Getting the Groceries in China...

So this past week was another on the road - Sabrina and the family will finally return on Friday the 31st of August. Not much to write about so I'll give you a little hint as to what the grocery store looks like. I took these pictures this past spring at the local Carrefour, a French grocery store which is the most popular in China. I have been to the local Wal*Mart - but trust me it is much worse than what you'll see below. The pictures should pretty much speak for themselves.

This is the way we buy our milk. It is ultra high temperature treated or UHT milk. It is sold warm and has an unfrigerated grocery self life of something like 6 months or so. We buy it and keep it in our pantry until we need it. It tastes a little bit different and I really only use it on my cereal and oatmeal. I get my calcium through a calcium pill and cheese. :)

Bread is a staple of our diet. It is extremely cheap and is available in just about every "farmer" & French loaf you can imagine.

This is something you find in the pet, I mean meat section of our grocery store. For about 158 Chinese yuan (about $22 US) you can buy your very own fresh live turtle. The eels are much cheaper as you can see...

Snakes are even cheaper yet but not as fresh....mmmm.

Care for some baked chicken or roast duck. It is easy to tell the difference because the head is left on the bird when they cook it and then hang it for you to pick and buy. A chicken like this costs about $2 US.

No this is not the fish cleaning station at our lake cabin on Devil's Lake....this is fresh fish - chopped into pieces just as if it came from the boat. The heads are used in a variety of dishes including fish head soup.

Now you see why we lose weight over here... because we eat so healthy. :)

Until next time...

ShenZhen & Hong Kong

Recall from my last post that I've been traveling for a couple of weeks now. A few Polaris people flew into Taiwan. After our business was completed in Taiwan we boarded the plane for ShenZhen (shen-jen), China via Hong Kong. While in ShenZhen we had one open afternoon and we took advantage of a visit to a place called "Splendid China - Folk & Culture Village". This was a treat indeed as it was dedicated to showing China in all its splendure. The Village is dedicated to recreating "everything China". They have a minature Great Wall, Terra Cotta Warriors, and various areas dedicated to the various regions of China. It felt like I was in a Chinese Epcot Center at Disney World.

The following example is a picture of a re-creation of the Terra Cotta Warriors at Xi'an.

This picture is of a re-creation of a folk dance. Arun, one of the visitors from Polaris, was grabbed out of the audience and dressed up in the natural garb. He was then given some roses and had to "propose" to one of the dancers. Note to file - don't sit in the front row - BY YOURSELF looking lonely. That is Arun with the dark hair & striped shirt sitting to the bottom left.
After our business was finished in ShenZhen we boarded a high speed ferry that took us across the bay to Hong Kong. We spent this past Friday night in Hong Kong.

I had to take the pictures of my hotel room view in Hong Kong. 20th floor, corner room with a 270 degree view into Victoria Harbor and across from Kowloon to Hong Kong Island. The building you see towering among the others in the city is the #2 International Finance Tower. It is the 6th tallest building in the world.

Here is a little known fact: China has 5 out of the 10 tallest buildings in the World. If you consider Taiwan as part of China then they have the tallest and 6 in the top 10 as the Taipei 101 is the world's tallest. And the World Financial Center is now being completed in Shanghai which will be the world's tallest.

Until next time....

Taiwan Country Club - Flynn This One Is You

I'm traveling in Taiwan at the moment and on Thursday, the supplier I was with took me to lunch at the Hsin Yi Country Club - yes, a real life Taiwanese golf course. It was pretty nice actually - the course was situated on a mountain top. It was maticulously groomed and cared for. The food at the club was very good too and we washed it down with a Coke. So Kelly this post is for you - Coke & Golf in the middle Taiwan I was truly thinking about you. The caddies as you can see in the picture ride with you on your cart. The cart is a four person cart and they wear these pink Chinese style hats and outfit. They even carried your club to your ball. Everyone that knows me - knows that I am not a golfer by any means. So I wasn't about to say to my gracious hosts lets say heck with it and take the afternoon off for a round of golf. Now I know I have a few friends and one or two cousins that immediately come to my mind that would have taken their business to the course.

How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.--Anne Dillard

Brandon in China - Final post

I just realized that we never really closed the chapter on Brandon traveling to China though it seems like an eternity since he was here. We spent the final days again seeing some of the sites of Shanghai. As I mentioned in previous posts, I would work the morning, Brandon slept in like "teenagers" do, and Sabrina & Brandon met me for lunch. We then planned something for each afternoon. We visited the Science & Technology Museum, went to an acrobat show one night at the Portman Ritz Hotel (a must see for everyone visiting China - amazing), did some more shopping (Brandon was getting pretty good at bargaining by the end of his trip), went go-cart racing against my driver, and visited the Bund at night which is also a must see as this is the "Times Square" of Shanghai. I almost forgot to mention - Sabrina, Brandon, and I also got a massage at Dragon Fly Spa(one of Sabrina's favorite places to hang out once a week). Brandon was a little cautious about this as he absolutely did not know what to expect. They gave us these funny looking brown suits to get our massage in. Sabrina had a female massage therapist, Brandon a female, and I had a guy which is not my idea of a good time. Dragon Fly is a top notch spa comparable to anywhere in the MPLS area (but about a 1/4 or less the cost). Notice the McDonald's.







Brandon will be taking Chinese language at the middle school he attends next year. This trip was a good experience to understand what China is like and all about. I think he is excited to come back again next summer.

We then said bye to Ayi and headed to the airport for the long journey home.

Until next time....cheers.