SEPTEMBER 15, 2009

Greetings, loyal readers. Time for an update. We've been moderately busy here as the remainder of our expat posse has trickled in from their homelands. It does seem to be the custom for many of the expats (especially the women who are traditionally not employed here) to spend their summers in their respective homelands, and of course, then return to Shanghai in the fall especially if they have children in school. Our compound is again alive with activity, screaming, laughter, and a few hysterical wails from the occasional particularly high strung child. Sometimes I close my eyes and imagine that we're back in Frankenmuth at the Kids Kingdom listening to the children play. Makes me miss my grandkids.

Speaking of grandkids, I have great news!! Randy and I are going to be grandparents again bringing the "grand" total to four. David and Melissa are due in early April. I am hoping for a brother for Stuart (being the youngest and only boy currently) but my intuition says we may have another girl. We have a few months before we discover that though, and David and Melissa are determined to be surprised so we won't be finding out before the child arrives.

One of the first major dilemnas with which I was forced to deal was the ayi situation as recorded in the last post. I am happy to report that Angelie is doing a fantastic job. It seems that the previous ayi wasn't doing as great a job as I'd thought. Angelie arrived and immediately labeled her predecessor as "lazy and stupid" as the rags and "tools" (mops, brooms, dustpans, pails, etc.) were dirty. And, according to Angelie, "dirty tools mean dirty HOME!!" All righty then! It was immediately determined that we would be purchasing new tools, rags, and various cleansers and detergents. Angelie got to work and declared that it would take more than four hours for the initial job just to get things up to speed. She spent 20 minutes cleaning the land line phone with a Q-tip .... amazing!! Told me that she thinks it's never been cleaned previously which may indeed be true ..... we never use it, only our cell phones. It quickly become obvious to me that I am no longer in charge here ... I only live here. Angelie has taken over and I am really OK with that.

So while Angelie costs us a bit more for her wages, I will say that I believe it's worth it just to have someone who truly thinks outside the box and is a dynamo in the ambition department. She impresses me in many ways. AND my understanding is that she is an accomplished chef in the kitchen. So she and Randy have agreed to trade skills .... Angelie will teach Randy Chinese cooking, and Randy will teach her more Western dishes. Angelie actually cooks supper 6 nights per week for a Welsh family and they do not eat chicken or any Chinese food (couple of finicky kids, I guess). So Angelie is at a loss as to what to feed them. We figured we could teach her spaghetti, meat loaf, mac and cheese, pizza, and a few staples of "comfort food" that might please the youngsters. Should be a fun experiment.

Speaking of comfort food, Randy and I have discovered a new Canadian restaurant on Hongmei Lu pedestrian street called Julie's. Being as we Michiganders are practically Canadian anyway, much of the food is very familiar to us ..... breakfast all day including eggs and omelets prepared any way you desire, crepes, french toast and pancakes. Lunches and dinners include ribs, steaks, pot pies, fish, and lovely salads. We've visited there a few times recently. The owner is from Quebec and speaks French and English as well as excellent Mandarin. So the service is quite personal and expert. And they have a full bar which of course is right up our alley!

We reconnected with our good friends, Larry and Therese, over the weekend. They are the couple with whom we traveled to Xi'an to see the Terra Cotta Warriors. We were rather anxious to have Larry and Therese back in Shanghai as they are near the top of our list of favorite companions here. We seem to have so much in common ..... hailing from Michigan, working in automotive (of course), our enjoyment of the lakes of Michigan and boating, playing cards (especially Euchre), and having similar life situations in terms of kids and traveling. I met with Therese this past Saturday at the Pearl Market while Randy continued on to the City Shop for some grocery shopping, and Larry had a little work to do at home. Both Therese and I had extensive lists of items for which we wanted to shop so we agreed to divide and conquer. Later, we met our husbands for lunch at Haya's (Mediterranean) before continuing our adventures to the eyeglass market in another part of town.

I had heard about the eyeglass market previously. Several of my lady friends here had managed to collect so many pairs of glasses that they seemed to have one for every outfit. Apparently, the prescription can be copied straight from an existing pair of glasses (the Chinese can copy ANYTHING!) into whatever frame you choose. So I was axious to experience this eyeglass market myself.

Mr. Ji drove us straight to the market which is near the Shanghai North Railway station and parked in the lot located in the basement of the market, a five story building. I have to admit, I was expecting D.O.C. or Nuvision type of store. Au contraire!!! It is a HUGE building, each floor having dozens of stalls, all vendors of eyeglass frames, contact lenses, contact lens supplies, as well as designer sunglasses (knock off, of course). Honestly, I shouldn't have been surprised considering the other markets that I've visited. It's rather amazing!!

I was armed with my old glasses which I wear rarely because my astigmatism is so severe that it can only be corrected with the contact lenses that I wear the vast majority of the time. But the glasses still come in handy for the late night TV watching just prior to "lights out" or the first thing in the morning trek to the kitchen to make coffee. I hadn't had a new pair in 5 or 6 years so I was overdue. Also, Randy and I also were both in the market for new readers (the need for which has become increasingly and annoyingly obvious) which are also available at the market, either ready-made or pick out a frame and they make it up for you on the spot. Also, if you feel an eye test is warranted, they'll do that free of charge as well. It's definitely the one-stop shopping for all things regarding one's vision.

I picked up a set of ready-made readers, Larry had a pair of glasses repaired, Randy picked out frames and had a set of readers made, Therese and I each found a pair of designer sunglasses, and I had a new pair of glasses framed in something a bit more stylish than my old "John Lennon" wire rims. In the meantime, it was fun perusing the never-ending stalls looking at all the frames and trying them on for grins. We will definitely go back there. My new regular eyeglasses (including a hard case) were in the neighborhood of $25 and my readers were $5. Quite a bargain!!

After the eyeglass market, it was decided we'd try a new Italian place about which we heard called Otto. We arrived around 5:30 and wondered if the restaurant was even open. Not a patron in sight. But we were greeted warmly, and had to laugh openly when asked if we had a reservation. Later we understood the question when the restaurant not only filled to capacity but had folks waiting outside for a table as we left after our truly amazing culinary experience.

The interior of Otto was very modern, all black and white with red accents. While the staff was Chinese, they seemed to speak pretty decent English which makes for a more pleasant dining experience. We gals ordered gin and tonics, and the guys ordered beer. We were ready for drinks after a long day of shopping. The menu was quite extensive and everything sounded great .... it was difficult to decide. As we nursed our drinks, the chef (an Italian woman) came over to serve us a lovely bruschetta topped with a chilled marinara that was perfect for a late summer's evening starter. Soon a beautiful basket of freshly baked rosemary bread with three dipping sauces arrived, and this was replenished throughout our meal.

The fellows both opted for the monkfish, and Therese and I decided upon the ravioli. All the meals were outstanding, and everyone cleaned their plates thoroughly. We chased our meals with a really nice Shiraz that completed our selections nicely. Then we were presented with the dessert menu. Again, so many lovely options ..... ice cream, mousses, chocolate cake, tiramisu, and creme brulee to name a few. Larry and I chose the creme brulee trio, Randy chose a sampling of mousses, and Therese picked the tiramisu. Well, I can hardly finish this paragraph because I must go mop up the drool on the keyboard due to thinking about these desserts. They might possibly be the best desserts I've ever tasted! The creme brulee trio was comprised of three custards of vanilla, raspberry, and coconut .... absolutely amazing!! Randy's mousses included one white and one dark chocolate and was served with a shot of Grand Marnier with his choice of coffee (he got a mocha into which he poured his shot). And the "spoons" that were given Randy for eating his mousses were actually lollipops of white and dark chocolate .... extremely clever!! Therese had the most amazing presentation of tiramisu I've ever seen and it tasted better than it looked. The tiramisu was served in sort of a large "martini glass" shaped dessert bowl that was held by a small acrylic box frame. The glass was loose in the frame which made for easier sharing (which she did somewhat reluctantly because she wanted it all for herself ... and I couldn't blame her). We decided that we'll go back to Otto someday and make a meal out of desserts! It was nothing short of an incredible taste sensation!!

Sunday, at the invitation of Ann, an American friend that I met through facebook, we attended an Irish picnic at O'Malleys sponsored by Le Cheile, the Irish expat club. It was a beautiful day for a picnic, sunny but a lovely breeze to cool us. O'Malley's had covered their garden area with tables and umbrellas, and the cold Guiness flowed freely. There were those inflatable jumpy things for the kids as well as a clown making balloon animals, and the children in attendance were having a blast. The BBQ included hot dogs (not Koegels so I didn't go there), burgers, chicken, complimented by french fries, cole slaw, potato salad, caesar salad, and shepherd's pie. We ran into our old friends, Tom and Mimi (Texas), and met some new ones. Ann and Mike are from Pittsburgh, and Ann is the membership director of Le Cheile. Peter is Irish and Mary is from Chicago, and they'd just returned to Shanghai to live after having been a away on a different job assignment for the last couple of years. We enjoyed getting to know them while we ate and were entertained by the Chinese "Irish" step dancers (incredible .... they taught themselves step dancing by watching DVD's) and an Irish folk singer accompanied by his guitar. It was a lovely day and we really enjoyed it. I have to say that I was impressed by the fact that while Le Cheile was started as support group for the Irish expat community, it now includes members from all over the world. Well, everyone knows that those Irish know how to throw a good party ..... everyone wants to be part of that!!

I have continued (and am feeling the benefit of) the yoga classes and, for the most part, it's been a very positive experience. The other good news is that Randy joined the class for the first time last night (and did very well, I have to say, for a newbie). The Monday evening class is shaping up to be a couples class as it was attended by three couples last night. Besides Randy and myself, also present were Maria and Juan (Chile), and Susan and Rink (Netherlands). Of course, Nian, the owner of the business is usually there. And the Chinese gal who teaches the class is Jesse. She was very sweet and gave Randy lots of personal attention last night. Right now, Randy's only opportunity (as well as the other fellows) for the class is Monday evening. All the other classes take place during working hours. But I know that Nian is keeping a close eye on the class size and situation, and is adding classes as necessary in hopes of keep it convenient for everyone. It would be nice if the guys could attend a couple times per week. I checked in with Randall this morning to see if he was experiencing any ill effects such as achy muscles but he said, "Minimal." Good for him!

OK, that's about all the news I have for now. Oh, I should update you on the weather. It's slowly but surely cooling enough to be comfortable outside, and I've been able to open windows for at least part of the day for the last week or so. The highs are low 80's and nightly lows are near 70. Nice time of year to be in Shanghai although I will say that Randy and I are both experiencing a fair amount of homesickness due to this being our favorite time of year to be in MICHIGAN where I understand they are also experiencing fabulous weather.

OK, until next time, ciao for now!