12 Things I've Learned

I've learned a few things in my four months here in Chengdu(I can't believe its only been four months!) and I have decided to compile a list for your reading pleasure!

1.  Always carry tissues...you never know when you will be forced to use a public squat toilet and SURPRISE there is NO toilet paper...like ever!

2.  Always carry wipes...there is generally never any soap in bathrooms so you need to clean your hands with something!(By now your purse is more closely resembling a diaper bag)

3.  Learn your numbers!  Due to my lovely white skin, any and every person in this city tries to take advantage of me.  Its always fun to see their shocked looks when you start bargaining in Chinese.

4.  "Bu Yao" means don't want/don't need and works in a variety of instances eg:  when someone is trying to manhandle my kids or take our picture or sell us something.

5.  Some stuff just doesn't make sense!  For example:  "mama huhu" is a common expression meaning so-so(the movie was so-so) but the literal translation is Horse Horse Tiger Tiger...how does that even make any sense?!

6.  Little dogs are mean!  I don't know whether its fear that they could be tonight's dinner or what but don't be sticking your hands anywhere near a little dog!

7.  Eat Chinese!  Real Chinese food can be amazing!  And inexpensive too!  Not like the crap you get in North America.  Though not many restaurants have English on the menu, lots have pictures.

8.  People are impatient...even the cute little 80 year old granny in the line up for the produce scale.  She will budge in front of you if you let your guard down for a second!

9.  Smoking is acceptable...everywhere...I know, gross.  In Canada its become law pretty much everywhere that you can't smoke inside any building.  Come to China and if there isn't a cigarette hanging from your lips you're a minority(amongst men anyway) Restaurants, hotels, taxis, airports, you name it and there are people smoking in it.

10.  Road rules...there are none.  See those lines on the road?  They don't mean anything.  See that cross walk or side walk?  Think you can safely walk on it?  Nope.  Watch out for that bus, scooter, car, mo-ped!  My kids have become pros at weaving through traffic.

11.  She looks like a street walker!  But she's not.  That's just how they dress here.

12.  Plastic bags...are good for many applications including holding soup.  I've seen it.

Well that was fun.  Hope you learned a few things that you didn't already know!

Quote of the Day

Last night at dinner...

Me to S:  I'm sure glad you've decided to like beans.

S:  I like them 'cause they make me fart!

Boys...I'm shaking my head right now.  ;)

New Pets!

I can't live without pets!  I just can't!  I can hear my mom rolling her eyes as I write this.  I had every pet under the sun as a kid.  We adopted cats from neighbors, we had dogs, fish, turtles, gerbils, birds, rabbits, baby birds I rescued from broken nests and a guinea pig.  These weren't all at once, but over the years and my love for animals obviously carried over into my adulthood as I had a small farm back home with nearly every creature under the sun there too!  

In China we live in an apartment so I can't exactly have cows and a pack of big dogs(although my husband has promised me chickens and they have yet to appear.)  Two days ago we bought a fish tank off some friends who are on their way back to the U.S. after four years here in Chengdu.  Yesterday we went to 'Pet Street' and bought oodles of fish to fill the massive tank!  It came with three fancy gold fish and two plecos so we needed fish that can coexist with those guys.  

Two Puffer fish, five Neon Tetras, six fancy Guppies, six Mollies and six Tiger Barbs later we have an aquarium!  Hurray!

 

 And don't forget the Siamese Fighting Fish!  He graces our kitchen table with his presence and we call him 'Rio.'

 

Dinner Menu for Week of May 21-27

Monday:  Treat Day!  Tropical Burgers with fries

Tuesday:  Mulligatawny(Vegan)

Wednesday:  Princess Chicken

Thursday:  Rice Pilau(Vegan)

Friday:  Spaghetti with salad and garlic bread

Saturday:  Potato Pea Curry(Vegan)

Sunday:  Mu shu Chicken

Dinner Menu for Week of May 14-20

I have been meaning to post my dinner menus for a couple of weeks but just haven't gotten around to it.  And as you can see we are halfway through this week but I figured better late than never!  I have downloaded a couple of cook books to my Kindle so that I am never without dinner ideas.  I like planning a menu out on Sunday night for the following week so that I'm not scrambling to think of things for dinner.  I have a hard time finding certain ingredients here in China but that's where the fun comes in with substituting.  Anything calling for chili powder usually gets substituted with some of that delicious Garam Masala or Cumin I got from India!  Mmm yum!  Anyway I thought I would share this and hope that it gives you some ideas for your dinner menu too!

Monday: (Mondays are our 'Treat Day' so we usually have something treat-like.  This week...) Hot Dogs

Tuesday:  Wild Mushroom and Bean Burritos(vegetarian)

Wednesday:  Wonton Soup and tempura vegetables with zucchini from my garden!!

Thursday:  Cincinnati Style Chili Mac with Cornbread (vegetarian)

Friday:  Garlic Chicken with Rice

Saturday:  BBQ Chicken with Sweet Potato

Sunday:  Mango Chicken with rice

Meat is a bit of a concern here as I'm not sure what the hormone/antibiotic rules are so we do two vegetarian meals a week.  Two meals are usually 'comfort' food from home such as spaghetti and then the other three meals are Chinese inspired as the ingredients for that are easy to come by!

If there are any recipes you are interested in, let me know and I can email them to you or direct you to where I found them.

Happy Cooking!

Ignorance

The kids and I went for a walk at the park this afternoon and afterwards took a detour to Starbucks. We had Dexter with us so I left the kids at the door in full view while I got my coffee. As I watched from inside I saw my daughter F getting increasingly uncomfortable and read her lips as she said, "I'm not supposed to talk to strangers." Next I watched as she started backing away from the person sitting near the door whom I could not see from where I was. I went outside and asked her what the problem was. She told me that the guy sitting there was talking to her and making her uncomfortable. So I told her and S to just come inside while I waited for my coffee.

Yes, I have taught my kids not to talk to strangers. However, I have taught them that strangers are just people like any other and not all strangers are bad but I have also been blunt with them(as my mom was with me) that there are bad people out there and you don't know who is who so its better to just firmly but politely tell the person that you aren't allowed to talk to them.

What did this particular stranger say to F? Nothing really out of the ordinary but any normal person would have seen how uncomfortable he was making this little girl and stopped. He asked her what her dog's name was(had I been there I would have told her it was alright to tell him) and after she told him she wasn't supposed to talk to strangers he continued by asking if her dog was allowed to talk to strangers or if her mom was allowed to talk to strangers and then proceeded to direct his questions to the dog.

When we all came out of Starbucks he decided he needed to tell me that I was too strict a parent by putting such a fear of strangers in my kids. I told him that my kids received far too much unwanted attention here and it had made them uncomfortable. He agreed in regards to the Chinese but said that they shouldn't have such a fear of westerners. How that makes a difference is any body's guess? I asked him if he had kids of his own which he told me turned out just fine without such fear as I was instilling in my children. I told him that he shouldn't judge others' parenting.  I also told him he was an ass as I walked away with him muttering after me.

What gives a person the right to judge another's parenting?  Like most people, I've judged occasionally but never stopped a person and told them openly. But for someone to tell me that I have put too much a fear of strangers into my kids is blatantly ignorant.  'Stranger Danger' is just as much a part of childhood as cuts and bruises and I don't think that teaching my kids about weirdos is a bad thing!

When my daughter was a baby I told someone, "I grew that kid for nine and a half months. I'm not going to let it get hurt after all that work."  This doesn't mean that I shelter my kids but I do protect them and isn't that really my job as a mother?


What do you think?

Back to Reality

We arrived back in reality on Sunday morning flying into the Kunming Airport.  Back to being stared at, gawked at, pointed at, and touched.  Dubai was a nice little holiday from that where we weren't even given a second look.  Anonymity is grand! 

Dexter just about died from excitement when we hauled ourselves through the apartment door.  I don't think I've ever seen a dog do so many consecutive circles.  We trekked up to the rooftop garden to check on our plants and what a wonderful surprise to see everything thriving and not brown and dead!(Alice did good on the watering and the keeping alive the animals part!) 

My zucchinis have gone crazy!  We will be feasting on zucchini within a week or so!  Mmmm zucchini bread! 

And strawberries!  The kids were ecstatic to see strawberries!  It was like Christmas!

After a taste of 'the good life' in Dubai, I think the only thing that will keep me sane here is planning our trip back to Canada for a visit in July!  And I have plans!  BIG plans! 

Dubai- Day 7

Our little respite here in Dubai is quickly coming to an end.  We depart at 10:00 tonight and will wake up back in reality at 7:30 tomorrow morning.  We decided to spend our last bit of time here at the beach.  It was lovely!  Beautiful sandy beach and deliciously warm water.  Its a wee bit like paradise!

And what better way to cool off, after trekking across boiling hot sand to get back to the shade, than with a little taste of home?

Dubai- Day 6

We were up bright and early this morning for our 9 am appointment at the top of the Burj Khalifa!  It was spectacular!  Then this afternoon we were picked up for our Desert Safari!  So much fun!(I am going to be a woman of few words in this post.  I'm just too tired!  So enjoy the photos that speak louder than words anyway!)

Dubai- Day 5

Today we caught the metro to the Spice Souk! I have been looking forward to this since a friend mentioned it to me a couple weeks ago. I am so glad she told me about it!

I had cardamom, cardamom oil, vanilla beans and sumac on my list. Cardamom oil for my mom who wants it for her natural soap and sumac for a friend who wants to recreate foods she had while on holiday. I wanted vanilla beans for making vanilla extract because its ridiculously expensive in China and vodka is not! Ha! And cardamom because I have a chai tea addiction that I have to feed.

The Souk was amazing!  Though I regret that we went during the day because it was far too hot for the kids to be trekking around even if most of it is in the shade.  And also too hot for me to remember to take my camera out of my purse!  I didn't take a single picture!  Whoops! 

So clockwise from the top is:  Turmeric, Indigo(also for my mom's soapmaking), Vanilla Beans, Sumac, Cardamom oil and lastly Green Cardamom.
 

I can't wait for home made Vanilla Extract!  And chai tea!  And cardamom soap from my mom!  Hint hint Mom!!

Dubai- Day 4

Today we decided to go check out the Dubai Outlet Mall.  By now you're wondering if we've done anything besides check out malls.  The short answer is: no.  The reason for that is because my husband K doesn't want us doing anything fun without him so we are bored stiff while he's working all day thus driving me to shop!  Funny, because I hate spending money and therefore really not having that much luck in the shopping department!  I did find a bathing suit bottom that I liked today and both the kids got new running shoes!  Hurray!  

After the Outlet Mall, S decided to toss his cookies in the cab on the way home again but being as smart as I am, I had bags with me!  The cab driver didn't even notice.  Yup, we're that sneaky.  So we hung out in the hotel room for the afternoon until the kids drove me so crazy that I told them to get their damn shoes on so we could go catch the Metro to( you guessed it) another mall!  Before I left China for Dubai I googled 'Starbucks' and found a picture of an amazing Starbucks that I wanted to find.  So that's what we went looking for!  It was at the Ibn Battuta mall right off the Metro line.

My kids have become pros at the Metro thing as we do it all the time in China.  Its a great(and cheap) way to get around.  

Seriously the most beautiful Starbucks I've ever seen!  I had to buy a cup!

 

 

After our little excursion we went for a lovely dip in the pool.  Since learning to swim yesterday, S graduated to underwater somersaults and back flips today.  What will he be doing tomorrow?  High diving perhaps?  As long as it doesn't involve vomit I don't care...I'm running out of bags!

Dubai- Day 3

It was my 31st birthday yesterday and I had big plans for fun things to do! My kids however did not want to do any of it. They wanted to go in the pool. Sigh. So we donned our suits, slobbered on the sunscreen and spent nearly four hours in the pool. My boy S taught himself to swim in those four hours! We also got burnt to a crisp! So much for sunscreen protection! After relaxing in the air conditioned hotel room for the rest of the afternoon, my husband K arrived back from meetings and whisked us off to my birthday dinner reservation. Halfway into our cab ride the sun exposure caught up with S and he tossed his cookies in the cab. Thank goodness the driver had a bag for just that sort of occasion! Sigh. No Indian food for me. Back to the hotel for us to tuck overcooked children into bed. I did, however get a cake from Magnolia Bakery but puking child has a tendency to put a damper on my appetite for anything. So cake will wait for another day.