Century Park

We've been off this past week for Chinese New Year. In addition to listening to the NON-STOP fireworks (yes, I am serious, it's still going on), we actually found time to unwind and do the things we normally don't have a chance to do. We spent Friday at Century Park with Tony's colleage Ina. Ina, her husband Rainer and their son, Rene are from Germany and we're exploring the city together.

Century Park is located on the Pudong side of Shanghai. Pudong is the newer side of Shanghai. Up until about 15 years ago, it was farmland. Century Park sits on 347 acres and has a lot to offer. There are boat and bicycle rentals, mini-golf and an amusement park. Admission to the park is 10 RMB per person (about 1.25 USD) and you can stay until the park closes.

It's great that Rene is about the same age as Matthew and they get along well. Rene doesn't speak a lot of English. Matthew doesn't speak any German. The universal act of playing together doesn't require a lot of speaking. Just the signal- "Let's play and get into a lot of trouble!". The kids spent some time by the lake and fed the fish. It was more like tormenting the fish than feeding. We didn't have any fish food but the kids improvised by pulling down branches off the trees and tied grass to it. The fish were taking the bait and it was nice just to watch them hanging out together.

Chinese New Year

We just celebrated our first Chinese New Year in Shanghai. My cousin Stella and her daughter Susan, arrived from Hong Kong to celebrate the New Year with us. We took them to the usual tourist sights - Yu Yuan, Xintiandi and of course, what tour of Shanghai is complete without an eating excursion?

We experienced the Shanghai Soup Buns. The Soup Buns have a dumpling in the center and you have to drink the soup out with a straw. It was quite tasty and we even tried other local specialties.

The Chinese New Year celebrations started on Chinese New Years Eve- Saturday, February 17. At noon to be precise, we started to hear the fireworks go off. Let's just say, we thought that the Fourth of July fireworks were a big thing back in the States. That's nothing compared to what the locals do here. The fireworks were going on NON-STOP from Saturday afternoon until Sunday morning, February 18 at 1:30 AM. When it was quiet enough, we were finally able to fall asleep. Only to be awaken at 5:20 AM by the sounds of more fireworks that continued on and off throughout the day. I suspect the fireworks will continue at least for a few more days. The fireworks are used to scare away the evil spirits. My feeling is, the locals not only scared away the evil spirits of this year, they probably scared away all the evil spirits for the next 10 years too. It sounds like we're living in a war zone. Words can't even describe the smoke conditions on Saturday evening when it was going on full blast.

Before my cousin and her daughter had to leave to return to Hong Kong, we had a chance to take them to Suzhou. Suzhou is located about an hour outside of Shanghai and is one of China's oldest cities. It dates back to 514 B.C. when King Helu of Wu settled there and dug numerous canals and began private gardens that earned Suzhou the title the "Venice of the East." We were able to take in the sights of the Humble Administrator's Garden that was built during the Ming Dynasty in 1509 A.D. It was quite strange to be walking through a place that was built over 450 years ago. I could actually envision the ladies sauntering through the gardens in their silk wardrobes and playing music in the various pavillons located on the estate.

We're now recovering from our eating and touring excursions and will rest up until our next guest arrives next month. My former colleague from International Paper, Deborah Haraldson, will be in Shanghai for business. Deborah is a fellow foodie and this will allow us to take her out and experience all the great food finds. Now, if I can just get a job as a food critic, then I would really have a great time here!

Rite of Passage

It is hard to believe that next month, my baby- Matthew will be ten years old. Yesterday, we went to the dentist and he received his palate expander. The device will help to expand his palate so that he won't have to wear braces for a very long period of time. It was odd to see him with the device in his mouth. At that moment, I had a very sad realization that Matthew is growing up too quickly for my taste. Seeing the device made it very real for me. The past ten years have passed so quickly that it's quite scary. I often look through the photo albums and remember every moment as if it just happened a few moments ago.

Today, I took him to get his haircut. He knew exactly how he wanted his hair cut. As I sat in the chair next to him and listened to him tell the hairdresser to cut his hair "spiky" so he can "gel it up high", I realized that Matthew is going through his rite of passage. The passage that will take him from childhood to teenager in just a few short years. I watched as he was getting his hair cut and remembered his first hair cut, his first dental appointment and all the first moments that we've shared together. I have a feeling that I am not going to handle the changes that are going to occur well. Then again, in my heart, he will always be my baby. The baby that made me declare to Tony- " I love him more than you". Tony thought I meant that he didn't love Matthew. I repeated my statement again. Tony understood what I meant. It's true though, your child will always take precedence over your spouse. I don't care what anyone says.

Mrs. B

We just had a visitor from the US. Our next door neighbor from the condo- Barbara (a/k/a Mrs. B). Barbara has known us for over ten years and she's an honorary Grandmother to Matthew. We've spent many times together in Stamford shopping and eating. Matthew used to go next door and stand on his tip toes to ring Barbara's bell. If he wasn't in the house, I knew he was next door with Barbara. When we were moving away from the condo, we had dinner together every night leading up to our move. Let me tell you a little bit about Barbara. Barbara is a Jewish woman who eats pork, loves Angels and would often be at our Christmas dinners. Do you get the picture? It was truly surreal to see Barbara in Shanghai, of all places!

Barbara was in Tokyo visiting her son Eric (a/k/a Renfield), daughter-in-law Hiroko and their first baby- the most adorable Miss Chikage. She decided to take advantage of the fact that she was in the "area" and come visit us in Shanghai as well. We took Barbara to all the usual tourist sights. Jin Mao Tower, The Pearl Tower, Xintiandi, the Shanghai Museum and Yu Yuen. It was a blend of the modern and the historic sides of Shanghai. Who would ever think that we would be able to lead a tour of Shanghai right?

Of course, those who know us, know that we will include a visit to the best restaurants as well. There were many to choose from. We took Barbara to KABB at Xintiandi, Moon River Diner for your typical American style breakfast and of course, The Door. The Door is an Asian fusion style restaurant that has Thai influence decor. Barbara chose the Osso Buco (see left) and it was an excellent choice. Tony had to keep reminding Barbara that we're in China because it felt like we were back in Stamford.

She left this morning to return to Tokyo and will be returning to the US soon. We'll see her again when we return to the States in June. Who's counting? ME!!! I am really looking forward to seeing our friends and family again. Matthew and I will be in the States for two months and it will allow us to see everyone we want.

We're expecting more visitors next week. My cousin Stella and her daughter Susan. They'll be coming from Hong Kong to celebrate the Chinese New Year with us. It's our first Chinese New Year away from home and it'll be interesting to see how the Shanghainese celebrate the New Year here.

Those who have celebrated the Chinese New Year with us in the past, know that we usually have a large dinner party at our home. It's a tradition to close out the old year and open the new year together as a family. My friends from IP were pretty familiar with the dinner preparation that I went through, since I would spend days running around town picking up all the ingredients that I needed.

This year, I made reservations, which is truly a first for me. Chinese New Year is a very important holiday to the Chinese. It's Thanksgiving and Christmas rolled up in one. Years ago, my father would tell me..."Dinner's at 6pm. If you're not home by 6:05 pm, you're disowned." Those were the days that I would make sure I left the office two hours ahead of time, in anticipation of any subway delays in New York. The last thing I needed was to be disowned by my father on Chinese New Year. I won't put any restrictions like that on my family. At least, not until Matthew's moved out of the house and is living away from us. Then I'll tell him....if he's not home for Chinese New Year dinner, he'll be disowned. Naah.