Why Can't I Say No?

I've been pretty busy the past several weeks. Besides taking my relatives around, I've been busy at Matthew's school. I've been participating at the morning coffee's with the principal, PTSA activities for fund raising and been working with the class mom for upcoming events. I've also joined a committee at our compound. Today, I had back to back meetings. Principal coffee, PTSA and class meeting for upcoming events. After a quick lunch with my friend Anne, I rushed home to attend the committe meeting on the compound. Reminds me of the days when I was working and getting paid for what I was doing. Fast forward, one year later, gainfully unemployed, extremely busy but not getting monetary compensation for my work. Oh well.

As of today, I've been roped into doing the following for the school: baking for the class Halloween party (last count- 36 cupcakes, 36 Halloween cookies), selling tickets for the upcoming International Fair, baking and selling the goods for the International Fair, organizing the Thanksgiving meal, baking for Christmas, doing something for Chinese New Year (though I can't remember what at this point). For the compound, I'll be starting a book club, organizing retreats and will help start a newsletter. I must have the following words tatooed on my forehead: "Sure, no problem. I can't say no. Just tell me what you need. If no one will volunteer, you can bet that I will".

I was class mom for many years. It started when Matthew was in nursery school and continued through 4th grade. It wasn't enough to be class mom at the elementary school, I did it at Chinese school and also helped out at the after school program. I really wanted a break this year. I was willing to help but, didn't want the responsibility of planning things or baking everything. Now, we're a month and a half into the school year and somehow....I can't say no. Old habits die hard.

Go.......Be Free My Little Friends

Today is Tony's birthday. He's been feeling pretty miserable about his birthday and on top of that it was a horrible weather day. It's been raining non-stop for the past few days ever since Typhoon Wipha. I dragged him into the city to have brunch at our favorite place ... Moon River Diner. Only this time, I thought it would be nice to go to the newest location ... near the Portman Ritz Carlton Hotel. I thought it would be a 5 minutes walk to the diner from there. So, we hopped the shuttle bus and went into the city. We arrived and walked ...... and walked ..... for about 20 minutes to get to the diner. Tony was literally soaked to the bone. We ordered breakfast and by the time we left, it stopped raining and the sun was coming out. Of course, Murphy's law. You know how it is.

We sauntered back to the Portman and there was an Expat Show at the Exhibition Center. We wandered in and picked up a bunch of brochures for different places. Information that will come in handy one of these days. We were getting ready to leave and Matthew decided to participate in the Decathalon exhibition for the kids. A bunch of games set up and the kids get to win prizes. He caught three cat fish, which he promptly named: Loco, Chimichanga and Burrito. Don't ask why the Mexican theme but hey, it works. He brought them home on the shuttle bus and promptly released them in the pond in the back of the house. He did this last year at the old apartment as well. He caught about 20 goldfish and released them all in the pond in front of the old apartment. Everyday, he would check on the fish at the pond and on occasion, would feed them as well. The fish were still alive when we moved in May and I suspect that they will be alive for a while. It was Matthew's contribution to the apartment building. So, Loco, Chimichanga and Burrito have been released in the pond and will live very happily in their new home and I'm sure Matthew will go searching for them from time to time.

Meet Me At Beefsteak Charlie's

Well, against my better judgement, I am turning 45 this Sunday. One of my best friends, who is also named Anthony, was born on the same day and year as me. I know, kind of freaky. So every year we would make plans to go to Beefsteak Charlie's a local food chain that would give you a free meal on your birthday. Yeah, that means we'd eat for FREE, the both of us. We really wanted to see their faces when we told them we were both celebrating our birthdays and we weren't paying a dime for it. Oddly enough, we never did it. Every year we would make plans but would not carry it out. Years passed and Beef Steak Charlie's eventually went out of business, probably from all the free birthday meals. Well now I am middle aged, living half way around the world away from my good friends and so I say to Ant, I'll meet you at Beefsteak Charlie's and "Happy Birthday".

No Snow Days Here...Just Typhoon Days

Shanghai is in the midst of typhoon season. Typhoon Wipha has been dumping tons of rain and causing havoc on the traffic. 1.8 million people have been evacuated from the coastal area and we've been experiencing winds reaching 165 miles per hour. Tony was at a meeting in town yesterday and it took him over 4 hours to get home last night. The journey started at 5:30PM and he walked in the door at about 9:30PM. Matthew returned from school completely soaked from the run from the bus stop and it took me almost 3 hours to get home from the center of town. The roads were flooded and it was like a large shower turned on and was left on. Tons of rain clogged the roads and it was pretty dicey that I could make it home. It was surreal to see people on their bicycles trying to navigate through the high waters on the roads. Visibility was pretty poor and cars were stuck on the side of the road because of the high water levels.

Matthew and I moved all the patio furniture to the corner, brought in the bike and razor scooter and took the umbrella off the table. The last thing I need is to see anything flying through the deck doors. Nope- not on my list of things to do. All I can say is thank goodness I have things in the freezer to make for dinner. I was supposed to go out today with my cousin to go shopping and pick up food for tonight's dinner. In fact, we have enough food in the pantry to last us a week if needed. Those who know us, know that you will never starve in this house.

Massive flight delays and the storm is not at it's worst. We're expecting the worst to take place this afternoon. The City of Shanghai has ordered all schools and businesses to be closed today. Matthew's pretty happy since he doesn't get snow days here anymore. It doesn't snow in Shanghai. He gets typhoon days instead. It's never a dull moment with us.

Zhouzhuang

Took a two hour car ride with Cheung Yau and Gloria to a water village outside of Shanghai called Zhouzhuang. It's a water village that is nine hundred years old. Zhouzhuang's claim to fame is due to a Shanghainese artist named Chen Yifei who painted scenes of Zhouzhuang. Zhouzhuang has many beautiful sights and has several very well preserved homes dating back to the Qing, Ming and Yuan dynasties. First stop, the Zhang Residence. This home was built in 1449 alongside the Ruojing River and has six courtyards and 70 rooms. The house has a pond next to its main hall where riverboats dropping off visitors could turn around. Something of a private slip and only can be achieved if one is wealthy enough to have one. We then stopped to see the Chen Residence which had seven courtyards and 100 rooms including separate men's and women's quarters as well as furnished bedrooms, a large kitchen and a shrine. It was amazing to see how well preserved all the homes were and to marvel at the antique furniture. I fell in love with a table and was trying to get my cousin to help me "borrow" it from the residence without getting stopped by the security group.

Of course, where there is tourists, there are vendors who are very eager to hawk their goods. As we wandered down the alleys, we were accosted by many vendors who wanted us to either buy their goods or eat at their restaurant. Every restaurant was pushing their menu of fish and shrimp. I'm sure the food is fine for the locals. I just won't eat any shrimp or fish if it's not from a reputable restaurant. That certainly didn't stop them from running after us. No visit is complete without buying at least one local specialty food. We picked up the soy braised pork leg. OK- not high on my list of things to try but, Cheung Yau was insisting that we give it a try. We picked one up and it'll be on the menu sometime this week before he leaves. Tony and I will try it to be polite. I can tell you that Matthew will not touch it and will find a way to excuse himself from the table.

Wujiang Road

My cousin Cheung Yau and his wife Gloria arrived yesterday from Hong Kong. They will be here for a week and that's plenty of time for us to catch up on things and putz around. We made plans to go to Xintiandi for dim sum today. In Shanghai, everything requires a reservation. In my haste, I forgot to call to make a reservation for lunch. As a result, there was a 45 minute wait. Add a very cranky and hungry child on top of that and you get a very good idea how horrible the waiting time was. We were finally seated and we quickly ordered our lunch. It was well worth the wait. The food was really good and received the seal of approval from two Hong Kong natives.



After lunch, Tony took Matthew home while I wandered around with Cheung Yau and Gloria. We took the train to the Shanghai Train Station to grab a cab to visit the Jade Buddha Temple. The Temple is located in the middle of Shanghai in the middle of a residential area and is home to a pair of jade Buddhas from Burma. In 1882, the monk Hui Gen from Putuoshan Island (which is near Shanghai) returned from his pilgrimage to Burma with five Sakyamuni Buddha images that were each carved from a single piece of jade. Transporting the Buddhas was very difficult and as a result, two were left behind in Shanghai and a temple was built to house them. Hui Gen was able to transport three of the Buddhas back to Putuoshan Island and eventually, all three Buddhas have disappeared. The two Buddha statues were absolutely beautiful. One is housed in the Jade Buddha Hall on the second floor and is a creamy white luminous statue and shows Buddha sitting in a lotus position at the moment of enlightenment. It is estimated that this Buddha is 6.3 feet tall and weighs about 2,200 pounds. The other Buddha is located on the ground floor and is in the Hall of the Reclining Buddha. This one is smaller and depicts the Buddha at the moment of death.




Afterwards, Cheung Yau and Gloria wanted to try the snack foods on Wujiang Road. Wujiang Road is a pedestrian street and is lined with little food shops. I'm sure it has lots of health code violations and you can be sure that items dropped on the ground are put back into the pan to be served. However, the locals flock to it and you can find lots of local specialties. Cheung Yau read about the fried dumplings from this one particular shop and wanted to try it. We found the shop and there was a long line. He stood in line to place his order. After much anticipation, it wasn't as good as he expected it to be but, he can at least say that he's had it and has been on the food street. We wandered through the street and looked at all the snacks available. Some of the stalls were bustling and some were pretty empty. Safe bet that the ones that were bustling were the good ones and the not so busy ones .... well, you'd be taking your chances if you tried their food.

We'll be heading to Zhouzhuang tomorrow for a tour. It's a nine hundred year old water village about a two hour drive outside of Shanghai. I've never been there so I'm pretty happy to tag along for the ride.

Breakfast

Tony returned from his business trip last night. Matthew was very happy to have his Dad home. We ate dinner and had our usual Friday movie night together. Matthew went off to bed and Tony and I stayed up to watch a movie for us. Nothing G rated...something PG-13. Yipee! It ended at 2 AM and I declared that I wanted breakfast.

Tony walked into the kitchen and whipped up two egg white omelets with caramelized onions, mushrooms, ham and cheese. I prepared the toast and we ate our omelets in the kitchen. Coffee was going to be a stretch but, fresh orange juice was good. Cleaned up the kitchen and we know that Matthew's going to be pretty unhappy when he gets up to find that we ate breakfast without him.

Then again, that's going to be in a few hours. Maybe we can have our coffee then and....perhaps some yogurt and fruit.

Mid-Autumn Moon Festival

The Chinese are gearing up to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival (also known as the Moon Festival). The Moon Festival falls on September 25th this year. Every year, on the fifteenth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, the moon is at it's maximum brightness for the entire year. The Chinese celebrate this holiday with family reunions and eating moon cakes. There is a legend surrounding the moon festival. This is the one that I know:

Many years ago, ten suns took turns to illuminate the earth. One day, all the suns appeared together and scorched the earth. The scorching earth was saved by Hou Yi, a very famous archer who was married to the very beautiful Chang E. Hou Yi succeeded in saving the earth by shooting down nine of the suns. The Goddess of Western Heaven, awarded Hou Yi with the elixir of life. However, his wife, Chang E drank the elixir and found herself floating to the moon. Hou Yi tried to stop his wife from floating to the moon by shooting her down with his bow and arrow but didn't succeed. Chang E was transformed into a three legged frog as punishment for tricking her husband.

It is believed that Chang E lives on the moon in a magnificent jade palace, where she presides as the Goddess of the moon. Her companions include a Jade Rabbit who sits under a cinnamon tree preparing a recipe for the pill of immortality. Chang E regretted her selfish action and would long for her husband. It is said that Hou Yi built himself a handsome palace on the sun and he became the God of the sun. Every month on the fifteenth day, Hou Yi is allowed to visit Chang E and she is transformed into a beautiful princess. On this one evening, every month, the moon shines brighter because of their love.

Moon cakes are traditionally given as presents to friends and family. The moon cake would be filled with lotus seed or red bean paste and would have a salted egg yolk in the center to depict the moon. When I was a child, my parents would receive boxes of the moon cakes from family and friends. I would cut the cake into quarters to share with my sisters and I would rip out the yolk. I should tell you that the more expensive boxes would contain double egg yolks. A complete waste if it was coming to my home since I only like the red bean paste.

Fast forward, years later and we're now living in China. It is now our turn to give out the moon cakes. The moon cakes are still available in the traditional flavor of lotus seed or red bean paste. It is amazing when you go to the market, how many different boxes are available. Besides the number of yolks in the box, it's also all about how ornate the boxes can get. The prestige of getting a very expensive box of moon cakes also gives the recipient bragging rights. The varieties available at the market range from the metal boxes with a picture of Chang E starting at about 48 RMB (about $6.40) a box for four up to 1,200 RMB (about $160 USD) for a box complete with dust collecting nick knacks.


The moon cake business is much like the fruit cake and panettone business. It's something that is given...but not necessarily eaten by the recipient. Over the years, many of the younger generation do not like the traditional filling. Besides being a diabetics nightmare and a heart stopper special, it's just not that appealing. Therefore, many moon cakes now come in new fangeled flavors. Haagen-Dazs offers moon cake ice cream (which I'm going to get a box for us to try) and Starbucks offers the moon cake in cheese cake latte flavor, mango and black raspberry with green tea.

Since we're going to present a box of moon cakes to Tony's driver, Mr. Miao, I opted to pick up a box of Starbucks moon cakes for him. It is something that the local Chinese wouldn't indulge in, and will certainly give Mr. Miao bragging rights that he's received a box of Western style moon cakes. Let's see if he'll actually taste it or just leave it out on the table to show off to his friends and family.

Laid Up

Well, I did it this time. I fell down the stairs and have managed to sprain my ankle. My ankle is pretty swollen and I can't put any weight on it. Dragging my leg around reminds me of the time when I was pregnant with Matthew and had very bad sciatica. I looked like Quasimodo going down Park Avenue dragging my left leg behind me trying to catch the Metro North train back to Connecticut....only now I'm doing it in Shanghai without a public audience. Oh yeah, I should mention that Tony's leaving for a business trip tomorrow and I'll be here in the house ALL BY MYSELF.....to hobble my way up and down the stairs. Not a pretty sight. I'm pretty miserable. Sitting around on the coach with my foot propped up on the pillows and taking Tylenol by the handful to reduce the swelling. I've been icing my foot as well to try to get this all under control. Definitely not pleasant for me...since I like to spend my days running around loose all over town. Those who know me know that I don't like to be inhibited....at all.

So, I've got Matthew and Tony waiting on me....hand and foot. I really don't like it since I like to do things for myself. At this time, there's no choice but to adapt and make my two boys my slaves. Matthew will have to be my slave tomorrow...all by him lonesome self until his father gets back. Who said that parents can't bully their kids into doing what they want?

My foot has to heal quickly since we're expecting my cousin Cheung Yau and his wife Gloria next Saturday. They'll be arriving from Hong Kong and will be spending a week with us in Shanghai. It's my duty to drag them all over town and take them sightseeing. If I can't walk around, this will definitely put a monkey wrench into my plans.

Like Father, Like Son

Felt like making home made Italian meat sauce today. So, I went to the market, picked up all the ingredients that I needed. I found the parmesan cheese, picked up chicken breast so I can make chicken cutlets and even found.....French bread. Not the semolina bread that Tony and Matthew love so much...but then again, you gotta make do with what you can find.

Matthew returned from school and left for a playdate with his friend Alasdair. I told him to be home by 6:30 PM for dinner. I spent two hours on the sauce, made the cutlets and was cooking the pasta. Tony walked in from work and Matthew returned from his playdate. Tony proceeded to cut the bread while I walked out of the kitchen for maybe......30 seconds.

I returned to find both father and son dipping the bread into the sauce and eating it. Forget about the pasta and the chicken cutlets. I could have just made another huge pot of sauce and picked up more bread. They made a meal out of the sauce and bread alone.

So, Matthew's bread dipping into the sauce technique is definitely his father's. When he eats Asian....it's from me.

The Alto Saxophone Player

Matthew came home today with his instrument from school. He's learning to play the Alto Sax and he's quite enthusiastic about it. He's been practicing the notes he's learned today....over and over again. He can't wait for his Dad to come home so he can show him how to assemble the saxophone and play the notes he's learned. I'm glad that he got the instrument that he wanted. It's mandatory for all children to learn a musical instrument in the fifth grade. The choices were the violin, cello, flute, clarinet, alto sax, tenor sax or the trumpet. Of course, you can't have a whole orchestra playing the saxophone...so it was a matter of lottery. Luckily, Matthew got his first choice.

He's excited and he will be gearing up to perform at the Winter Festival in early December. I'm sure he'll be practicing the same songs...... over and over again until that time comes. Lucky me.

First Day of School

Today was Matthew's first day of school. He left enthusiastically at 7:45 AM for the walk over to the bus stop. He literally slid the back door open and crossed the grass to meet the bus. Less than sixty seconds. I have never seen him so excited about going to school. Last year, it was the moaning and the groaning of getting up at 5 AM for the 6:20 AM pick up. It was difficult for him but he was a real trooper. Today, he got up on his own at 6:30 AM and got ready. He even packed his school bag and double checked that he got everything..including his cell phone.

It was really nice that he had a great day at school. He had a reunion with some of the kids from Pudong. He met all his new teachers. He's been assigned to an instrument for music- the alto sax and he's quite excited. Looks to me that he will be determined to learn the theme song to "The Simpsons" and be like Lisa Simpson playing the sax in his spare time.

The best was...... he was home at 3:20 PM and hit the kitchen counter for some homemade brownies. He was able to have a snack, take his scooter out and go for a ride over to the clubhouse and hang out at his favorite "bar stool" to watch some TV. He kept to his curfew and was home by 6PM for dinner.

Nothing like a great first day at school.

Now, I just have to get my act together and resume my language lessons........maybe later.

School's Back In Session....YEAH!!!!

Matthew and I went over to the Puxi campus today for orientation. He saw some of his classmates from the Pudong campus who have transferred to the Puxi campus as well. One person, in particular, a girl named Honey transferred from the Pudong campus as well. At last look, Matthew told me that Honey was his girlfriend. That was as of the end of the school year in June. Today, he didn't feel like talking to her. Hmmmm. He's looking for different fish to fry?

We met his new teacher, Mr. Timber Monteith and Matthew's very excited. Matthew even saw Daisy Liu- his Chinese language teacher from Pudong. She's teaching at the Puxi campus now and she'll be his teacher again. Something that I am really grateful for since he really likes her and she tells me that he's one of her best students.

So, tomorrow Matthew will board the bus at 7:50 AM for his short 5 minutes ride to school. Which means, I'll get to run loose all over town until he gets home from school at 3:20 PM. Big difference from his three hour a day commute to/from school last year.

This looks like it will be a great school year for Matthew.

Back In The Groove

I got over jet lag pretty quickly. Less than one day and I'm back in business. Matthew is having a hard time adjusting to the time difference. However, he doesn't have a choice. He starts school next Wednesday and he's got to get back into the swing of things.

I've been putzing around, running errands and grocery shopping. I'm going to start my enormous project of printing out the pictures from our trip back to the States and of course, start my schedule for continuing my Mandarin lessons. I may decide to back down and just have it once a week now. I've gotten lazy since my sabbatical in the States. Nice to know that I haven't lost all the lanaguage during my absence from Shanghai.

Matthew will be entering the fifth grade and it's hard to believe that a year has flown by. It didn't seem like that long ago that we left to move to China and yet, our return to the States for vacation seemed so seamless.

I have a ton of things to do, doesn't seem like I have any time to complete our projects and yet, I want to plan a trip to go somewhere like...Tibet or Singapore. The October holiday week is fast approaching and I know that I am behind the eight ball to plan anything at this time. The trips have all been booked and I am so far behind. We can't decide whether to go to Tokyo for Christmas and spend the time in Disney in the COLD or just hang out here in Shanghai and just pull the covers over our head.

We're expecting relatives from Hong Kong to visit next month and that will start the procession of visitors. Tony is supposed to visit in November. Gus may come as well or he may come in October for Formula One. Then again, there's the Chinese New Year holiday and Easter. Nevertheless, we're back in business in Shanghai and it's as if we never left.

Horray! Missing Luggage Has Been Located

Matthew and I went to bed pretty late last night. We were wired from our flight from Tokyo. He got up at 6 this morning and was busy making himself breakfast. Here's a kid who knows what he wants. I found several bowls in the sink. Today's menu consisted of some ramen and some cereal as well. He's definitely got the Asian part with the ramen and the American with the cereal. I know, weird combination, but he was hungry.

Tony decided to take the next two days off to spend some time with us and just work from home. After looking into the refrigerator and pantry, I decided it would be a good idea to take him to the grocery store with me since there wasn't any FOOD in the house. Since Tony has returned to Shanghai, he hasn't gone food shopping. Let's just say- the boy just became creative with any canned goods he found or...in most cases, he just didn't eat dinner. I wished I could exercise the will power not to eat dinner.

We got home and unpacked the groceries when I got the call from Japan Airlines. The luggage had been located and will be delivered tonight. YEAH!

All six pieces were delivered at 9PM. The driver was a very heavy smoker and the luggage reeked of cigarette smoke. I've just finished unpacking everything. That doesn't mean that things have been put away.

The luggage will now sit out for the next day just to air out before I put it away. Who knows, maybe it will stay out and I'll just take another side trip somewhere. As long as it's not through Chicago!

Here We Go Again

Matthew and I left on Sunday, August 5 at 5:30 AM for the airport. We breezed through check in and security and even boarded the plane. Then the announcement over the PA came...."Due to inclement weather conditions in Chicago, we will be delayed by one hour." WHAT??? We're going to miss our connection to Shanghai. This is not good.

OK, I decided to stay calm. Nothing you can do. I'm trapped on the runway and I was hoping the pilot can make up the time in the air. We landed in Chicago and of course, all the other flights were delayed with the exception of the Shanghai flight. I started to think...does this mean that Matthew and I have to stay in Chicago for a night without any clothes AGAIN? Not if I could help it. I wasn't going to have a repeat of what happened to us in June.

I called American Airlines and they were able to get us on a flight to Shanghai via Tokyo and we would arrive Monday night at 9:30 PM in Shanghai. OK- no choice. I either take that or have to stay the night in Chicago. Wait....what about my luggage? The American Airlines representative told me "I requested that your luggage get pulled and you can rest assured it will arrive into Shanghai when you arrive." Gee, thanks. That was easy.

Matthew and I ran for the plane and fourteen hours later, we arrived at Narita Airport in Tokyo. I had to straighten out the mess about our boarding passes and I even inquired about our luggage again. I was assured by the representative at Japan Airlines (the plane we were transferring to) that the luggage will arrive in Shanghai. We spent two hours killing time by wandering around the airport and we were very happy that our flight left on time for Shanghai.

Matthew and I were waiting by the carousel ready to pull all the luggage, when we realized that there weren't any new pieces going on the belt and many people had already left. That meant NO LUGGAGE FOR US. I had to break into my Mandarin and ask where I would file a report about the six pieces of missing luggage. Luckily, I was able to dig deep into my brain and make it work again since it's been two months since I've had to use it. Filed the report, had a reunion with Tony at the airport and we were well on our way home. Total time for the journey to Shanghai from door to door: 29 1/2 hours. Priceless.

Matthew's Last Supper

Our last day here in the States. Matthew and I headed into the city for brunch with my mother, great aunt and sister Sheila. Matthew grazed through dim sum so quickly, he practically inhaled the bamboo steamers. It was funny watching him stalk the women with the dim sum carts. He definitely knew what he wanted....all his favorites. Ranging from the steamed pork buns to the sticky rice wrapped in the lotus leaf. We did our final parade through the streets of New York and headed back to Bayside where I spent the afternoon resorting and finalizing our luggage. My mother-in-law prepared Matthew's favorites for his last supper here in the States. It consisted of spinach ravioli with fresh marinara sauce (come on....did you really think she would do something out of a jar????), homemade meatballs and of course, fresh cannoli's for dessert.

Matthew throughly enjoyed his last meal here. Watching him sprinkle the freshly grated parmesan cheese on his ravioli with marinara sauce and then mopping up the residual sauce with fresh semolina bread. Who said this kid isn't half Italian? He eats like his father. Literally. There isn't any denial on paternity on Tony's part when it comes to Matthew's eating habits. They both love pasta with a passion and fresh semolina bread. The fresh semolina bread is something that we can't get in Shanghai. So, we achieved our goal by eating our favorite foods these past two months. We'll just have to remember our dining experience here in the States.

The Last Supper

Matthew and I met with Tallini, Tony and Gus (aka "The Guys") one last time for dinner tonight. Stephanie, Gus' girlfriend came as well. We met at London Lennies. It seemed appropriate since it is one of my favorite restaurants and it's technically our last supper here with The Guys. Matthew was busy tormenting his Uncles as usual and it seemed like it was just yesterday that we arrived. We dined on the usual- steamers, fried calamari and I got the last taste of red snapper before we head back. Looking back, we've had a great time seeing all our friends and family. There are some people that we didn't get to see in person but were able to at least speak to on the phone or catch up through email.

We'll be packing up and leaving early Sunday morning for our journey back home. Tony is anxiously awaiting our return. The past month has been hard on him. Though we speak on a daily basis, it's just not the same when the house is empty.

So, we'll return armed with excess luggage and the noise level in Shanghai just won't be the same.

The Gang's All Here

Matthew and I left East Hampton this afternoon only to be stuck in traffic for almost two hours just to get off the island. We had dinner plans with my former colleagues from International Paper at Andrea's house for 7PM. Needless to say, once I was in the clear of getting pulled over for speeding, I did my best to make up the time. Factor in the normal rush hour traffic and the whole journey took almost four hours. It was insane but we were pretty happy when we arrived at Andrea's house. Matthew took off with Andrea's daughter Ally to bounce on the trampoline in the stifling heat while the adult were busy drinking margarita's in Andrea's fabulous new kitchen. It was really great to see all of them after a year. So much has happened to each of them. Mary is now with Pitney Bowes, Charlie is with CIT, Deborah is with ATMI, Melinda is with Factset and Andrea is General Counsel for GlobeOp. I am still the domestic goddess extraordinaire living in a foreign country overseas.

It seemed like it was just yesterday that we were leaving International Paper to move onto the new chapter of our lives but, it was two years ago that the transition plan was announced and our lives have changed along with it.

The week is drawing to a close and the reality of Matthew and I returning to our home in Shanghai is sinking in. I've been busy redistributing the items in our luggage over and over again but it doesn't seem to help. I can't figure out where all the stuff came from. Ok- I know how it happened but I can't seem to recall it being that much. I am now considering leaving things behind with my in-laws to store in their attic until we return. I've even considered shipping things but realize that it will be way too costly to ship the items overseas- even if I used the cheapest way to get there. Then there's the...we're not sure if it will arrive factor. We've had packages that were sent to us by family and friends not arrive. We don't know where it goes. I have a theory but, not one that I would dare print. You get the picture.

So, tomorrow will mark my final meal with my friends and family. We'll start fasting afterwards so that we'll lose all the weight we've gained these past two months. Unless, I can get Tony to agree to pay for plastic surgery which would allow me to stay here longer. Hmmmmm.

East Hampton

Matthew and I arrived last night to have dinner with Margaret and Nicholas in East Hampton. East Hampton is a very popular spot for many New Yorker's. I must warn you that if you decide to travel out to the Hamptons, you MUST adhere to the speed limits posted. If you drive a little above the speed limit, you will be pulled over and handed a ticket. That's what happened to me the last time I was out here. I had to live with the consequences with my car insurance company for almost four years.

We arrived and the kids immediately started playing with Nicholas' collection of Star Wars figurines and cars. We had to pry them out of the house in order to get dinner at a local Spanish restaurant. Ok- I have to admit, I am a bit prejudice when it comes to clams or shrimp in a green sauce. The best that I have experienced was at The Spain in New York City where Margaret and I dined on the best clams in green sauce. We agreed that the food last night in Southhampton, was mediocore, at best. We are a tough crowd to please. We do know our food and we have very high expectations.



We survived the dinner and found our way home in the DARK. The kids played until 11:30 (way past their bedtime) and Margaret and I stayed up to chat and recall the memories of our childhoood in Brooklyn and our trip to China many moons ago. That trip to China bonded our friendship. We knew going into the trip that it would either make or break our friendship. We survived our trip and would often recall the funny moments of that trip with roaring laughter.

We'll be heading to the beach this morning before Matthew and I depart for our dinner this evening with Andrea, Melinda, Deborah, Mary and Charlie- my former colleagues from International Paper.

Sadly, the week is drawing to a close and we'll be heading home on Sunday morning.....armed with an excessive amount of luggage and carry on. Tony will be in for a surprise when we arrive. Someone will have to be strapped to the roof of the car....and I know it's not going to be me or Matthew.

Justin and Johnny

Matthew and I went to see Justin, Johnny and my cousin Dinah one last time before we leave on Sunday. We had lunch together and the kids were busy hanging out in front of the XBox 360. Johnny and Justin had two friends over as well, Gianni and Nicholas. It was nice to have the kids play together while Dinah and I had a chance to catch up one last time before we leave.

Hopefully, Dinah will try to make the trip out to Shanghai before we return back from this assignment. Justin wants to visit and Matthew would be thrilled to be able to take his cousins around Shanghai and guide the tour.

We'll be heading out to East Hampton this evening to have dinner with Margaret and Nicholas. We have another dinner scheduled tomorrow evening with my former colleagues from International Paper. It's the never ending eating orgy.

Farewell Meals Part II

We had a final farewell lunch with Boris and Irina today. Matthew and I made a trip up to Duracell to see them. We had an Italian feast and of course, who can ever get enough of pasta right? It was really nice to be able to grab them for lunch before we leave on Sunday for our return trip home. There is a possibility that Boris may be sent over to China for a project. Ok, at least that's what I am hoping so that he'll get to visit us in Shanghai and we can return the hospitality.

As if we didn't eat enough, I had plans to meet with Lori for dinner as well. Matthew begged to be excused from dinner. Excused. That didn't stop me from meeting with Lori. Lori is someone who has known me for many, many years. She lives in Brooklyn in the same building where my Mom lives. I used to cat sit for Lori when she would go away. Though we keep in touch by phone, it's not the same until you see each other face to face. We headed over to London Lennies. Those who know me, know that I am absolutely crazy about the garlic bread. Lori has never been there before and this was her first exposure to the garlic bread. Let's just say that the bread was gone. I had steamers and a wonderful Loup de Mer and Lori had chilean sea bass. We rolled out of the restaurant 3.5 hours later. That shows you how much catching up we had to do.

This week marks the marathon farewell meals that Matthew and I will be attending. After we leave, Matthew and I will have to stop eating completely in order to lose the weight we've gained from all the eating we've done these past two months. Then again, you can't get this stuff in Shanghai. I'm sure that we'll be able to lose the weight quickly once we return.

Ladies Night Out

We had a reunion with Zio, Arlene and Anthony today. We saw Zio and Anthony over the Father's Day weekend in Woodstock. Arlene was in California helping her son Brad, who was sick. I am happy to report that he is in remission and it's good news. Zio, Arlene and Anthony came over first thing today and we had an Italian feast. Just when I didn't think it was possible to eat any more.... I skated out to meet Evelyn, Peggy, Liza and Suzy (the mom's from the Chinese school from Long Island).

We had plans to meet once more before I left town. So, we decided it was appropriate to have Korean barbeque. It's one thing to eat Korean by yourself and navigate through the menu. It's another to eat with a native. Suzy is Korean and she ordered everything and we even had this great Korean ginseng rice wine. Let's just say....we all ate.....lip smacking barbeque and there was very little left. It was nice to have a native do the speaking for us.

Afterwards, we headed to Starbucks and hung out and chatted. Lots of laughter, lots of noise coming from the table in the corner. It's sad to say, I'm really going to miss my friends. It was nice to have a ladies night out without children. Don't get me wrong, I love Matthew...I just need sometime to myself sometimes.

Doh!

We had a reunion dinner with my friend Carl and his two children, Rebecca and Emily before our return trip to New York. It was great to see him again and meet his kids. Sandi and Nicholas came along for dinner and we topped the evening off with ice cream from Emack and Bolio's. Something that we don't have in Shanghai....another thing that will probably make an appearance in Shanghai sometime in the near future.

Matthew and I left first thing Saturday morning for our return flight to New York. I returned to start the packing process (where did all this stuff come from????) and we had dinner plans to meet Uncle Al for dinner. Al is a friend of ours from many many moons ago. It was really nice to see Al since we didn't have a chance to see him before Tony left to return to Shanghai. After dinner, Al took Matthew to see the Simpsons movie. It's definitely a guy thing. They were both quite animated discussing Homer and Bart Simpson. I was happy to drop them off at the movie theatre. I spent the time browsing at the Barnes and Noble bookstore and then went over to pick them up. It was nice that Al took Matthew to the movie. I, for one, would have not appreciated the humor and it would have been painful for me to sit through it. After spending several days at Disney doped up on dramamine, it was nice to have someone else take Matthew out for entertainment. Thanks Al!

Our final week in the States is quickly drawing to a close. We still a lot of things to do and many people to see before we leave. Hopefully, it will all get done before the week ends. Zio and Arlene will be coming down from Woodstock tomorrow morning to see us before we leave. I have a ton of errands to do before I leave and I'm starting to think I can't get it done.

We Survived Disney with Two Kids

We left for Disney on Tuesday morning. Sandi and I drove up with Nicholas and Matthew in the car. That's a story in itself. Two kids, one aged 5 and one aged 10, you kind of get an idea what the road trip entailed. Nicholas wants to follow Matthew all over the place and mimic what he does. Matthew loves his little cousin but, being an only child, he can't take him on a constant basis. I told him that's what little siblings do...they follow you around like a little shadow. That will give you an idea of what Sandi and I had to deal with the whole trip.

Tuesday

Arrival at Disney. We drop off our luggage at the hotel. The room wasn't ready so we decided to head over to Animal Kingdom. Matthew was very excited about going to see the new exhibit Expedition Everest. I didn't have the dramamine on me that I needed in order to survive the ride so we went to the First Aid office to get some. Thank goodness for that. We waited an hour and I was able to get on the ride and not leave any embarassing trails. Matthew was very proud of me and we had a great time on the ride. We took the kids to dinner and called it a night.

Wednesday

We went to the Magic Kingdom first and hopped the Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger ride.... twice. We took in the Monster Laugh Floor show and even went on Space Mountain. I can't begin to tell you how much the Space Mountain ride didn't agree with me but, for the sake of Matthew, I had to suck it up and go on it. Sandi commented that "I would never go on those rides or take dramamine for anyone." Let's just hope that Matthew appreciates what I've done for him.

We went to Epcot after lunch. Matthew and Nicholas were busy at the Living Seas exhibition and had a great time together. It was very cute to watch Matthew holding Nicholas' hand, picking him up and watching after him. We spent a couple of hours exploring the park and had an early dinner. Sandi took off to take Nicholas back to the hotel and Matthew and I stood in line for two hours (yes, I am serious) to get on the new Soaring ride. I wasn't wild about it but, I can at least say that I survived the newest rides at Disney. We returned to the hotel and were greeted by Nicholas' happy smiling face. He offered to give me a massage and of course, Matthew felt he should be massaging me instead. In the end, I had two children fighting for my attention. It was nice to have two kids fighting over me...I wonder if they'll still feel the same for me five years from now.

Thursday

Sandi and Nicholas headed over to Sea World while Matthew and I went over to MGM Studios. Matthew has never been on the Tower of Terror and Rockin' Roller Coaster. This year, he finally met the height requirement and he was THRILLED. Normally, I would send Tony on those rides with Matthew. However, Tony being in Shanghai wasn't going to help me. I took the dramamine and hopped on the rides with Matthew....back to back. Yes- I survived it and even was able to speak to Tony on the cell phone in China. I went so far as to go on the Star Tours ride with Matthew which....was another stomach turning ride. I must say I am a big fan of dramamine. I need to buy stock in that company and keep it going.

We piled the kids in the car and headed back to Boca Raton. The kids fell asleep in the back seat (no fighting...just snoring) and we enjoyed a very peaceful ride. We made a pit stop at Delray Beach where we met Jeff for dinner at Lemongrass to celebrate my birthday. It was the perfect ending to a week in Florida.

We'll be leaving to head back to New York first thing Saturday morning....more people to see and lots of things to finish up before we pack up our excessive amount of luggage to head back to Shanghai where Tony is anxiously waiting our return.