So I met up with one of my Chinese friends the other day to go out to dinner, but I'm not here to blog about the dinner. It was how we got to the dinner. 

Well actually, it's not so much how we got to the dinner, but what he said on the way. And yes, we did take one of those things in the picture (sorry, but I had to borrow this picture, we don't actually have a picture of one of those trikes in our library). So I meet him at the front gate of his college and there's plenty of these trike scooters ready to take you somewhere that's a bit far to walk, but too short to justify a taxi. He promptly walks up to one and asks how much it is to go to the place it is we need to go to and the driver says 4 bucks. My friend then said 3 bucks, but the driver wouldn't budge for less than 4, so we walk to the next one. In China, if you don't like the price, you walk away. Unfortunately, this next driver also wanted 4 bucks and wouldn't take the offer of 3. So we hop in that one and head on our way. My friend knew that I understood all of what just went on and he looks at me and says "Economic inflation". He needed my help to say the second word, but I knew what he meant. And it made me laugh. Even rickshaws aren't exempt from a troubled world economy. At any rate, it was a fun ride if you enjoy cutting off traffic, riding on the opposite side of the road, and flying through the air (ok, I lied about the flying through air part). 

Now, just for fun, here's a picture of what one Mini-Cooper dealership in Beijing did to prepare for the Olympics.

Now that's what I call mini. (And yes, it's pedal power)

Until next time.

Jason

Let's play a stint of word recognition, shall we?  (I'll help you out a bit.)

I say "India".  You say..."Curry!" 

I say "France."  You say..."Croissants!"  

I say "America".  You say "High fructose corn syrup!"

I say "China."  You say...no...not dog...no...not rice...I'll give you a hint:  they literally do drink only a spot of it at a time...yes tea!  There isn't any problem in the world that can't be solved over a nice spot of tea (and if it can't be solved with tea then a cute little vegan cupcake will do the trick, trust me).  

It was China that introduced tea to the rest of the world.  Whether it be black, green, red, plain or highly spiced, tea is an important meal component in any Asian country.  While I wouldn't call myself a definite connoisseur yet, I do appreciate how the Chinese take time to drink their tea while appreciating the taste, the friends, and the overall art of the experience.  I definitely must learn to do this. 

My memory escapes me but someone once said that "...in America, we were lonely.  So we created coffee shops.  That way we could drink our coffee and read our newspaper with other lonely people doing exactly the same thing at the table next to us and continue our loneliness together.  And then, we even had the audacity to build 'drive through' coffee shops.  Have we entirely lost the art of conversation and relationship?"  Now that of course is an extreme statement but when you travel to the east, you begin to realize just how much of an individualistic society is encouraged in the West...no one here ever goes to a tea or coffee shop to read a book by themselves.  Even if they go to study, its in a group.  And they talk...and they talk for AGES...and restaurants and tea shops would NEVER hurry you up so they can give your table to someone else.  In fact if you stay less than an hour, they think you didn't like the service or something! 

This is our Chinese friend demonstrating how ladies are supposed to hide their cup while drinking tea.

Trying to look Chinese while drinking tea...I'm not doing thumbs up on purpose...in fact I'm probably flipping someone off...

Jason drinking tea the manly Chinese way.

Ok so here's a quick lesson on brewing your own cup of tea at home.  I'm on an oolong kick right now -- oolong is a semi fermented tea, a little stronger than regular green but milder than black.  Very aromatic.

1.  Bring cold water to the boil rapidly to prevent the water being de-aerated.  

2.  Use a china or glazed earthenware teapot that will retain the heat, and warm it by swirling a little hot water around the sides and emptying it out.

3  Measure the tea carefully:  1 heaped teaspoon of leaves for each cup and 1 for the pot.

4.  Follow the old adage "bring your teapot to the kettle, not the kettle to the teapot" to ensure the water is still on the boil when it is poured onto the tea leaves (this step can be different depending on the type of green tea apparently but if it's a Chinese green tea, this should be fine).  This will agitate the leaves and release the full flavour of the tea.  Fill the pot and then promptly poor the first cup out to remove all bitterness.

5.  Refill the pot and put the lid on.  Leave for a few minutes to infuse the leaves.  Tell your friends a story about how the dragon ate the sun and then gave birth to it in the form of a pheasant.  If you add motions and body language, this will be sure to keep your crowd entertained for all of a minute.  Then sit in awkward silence till your tea is done infusing.

6.  If using milk (not with green tea!!!), add it to the cup before the tea.  The scalding tea will slightly cook the milk and blend the flavours.

7.  Stir the pot and poor tea through a strainer into each cup.  Add sugar if you are a weakling and cannot appreciate the flavour of the tea for what it truly is.  One might ask oneself...if I am adding sugar to disguise the wonderful flavour of this tea, should I really be drinking it? 

This is an example of one of the many kinds of traditional tea tables.  Often carved out of solid wood, they come in many sizes with all kinds of intricate designs and scenes carved into them.  I gotta get me one of these some day!  When I do, you can all come over and we'll have a tea party!

This is our oven.

Yes, its sitting on our kitchen table.  Yes its only 22cm x 30cm (that's about 9" x 12" and I'm kind of guessing right now because I'm too lazy to get up and find the tape measure).  It gets up to 250 C (482 F)...or so it says.  Everything takes twice as long or longer to cook in there.  But it's an oven and it works so we're learning to go with the flow.

Jason offered to make me a pavlova for my birthday -- a pavlova is my most favourite dessert that we only eat once or twice a year since its loaded with sugar.  So hurdle # 1 was cooking the meringue and hurdle # 2 was trying to make some type of non-dairy cream (Jason and cream just don't get along besides whipping cream being extremely expensive).  It became a team effort.  We googled countless coconut cream recipes and the first try -- well I wouldn't call it successful but at least it turned out better then the final attempt which was a total disaster (actually this picture makes its look better than it was but it was really the consistency of a runny custard).  

And the meringue.  The oven went from not cooking to burning in zero seconds flat.  This is what it looked like after it rose and then deflated before our very eyes!

And after we'd snacked on it a little -- hey we needed some reward for our hard labour!

shining in the sun, covering the shore.  When I see them, my heart tells me that I love you!  More than all the little pearly shells...

(Sorry that was a sentimental moment that only those from my child hood years will understand...)

For the last three years, I have visited the ridiculously cold beached of Northern California and every time we went to San Diego, the weather was too lousy or cold to swim.  So for my birthday this year, I begged Jason to take me to Beihai, a small fishing village about 2 1/2 hours away from us in Nanning.  After visiting several beaches in Asia and the Pacific and knowing no two are alike, I was wondering if this one would fit into the swimmable or non-swimmable category and basing my assumptions on the fact that the Chinese don't always care if there is a rubbish bin close by, I was going with "un-swimmable but still a beach".  I'm not really a swimming person anyway.  I fall into the "sit the sun, get a tan (yes Mum, with my sunscreen), read my book, likes long walks on the beach and pina coladas" category personally. 

Well, Northern Queensland it ain't but I was pleased to find white sandy beaches, palm trees and so-so water (at least it wasn't freezing cold!)...and about half the population of China. Apparently the other half will arrive next Friday for the Labour day festival when beach season officially kicks off.   Silver Beach, where we stayed, is marketed as (and I quote) "The number one beach on the earth" and the Chinese -- many of whom have never and will never venture outside of their own country -- couldn't believe that more whole-heartedly.  We decided that the beach will run out of sand in the next few years due to literally everyone taking a bag full of it home as a souvenir.  Its about the only beach on earth where the girls wear more clothes than the guys for fear of getting tanned and the guys where speedos and/or next to nothing.  Its also the only beach were you are likely to be harassed to have your picture taken by hundreds of people, be dogged by the 'delightful' pearl peddlers who have a hard time understanding no even in their own language, and if you're not careful, you'll be yanked right off the road into a taxi before you even know what hit you!  As long as we stayed put on the beach and didn't venture 2 metres away from our towels, we seemed to fair ok (or was that cause we were pretending to sleep?).  When we weren't busy being lazy, we were busy trying not to be ripped off.  They don't get as many white foreigners as the adds say they do!  Perhaps its better said as 'The number one over-statement on Earth'?  Still, it is the pride of every Chinese heart.

We had intended to camp on the beach (yes Dad, its legal), but due to the fickle weather we had to get ourselves a hotel for a whoping $15 a night -- hey it wasn't the Shangri la and definitely didn't have more than 2 stars (did it even have one?) but we don't have kids so we can do crazy things like that right?  The sun was merciful enough to grace us with her presence for a little while.  Enough to bring a little colour to one's skin (and burn the American who put on the bare minimal amount of sunscreen to please me since it was my birthday...).  I tell you what, if I ever see anyone of you wear nylons and stilettos to the beach (or any other ridiculous, obviously not beachy type of outfit), I will personally take you out the back and tan your hide.  These people need proper beach etiquette lessons.

I got a tan so I'm happy!  Happy, happy birthday to me!  More stories to follow I'm sure...

As I was chatting via Skype this morning, I may have been prompted ever so slightly to maybe update our blog. My apologies. It has been my turn to write on the blog for a while now, so I'm finally here. Life never seems to slow down, especially in China. As my dad accurately pointed out, there's about 14 bajillion people here, so I have a long way to go to make it to the top of the male model ladder. But I keep chipping away at it. Attending walking class is not always easy, I just learned I'm not an ambi-turner. But that's ok, I still have other strengths, can you say "La tigre". For those of you wondering what sort of gag this is, wonder no longer. I have been attending modeling class. I have been working on how to walk. I will be modeling clothes next month. The way it happened: we have a friend whose attending the art college for a music major. She introduced me to one of her friends, a dude, whose majoring in fashion design. He's as tall as I am and he's a fun guy. While we were having lunch one day, I was asking him, seeing as he's a senior, if he gets to have a showcase to display his fashion for his senior project. It just so happens that he does. So I ask him if I might get a ticket because I would like to see his stuff. Well, he's only allowed a certain number of tickets and his are all gone. Jokingly, I mention I could model his clothes and therefore be able to see the show. He liked the idea, and this is how my career as a male model started. So as you can see, I have been busy trying to perfect "the walk". Whenever I get pictures of the show next month, know that I will be posting them for you all to see if you're still thinking I'm pulling your leg. 

In other news, Rachel's birthday, or shēngrì in Chinese, is this weekend and we'll be taking a trip to the beach. The beach is about a 2 hour bus ride away and we'll stay there for the weekend just camping on the beach because apparently it's legal, not to mention cheap. So we'll come back with some photos of the beach next week. All our Chinese friends are telling us that the seafood is so good where we're going, so we're looking forward to that. Forgive me if my writing seems strange. You see, when my body doesn't get cheese for a while, it stops producing the necessary component to break it down. Well, as a treat, we had some friends come over for dinner and I made some vegetable enchiladas which calls for cheese. They came out delicious, everyone loved them, except my stomach that is. It's a good thing we don't have school today, cause I would not have been going anyway. I think I'm doing much better now, but I'm still taking it easy. Well, thanks for all you who tune into our lives here in China. Below are some pictures of what the Chinese call the Bird and Flower market, but you can get much more than birds and flowers as you can see. 

For those who always wanted an albino frog.


This guy is cool. I kind of wanted him, but I'm afraid to ask how much.


Seems like anywhere you go, there's no shortage of bunnies. And they're all so cute.


Again, just so cute.

Well, thanks for tuning into this late, great update. Tune in next week when we share what camping on a Chinese beach was like. Until next time.

Jason