the most amazing cake i've ever seen

On of my friend's had a big joint birthday with 3 other people (whom we didn't know) and they had this awesome cake made by the team at the Westin hotel.

It was huge- and had a little house for each person decorated with things they liked- basketballs! The Golden Gate bridge was depicted along with JW marriont (Shanghai), World financial center (Aka Handle building), and pearl tower. In the back are signs showing their favorite hangouts, and there was also a huge cookie of an iphone showing their wi-chat icons and birth dates. And yes- we did eat it!!!

me, birthday girl Mary, Coco, and Laurie

Our little one

This is our little one, growing in my belly. He's already been all over australia, shanghai, and soon will visit America.

We have been praying for our little one for the past 4 months. Its been an adventure - previous the pregnancy I had a mystery condition and was told we may not be able to have kids- ever. Or other not-so-nice possibilities. We are thankful for our healthy baby and look forward to his debut next spring!

So far, the morning sickness has dissipated (after a boat trip on the great barrier reef), road trips and airsickness. He is moving now- kicking and shifting- usully when I've been sedentary for much too long, or cooking at the stove...?

It took us a while to share our new for various reason, one of which was we didn't have a normal ultrasound to show... our doc kept giving us awkward or x-rated images! haha ha We're in an "international" hospital but most of the staff are local Chinese who speak english. Did you know that since its the year of the dragon that many Chinese families have been having their kids this year? Like twice as many? to be fair, our hospital quoted us their number of local patients doubled this year- not sure if its like that across the board, but it was near impossible to get into any other local hospital.

BMW masters cup

T: Guess what! I got us all free tickets to the Master's cup!
K: Awesome!
K: What sport is that?
T: ....


My dad likes golf. "Like" is probably an understatement judging from the multiple weekly tee times and $ he's invested into equipment and those funny golf jackets with elbow length sleeves. So when my parents came to visit us in SH, my mom naturally gravitates towards shopping, and we were thinking of an activity my father would enjoy. Golf. So T heard about BMW giving away free tickets to the Masters Tournament here in Shanghai, and reserved us 4 passes for the whole weekend!

The tourney was at Malaren Park (English name, not chinese for "Spicy people" as I supposed) out in Pudong at the very end of Line 7, Meilian lake. The event provided free shuttles direct from People's square,  and then we were on our way! It was party cloudy with a light drizzle. When we got there we had to walk about 15 minutes through a construction one to a magnificent resort-like place. Huge banners of the head lining competitors rippled every 10 meters. We would get to see the top 3 golfers in the European circuit! (Out of some 27 players, including Chinese, and other nationalities- it wasn't clear what made it "european")

There was a tented area where all the sponsors showed their wares, giving out free iphone4 cases, putting competitions, and even a mini go-kart track for kids to practice driving.

I'd never been to a Gold tourney before, but was surprised at the number of young families there- babies and toddlers being pushed around the greens (were which very far apart!) and the volunteers would wave their "quiet" signs at them when the Golfers tee'd off. The older kids enjoyed running in the big open spaces picking plants and touching the fresh cut grass!

Homes for sale- almost all were empty.

Dad and T got to talk to one of the golfers- who overheard them speculating the situation, about rules when the balls get stuck in awkward places.

Quiet!

I wish I had brought my raincoat. Fortunately T and my parent came prepared with umbrellas!

Dad and Timon

Even though a cloudy day, the clean air and smell of fresh cut grass was wonderful. I hadn't seen a sky that big in a long time!

Also noted, Malaren park's website advertises Shopping outlets, which are actually 15-20 minute drive away, 5 blocks from the Meilian metro stop. It didn't look very populated when we drove by, but apparently many were enjoying the lake/park, renting boats and walking perimeter of Meilian lake. 

Australia trip part 1

We flew out Thursday evening and arrived in melbourne just after lunch. It was freezing. Frigid! My luggage didn't make the plane, and we were exhausted and hungry. Unfortunately, the "central" airbnb we stayed at had nothing in the neighborhood- it was a 25 min walk from town, totally residential. And freezing. Did I mention it was freezing? I'm talking 50 or below. We were both underdressed, and furthermore, underpacked. I didn't even have luggage to pile on more layers, so I took to wearing Timon's. After sorting out where my luggage was going (we waited, it didn't show and we were eager to see the city) We headed off into the city!

We were told stores and cafes were 2 tram stops...but we didn't feel like waiting in the cold and we walked briskly and found ourselves in town relatively quickly. We found a Salvo's (salvation army) where I tried to find a coat or sweater- but alas nothing fit me.

RMIT

 We stopped by Vic's market- a huge covered wet market, where they were packing up. We shared a bowl of lentil soup then trotted on towards Swanson st, to see the bath house then detoured to RMIT college which had a really cool exterior and interior architecture and design. Bright colors, geometric shapes, a bit cave like, and we spent some 20 minutes charging phones and trying to figure out the bus system to get to fitzroy- a hip area of cafes and boutiques. Evenutally we found a bus, which required  a jaunt up swanston through the city center, past museum, China town, and alas a Target! We went in and bought sweaters. It never felt so good to be wearing 3 layers and no be able to bend your elbows. 

RMIT

We hopped the bus to Fitzroy (it began sprinkling!) and we evenutally met up with two of our friends, one who moved to Amsterdam 3 years ago so it was a jolly reunion (and she had a guide book!)

The bride and groom to be texted us to meet at Cookie, back on swanston, so we cabbed back, only find crowds of people! We ended up at the 10th (?) floor rooftop cinema/bar thing, which had a very cool view. They were showing snippets of music videos- basically the history of music videos accompanied by music. it was peculiar and interesting. and cold. 

around the city

 Adorable grade school marching band!

Yep. Strap a tree to your bike and the day begins.

4 more days until australia!

We found the key to our file cabinet this week. This is a huge highlight considering we couldn't open the file cabinet for the past 2.5 years, and weren't sure what was inside. It must ahve been important if it was locked, we reasoned.

Ok- this was actually T's file cabinet and so he knew, but I was really curious. He went through the contents with serendipity and boredom, tossing old files from former work, while finding his paperwork to get a driver's license in China! He had taken a test and had the proper stamps and certificates to obtain a license- all he has to do is turn it in! Finally.

With the new space, we organized every paper floating in our house. My random sketches, tax forms, medical receipts and letters from Gramma. Now everything has a home- it felt good to get things in order. Paper is our main form of clutter. Mail. Bills. Neglected RSVPs. (We received a wedding invite on Oct 6th, with a US post mark of Sept 10th?! Way past their rsvp date.... sorry!)

4 more days until australia!

We'll be heading to Melbourne, Yarra valley for a wedding, then cairns (great Barrier reef), and Sydney. Packing, packing...

Packing is a paint for both of us. We both forget stuff. We are list makers who lose lists.

We forget electric plug adapters A LOT (we found 6 HK ones, since we buy one everytime we go there) and then packing for opposing climates- if its summer in SH I'll forget socks, if winter I'll forget sunglasses.

Visit to Dongguan

Last week I went by Dongguan, which is in the south of China to check out two factories and the market. What I enjoyed about going down south is the tropical weather and lush green scenery. Palm trees, and bright flowers are everywhere, thick and healthy. (I feel like they over prune the trees in SH, and they look a bit like a freshly sheered sheep)

Crocodile for lunch!

We lunched at a local seafood restaurant- the type where the entire front area is devoted to tanks of fish and seafood in multiple layers. Its basically an edible aquarium if you will. So while one of the ladies went to choose seafood, she came with this croc hand snapshot, giggling. Eeek! Then we proceeded to eat lunch- snails, prawns, scallops, salt and pepper spare ribs. And a meat dish- my sourcing partner insisted I try it, even though I was full. It was tender juicy and fatty. "Is it pork belly?" I asked. "No, just meat- it's good! Try it!" she encouraged.

It was crocodile.

After the meal was complete, I went to see the table of ice, where the crocodile had been chopped up, with skin still on the flesh.  The tail was about arms width long! kinda creepy and fascinating at the same time. There were also some duck billed fish that were pretty cool.

The main factory we visited- working on new samples and product development, quality checks, and learning more about the production process. They had 4 of these huge fume hood like machines that suck all the bad fumes out in into a pool of water, which was super nasty. But it was actually breathable on the production floor, so I'm not complaining.  This was a pretty well established factory that does business with Kohl's, Target, etc, and has indoor plumbing (SCORE) its own canteen (cafeteria) dorms, and basketball court (pictured above). It was in a pretty developed neighborhood off the main road too, which meant a decent hotel, and choice of restaurants!

What was interesting but I wasn't able to snap a pic in time- was corner stores would put a TV on a stand on the sidewalk facing the street, and 20-30 plastic stools for people to sit and hang out on. Several cyclists and people with dogs would also stop by to watch tv for a bit, a neighborhood gathering watching the news or some movie.

The production line, making a set of ceramic wastebins I designed (in stores now!)

 Some fabric swatch cards that I picked up from the market: a cotton/linen set and a PP and paper woven set- cool combination of materials, in a nordic meets resort look. It can see this material in lots of uses.... bags, bins....

Late afternoon sunlight in a creepy vacated factory - this one focuses on wood.

taipei weekend

Last weekend, we headed to Taipei, Taiwan, for a little R&R. It was my first time and I loved it! It was a great mix of modern design, tropical flavor, and city community all blended together.

We met up with Sue, my good pal from CCA and headed to the SongShan cultural park to visit the Taiwan Design Museum.

They had a Barbie exhibit- a private collection of every Barbie ever made (?) It was fascinating, impressive, and creepy all at the same time. Fascinating that they had so many extremely detailed outfits and accessories, and basically every imaginable personality and more. The 1970's delta airplane interior playset, a princess for every culture that ever existed AND more, and also celebs like Michael Jackson and Michelle Obama.  Even the above creepy mustache doll.

A late lunch outside- a typhoon was coming so it was quite windy. We went to Chun Shui Tang, notorious for their naicha (milktea) with beef noodles and 萝卜糕 lobakgo. YUMMY!! Milk Houses, by Taipei 101 is known for their cream bun- which is basically filled with butter!!!!

Then headed to Taipei 101, once the tallest building in the world (2004) 449.2 m. (For comparison, SH's WFC is 494.3 m) As it was a Sunday afternoon, there was a 1 hr wait. Nearby we also checked out the very cool Eslite bookstore - which was several floors combining fashion and designy pop-up shops, and books. Timon: This is a bookstore? Where are the books?

 Raohe + Shilin night market. Raohe had more food, and shilin  was twice the size but had mostly clothes. Cheap clothes- like $5 usd racks of  Polyester neon tops and a 100 TWD shop.

 Above images show a dessert crepe filled with peanut toffee shavings and fruit ice cream. 

Handmade food, on right, we are playing this traditional pinball-like game. You use a plastic ruler to flick metal balls up and try to get them to line up horizontally or vertically to get a prize. We just won root beer candy.

Custard in egg shells, Taiwanese pineapple and mango beer, and corndogs covered in french fries.

5 dime boat house resturant: paper mache cavern and iron anemones in a Gaudi-meets-Simon Rodia style. The artist/architect of the restaurant is Xie Li-xiang who was inspired by drift wood, and desiring to upcycle it into art. The ENTIRE resturant is doused in details of enormous proportions. Huge anemones and stautes mounted all over- you really have to watch where you are walking! The cuisine was traditional Taiwanese fare.  here

We also visited the Palace museum- which was huge, and very well done. Great english descriptors, arrows to help traffic flow, and docent roping off areas so they wouldn't get too crowded. It farther up north and we had to take a cab there (no metro), but only 5 min from where we were staying in Jian nan.

We headed to Beitou in the evening to visit the hotsprings. It was about 35 minutes from the Palace museum (both north of where we were staying) We didn't have a place in mind, so we asked the cabbie for a recommendation. For ordering about $12 USD of food per person, (Tempura platter, BBQ beef, and veggies) we got unlimited time in a private hotspring! It was a little room with a stone tub, with faucet for the hot spring to fill it up directly!

We LOVE the tripadvisor app- so well thought out and tremendously helpful!
We stayed in Jian Nan metro area, via Airbnb- a newer neighborhood, very residential/commercial which meant it was very quite but also no street snacks, and even fewer cabs. Fortunately, the mall nearby had a free shuttle to Shilin night market!

In hindsight, we should've flown in Songshan airport, which was much closer to town- and metro accessible.

neighborhood

Some buildings with window washers. This one has wall gardeners!

on Panyu Rd, the whole wall is covered in mirrored window boxes overflowing with green. 

to do!

After reading Apartment therapy's article 10 things to  help your home be happier!
I realized we don't have enough photos on our walls! We have art, fish and bills that need to be paid. I've been working on our wedding album for some time now- I've got the photos chosen and roughly divided in sections, but still have to color correct, crop, and layout. (2+ years later!)

I make a point to snap at least 1 photo at every "event" we go to. I just have to do something with all of them!

Below are the two I hope to start:

3. Display sentimental items around your home. One reason that experiences (and memories of those experiences) make us happier than material things is due to the entire cycle of enjoyment that experiences provide: planning the experience, looking forward to the experience, enjoying the experience, and then remembering the experience. Make your home a gallery of positive memories.

4. Start a one-line-a-day gratitude journal. Before bed, simply jot down one happy memory from that day. (If you have kids, you can ask them, "What was the best part of today?") Reflection is an important part of happiness, and pausing to reflect on a positive event from each day cultivates gratitude. (An added bonus: Later, when your memory is defunct, you will already have all of your meaningful adventures recorded!) If you have trouble getting started with journaling, consider buying a book to guide you. Simple Abundance, by Sarah Ban Breathnach, is a great one.

bracelets

While watching sherlock this weekend, I made/finished these bracelets. The blue one was inspired by braided raw silk bracelets I've seen on pinterest, and the the green one inspired by faux suede version (I do not like wearing faux suede) I was going for upscale friendship bracelet- mostly since its hard to tie them on yourself and they fall over so easily! In hindsight I should've put more loops by the clasp- its a bit hard to squeeze with the big metal thingy in the way.

And Sherlock (british series) was good! (Thanks Georgia for the suggestion!)

hidden gem "hakka" style resturant

We went to this cool little cafe off nanjing xi rd, hidden inside an old lane house complex of apartments, it was on the ground floor, with a bitty patio and a HUGE rabbit.

Our friend had a photography show in their "gallery" of her 3 month trip all over the west coast of africa and other places- morocco. She learned how to do the boat stuff- with just 4 people, they each took turns taking the watch shift. 

They have one main table- minimal- with antiques, and only a few things on their menu.

We had this rice dish, served in shiny bronze buckets and we each got a hot mitt to hold the pot with, while we scraped at the crispy rice on the bottom. It was yummy! The mitts and trivets on the table were all homemade. It was adorable!

Pop corn man

The pop corn man: he yells a warning before it explodes! Burning scrap wood, he's got a caldron thing he fills with rice or corn or shrimp chips, and turns it over the fire, until it builds up pressure and BAM! explodes all puffed up into a mesh bag. Its kinda like air popped corn- and rice krispies. A neighborhood fixture!

He's been doing it for 20 years. Here he is on Wanhangdu @ Changning rd. We also catch him at Anxi @Xuanhua occasionally too. 

The pop corn comes out inside out! All the white fluff is on the inside.

And the "rice krispies"- which make great cereal! its not as krispy as the brand name cereal- and its much puffier.

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Qindgao during May holiday

After a chilly spring full of busyness, we escaped during May holiday to  Qingdao in Shandong province. Our pals Josh and Coco met us there for the adventure. We were excited to get out of the city! We decided to rent a car to  explore freely. We woke up to a morning of fog then hit the city! Qingdao has a colorful history- it was occupied by Germans which is evident in the architecture around town.

Day 1:
- Brunch at Kiwi (35 rmb eggs benedict)
-Cathedral  [under construction]
-Protestant Church
-The Guesthouse
-Qingdao beer museum & Seafood street
-Pier [invisible, so we ate BBQ seafood instead]
-Dinner back @ the Guesthouse.

Qingdao is between Beijing, Shanghai, and Seoul.

Qingdao beer museum- and drinking beer out of a bag.

Real hops, antique tanks, and super realistic creepy mannequins.
Day 2: in Transit
We rented a car and headed to check out  Badaguan, bought hammocks, then drove up one hour to Laoshan. Ran into trouble with the checkpoints, permits, passes, but enjoyed the scenary. Finally we got up the mountain but couldn't find the Guesthouse, and took jump photos in an empty swimming. We scoped out the territory, and then dined under the stars. 

Handmade hammocks and the beach.

Day 3: Laoshan! Hiking to the waterfall (to be honest we never made it....) Then we hit the beach- as wide as a football field, and stretching as far all the way down the coast. There were a lot of people (it was a holiday) but it was not crowded at all! It was roughly lunch time so we walking for a resturant- not a single one in sight! Not even a convenience store to buy pop! It was about 90% residential. WE hit the one hotel on the beach- an extravagant square building with pillars, declaring itself the center of the beach. They were still under construction so we kept trotting, til Josh yelled, "FOOD!" And we saw a large inflate-a-rainbow and a cool outdoor patio with resturant. Like straight out of Socal- wicker chairs, beach umbrellas, and really tanned people.

Awesome lone beachside restaurant!

We took a seat and asked for a menu. The waiter came with a plate of meat and toothpicks. 

Uh, we didn't order that. Could we see a menu?

It's free! Mian fei! Everything in these two rooms is free! Welcome and help yourself! Its our grand opening!

We looked at each other incredulously. Free? A whole lunch buffet? Fancy potato salad-in-a-cup topped with smoked salmon. Creamy seafood chowder (with identifiable clams!) in a whole what bread bowl. We savored every bite. There was a HUGE chocolate sheet cake, that the frosting had begun melting off, and the congratulatory words were slowly sliding off the cake. Cream puffs, pink drinks in fun glasses were arranged in a 5 layered pyramid. Wow! We were thankful for that delicious free meal! A gift from God, really!

The car we rented to go to Laoshan.