You know urine China....

Last weekend we flew to Hong Kong and back on another of our monthly visa runs. It had all the makings of a smooth, non-eventful trip. After Brian's traumatized retelling of this story, I actually regret sleeping through it! Leave it to China to make an ordinary moment absolutely unforgettable at the drop of a hat, er, cup. Take it away Bri....

On the flight back to Shanghai we were seated behind roughly 4-year old twins, their mom, and grandparents. The disinterested father was across the aisle from me. Mid-diaper change, one of the girls announced she had to go to the bathroom. So rather than slapping the old diaper back between her legs and hustling to the loo, grandma stands her up on her lap, and has her pee in to the cup from dinner service. Talk about having blind faith in the aim of a 4-year old! Can you imagine being the flight attendant on the receiving end of that cup on your next garbage run down the aisle? No? Not to worry, you don’t have to, because as Grandma stands up and goes to walk it back to the flight attendant, she bumps into her seat and spills it....on the father sitting across from me! Poor dad, who was just minding his own business, valiantly ignoring his kids, trying to enjoy a book during a fleeting moment of silence when they aren’t flying through the air jumping seat to seat, and he’s interrupted by a cup of pee dumped in his lap! (Leslie bets the disgruntled mom probably pushed the grandma in his direction!)  Amazingly, he just casually brushed a few not yet absorbed droplets off his pants and went back to reading as if he didn't even realize what had just been poured all over him. Be assured, had the cup landed in MY lap, there would have been a significantly different reaction!

P.S. To Gerard Depardieu: you're most welcome. We bequeath this oui oui tall tale to you and look forward to your attempts to use it as a plausible cover story the next time you fly.

P.P.S. Two weeks ago, I would have laughed at this. Now it just makes me cringe.

One Year Ago:

Thanks Dad! 

Read this NOW!

A huge thank you to Connie for passing this book recommendation on to us. J. Maarten Troost's Lost on Planet China is the funniest, most accurate and relatable depiction of our experience here in China. If my blog was a book, I would want this to be it. Troost is a travel writer who has lived in nearly every corner of the world, yet is at first stupefied by much that is China. From pollution to the inability to stand in lines, public urination (stay tuned for a story that easily beats his!) to seemingly ubiquitous prostitution (we live behind a classy bathhouse/brothel), he still discovers the magic of China off the beaten tourist path, blending humor with history in the most enjoyable of reads. Two enthusiastic thumbs up!!

One Year Ago:

The Three Bs

The best laid plans...

First order of business--the answer to the latest edition of Food Fight. I got a few (hilarious!!) guesses from you all. Amanda correctly named the largest mystery item--it was eggplant! From everyone else's guesses, it sounds like a review trip to the veggie, errr, fruit section of the grocery store is necessary (This means you Deb :-)! As for the other 3 foods, they are ALL eggplant! See how sneaky I was?! The smallest ones are almost horribly bitter, but were in green curry everywhere we went. The rest all taste like, well, eggplant!

And now, back to the Philippines. Sometimes, in spite of all your best intentions and advance planning, you just can't win. Take, for example, our month in Australia: in 30 short days we lost (and found!) our passports, had all but one day of an entire week of diving cancelled, and had to scramble when an airline we'd booked was suddenly grounded indefinitely due to safety issues. We're learning very quickly that when it comes to planning a month long vacation something undoubtedly, inevitably, will go wrong. And sometimes that can turn out to be the best thing in the world.