Mexico!

On my way to the states to meet up with the family, I had a short business stop to make on the way in.  On the last night in Suzhou, unthinkingly, I thought it would be a good idea to try a new Mexican restaturant that just opened close to the house.  As I rode the scooter back after a truly horrible taco (good margueritas though), I was again struck by what an idiot I was because the next morning I was off to Guadalajara and truly good Mexican food!

Anyway, the travel time was about 32 hours (more like 35 when you count rides to and from the airports), during which I achieved platinum status and was upgraded twice, but not on the long leg of the journey.  I just got an email saying that I've been upgraded on both flights into the U.S. tomorrow too.  Not too shabby.

Back to the food.  A colleague from the plant took us to dinner last night to an avante guard restaurant serving what is probably classed as "nuevo cuisine".  Awesome food.  For appetizers we had ceviche and quesedillas with rose petals and a sauce from raspberries (think the same flavor combinations as brie and a fruit compote, only better because it was Mexican).  Below is a picture of the main event, which was a poblano pepper stuffed with meat, fruit and nuts, topped off with a walnut cream sauce and pomogranite.  Note the colors of green, white and red correspond to the Mexican flag (as did the drinks we had, tequila with sides of lime juice and a tomato based drink similar to bloody mary mix).

The Pet/food market

The other day I went to the "pet" market with a few friends.  Below are some of the pictures of this overwhelming experience.  It was quite large with everything from alligators and chipmunks to cats and dogs being sold...

Pigeon - it's what's for dinner.  Cages on the left, pile of plucked feathers on the right.  Price for Laowei - 300 RMB, price for Suzhou local - 60 RMB.

Looking down the row of cages.  The conditions are very sad to say the least.

A massive turtle - probably 20 lbs.

Fighting crickets, the noise was almost deafening.

This one is for Riley - chipmunks!

It's a small world after all

On my recent trip to Thailand, I stopped by Burger King (terrible, I know) for breakfast.  Funny side note is that they have no breakfast menu.  Anyway, I order my burger in disappointment and an American voice behind me says "Sometimes you just need a taste of home, huh?"  I turned to acknowledge him, noting he was a pilot, and we started up the below conversation while waiting on our food:

Pilot:  So where in the U.S. are you from?
Me:  Virginia
Pilot:  Really, me too.  What part?
Me:  Virginia Beach.
Pilot:  No way!  I'm from the Beach too, where did you go to high school?
Me:  Cox , and you?
Pilot:  This is freaking me out, I'm the class of '90.

OK, so it wasn't perfect as I was the class of '94, but still you have to admit that having a conversation at the Shanghai airport Burger King with an alumni of your same high school is pretty cool.

My new friend

I was in Shanghai last week for a trade show, after which I decided I would take the high speed train back to Suzhou.  While waiting in the train station, a little boy kept alternately looking over my shoulder and staring at my face.  After smiling a few times and with his sister cajoling him, he started to open a conversation.  At first he asked things like "where are you from?" and "how old are you?".  By the time I had to leave, I had showed him pictures of the kids on the laptop and answered such interesting questions as "do you have a gun?".  Funny stuff.

He asked to take my picture with his sister's cell phone.  After looking at pictures of ReRiRo, he showed me the one she took of us.  Curious, I slide my finger across the phone and low and behold, there was a picture of him posing with his face next to mine while I obliviously read a book!  Anyway, below is his picture.

In the end the whole trip took over 2 1/2 hours (Shanghai metro to train station (wait for 1 hour), train to Suzhou (30 minutes), bus from train station to neighborhood (1 hour)).  Not really a time savings as the drive is about 1.5 hours, but I did save to company money by spending only 96 RMB (under $15) total!  Net, I probably saved the company about $20 in gas, tolls and driver overtime; but I had a memorable experience for sure!

America the Beautiful

Ah, it's good to be back stateside!  As me and the boys were walking through the Detroit Metro Airport Terminal (trying to complete the near-impossible task of deplaning two tired, but awake children and one sleeping one, going through customs, unloading our baggage, rechecking it, going through security, and walking to the other side of the airport in about 45 minutes before our flight to Virginia boarded), Reid said, "Mom, my heart just leapt with joy when I realized that we are in America."  Mine too, son, mine too!  

Since being here, we've discovered several more things that have made our hearts leap with joy.  While driving down the road the other day Riley said, "Ah, it's so nice to see Taco Bell again."  I guess some things you don't know you miss until you see them again!  We've made a pact to only eat things that we can't get in China (except for Starbucks), not eat any Asian food, and do all our favorite things here.   Here's a list of what we've been indulging in: blueberries and nectarines, real corn on the cob, beef hot dogs in real hot dog buns, Trader Joe's yogurt, frozen waffles, swirled cheese sticks, bagels, ice cream, bread that doesn't mold in three days (though I know the quick-mold bread is better for us!), all-natural deli turkey meat, big slices of colby-jack cheese for our sandwiches, real Dunkin Donuts doughnuts (not the not-really-sweet and mung bean/green tea topped ones they sell at DD in China), Chick-fil-a, Moe's, the movie theater, TARGET!, the beach, the pool, a baseball game, Barnes and Noble, the library, etc., etc.  

I asked the boys the other day what their favorite part of being in America was, and they said it was getting to be with their (extended) family - sweet boys.  I would have to agree, but would add (1) being able to drive myself anywhere and everywhere I want, (2) seeing the blue sky pretty much every day, not a smoggy one, and actually being able to see the moon and stars at night (Riley kind of freaked out one night when he saw the moon again), (3) not having to try so hard at everything - it's nice to know exactly where I am, where to go, how to get there, and how to communicate to everyone around me, and (4) not being stared at or watched.  

A little lower on the list would be things like (a) toilets that actually flush toilet paper and have seats, (b) the ability to drink water from the tap, (c) the DVR, and (d) not having to worry about our nasty China-street shoes.  It's funny the things that become important to you!  Bottom line is, it's nice to blend in again...it's good to be back in our American home.

A few items at the local market

Fresh from my Thailand visit I set out the other day to find the ingredients to make Thai Iced Tea.  You may be wondering why I didn't just get them in Thailand, and sufficed to say it was more difficult than I expected.  It's basically a black tea base (brewed extra strong) with different spices (anise, cardamon, etc.), sugar and condensed milk.  Served cold, it's one of my favorite ways to enjoy tea.  After my experiment was complete, I ended up with something that tasted like pretty good Iced Chai, so I missed it by one letter (ouch, sorry for that).  Anyway, it's going to take some experimenting, but I'm committed to my quest.

Below are some shots at the market while I was milling around pointlessly (gotten worse since Rebecca left).

A pig's heart that actually looks like a Valentine's heart; a steal at less than $1...

Black chicken.  Yes, the flesh is black / purple as well.  Quite odd in appearance but like everything else, it tastes like chicken.

Bizarre Foods - WalMart Beer Edition

Yes, I had to try it (more than once).  It was awesome, if you like sweet, light, pineapple flavored, WalMart branded beer.  Good for mowing the yard, which I don't have to do anymore.  Thankfully you break into a sweat just walking to the store from the car, so really there are plenty of opportunities to be satisfied by this fine refreshment.

Working Holiday

Following in the great McLain tradition, Rowan has been put to work by Gramma and Daddy Mac.  Ah, I remember the days of yardwork and pond digging growing up.  I have decided not to turn them in for child labor, although the below images may be disturbing for some viewers because he is so cute.

Interesting marketing

From my Thai cooking lesson, I determined that I need to buy some Kaffir lime leaves.  I found them as I was waiting on a plane, browsing the stalls in the airport.  Below is a picture of the back label; I'm not sure why you would select a recipe where the very ingredient you are trying to sell is optional...

Tom Yum Soup is very famous in Southeast Asia.

Airport Art - Take Two

Last time I was in Thailand, I wrote about the large demons outside of the gates.  Well this time, I walked in and faced a huge scene from mythology.  Here is the transcript of the plaque, also a few pictures and comments:

This scene depicts the Vishnu Kurmavatara and the churning of the Milk Ocean.  The naga (king of the serpents), Vasuki, is curled around the mountain Manadara.  Visnu, incarnated in the form of a great turtle, supports the mountain on his back.  Deva (demigods) and Asuras (demons) pull on the naga’s body to churn the water of the ocean for thousands of years in order to produce the nectar of immortality, Amrita.  From the churning, numerous opulent items are produced, including Dhanvantari carrying the pot of Amrita.  In the end, the cooperation between the Devas and Asuras is shattered.  The Devas fulfill their plan of acquiring all Amrita, disperse the Asuras out of Heavan to the Underworld.

The demons.

I don't know who this guy is - he's on top of the mountain.

The demigods.

Vishnu

This is more than just art, it is actively maintained by having the offerings changed as this lady is doing out to keep them fresh.

The bar has been raised

I'm in Thailand again this week and while I put my thoughts together on the trip for a later blog or two, I must first share that tonight the standard on Japanese food (Sashimi in particular) was raised to new heights for me tonight.  As with most great meals, it is often a combination of outstanding food and even better company.  One other thing to note that came clear to me tonight is that when you travel (and if you're adventurous enough), never order the food yourself, always let someone familiar with the cuisine or the restaurant pick the food for the evening.  Trust me in this.

Also, I got some great pointers on how to make the broth for noodle soup and where to go on vacation (Laos).  The dinner was way more than I expected from a week of business meetings and I'm sure I will look back fondly on the evening for some time to come!

Below are a few pictures.

The group posing with the sashimi boat.

A tomato, yes really it was the perfect tomato.

Fish jaw, char grilled to perfection.  A perfect follow up to the sashimi boat.

Salmon rice soup, which was a nice finish.

This was actually one of the starters - fried fish skin, kind of like the potato chips of the sea...

Scooter Burn

For your protection and sanity, there will be no pictures of the burn itself!  Before I go into more details on what scooter burn is, first I must explain how things came about:

This weekend, in my ongoing quest to figure out the local bus system, I decided to ride around town to all of the places we typically find ourselves, all the while writing down bus numbers at the closest stops.  Figuring that since all things can be solved through spreadsheets, I will then put all of the numbers on a matrix enabling me to get where I need to go.  I have to do this because everything is in Chinese and there are no route maps available until you step onto the bus.

Well, I picked the most beautiful, sunny, clear, hot, smog free weekend to ride around for about 4 hours on a combination of the bike and scooter.  When I got home and peeled off the sweaty clothes, I realized that I’ve never had a sun burn like this before.  My face, forearms and feet (flip-flop pattern of course) were all pink in a way that happened to me every year growing up in Virginia Beach, so no big deal there.  What was different about this burn was the lobster red five inch strip extending from halfway up my knee caps to my shorts line.  The great thing about it is that when I walk, my shorts (or pants) rub against it with every step reminding me of what an air head I was.  Also, when forget and cross my legs (like a man - triangle style, one ankle on the opposite knee) I of course hit directly on the burn.

Being the ever conscientious individual, I did take some pictures of how to prevent scooter burn below for those of you who are scooter novices like myself…

Nice to see she's protected, I guess she doesn't mind if her man looks like a farm hand as long as her complexion is preserved.

Keep in mind it was about 90 deg. F out, ahh the price that must be paid to avoid the deadly tan.

Thai Cooking Class

As I mentioned, one of the things I wanted to begin doing was learning how to cook some Asian food.  A hotel down the street from us offered a Thai cooking class last Saturday, so I signed right up for it!  It was actually kind of funny because I ended up being the only one there so it was just me, the chef, and about 5 or 6 interested staff members.  The chef was from Thailand, so I got a course in the real deal. 

Any way, we prepared three courses:  Papaya Salad (I think it wasn’t really papaya because it was crisp, so I’m going to look up the Chinese word myself), Thai fried rice (really good – had pineapple, chicken, raisins, and then other typical fried rice ingredients, but no soy sauce), and then a Green Curried Chicken.  Below are a few pictures.  Also, the last thing to note is that when I said that I had three kids, the manager invited us to use their pool “free of charge” so I’m starting to build guanxi (influence / connections).  Either that, or they were just super nice.

Yum!

Did anyone expect me to wear anything other than my Thai shirt!?!?!?

I saw them run off to add the "lasting contribution" comment just for me...

Safe, Sound and Sleepy

The kids are doing well over all with their jet lag.  Friday was comical...I told my sister I'd be back over at 5pm to help make dinner, but while Ro was asleep and boys were watching Phineas & Ferb I curled up in chair to take a little nap.  I finally woke up at 5pm to find Ro still sleeping, as well as Reid & Riley passed out on the couch.  

I had to wake Reid up, but he kept falling back asleep, then yelling at me "I'm awake, my eyes are just closed!" when I re-woke him up.  Tried to wake up Riley, to no avail.  Got Ro up and completely awake.  Tried to wake up Riley, to no avail.  Loaded Reid and Ro.  Tried to wake up Riley, to no avail.  Finally loaded him in the car still asleep.  

Drove jerkily the entire way (about 2 miles) to keep the boys awake and thrash Riley around in hopes of waking him up.  Then we we got there yelled "OK.  WE'RE HERE" and he woke up enough to get inside.  Reid and Ro stayed awake, but Riley followed me around whining and crying until he finally woke up enough to eat a bit of dinner.  Poor kid.  Rowan is definitely the best with the jet lag, but could be because he's been sick with strep again!