Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

December went by so quick, it seemed we had just gotten back from Thailand and then we were celebrating Christmas!  We started December by celebrating the holidays with the other BASF North American expats with a turkey dinner with all the trimmings at our place.  It's always nice to get together with others who have been through the move and can relate to the ups and downs of living in Shanghai.  We also had dinner with our Chinese teacher and his family again.  His mother-in-law wanted to cook for us and we were more than happy to let her!  Eric and his family have been so wonderful and have made us feel like a part of the family.  We look forward to repaying them with an Italian style dinner at our place, his favorite, but something he isn't comfortable cooking on his own.

Although the rest of December flew by it was a pretty quiet month which was a good thing since I spent two weeks dealing with a bad head cold.  I'm still reaching for the tissues everyday, but at least I feel better.
With Shanghai being a "western" city there were lots of Christmas decorations around.  The big difference here is that they don't go up until December and many not until two weeks before Christmas.  Such a nice change from the US, where decorations show up before Halloween!
Lily's school put on a production of The Nutcracker, Lily was an Arabian dancer, she did a fabulous job!  We were a bit worried since every other school production she has shied away and clung to a teacher.  She did her dance perfectly and even helped a classmate who missed her exit stage left cue.
The weekend before Christmas we took the kids to the mall to see Santa.  He only put in an appearance for a few days before Christmas and was not nearly as authentic as the ones we've seen in the US.  Even Lily recognized that he wasn't the real deal.  Luckily she accepted our "Santa's helper" explanation.

Christmas Eve the kids opened their Christmas pajamas and ornaments from Grammy and Papa and then we all watched Kung Fu Panda's Holiday Special.  A new one for us and although cute I don't think it will become a tradition, we preferred Arthur Christmas.  After getting the kids all nestled in their beds for the night, Lucas and I finished wrapping gifts and watched the classic National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.  Even though we followed most of our traditions it didn't feel much like Christmas this year, next year we are thinking of going on vacation like most expats.  Somewhere warm sounds good to me...

Christmas morning the kids gave us the gift of sleeping in till 8!  Usually up by 7 it was great to get that extra bit of sleep before tackling the craziness that goes along with Christmas morning.  Since we did most of the shopping for family this year for the kids we were able to limit the number of gifts the kids got.  Considering the size of our apartment that is a very good thing.  Still, they didn't seem to notice any lack of gifts and had a wonderful Christmas.  We spent the day at home relaxing and playing with new toys and ended the day with a turkey dinner that Lucas cooked.

We rang in the New Year with friends and a fabulously American dinner of cheeseburgers, au gratin potatoes, and a champagne toast at midnight!  It has been an amazing year for us filled with many wonderful new experinces and we look forward to 2013 and all of the new adventures we will be going on.  Up first Florida, Disney, & family!

Thailand

So, instead of trying to tackle the traditional Thanksgiving dinner in my Playskool oven we decided to visit Thailand and have Pad Thai.  It may be my favorite Thanksgiving ever!  We started our one week tour in Bangkok, which is a relatively short 4 1/2 hour flight from Shanghai.  Our first day we walked through China town (insert irony here), and Little India.  The markets were a lot of fun to walk through and sold food, toys, clothing, and almost anything else you might need.  The temple in China town we stopped at was a simple one by Thai standards, but was still very beautiful and ornate to our very Western eyes.  With President Obama in Bangkok at the same time as us (seriously!) we had to rearrange our plans, so we ended up seeing Loha Prasat, the last known metal castle, which was beautiful to see and is actually a temple and not a castle.  Our second day in Bangkok we saw Wat Pho, Bangkok's oldest temple, where the kids learned how to pray to the Buddha and we all got a traditional Thai foot massage at the massage school on the temple grounds.  By then it was time for our private long tail boat ride on the river.  This was not a quiet leisurely boat ride, this is a busy river with many boats constantly passing by, but it was a great to see another side of the city.  Our last stop in Bangkok was the Grand Palace, the former residence of the royal family.  Although open to the public it still has palace guards and it still used for ceremonies and other important events.  The royal family now live in a modern (aka; air conditioned) home, well palace, since I doubt they have a cozy 4 bedroom, 3 bath house.

After saying good bye to Bangkok we took a one hour flight to Chaing Mai in northern Thailand.  Before we started exploring the city we had a few hours to relax at the hotel pool and have lunch, and aside from Charlie splitting his chin open on the pool ledge it was a great afternoon.  By late afternoon we were ready to start our trek (by van) up the mountain to see Wat Prathat Doi Suthep, where there is a huge gold pagoda that can be seen from the city below.  Inside the temple the kids added their names to a cloth that will be wrapped around the pagoda when it is finished.

Our second day was spent at the Chiang Dao Elephant camp, where we got to feed the elephants a breakfast of bananas, and watch them get a bath in the river.  Then it was off to elephant school where the elephants learn the tasks they need to be a helpful member of the family, but it isn't all work, they do art too!  Once school was out we had a beautiful hour long ride down the river on a bamboo raft, it was hot but so worth it!  River raft ride over we finally got to the highlight of the day, an hour long ride on an elephant through the jungle.  Sitting on a wood seat with a "seat belt" we wound through the gorgeous jungle and then up the river back to camp where we had a very yummy lunch waiting for us.

From the elephant camp we headed to Monkey school instead of visiting with a tribal village.  As much as I would have love to visit with the tribe it would have meant a two hour drive back to the hotel and the kids were already worn out form spending the day outdoors in the heat and humidity.  Our fabulous guide, Yo, recommended that we go to see the monkeys since it was on the way back to the hotel and was much more likely to interest the kids.  We watched the monkeys do all kinds of "tricks" and even got to feed them some snacks.  Charlie liked them as long as they kept their distance from him, but Lily had no problem posing with one for a picture.  Charlie did like the baby monkey and had no problem feeding him, he must have related to the little one!  After that amazing day we grabbed dinner at a local restaurant and then went to the night market.  Thailand comes alive at night!  All down the main street there are stalls one after another filled with all kind of crafts and clothing.  There were also several turn offs from the main street that were a lot like a large courtyards filled with stalls and restaurants.  We had such a good time walking around and picked up several great souvenirs.  Lily and I also visited a fish spa, for about $5 each we got to put our feet in water filled with little fish that eat away your dead skin and help to improve circulation in your feet.  It may sound gross but it was actually a lot of fun and really tickled.  The surprising part is that it was Lily's idea!  Just as we were finishing up at the market we saw some lady boys, something Thailand is famous for.  For a few bucks we had our picture taken with them, Charlie couldn't stop staring at them and Lily didn't seem to understand why boys would dress up that way, but excepted it in the way of a five year old.

Early the next morning we drove to the Sankampaeng hot springs where the water temps are in excess of 100C.  Yo, got us a couple of baskets of eggs to boil in the springs, turns out the kids both preferred the quail eggs.  Breakfast over, we headed to a private bath where we could take advantage of the springs medicinal properties.  With the temps being so high we used the "warm" faucet which was a very comfortable bath temp.  Once we had dried off and changed we continued on to the village where we would be spending the night.  We did make a quick stop at a local market to pick up ingredients for Pad Thai, our Thanksgiving dinner.  Our host was incredibly nice and let me help make dinner, although I think she enjoyed having someone to help with all the chopping!  After an amazing dinner Lucas, Lily and I all had a traditional Thai massage, it was incredibly relaxing, a wonderful treat and the perfect way to end the day.  The next day started at with the crow of a rooster at four am!  The only cool part was that you could hear all the roosters in the village echoing through the mountains.  We had a simple breakfast was fried eggs and toast, although, Charlie did try the meal worms that are part of a traditional Thai breakfast.  The truly amazing part is that he liked them, yuck!  Before we headed back to the airport for our flight back to Bangkok we visited the Mae Kampong waterfall.  While Lucas and I made the trek to the top of the falls Yo kept the kids busy making hats with banana leaves.

Our last stop on our tour was Hua Hin, a city on the Gulf of Thailand, and home of the royal family's summer palace.  We spent a relaxing morning swimming and collecting shells before leaving our slice of heaven in search of lunch.  Since the kids had been so good about eating the local cuisine we decided to treat them to pizza at an incredibly western style mall.  To get back to our hotel we took a local taxi or tuk tuk.  Most tuk tuks are pretty simple, we however ended up with one all tricked out, so instead of a quiet ride we bopped on down the road with the music blaring! The kids loved it.

Back in Bangkok we met up with Pat, a former colleague of Lucas's who now lives in Thailand.  Pat took us out for dinner and to a local market the next morning before we finally headed back, again, to the airport for our flight home.  We had such an amazing time and we are looking forward to our next trip in the spring...

Mommy's Birthday

November 4th I officially hit the midway point of my thirties.  Yep, I am now closer to 40 than 30, not that I'm going to dwell on that...  My wonderful family made sure I had a fabulous birthday, which started with breakfast in bed and a gift from each of the kids that they picked out for me by themselves.  I also got two beautiful handmade cards.  We ended the night by celebrating at our favorite Western place, The Blue Frog,  The night before Lucas and I had a quiet dinner at Din Tai Fung, a Taiwanese chain with excellent dim sum and caught the new Bourne movie.

Tuesday Lucas and I visited Dulwich College, an international school, that we are considering for the kids next fall.  While I love the Montessori that Lily is enrolled in, the school only goes to age 6, and we thought it best if she goes to one of the larger international schools next fall.  Dulwich is amazing and I know both kids will be very happy there.  The school covers kids from age 2 up to high school, but toddlers to year 2 (first grade) are in a separate and much smaller building so it is not so intimidating.  These international schools are absolutely amazing and although Lily will be put in year 1 (5-6 year olds) because of her birthday they will teach her at what ever year level she is at so I don't have to worry about here being bored in class.  With these schools, because the education is top notch, kids often end up ahead of their classmates when they move back home.  I only wish we could afford this kind of education when we move back home!  It is easy to see how the wealthy have such a leg up in education.  I guess Lucas is going to have to get another delegation before Lily starts high school...

Friday, Lucas had dinner out with co-workers to celebrate a friends promotion.  Since it was just me and the kids I made homemade macaroni and cheese followed by chocolate cake that the kids helped with.  The kids were great about taking turns pouring in ingredients and stirring so I rewarded them each with a beater to lick clean.  Charlie did manage to get some in him but I think he wore most of it :-)

Saturday night our Chinese teacher and friend Eric, invited us to his home for a traditional Chinese dinner, family style.  His wife's two friends and our driver, Chem, also joined us.  Good food, good wine, and good company, a great way to spend an evening!  I've invited everyone over to our place after our vacation for a big Italian dinner since I know Italian is a favorite of Eric's and according to him difficult to make.  I've tried to tell him it's not but he doesn't believe me, so I look like a wiz in the kitchen to him and I'm okay with that! 

Halloween

Living in an expat neighborhood has is benefits, especially somewhere so far and so different from home!  Last Saturday, Green City, the area we live, hosted a Haunted Carnival for families.  It was not at all like the carnivals back home, but the kids had a good time all the same.  There was a gauntlet of local vendors set up in booths with candy and pamphlets to hand out as soon as you walked in.  The only one that interested me was a local farm that was selling small pumpkins for the kids to draw a face on.  Lily drew a very nice jack-o-lantern face on hers but since the markers didn't show up well I promised her we would paint the pumpkin later. 

A local hair salon was spraying colored hairspray in the kids hair.  Lily wasn't too sure about it, but after watching Charlie sit and get his done she decided she couldn't let him out do her so they both had green hair for the rest of the day!  The big attraction though was the different bounce houses and slides that were set up.  Lily was only too ready to toss off her shoes and jump in.  Charlie decided that it was too crowded with big kids and opted to hang with mom and dad.  We ran into a few of Lily's classmates at the carnival too.  She's always gets so excited when she sees one of her classmates.  She genuinely likes everyone in her class, I've never heard her say a bad word about anyone.  As a mom this make me incredibly proud, although, I think it is her nature more than my wonderful parenting skills.  

There were several craft table set up for the kids, some were free, while others cost a few RMB.  The kids seemed to like the cup spiders and after picking out pipe cleaners Lily used all of her concentration to make her spider's legs.  Charlie seemed happy to watch daddy make his while he picked out what color maker to use for the face. 
Unlike most carnivals in the US there were no rides and very little in the was of "fair" food.  Instead there were about a half dozen local restaurants that were set up under tents selling a limited version of their menus.  I got a very yummy grilled chicken plate from a Turkish place and Lucas got a burger and fries from Hooters of all things.  The kids didn't seem to be too hungry so they both just picked out our food.  Before leaving we picked up some popcorn and silly string for Lily.  Both were long gone before we got home.  

To complete our Halloween weekend we invited Johnny and Christine, co-workers of Lucas's, over to carve pumpkins with us.  The pumpkins here are a light orange color and have green streaks.  They are also usually squat instead of round but the odd pumpkins were not going to stop Lucas who loves Halloween most of all the holidays.  By the time we picked out our pumpkins from the local grocery store, sigh, and had lunch Charlie was ready for his nap so he missed the carving.  Lily came in at the tail end and helped Johnny with his pumpkin. 

While Lily waited with the patience of a five year old for her brother to wake up, Lucas put on a football game for him and Christine.  Christine is here for six months as part of BASF's Professional Development Program, and is missing football so Lucas told her she was welcome to watch with him since he knows I'm not going to.
Charlie finally woke up and the kids painted their pumpkins using every color paint I have.  It's not like our Halloween's back in the US, but it is close enough so that the kids aren't totally missing out.  

Water village & Zoo

For my parents last weekend in Shanghai we took them to Zhujiajiao (jew-ja-jee-ow), an ancient water village an hour outside of Shanghai.  A bit like Venice, these ancient water villages have canals for roadways.  Ironically the canals can become just as cluttered by boats as they highways during rush hour.  You can buy a ride on one of the traditional boats, but the idea of Charlie in one of these low boats made me nervous. 

For me the highlight of the village was the Kehzi Gardens.  Originally part of the private home of the founding family, the gardens were like a beautiful oasis.  There were little Chinese style gazebos and foot bridges that crisscrossed over a small brook that ended in a pond with koi.  In one arched building we came across a woman selling silk needle points, which was a past time for the daughter's of the family.  We got the kids each a small needle point and mom and I both picked out one with a scene of the village.  I will have them framed and will add them to our growing collection of mementos from our little adventures.  After the gardens we explored some more of the village, including two temples, both still in use.  If we ever doubted that our kids were taking in some of the culture we've exposed them to Charlie put that question to rest.  Upon entering the Buddhist temple Charlie went to the prayer bench and with amazing accuracy mimicked worshipers he's seen in the past!

After Charlie finished his prayers we moved on through narrow alleys crowded with vendors selling food and souvenirs.  As with most tourist attractions you can find the same silly souvenirs here as you can at just about any other place in Shanghai.  But, there are some genuine artists and Lucas and I picked up a beautiful wood carving of a dragon and phoenix for our wall.  Dad couldn't seem to get enough of all the different foods available.  I'm sure if language wasn't an issue he would have asked a lot of questions!

On their last full day in Shanghai we took my folks to the Shanghai Wild Animal Park.  Lucas and I have taken the kids before, it's a nice zoo and offers opportunities in interact with the animals that you don't find in zoos in the States.  Lily started her day off with a ride on a zebra, while Charlie and I climbed up on top of an elephant.  He was a bit leery at first but seemed to enjoy it once he got over his initial fear.  Can't blame him, it is a huge animal, and you can only hope that he is in a good mood!

We invited our driver, Chem, to spend the day with us.  The zoo is pretty isolated and it didn't seem fair to leave him sitting in a parking lot while we had a fun day.  The kids loved having Chem with us and kept arguing over who got his attention. 

We got to see the zoo's nursery which we missed last time and the kids seemed to really enjoy seeing the baby animals.  Also in the nursery area was an enclosed aviary, but instead of birds it was filled with ring tailed lemurs.  They mostly just sat and sunned themselves but we all found them to be incredibly entertaining.  Lily managed to get in two more rides, one with me on a camel, and one with Lucas on an elephant.  Charlie got to sit on a miniature horse which he seemed to think was awesome and both kids got to feed the giraffes and kangaroos.  As always the time went by too fast, but, having my folks here for two weeks was wonderful and we had a great time showing them around Shanghai. 

The sights of Shanghai

For my folks first week in Shanghai we saw much of the city.  We took a hop on hop off bus tour of Puxi and saw the Jing'an Temple which was moved to its current location in the 13th century but burned to ruins in 1972 and was reconstructed in the 80's.  We also saw the Jade Buddha Temple which has a sitting and reclining Buddha made entirely of white jade.  Both temples were beautiful and made sitting in traffic on a bus worthwhile. 

One of the other places that my Dad was excited to see was the Yu Garden and Bazaar.  I've never been to either so I was happy to go, I had no idea it was so big!  The bazaar is a huge maze of shops and restaurants in traditional Chinese style buildings.  Attached to the bazaar is a beautiful garden, which we actually didn't have the time to see since it was getting dark.  We did manage to find the Nanjing Steamed Buns, which my Dad had seen on Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations.  They have two levels, the ground level sells the steamed dumplings out a window and upstairs is a nice sit down restaurant.  They are famous for their large soup filled dumplings that are served with a straw for drinking the soup. Dad was thrilled to get his steamed bun and said it was excellent. 

The bus tour included a cruise along the Hangpu river, so after picking Lily up from school we headed across the river once again to Puxi.  The one hour cruise took us along the Bund and downtown Pudong, and because it was a 5:00 cruise the city lights all came on as we headed back to the dock.  It was a great way to see both sides of the river.  I think Lucas and I may try one of the dinner cruises that they advertised. 

Friday we took the train to Hangzhou for a couple of days and to avoid dealing with taxi drivers we hired a car and driver for our time there.   Our first stop was the Leifeng Pagoda which was recently rebuilt and someone had the brilliant idea to put in an escalator and elevator that takes you to the top of the pagoda and gives you an amazing view of West Lake.  After the pagoda we headed to King Qian's Memorial but instead of seeing the memorial which was closed we took a boat to one of the islands on the lake.  The island has a scenic walk and several shops where you could by the typical Chinese souvenir's.  Mom and Lily got matching bamboo umbrellas and Charlie and I had our picture taken with a cockatoo.  On Saturday we went to the Lingyin Temple which is one of the largest and wealthiest in China and has numerous pagodas and temples.  After taking in the beauty of the Buddha we headed to Qinghefeng pedestrian street for some shopping.  Lucas and I got a Chinese paper cuttings of a famous Hangzhou attraction and a lace umbrella.  After our retail therapy we decided to get in some more culture and went to the Tea Museum.  We learned a bit about the history of tea and got to try four different teas, Oolong, Jasmin, Black, and a local blend.  We also were given directions on how each type of tea should be brewed.  By the time we left we were pretty much done in and we decided to head to the train station a bit early.  With limited food options at the train station we decided to play it safe and had an early dinner at the Burger King, and yes, it tastes exactly the same as it does in the US.  It was a wonderful weekend and I'm so glad that we were able to spend some time in Hangzhou!

They're here!

After many months of waiting my folks, and our first visitors, are finally here!  We are all super excited to show them around our adopted home over the next two weeks and can only hope that we don't leave them too exhausted by the time they head home.  We're starting with easy excursions to some of the cities highlights, with the Jin Mao Tower being our first stop.  At 88 floors high I don't think there is a better way to see the city!  It gives you an amazing 360 view of downtown Shanghai, including one of the cities most recognizable landmark, the Oriental Pearl Tower.  Mom took the unique opportunity to mail some post cards from the world's highest post office and picked up a Jin Mao magnet to add to her vast collection.  Off to lunch next at South Beauty, a Szechuan place, where Dad got to try authentic Chinese dumplings and according to him the best he's ever had.  That night we took him to a local place for dumplings.  We had Chem, our driver order for us since the menu is all in Chinese and the staff speaks no English.  This is how you know you are in a "real" Chinese restaurant, dinner for the seven of us cost about $15.

Today Lucas had work and Lily school so it was just the four of us.  Charlie has yet another cold with a bad cough so we made a detour to the doctors.  Nothing major, but the doctor did give me some cough medicine for him and an antihistamine to help with the mosquito bites.  With his sensitive skin the bites get swollen and take forever to heal.  Doctor visit done we headed to the AP Plaza market, which is where you can find all kinds of souvenirs, silk robes, purses, watches, jade, and a thousand and one other things you don't need.  Using the Century Square entrance we wandered around for about an hour picking up a bunch of souvenirs, a "Michael Kors" purse for mom, and a new suitcase for dad since the handle on his broke on the trip over.  We headed home for lunch since Ayi was cooking chicken noodle soup.  The Chinese use long spaghetti style noodles and cook a whole chicken in it and use very little seasoning.  It is very simple and very good, perfect since I am still trying to shake off a cold.  Tonight we went to Simply Thai for dinner to celebrate Lucas's promotion which was officially announced today at work.  Lucas is now the Regional New Business Development Manager, bit of a mouthful, but we are all very proud of him!