Back in Business!!! Yeah!!

You may have noticed a bunch of postings after a long silence.  But, good news!  Internet access is back!  I'm not sure what it is, but it is a well known phenomenon that internet access slows down dramatically in the month or so before Chinese New Year and the month before National Day in October.  At one point, it was taking me a hour to upload 5 photos.  Who has time?!  Good news!  Just uploaded my last posting in mere minutes.  So, now you get one of the most random postings I'll ever make.  Yes - a series of seemingly unrelated photos.  Usually this is reserved for my family WeChat account in the late hours of their night.  I post.  They ignore.  It seems to work.  But, now you get to see it in all its glory!  Enjoy!

These photos were all taken over the last two weeks or so.  Mostly from my iPhone and because something about them made me chuckle.  It all makes more sense if you know me well.

Daffodils!  Those of you who know me well know that I LOVE daffodils.  They were always the sign that winter in Seattle MAY eventually end.  I watch for them in February and buy and buy and buy until you can get them no more.  (Thanks Sarah in SF for enabling this behavior!) They are not common here and a co-worker bought me these after I saw them on her desk the week prior.  They made me incredibly happy, but also drew a lot of comments from the local team who stopped by to look at them, ask questions and take pictures.  I guess that is why they are so much more expensive than the other flowers!  

It is hard to tell, but that is a photo of Chinese New Year Coke Cola Polar bears!  Taken from the car on our way to school.  I thought those guys got a break after Christmas.  Phew!  Long season for them.

Jane, our Ayi saw Vivi's tattered ball of yarn that is now "Hatty" and made it a cover.  It has taken some getting used to, but Vivi seems to have come around and Steve and I can breathe a sigh of relief.  There used to be a lot of drama each time housekeeping came through.  We were afraid that Hatty would be left in a bed or somewhere he would be mistaken for garbage.  We think it is less likely and we are considering commissioning a new hat.  Sorry for those of you who are not aware of the long sordid story of Hatty.  And, yes, Hatty is a boy.

Real or fake?  You tell us! 

I have no idea what this is, but it was in the work entryway the other day.  Odd thing to show up, right?  And, the green statue to the right is permanent.

For my work friends:  lunch salad, China style.  I had our Ayi made it for me!  All the same ingredients, even the salad dressing!

Joy, oh Joy!  Someone figured out how to set the printer at work so that the buttons are in English, not Mandarin!  We do business in English and the printer is new, so I've only had access to it for two months.  but it was in Mandarin.  I think that the folks that sit near it got sick of fixing it for me (and I don't print that much!)  I sent the photo to Steve mid day and asked him if he noticed anything unusual.  He pointed out the paper size.  I guess we are all experiencing China in our own ways.

Did I mention I found a California wine distributor?  Or that we bought two more cases?!  At wholesale?  We may survive!

Only in China...  Yes, a dozen red roses.  Not from Steve.  These are playdate roses.  From the mother of a girl that we watched for three hours.  Beautiful and as they arrived the day before Valentine's day, got Steve off the hook!

Dumplings from some where other than Din Tai Fung.  Morning ended in disaster as both girls flew into hysterics and we had to go home.  Had to miss the Marriage Market on Valentine's day.  So bummed.  When we go, it will have to be its own post!

In a city where fireworks are banned, wouldn't you think that they wouldn't sell them?  Just sayin'...

CitiBikes, Shanghai Style

I wish I could convey the scale of this.  And, the context.  What is noteworthy is that this is not in the thick of things - it is in a neighborhood!  It is an enormous mall with a huge Gucci...

Marketers...  Don't let this be you.  Window's error messages are never good.  Again, lacking scale, you can't tell that this sign is enormous!  

I really wish this picture was better.  See that little carve out in the bottom?  There is a guy on a bike down there.  You have to love the audacity to think "Yeah, I'm gonna pile styrofoam seven levels up, in front and behind and then bike down a major urban street."  Right?  And no one was honking.  There were three cabs behind him...

Impossible to tell, but this is a restaurant in which the tables are separated by bamboo!  So cool!  Must go...

New bar opened in our building.  They have a crazy liquor list.  This was one of the best G&Ts I've ever had.  Several things of note - huge ice cubes (good cold to surface area ratio - tho I would have liked to see less air in the ice.)  Outstanding tonic water - Steve went in search of good tonic water today and I think he found it.  It was India style tonic water.  Much lighter than what I'm used to.  Delicious.  Finally, loved the tall glass.  More elegant, right?  The best part?  A large local family came in not long before we were ready to leave.  It was clearly not the first stop of the night and the patriarch was not sober.  We had a nice chat with him.  His wife was horrified.  He insisted on paying for our drinks.  CNY generosity!  

I've heard about this.  The Ayi cleaned the hair out of all of our hair brushes.  I think she has too much time...

Beautiful, right?  I was wondering how the Ritz Carleton managed to get the tree to bloom at JUST the right time.  Turns out it is easy - the tree is fake!

Local market with a better selection of Washington wines than we find in California!  With crazy prices to match!