Dumplings & the Aquarium

After spending one too many weekends at home with no plans, we decided that we would get out to do something new this weekend. Since its still a little cold (and rainy) here, we thought we would go for a nice brunch and then visit the Urban Planning Museum. Well, plans are great to have but we learned once again that when you have a baby around, plans don't really mean anything.

It took longer than usual for Ang to go down for her morning nap which meant she slept later than we expected. By the time she woke up we were starving and decided that we would go somewhere close for lunch - we chose dumplings at Din Tai Fung - a very popular chain in China. Ang has gotten very good at going out for lunch and will usually sit in her high chair and eat her food or nibble on food from our plates. Not today. She wanted nothing to do with the high chair and had no interest in sitting still at lunch. We figured this meant that she wasn't up for a trek on the subway to Puxi and decided to instead check out the Aquarium which is only a ten minute walk from our house instead of the Urban Planning Museum.

We spent about an hour wandering around the aquarium, looking at all the fish. It was pretty impressive and much nicer than I had anticipated. We ended up purchasing annual passes and look forward to returning someday when Ang is a little happier.

Mommy trying to point out the big shark, Ang doesn't look so impressed

Ang checking out the fish!

Loving the giant walkway under water

Maybe next time we will get to see the penguins eat!

All bundled up and ready to go home with a new friend (stuffed seal)

Ang's park(ing lot)

Over the past few months we have watched the waterfront area behind our building be transformed into what we thought was a nice new park. We took to calling this Ang's park because we thought it would be a perfect place to take her when she needs to get out of the house. Unfortunately, its not a park. It is actually just a really nice parking lot. Snap!!

At least we still have the fun playroom in our building!!

Our first 2010 visitor!

Grammy came to visit us in Shanghai!!

The trip back to China was much more comfortable after Rich snagged us a free upgrade to Business Class. Even Ang had her very own Business Class seat. I think all the other passengers were happy that she was a well-behaved quiet baby. One of the perks of flying business class is access to the airport lounge. We were able to spend an hour in the lounge in Chicago and were happy to see that there was a special family room that helped keep Ang entertained.


Unfortunately, jet lag got the best of us the first few days back in China and we spent a lot of time at home just trying to get adjusted to the new time zone. Ang decided that she was not going to sleep from about 2am to 5am so all three of us (me, mom and Rich) took shifts trying to tire her out. Once we started getting a little more sleep I was finally able to show my mom around a bit. We managed to squeeze in quite a bit of sightseeing while also getting some quality Ang time.

On Saturday afternoon we took the local ferry and explored Puxi - including the Bund and Yu Yuan. The Bund is currently under heavy construction and there wasn't much to see (other than dirt and trucks). We wandered around some of the local streets and I showed off some of my favorite cheap shopping spots. These parts of Shanghai can be overwhelming because they are always very crowded and you are constantly heckled to buy a handbag, watch, pen or any other gadget they might have to sell. Being that we went on a Saturday, it was more crowded than usual so we ended up going to the Bund Center (Westin hotel) for drinks to help relax. We found the mess of wires pictured below outside the State Grid office quite entertaining. It's also always funny to see Starbucks tucked right into the chaos of the city!

Sorry for the sideways pic!!! If you tilt your head to the left you can see Starbucks tucked right into the Chinese Yu Yuan buildings.


I think I have decided that my favorite spot in Shanghai is Taikang Lu. It caters to ex-pats but isn't overly touristy. Unfortunately the area is not stroller friendly so its easier to navigate without Ang. There are all sorts of shops and restaurants that are scattered throughout alley ways. Many locals still live in the area so you can take in a bit of the locals lifestyle while browsing very cute shops. We spent one very fun afternoon wandering around there.

We both managed to find things to buy in Taikang Lu. Again, sorry for the sideways pic!

It is well known that massage is very cheap in Shanghai. Rich and I have been trying to get out for weekly massages - usually on Sunday evening we take turns going out. I've found a favorite place very nearby and took my mom there one afternoon. We arrived to find that they were booked full so we ended up at the hair salon instead. I just had my hair washed and blow dried and she went for a trim (very brave). Her hair ended up a little too short but it was worth it for the experience (in my opinion). We did make it back to the massage place before she left and were treated to some wonderful foot massages. You can't beat 70 minutes of massage for about $10 USD. I think if we had been there earlier in the week my mom would have been going back every day she was here!

Rich had some crazy hours at work when we first arrived back but once things slowed down he joined us for a few evenings out. One night we went to Xintiandi (a popular expat area with lots of trendy restaurants, bars and shopping) for dinner and as we were being seated were told we would have a good view of the stage. Little did we know that dinner included a live performance by a Chinese instrument band which was very interesting. I've attached a photo at the right, although I don't think it does it justice. We also tried a very popular Chinese restaurant on the Bund that was fantastic. This was followed by drinks at one of our favorite spots on the Bund - New Heights - it offers really great views of both sides of the river.

The greeters at Lost Heaven and the view from New Heights (on the Bund, Puxi side)

Of course, no visit to Shanghai is complete without a visit to the fake markets. We managed to fit these in the day before Mom flew back home. I discovered that arriving at the market soon after it opens means much more aggressive shop owners which can be fun if you are in the right mood. I managed to get into the right mood after we arrived and had lots of fun negotiating good prices for everything we wanted.

We have many more visitors planned for the coming months and are very excited about showing everybody around. We joke that rooms are booking up fast for the summer months as it seems we have lots of people planning trips for June and July. I've been keeping a list of my favorite sites so that I can put together great itineraries for all of our visitors. So just let us know when you are coming and we will have the beds ready and the fun planned!!

Thanks for coming to visit us Grammy, we miss you!!!

Getting back on track

I think we are finally over jet lag (which means there is something else to blame for our sleepless nights) and have finally put all of the new toys and outfits away. Ang made out like a bandit for Christmas (thanks everyone) and it was quite the process getting it all back to Shanghai. I think we only managed to leave a few things behind at my parents house.

We now have a new camera and a Flip video recorder so hopefully I will get around to posting more Ang stuff for you all to see. The latest news - she is getting better at her inch-worm crawl and has finally said Mama (after Ba ba and Da da).

We have had some unfortunate luck with our apartment since returning to Shanghai. In the past, we always make a joke, saying "well, its China" because it seems a lot more random stuff just happens here. It has always been a small thing here or a small thing there (i.e. sink won't drain, hot water turns off, etc). Then we discovered that a leaking water pipe had caused mold to grow in the ayi room. They repaired the leak and cleaned up the mold. A few days ago Bonnie came in and told me there was dirty water leaking from the ceiling in Ayi room. We immediately called the maintenance crew up and they determined that it was oil. An army of workers was sent to investigate and we were told something like "its residual oil from an earlier fix and just needs to finish dripping, we will clean after done". Um, ok, that makes no sense. Oil continued to leak and I called multiple times each day for them to come check it again and clean it. On the third day, the oil had spread and was dripping down the wall. The army of men returned, turned off the heat, cut a hole in the ceiling and determined that we would have no heat until this was fixed. This was Friday evening and the manager told us they would arrange for us to sleep in the model apartment since it would be at least a day or two before it was fixed. They finally managed to fix the heat late Saturday afternoon but within 20 minutes of being finished the unit was randomly shutting off (and flashing all sorts of strange messages). We spent the night without heat (it was warm outside so this wasn't a problem) and the workers returned Sunday to fix the unit. As of today, everything seems to be working. The oil has stopped dripping. We still have a giant hole in the ceiling of the ayi room but they should be returning to fix that later this week.

Yesterday we went to a 1st birthday party for Jasmine, one of Ang's very best friends in Shanghai. It struck me that Jasmine is only two months older than Ang, and that we will very soon be planning our own 1st birthday party. It's amazing how quick she is growing up!

the damage to our ceiling - fortunately its not in the main living areas

so many new toys

dressed up for a disco party

Jade Buddha Temple

Last week I played tour guide to a friend of a friend that was in Shanghai for a few days. I was excited about this because there are quite a few things that I just haven't gotten around to seeing here. The first stop was the Jade Buddha Temple. I did a little bit of research before we went and was looking forward to the "peaceful and transcendent atmosphere" that one website promised. I did find it a bit strange that the opening hours were different on the 15th day of the 1st lunar month, but didn't really think much about this. If I had thought about what this really meant, I would have figured out that the 15th day of the 1st lunar month is January 15th - the day that we were visiting the temple.

When we arrived outside the temple, it was mass chaos. I would have taken some photo's but was a little too overwhelmed and was more focused on how to get tickets to get into the temple. As it turns out, we arrived for our visit on the 15th day of the 1st lunar month. And guess what, all of the locals were there too. Apparently, this is a special day for the Buddhists and on this day they show up to the temple to pray and offer gifts to the statues. There were stands set up everywhere selling incense - and everybody that purchased a box of incense immediately opened it and started letting it smoke.

We managed to make our way into the various rooms but unfortunately couldn't do much reading or truly appreciate the meaning and history behind each of the statues. In front of each statue, people formed lines and waited patiently for their chance to pray. There were various areas where people could offer gifts to the statues - mostly in the form of fruit and flowers although I did see one bottle of sprite given as an offering.

I managed to take a few photos but felt like I was intruding on a prayer service and didn't want to disrespect the locals. We were able to snake our way through the various buildings and capture a glimpse of the famous statues. All the people and chaos ended up being more than I could handle so I suggested we make our way to the exit and we continued the tour of Shanghai in a less crowded market. Hopefully the next time I visit the temple it will be calmer and I will be able to appreciate the history a little more.

One of the statues

Outside one of the temples - you can see the people waiting in line to go in

another statue

Offering table - almost all fruit with on random bottle of sprite

A temple visit

Wen Miao Temple is is an ancient temple which was built to pay homage to Confucius. It is the only temple located in downtown Shanghai and offered the perfect backdrop for our holiday family photo. I met a woman through a local Shanghai Mom's group that was offering to do family photo's at the temple and thought it was a great idea. While we were there we did wander around a bit and I managed to get a few photo's of the grounds.

wedding bells

This past November, Rich and I attended a wedding for one of the local assistants in his office. It was an interesting experience and I'm sorry I didn't blog about it sooner.

The invitation arrived via e-mail and requested a pretty quick response. It turns out this was the preliminary invite and that the response to this would generate a proper invitation. You are basically requesting an invitation by responding yes to this preliminary invite (which also means that you will be giving a gift). The proper invite arrived with only Rich's name on the outside so we were left to ask locals if this meant that I was invited too. We learned that not only was I invited but they encouraged us to bring the baby (we decided to leave her at home with Bonnie). I found it quite entertaining that the invitation included a photograph of the bride and groom - dressed in wedding attire! What about it being bad luck to see the bride in her dress?

Of course, once we figured out that I was invited, I had to figure out what one wears to a Chinese wedding. My research of weddings in Shanghai yielded little help (Google failed me), but Bonnie said to just wear whatever I wanted because there would be people in jeans and people in dresses. I decided on a simple black dress - since you really can't go wrong there! Rich wore a gray suit. Bonnie was right, there was a wide range of outfits - some wore jeans while others wore suits.

The invitation said that the wedding started at 5:30pm so we arrived at the hotel about 5:00pm. We were very early, considering things didn't actually start until 6:30. Apparently these things never start at the time indicated. We were brought to a table that was nicely decorated and included beverages (soft drinks, wine and beer) as well as cigarettes. There was a menu on the table that indicated a traditional Chinese meal would be served (13 dishes and wedding cake).

The ceremony and dinner both started at the same time. Some dishes were served while the bride and groom were performing wedding traditions. Everything was done in Chinese and there was no translation so I'm not really sure what was going on at all times but there were some obvious similarities to weddings as we celebrate them in America. The one that I found most interesting was the bouquet toss - since they invited all single girls AND BOYS to join in for this. A man caught the bouquet and was teased about taking his girlfriend to the alter.

The bride changed three times she had one very formal wedding dress and then two other dresses that she wore for part of the ceremony. There were games for the attendees to play (and prizes for the winners). One of them required the participants to search the room for a size 10 Nike sneaker, a Nokia phone and a tube of lip gloss. One person actually found everything in about 20 seconds!

Once dinner was complete, the wedding was over (about 8:30). The guests all made their way out of the room and everybody told the bride they would see her at work on Monday - no honeymoon for them, right back to work!

The table - wine, beer, soda & cigarettes!

some of the food

exchanging rings - dress #1

candle lighting - dress # 2

dress #3 - they sang a song together