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Friday, April 29, 2011
Food Fight!
It's a double dose of "what in the world are those!?" Fame and glory to the first person to get them both right....
Lonely Planet FAIL.
Finally, here are pictures from our trip to Suzhou! We're starting to talk about another trip next weekend, so I thought I better get these up before I fall further behind! It was one of those weekends, where in spite of best efforts to figure out what we wanted to see and do, nothing was meant to be, and yet it was still a great weekend. Our Chinese teacher was right, we did go too early, so the gardens were only beginning to bloom. And the "Venice of China" moniker is a real stretch of the imagination. Yes, there are stagnant canals everywhere (that painters just dump their leftover paint into), but no one uses them except the garbage boats (to pick out the trash the locals throw right in them) and the occasional tourist boat. Cars and scooters honk incessantly and careen in every direction, making me wonder if the person who dubbed it 'Venice' had in fact, ever been to Venice. And our guide book was awful...wrong addresses, incorrect hours for the museum, bad restaurant recommendations, and map scales completely out of whack. When we got back home, I google mapped everywhere we walked, and in a supposedly 2 square mile town, we walked 21.35 miles! Our hotel was a great surprise--far nicer than we'd realized! We'd gladly go back and just spend a week there (now that we know the addresses and hours of places we wanted visit!)! Our hotel was next to the only remaining section of the old wall that used to surround Suzhou, and our hotel was built to look just like it.... In the end we had a great long weekend just wandering and finding the hidden charm on our own. We took way too many photos (I am my father's daughter)--here's my attempt to narrow it down a bit.
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| Pan Gate, 1355...only remaining section of Suzhou's city walls. |
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| Our hotel.... |
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| View from our room--Auspicious Light Pagoda |
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| That's me up there! |
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View from the top  |
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| Cool escape from the heat |
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| Crazy flowering tree |
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| Beautiful florist shop |
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| Garden of the Master of the Nets |
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| I loved these doors and windows all over the garden....I spare you by only posting two... |
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| Tourists on the left, garbagemen on the right... |
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| Adorable grandpas shootin' the breeze....They actually seemed tickled that I took their picture |
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Looked like an abandoned building, but someone has made it home.... |
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| North Temple Pagoda (5th cent, rebuilt 17th cent) tallest pagoda south of the Yangtze River. Was originally someone's home! |
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| This would be me too, if this was my job! We've jumped in one of these just once when we couldn't find a cab, and I just felt awful. It was 90 degrees but the guy was dressed for winter, and had to drag us uphill to the bus station. I understand that this is a normal job here, but I wanted to help push the whole time. |
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| Just a small load.... |
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| Bri's favorite find of the weekend. |
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| Canal by night... |
Friday, April 8, 2011
Happy Weekend!
So, we're off to Venice in the morning! Well, the "Venice of China" that is. We're hoofing it to the canal town of Suzhou for a three day weekend thanks to the Chinese Holiday Grave Sweeping Days that fell on Monday and Tuesday of this week. Basically, it's similar to Memorial Day. We aren't sure if this is holiday related, but it seemed to coincide with people singing at the top of their lungs from their balconies randomly throughout the holiday. The daily barrage of fireworks was also ramped up a fair bit all week. Our Chinese teacher told us yesterday that we're going to Suzhou too early in the year--that it's far better in May or June--just our luck. But she did give us tips on restaurants and sites to see, none of which are in our guide books, so we're hoping to get a less touristy version of the town.
The center of Suzhou's old town is a UNESCO World Heritage site, dating back some 2500 years. By the 14th century it was China's leading silk producting city, attracting other wealthy artisans, scholars, actors and painters, who constructed beautiful retreats and gardens for private contemplation. Nearly 70 of its 12th-15th century gardens still exist--they have fantastic names like "Garden of the Master of the Nets" and the "Humble Administrator's Garden" and "Garden to Linger In." There's also a brand new museum (designed by I.M. Pei) in town. Everything from silk to yarn to furniture to art is on the wish list as we explore this weekend! Here's a few pictures I grabbed online. Hopefully we get some good shots of our own!
Suzhou, as I've just learned from a friend back home (thanks Luci!) is the sister city of Portland! Certainly makes the world seem smaller and more connected. I didn't know any of this, but turns out everything in Lan Su Chinese Garden in Portland was constructed by artisans back in Suzhou. Even 500 tons of rock were sent to Portland. Then sixty-five men (along with two cooks!) came over to construct it all.
The center of Suzhou's old town is a UNESCO World Heritage site, dating back some 2500 years. By the 14th century it was China's leading silk producting city, attracting other wealthy artisans, scholars, actors and painters, who constructed beautiful retreats and gardens for private contemplation. Nearly 70 of its 12th-15th century gardens still exist--they have fantastic names like "Garden of the Master of the Nets" and the "Humble Administrator's Garden" and "Garden to Linger In." There's also a brand new museum (designed by I.M. Pei) in town. Everything from silk to yarn to furniture to art is on the wish list as we explore this weekend! Here's a few pictures I grabbed online. Hopefully we get some good shots of our own!
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| Garden of the Master of the Nets |
Suzhou, as I've just learned from a friend back home (thanks Luci!) is the sister city of Portland! Certainly makes the world seem smaller and more connected. I didn't know any of this, but turns out everything in Lan Su Chinese Garden in Portland was constructed by artisans back in Suzhou. Even 500 tons of rock were sent to Portland. Then sixty-five men (along with two cooks!) came over to construct it all.
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| Garden to Linger In |
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
"A Visit to the Dentist" by Brian DeRoche
I was walking back from lunch, watching all the locals bed down on the lawn and under the trees for their noontime nap, envious that I was faced with another 5 hours of work without hope of sleep, when I saw something that caught my eye. There at the entrance to the electrical shop were two workers welding some small object. Welding is an everyday occurrence here in the yard so that didn’t seem at all out of place, but what caught my eye was it appeared as though the small object they were working on was a pair of pliers. So I walked over for a closer look, thinking to myself, “This has got to be my first glimpse of Chinese humor… They’re welding shut their buddy's pliers as a practical joke!” If only that were the case. Instead what I found may very well have scarred me for life. They were heating the pliers up (an attempt, I believe, to sanitize them) before one used them to pull a molar out of the mouth of the other! OUCH!!! At least it simultaneously cauterized the new hole in his head.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Not so ovenless anymore....
Well, I held out for almost six weeks without an oven, thinking if the Chinese do it, so can I! But in the end, I gave in.... just too many things I wanted to eat that I wasn't able to cook with just 1 stovetop burner. Although what we have is hardly an oven. It's more of a toaster oven on steriods. The front door isn't insulated, nor does it seal closed--there's a huge gap all the way around so hot air spews right back out. Funny how back in the States everything is made in China, and the quality is fine. Seems like the dregs and rejects are sold here...and not just in regards to ovens.... But so far I've made baked potatoes, brownies, sourdough bread, and apple crisp and it's been such a treat to have "Western" food!
So does this mean I have to rename my blog?
In other cooking adventures, I tried a Chinese BBQ pork recipe--it's soy based rather than tomato and uses Chinese 5 spice (cinnamon, star anise, fennel, cloves, and Sichuan pepper). The 5 spice here smells (and tastes) FANTASTIC! There are five flavors in Chinese cooking--sweet, sour, bitter, pungent and salty and the 5 spice is a mixture of these tastes that supposedly balances the yin yang of food. In the end, the flavor was good, but it was pretty salty on account of all the soy.... so I'll have to play with it a bit next time for better yin yang ;-) I made scallion pancakes (think Chinese naan) to go with it, which were pretty good, and we think they can stand in for burrito shells when we're dying for Mexican food in the (near) future. (We'll be running to Mexico Lindo in Melrose whenever we're back in the fall!). So to hide the saltiness of the pork, I decided to make Chinese pork buns. We scoured the grocery store and bought a white powder we were praying was baking powder (it had a picture of pork buns on the package, so we thought it had to be it!). It was not. The dough was very strange from the get go, but I continued on. I think they were the grossest thing I've cooked in my adult life. I have no idea what our 'baking powder' was but the dough was rubber and had a residual taste and smell of bleach! Blech! So in the end we broke them open and just ate the salty filling I'd been trying to disguise....
So does this mean I have to rename my blog?
In other cooking adventures, I tried a Chinese BBQ pork recipe--it's soy based rather than tomato and uses Chinese 5 spice (cinnamon, star anise, fennel, cloves, and Sichuan pepper). The 5 spice here smells (and tastes) FANTASTIC! There are five flavors in Chinese cooking--sweet, sour, bitter, pungent and salty and the 5 spice is a mixture of these tastes that supposedly balances the yin yang of food. In the end, the flavor was good, but it was pretty salty on account of all the soy.... so I'll have to play with it a bit next time for better yin yang ;-) I made scallion pancakes (think Chinese naan) to go with it, which were pretty good, and we think they can stand in for burrito shells when we're dying for Mexican food in the (near) future. (We'll be running to Mexico Lindo in Melrose whenever we're back in the fall!). So to hide the saltiness of the pork, I decided to make Chinese pork buns. We scoured the grocery store and bought a white powder we were praying was baking powder (it had a picture of pork buns on the package, so we thought it had to be it!). It was not. The dough was very strange from the get go, but I continued on. I think they were the grossest thing I've cooked in my adult life. I have no idea what our 'baking powder' was but the dough was rubber and had a residual taste and smell of bleach! Blech! So in the end we broke them open and just ate the salty filling I'd been trying to disguise....
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Spring has sprung!
A few shots of Jiangyin as it starts to get a little color
One of many bike rental kiosks around town....We're not brave enough for this yet!
The canal near our apartment--one of many in town.
I'm not sure what these are, but they are everywhere and wonderfully fragrant.
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| Somehow the camera turned the smog a lovely pink! |
One of many bike rental kiosks around town....We're not brave enough for this yet!
The canal near our apartment--one of many in town.
I'm not sure what these are, but they are everywhere and wonderfully fragrant.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Adventures about town....
At first it was cute, but I've reached my saturation level for bare buns of the non-matrimonial type. Apparently the invention of safety pins has not yet made it to China's shores. That's all it would take to remedy this situation. Instead, parents just lay a rectangular cloth between their child's legs and hope their split leg pants hold it in place. They don't. We were at the police station getting our visas renewed and a boy's diaper fell out, and the father felt no need to replace it. The advantage of these split leg pants is that parents save a lot of money on diapers and don't have to stress over potty training. You see, when your child is a little older, you don't switch over to underwear, they just go commando. So if your child has to go the bathroom, you just stop in the middle of the sidewalk and tell him or her to squat. Why would you find a bush to hide behind or use one of the public restrooms that can be found every 100 yards? Only when men are older, do they have to learn to operate a zipper so they can uphold the tradition of public urination. Again, on the sidewalk in plain view. A little modesty please!
Lastly, a photo in honor of my dad's upcoming retirement from his veterinary practice:
Shanghai, Strads and Salivary Glands
Armed with about 30 hours and the Chinese characters for Shanghai and Jiangyin (so we could get back!) we were off on the local bus to Shanghai! The mission--to find a cello I can use for the next two years, since I didn't fly out here with mine. Thanks to a friend of a co-worker and searching online, I was able to determine there were two instrument "districts" in Shanghai. I'd been warned pricing and quality would be completely erratic, and boy was that the truth! In all, we walked about 8 miles and I think I played every cello in the city. I cannot believe, that with a conservatory and symphony orchestra in town, that they really don't have anything of higher quality. On the other hand, I'm also glad that the cellos didn't make me hysterical over what I paid for mine back home!
Most of the instruments were absolute junk. It felt as if the shop owners were selling instruments, purely because they were able to get real estate in these particular neighborhoods, not because they knew anything about instruments. One store was selling cellos without strings. And no, you couldn't buy strings from them. Others would have cellos but only bass bows or some other useless combination. In another store, a man who didn't play the cello, wanted to buy a starter cello and asked the clerk who spoke a little English, to have me try them out on his behalf. I was the only one who seemed to realize how horribly out of tune the beater cellos were, and the clerk kept telling me I was "far too serious" as I spent five minutes attempting to tune the cellos, as none of the pegs would stick. Would he have me test drive a car with an out-of-whack gear box?
Naturally, the shop that had been recommended was closed when we arrived on Sunday, but when we arrived on Monday, alleluia! A proper instrument shop! I selected the one I liked best, and made a counter offer. Which, unfortunately, was accepted immediately, so I could have gone even lower. But it's still an absolutely steal, and about a tenth of the price I'd guess it's worth back home. So perhaps I'll be starting an exporting business here.... It feels good to be playing again for the first time since my surgery. My fingers seem to remember what they are supposed to be doing and no more numb hand!
So we didn't really have any time to do anything touristy, although we did make our way thru several parks and wandered thru the French Concession and Xintiandi district as we made our way to the shops.
But overall, we loved Shanghai at first impression--so much cleaner and less smoggy than Jiangyin, so much more to do and see, and far fewer people staring at us foreigners. In preparation for the Beijing Olympics, the worst polluting factories were shut down, as many flights go thru Shanghai, and they have not been allowed to re-open. What a difference! Even the Metro system is so clean, makes Boston's T look like a CDC disaster zone. Although I suppose it doesn't take much to be critical of the T.
C: "It's a very local city--no one speaks English."
Us: We just moved there for Brian's work.
C: Shock. "Well, then I'll look up the train schedule, much better."
Us: No, there isn't a train station in Jiangyin, we want the bus schedule please.
C: How about I arrange a car? Much more comfortable.
Us: We got here on a bus.
C: With farmers?!?!
Cleary, we were not the cliente the Langham was expecting! But the concierge was very nice and helpful thru it all, and we got on a "farmer's bus" and back to Jiangyin. When it comes down to $100 for a car or $15 for bus tickets, it's a pretty easy call. We slept almost the entire two hour trip to Shanghai, so we didn't mind getting back on the bus. The concierge should have asked: "with spitting farmers?" Seriously. There was a man sitting across from me who thought he was competing for national pride in the spitting wars. I was gagging at times he was putting so much effort in to it. I kept looking for where his I.V. was hidden, that he was able to maintain such salivary prowess. And he was just spitting on the floor, so it was sloshing all around. I seemed to be the only person phased by this. RE. PUL. SIVE.
But Shanghai was great, and I'd gladly get on the bus again. Afterall, I have survived the local bus in Mexico from Puerto Vallarta over the mountains to San Pancho with the driver that was taking swigs straight from the bottle!
Most of the instruments were absolute junk. It felt as if the shop owners were selling instruments, purely because they were able to get real estate in these particular neighborhoods, not because they knew anything about instruments. One store was selling cellos without strings. And no, you couldn't buy strings from them. Others would have cellos but only bass bows or some other useless combination. In another store, a man who didn't play the cello, wanted to buy a starter cello and asked the clerk who spoke a little English, to have me try them out on his behalf. I was the only one who seemed to realize how horribly out of tune the beater cellos were, and the clerk kept telling me I was "far too serious" as I spent five minutes attempting to tune the cellos, as none of the pegs would stick. Would he have me test drive a car with an out-of-whack gear box?
Naturally, the shop that had been recommended was closed when we arrived on Sunday, but when we arrived on Monday, alleluia! A proper instrument shop! I selected the one I liked best, and made a counter offer. Which, unfortunately, was accepted immediately, so I could have gone even lower. But it's still an absolutely steal, and about a tenth of the price I'd guess it's worth back home. So perhaps I'll be starting an exporting business here.... It feels good to be playing again for the first time since my surgery. My fingers seem to remember what they are supposed to be doing and no more numb hand!
So we didn't really have any time to do anything touristy, although we did make our way thru several parks and wandered thru the French Concession and Xintiandi district as we made our way to the shops.
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| Random building in Xintiandi |
We have to go back! Our hotel was absolutely amazing....The Langham just opened a new location, and thanks to jetsetter.com we scored a $500 room for $150! An unheard of deal in Shanghai! Only when we got to our room and flipped thru the directory, did we realize the hotel had a dress code! Oops. Since we were on such a quick trip, we basically brought toothbrushes and just wore the same clothes both days. We we not nearly chic enough, but oh well. We even had a heated, remote controlled toilet!
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| Remote with height, reclining, flush, dryer, and 3 bidet options! |
But overall, we loved Shanghai at first impression--so much cleaner and less smoggy than Jiangyin, so much more to do and see, and far fewer people staring at us foreigners. In preparation for the Beijing Olympics, the worst polluting factories were shut down, as many flights go thru Shanghai, and they have not been allowed to re-open. What a difference! Even the Metro system is so clean, makes Boston's T look like a CDC disaster zone. Although I suppose it doesn't take much to be critical of the T.
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| Fuxing Park |
Upon checking out, we asked the concierge for help finding the bus schedule back to Jiangyin. First, he wondered why we would even want to go there:
C: "It's a very local city--no one speaks English."
Us: We just moved there for Brian's work.
C: Shock. "Well, then I'll look up the train schedule, much better."
Us: No, there isn't a train station in Jiangyin, we want the bus schedule please.
C: How about I arrange a car? Much more comfortable.
Us: We got here on a bus.
C: With farmers?!?!
Cleary, we were not the cliente the Langham was expecting! But the concierge was very nice and helpful thru it all, and we got on a "farmer's bus" and back to Jiangyin. When it comes down to $100 for a car or $15 for bus tickets, it's a pretty easy call. We slept almost the entire two hour trip to Shanghai, so we didn't mind getting back on the bus. The concierge should have asked: "with spitting farmers?" Seriously. There was a man sitting across from me who thought he was competing for national pride in the spitting wars. I was gagging at times he was putting so much effort in to it. I kept looking for where his I.V. was hidden, that he was able to maintain such salivary prowess. And he was just spitting on the floor, so it was sloshing all around. I seemed to be the only person phased by this. RE. PUL. SIVE.
But Shanghai was great, and I'd gladly get on the bus again. Afterall, I have survived the local bus in Mexico from Puerto Vallarta over the mountains to San Pancho with the driver that was taking swigs straight from the bottle!
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| Alley way in Xintiandi near hotel |
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