On a bicycle built for ...

What can you use a bicycle for? Count the ways ...

Hot Pot

I love trying new foods and new tastes and was eagerly awaiting trying the local favorite dining experience in Chongqing called hot pot. A number of the people from our group went on the first night with the group divided up into 'not so spicy' and 'super spicy'. I of course opted for the super spicy. As I mentioned already hot pot is more a dining style than a dish - it is similar to dining at a fondue restaurant. Each table has a gas burner and they place a double bowl onto each burner. The inner bowl contained a broth with some veggies, seafood stuff, etc as well as some mild seasonings. The outer bowl contained the hot stuff - in the case of the super spicy there appeared to be hundreds of peppers floating in the broth. Our CCAI reps Marie and Anita joined us - I know they both enjoyed the spicy food but they were also going to make sure we didn't mess up the cooking and get sick. Use the chop sticks to place the raw meat into the bowls - cook it the proper amount - use different chop sticks to remove the food or sterialize in the boiling broth. Marie did all the cooking at our table - we cooked bamboo, lotus root, potato, sausage, lamb, little eggs, - everything was great. Our CCAI reps were at each table helping us order the food, cook the food and explain everything as we went along. It is a great dining experience – after the food is cooked you can scoop the food with a ladle or chop sticks. The food is then 'rinsed in a combination sesamee oil and garlic - this cools the food slightly and gives it a little extra 'bam'. We went through several of the local beers in order to cleanse our palates between dishes. It was a great evening and the price per person was unbelievable – less that $12 per person. We had a small group that went back again – this time Eileen and Emma joined in on the fun. The reps had warned us that hot pot restaurants were not good for children due to the strong smells in the air – the manager of the restaurant helped watch Emma and strolled her around just outside the restaurant – a young boy also helped as his mom and dad ate near us. It is hard to describe this experience properly here but it is something I will never forget. The food was great, the people were great, and the memories even better. I posted this entry for 2 reasons - 1) I thoroughly enjoyed myself on both occassions and 2) I believe the dining style refelcts positively on Chongqing and the people of this area - if the most popular dining style affords the diners an opportunity to spend time together conversing, eating and socializing, that says something - the other part to note is how the manager stepped in to help us - there were so many of the Chinese people willing and wanting to be a part of this experience.

Best Friends

Emma already has a best friend - Roselynn is the daughter of John and Retta - the girls have gotten together a few times for tummy time and each time they are drawn to each other - holding hands - smiling - looking at each other or arching around to see each other - here are a few pics of these two together - wow.

Ties that bond

Here is an entry all about Emma - yesterday afternoon Emma was lying on a blanket on the ground and Eileen was lying near her. Emma reached up to Eileen's face and touched her face - she eventually grabbed her hair - I did take a few pics that I will add to this entry later. Later in the day she was in bed and I was playing with her - she did the same with me reaching up and touching my face and grabbing my hair (insert joke here). That evening when I fed her she locked her eyes onto me the entire bottle feeding. As we have noted Emma is a great sleeper - probably the best out of all the children. This morning however she woke up around 5:00 or so - Eileen heard her stirring and when Eileen looked over to Emma she cried - we gave her a small bottle then the fun began - Emma was in bed with us - she was rolling from side to side to see me then Eileen - she was cooing and smiling and touching us - she has never been this animated with us - she has never done this yet - we missed out on a little sleep but we gained some memories. Some of these things may not seem like much for a 9 month old but they are each mini milestones as Emma gets stronger and stronger and bonds more and more with us. What a great way to end our stay at Chongqing. We are packed and Eileen has showered. We have to have our bags in the hall by 0800, grab breakfast and head to the airport by 0930 - next stop Guangzhou.

Split Pants and Snake Oil

After Eileen's first massage the other day I headed out for a walk with Sarasota John and Athens Jim. We headed north from our hotel for about a 2 mile walk. Here are the highlights of our mini adventure. Within a short distance of our hotel we watched as a little boy about 2 years of age drop right in middle of all of the scurrying people and proceed to urinate on the tile walkway. The smaller children wear split pants and no diapers - so it is not uncommon to see their little bums as they walk through the towns. We walked on and on through street vendors selling everything from lotus root and other vegetables to carved pineapple to fried things like crabs and fish. This is about the time we cam upon the snake oil salesman. There was a fairly large crowd of people surrounding a man who was squatting low to the ground. The man was wearing a headset and speaking constantly through a small speaker system. In front of him there was a tarp covered with a few hundred snakes and a few turtles. All of the critters were dark brown appearing to have been fried. He had three small glass bottles that he was adding what appeared to be crystals and other items all the while barking through his speaker. The solution in the bottles looked like blood. We hung around for a short while as enthralled as the locals. We proceeded on for quite a while until we came upon what appeared to be a school. There were some boys playing basketball and we joked about challenging them to a game. That is when we hear the school girls yelling up to us 'hi', 'hello' as they held up peace signs. They were excited to get responses from us and they giggled as we waved back to them. We proceed on a little further and saw a store called Jan-Mart. We entered the store but were promptly redirected right back the way we came in by some security guards. We have never figured out why but we didn't argue with him. It turns out Jan-Mart is a home appliance type of store - nothing unusual - toilets, stoves, etc. The return back was pretty uneventful although we did stop by the snake oil rep and he was still barking and mixing. It is amazing to see all of the apartments, one after another after another - everywhere you turn. You can see that many of the apartments have cages on the backside - the cages are used to hang the laundry but they are also used to store items - you can see some wooden chairs crammed into one of the cages plus boxes and just stuff. There is also a picture of an older gentleman tending to a garden - the garden was immediately off the sidewalk smack dab in the middle of all the commotion - to the left was a fairly major road with tons of traffic - the sidewalk was packed most of the time during our walk. We never did cross paths with any other westerners. Along the way we were greeted with some hellos and good mornings - it was about 6:00 in the evening - the people we happy when we responded back with a hello or thumbs up. What an experience.

Emma

Chongqing Zoo

Today was the first day the sun has peeked since we arrived in Chongqing. Most of the days here have been chilly and gray. So we decided to take advantage of the warmth and take a tour to the Chongqing Zoo set up for us by our CCAI representatives Marie and Anita. The Chongqing Zoo is known mostly for its work done to help the endangered Giant Panda. (Little tidbit - The Giant Panda is the symbol of peace for China. Pandas are seen as gentle since they rarely feed on other animals. ) This was obvious to us as we walked in to a beautifully landscaped area followed by a couple of large Giant Panda exhibits. The pandas were definitely living large compared to the other animals.

The zoo is located right in the middle of a very busy section of Chongqing. There are high-rise buildings, both old and new all around the zoo. It was kind of sad at the Giraffe exhibit. Unlike the Brevard Zoo, the giraffes overlooked some old buildings.

Although it was nice to see the animals in the zoo, the most interesting part of the zoo was watching the Chinese people. Andy took a great picture of some “elders” playing Mahjong. ( Mahjong (also called mah-jongg by the American association, Traditional Chinese game for four players that originated in China.) We also thought the basket idea was a great way to carry children around.

After the zoo, Andy, Emma and I headed over to McDonalds – yes you read that correctly, for lunch. Each day we have been eating, large traditional chinese meals. They have been very good, but I was really craving some American food. There are quite a few choices of US fast food places; Pizza Hut, McDonalds, and KFC are a few. There is also a Starbucks right around the corner.

Everything is going well. Emma is making gains it seems hourly. She enjoyed the zoo, but I think she enjoyed the bus ride out better. There was a lot to see, probably a little overstimulation for her at times. But she was a trooper that's for sure. In this picture of her, she is taking a nap. She has such a calm demeanor, Very similar to Joshua right now. I can’t wait for her to see Joshua and start learning from her older brother. I also can't wait for her to meet everyone.