APRIL 15, 2008
The apartment seems large and quiet these days. My folks and their friends, Vic and Jan, left us this weekend with plenty of memories and a touch of sadness at having to say good-bye to our family (although we prefer "until next time").
We filled our time together with many different adventures and experiences, and we tried to show them exactly how we live our life day to day in Shanghai. After a couple of weeks here, Vic and Dad became quite familiar with our neighborhood and helped a lot with grocery and beverage gathering. Very near our compound is a little family owned street vendor which sells canned beverages (mostly beer) and cigarettes. These vendors are not used to selling more than one or two cans of beer at a time, so they very rarely had an entire case available. Victor managed to convey that he'd like the entire case, and, eventually, it was procured. Of course, a case only lasted a few days during their visit, so it was back to the street vendor for more beer. The street vendors must have started getting the idea that these Americans might be consuming more than a can or two at one sitting and decided it would be a good idea to have an entire case available for purchase, but there never seemed to be more than a case or two at any given time. Randy and I laughed about the fact that on our first walking trip in the street after our guests returned to the states, that vendor had 7 or 8 cases stacked and ready for sale to what had become their favorite American consumers. They were finally ready with many cases of beer!!! Good thing beer keeps pretty well!
The weather cooperated with us for the most part during our guests' visit, and we took numerous walking tours of Century Park, Nanjing Road, Xitang (the water town previously visited by us with Judy and Neal). And of course, MANY trips were made to Hong Mei Lu and the Pearl Market for shopping, visiting our favorite restaurants on the pedestrian street, or getting massages at our beloved Dragonfly.
Xitang was a great day, and we were accompanied by Vicki again, with Kevin in tow this time. Vicki is an expert tour guide for Xitang as she has visited there many times .... to the point where they now recognize her there. I guess it was hat day in Xitang because Randy and I both purchased hats for ourselves, as well as a decorative Chinese hat to hang on our wall in our apartment.
We are blessed with good friends here in Shanghai, and to prove the point, a BBQ was arranged with Suely and her family. We put chicken on the grill and had an old fashioned BBQ picnic complete with bean salad, potato salad, and Suely brought along her famous chocolate cake. We were also treated to a marvelous roasted chicken dinner prepared by my friend, Margaret, who went on to surprise me by inviting our mutual friend, Ali, to join us. Ali had spent the previous 6 weeks touring Europe as part of her 60th birthday celebration, and I had sorely missed her and Ralph, the dog with whom I occasionally babysit.
A few days after our lunch at Margaret's, Ali and Mike also hosted a lovely luncheon at their new apartment. I was finally able to give Ali her birthday present which had traveled all the way from Michigan as I could not find the cups and saucers she'd admired at the Shanghai Ikea. With a little help from Judy and my mother, the gift was obtained from the Ikea in Canton, MI. Of course, treats were also brought along for Ralphy too, who seemed almost as thrilled as I was to see us again. Everyone seemed to enjoy each other's company, and again, a really lovely meal was enjoyed, this time with Australian champagne.
We visited the Aquarium, the Zoo, The Chinese Acrobats at the Portman, the Jin Mao Tower to take in the view from 88 floors aloft, and far too many restaurants to name even if I could remember them all. We did have a rather interesting experience I can report. Shortly after the folks' arrival, we visited Moon River for a traditional American breakfast. Alan, one of our engineers from Scotland, joined us as he is back in Shanghai for a month to work. While at Moon River, we had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of Lilian, a young Chinese girl waiting tables at Moon River. Lilian so impressed our guests with her cherubic smiling face and sparkling personality that we all were checking out Moon River whenever were in that area to see if we could see her again. But a subsequent visit to Moon River revealed to us that Lilian was no longer an employee, to our disappointment.
The evening of the Chinese Acrobats found us making our way down the street to Malone's, a Western bar and grill (a la Applebee's only with live music). We'd enjoyed Malone's a few days previous and since it was very close to the Portman, decided a late dinner after the acrobats was just the ticket. Malone's has three floors, and it seemed that the higher we climbed, the quieter the atmosphere, so we continued on up to the third floor where we were surprised and delighted to find Lilian, a new employee at Malone's. Small world .... in a town of 25 million plus!!! Needless to say, we were given impeccable attention that evening and some terrific hugs when we left. We have exchanged email addresses and phone numbers with Lilian, and will, no doubt, see her again in our Shanghai travels.
The entire group seemed to struggle with cold and/or allergies during their visit, but they didn't seem to let it stop them much. We were out sightseeing almost every day at some point, and even managed to see some neighborhoods with which Randy and I were not familiar. My dad and I discovered that a very lovely marina is being built right across the river from our compound (Suzhou Creek runs just behind our compound). I have to say that I have never seen a pleasure boat in China, but maybe that's because there has never been a marina in which to dock one. You know what they way .... if you build it, they will come!!!
The group seemed to get the hang of bargaining with the vendors during our numerous shopping excursions. Jan, especially, was a keen shopper and made some great deals. On one occasion, Jan and I each had our eyes on Dolce and Gabbana jackets and decided that if we could get them both for 300 rmb (about $40 US), we'd each get one. We bargained hard for 10 or 15 minutes. Even walked away a couple of times (often the vendors will chase you down to say OK, they will sell for your price). There happened to be a man and a woman in this particular stall, but we had been dealing primarily with the woman. No, she wouldn't come down to our price, so we kept walking away, then the man would come to get us. We went back and forth this way many times. Finally, we gave Victor (who was making some pretty good deals on his own) our money and said, "See if you can do it." Victor came back with the jackets, and reported that our woman was in the back room crying her eyes out because she sold to us for SO LITTLE!! In his usual sardonic style, Randy replied that he was sure that she was crying all the way to the bank!!
We spent numerous evenings playing Euchre, mostly 6 handed after Randy would come home from work. But sometimes during the day, we'd play 5 handed which I'd never played previously. One evening, we even took a crack at Chinese Checkers. That gave our brains a good workout, and my father, who is probably the most mechanical minded of the group, was the big winner. Euchre was always men against women, and the competition was fierce, tempered by cold cans of beer or hot whiskey slings which had been prepared for medicinal purposes for those suffering with respiratory ailments (and even for those who were faking it, Randy).
The last evening before our travelers left to return to the States was a special one. Randy and I surprised the folks with tickets to see Celine Dion in concert. All four of them had been wanting to see Celine while her show was performing in Las Vegas. As they had all been many times to Vegas, it was assumed that they'd simply take in that show on another trip. But alas, it was never arranged, and then Celine discontinued her Vegas show in order to commence a world wide tour. Randy and I were SO excited when we found out that the concert in Shanghai would be during my folk's visit, and purchased tickets for all 6 of us.
I will admit that the venue was not what I was expecting. We were used to anything as small as the Clio Amphitheatre (capacity about 4,000) to the Palace of Auburn Hills (capacity about 60,000, I think). Shanghai Stadium is more like the Pontiac Silverdome on steroids!!! It's HUGE!! After a grueling drive to arrive at the Stadium with a driver who seemed to not have a clue where to allow us to disembark, we had quite a lengthy trek up many steps to arrive at our assigned seats. I thought my mother would have a heart attack!! But we persevered, and enjoyed a really entertaining evening. Celine seemed to have brought most of her Vegas show along with her because there were not only back-up singers, but a dozen or so dancers, as well as a small orchestra. The acoustics could have been a little better. A huge stadium is a rather echo-y place for a strong singer, but she made the best of it, and I think we all had a wonderful evening.
It was interesting to go to a concert with a mostly Chinese audience. They are a very polite group, listening intently, and clapping respectfully after each selection. We could even hear some of them singing along with the more popular selections which was kind of funny. Celine tried her fledgling Mandarin out on the crowd to a smattering of applause and laughter. I think most Americans (at least our generation or younger) are used to screaming, obnoxious crowds who refuse to sit down, often sneaking in booze (I've seen somebody at Pine Knob bring vodka in a contac lens solution container ... pretty imaginative), acting crazy and out of control at most concerts. The Shanghai Stadium was not completely full, but I do believe the audience really liked the show. They are just a bit more restrained in their show of appreciation than we Westerners are.
So it was with mixed feelings that we said our good-byes and put our guests on the 747 back to the states at the Pudong Airport on Saturday. I SO much enjoyed this visit with my parents and Vic and Jan, but I will admit that it is nice to have our apartment back to ourselves again, and not have to plan tours and meals for 6 people. But it was definitely worth it!! My father, who had to be brought over here kicking and screaming, enjoyed himself so much that he has committed to another visit which really surprised me (but thrilled me all at the same time).
So to fill up the space of time I now find myself facing, I have resumed my daily walks with Suely (thank you, dear), Tai Chi lessons with Lao Shu (xie xie), and I am planning a ladies luncheon for later in the week. And my dear friends, Ali and Margaret, are already planning some adventures about which I can write. Seems that some of my compatriots have made it a personal responsibility to make sure I have fresh fodder for the blog. For that, as well as their enduring friendships, I am eternally grateful. Love you guys!!
We filled our time together with many different adventures and experiences, and we tried to show them exactly how we live our life day to day in Shanghai. After a couple of weeks here, Vic and Dad became quite familiar with our neighborhood and helped a lot with grocery and beverage gathering. Very near our compound is a little family owned street vendor which sells canned beverages (mostly beer) and cigarettes. These vendors are not used to selling more than one or two cans of beer at a time, so they very rarely had an entire case available. Victor managed to convey that he'd like the entire case, and, eventually, it was procured. Of course, a case only lasted a few days during their visit, so it was back to the street vendor for more beer. The street vendors must have started getting the idea that these Americans might be consuming more than a can or two at one sitting and decided it would be a good idea to have an entire case available for purchase, but there never seemed to be more than a case or two at any given time. Randy and I laughed about the fact that on our first walking trip in the street after our guests returned to the states, that vendor had 7 or 8 cases stacked and ready for sale to what had become their favorite American consumers. They were finally ready with many cases of beer!!! Good thing beer keeps pretty well!
The weather cooperated with us for the most part during our guests' visit, and we took numerous walking tours of Century Park, Nanjing Road, Xitang (the water town previously visited by us with Judy and Neal). And of course, MANY trips were made to Hong Mei Lu and the Pearl Market for shopping, visiting our favorite restaurants on the pedestrian street, or getting massages at our beloved Dragonfly.
Xitang was a great day, and we were accompanied by Vicki again, with Kevin in tow this time. Vicki is an expert tour guide for Xitang as she has visited there many times .... to the point where they now recognize her there. I guess it was hat day in Xitang because Randy and I both purchased hats for ourselves, as well as a decorative Chinese hat to hang on our wall in our apartment.
We are blessed with good friends here in Shanghai, and to prove the point, a BBQ was arranged with Suely and her family. We put chicken on the grill and had an old fashioned BBQ picnic complete with bean salad, potato salad, and Suely brought along her famous chocolate cake. We were also treated to a marvelous roasted chicken dinner prepared by my friend, Margaret, who went on to surprise me by inviting our mutual friend, Ali, to join us. Ali had spent the previous 6 weeks touring Europe as part of her 60th birthday celebration, and I had sorely missed her and Ralph, the dog with whom I occasionally babysit.
A few days after our lunch at Margaret's, Ali and Mike also hosted a lovely luncheon at their new apartment. I was finally able to give Ali her birthday present which had traveled all the way from Michigan as I could not find the cups and saucers she'd admired at the Shanghai Ikea. With a little help from Judy and my mother, the gift was obtained from the Ikea in Canton, MI. Of course, treats were also brought along for Ralphy too, who seemed almost as thrilled as I was to see us again. Everyone seemed to enjoy each other's company, and again, a really lovely meal was enjoyed, this time with Australian champagne.
We visited the Aquarium, the Zoo, The Chinese Acrobats at the Portman, the Jin Mao Tower to take in the view from 88 floors aloft, and far too many restaurants to name even if I could remember them all. We did have a rather interesting experience I can report. Shortly after the folks' arrival, we visited Moon River for a traditional American breakfast. Alan, one of our engineers from Scotland, joined us as he is back in Shanghai for a month to work. While at Moon River, we had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of Lilian, a young Chinese girl waiting tables at Moon River. Lilian so impressed our guests with her cherubic smiling face and sparkling personality that we all were checking out Moon River whenever were in that area to see if we could see her again. But a subsequent visit to Moon River revealed to us that Lilian was no longer an employee, to our disappointment.
The evening of the Chinese Acrobats found us making our way down the street to Malone's, a Western bar and grill (a la Applebee's only with live music). We'd enjoyed Malone's a few days previous and since it was very close to the Portman, decided a late dinner after the acrobats was just the ticket. Malone's has three floors, and it seemed that the higher we climbed, the quieter the atmosphere, so we continued on up to the third floor where we were surprised and delighted to find Lilian, a new employee at Malone's. Small world .... in a town of 25 million plus!!! Needless to say, we were given impeccable attention that evening and some terrific hugs when we left. We have exchanged email addresses and phone numbers with Lilian, and will, no doubt, see her again in our Shanghai travels.
The entire group seemed to struggle with cold and/or allergies during their visit, but they didn't seem to let it stop them much. We were out sightseeing almost every day at some point, and even managed to see some neighborhoods with which Randy and I were not familiar. My dad and I discovered that a very lovely marina is being built right across the river from our compound (Suzhou Creek runs just behind our compound). I have to say that I have never seen a pleasure boat in China, but maybe that's because there has never been a marina in which to dock one. You know what they way .... if you build it, they will come!!!
The group seemed to get the hang of bargaining with the vendors during our numerous shopping excursions. Jan, especially, was a keen shopper and made some great deals. On one occasion, Jan and I each had our eyes on Dolce and Gabbana jackets and decided that if we could get them both for 300 rmb (about $40 US), we'd each get one. We bargained hard for 10 or 15 minutes. Even walked away a couple of times (often the vendors will chase you down to say OK, they will sell for your price). There happened to be a man and a woman in this particular stall, but we had been dealing primarily with the woman. No, she wouldn't come down to our price, so we kept walking away, then the man would come to get us. We went back and forth this way many times. Finally, we gave Victor (who was making some pretty good deals on his own) our money and said, "See if you can do it." Victor came back with the jackets, and reported that our woman was in the back room crying her eyes out because she sold to us for SO LITTLE!! In his usual sardonic style, Randy replied that he was sure that she was crying all the way to the bank!!
We spent numerous evenings playing Euchre, mostly 6 handed after Randy would come home from work. But sometimes during the day, we'd play 5 handed which I'd never played previously. One evening, we even took a crack at Chinese Checkers. That gave our brains a good workout, and my father, who is probably the most mechanical minded of the group, was the big winner. Euchre was always men against women, and the competition was fierce, tempered by cold cans of beer or hot whiskey slings which had been prepared for medicinal purposes for those suffering with respiratory ailments (and even for those who were faking it, Randy).
The last evening before our travelers left to return to the States was a special one. Randy and I surprised the folks with tickets to see Celine Dion in concert. All four of them had been wanting to see Celine while her show was performing in Las Vegas. As they had all been many times to Vegas, it was assumed that they'd simply take in that show on another trip. But alas, it was never arranged, and then Celine discontinued her Vegas show in order to commence a world wide tour. Randy and I were SO excited when we found out that the concert in Shanghai would be during my folk's visit, and purchased tickets for all 6 of us.
I will admit that the venue was not what I was expecting. We were used to anything as small as the Clio Amphitheatre (capacity about 4,000) to the Palace of Auburn Hills (capacity about 60,000, I think). Shanghai Stadium is more like the Pontiac Silverdome on steroids!!! It's HUGE!! After a grueling drive to arrive at the Stadium with a driver who seemed to not have a clue where to allow us to disembark, we had quite a lengthy trek up many steps to arrive at our assigned seats. I thought my mother would have a heart attack!! But we persevered, and enjoyed a really entertaining evening. Celine seemed to have brought most of her Vegas show along with her because there were not only back-up singers, but a dozen or so dancers, as well as a small orchestra. The acoustics could have been a little better. A huge stadium is a rather echo-y place for a strong singer, but she made the best of it, and I think we all had a wonderful evening.
It was interesting to go to a concert with a mostly Chinese audience. They are a very polite group, listening intently, and clapping respectfully after each selection. We could even hear some of them singing along with the more popular selections which was kind of funny. Celine tried her fledgling Mandarin out on the crowd to a smattering of applause and laughter. I think most Americans (at least our generation or younger) are used to screaming, obnoxious crowds who refuse to sit down, often sneaking in booze (I've seen somebody at Pine Knob bring vodka in a contac lens solution container ... pretty imaginative), acting crazy and out of control at most concerts. The Shanghai Stadium was not completely full, but I do believe the audience really liked the show. They are just a bit more restrained in their show of appreciation than we Westerners are.
So it was with mixed feelings that we said our good-byes and put our guests on the 747 back to the states at the Pudong Airport on Saturday. I SO much enjoyed this visit with my parents and Vic and Jan, but I will admit that it is nice to have our apartment back to ourselves again, and not have to plan tours and meals for 6 people. But it was definitely worth it!! My father, who had to be brought over here kicking and screaming, enjoyed himself so much that he has committed to another visit which really surprised me (but thrilled me all at the same time).
So to fill up the space of time I now find myself facing, I have resumed my daily walks with Suely (thank you, dear), Tai Chi lessons with Lao Shu (xie xie), and I am planning a ladies luncheon for later in the week. And my dear friends, Ali and Margaret, are already planning some adventures about which I can write. Seems that some of my compatriots have made it a personal responsibility to make sure I have fresh fodder for the blog. For that, as well as their enduring friendships, I am eternally grateful. Love you guys!!
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