gas in China

I'm unsure about gas prices in China (last I checked, they were similar to US), but there is a shortage of available gas. At least since the earthquake in Sichuan; in fact, I've been told by my driver that it is because so much fuel is being diverted to Sichuan for disaster recovery.

There are lines at all the gas stations *which have gas*. A number of stations are closed and I see the lines every time I go past a station. To fill our Buick, my driver waited 3 hours the other night. Price is one thing, availability is more scary, at least to me.

On the positive side, I don't have to wait in line and I don't pay :)

Tomorrow we are off to Guilin. Photos and story next week.

Random Thoughts

Reading "Dune Messiah" and watching South Park makes for interesting thoughts. The combination, I realized, put me in an Ayn Rand state of mind. Also makes me think of things like "You will respect Muad'dib!" M'kay?

Another geek indicator of impending fatherhood: I added a "baby" folder to my IE favorites.

As we drove around Shanghai with little idea how to get to the hotel, I remarked, "I brought GP, but need GPS." I was rewarded with a "tiao yan".

I wish I could find a MotoGP themed baby stroller. There has to be a market. I may have to settle for the Maclaren.

After 2 years, I'm starting to actually enjoy good Chinese food. Where "good" doesn't mean Western style, but means well-prepared. When I go for Western food now, I keep wondering where the vegetables are.

For those wondering why we prefer having the baby in China:
Pros: * doctor and hospital staff speak Chinese
* we can hire an ayi to help for not too much money
* continuity with health care
* no travel, jet lag, moving to new place stress
* great story for little mouse . . "I was born in Shanghai, China"

Cons: * must file some additional paperwork to register American born abroad and get baby passport

Happy Anniversary

Happy many years Anniversary to my Mom and Dad. I always get the number of years wrong, so I'll stick with generic :) I hope you got out and did something special.

The Olympic torch went within 2 blocks of our house today, but we were in Shanghai for the weekend. We had a pretty good time, though we couldn't meet up with friends as they had a sick daughter. We did find me some new jeans and had a check up (everything looks ok) and signed up for prenatal classes starting the end of August.

Only 3 work days then off to Guilin!

Mahjong, Guilin, and Happy Birthday Horst!

Let's start first with big, happy, birthday wishes for my good friend Horst. He is one of my favorite people in the world and I'm sorry I can't help him celebrate in person. Be assured, Horst, Avi and I will drink a beer in your honor tonight. Happy Birthday.

Friday was a lazy day for us, no work for me and, frankly, I don't even remember much about it. I think we went for a walk and had some lunch, maybe did some shopping? It was pleasant, that's for sure :)

Saturday we had a mahjong date with Lu Yan Hong and her new husband. Remember the wedding photos from 2 weeks ago? We met at the mahjong place at 1:30 and had a great time playing (and snacking on treats) until 5:30 when we met with 7 other people to celebrate LYH's birthday. Luckily, dinner was one flight down from the mahjong hall, so we were on time. We had a private room with a 600rmb minimum, so we ordered a lot of food (Sichuan) and gorged. Very delicious! I had mixed feelings on being left out of most of the conversation; on one hand, I was a little bored - on the other hand, there was an insurance salesman dominating the discussion.

After dinner we went back upstairs, but no mahjong rooms were available. Eight of us went to an alternate place and ended up playing two tables of mahjong until 1am. Yikes! 8.5 hours of mahjong, but it was great fun. I'm ready to play some more.

I remember what else we did Friday - we paid for our Guilin vacation. May 29-Jun 1 we will go to Guilin in southern China. If you check out the photos, you will realize that you've seen it before. We got a package deal with air, hotels and private tour from the same place that did our Thailand vacation. It worked so well, we were happy to go to them again.

Teasing GP and real, American food

Thursday was pretty typical here; I came home from work, made myself some food and sat in front of the computer. GP was at school and sent me a message that she would have dinner with GQQ after class. Nothing out of the ordinary.

At 9:25, she's going to head home and we start this message exchange:

GP: Your girlfriend left?
MO: Leaving now, I am giving her money.
GP: Why give her money?
MO: She needs operation to fix her bad leg.
MO: One leg too short. Always walk in circle la
GP: Always walk in circle? How to leave our house?
MO: I tell her to keep turning right. Then she walks straight.

GP reports that she was laughing so hard, the taxi driver was looking at her strangely. It reminds a running gag (no pun intended) all Friday, too. Like when I walked with one leg on the sidewalk and one in the gutter and said: This is like how my gf walks.

*****

While grocery shopping, we glanced through the meat aisle and I spotted chicken livers. Mmm, fried chicken livers. I promised GP that I'd make some real, American food for her. Fried livers with spaghetti. Then I reminded her what spaghetti is :)
I had also decided to make banana bread, so it was a day of true, "just like home" cooking.

I fried the livers in oil after a little flour coating, then fried some bell peppers with onion and tossed them with the livers. The spaghetti was typical (Barilla) with some Prego sauce (I jazzed it up a little with more pepper and onion). It was very good and GP enjoyed it a lot. We had made the bread batter before dinner and the loaves came out just as we sat to eat.

The banana bread is good, though a little underbaked. I blame new recipe and convection oven, but it is tasty, so I don't mind. I'll try again sometime and give bread as real American gifts.

Tragedy in Sichuan

Everyone has heard by now and seen the news footage from Sichaun, Chongqing, and related areas. It was a big earthquake followed by some heavy rains, in a mountainous region. Over 14,000 people killed as of my last check, probably still thousands more trapped and many people aid can't reach because of bridges out, landslides, and other limitations.

The government response was fast (the prime minister flew there within an hour) and heavy. The TV shows almost continuous coverage of rescue teams and supplies flying into the areas. Helicopters are dropping supplies into areas which can't be approached by road. Fleets of ambulance with crews drove from Nanjing, Shanghai, and other places to help. Everyone, including foreigners, are sending money, blankets, food, and medicine to help.

I have been impressed with the China government's rescue efforts and I will say it looks more organized and efficient than what we saw after Katrina.

It's a good day today

Hi, all, hope you had a good weekend and a happy Mother's Day. We had a good time doing the regular weekend things. Saturday was especially fun, at least for me, as I headed out on my 1-hour, around-the-lake ride which turned into "ride 20 minutes, push bike home for an hour". I got a severe flat after 20 minutes and the tire just would not hold air. Later diagnosis shows a small hole, slit shaped, on the inner diameter of the tube. Strange, but maybe it was nicked during assembly. I found a 2nd, similar slit, not through the wall of the tube yet, near it. I'll patch them both and see how it holds. It's not easy to find a replacement tube for some reason. GP was impressed that I could do such a job myself; sheesh, easier than replacing injectors on the Maxima or doing most of the motorcycle work I have over the years :) Always good when I can impress her, though.

Saturday afternoon we did a little shopping and had dinner with our friend Guo Qing Qing. No pics this time (you can see GQQ on my picasaweb pages, see link at the top). We had Japanese/Chinese for dinner and I was able to eat some sushi with misaligned teeth and only being able to open my mouth halfway. Yes, it's getting better, but slowly. Today I can get my mouth about 70% of the way open and my teeth are pretty well aligned. You can bet I'll be more careful trying to crack my neck in the future.

After dinner, the 3 of us went to my favorite neighborhood bar where we played a little pool and chatted with other foreigners. GQQ had to work Sunday, so I walked the girls back about 10:30 and then returned to the bar. Picture a typical, American looking bar and now try to imagine the inhabitants: me, an American from South Carolina (he owns the bar), a Chinese bartender, a Singapore woman, one Irishman, and a couple from Wales. At one point there was also a couple, he from the UK (I think) and she from the Phillipines. The group is well acquainted and we had a great time talking about everything, including getting advice on visas and childbirth. Everyone took turns buying rounds and we all sampled a bottle of very smooth vodka the owner had brought back from Russia.

Around 3am, the owner tried to get us to leave as he and his Chinese girlfriend were catching an 8am train back to her hometime. At 3:30, I paid my bill, but accepted another beer. At 4, the owner turned off the TVs and most of the lights, then sang us a song he wrote many years ago for his daughter. At 4:30, we all bemoaned the fact that there was no 24hr diner for eggs and bacon and I gave up, left a nearly full TsingTao (I just couldn't drink anymore!) and walked home. I was tempted by the lightening sky to the East to stay up a while longer and watch the sunrise, but it wasn't worth the effort of keeping my eyes open.

I woke up at 11am, on the couch, with GP staring at me. Only a weak hangover, but enough. :)

Birthdays and Mother's Day

Happy #2 Birthday to Zoe. I hope we can get some birthday photos (hint, hint) of her in her pretty qi pao.

And we might as well throw in birthday wishes for Zoe's dad, Trevor. He is much more than 2 years old, but will probably smash cake into his face just like his daughter :)

Most importantly, happy Mother's Day and very big thank you's from GP and I to our mothers. Enjoy something special and remember we love you.

Happy Birthday to my brother

He won't see this and probably won't care if he does see it, but I'm sending a birthday wish to my brother, Dan. Everyone spank him when you see him on Wednesday - he might like it!

Funny things GP says

I had forgotten about this episode, but GP started laughing the other day and reminded me.

About two weeks ago, just before bed, I started looking around her dressing table for a comb.

GP: What are you looking for?
me: A comb. I thought your comb was over here.
GP: Look in the drawer.

(I look in the drawer)

me: It's not here.
GP: What's a comb?

******

Another funny word play:

The ayi (maid) was cleaning and GP and I were in the bedroom. She points at the bed and says:

GP: Who did that?
me: What?
GP: Ford that.
me: Ford? Ford what?
GP: Your clothes, who ford your clothes?

I laughed and said: It's a good thing we have a Buick.

GP: Tao yan! (that means she's pretending to be angry)
GP: Next time you can Buick your clothes!

Now we laugh every time we see a Ford on the street.