Yard Sale

We're leaving and so, my friends Anne and Andrea have been shopping in my apartment. Literally. Due to the fact that the appliances here are 220 voltage and alcohol can't be sent into the US without being subject to a massive duty tax, it all had to go. The food processor, the coffee machine, the humidifiers, blow dryers, rice cooker, toaster oven, vacuum cleaners, wine, lamps, Bombay Gin Sapphire, tonic, Gone. What was left, my beautiful Simple Human Butterfly trash can. Last time I checked, the trash can wasn't voltage specific. Anne felt otherwise. Apparently, this trash can is destined to stay in China.

There is something very wrong about selling a used garbage can but, from the way that people envied it, it was as if it was gold plated. So, to make our friend happy, we decided to give in and sell it. All I have to say is, I better find the same one when we return to the US, or I'm coming back to China to get this one!

15 Seconds of Fame

Last Saturday night, Anne, Amy, Irene, Andrea and I went out for drinks and then to a club. Amy (Anne's daughter) was the brains behind the whole itinerary. She's a young woman and knows where all the hip spots are in Shanghai. We thought it would be nice for all the women to go out on the town. We started at the Glamour Bar on the Bund where we had a great view of the Pudong side of town. After hanging out there for about an hour, we proceeded to Attica. It's a dance club and loaded with foreigners. We went, had a few drinks, Amy danced and then we left. Before we left, Irene spotted a newspaper photographer and asked that he take our picture. He did and we appeared in the Shanghai Daily newspaper today. We got our 15 seconds of fame. Thank goodness we weren't doing anything embarassing!

Graduation Ceremony

Matthew graduated from elementary school this morning with the entire fifth grade. Tony and I attended the ceremony and watched as all the students were giddy with excitement of "stepping up" to middle school. Along with this, came the emotion I experienced as I watched my son go through another rite of passage. He's growing up and there is no denying it. The usual pre-teen attitude is obvious along with the parental tug of war that I experience. He's growing up and all too quickly for me. (video - if you can't view it- please go to www.flickr.com/dontot)

As we watched the slide show of pictures that captured the past school year, I remembered every event as if it just happened moments ago. Matthew has definitely matured and is ready to embark on his journey to middle school. It's sad that he won't be in Shanghai to experience this with his friends but that is the chance you take when you live overseas for an assignment. He will miss his friends that he's made in Shanghai and will keep in touch through email. We will miss Mr. Monteith, the teacher who helped to shape his academics this year. All the parents agreed that Mr. Monteith is definitely the best teacher at SAS. Let's just say , the next group of fifth graders who get him will have hit the jackpot.

Kumon

Matthew's been working with Kumon for the past two years. Remedial help in math complete with daily homework sheets. Matthew actually moans and groans as he knows the daily routine. Needless to say, he's pretty happy that his days at the Kumon center in Shanghai have come to a screeching halt. Of course, you know that doesn't mean he's off the hook forever. He'll get a reprieve for the next few weeks. He won't have to go to the center but he's got to do the worksheets over the summer. Ms. Huang has been a positive influence on him. She runs the Kumon center and it's sad that we had to say good-bye today. He's come a long way since the first time we walked in. She'll be missed by me at least. I'm sure deep down inside, Matthew will miss her too.

Last Assembly

The school year is almost over. Matthew has been busy participating in all the activities and today, he performed with the fifth grade band at the last school assembly of the year. It was great to see the entire elementary school together at this final gathering. Tony had just returned from the US this morning (at 5:00AM) and he was able to attend. Usually, he doesn't get the opportunity to go to a lot of the school events because of business obligations. It was nice to be able to see this together with him.

After listening to countless hours of practice of the saxophone this past year, it was actually quite nice to hear Matthew and his band mates perform. They performed "Rock Around the Clock", "La Bamba" and "Great Balls of Fire". Matthew and his friend Alston (who also transferred from SAS Pudong) were great together. It was nice to see the two of them perform in sync.

At the end of the performance, the kids were busy packing things up and getting ready to hand in their instruments. We were fortunate to find Ms. Andrews- Matthew's music teacher. She will be leaving SAS Puxi to move to Africa to teach music at an international school there. This only drives home the fact that Shanghai is a very transient town. Who knows, we may wind up seeing Ms. Andrew's in another part of the world one of these days if we get another assignment overseas!

Pretzel Time

Matthew has been taking private kung fu lessons with Bruce now for about 6 months. It's been great. Twice weekly, he gets the one on one attention that he won't get in a group session. He had his usual Wednesday afternoon kung fu class with Bruce today. I hung out at the gym to watch and was amazed how flexible and pliable Matthew has become over these past few months. He is literally able to do a full front split and is able to lift his leg straight up in a 90 degree angle. Hey, that's better than me. I can't do a split never mind a full front split.

They started with the usual warm up session and stretching and then went straight into their routine. It was really nice to watch the two of them together. They practiced together with their swords and they were in sync. It was like watching a dance. I was really impressed. Matthew has learned one of the hardest moves. It looks really simple but it really isn't. I'm glad that Matthew has had a chance to learn from someone like Bruce who is so passionate about this art. (see video at the end of this post or go to www.flickr.com/dontot)

Matthew will have a few more lessons with Bruce before we leave Shanghai for our return journey home. Once we return, we'll have to find an instructor for Matthew. I would hate to have him lose momentum especially since he's gotten quite good at it. I'm hoping that Matthew will teach Tony his sword moves and together they can practice in the backyard together. Who knows, we may be looking at the next Bruce Lee!

Gyeongbokgung Palace

Last day in Korea , we checked out of the hotel and headed for the Seoul City Bus Tour. Its a bus that follows a designated course and you get to hop on and off as you go along. It was great since we were on a really tight schedule and needed to get a lot done before we had to head to the airport for our return trip home.

First stop, we visited Deoksugung Palace. It was the original home of King Seongjong's older brother, Prince Wolsan. After all the palaces in Seoul had burned down during the Japanese Invasion in 1592, Deoksugung was used as a temporary palace. Deoksugung means the palace of Virtue and Longevity.

Next stop, the War Memorial of Korea. Andrea's father was stationed in Korea and we decided to go see the war memorabilia, planes and tanks. It was a great learning lesson for Matthew and Zahra since they will be studying this part of history one of these days. They were busy running and looking at all the planes and in some, were able to actually step into it.

Next, the National Folk Museum of Korea. The National Folk Museum of Korea showcases the lifestyle of the Korean people from the prehistoric age to the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910). Since we visited a traditional Korean folk village the day before, we decided to just wander the grounds. While wandering around the grounds, we were fortunate enough to see a performance of traditional Korean martial arts.

After, we wandered over to visit the grounds of Gyeongbokgung Palace. Gyeongbokgung Palace was built in 1394 as the main palace of the Joseon Dynasty by its founder King Taejo. It is the most comprehensive and grandest of the five palaces of that period.

We were fortunate enough to watch the reenactment of Emperor Gohong's 1892 Jinchanyeon. King Gonjong ascended the throne at the age of 12 and was not able to lead in administering the affairs of state. It was only after the forced retirement of Heungseon Daewongun and the death of Queen Sinjeong, could he finally take complete control over the state. The ceremony in 1892 was the official Royal Court event to announce that he had at last come to have full authority in thirty years after his enthronement.

We got a lot done in a short amount of time and promised we would take the kids shopping since they've been so good during this trip. We headed back to the hotel in Insadong. Insadong has lots of art galleries, traditional craft stores and antique dealers. On the weekends, the streets are closed off to vehicles and it becomes one huge pedestrian mall with flea market stands filled with lots of items for sale. We were busy wandering around looking at all the items for sale when a procession with men and women dressed in traditional costumes, playing traditional instruments danced through the streets. It was great. We were very fortunate that we were able to see so many cultural events this weekend. Our timing couldn't have been better.

We've had a great weekend in Korea. There were so many places that we wanted to go to but couldn't because of the time constraints. We'll definitely come back again and plan a longer stay so we can visit all the places we've missed. I'm trying to see if we can get a job in Korea one of these days. Now, I just have to figure out when I can squeeze in a trip to Taiwan before we head back.

DMZ

Got up bright and early for our 8AM tour to the Demilitarized Zone ("DMZ"). The DMZ is the border between North and South Korea. There are two armies that face each other along the border and it's been that way for the past 55 years ever since the end of the Korean war in 1953. After driving for about an hour, we reached our destination area and went through a rigorous check-in process. We had to present our passports and all information was registered onto a form. This was to ensure that all visitors were accounted for. We hopped onto a tour bus and drove through another check point where the South Korean soldiers would get on the bus and check all the passports. We then reached the 3rd Tunnel area and had to check all cameras and bags and don hard hats in order to ride down 350 meters down to the 3rd Tunnel. The 3rd Tunnel was discovered by the South Koreans in 1978. It was a tunnel dug by the North Koreans in an effort to attack South Korea. The tunnel is 1700 meters in length, 2 meters in width and 2 meters in height. It is said that a record of thirty thousand fully armed North Korean Soldiers can pass through within an hour. Needless to say, the tunnel has since been sealed shut and is a tourist site. Matthew was quite taken back by the depth and length of the tunnel. It was a good learning experience for him and he can relate to this when he studies this part of history when we return to the United States.

We had a lot to do so we headed by car for 2 hours to the annual Icheon Ceramic Festival. Icheon is known as Ceramics Village and it produces traditional Korean ceramics. The village became the center of traditional pottery during the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) for about 500 years due to the easily obtainable materials in the area. There are over 80 pottery factories there and about 300 pottery kilns are in use. Matthew and Zahra were great shopping companions as Irene, Andrea and I were busy wandering into the shops looking for something to buy. We then headed over to the Ceramics Festival and were overwhelmed by the vendors available and all the beautiful pieces available to buy.

We then had to rush off to our final destination. The Korean Folk Village. It's a living museum that recreates the lifestyle of several centuries ago. We actually got to see potters, weavers, blacksmiths and other artisans practice their trade in a traditional fashion. It was a big site that had over 270 traditional thatched homes. Each home was accurately depicted on size and shape based on the persons position in the village. A noble man's house would be quite large and stately while a small farmer would have a much smaller house and not as many rooms.

Of course, we were tired after a long day of touring. We had to have Korean BBQ. Dinner consisted of seafood pancakes, dolsot bibimbap (stone pot rice), bulgolgi, short ribs, sirloin steak, moksal sogeumgui (pork) and of course, lots and lots of garlic and kimchi. We all agreed it was the best Korean BBQ we've had. Matthew piled up on the meat, rice and kimchi. Andrea and I agreed that we could easily live in Korea and live off the BBQ. We're now looking to see who will get transferred here so we can come back to visit again.

Insadong

We stampeded out of Shanghai bright and early this morning for our flight to Seoul. We arrived in Korea and breezed through immigration and caught our ride into the city. We'll be staying in Insadong for the next few days. We decided to explore the neighborhood and found a wonderful tourist pedestrian street around the corner from the hotel. The kids watched a demonstration of a traditional Korean candy made out of honey and rice flour and filled with nuts. It looks like a cotton ball when it's done and it's quite tasty. Andrea decided to embark on some roasted potatoes and it was quite good. The food here is quite safe to eat unlike the questionable conditions you find in Shanghai.



Dinner time and we hopped the train and went over to Korea House for some Korean food. Korea House was once the private residence of Park Paeng-nyeon, one of the six most royal subjects during the Joeson Dynasty. It has since been converted to a tourist center that preserves and promotes the traditional Korean culture. After dinner, we took in a performance of traditional Korean folk dance. It was interesting to see the different costumes and learn about the traditional dances and listen to the traditional music.




We decided to visit Seoul Tower since we were "kind of" in the neighborhood. Seoul Tower is located along the slope of Mount Namsan. Let's just say the kids were able to jog up and down several times while we, the adults, had to huff and puff our way up. We did make it and it was really nice to see the city at night. I found out later on, that you could avoid the 45 degree descent and take a cable car up the mountain. Oh well. We walked down the mountain and decided to hop a local bus to the nearest landmark to take a cab back to the hotel. To our surprise, we found the train station instead, so we hopped the train back to the hotel. We got to experience both the train and bus systems in Korea. Easy to navigate and I'd definitely do it again.

We'll be stampeding out bright and early tomorrow morning. We're going to visit the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), Korean Folk Village and a Ceramic Village as well. It'll be interesting to see North Korea from the DMZ.

We're Going to Seoul!

Matthew and I will be heading to Seoul, Korea for a long weekend. Sadly, Tony won't be able to join us since he's busy slaving away at the office in the U.S. This is probably our last opportunity to do any last minute trips in Asia before we start the packing process and head home. Though Tony can't be there with us, Andrea and Irene will be going. Anne couldn't make it this time since she's going to India to attend a wedding. Hey, I even offered to go to the wedding, but was politely declined. Well, at least I tried. I'll get to India one of these days. Matthew will have some company on this trip since Irene is bringing her daughter Zahra along.

We'll be heading out first thing Friday morning and will be returning late Sunday night. We'll have to hit the ground running when we arrive since we have a lot of territory to cover. On the list of places to see include the Downtown area, the Demilitarized Zone (across from North Korea), Korean Folk Village, Ceramic Village, Deoksugung Palace and Gyeongbokgung Palace.

In anticipation of this trip, I've been busy teaching myself Korean. OK- let me clarify. I've been busy learning the key words for food and beverages. Those who know me, know that food words are very near and dear to me. I knew the basic words like kimchi, bulgolgi and bibimbap. Now, I've increased my vocabulary to include a wide range of drinks and food items. That's progress! Hey, we may not be able to get around very far, but at least we won't go hungry!

So, until then.....tto mannayo. Which means, see you later!

Public Toilets or Depend

You knew it was just a matter of time before I got on my soapbox to preach about the unhygienic toilets .... or lack of toilets here in China. I traveled through China with my friend Margaret many years ago and I never thought I have seen anything so abominable. Fast forward, I move to China for this assignment and thought that the toilet situation would have improved after such a long period of time. WRONG. The only toilets I will go to are located at the Ritz Carlton, Western style restaurants and other trusted establishments. Anything else .... you're really taking a chance.

China has started to build new public toilets... you know the ones that you have to pay to get in. Located apparently every 300 meters (uh no, I fail to see them in the city), one would think it would be kept in pristine conditions. WRONG. Then again, what did I expect to find when you find the locals literally standing off the road and just sprinkling the ground in full view. Sometimes, if you're "lucky" you'll get full frontal. Seriously. Man, woman, child, it doesn't matter . . . they'll just relieve the call anywhere. My friend Andrea told me the other day, she was absolutely desperate and decided to utilize the "pay" toilets. She paid, walked in and turned around and walked out because the conditions were absolutely FILTHY. The smell within was overwhelming enough to have your bladder shut down and say "NO NO NO". Top that with squat style and you get the picture. She returned home and promptly threw the shoes she had on right into the trash. Do you get the picture?

So, I've seen it all. The majority of the toilets here are squat style toilets. Traveling through Xiamen and through the Hakka villages, only proved that ... Western style seated toilets are ... rare. Forget about the cool Japanese toilets with the fancy bidet built in that I found in Tokyo. NOT AVAILABLE.

People just urinate into a hole in the ground and don't clean. You can't imagine the smell and the overwhelming urge to throw up. On our way to the Hakka area, our tour guide stopped at a gas station and announced it was a "clean" toilet. If you don't already know, I have a major phobia about public toilets so, I don't do public toilets. Tony decided to go. He came out and announced that the smell of urine was stronger than ammonia. Don't these people know that they need to clean the area with CLEAN WATER and some disinfectant? Obviously not. They use the dirty water that's wiped everything in a ten mile area and then use the same water again. They don't boil the towels after they use it or bleach it at all. They just hang it to dry and wipe it around all over the place. I've even seen some mothers clean their kids mouths with the dirty towel. GROSS.

I've decided that if I decide to visit any rural area where the toilets will be an issue, I'm just going to start wearing the Depends undergarments. It's like reverting back to my infancy. Yeah, that's it. That ought to eliminate the issue of having to hold my bladder in for 12 straight hours like I did in Xiamen. I won't have to worry about whether my bladder will cooperate. I acknowledge that I'm not getting any younger and will openly admit that I will use a Depend if absolutely necessary when I'm traveling.

So, my advice to you. If you plan to travel through any area where there are questionable toilets, consider using a Depend. I know that I sound like an infomercial. The Kimberly-Clark company should be thanking me for this endorsement.

We're Returning ..... Yes It's True!!

It's official. Tony's assignment in China will end effective June 30th. He'll be returning to Duracell and we will be returning to our home in Connecticut at the end of the school year. Just in time for the summer season. That's a rather pleasant thought. The summers in Shanghai are absolutely brutal, not to mention the mosquitos here are large enough to lift a chicken off the ground. OK- I'm exaggerating a bit about the mosquitos but, not about the heat.

Matthew will graduate from elementary school and we'll have to find a middle school to enroll him in. That's just things that I can think of. We'll have to wait for our tenants to vacate our home in the middle of July before we can move back in and we'll have to coordinate the shipping of our goods from Shanghai and take our things out of storage. Not to mention, I'll have to get a new phone number for the house, turn on the gas and electric in our name and oh yeah, buy two cars. That's something that we didn't have to worry about for the past two years. Rising gas prices and car payments to the bank. It's a bit daunting when oil prices are over $125 USD a barrel. Tony's been busy researching the cars currently out and the anticipated new releases as well. It's been a full time research project for him.

Are we excited about returning? Yes we are! Don't get me wrong. It's been a barrel of laughs here in China. We've had some good times and some not so good times. However, we'll look back at this experience and will remember all the friends we've made, the places we've seen and most of all, all the friends and family who managed to come to visit while we were in Shanghai.

So, the noise level in the States will go up substantially once we return. Barbeque at our house once we're settled. Look forward to seeing you there!

S&M on the streets of Shanghai

The other day, I headed into the city with Anne and Irene to run our errands. While out, we witnessed two locals engaged in a fist fight. Screaming, shouting and of course, a crowd gathering to watch. We actually witnessed one local man pull out a crow bar and beat another local with it. WOW. That was intense. The man's eyes were completely bulging out of his head (I am not kidding) and he was swinging. I couldn't get my camera out in time to capture the picture because we went by in the car. Witnessing a fight is not usual in Shanghai. However, we very rarely see physical contact. It's usually in the form of screaming, shouting and some shoving.

Watching that, it reminded me of the time when Anne told me about when Sam (who I had the pleasure of meeting at Thanksgiving last year) beat a local woman with a bicycle chain. Here's what happened. Sam worked near her apartment and decided to take the bicycle to work one day to get some exercise. She arrives in front of her office building and proceeds to park her bike. A local woman who works for the building, starts to speak to Sam in Chinese. Sam doesn't understand any Chinese, so she proceeds into the building.

Fast forward, at the end of the day, Sam returns to retrieve her bike. It's not in the spot where she left it. She looks around and finds it perched next to this wooden shack. She starts to remove the lock and the local woman starts to speak to Sam in Chinese again. She is completely oblivious and gets on her bike and tries to pedal away. The woman proceeds to grab her and won't let her go. Sam in response, starts to hit the woman with her bicycle chain.

OK. This is where I need to tell you that Sam is a really lovely woman. I've seen her several times and would have never thought that she had a violent streak. Then again, one never knows right? After much confusion, complete with crowd gathering to watch, a colleague of Sam explains that she had to pay the woman 1 RMB (about 25 cents) to park her bike. Sam, highly embarrassed, sheepishly hands over the money and rides away. I'm not sure if she ever rode the bike to work again. Sam has since left Shanghai (is it because of this incident?) and is living in Hong Kong. I hope that she doesn't do this to anyone in Hong Kong. Then again, many do speak English, so I trust that it won't happen again.

Xiamen

We took off Wednesday afternoon for the airport as soon as Matthew stepped off the school bus. Ina and her family joined us and we took a 1.5 hours flight to Xiamen to spend the May holiday there. We were greeted by Mr. Kung who was going to be our guide through Xiamen and our trip to the Hakka Tulou homes. We were excited that Xiamen averages about 75-85 degrees this time of year.

Thursday
We took off early on Thursday morning for our ferry ride over to Gulang Yu, which means Drum Rock. Legend has it that it got this name because the ancient settlers on the island were attracted to the eerie drum beats, only to discover the drumming was caused by the tides surging through a hollow rock found on the island's southwest corner.

Gulang Yu was one of the first treaty ports to be opened to foreign residence and trade after the First Opium War. The other ports that were opened at that time were located in Guangdong, Fuzhou, Ningbo and Shanghai. No vehicles are allowed on Gulang Yu because of its narrow alleys. We wandered around the island and were impressed by the architecture of the buildings. Many exhibited European influences and were in very good shape. We went over to the Bird Sanctuary and then rode the cable car from one side of the island to head over to Sunlight Rock. There you get a magnificent view from the top of the whole island. We took in a puppet show and stopped in to see the only Piano Museum in China.

Friday
Mr. Kung picked us up from our hotel for our four hour drive to a Hakka village located in Nanjing county. This would be where we would see our first Tulou home. The ancestors of the Nanjing Tulou homes built the walls by mixing raw earth with lime and fine sand. Wood logs and bamboo strips were added in order to reinforce the walls. The walls were over ten meters high and very thick. This design protected the Hakka people from invasion and the structure was strong enough to withstand explosives from gunpowder. The tulou consisted of an outer four story ring with each floor divided into 44 rooms and two halls, an inner, two story ring divided into eight sections and two tobacco workshops outside, bringing the total number of rooms to 222. Windows to the outside world begin two stories up.

Balconies running along the interiors provides access and light. The inner ring joins at a hall for worshipping ancestors and celebrations of marriage. The homes we saw were four storied structures and are still in use today. Its incredible to believe that these houses are over seven hundred years old and held together with nothing more than compacted earth and some bamboo reinforcements.

We continued touring other tulous found along the way until we reached our destination. A local hotel in Yongding county that is deemed to be the best hotel for foreigners. In other words, it was a pig sty. Actually, it was next to a pig sty. There is nothing like the smell of pigs on a hot day. No one was happy. In addition to the lovely smell the beds were made out of concrete, steel or nails. Whatever it was, it hurt like hell. This was not where we wanted to stay or eat. We had a fiasco at lunch at a local restaurant and Mr. Kung was perceptive enough to notice that NO ONE ATE ANYTHING. He asked that I choose the dinner items and I had to get real creative.

Saturday
We woke to an international breakfast of one cold fried egg swimming in soy sauce, white bread (apparently toasting was an option) and Nescafe, yum, yum. To sum it up it ain't the Marriott, Hilton or the Motel Six for that matter. We packed up and left as quickly as possible since we all had a horrible nights sleep. We were headed to see more tulous and the kids were ready to jump off a cliff. Literally.


We had lunch at a local tulou village restaurant. Once again, I was in charge of ordering lunch to ensure the kids would eat something. Things were going well ..... until the kids witnessed the restaurant owner killing a chicken, duck and anything else that happened to walk into the restaurant with her bare hands. I am not sure, but I think some counseling will be needed.

We headed back to Xiamen after lunch and five hours later, we were relieved to be back in civilization. Many years ago, my friend Margaret and I came to China. I refused to use any of the bathrooms because they were absolutely filthy. This earned me the nickname "The Camel." Well, the Camel was back for a repeat performance. Margaret would be proud of me since I held my bladder for 10 hours straight. Like I said, nothing an antibiotic can't cure. We arrived at our hotel and I practically knocked Tony and Matthew down to get to the bathroom.

Sunday
We got up and had our last meal in Xiamen. After breakfast, we headed over to the pier before we had to head to the airport. Let's just say the kids were happy to be leaving Xiamen to return to Shanghai. As we were landing into the airport in Shanghai, Matthew actually said "Shanghai, Home Sweet Home."

We're going to Xiamen

The May Day holiday is coming up and it's similar to Labor Day in the US. The kids are off from school for two days and it makes for a long weekend. So, we're packing up and taking off when Matthew gets off the school bus and heading to Xiamen. Ina and her family will be joining us as well and that will be fun. Xiamen is about 1.5 hours away from Shanghai and it's got very balmy weather.

Xiamen is better known by it's former name of Amoy and it became a foreign concession in 1903 with most of the foreigners living on the tiny islet of Gulang Yu just off Xiamen. By the 1930's there were about 500 resident foreigners and nine consulates. Over the past four centuries, it was host to the Portuguese, British, French and Japanese.

We're going to wander around Xiamen and then go visit a Hakka Earthen Fortress (tulou) located in Yongding about 128 miles outside of Xiamen. The Hakka are Han who emigrated south from near Kaifeng in five waves beginning more than 1,000 years ago. Many kept moving around southern China because of civil war, famine and discrimination by earlier Han arrivals. Unlike other Han, the Hakka women did not bind their feet and worked alongside men in the fields and tended to marry only other Hakka. They maintained what they claim is something close to early Chinese that is unintelligible to speakers of Mandarin, Cantonese and Min Nan Hua.

The Hakka are an officially recognized minority and they are known for their hospitality to outsiders. The direct translation of the word Hakka means "guest family". My great-great-grandfather is of Hakka descent and settled in Hong Kong. This will be interesting for me to explore the village and discover information about my background.

Senso-Ji

Last day in Tokyo. Packed up and headed out with my friends for our final tour. Checked out of the hotel and hopped the train to Tokyo Midtown to run an errand, pick up breakfast and visit Lisa. She's a friend of Andrea's who is also from the US and she recently had a baby. After cooing over the baby, we hopped a cab and headed over to Senso-Ji.



Senso-Ji is a grand old temple that attracts millions of tourists and is a working temple as well. It services the people of Asakusa. Legend has it that the golden image of Kannon, the Goddess of Compassion was fished out of the nearby Sumida-gawa by two fisherman in AD 628. In time, a temple was built to house the image and it has remained in the same spot ever since. The Senso-Ji is also known as the Asakusa Kannon-do.



We arrived and did our precursory browsing around the temple. There is a shopping street that sells traditional Japanese Edo-style craft and lots of snacks. You can even find a shop that sells wigs to be worn with kimonos. While we were shopping, Andrea spotted a geisha wandering through one of the side lanes and practically knocked down the visitors at the temple in order to get a glimpse of her. Well done. She captured the photos and we can say we've seen everything now that we've been to Tokyo. We had to run back to the hotel to catch our ride to the airport.



We had a fabulous time in Tokyo and are grateful for Andrea's tour. We will always look back at our pictures and remember all the laughs we've had together. I am going to see if I can arm wrestle Tony into finding a job that will take us to Tokyo. That will be another adventure for us. In the meantime, we're planning a trip to Seoul, Korea with the kids this time. Bulgolgi anyone?

Harajuku

Wandered around town on Saturday after the fish market. We headed back to Shibuya to meet Heather, an expat friend of Andrea's who is from the US as well. Heather's children were performing taiko drumming at the annual gathering for the Miyabi Arashi Taiko School. Of course, no visit can be complete without a meal somewhere. We headed for lunch at My Lebanon- a great Lebanese restaurant. Since we overdid it at lunch, we needed to walk off our meal, so we did a bit of shopping and wandered around Andrea's old neighborhood in Motoazabu before calling it a night. The weather in Tokyo has been rainy and windy so we weren't able to get a lot done.



Today, we headed out for Omote-sando, Harajuku and the Meji shrine. We hopped the train from the hotel and got off at Omote-sando to begin our adventures. Omote-sando, the boulevard that runs from Harajuku to Aoyama is lined with upscale shops found in all the major cities. We did some shopping and met Heather for lunch at Fujimamas. After lunch, we headed to Harajuku. This is a place where parents do not want their children to be at. Every Sunday is Cos-play-zoku (Costume Play Gang). This is a group that consists of many kids from the small towns who ride out to Tokyo to participate at Harajuku to strut their stuff.



The Cos-play-zoku will pose for you when asked and they are quite proud of their outfits and makeup. We saw everything from Goth, punk, fantasy, S&M, Victorian, anime and more often than not, nursery rhyme characters. It was basically the Rocky Horror Picture Show comes to life or the freak show circus. The streets were packed and we arrived at the height of the crowd. We were lucky that the weather was nice and it was filled with many people. We found a spot and just hung out to see the different costumes walking past us.



After hanging around and people watching, we headed over to Meji shrine. Compared to the mayhem that was going on around the corner, the Meji shrine was a much needed respite. It was so peaceful and calm that its hard to believe just right outside the park is the freak circus. We were lucky to see three brides at the shrine. They were each dressed in the traditional Japanese wedding kimono and were really beautiful. We left the shrine to continue our adventures and saw the remants of the Cos-play-zoku group at Harajuku. It was an interesting day and I must say, when we go back to Tokyo as a family, I'll make sure that Matthew does not get to see Harajuku.

Tsukiji Market

We arrived into Tokyo yesterday afternoon and were greeted by rainy weather. Not exactly what we wanted but nevertheless, we made do. We headed over to Gonpachi for dinner. We had a fabulous meal and then headed over to Shibuya and Roppongi Hills. Along the way, Andrea took us to a pornographic restaurant that featured various parts of the human anatomy on display. I will leave the details to your imagination. If you didn't know anything about the human body, this is definitely the place to go. No details have been omitted. If you are a medical student, this would be a good place to study. Let's just say the parts of the body are extremely exaggerated and it was "hard" to take it in. We wandered around town and returned to the hotel about 12:30AM.



Andrea and I went to bed at 2:30 this morning and got up at 4:45 AM to head over to Tsujiki Market to watch the fish mongers work. It was quite active when we arrived at 5:30 AM and nearly got run over by the vehicles transporting the fish throughout the market. I must say, the market was clean without any fish odors. I can't say that would be true in Shanghai. We topped the morning off with a Japanese style breakfast. Sushi! Very fresh tuna. Words cannot express how fresh the tuna was. We even had salmon, shrimp, octopus and tamago (egg on rice with nori). Gotta add the egg to make it officially breakfast.

We returned to our hotel room and found Anne and Irene still asleep. They are amateurs. Heading out to explore the other parts of town and will undoubtedly, have more eating adventures.

I'm heading to Tokyo

Well, I'm taking off on Friday with my girlfriends Anne, Andrea, and Irene for a long weekend in Tokyo. Mom's only. No kids. The kids will be left with their fathers and we'll be running loose through Tokyo with Andrea as our guide. Andrea lived in Tokyo for about a year and a half before she got shipped out to Shanghai. I've always wanted to go but have never found the time to do it. Matthew's a bit disappointed that I'm doing this trip without him but I promised that we'll go again later as a family. Tony and Matthew will be on their own for a few days...which means Guy Night for several days. Four glorious days without me hounding them to clean up. I'm sure there will be endless videos, games and takeout. As long as the house is clean when I return, all will be fine.

Longhua Pagoda and Temple

Took a ride over to Longhua Pagoda and Temple today with Anne and Andrea. Longhua Pagoda and Temple is located in Shanghai and was first built in 242 A.D. during the Three Kingdoms Period and is the oldest temple in Shanghai and the largest as well. It contains numerous Halls and is filled with statues and treasures. There is also a Bell Tower and Drum Tower. On the top of the Pagoda is a small calabash shaped structure with an iron plate over it, popularly known as the "treasure bottle" because it contains the ashes of Buddha. The Longua Pagoda is the only pagoda in Shanghai.

According to the history I was able to find, the scenery near the Huang Pu River was very charming. When King Sun Quan sailed to Huang Pu, his mother found the area lovely and decided to stay. After staying several months, she was relaxed and in good health, King Sun Quan erected a temple in her honor to express his thanks to heaven.

By the end of the Tang Dynasty (618-907) the temple was almost destroyed in a war. According to legend, King Qian Chu of the Song Dynasty anchored his boat for the night and noticed the temple was on fire. He immediately ordered his men to save the temple. By 977, the temple was rebuilt. In 1064, the temple was renamed Kongxiang Temple. The name Longhua was restored during Emperor Wanli's reign (1573-1620) in the Ming Dynasty. In the early years of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) the temple underwent extensive renovations to its present shape.


Chinese Pagodas were first found in India. Buddhism was spread into China in the 1st Century A.D. and it was recorded in the Buddhist scriptures that when Buddha Sakyayumni died, his disciples cremated his body and took a portion of his remains, for which they built pagodas. Longhua Temple is a wood and brick structure with a brick body. In 1892, the wooden balustrades on the lower stories of the pagoda were damaged in a fire. They were later replaced with cement structures, losing their original appeal. In 1953, the government rebuilt the Pagoda and restored its original look. We arrived and wandered through the surrounding Longhua Temple and witnessed many followers observing the Qingming ritual (Tomb Sweeping). Tomb Sweeping is an annual event (much like Easter celebrated by Christians) where you honor your deceased and follow the ritual as dictated by the Buddhist religion. We saw people burning paper money, paper cars, paper homes and offering food to the memory of their deceased. This is all done in hopes of bringing good fortune and luck into the family. There are various temples on the grounds and we were able to see each of them. We noticed many Peach Blossoms in bloom and were able to just enjoy the serenity in the temple.

Fifth Grade Soccer Day Part II

We had absolutely fabulous weather today. Sunny skies, 70 degree temperature and it was Soccer Day! The entire fifth grade got together and competed against the local British school, Korean school and Singapore school. Two additional international schools traveled to Shanghai from Suzhou and Nanjing to compete in the tournament. Suzhou is about 2 hours away and the students arrived this morning. Nanjing is about 3.5 hours away by car so the students from Nanjing arrived into Shanghai Wednesday night and stayed overnight.

Matthew's class competed against all the schools and there were some injuries and some crying. He did the kickoff at each game and was busy with his classmates chasing the ball. It was a great experience for the kids to be able to play with other schools. The weather was perfect and the kids needed a day to be out of the classrooms and just goof off. Spring has definitely arrived in Shanghai and we're happy about it!

Jewish Ghetto Walk

I went with my friends Anne and Andrea for a walk through the Jewish ghetto of Shanghai. This area was home to many Jewish refugees during 1937-1941. It was a historical walk and it taught me a bit of history that I didn't know about Shanghai. The Jewish ghetto is located in the Hongkou district and was home to many foreigners. Mainly missionaries and others who couldn't afford to live in a better area. Shanghai experienced several waves of Jewish immigration. The first happened in the late 1840's with the arrival of the Sephardic Jews. They were businessmen who made their fortune in opium and property. They built large estates and as many as seven synagogues and were responsible for some of Shanghai's finest architecture. The Sassons, who emigrated from Baghdad in the mid-19th century were the first Jewish family to make a fortune in Shanghai and is known for the Peace Hotel and a villa estate now know as the Cypress Hotel.

The second wave of Jewish emigrants comprised of Russian Jews fleeing the Bolsheviks at the beginning of the 20th century. They were then followed in the 1930's by the third wave of European Jews who were fleeing Hitler and who landed in Shanghai because it was the only city in the world that would accept "stateless refugees." Just before World War II, the number of Jews in Shanghai topped 30,000.

In February of 1943, the Japanese army who had occupied Shanghai since 1938, forced the "stateless Jews" into a "Designated Area" in the Hongkou district (north of the Bund). Tens of thousands of Jews lived in facilities abandoned by the missionaries and other foreigners. They lived in this area until the end of the war.


We walked around the area and saw some of the interesting architecture styles and visited the Shanghai Jewish Refugee Memorial Hall. One of the things that I was able to do was listen to the locals go about their day. We were the attraction for the locals since a large group of foreigners were wandering through their neighborhood. My friends and I met a man who told me a bit of history about where he lived and upon chatting, I found out he was 88 years old. We even met an 80 year old man who was able to speak English very well because he was a teacher at a university in Shanghai.

My friends and I were quite taken back by the architecture found in this area and most of all, I was happy that I was able to utilize my Mandarin and Shanghainese to speak to the locals.

4KZ Reunion

Matthew had a reunion with his former classmates from the Pudong campus. The kids from Pudong came over to the Puxi campus to participate in the Band Bonanza. This is an annual event between the two campuses. It was great since Matthew had a chance to see his former classmates. I went to the school for the afternoon concert and was happy to see the kids again. They've all grown and were happy to be together again for the day.

Farewell Hong Kong

Final day in Hong Kong. Matthew and Tony ran to the park first thing this morning. We had dinner with my cousin Stella and her daughter Dior and her beau John last night and decided to do it again today over lunch before we had to take off for the airport. I also invited our friends Mylene and Amy to join us. They were traveling through Egypt and just returned to Hong Kong. It was nice that they were able to have lunch with us. My cousin's daughter Susan also joined us for lunch. We had a leisurely lunch and Matthew was twitching to go back to the park. He HAD to get the most of the park and squeezed as much time as possible before we had to take off. I asked Matthew and Tony to return to the hotel no later than 4:45PM in order to allow ample time to get to the airport.

We were the last ones in the restaurant. That's pretty depressing. The staff were "discreetly" clearing the dishes and milling around us. I think it was their way of saying..."OK- you're done. Now LEAVE." We took the hint and wandered back to the Disneyland Hotel so we can hang out and chat while waiting for Tony and Matthew to return. Dior and Susan explored the hotel grounds and of course, Matthew and Tony saunter into the hotel at almost 5PM when we had to leave for the airport.

It's a sad day for us because it brought the reality of leaving a civilized place such as Hong Kong that much closer. We had a week of proper lining up. Seriously- there was no pushing, no shoving, no jumping the lines. We didn't have to listen to anyone drawing deep into their bowels to hock a loogie and most of all, CLEAN bathrooms. It is sheer joy to be able to go into a restroom and not worry about how clean it is. Tony loved the fact that people can speak and understand English in Hong Kong. Matthew even practiced some of his Cantonese. Sometimes, he would get confused and answer in Mandarin. That's OK. I loved the fact that he tried.

So, after a week of living in civilization, we now face the reality of returning to the bowels of Shanghai. We'll be back into the swing of things like pushing, shoving, screaming, public lewdness and most of all, facing very dirty bathrooms. How depressing.

Unusual Names

One of the things that we've noticed since we've been living in China is the unusual Western names adopted by the Chinese. So, since we've been in Disney these past few days, we've been reading the name tags of the staff at the hotel and the park. Here's a list of the usual ones that we've come across. Venus, Petty, Step, Sonic, Moe, Icy, Food, Chunk, Candy, Kermit and Rainbow. Not names that I would adopt but I'm sure there is an underlying reason that these names were chosen.

I've always wanted to start a T-shirt business with sayings. Most Chinese don't know what the terminology used on the t-shirts means. I saw a woman the other day with a shirt that read "Rock my body." Clearly, she didn't know what it meant because if she did, she wouldn't be wearing it.

I want to go around and ask the Chinese if they know what the meaning behind their Westernized name means. I don't think anyone would voluntarily call themselves Sonic. The first thing I wanted to say was "Is your last name Hedgehog?" In addition, naming yourself Petty or Step is really not attractive. Chunk is another one that I wouldn't want to have on a name tag. I can actually think of all the jokes that could come with it.

So, we'll be on the lookout for more unusual names. I'm sure there will be another entry.