January Update - Welcome 2013!

Burrr it is cold here!    Something that has been very hard to get use to.   Pearl tower, the Huang Pu River, the bottle opener and in the foreground the famous Bund!  The Bund, also called Zhongshan Dong Yi Lu, is a famous waterfront on the Huang Pu river and regarded as the symbol of Shanghai for hundreds of years.  It is from the bund that you have the best views of the famous Pearl Tower (building with the circular spheres on the left) and the “Bottle Opener” -- the blue building lit up with the open notch at the time, hence giving it it’s name.  

One of the most amazing architectural achievements we are witnessing while we living here is the building of the Shanghai Tower.  This building is in the process of being built to the right (in the photo) of the “Bottle Opener” and will be the tallest building in Asia and the second tallest building in the world.  Upon its completion in 2014, the building will stand approximately 632 metres (2,073 ft) high and will have 121 stories!  It not quite taller then the bottle opener at this point… but it grows each week! 

  This is a view from one of our favorite restaurants in Shanghai, Mercato.  This year we decided to forgo the wild New Years adventures and did our “date night” a few nights later without the crowds.  We were able to view all these amazing sites from our table.

The Chinese New Year is a huge holiday celebrated over the course of a few weeks.  They decorate for their New year like we would decorate for Christmas (Of course without the Santa's) .  They celebrate their New Year as we would celebrate our Independence day.  The pollution index nearly doubles from all of the fireworks.   Our town is preparing for the Lantern Festival!  There are always new festive decorations being put up and it is a fun way to learn about their culture while celebrating!!  

 

Well, given the cold weather it does not stop us from running out doors and having our pit crew with us is a bonus!!    We could never train for the Great Wall Marathon with out our support team.  Garrett is usually our lead horse…  if you listen closely he spends the entire ride singing.  Jordan is typically next in line…  She likes to use this time to have our “special” talks but typically follows Garrett’s lead and spends the better part of her ride belting out tunes….  Ayden is our complainer.  She either rides 40 feet behind us or is on “super speed” and we are yelling for her to slow down.  Either way she is one thing of for sure  NON STOP talking from her… 

I am a super reader!!!  And lets just say she took this cape very seriously… 

I love having a kindergartener!  There are so many activities to get involved in and this particular day we were teaching the kids how to make their own dumplings.  The art of dumpling making began in China… and I have to admit, I found it surprisingly challenging.  Each “folder” had their own very specialized technique.  I felt very inadequate in the folding process but a pro in eating!!   The kids absolutely loved not only making them, but eating them as well!   It is an art I am still trying to perfect, but a memory that I will have with Ayden for a lifetime!    

We all catch our children in those rare moments where they are getting along so well, you want to take a picture of it to freeze the moment in time.  I have to admit, my kids really do get along for the most part.  

Phuket, Thailand - Christmas 2012

When we first embarked on this crazy adventure… I never thought that I would appreciate traveling so much and we would get the opportunity to go to such amazing and exotic places.  Let’s face it, I started off not even knowing where Shanghai was on the map… let alone, Vietnam, the Philippines, Bali or Thailand.  It didn’t take long though to realize that with each passing month, our trips out of China are mentally necessary and we are happy to have access to some amazing countries.   This Christmas we decided to venture to Thailand.  Phuket is a popular destination for Expats and we had heard so much about it.  Just a short four hour flight from Shanghai, Phuket is an island located on the Andamana Sea in Southern Thailand and boasts warm water, clear skies and sunshine -- something Shanghai is not noted for.  It was surprising to all of us that we could fly such a short distance and land in a country that is so vastly different from China.  It was a pleasant reminder of our life in Florida with its consistent tropical climate year round and a rainy season between May and October.  

In July 2005, Phuket was voted one of the world’s top five retirement destinations by Fortune Magazine.   After spending 8 glorious days here, this came as no surprise and quickly earned its way on our retirement “bucket list.” 

On one of our first afternoons there, lounging around the pool and grabbing a bite to eat, we all did a double take when we saw a new “friend” that meandered by.   It didn’t take us long to register that it was a baby elephant!   We had heard that they inhabited the island but never did we realize that one would be walking around the resort.  The kids went crazy… and it was hard not to be mesmerized by these incredibly smart and sensitive animals.    

We ventured off the resort and afternoon and took a boat to do some kayaking in Phang Nga Bay.  The landscape was like nothing we have ever seen before except in the movies….There were limestone rocks jutting right out of the water and caves to explore.

We weren’t sure what to expect in the caves… the ceilings were blanketed with sleeping bats and sometimes a little too close for even my comfort level.  Once on the other side though the rocks surrounded us in the most spectacular cove where monkeys were climbing all around.  I felt like we were coming out of a page of National Geographic!  

Our next stop was

 Ko Panyi, Thailand

Ko Panyi is a fishing village in Phang Nga Province we explored.  This village is notable for being built on stilts by Indonesian fishermen. The population consists of roughly 200 families or between 1,500 and 2,000 people descended from 2 seafaring Muslim families from Java.  The village has a Muslim school which is attended by both males and females in the mornings.  The village includes a floating soccer field. Inspired by the 1986 FIFA World Cup.  The children of the village built the field from old scraps of wood and fishing rafts.  We arrived here one afternoon for lunch.   Like most international travel, you often sit down at most meals thinking… I wonder if this is okay.   As it turned out, the food was good and everyone survived the meal without any incidents.   Of course the main reason for the stop I think was the shops selling over priced local trinkets….  Decided to pass on those but enjoyed the experience anyway.  

I know the entire family would agree that some of our most memorable meals to date were our Christmas Eve & Christmas dinner in Phuket.  We were staying in a gorgeous hotel with various high end venues to choose from, but in our indecision and quest for adventure we decided to take our family to dinner at a place that was going to have a lasting impact.   (Of course the resort prices might have had something to do with encouraging us to venture off the path!)  It didn’t take long for us to find a running route once we arrived in Phuket and on our first morning there, we stumbled upon a cute open aired “shack” with some bamboo tables and red table cloths.  We joked as we passed by that we should go there for our holiday meal.  We were surprised that the kids were so enthusiastically on board.   While we were the only ones there dining that night, we had an amazing feast and probably one of our most favorite Thai dinners to date. 

 

It was a family owned restaurant and although they didn’t speak any English the wife cooked and the teenage son was our server.  The shack had a tin roof and no walls but plenty of wine, beer and great food.  We stuffed ourselves with food and loved it so much, we ended up coming back the next night for our Christmas meal!  The wife cooked us some special signature dishes we didn’t even order and I still think they are talking about Garrett eating every last one of their jumbo shrimps totalling I think around 8 on top of his regular meal.  

Although the Patriots fell short at the end of the Season we made sure to show our support and the kids wore their jerseys with pride.   Certainly made it a lot easier to find the kids in the resort too which is good because we had one incident where Ayden got “Lost”.  We’re not talking about this one anymore but lets just say there was about 15 minutes of sheer panic for the entire family while a search was conducted.  Did I mention the resort was huge?  Typical of Ayden she was calm and cool and just made her way to the resort front desk and told them she couldn’t find her family.  (We think she may have stopped in at the spa to get her nails done on the way but can’t prove it)

Our second favorite dining spot and watering hole...

 Don’t let this restaurants shack like appearance fool you… It was located right on the beach and though pretty simple it was just what we needed.  We rated this a close second for Thai food and a short stumble off the JW Marriott property.  The food was outstanding, the beers were cold and the drinks did not disappoint.  It sure beat paying the resort prices too…  paying a mere 1/5 the price.  It was worth the extra adventure!   

The bonus is the tree swing the kids could play on while waiting for our food… not to mention the sandy playground at our feet.

We definitely have two hard core adventurers in our family, but not surprisingly to anyone that knows her Ayden, is not one of them.  She was not on board with the catamaran rides we took one of our first days there… but slowly grew her sea legs and begged to go by the end of the week.  

   The beach extended forever… and often seemed like it was our very own despite the full capacity of the resort.

I have to say… I am truly amazed and privileged to be experiencing these adventures with my ultimate best friend and three amazing children.  The kids have really adapted to life in Asia and it seems as if nothing phases them…  While we have traveled to exotic locations it seems you are never far from poverty in Asia and the kids have grown to understand and appreciate a bit how fortunate we are.  Whether it is eating in a local family run restaurant in Thailand, playing with local children on the beach, or riding in a Tuk Tuk they have developed a taste for adventure and seem to be comfortable in any situation. These experiences have opened my eyes and heart to so many new things.   While our vacations may seem a bit lavish… It is a much needed escape from the grind of life in Shanghai and really makes the whole experience worth it.  I find myself thinking about the experiences the kids are having and appreciate the opportunities to show them new places and give them an appreciation for their lives.    

สุขสันต์วันคริสต์มาส

s̄uk̄hs̄ạnt̒ wạn khris̄t̒mās̄

Merry Christmas 2012!!  (Thai)

We are looking forward to our adventures to comes in 2013!

Sending our LOVE from Thailand!!!  

December in Shanghai...

We are marking another year celebrating Christmas in Asia.  I was very unprepared last year when Christmas rolled around.  I didn’t realize that I would not be able to get a Christmas tree easily.   We went to the Hongiao Flower market and purchased two small pine trees that we figured we could stash year around on our patio.  It wasn’t until they arrived that I realized they were very tiny cut trees that were carelessly stuck in a pot with a half inch of water at the bottom.   A week later the trees turned brown and the needles all fell off. That pretty much sums up our last Christmas.   The good news was the make shift ornaments we made stayed on and the lights made it look beautiful… to us.    

So this year, I meant business!!!  I was not messing around.  I was able to find a website that delivered a fake pre lit Christmas tree.  We put it up the day it arrived and it really felt like Christmas!!!!   

Until five days later… Garrett plugged the US 110 volt plug into the China outlet 120 volts without using the transformer… in seconds POOF! 

Oh the joys of Christmas!!   (this is a fake picture by the way but our tree looks like only a bit healthier version of this)  

We have been researching various activities to do to really wrap our hands around this foreign culture.  Here are a few we have recently stumbled upon.  

Activities in China

There are a few places in China that we are eager to see while we are here.  Chris and I have signed up for the Great Wall Marathon and thought a trip up to Beijing would be nice before actually running the event.   While researching things to do there, I came across a list of must do.  Now I am not sure who wrote this and CLEARLY this was not a Westerner but…  number three on the list read:

3:  Eat a Dick

Chris was immediately intrigued by this of course but this is what followed as its description.

There are plenty of weird things to eat in Beijing, from scorpion to chicken feet.  But for the ultimate guess-what-I-ate-in-China shock, you can’t beat penis.  

Try ram, snake, goat, dog and more!!!   Oh and the kicker here is that it only costs 988 rmb for the “Penis Hot Pot”

(That would be 160 USD)  Sounds like something they should be paying ME to do!  When things like this start to become normal is when I know I have been here too long!! 

December is a very busy month for us.  Both Garrett (8) and Jordan (10) celebrated their birthday at Planet Laser Tag.   

It has always been challenging organizing their birthdays right before the holiday and it is even worse here because school gets out even earlier so that families can travel to their “home” countries.   We had a great turn-out though surprisingly with a 99 % show rate and it was not half as “chinese” as we expected. 

Ayden lost both of her front teeth right before the holiday… The kids picked up pretty quickly that we have started to celebrate some different holidays here and that China is not the same as America.  This becomes very apparent when you loose a tooth or when Santa is supposed to find you.  The tooth fairy did in deed show… the only difference is he/she leaves Chinese money.  (Which fortunately with the conversion the kids think they are receiving an insane amount of money when really they are receiving MUCH less then they would in the states!  HA!)

Ayden has gotten very into being Fancy and these are two of her most favorite books.   She continues to take them out of the library even though we own them at home as well… and then forces the family to endure “Fancy Meetings” each week.   It seems Chris needs the most work but we all sit through our various criticisms on how we can make our own life more fancy.  We think nothing of the feather boa at church… and the sparkly NON walking shoes that force us to carry her on our outings.  It seems the more hair accessories the better etc. and we all need to work on our accents…   

 Christmas Card 2012

Greetings from Shanghai, China where IF I were to send this card to you, you would probably receive it by Halloween.  

Our fantasy….

The kids are fantastic… all excelling in school and rock stars in their activities.  Kristen is in the best shape of her life and Chris has managed to grow a full head of hair again…   I mean look at us … we are the perfect family frolicking through the park holding hands as if not just two minutes before this Garrett wasn’t sitting in time out for pinching his sister and Jordan didn’t almost get run over by a speeding scooter because even at the ripe age of 10 she still does not understand that you have to LOOK when crossing the street!!!   

The realities……

Jordan takes FOREVER to do homework… so much that, I have lifted the ban on electronics during the week just to give her some incentive to GET IT DONE 

Garrett is doing well in school when he is able to control his body and stay in his chair…  I have never seen a kid up and down so much.   It’s no wonder he eats us out of our home with all the energy he burns off making sure everything is fair and he is getting the absolute MOST attention from his mom.  

In truth and all kidding aside… We have a great bunch here and they have made this adventure so worthwhile.  To see how much they have grown and adapted and LEARNED about another culture is so rewarding.  

So we do wish you all a very happy New Year as it probably will be half over by the time I get these posts out… 

We are missing our family in friends in the states and appreciate all of our blessings both near and far!!! 

Great things to come in 2013!!