MARCH 24, 2008
Happy Easter, loyal readers!! Sorry to have been away from the blog so long. My life has truly not been my own lately as will be explained below.
While Randy's boss, Carrie, was in town a couple of weeks ago, she introduced us to a friend of their family, Debbie, from Davison, MI. Debbie was on temporary assignment for a few weeks in China for General Motors (both in Shanghai and Beijing), and Carrie thought it would be nice for her to have American contacts during her visit to China. Debbie and I hit it off, and we made plans to see one another several times during her stay.
As the Scots, Alan and Paul, were still in town working at the plant, we took our visitors to Latina, a brilliant Brazilian restaurant which boasts beautiful roasted beef, lamb, chicken, and pork (all you can eat served straight off the skewer to your plate) with a gorgeous buffet of sides, salads, and desserts. Debbie met us there before we headed out for a walking tour of an antique Chinese alley that Randy and I have visited often in that area.
Randy and I have definitely become the "American Welcome Wagon in Shanghai" ... and that's OK with us. It serves as a testament to the fact that we have really "settled in" here and know our way around enough to be able to play tour guide for the newcomers visiting our fair city. As others here have done this for us in the past, we are more than happy to pass on the service to our acquaintances, colleagues, and loved ones. And we enjoy meeting new people, so this has become a bit of a pleasant habit for us.
Debbie was joined by an American supplier, George (originally from Michigan, but recently moved to Anchorage, Alaska from the southern Illinois region), and Andriano, her counterpart at GM in Brazil. We enjoyed meeting and getting to know them as well, and we included them in several activities while they were here.
One evening saw us enjoying a traditional Chinese meal at South Beauty, a very nice restaurant on the Pudong side of the Huang Pu river with a truly lovely view of the Bund across the river from the glass windows of their 10-story location in the Superbrand Mall. Everyone was quite brave about trying new and interesting foods ordered expertly by Randy.
After our meal, we were treated to live music and drinks at a truly unique bar in the Shangri-La Hotel (where the GM contingent stay when they visit) called Bats. Bats is located in the basement of the Shangri-La and does, indeed, look a bit like a bat cave. The walls are dark brick, and candle-lit alcoves line the outer walls where one can enjoy drinks while seated upon overstuffed sofas and loveseats. A three piece female Filipino band did a fair job of imitating some well-known popular music while dancing in very short, slinky sarongs that drew the attention of all the men in the place. And also for the men, the highlight of the evening was visiting what was described as the largest urinal in the world in the men's room! Randy claimed it was about 15 feet long, 12 feet high, and had a perpetual water fall flowing down the back of it for flushing purposes. Only in Shanghai!!
A few nights later, we all enjoyed burgers at Blue Frog (American restaurant known for great burgers) and pitchers of margaritas after a shopping trip to the Pearl Market (the best place in town for gifts for loved ones back home). A few of us were "over served" in terms of alcohol (I won't name any names ... maybe because I can't remember!!) but a really good time was had by all, and there is a taxi driver in Shanghai that I hope I never meet again .... and I'm sure he feels the same way!!
On the evening of March 14, we picked up my folks and their dear friends, Vic and Jan, at the Pudong Airport for a month long visit. So once again, we are performing tour guide duties here in Shanghai and having a much needed visit with family. It is always interesting to be with people who have never visited China and see their reactions. My family all come from small towns in rural Michigan, so Shanghai is completely on the opposite end of the spectrum in terms of expanse of skyscrapers, congestion, traffic, noise, and general activity which usually elicits "shock and awe" (to borrow a phrase from our beloved President). I will admit to a bit of nervousness in terms of showing everyone a good time all while keeping them safe and entertained. My mother, shortly upon arrival, came down with a horrendous chest cold which effectively stopped her in her tracks. We've done our best to include the entire group in our activities, but it hasn't always worked as my mother is a fairly slow walker when she's healthy. She's making progress now though and hopes to be included in all our activities soon.
We have taken the group on many walking tours of our neighborhood, and to various restaurants with which we are familiar (making sure that plenty of beer is served). On Saturday, we took the group out to visit the plant, and then to the Shanghai Auto Museum which is very near the plant. The Shanghai Auto Museum was a very nice surprise. It is a big, brand new building that is filled with displays of history and actual vehicles from every aspect and area of the industry (many on loan from Europe and the USA). Very interesting!! The museum is located in a somewhat remote area, and we appeared to be practically the only visitors, but the building was sparkling clean, and the antique vehicles were spotless and shining, and beautifully displayed!
We have played a lot of cards (something we miss .... no one here knows how to play our favorite card games), done a lot of walking through parks and local neighborhoods, taken many photos, and guided tours to shopping and restaurants in an attempt to show our family how we live our life in Shanghai. Now if we can get Mom healthy, we'll be all set. It's a bit of a trick to do the meal planning and grocery shopping. Our refrigerator is quite small and food for six people fills it, as the people do in our apartment, pretty quickly. But as we are all good campers, patience and tolerance as well as cooperation are the attitudes of the day. And the weather has really been terrific. The suns shines most days now and the temps are hitting the mid and upper 60's lately. Perfect for long strolls in parks full of budding trees, shrubs, and flower beds.
We are one week into a four week visit. I'm sure there will be more activities to report soon.
While Randy's boss, Carrie, was in town a couple of weeks ago, she introduced us to a friend of their family, Debbie, from Davison, MI. Debbie was on temporary assignment for a few weeks in China for General Motors (both in Shanghai and Beijing), and Carrie thought it would be nice for her to have American contacts during her visit to China. Debbie and I hit it off, and we made plans to see one another several times during her stay.
As the Scots, Alan and Paul, were still in town working at the plant, we took our visitors to Latina, a brilliant Brazilian restaurant which boasts beautiful roasted beef, lamb, chicken, and pork (all you can eat served straight off the skewer to your plate) with a gorgeous buffet of sides, salads, and desserts. Debbie met us there before we headed out for a walking tour of an antique Chinese alley that Randy and I have visited often in that area.
Randy and I have definitely become the "American Welcome Wagon in Shanghai" ... and that's OK with us. It serves as a testament to the fact that we have really "settled in" here and know our way around enough to be able to play tour guide for the newcomers visiting our fair city. As others here have done this for us in the past, we are more than happy to pass on the service to our acquaintances, colleagues, and loved ones. And we enjoy meeting new people, so this has become a bit of a pleasant habit for us.
Debbie was joined by an American supplier, George (originally from Michigan, but recently moved to Anchorage, Alaska from the southern Illinois region), and Andriano, her counterpart at GM in Brazil. We enjoyed meeting and getting to know them as well, and we included them in several activities while they were here.
One evening saw us enjoying a traditional Chinese meal at South Beauty, a very nice restaurant on the Pudong side of the Huang Pu river with a truly lovely view of the Bund across the river from the glass windows of their 10-story location in the Superbrand Mall. Everyone was quite brave about trying new and interesting foods ordered expertly by Randy.
After our meal, we were treated to live music and drinks at a truly unique bar in the Shangri-La Hotel (where the GM contingent stay when they visit) called Bats. Bats is located in the basement of the Shangri-La and does, indeed, look a bit like a bat cave. The walls are dark brick, and candle-lit alcoves line the outer walls where one can enjoy drinks while seated upon overstuffed sofas and loveseats. A three piece female Filipino band did a fair job of imitating some well-known popular music while dancing in very short, slinky sarongs that drew the attention of all the men in the place. And also for the men, the highlight of the evening was visiting what was described as the largest urinal in the world in the men's room! Randy claimed it was about 15 feet long, 12 feet high, and had a perpetual water fall flowing down the back of it for flushing purposes. Only in Shanghai!!
A few nights later, we all enjoyed burgers at Blue Frog (American restaurant known for great burgers) and pitchers of margaritas after a shopping trip to the Pearl Market (the best place in town for gifts for loved ones back home). A few of us were "over served" in terms of alcohol (I won't name any names ... maybe because I can't remember!!) but a really good time was had by all, and there is a taxi driver in Shanghai that I hope I never meet again .... and I'm sure he feels the same way!!
On the evening of March 14, we picked up my folks and their dear friends, Vic and Jan, at the Pudong Airport for a month long visit. So once again, we are performing tour guide duties here in Shanghai and having a much needed visit with family. It is always interesting to be with people who have never visited China and see their reactions. My family all come from small towns in rural Michigan, so Shanghai is completely on the opposite end of the spectrum in terms of expanse of skyscrapers, congestion, traffic, noise, and general activity which usually elicits "shock and awe" (to borrow a phrase from our beloved President). I will admit to a bit of nervousness in terms of showing everyone a good time all while keeping them safe and entertained. My mother, shortly upon arrival, came down with a horrendous chest cold which effectively stopped her in her tracks. We've done our best to include the entire group in our activities, but it hasn't always worked as my mother is a fairly slow walker when she's healthy. She's making progress now though and hopes to be included in all our activities soon.
We have taken the group on many walking tours of our neighborhood, and to various restaurants with which we are familiar (making sure that plenty of beer is served). On Saturday, we took the group out to visit the plant, and then to the Shanghai Auto Museum which is very near the plant. The Shanghai Auto Museum was a very nice surprise. It is a big, brand new building that is filled with displays of history and actual vehicles from every aspect and area of the industry (many on loan from Europe and the USA). Very interesting!! The museum is located in a somewhat remote area, and we appeared to be practically the only visitors, but the building was sparkling clean, and the antique vehicles were spotless and shining, and beautifully displayed!
We have played a lot of cards (something we miss .... no one here knows how to play our favorite card games), done a lot of walking through parks and local neighborhoods, taken many photos, and guided tours to shopping and restaurants in an attempt to show our family how we live our life in Shanghai. Now if we can get Mom healthy, we'll be all set. It's a bit of a trick to do the meal planning and grocery shopping. Our refrigerator is quite small and food for six people fills it, as the people do in our apartment, pretty quickly. But as we are all good campers, patience and tolerance as well as cooperation are the attitudes of the day. And the weather has really been terrific. The suns shines most days now and the temps are hitting the mid and upper 60's lately. Perfect for long strolls in parks full of budding trees, shrubs, and flower beds.
We are one week into a four week visit. I'm sure there will be more activities to report soon.
posted by Roxanne Gillett at
7:56 PM
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