite in lines and generally getting about in China.  For example:

o   Dave now turns and says “excuse me” loudly in Chinese when someone tries to cut us in line.  Typically it works and they back off with a stunned look on their face, although it does embarrass Rebecca.

o   We walked through the lobby at the Ritz Carleton just so the bellhop would help us catch a taxi.  At least Dave is a Gold Member with Marriott (I know it doesn’t justify it and I’m not proud of myself).

o   On his last flight, after seeing the line for Thai Air standard boarding (Dave is not a “Gold” level with them), he walked up to the Gold counter anyway and, after convincing them he was clueless about life in general, they directed him to another counter (shorter line) which checked him in just to get rid of him.  Again, I hang my head in shame, but understand that anything goes when it comes to Chinese New Year lines!

Shanghai New Years Eve

We thought we'd take a few days off and head to Shanghai for the weekend.  A friend from my high school days was actually in town for a few days so we caught up with him and his wife over a meal at Din Tai Fung (famous for their dumplings) and some fish (Shanghai Aquarium).  It's always great to see old friends, and meeting him on our current side of the world was especially memorable!

We took the high speed train out and back.  We ended up over 290 km/h, which is about 180 mph.

The McLains plus our friend Tuan from Virginia Beach.

The entrance to the longest underwater Aquarium tunnel in the world (echo:  world, world, world).  The Shanghai Aquarium was quite nice and the tunnel was actually amazing!

ReRiRo posing in front of a great model of Shanghai, which was in the entrance to the Shanghai World Financial Tower.

At the top of the tower, another tourist suggested the boys lay down on the glass floor and look out over the city.  Rebecca said something about that being as close as they will get to skydiving and then quickly covered her mouth for fear that she would give Riley ideas.

The next day we took the subway (note how empty it was; I've never been able to get a seat) to the Science and Technology Museum.  It was closed, unfortunately, but we were able to pick up a wallet for Reid at the copy mall in the basement, oh the irony!

It's not a vacation unless Rowan falls asleep in the stroller.  Can't wait to show his girlfriends how he spent most of his vacations abroad.

Sadly, I only had the camera phone so the photo is terrible.  The entire skyline was lit up with fireworks.

Above are some typical fireworks that are put to good use here.  The square one holds 49 bombs of the variety in the previous picture.  So, you can imagine the scene at midnight new years eve when (conservatively) 95% of every neighborhoods' security guards lit them off.  In a city of 30 million people, that is quite the scene!!!!!

The boys slept right through it all, unlike last year.

Taxi driver took us to the wrong station, which ended up being OK as we were able to exchange the ticket with surprisingly little hassle.  Interesting to note that most people spoke English there.  Above is a shot of about 2/3 of the station.  I'll bet about 5 days ago it was standing room only!

Reid and I were exploring when I noticed this scene at the ticket window.  The only thing I could figure was that the lifeguard chair was there to help them keep order as there were no lanes marked for lines.

Upon returning home, Rebecca wasn't feeling well so the boys and I hit the town for an impromptu "Man Time" at a teppanyaki restaurant.  This one is a buffet where you just keep picking food off the menu and they cook it in front of you.  I apologize in advance to their wives for the years of therapy as they attempt to unravel why they overeat when seeking authentic relationships.

Riley demonstrating the proper rice eating technique.  Note to Americans: just pick the bowl up!!!

Rowan struggled pulling his weight in the meat eating department, but of course he and Riley did not fail to entertain the giggling 20-something girls sitting next to us.

Thai Boxing

Finally!  After spending weeks of travel time to Bangkok, I was finally able to get in some Thai boxing!  Below are a few pics of the event.  On the whole it was a great time!

The Thailand group.  A few notes on this picture: yes, in the upper left that is the finger of the beer vendor taking our picture.  Yes, I finally got my linen shirt.  Yes, I wish he had indicated that you could see up my shorts a bit.

No hot dogs or peanuts here, fruit is the accompaniment of choice with the beer.

A shot of the crowd.  You would constantly see people running around with their fingers in the air, looking back into the crowd.  I'm not sure what they were doing as betting is illegal...

Foreigners, like Doug here, were supposed to be sitting higher up.  We ignored the sign.

To start, there is a small ritual where it appears as though the fighters are paying their respects to the ring spirits.  I'm not sure, but that would be my guess.

On with the fight!  I went 3-0 in picking fighters so I decided to place a small wager.  My fighter was taken out on a stretcher, really.  Guess I don't have a future in gambling for a living!

Sala Rim Nam

The other night I was dreading another business banquet as I'm so full I sit down for meals already full.  It's hard to say "no" though as I don't want to insult everyone and the food is really good.  Anyway, we went to the Oriental Hotel in Bangkok, jumped in a water taxi and headed to Sala Rim Nam, a restaurant that advertises traditional Thai food and entertainment.  A lot of the lighting was wrong below, but hopefully you get the idea.

There were three or four traditional dance demonstrations.

A battle scene from mythology.

Thai boxing demonstration.

One of the warriors.

Chatuchak Market, Bangkok

My colleague and I were able to break free for about 3 hours Sunday morning, so we headed to one of the world's largest weekend markets.  I'm getting conflicting data on the size, some sites say it's 35 acres, some just 27.  Anyway, in the three hours we were there, we only saw a minute fraction of the 15,000 booths...

Hwan uncertain of which way to go.

If you can't find it here, then you haven't looked hard enough!

Winter smurf hat?  It was 85 degrees out so I'm not sure what use this would be.

This kid was absolutely jamming on the reed pipe.

Sadly, my search for a linen shirt was unsuccessful.  Probably because of all of the sweaty, overweight foreigners wearing them.  I was already sweaty, foreign and overweight which I thought was enough.

Artwork abounded.  Now, what made this piece unique was the votive candle in it's crotch.  I still don't understand and am mildly disturbed.

Picked up a sepak takraw ball for the boys:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sepak_takraw

This is the purchase that I am most proud of.  My first "Thai tie" (yes, that implies that there may be more in my future).  The Chinese word for wife is "Tai tai", pronounced the same way.  Oh the fun Rebecca and I will have with this (more eye rolling than fun for her).  Years, I tell you, years of word play are in our future.  I may have to hide it when I get home so it doesn't disappear.

Thailand

I'm in Thailand again this week for business.  I arrived Friday morning at 3am and began the day of meetings at 9am.  Good times.  This has been a non stop trip of meetings, huge meals, a little golf, and more meals.

Unfortunately, I don't think the large Buddha at the top of the hill in the background will show up.  Needless to say, it was a first for me to have my game so closely watched.

My first tuk tuk ride.  I've been working on Rebecca to let me have one of these made in China, unsuccessfully.

Ah, so that's how it works.

Tis the season

As Chinese New Year is only one week out, the retail outlets are heating up.  Gift sets are enormously popular as people pick them up on their way out of town.  Many people only see their family once a year so they stock up on them and haul them back via train or bus.  One person told me that it took them 30 hours to get home by bus...

Gold fish are very lucky.

Yes, the instant coffee gift box.

Now that's more like it!  It's the year of the dragon (my year by the way) this year, so  this bottle of liquor is a most appropriate gift.

This one too.

Men's dinners at SIF

The church we attend in Suzhou ahas started a men's fellowship dinner monthly.  We pick a theme country, cook the food from that country, learn about it from it's expats, and then all pray for it.  Last month we had 60 guys, from 16 countries.  How cool is that?!?!?  Theme country was The Philippines.

Just a sampling of the food.  I'll go on record as saying that Lumpia is the best "spring roll" in the world.  I have yet to meet it's match...

Shots from around town

The eggs were on sale at Auchan.  This was a working day, which is why the crowd is so elderly.

Good, so its not just me getting pushed out of the way by the little old ladies.

A hairy crab, very famous here.  That's hair on it's claws.

This was at a tradeshow.  Fortunately, I did not have my resume on me at the time.

Hot stone steak.  It comes out still raw on a sizzling stone and you cook it to your liking.

Pocardi sweat.  I'll pass on the sports drink called Sweat, thanks.

A $200,000 watch.  There were 3 Rolex stores within sight of each other in downtown Kowloon.

A 12 carat diamond.  That little thin thing is the band.  I couldn't see the price.

The grapeseed extract is what makes it special.