Our House

I have no excuse for not posting this sooner.  I admit to you all up front that these pictures are from last Christmas.  The only things that have really changed are a toy swap (the kitchen moved downstairs and the train table is now a Lego table upstairs) and new curtains in the kids rooms.  Oh, and it's messier now ;).  A few rooms are missing from my photos (office, garage, master bedroom, kitchen & living room).  I guess that's a lot, sorry!  These will have to do as Christmas is around the corner.  At least you can get an idea for where we live!

Along the Way

Yes, it's been a while.  Have you been busy for the holidays, too?  I have this problem after a long enough absence from blogging that I struggle with what to post when I finally get back to it.  I have taken so many pictures here in Shanghai that I eventually need to share, but it can't all go in one post!  Plus, I have something like 22 more "Adventures in Driving" posts to write. :)

Today, you, my dedicated readers, can experience my ride to school and back last week.  I took the camera for an event in my daughter's class, and Mr. Mao was kind enough to remind me that I had it in the car!  I often try to take pictures of things while we're driving, but my cell phone camera just doesn't cut it.  I'm glad he reminded me so I can finally share some of these things with you!

This is a local neighborhood, maybe it's considered a village, that we drive past on the way to school.  It's hard to see in the picture, but there is a huge green space in front of it (left front from this angle).  The buildings are the traditional shape of local homes.  What I love, and what is not traditional, is that there are so many colors of buildings.  Add in the soft glow of the morning sun and it seems so idyllic.  Of course, that's only when you can ignore the gigantic electric line towers looming overhead.

Here is a somewhat hazy view of downtown (about 8 miles away) as seen from the elevated highway.

Here, we're coming back from school.  This is a view of the highway we're about to get on.  A lot of the highways here are elevated.  And by elevated, I don't mean like our highways at home.  We're talking looking-in-the-windows-of-4th-floor-apartments-elevated!

Here is a view of the same neighborhood from earlier, but from the side this time.  It's a common type of house in Shanghai. What you see in front of the houses are vegetable gardens.  My guess is that it is a community garden of some sort.  Sorry for the glare.  I love you guys, but I wasn't opening my window on the highway in 45 degree weather!

I'm cheating a little here with this picture, but it was on the way home, so it's included.  This is a mom & her child riding her bike.  It should really be in "Adventures in Driving".  It's hard to tell with his winter gear, but the seat the child is in looks like a decorative plant holder.  There is a small partial bar across the front center of the seat that functions more as a handle than any kind of safety restraint.  As far as I know, these seats don't have belts.  Maybe this mom was getting creative and figured the package would hold him in nicely.

I, too, have always thought bushes by the roadside would be a good place to air/sun dry my blankets.

More laundry out to dry on the main road.  Sometimes I can't figure out where it comes from.  I think this is hanging out in front of a business rather than a home.

This picture is of something I've been trying to capture for a long time!  I was SO thrilled that it turned out this time!  I know I've told you about the walls that block the streets.  Here is a perfect example.  This one has a hole cut (knocked out?) on the sidewalk for scooters & people to go through.  Plenty of street walls have this feature.  What's great about it in this case, is that you can see the perfectly good road on the other side of the "door" in my photo!  In all honesty, they may still be constructing the road further down.  We may never know...

These next two pictures are of a couple of public parks near our house.  The look very nice and both border a stream/river/canal type waterway.  Now don't get all dreamy.  I'll try to get a good picture of the water sometime to bring you back down to reality.  They only recently took the walls down that were blocking this road that we're driving on, so the parks are a new thing for me.  Maybe in the Spring when the weather warms up I can walk through them!  Nice!

This building is on the corner by our neighborhood.  It has been for sale since we moved in.  None of the windows were broken then.  It has had varying sizes of trash piles in front of it over the last year.  We're not sure what happened, but it is a common theme around here.  In fact, they are building two other places nearby that I hope don't meet the same fate!

We're coming up on the home stretch now!  Here is our little strip mall just outside our neighborhood.  It's new!  Yes, folks, that's right!  These shops have only been around for a few months.  On an even more amazing note, many of them acquired the space and opened in a matter of days!  Including one restaurant!

Here is the car wash/car repair place.  The white line you see is the bike lane designation.  That van on the left (partially blocked by my side mirror) is straddling the line, so he's part way in the bike lane, part way in the driving lane (check the above picture for clarification).  The car is driven up onto the sidewalk.  There is no zoning here.  That's just how we roll in China!

And, now, what you've all been waiting for, photos of the very new restaurant that is the first business next to our neighborhood, and, might I add, 20 yards from our bus stop.

Some of the food items that you can get at this restaurant (of course, I'm just guessing.  I haven't actually read the menu) are on display on a rack by the street.  Others are in the cage to the left.

Sometimes I think American songs & slogans are misunderstood here in China.  One would be "Freedom for All," which translates "Free for All" here and applies specifically to the subway as well as driving.  Another is "Just Do It," which translates "Just Do It, whatever you want, whenever you want."  This is less motivational and more directive here, i.e, if you need to go to the bathroom, "Just Do It."  If you need to work that loogie out of your throat, "Just Do It." 

WARNING: The following question and picture may be too much for some of you.  If you are concerned, now would be a good time to stop reading. 

Maybe there has been a similar misunderstanding about the popular children's song "How Much is that Doggie in the Window?"

Thank you for joining me on this trip to school and back!  See you next time on the Great McBlog!

Lemon Chicken

Yesterday was a little crazy, so I decided to order dinner.  I used a new place and ordered something that I haven't had before.  Here is a picture from the website:

And here is a picture of our dinner:

I had to bribe my kids with leftover birthday cupcakes just to get a little of this dinner in them.  It wasn't necessarily bad, it just wasn't what I thought we were going to get.  In case it's not evident from the picture, this was not the described dish popular in the US!  It was VERY chinese-style, from the barely breaded meat down to the candy-like lemon flavoring.  Bummer.  I could have really gone for some Dale Yees last night! 

Small Victories

Here in Shanghai there can be a lot of Shanglows.  At first it seemed like they happened every day, many times twice a day.  Six months out, it felt like once or twice a week.  A year out, I'm happy to say things have mellowed even more. 

(Side bar: M and I had a discussion about this recently and decided that we can let more things roll off our backs than we used to because we have finally realized that there is virtually no accountability here.  Most everything we can write off as TIC - This is China.)

Even better, every so often something happens that makes us feel like it's actually GOOD to be living in China.  I had one of those moments yesterday.

I need some bubble wrap for a certain 5-year-old's birthday party this weekend.  (What kid doesn't like to jump on bubble wrap?!?)  There is no Office Depot here, so I did a quick search online and found a few expat forums with suggestions for where to purchase said bubble wrap.

(Another side bar: I did a rather extensive search online a couple of months ago trying to glean similar information about locking washers with NO LUCK.  Our version of The Home Depot only has 3 (tiny) sizes of locking washers (too small for training wheels) and an Internet search only provided me with TONS of companies that manufacture locking washers here in Shanghai.  I contacted one, but they couldn't sell me 2 washers.  Too bad for me.  I finally decided to check the Trek store.  Here the employee tells me that you can only buy these at a "small store".  Sadly, I do not have a picture of a "small store".  Think strip mall of storage closets.  There have to be millions of "small stores" in Shanghai and there is no "small store" registry to learn where to find what you're looking for!  I must have looked defeated with the "small store" news, so the guy rummaged through his junk parts drawer and found me a few washers.  Woohoo!  I guess that makes this side bar more of a main point - one small victory!)

Back to the bubble wrap.

So, Mr. Mao and I set off across town in search of the suggested locations.  1st place we came up dry.  I wasn't surprised.  This is an area I visit often and I've never seen bubble wrap there.  2nd place takes us through a fascinating tool street with many "small stores" selling tools.  (There are street blocks throughout Shanghai selling a specific type of merchandise - Paper street, Painter's street, Tool street, etc. - it's just a matter of finding them!)  After crossing a major highway I see it - a "small store" with rolls of bubble wrap!  I tell Mr. Mao to STOP!  I run back to the store and it's true!  It's a whole store (storage closet?) filled with rolls of bubble wrap!  I know the suspense must be killing you, so I'll cut to the chase.  I bought a 50 meter roll of bubble wrap (about 24 inches wide) for 25 RMB!  According to the currency exchange calculator that's $3.99!  YES!  Not only did I find what I was looking for, it was INCREDIBLY INEXPENSIVE!!!!!  Finally, China comes through!  I was euphoric for hours!  Ahhhhhh... so thankful for that small victory!

Adventures in Driving, Part 4 of 26: Wrong Way?

Sometimes you just need to get off the highway, right?

Sometimes it doesn't matter that someone is coming right at you.

At China, you just do what you need to do.

(This is not a one-time photo op.  I see this at least once a month, sometimes more!)

Xiao Tao

Ayi is a Chinese word that loosely translates "Auntie".  Plenty of expats in Shanghai have an ayi (or several) to do their housework, watch their kids, and/or cook for them.  Some of them even live in.

Our Ayi is part time.  She comes in afternoons during the work week to clean the house and cooks twice a week.  She also watches our kids every once in a while when we're in a pinch.

Her name is Xiao Tao* and we LOVE her!

(Picture taken by C)

Xiao Tao is our age (actually, she and Matt are exactly the same age!) and has a 7-year-old son.  She is one of 4 kids who recently moved to Shanghai from an area about 5 hours away.  Her English is about as good as my Chinese, which is mostly because we teach each other!  We are also teaching each other some cooking.  A couple of weeks ago I taught her how to make chicken salad (with noodles) and today she taught me how to make pork.

Diverting a little from the topic, during our cooking lesson, Xiao Tao used an ingredient that I was unsure of: Dian Fen.  When I asked if it was cornstarch (by showing her a bag of said ingredient with English & Chinese) she said no.  So, I looked it up.  Dian Fen, translated word by word because the combo wasn't in either of my dictionaries, means "shallow lake powder."  In this case, ours is "red shallow lake powder."  Yum!  I've always wondered about how adding "red shallow lake powder" to my dishes would enhance their flavor!  As it turns out, after an intensive internet search, dian fen is corn or maize flower, also known as corn starch. :)

Xiao Tao is one of the nicest, most humble people I know.  I'm glad she's a part of our China experience.

* xi - pronounced same as SH as in Ship
   ao - pronounced same as OW as in cOW
   t - pronounced same as T as in To
   ao - pronounced same as OW as in cOW

Note: Xiao actually means small or little, lots of "kids" from the age of my kids up to me are called xiao.  Tao is likely either her father's name or her mother's name.  We learned from Mr. Mao (aka Xiao Mao) that a child is named after the parent whose family home it is.  Mr. Mao is named after his mother because his father moved into his mother's family's home.  When he speaks his full name it starts with Mao, identifying where he comes from first, followed by who he is.

Misunderstanding?

Today marks the one year anniversary of officially knowing we were moving to Shanghai.  It's hard to believe it's been a year.  Today's post has little to do with that day of my life, instead it's more anecdotal about our general experiences here.

When our sea crate was delivered, the movers brought everything in and unpacked a lot of it.  I simply want to share with you what that meant for our bookshelves:

I guess I'm not sure if they just don't take the time shelve the books well, or if they aren't used to seeing books on shelves, or if the language thing threw them.  It was definitely a surprise to me and I found it a little funny.  And what is it about the bottom shelf anyway that makes it different?

As a side note, I have cut-outs of my kids names in English each in a single piece of wood.  After the house has been dusted, I often find K's name upside down or backwards on the dresser where it sits.  I'm sure I would do the same if faced with a Chinese character!  Sometimes I just don't know which way is up, and this applies to more than just books and characters!

Pizza Hut

We had a family dinner at Pizza Hut tonight.  It was almost exactly the same as our first visit last year, but with so much experience under our belts, it wasn't the same at all!  Even more interesting, the kids and I ate at Pizza Hut at home this summer, so I was able to identify how the two were different!  It was pretty cool. 

First, let me say that we have enjoyed Pizza Hut here each time we've been.  We order pan pizza and it tastes like home.  That said, I noticed today that there is much less sauce on the pizza here and the crust is a little sweeter.  I also think the sausage has a slightly different flavor.  One thing we don't have back home are smoothies.  I'm sure this is one of the reasons the kids love Pizza Hut here - we get smoothies every time we go!  Here are a few more things that are different about China's Pizza Hut:

You can order cocktails:

You can order steak on your pizza and get a side of meat on a stick.  For that matter, there is also a surf & turf pizza to tantalize your taste buds!

The decor is very Young, Casual, Warm, Modern...

The specials (at least that's what I'm guessing) board outside the restaurant doesn't show the full 20+ page menu, but it does give you an idea of what you can (and people do) order here at Pizza Hut:

Finally, a pic from the outside so you know we were really at Pizza Hut!  Oh, and one last thing, in all the times we've eaten here (at least half a dozen), we have never actually seen another person or family eating pizza!

Signs

Any time you visit another country, you're bound to see some signs that make you laugh.  Either the grammar is different or wrong, or they just express things differently.  In Asia, at least in Japan and China, there are frequently misspelled words or phrases that just flat out don't make sense!  Sometimes, quite by accident, they are made funnier by the context as the restaurant sign many of you saw on Facebook was!  Here it is again for those who missed it:

Of all the places to mess up "Bar," it couldn't be funnier than at Coconut!

This sign on the subway is funny mostly because of cultural diferences:

Here's a sign that I took an illicit picture of:

It's a little hard to see through the glass.  It says, "Decline with thanks: Sloppily dressed, cameras (unapproved), Beverage"

This is one of my favorites (from our local grocery store):

Note that this is an eNergency exit.

This next sign is typical and yet not typical of China.  Things can be in a complete state of disrepair for a long time with no sign.  At least this time we know when the sign was posted.  (And can deduce that the jacuzzi is not, in fact, being repaired.)

Finally, a sign from another local imported grocery store that always makes me laugh!