My adventure to shanghai

I know I am a little behind on my updates. Will do the latest first. Today I took the bullet train to shanghai. It was surprising comfortable. I even napped a little.

It took 45 min to get to Tianjin west station and then 5 hours by train and now I am sitting in my friend car to the hotel. My friend judy was kind enough to send her driver to pick me up in shanghai. ;-)

What I liked about the train ride
- clean and really on time. Even the bathroom was clean.
- Smooth and fast. It felt like someone swaying me while I napped.
- served hot lunch pretty good although expensive for Chinese standards. Also have hot water you can serve yourself.
- happened to sit next to a nice business man who helped me with my luggage. He worked at Tianjin tax authority and also has a second accounting job in shanghai for GT and GE. His last name happen to also be Han. What a small world!

All in all a good experience so far

Nostalgic - Isabel's last few months at Russian Hill Academy

I finally had a chance to upload these videos.  Isabel is at least adapting to Starr King very well and hasn't once mentioned Jiali but I still miss the fact that Isabel is no longer in preschool. She learned so much there.

Lei

Bullet train to Tianjin

I decided to leave Beijing a day early since my cousin weiwei and uncle need to pick up my parent tomorrow at Beijing airport. If they also have to pick me up, it would be too much work for them.

Luckily Sheraton was super cool about it and said I will get the extra points back for that night.

Now the adventure to get to Tianjin begins. First a taxi from hotel to the train station prove to be super easy. No traffic and was there in 25 min. I was dropped curbside and literally 1 min from the ticket counter (unlike what my dad thought)

Wow the train station looks completely like an airport with English and Chinese direction everywhere. I got the ticket so fast that I totally forgot to take a picture. I got the 1230 train, which gives me 20 min to get through check in and sit down.

Everything was super smooth. Even the gate part which was a little chaotic wasn't bad.

I am now sitting in the bullet train which will only take 30 min to Tianjin. Amazing. At least I remember to take a photo and off we go a min before schedule. Awesome!

Also chivalry is alive and well. I asked the man sitting next to me to help me out both luggage up above me and he did it without question. I am impressed.

As I write this, we are already almost half way there. I will be meeting my uncle at the subway area once i get there and take the subway then cab home.

I left the hotel at 1140. I estimate getting home around 140 for a late yummy lunch. Yay! ;-)

Lei

Family time and dinners with cousin Peng family

The best part of my trip is really spending time with family. My cousin zhao Peng and I grew up together as kids in china. I can't believe now he is a father of two kids and a big time investor in Beijing. To me, he will still forever be my little brother although he is so very capable and grown.

I had a chance to spend two nights with him and his wife, kids and his mom. He has two kids Emma, 7.5 years old and David 5 years old. When Emma was 4 months old I went to visit her for a few days in Chicago. Zhao Peng was getting his JD MBA from Kellogg (smarty pants, I know). I still have fond memories as she was adorable and still is now. Back then, it was because of her that I really want to have a girl just like her. Now I have two. ;-)

Anyways, back to my trip, they took me to a nice Korean place sat night. It was delicious, huge place and pretty authentic. Afterwards I got a chance to play some games I brought with Emma and David. It was so nice to just hang out and have a family game night. Emma is so big now and can read a ton of Chinese characters. David is very spirited as a boy would be.

Sunday I was in for a treat as my auntie (peng mom) made dumplings from scratch for dinner. I was amazed how many the kids ate. I also ate a lot as well. The skin and inside was perfect. Yeah I am going to gain weight this trip. It will be worth it. ;-)

I am so happy I booked my hotel near my cousin house. It's been 3 years since I have seen them and I am so glad we are still close. I hope they will spend a month in sf next summer that my kids can play with theirs.

Lei

Another morning run in Beijing

Sleep was not my friend last night. After 5 hours, I guess I was done sleeping, anxious to prep to go to Tianjin today. I tried for another two hours with not much success.

So naturally I went for a run. Even though its a little polluted outside, running inside while I am in Beijing seems ridiculous. I love all the scenery and local flavor during my run.

Today's run is called the lake, hotel tour, and breakfast carts run, as you see in all the photos I took on my run.

My nike + didn't really work. Kept pausing but I think I did about 3 miles. Best part is I can reward myself with a large breakfast which included soy egg, congee, tofu soup, and fried stick + some buns for snack later.

I took it all to go so i can eat in my hotel lobby while using their free wifi. It was a really nice morning ;-)

Visiting "Tan" - my fourth grandpa and grandma

"Tan" is a fond nickname my fourth grandpa and I came up with for him ever since I was a little girl. I used to visit him and he would take me on his bike. We go swimming and to the park and always had a good time.

My fourth grandpa is my mom's dad's brother. My moms dad is the 2nd in his family vs. Tan is the fourth in his family thus fourth grandpa. "Tan" just clarified for me on this trip the relationship. I guess for me he was always as close to me as my grandpa maybe even closer since my grandpa, his brother, passed away when I was very little.

I was lucky my cousin Peng Peng came back from vacation already and was super sweet to drive us to see "tan" together. His family sees them once a year since they all live in Beijing.

"Tan" lives on the other side in Beijing university which is over an hour by subway from my hotel and 30 min by car. I felt quite grateful to be driven.

"Tan" still lives in the same residence as I remember as a little girl. Since they both had their careers at Beijing university all their life, it didn't make sense to move. Fourth grandma was a professor of English for many years and "tan" was the director of foreign affairs for Beijing university.

I can't believe tan is already 87 years old. To me, he is always and still is a very active animated grandpa. He loves telling stories of the old days and has an amazing memory. He is also full of humor as he talks about how the winning facilities asked him not to come back as he tells the lifeguard each time to watch out for him since he may have trouble getting out of pool. Its funny and sad to hear that for me. He loves to swim and I hope he will find a way to swim again. A new facility just got built next to him. He is clever and I hope he and grandma will go there and swim.

Fourth Grandma is 79 and looks great as well. I am so glad to find out she no longer has severe asthma. She used to have really bad attacks and for some reason it's gone. She tells me its maybe because of the type of food they eat. Fourth grandma is always welcoming and very decisive and insisted we eat lunch at home the day we visited.

Lunch was delicious and I am glad to see they get part time help. The help cooked with grandmas direction and I am sure grandma's recipe. Nothing is better than home cooked meal. We had dish soup, pork with this white veggie that I hogged, carrots with mushroom, and egg with another melon. Less oil, healthy and yummy. I ate a lot and will probably gain a few pounds by the end of this trip. It will be well worth it.

We also took a walk around the grounds. They live on the third floor and I can't believe they can climb up and down those stairs every day. Grandma also still rides a bike and was riding as we walked since her right leg hurt a bit.

I didn't want to go and was really bummed that my hotel is so far away from them. It will be hard to see them again on this trip. At Least I can call him often. He is always so happy and animated with me. Many fond moments.

Lei

Can you figure out all the typos

I realized that I am fat fingering a lot more words since I am blogging on my phone instead of on the computer.

Consider it a challenge to see if you can still get what I mean even though I am miss spelling words left and right and even skip a word. ;-)

At least I am noting it all down so I can keep the memories. I tried to log into the website to correct my numerous typos but as luck would have it, I can't seem to access it here.

Cest la vie!
Lei

Sent from my iPhone

My walking adventure.

Sunday is a day for my walking adventure. Since I had 9 hours of sleep, I missed the breakfast street cart.

My first adventure was a disappointment. I walked into the first restaurant and asked for chicken veggie noodle soup no msg. I was impressed they asked that and I can omit msg. Good start. Well the noodle soup was very disappointing. Tasted liked canned soup with noodles from the super market and barely any chicken or veggie. At least it was close and only $2.5.

Next I walked along the main road full of little merchant selling cheap jewelry and passed a set of oulic use bicycles. Apparently you can just borrow one for an hour for free. I was tempted but today walking was my goal. Maybe tomorrow.

I was headed to ya show market - famous for counterfeit brand stuff. I just need some long sleeve shirts since I realized that I didn't bring enough.

It was 3 floors if little stalls. I didnt take any photos inside but it pretty much look like any other bargain market stalls anywhere except more sales people. Prices were surprisingly overpriced. I guess that's how they start. I think you are suppose to pay only 1/3 of the price but I was definitely out of practice. I knew I paid way too much for some stuff but it was at least fun. It didn't help that I was a bit hungry by the time I finished. Bargaining on an empty stomach is pretty costly. I soon found myself out of cash. Luckily I didn't being much and had enough for a cab home. I am now eating at a restaurant close to home hoping they will take my American credit card. And the adventure continues. ;-)

Friday night with cousin Guo Ting

I have not seen my cousin Guo ting since 1995 but luckily family always feel close no matter how long we have not seen each other.

We had a really nice time on Friday night. He took me to sanlitun the Village shopping mall to walk around. The mall was very high end with designer brands every where and price tag twice that of the US. No wonder Chinese tourists come to the US with empty suitcases and go home full of shopping. The Village was impressive and great for people watching.

He showed me the bar alley way right in the back that was full of nightlife with people sitting outside drinking eating and enjoying casual low price bars. Neither of us felt like drinking but it was fun to walk through.

He took me to a nice dinner place that his magazine has written about. He works at a English magazine called the Beijingner that covers all the hot happening for food and entertainment in Beijing. He works as the production manager.

Anyways our food was delicious although we over ordered. We started with fresh sour yogurt with honey. Very yummy, lighter than Greek yogurt and filling.

We then had this 4 part appetizer in the photo. It had pork, spicy noodles, pickled cabbage, and salted radish. It was a great mixture wrapping all in one bite on a thin crepe. Yummy. We also had braised fish, pork with napa cabbage soup, prawns, and rice. It was way too much. I was bummed we didn't finish it all.

Lei

Breakfast on sat morning

I went back to the same place for breakfast. It was further than I thought. I guess running by it the first time made it seem closer.

On the way I tried two breakfast stands as well 1 yuan for a veggie mushroom bun and 2 yuan for freshly made soy bean drink. Remember 6 yuan = $1. I know I am a big spender. ;-)

By the time I got to the breakfast joint was already half fun but that didn't stop me from ordering a small wheat congee and a soy egg + pork meat dumplings. I took the last one to go so I can snack on it all day.

I mostly went there again because I like the free salted cabbage they provide. Great for the congee I had. Also had a chance to take a picture of the front door since I don't plan to go back. It's time to venture and find another place for breakfast on Sunday. ;-). Wish me luck!

Lei

Friday night dancing at salsa caribe

One of my goals in visiting china is to visit the salsa clubs since the scene has gotten big here in china. Beijing biggest salsa club is called salsa caribe. So my cousin was kind enough to help me find it after our dinner and bar stroll on Friday.

We only stayed for an hour since I was jet lagged. I danced maybe six songs. The crowd was light since the china salsa congress happen to be in town this week.

I thought about going to the salsa congress for a night but my past experience with salsa congress anywhere is people are more busy showing off than dancing so may not be as fun.

My cousin took two pictures of me at salsa caribe while I was dancing. This guy was ok. Very pleasant and an intermediate dancer. It was just nice to sweat a little and experience the salsa here. If I go to shanghai, I will do some dancing there. Hope my friend cindy wants to go. :-)

Lei

My yummy breakfast for $1.50

Because of my run, I ended up passing by this awesome breakfast place on the way back. I had
- 10 little meat buns (took 4 home)
- tofu soup
- small rice congee (so yummy that I had two)
All for 9 yuan which is basically $1.50. I am in breakfast heaven. It is totally no frills, fast service and yummy food

They open at 4am-10am for breakfast. Wow. Needless to say, I will be back. :-)

My morning run in Beijing

As expected I woke up at 415am due to jet lag. So naturally I ate and had some hot water and tried to go back to sleep.  Woke up against 530 for an hour and then again at 730. 

I guess sleep have to wait.  I was looking forward to a run anyways since its a great way to explore the neighborhood around my hotel and check out chao yang  park which has a large lake.  

My run was slow but super fun.  I found a row of fancy restaurants by the river and this awesome river view. 

The best part was the row of local stores I passed on the side street I ran on include this fruit stand where I bought a pomelo, very sweet fresh dates and some mangosteen.  

;-)

Lei

Sent from my iPhone

A smooth flight and arrival to Beijing

While it was hard to leave the kids for this trip, I am glad to be going to china to visit my relatives and hang with my parents.

My flight was better than expected. At first, I wasn't so sure as the flight attendant rudely interrupted me as I was watching a movie on my phone. Apparently phones with airplane mode is not allowed as air china since the phone can still make emergency calls.

I was bummed since I opted to bring only my phone for entertainment - my kindle books and movies are all on it. Well it turned out to be a blessing as I ended up sleeping a total of four hours instead and had time to talk to my neighbor a bit more.

Once I arrived, customs and luggage pick up was very smooth - no lines and took only 35 min. I was impressed. I found my cousin Guo Ting right away although I haven't seen him in 18 years.

And literally saw my namesake cafe - Lei cafe see photo at the exit. It's a sign. It's already a great trip.:-)

Lei

Isabel tells a Chinese Story

She made this book at school and loves telling the story. It's very creative.