Shrimp!

Today in Zhongshan we went to the groom's brother's shrimp farm. We saw how they feed the shrimp and check how they are growing. Then we ate about 500 shrimps right out of the water then and there! It was so delicious. They steamed 'em up, made some soy and garlic sauce for dipping, and we plunged in each eating about 20 shrimp. Well, American Brother #2 may have eaten a few more than that. The pile of shells in front of him was about as big as a football!

They also took one of the chickens roaming around and we had that for dinner too. We ate al fresco by the shrimp ponds, laughing and eating way past full.

Wedding marathon begins

Today in Zhongshan is the big day of the wedding. It starts out with the groom giving respect to his uncles. He is dressed in white with a big red bow wrapped around him. This is his father’s sash (represents his father) and tucked into the back is what looks like a matching red napkin. Later there is a pink towel where the napkin was. The groom goes around to his uncles with his best man holding a tray in one hand and his cell phone in another to bow and received a red envelope. These uncles are the benefactors of the groom so he is showing them his respect and they are giving him some blessing money. The towels represent each uncle. Then, a bowl of tapioca or something is brought to each benefactor (and anyone who wants one after they get theirs).


The groom must also kowtow and bow to the altar where incense is lit before a porcelain Guan Yin. On the table are two roast pigs and special offerings: a bowl of fruit, red eggs (red=happiness, eggs=fertility), bai jiu (fortified rice alcohol), a bowl of rice, tang yuan, tea
…

Later, we go to a huge lunch at the restaurant where the wedding banquet will be held. The place is packed with diners- it is amazing that they will have it all ready to go for a big wedding party in just a few hours. We have about 6 tables of groom's people and family. We are fueling up for the big battle with the bridesmaids.

I am a bridesmaid too so when we arrive at the bride's house I run ahead to take up my station. Well, really I just go hang out with the bride for awhile. Downstairs the battle is raging between the bridesmaids and groomsmen. The bridesmaids will not give up the bride for less than 999 RMB. The groomsmen will not give more than 999 RMB. But so far they have only given about 400. I come out of the locked bedroom just as the groomsmen burst into the kitchen waving a few more paltry 10’s around. The bride's sister counts. NOT ENOUGH!


We are already about 2 hours behind schedule and it is hot and unairconditioned and we are all dressed up. The Groom tells me to tell the bride that enough is enough, we are late and it is really hot.
I knock on the door.
The girls inside won't listen to anyone but the bride's sister.
Guys and girls are shouting at each other and money is exchanging hands and some begging can be heard. The groom is made to sing a love song to woo the bride. Nothing will sway the defiant bridesmaids.
The groom has made it to the door by physically removing myself and the bride's sister-in-law. He tells her too that it is too hot and we gotta go (because we really are late).

The bride's sister comes to the door and lets the bride know that it is not enough. They have only given 560 RMB!! Cheapskates!
The groom's logic was only a ruse!
The bride doesnt come out.

More yelling and arguing. Finally, the groom is allowed inside the room, where he is to put on her shoes.
Uh-oh! One shoe is missing! The bridesmaids have hidden it!! I find it inside the duvet, so we have to go inside and look for it between the blanket and the duvet cover!


And the whole time, a group of 4 are sitting in the midst of the commotion calmly playing mah-jong!!


Once the groom has safely taken possession of his bride, the real ceremony begins. The bride and groom will serve tea to the bride's relatives, who will in turn give them blessings and some gold jewelry.
Everyone is crowded around and taking pictures and it is hot and crowded. But the four people involved, bride and groom on their knees on cushions before her parents, seated on chairs, seem unfazed. Each takes a sip of tea and the parents give the bride some gold bracelets and the groom a gold ring. By the time they have gone through all of the aunts and uncles, the bride is dripping in gaudy gold jewelry. It is a very nice ceremony.


Next it is on to the groom's family for the tea ceremony with his family. This is the guy with like 30 uncles so you know it will take a while!


The wedding banquet itself is a grand affair with 82 tables. That is 10 people per table, one lobster and one pig per table. That is an expensive wedding banquet!
We give a hong bao (red envelope with money) when we arrive, but here in Xiao Lan they have a custom that they give back 40% of the money you give.


The bride and groom walk down the aisle with sparkling fireworks going off. On the dias is a 9 layer cake. They cut it together and pour a huge bottle of champagne into stacked champagne glasses. The best man is the MC and he makes some funny comments and makes the bride and groom kiss for 17 seconds. They very craftily hold the bottle of champagne up so we can't see!

Then the groom's American father makes a speech.
Then we get to all eat!
The American family goes with the bride and groom to toast at the tables, but I sit tight. Otherwise I won't get anything to eat! After dinner there is a lot of time spent counting the money received and settling accounts with the restaurant.

GZ for Americans day 2

Today in Guangzhou we went to the oldest temple in Guangzhou- the Guangxiao temple. It has a lot of buildings that look almost Japanese. Of course the Chinese will say that the Japanese things are from China so… anyway, it has some very nice buildings and nice grounds with big trees and incense burners all around.


After the temple we went back to Shamian island for some shopping before leaving for the rehearsal dinner back in Xiaolan. Unfortunately, few taxis want to take us there so we fold into a small Jetta, whose driver says that he has a friend who can take the two boys, but the friend is far away. This driver will take all 5 of us AND all of our luggage to meet his friend, and then we will go. Of course that will not work as the guys are 6 feet tall and we have between us about 6 suitcases. I say no have the friend come here. So he decides that he will wait for his friend too- just to make sure we don’t stiff the friend. No no that won’t work either. The parents and I have to get there soon. There is lots of arguing, the guys are yelling at me to go, I am yelling at the driver to go, the doormen and trying to flag down a taxi for the guys… It is all a big mess. And so typical Chinese.


We end up getting out and finding a better taxi. But our driver gets lost so we are driving around a bit. We end up arriving the same time the guys arrive, who knows how long they had had to wait for a taxi.

We now have to hurry to get to the rehearsal dinner, which, as far as I can tell, is really just rehearsal for eating.

Guangzhou for Americans

Today in Guangzhou I take the Americans to walk around the old part of town. This is a fun experience as the area between Shamian Island, where we are staying, and the big shopping pedestrian street there are very few westerners. This area is the wholesale market of Guangzhou. There are small shops with huge freezers selling frozen meats, sea food, and prepared food. There are also button stores, buckle stores, zipper stores, all with hundred of whatever they are selling available for individual or bulk purchase. We also have time to go to the Qing Ping Spice Market, where the Mom has a chat with some girls selling roots for soup.


Check out my earlier posts on Guangzhou and Shamian

Off to the Circus

Today in Hong Kong I am getting ready to go to Zhongshan to attend my friends’ wedding. The bride was a student of mine back in Zhongshan in 1996. The groom had been an exchange students at my high school, staying with the family that my exchange student boyfriend had stayed with, so I know the American family quite well.

I am coming early to help take care of the American family, translate, explain things, keep them abreast of what is going on because the groom is just too busy. One American brother is already here. He has been hanging out, partying, and watching the wedding preparations go on. A second brother arrives on Friday. These guys are big, typical American guys in their 30's who get their pictures taken with babies and cute girls, stares wherever they go, and who just generally enjoy their stay in China eating McDonald's and checking out the local talent (ie the waitresses who can speak a little English).

How the Locals Live

Today in Hong Kong I met my favorite students for lunch. Kim’s mother treated us all to dim sum in Kwung Tong, where they live. Afterward, we went back to their house for some moon cake.

Kim lives in a huge high rise 3 bedroom residence with his mother, father, brother, and two sisters. The kids sleep in bunk beds in small rooms that just have space for the beds. The living area has a small card table for dining and lodging for 6 turtles! SIX! You would think in such tight quarters that maybe they would stick to one small pet, not 6 that each needs its own box.

I think one problem here with the small spaces is that people have a lot of JUNK. Including us. One of us keeps every little jar and bag and interesting container. In our minuscule kitchen that doesn’t have space for normal stuff.

In Kim’s room there is a note to himself. It says “Remember: play games no eat.” Basically reminding himself that he must save his money for important things.

His father has a gambling problem and uses all of the money to feed it. Kim had a summer job as a lifeguard, but he can’t tell his father because his father would take his money. It is something that really bothers him (no kidding!)

After moon cake and soup and fruit (just in case we hadn’t gorged ourselves on the dim sum) the boys and I go out to explore Kwun Tong. There is a ferry pier and in the distant haze I can see central and the downtown. The area has a lot of old factory building and storage sites. It is interesting to see the old buildings and new ones being built in the area.

We are heading to a game center. Ken is a dynamo video drum game player. Basically it is like Dance Dance Revolution but instead of dancing you drum. Pretty cool. I suck of course. But Ken is pretty good. Something good in his life. Something he is good at. I am glad he has this.

Chinatown

TODAY in HONG KONG I went to look at apartments to buy. We are trying to get two apartments side-by-side that we can combine and knock down the joining wall to make an almost big enough space.

The first place (two places) had kitchens not much bigger than what I have now. At least they were big enough for two people to stand in. But the counter space was almost non-existent. There was a low-lying bench that was about knee-high. I can imagine how my back would feel after chopping on that. And then there was an electric burner on a normal height counter that left room for maybe one cutting board next to it. I am not even sure there was a sink. The bathroom was next to the kitchen and it was the size of a bathtub, but included sink, toilet, and shower.

The spaces were actually studio apartments, but had been made into two bedroom apartments! the bedrooms, like usual, were about 5x5'

This is Hong Kong living.

The next place we went to had already combined two apartments to make a rather huge-feeling place. And this place patios that they enclosed to make a bigger living area.

It was SO Chinese.

You walk into the living room and there is heavy wood Chinese furniture crowding the place. And one leather massage chair.

The walls were covered with glass cases full of Chinese knick-knacks: interesting wood growths, auspicious fungus, porcelain dieties, and an ancestral altar. And of course there was a huge screen TV that all that furniture was facing.

Then we passed through to the enclosed patio. Here they had collected more ugly furniture; think shellacked tree stump tables in the form of chairs and coffee table.
Actually, they weren't shellacked, and they weren't redwood. They were some sort of blond wood and the chairs looked like something a fairy king would sit on- sort of like a live-looking tree still growing. But very tacky (that is why I got the image of the shellacked redrood stump)

Anyway, they also have a ping pong table with an office chair pulled up to it in this inside/outside area and a few other odds and ends of furniture.

The thing I liked best was that they had made the corner of the patio into a fish pond. and there was a slate backwall that had a fountain that sort of drooled out.

The former patio also had a corner made into a bedroom. Next to that was another bedroom- they shared the original outside window so that there was a window between the two beds. And then there was another bedroom. There was also a bedroom in the space of what used to be the hallway between the two apartments. Hello Kitty and a piano. The rooms basically consisted of a custom-built bed (so that it was short enough) and a desk for homework. not much space for anything else.
The parents' bedroom had a huge poster of their wedding photo. I had seen one above the ping pong table as well.

Chinese houses need to be able to house 3 generations- grandma was here and the small bedrooms with desks are obviously for the kids. They also love to have their beautiful photos of themselves up- hence wedding photos or other professionally shot posters with professionally done hair and make-up.

Besides bedrooms for all the people, in Hong Kong, you need to have a room for the maid. This place also had a maid's quarters, with a bed the size of a cot and door.

They did have what seemed like a really big shower and another enclosed patio.
On this patio there was a chair swing, an old fashioned treadmill- like the one I once tried in China that is basically a rubber runner on two wheels that has no resistance and no speeds.

This patio leads back to the living room, where grandma was waiting, and the kitchen, which is also rather small for the place.

The whole place was bizarre. I think the thing that makes it bizarre is that the orignal stairwell is still in the middle of the two apartments. So basically you have to go through the patios to get to the bedrooms because the elevator and stairs for the rest of the building are still in the middle of the house! So it seems really big, but a huge part of it is the middle part that is not part of the house!

But, we liked it. I liked the view from the second patio. The building is smack dab in the middle of a wet market so I can see fruit sellers selling their bright oranges and bananas under flourescent lights. Also, just behind the building is a small park where elderly people come to sit and chat and wile away the time. Probably they do tai chi in the mornings.

A glimpse into how locals live.

Seoul Quaint

Today in Seoul I walked in the rain down Insadong St., a traditional old-style street in Seoul. Actually, as it was raining, we spent first couple of hours drinking café lattes on the second floor by a window that gave us a view of the people and umbrellas passing by on the street below.

Finally we ventured out in the rain, bought some umbrellas, and window shopped.

This street has a lot of arts and crafts and traditional wares. There are several tea shops selling all types and grades of tea and tea implements. There are shops selling traditional Korean clothing, hanbok. You can also find handmade paper and antiques.

There is a cute shopping “center” that offers space for local artists to sell their work. This interesting building is open air with a square in the middle and a slightly sloping walkway that takes you up 4 floors past all of the small shops, ending at a cool hip bookstore café. Jewelry, clothing, hair accessories, tee-shirts, etc. are available, almost all from local Korean artists.

Live Game

TODAY in SEOUL I stumbled upon a group of teenagers packed into a smal room looking at a boy all in white sitting at a computer. They were waiting for a LIVE video game competition and had signs to hold up to root for there guy.

Their guy is a Japanese gaming phenom with a cartoon hairdo and his very own fan base and sponsors. He is tired. He takes a minute to close his eyes and rest them. No doubt he has been playing for hours already as they list the scores of the last 10 games between these two contenders. The other kid is not around right now.
They are busy setting up the cameras and the shots they will get of the players.

Finally the other kid comes out. He looks out of his league.

Soon (well actually, after about half an hour of waiting while people try to push by me and get a better view) the game is on.

Woo. Quelle excitement. Two kids furiously diddling in keyboards and frantically moving clicking on the mouse. The screens show what is happening during the game, but I have no idea even how to follow! I am such a fuddy duddy!

I watch for the first game (I think). The guy in white has won again. He doesn't seemed fazed.

Video games are huge in Korea and they broadcast these live games. Cell phones are out of control and they have these cool covers that you can get to put cloudy skies or cow print or whatever on your phone. The women are quite striking and fashionable. Everything is expensive.

American Seoul

Today in Seoul I explored the area near the American army base, an area that used to have most of the foreign consulates and where many foreigners hang out and/or live. It was a little disappointing as most of the stores sold generic tourist crap: fake label clothes, baseball caps, trinkets, cheap Korean “antiques,” etc.

We had a hard time finding something for lunch so ended up eating pita sandwiches of all things. If only we had explored the alleys behind the main street. Like Taipei, this is where things are happening: American bars, western restaurants, a place to get my nails done after a week of horse riding.

We find a cute French bistro-type place to have a rest and a drink and end up at a nice terrace restaurant for dinner. We can’t find anything that looks like a good Korean restaurant!!

It is in the evening when the place comes alive. Girls in their finest and expats looking for fun are all out. The French bistro is packed and we were worried we wouldn’t get into the other restaurant. More people are selling stuff from tables on the street and the shops are all open.

Nighttime is definitely the time to go to Itaewon.

Seoul Asylum

TODAY in SEOUL I did nothing but sleep in in my luxurious hotel room in the "silicon valley" of Korea. After arriving in town at 5:00 am on the only flight out of Mongolia and 5 days of horse riding I was happy to be in the lap of luxury, looking down on the COEX tower and mall.

COEX is the largest underground mall in the world. This evening a walk to the outdoor plaza of the mall brought me to a fashion show for a new phone. It was really cool with the models showing the various uses: at home, at work, at a conference, on the weekend at a club, on a date....

It was really well done and fun to watch.

Farewell to emptiness

Today in Mongolia I alone am going for a horse ride. I decide to leave camera and backpack behind and gallop as far as I can.

I pass a small group of gers and their flock of sheep and goats. I head further down the steppe. I guess the length of this plane is about 4 miles with no obstacles. But I come across another flock of sheep and don’t want to startle them or in any way “herd” them so I reign in my horse. An old man rides up to me and we have a conversation.

I can count to 10, say hello and thank you and goat, horse, and sheep. Actually that is more than I can say in Cantonese!

We discuss how the neighbor herders just slaughtered 40 sheep for sale (a huge amount and a great income for them). He indicates that he is the one who killed 40 sheep (we both use the universal sign of slitting the throat).
I am completely confused but smile appreciatively.
He tells me to go look at something over yonder.
When I get there I see a deep well. Interesting. But not much.

I go up to another level of the steppe and then head back home. I come across a big herd of sheep and goats and stop to take photos. The herder comes up on a motorbike to see what I am up to. The modern horse.

Tonight I am leaving Mongolia and I try to soak in the emptiness and expansiveness.

White Dragon

TODAY in MONGOLIA I rode my horse up a mountain to make an offering to the White Dragon. On top of the mountain is a pyre of sticks, 15 feet tall. This is the den of the White Dragon who does not take any blood offerings, only white offerings: milk, yogurt, and sugar.

A small fire of special juniper branches is lit to create a white sweet smelling smoke. Each visitor lays a handful of juniper on the pile and says prayer.
Then we walk around the tall pyre three times, throwing a stone into the pyre, each time making a wish.

Milk and yogurt is poured into the smoking juniper while a special chant is intoned.

From the top of the mountain the view is beautiful. A long valley runs below, a silver river snaking through it, with trees lining the river. One sole yellow tree shines in the sun when it peeks through the clouds. A small group of gers has set up next to the river, in the shadow of the hills on the other side of the valley.

mmm, goat

Today in Mongolia I rode my horse the all over the steppe, galloping across the grass to ends of the earth.

In the evening, several UB expat residents and their kids came to the camp for the weekend. It was a birthday party and we bought a goat from the herder for dinner. This goat was trussed spread eagle on some re-bar and leaned over an open fire to roast.

I thought it would taste like a more gamey lamb but it was not gamey at all and had its own unique flavor. It was a bit tough, but pretty delicious.

That night the stars were out in serious multitudes. But the glow of the City could still be seen behind the hills to the west.

Steppein' out

TODAY in MONGOLIA I woke up in a colorfully painted ger (what most of us call a yurt, but that is Russian and due their history the Mongolians don't really like that word) warm under my camel hair blanket, the sun shining through the round hole in the top of the ger. Outside the warm and cozy ger is the wide green expanse of the Mongolian steppe. I can gallop a horse for half an hour before I meet a change in the flatness- a low hill that marks the side of another valley. It is really beautiful here in Mongolia with the blue sky, green steppe, and sparkling river that winds its way through the flat grass land.

For breakfast I had yak butter on my toast and freshly made yogurt from…? Don't know what kind of milk made this yogurt but with a little honey it is delicious. The butter looks like a flat of brie cheese with a crust and cheesy looking butter seeping between the layers. Am I supposed to eat the crust? I don't know!

I took an easy horse ride to a nearby herder's ger. He lives here with his teenage son and daughter and wife. The ger is the same size as the one that I am staying in. There are also several dogs.

The herder and the horseman start drinking vodka and offer me some. I feel like I should at least make a show of drinking some, even though it is only 11 in the morning!
It is delicious vodka! The two men pretty much finish the bottle!

<

Ulaan Baatar's City Park

Today in Mongolia I arrived at the Wind Horse Ger Camp after a bumpy over the river and through the woods drive in a Russian hippy van. The camp is a grassy area by the river covering a couple acres and including about 10 gers- including a cooking ger, a dining ger, and a shower ger. We are the only guests at this end of the season and we stay in a roomy ger (Mongolian word for Yurt- which is a Russian word so they don't like it) with soft beds and camel hair blankets and a wood burning stove to heat the place once the sun goes down and the temperature follows. A felt floor helps to retain the heat.

The Wind Horse Camp has a good selection of wines and fresh organic produce for delicious salads. The cook likes to cook vegetarian pasta and makes a mean spaghetti. Every night we will meet with Hamid (the owner) for delicious food, wine, and conversation. Hamid is a linquist who restores ancient texts and keeps this camp as his hobby. His knowledge of Mongolia and Buddhism makes for very interesting chats.

The shower ger has small mirrors and candles all around. A shower tap is in the middle above a large piece of slate for standing. Hamid had to dig 3 meters down to ensure no ecological harm from the soap and shower. This dining ger is lined on all walls with Kazakh wedding tapestries- handiworks for hanging on the wall but which are big enough for a bedspread. They are intentionally not finished as one’s marriage should never “finish.”



One of the most idyllic parts of staying here is having a glass of wine at the hand painted low table by the river watching the sun set into the mountain that separates us from the big city.

But next year, Hamid hopes to have a “spa” with baths of white mares' milk! Evidently a Khan kept 20 white mares so that he could take a bath in their milk every day. Has healing properties evidently and the color of the horse is important because of how the white reflects light or something! Crazy! But I'll try it!

UB Museum

Today in Ulaan Baatar I explored the museums of this capital city in the land of Genghis Khan. There is a great museum of natural history that has one of the best displays of dinosaur bones in the world, including huge nests with eggs intact. Mongolia has a great deposit of dinosaur bones and paleological digs are going on constantly, especially in the Gobi.

My favorite museum was the Museum of History because of the beautiful samples of clothing worn by the different tribes of people in Mongolia. The most interesting are the hair decorations- the women would wear a metal filigree cap with matching hair clips that somehow keep the hair in flat waves flying out to the sides of the head. At the end of the “tails” are heavy-looking ornaments that encase the ends and hang several inches down. Attached to these are long lengths of embroidered silk that reach down to their knees. It is really amazing. Many of the ornaments are encrusted with red coral and turquoise.

Sukbaatar

Today in Ulaan Baatar I explored the city and walked around the huge Sukbaatar Square, which is dominated by the modern Parliament building but softened by the pink colonial-style Opera house facing the setting sun.

During this sun set, we had a beer at a bar on the square where the famous London-Ulaan Baatar Rally ends. The rally had just finished and a few battered and DIRTY cars we being ogled by a few Westerners.

It is interesting because this is one way that cars get into Mongolia. Well, obviously, but it is interesting because cars in Mongolia are both left- and right-side drive! There didn't seem to be a majority of either, although they drive on the right side of the road, like in the US.

UB Modern

TODAY in ULAAN BAATAR I am surprised to see how much construction is going on. I am staying the best hotel in the city, but it is like a Chinese hotel: poor service, aging decor, and less than perfect buffet breakfast. But across the way they are building a new Shangri-la hotel and other international 5 star hotels are on the way.

Many women here are in high fashion garb and sleek heels, but you can still glimpse older people in traditional robes with sashes around their middles. The city is dirty, but the sky is blue and the monuments are well-kept.

It is amazing to learn about this vast country that once conquered such a large expanse of land. They once had their capital in Beijing!

I have always wanted to go to Mongolia and I am finlly here.

Mongolia is a lot like China a few years back. When I was in China 10 year ago advertisements were painted on walls, rather than the modern billboards that are more common now. In Mongolia they had a lot of canvas ads. One in particular caught my eye.
>

Look carefully at the camera.