Worth the Wait

Okay, I know we are not the most prolific or entertaining bloggers.  I can't even apologize for it because, for the first time in a long time, we are just LIVING OUR LIFE.  It's awesome, fabulous, glorious.

However, something happened today that warranted an immediate blog post... so here I am, sitting in the Lilly Beijing office coffee closet, posting a blog during our 5 minute break.

This. 

This.... is Babynes.  It's a Keurig for Babies.  This is blowing my mind, but I had to share with you.  I can't even decide how I feel about it, but there is definitely a level of wonder involved.  

Math Daze

Caroline and I sometimes find ourselves doing catch-up math work in the resident's lounge on the weekends if there was a topic that she couldn't manage using her book or Khan Academy.  In general, it goes well and we are learning to work together in a fun and productive way. Occasionally, though, she says something that makes me laugh AND highlights just how special and unique her outlook is.  =)

"Five is a snotty number. It thinks it's the boss."

or

"I don't like linear functions in the negative quadrants. 

I just don't like the way they look. 

They're so ...negative, and they don't match my outlook on life."

Hong Kong!

[Caroline]
On Thursday, we traveled to Hong Kong. It was so beautiful!! We took an airplane there, which was lots of fun, especially because I got to sit next to Everett.(I was not being sarcastic. It was a bit fun!!) We were not expecting it, but they served a meal during the flight. I watched Finding Dory, which is quickly becoming one of my favorite movies. I don't even mind that it is geared toward smaller children, because I think it is just so hilarious.

We arrived and bought Octopus cards, which can be used as payment for almost everything in Hong Kong, including buses, trolleys, cabs, subways, boats, ferries, and various stores and gas stations. We rode a bus all the way from the airport to the hotel. We checked in, and went right to sleep because we wanted to be rested and prepared for the coming day ahead of us.


Mom and Everett woke up before Dad and I, and went for a walk. When I woke up, Dad was in the shower, and Mom and Everett had just got back from their walk, bearing breakfast. They had gone to a bakery down the street, and had gotten several buns and rolls.I had a ham and cheese bun and some of a pineapple bun. I enjoyed them. We took a hotel shuttle to the ferry pier where we used our octopus cards to pay the 2 HK dollars to get on the boat.

 We took the boat to Lantau island, home of the Po Lin monastery and the world's largest sitting metal Buddha. We hopped off the ferry and made it to the bus just in time to get the last seats. This bus took us all the way up the island mountains to the big Buddha and the monastery.The ride was very bumpy, but also quite scenic though. We arrived and immediately went to find some water bottles, and we found some cool postcards while we were at it. Then we made our way through the monastery. I observed many people buying incense sticks, and then burning them. They would then hold them and bow, and stick them into sand to continue to burn. It was very smoky, but it smelled great.

 We walked on and observed koi fish in a very peaceful pond. Then we reached the temple. There were humongous golden Buddhas on display, with big bowls of fruit and candy before them as offerings. People would get on their knees and bow to the statues several times. The temples were painted in many bright colors. Inside, everything, including the walls was gold. It almost blinded you.
 

Then we decided to climb the stairs to visit the big Buddha. There are several flights of stairs to get to the statue, but we got up all right. The Buddha was so peaceful up there, surrounded by the island, beaches, mountains, and greenery. Positively amazing.




We went up, said hello to the Buddha,took a few pictures, and came down. It was very sunny up there. So sunny, that I couldn't even open my eyes all the way for all of the pictures. I am sure my eyes were closed for half of them. (Insert family picture here) We headed down, but before we got back on the bus to head down, we had to have a drumstick stop. Mom got some sort of mint chocolate cone, and the rest of us went with old faithful, cookies'n'cream.

Everett totally crashed as soon as we boarded the bus, and stayed that way through the transition onto the boat, and all the way through the boat ride. I managed to stay awake for the bus ride, but I will admit I did a little bit of crashing myself on Mom's lap on the boat ride back. :)

But instead of going straight back to the hotel room after the ferry ride back to mainland, we hopped off our ferry, and onto another going to the Kowloon side of Hong Kong. We found a good place to sit and watch the light show that building on the mainland put on. It won the Guinness book of world records for biggest and best light show. I had lots of fun, but we all agreed that it was not exactly as great as we had heard it described. After that, we got lost in the metro, I got myself stuck in the metro line, got myself unstuck, and we made it back to the hotel in one piece. (Thank goodness)

We woke up the next morning a bit later than intended, had some breakfast, and Mom and Dad had a parent meeting in the bathroom to discuss what we would be doing that day. (The room was very small and so the only place they could have a no-kids conversation was the bathroom) They decided, much to Everett and I's delight, on a theme park called Ocean world. We took a taxi there, after buying tickets at a 7/11. We then bought fast track wristbands, which gave us each 7 opportunities to skip to the front of the line on any of the participating rides. We got inside the park, and Mom went to find coffee, and Dad went to find sunscreen. It was a very warm and sunny day. We decided to take the tram up and over the mountain. It was a bit scary, being so high up over the green mountain and pretty water of the ocean  in a little swaying car.


The first ride we decided on was one of the only ones up in the mountain that Everett was tall enough for. The rest of the Everett rides were at the bottom. It was a little roller coaster, but was still fun. The look on E's face afterwards was priceless. He had so much fun. Then we decided to go see some animals. The theme park doubled as a zoo/aquarium. We saw the walruses, and the seal show, and the favorite by the little one, the SHARKS!!!!!!!!!!! (Personally, I liked the seals) After a while of wandering around, we headed to the Ferris wheel. We went around precisely one time, and they gave us the boot. Mom and I decided to go on a roller coaster that went upside down a few times, because those are my favorite. After the ride, I was giggling uncontrollably, and Mom said nothing, eyes wide. Her facial expression made me laugh even harder.

After that ride, Mom decided to take Everett down the mountain to the rides he was tall enough for, and Dad and I stayed to ride a few more rides. I sped toward the rapids. Bad choice, Caroline. As soon as we got on the ride, the sun decided to take a vacation, and so the water was freezing. Then, the park decided to install water guns on a bridge so that people on the bridge could shoot water at the people on the ride going underneath the bridge. f that wasn't bad enough, one of the people poured their water bottle on us too!! We were soaked to the core after, so we decided to go on a extremely big and scream-worthy roller coaster to dry us off. The Hair-raiser. The most fun roller coaster I have ever been on.



Best coaster I have ever been on, and I have been on my fair share of roller coasters! We went on it three times. After, we headed down the mountain to meet Mom and Everett.We all went on the carousel, and instead of horses, they had all kinds of animals. I got stuck with a whale, when what I wanted was the seahorse. And I only wanted that because I didn't see a butterfly. (One of my three favorite animals)

 We got to watch an acrobatics show before we left, which was super cool beans.

 Then we took the subway back to Kowloon, and made our way to temple street night market. When you go there, these restaurants will set up tables in the street and have waitresses running around bringing food to people and taking orders. And they have scouts who ask every passerby if they wanted to eat, or they would go ahead and ask how many people we had as if we had already agreed to eat there. We got a table and ordered. Our food took forever! We figured that it was because we ordered non sea food, and that was the only thing they did serve. This is all of the fresh seafood that was served.

 Someone had left their bag of stuff under the table, and it had a pretty traditional Chinese dress that fits me just right, and two pair of brand new earbuds, one pair that are black, and the other is covered in smiley faces. I have dibs on those too.
We finished eating, and started to shop. Everett had to look at every single plastic toy truck he saw, so we did not walk very fast. I ended up with a purple poof ball to hook onto my purse or backpack, Mom ended up with a dress, and Everett ended up with some silk slippers for slip-on shoes for school. We took the ferry back, and stopped for drumsticks on the walk to the hotel. Everett got purple coconut,and I got vanilla. Mom got some Haagen-dazs that was Elderflower & Blackcurrant. It tasted like an air freshener to me, but she liked it, and that is what matters.

Our last day. We took the subway back to Aberdeen, a little fishing village right by Ocean park. We walked by the water for a while, and met a lady trying to get us to buy a tour on her Sampan boat. We told her we would come back after we ate. We found a little restaurant that smelled good. Dad got seafood noodles, (That ended up having octopus in it, which I thought was gross, but Dad thought was yummy) Everett got french toast, and Mom and I did the order where you choose your add ons, and your types of noodles, and they bring you a big bowl of broth and noodles, and whatever you ordered. I think I ordered beef slices, pork wantons, lettuce, bokchoy, and a fried egg. It was amazing. I love the food here.

Everett on a metal canoe sculpture :)

We did walk back, and we did end up taking the lady up on her offer.We paid her and got on. There was a very nice man steering and commentating and taking our picture for us. A sampan boat is a little small boat usually meant for ocean tours.

                                             This one was super decorated.

 We toured for half an hour, and even saw a floating temple! And some house boats with their very own house dogs. So cute.

We took the sub way all the way back to the ferry dock in downtown Hong Kong. Dad wanted to take a one hour huge ferry boat tour all around, but not in the docks like the sampan. On the shores of Hong Kong and on the ocean, and with refreshments. It was so beautiful, the skyline and all of the buildings. We went in a big circle, and I was able to remember how much I love the ocean and allof the open air and the waves. It just makes my heart happy.

We went back to the hotel to pick up our bags. We took a taxi to the airport, and we got our bags out. I grabbed a cart, stacked our bags on it, and put Everett on top.

                                           Everett and I being "Thingas" (Ningas)

 Our flight back was good, and here we are. I will admit that I didn't want to come back, but I know we can't ever stay in the same place forever.

:) 

Maritime Museum and Port of Shanghai

• The port of Shanghai(PoS), is the largest port in the world, overtaking Istanbul in 2010. 
• There are 125 shipping berths in the port. Of the 125, 82 of them can accommodate vessels that are 10,000 DWT. DWT stands for dead weight tonnage. Dead weight tonnage is a measure of how much mass the ship is carrying, or can safely carry. This does not include the ship itself. The dead weight tonnage is usually expressed in tons. (Long and/or metric)
•  Each month, over 2,000 cargo ships leave to transport goods to the rest of the world.
• Containerization: A system of intermodal freight transport using intermodal containers (a.k.a. shipping containers) made of weathering steel. The containers have standardized dimensions so they can be transported by boat and train, and use the same equipment to move them. They can fit on trains and boats well. If they were all different sizes, then it would take so long to move them from boat to land to train and such. You would have to have equipment in all different sizes, and the containers might not fit on some trains, and then they do fit on others. This is just a much more efficient way to transport goods by trains and boats.

Jan 18
   Today we went to the C.Y. Tung maritime museum that is located on the campus of one of the universities in Shanghai.                                          

 It was not a huge museum, but the perfect size for a day trip. Not too much to do, but enough for a few hours. In the 2 rooms on the first floor, most everything had to do with the maritime history of China. They were really ahead of us in this category. They were sailing and had already discovered propulsion (man-made, or by an animal) when we were just discovering boats and sailing. There were lots of models of early ships. There were also examples of the first compasses. There was the original idea, which was a metal needle stuck through a reed so it would float, in a bowl of water. The end of the needle would point north or south. It was very interesting.

   The second floor was more about C.Y. Tung and his work. C.Y. was a shipping magnet, and the founder of Orient Overseas Line. He was a big believer in education. In 1970, he bought the RMS Queen Elizabeth, and converted it into a floating university. The new name was to be the S.S. Seawise University. Unfortunately, On January 9 1972, the ship caught fire and sunk in the Hong Kong harbor during refurbishing.
 Fun fact, the wreck was featured in the James Bond movie, The man with the golden gun.


C.Y. was not limited by this setback, though. He then bought a smaller liner, Atlantic, to complete the project.                                                   
Container services were revolutionary in the world's shipping industry when the Americans introduced them in the year 1965. In the far east, C.Y. Tung was one of the first people to provide container services. He started by converting his bulk carriers into semi container ships. Soon, there were many container ships throughout the east. Converted from ships that just carried crates and such, into ships that fit shipping containers on board instead.

Jan 25
Today we went to visit the Port of Shanghai. Unfortunately the smog was thick, and we did not get many good pictures or views. It is about a 1 1/2 hour drive, and 20 miles of that is on a bridge over the East China Sea.
.
 I did notice during our visit, that it did not smell salty or fishy. That is probably because of the pollution, we concluded. The port is located on an island, so there were huge hills. Not tall enough to be a mountain, but much bigger than just any old hill. There are stairs up and down them. I had woke up already sore from a workout yesterday, and when we climbed this thing, I felt really good. After the car ride back, I stepped out of the car, and oh boy!

 So today was the first hole-toilet of the trip for me. Memories came flooding back to me of our trip to Uganda in 2015. Almost all of the bathrooms there were holes. I am not complaining though. I am grateful that there were restrooms and they were clean. To be honest, I think it humbles you to go to a hole-bathroom. It certainly makes me think "Well, I feel like a jerk now complaining about this because this is what a lot of people use everyday, and they are completely fine and dandy".Wow, my supposed-to-be one sentence about hole bathrooms turned in to seven. Enough about that.

 Bob came with us up the hill for a little bit, but then went back down to the car. We passed a family on the way to the top, and they said hello politely, and we did too. They seemed excited excited about seeing us.On our way down, we passed them again, and the mom, and mom of the mom offered all of us some shelled peanuts. They gave us handfuls, and asked us how old we are, and those things. They lighted up my day just with their cheerfulness and smiles.(And the peanuts. They were delicious)

We climbed back down, and started the drive back. We passed the new Disney in Shanghai, and it looked amazing! We are supposed to go sometime while we are here. Today rekindled my "oh-my-gosh"feeling for this. :D

Hangzhou

{Caroline}

As you may know, this week is the Chinese lunar new year. Most people migrate back to their home towns. My Mom, Everett, and I traveled to the city of Hangzhou, and what an experience! The town is built around West lake, a huge beautiful body of water. Mountainous hills surround the lake, and behind them, is the city. Bob drove us, and stayed in the hotel, and did several of our activities with us. Hangzhou is about an hour and a half to two hours out of Shanghai. When we arrived to the hotel, we discovered that Some Marriotts don't seem to care about privacy too much. In the hotel room, the bathroom has a glass wall that opens up to the rest of the room through the shower. So everyone could see you use the toilet and take a shower. I skipped the shower, willing to take on the stinkiness. I set up a towel on the retractable clothes line so you had privacy while using the restroom. I was quite happy with my problem solving , to be honest.

After we settled into our room, we put on more layers of clothing, and set out to experience this new city. We walked along for a while, and eventually stopped at a street vendor, who was selling steamed rice cakes. They were cubes, about the size of my palm, of steamed sweet rice. They were truly wonderful. We kept walking and arrived at West lake.It was magical. The lake was filled with boats. All kinds of boats. Little fishing boats, tour boats, one yacht, a golden boat with a huge dragon on the top, small boats that you rent and row yourself, and even smaller boats that you sit in while a native rows from the back. There was fog hanging low on the surface, and you could see the peaks of the hills behind. We walked around the lake with lots of other people.

 (Corn was a popular street snack by the lake)

     (Dragon boat)

We got to a big open area where couples were dancing to music. On the outskirts of the group was an old lady who had beautiful fans with ribbons hanging off the edges. She was dancing with them. We were standing a few feet away just watching, and she saw us. She danced over, took my backpack off of my shoulders, and grabbed my hand. She pulled me into the middle, and gave me a fan. She then took my arm, and started telling me to dance. As hard as I tried to mimic her movements, I still got laughter from all of the people passing by. After a minute or two, I began to laugh as well :)

 Once the song was through, she picked up my brother for a picture. He was quite alarmed, and just sat in her arms speechless. I got quite the laugh out of that.

On the way home, we were trying to get a taxi, but we couldn't. They were all taken. So we sent Bob a wechat and asked him to come get us. I still wanted a taxi, and kept trying to hail one as we waited. I got one! But, as it was switching lanes to pick us up, it ran into another car! They worked it out in less than a minute, because there was no damage to either car, and we still got a ride home from it. The driver was a young man, possibly late teens, early twenties, and he is the only driver I have really noticed. I noticed him because of his eyes. They seemed sad, and therefore made me sad. I have been told I have a big heart. I always cry at the animal shelter commercials, and when I see people mistreating anything living like dogs, and children. Maybe it was just that day, but I was just sad looking at his sad looking eyes. I prayed for him that night, and I hope he is happier now :) Everett was so tired from the day, he passed OUT in the taxi on the way home.

We went to bed early, so we could get up early and explore some more. But first, we got some takeout from the restaurant downstairs in the hotel.

We woke up around 7 a.m, and went for breakfast downstairs. The Chinese breakfast is a bit different from the American's. They eat dumplings, and steamed buns. Yogurt and various sweet breads and pastries are available too. This is all on one half of the room. American style is on the other side. That's where I went. I love dumplings and steamed buns, no doubt, but I would not prefer them for breakfast. I got some scrambled eggs, and bacon. Oh, and I can't forget the donuts and mango juice. That was one of the best breakfasts I have ever had!

After breakfast, we loaded up the car, and began to drive around the other side of West lake. We wanted to go and visit the pagodas and temples in the mountains. We drove up for a while, and stopped to park. We walked and walked until we reached a point where we could buy tickets to go up into the mountains. On the walk up into the mountains there was a small tea market with stalls full of tea. I wanted some tea, so we stopped. Hangzhou has it's own type of tea, called Longjing tea. Hangzhou is very big in the tea and silk industries. There are countless rows of tea. I got some red tea, (Black tea) that smelled like honeysuckle.

We soon reached the spot where the cool begins. A cave with ancient markings are carved into the wall. There are also Buddhas carved into the stone everywhere.

We climbed up stairs carved into the sides of the hills. The scenery was absolutely beautiful. All of the greenery was so pretty.
 In the car, we were having a conversation about all three of our "places". I said, "At this exact time of the year, Indianapolis is white, Texas is brown, and China is green!" I find it remarkable how different these places can be on the exact same day.

Hangzhou and Shanghai are very different, and very similar at the same time.
Hangzhou is much smaller than Shanghai. Shanghai is all very compact and crowded, where as Hangzhou is still crowded, but not quite as much. There are near as many tall buildings in Hangzhou. Other than maybe 10 tall buildings, most of the building were only a few stories. Despite the size difference, I feel that Shanghai is actually less intense. In Hangzhou, no one is quiet and reserved.

These two cities have several, but not as many similarities.
Hangzhou and Shanghai both have calisthenics. (The work out equipment in the park) Everett had to stop there, of course :)
 This is something I thought odd of me to notice, but I noticed that both cities have similar smells. The occasional sweet smell from a near by bakery, the occasional smell of yummy cooked meat, the occasional somewhat fishy smell, and of course, the occasional sewer smell. The latter, I am sure is because of how there are just so many people living in this space.

This is a family that was quite fascinated with Everett.

Over all, I give this trip a big fat 9 out of 10. Lots of fun, and so many new experiences!!!

Rogue One!

[Christopher]

What to do on a day when most people in Shanghai have gone out of town for the New Year Celebration? One obvious choice...someplace that's usually packed. MaryAnn suggested that Caroline and I go see the new Star Wars movie so that is what we did. Caro and I saw The Force Awakens in Indianapolis when it came out last year so we've been looking forward to seeing this one but didn't get the opportunity before we left the states and thought we'd missed our chance.

The nearest movie theater is about a 10 minute walk from the apartment in a very nice shopping mall. We were able to get our tickets online and access them at the theater kiosk when we got there. Ffter we got some popcorn and drinks we were all set. Unlike the US where the popcorn is served plain or "buttered"  (those quotation marks are used lightly), the popcorn they sell in Shanghai is a caramel/kettle variety that was pretty tasty.

Because we were the first ones into the theatre, we were able to watch about 15 minutes of Chinese commercials.  That's when we realized they don't show trailers for new movies - they just advertise for various products and events. The website said that the movie would be 3D and be in English [with Chinese subtitles]. Caroline only asked me 5 times during the commercials if I was sure it would be in English.

I won't offer up any spoiler,s but I can say that the movie was very well done. The cast was really good and the special effects didn't seem too over the top like some of the episodes have been. We both feel like we may have to go back and watch it again.

 

Hongbao

[MaryAnn]

Chinese New Year is right around the corner, so now seems like a good time to take a quick look at one Chinese customs you may have seen but may not fully understand: Chinese red envelopes, or hongbao.  Our dear friend Natalie introduced us to hongbao several years ago when we joined her family's CNY dinner tradition, but I was interested in more of the details.  Luckily - there were lots of great articles, crafty tutorials, and memes available in the days leading up to CNY. :)

Origins

There are several legends as to how the hongbao came to be. One of the most popular talks about a demon that terrorized a village by sneaking into children’s bedrooms while they were sleeping. The children would fall dangerously ill as a result of the demon touching their heads. One worried couple prayed to their god for protection who, in return, sent fairies down to help. The fairies disguised themselves as coins and were placed under the child’s pillow at night. When the demon approached, the coins emitted a bright light and scared it away. Upon hearing this, the rest of the villagers began placing red packets containing coins under each child’s pillow.

Over time, this tradition evolved to be less about warding off evil and more as an expression of good will and prosperity.  Thank goodness!

Occasions

During Chinese New Year, elders will give the younger generation red packets to signify their blessings. Those already working will also gift their parents and grandparents hongbaos to wish them good health and longevity. They are given during weddings and birthdays as well, either in place of or in addition to presents. In the workplace, employees may sometimes receive red packets as a form of appreciation for their hard work (unrelated to the annual bonus).

Different blessings are inscribed on red packets for different occasions, so keep this in mind when shopping for one.  (I have no idea if the hongbaos I've been giving are inscribed with a general "Have a good luck year" or  perhaps "Have 12 babies and buy a new house".  My apologies!)

Amount

There is no hard and fast rule to how much should be in a hongbao, though it is agreed that the closer the relationship between giver and receiver, the higher the sum should be. It should also correlate to your income–the higher your salary, the bigger the hongbao you’re expected to give. Beware of inauspicious numbers like the number “four”—it’s a homophone with the word “death” in Chinese. Odd numbers are also discouraged because of their association with funerals. (I wonder if someone would really rather have 500RMB instead of 4444 RMB?)