Let There Be Light!

It has only taken us 2 months to figure out how to turn the lights on in the stairwell going up to our 4th floor apartment. Our poor babysitter had been using her cell phone to get down the stairs and we would blindly feel the walls as we walked up. But last night that all changed! A neighbour came home at the same time we did and at every floor he stomped his feet loudly and on came the light. Remember the clapper? Well we have the stompper. I couldn't believe that our normal stair climbing wasn't loud enough (Flo has giant feet and is pretty loud). Whose brilliant idea was it to have people stomp really loudly as they come home late at night?

Here is Flo demonstrating.

Xi'an Summary

I've been a bad blogger! We went off to Xi'an for the weekend and I didn't manage to blog before we left.

Planing for our weekend in Xi'an was -as is always the case with Flo and I - a little bit of a battle. He likes doing things the less expensive way and I like to take the more luxurious route. In the end it works out well, we each push a little and end up with a nice compromise. 

When looking for accommodation in Xi'an I looked to hotels and Flo to hostels. I had a hotel all picked out, so I had to try really hard to "have an open mind" when Flo wanted to show me photos of the hostel he had found. Much to my surprise his hostel looked nicer that my hotel! 

My major complaint ( I have a few) with hostels is that I hate the "public" bathrooms and showers. But, at the Hostel Flo found there were private rooms with in suite bathrooms and showers. We went with the hostel.  I have to admit that it was not only in a great location, but the complex was gorgeous. It was in an old Chinese style apartment building with courtyards in the middle of each grouping of rooms. This meant that there were garden sitting areas throughout. The rooms were all newly remodeled with Ikea-style furniture and the bathroom was nicer than the one in our Beijing apartment. 

The next debate was should we fly or take the overnight train? I won that battle, we flew. 

Lastly, how should we get to and from the airports? Taxi, train, airport bus? We actually agreed that the bus or train was better  since it eliminated the need for bringing a car seat.

Nico getting dumpling lessons from the girls in the hostel

Xi'an was a nice change from Beijing. I enjoyed experiencing a Chinese city that was a little less cleaned up for the Olympics. While there were some very ritzy shops- everything from Louis Vuitton to Patel Philippe- there were also funky street markets, push cart vendors, peasants selling their goods, and crazy coal stoves.

Weaving doormats and sandals on the street

Crazy coal burning woks

Push-cart fruit vendors

Lunch from a "kitchen" on a bike

You can buy dessert from the bike next door

The main reason for our trip was to see the Terracotta Soldiers.

Looking for the bus in the middle of college sign-up day (there were close to 50 colleges there)

Getting to the Terracotta soldiers can be trying. If you take a tour bus they herd you in to shops on the way and try and sell you things. We knew about this so opted for the Chinese public bus, which goes directly there. But, we still ended up in some strange tourist trap. It was a fake Terracotta Soldier park one stop before the real one. We walked for an hour in a giant circle looking for the darn soldiers.

Nico getting a helping hand in the fake park

Crazy golf-like carts for a tour of the fake park

Desperately searching for the soldiers in the evil fake park

After an hour walk we realized that we were in the wrong place. We hoped back on the bus and were at the real park in no time.

The real terracotta soldier museum/park had changed dramatically since my last visit ten years earlier. It has also begun to turn into a tourist hell of sorts. But, the sight itself is still well worth all of the trouble.

Nico and I enjoying the real museum (notice the new glasses)

Nico learned three important things during this trip. He started saying "Xiexie" (thank you in Chinese), he made dumplings for the first time, and he learned how to climb out of his travel bed, open the door and called for us to come get him.

Flo and I learned that we are both right some of the time. Next battle? Our trip to Shanghai this weekend.

The price is right, or is it?

I can never tell if I'm getting a good deal or if I'm being ripped off in Beijing. Prices vary wildly -a tailor made shirt costs 80 yuan ($11.67) and two cappuccinos and two slices of banana bread at Starbucks cost about 77 yuan ($11.23). Doesn't that seem wrong?

Another less extreme example of confusing pricing happened this morning when I went shopping at our local fruit and vegetable stand. One woman runs the vegetable side of the shop, and another looks over the fruit side. Last time I was in I had the distinct impression that the vegetable woman thought that the fruit lady was over charging me, so I paid more attention today.

For all of the vegetables in this photo I paid 9 yuan ($1.30).


For these 5 peaches the fruit lady charged 7.50 yuan ($1.10). Are locally grown peaches really so expensive? I think not.


I decided to try the fruit lady a few doors down to see what she would charge. For 8 bananas and 2 carrots she charged 7 yuan ($1.00). At least she could claim that bananas cost more because they are imported. Just to stir things up a bit, I made sure that the other fruit lady saw me enter the enemy's territory - she didn't look pleased.

To make things even more confusing, the price of some fruits and vegetables has doubled since we arrived. To be sure that it wasn't only the local shops doubling their prices, I checked the prices at our local supermarket (the price of mini bananas had doubled there too).  I've been told that the increase is mostly due to the restrictions on large trucks coming into the city (another Olympic pollution measure).

Sometimes I feel guilty for wanting to pay the "real" price for things. After all $1.10 for 5 large ripe peaches is still pretty cheap. Especially compared to what we spend at the western grocery store here.

For example, we pay 44.60 yuan ($6.50) for imported pasta sauce (I know I should make it myself, but I need something quick for Nico sometimes).

If Nico ate spicy food I could simply offer him a bowl of these noodles which cost only 9 yuan ($1.30). I know what I'll be eating for lunch today!While I do struggle with feelings of guilt and annoyance over prices, it hasn't stopped me from taking advantage of all the cheap stuff we find. Five pairs of prescription sun glasses for $150 anyone?

Tales of Scorpions and Peking Duck

It was finally time to eat Peking Duck at Made in China! I had been waiting for weeks for this, and had to pull strings just to get us a table for 8 (my sister-in-law's family is in town for the Olympics, and we were 3 with Miko).

We had a new Chinese babysitter starting that night and Nico loved her. He was practically pushing us out the door! So we arrived half an hour early for dinner, all with differing ideas about what to do. Miko wanted to go to the hotel and drink an aperitif, I wanted to sit down, and Flo wanted to eat fried scorpions. Why you ask, I have no idea. I'm not against bug eating, but they never taste good (and I've eaten grasshoppers, worms, and ants). Maybe Flo read about them in one of the many articles that was recently published about eating scorpion in Beijing, or perhaps it was the girl in his class who bragged about having eaten a silk worm? Whatever the case, he was determined.

So off we went to find him a scorpion. It became clear that he hadn't read about them in the articles or he would have known that all street food vendors have been move off the streets as part of the Olympic clean up. So I told him where they were and we smashed ourselves into the crowd of food hawkers and tourists. Here is where we finally found the little buggers (notice the other options).

Fried starfish or seahorse anyone?

We also discovered that the scorpions are the freshest choice, as they are still wiggling on the skewers. Then they are dipped in a chili sauce and fried.

Here are the live scorpion sticks.

Miko isn't so sure about this

Yum!

There is actually a bit of meat in there

With Flo's curiosity satisfied we were off to dinner. 

Made in China is quite fancy and has several open kitchens. One kitchen for wok cooking, another for dumplings, and a third just for roasting ducks.

The Duck station

The duck being carved table side

A blurry close-up of the duck.

The duck was everything all of the reviews said it would be - completely rendered, with super crisp and pleasantly sweet skin. It was served with the classic accompaniments of rice wrappers, plum sauce, Chinese leeks, and cucumbers. Then plates of both the skin and flesh (it is separated to make sure you get skin in every bite) were passed around to pile on. There was also some garlic puree ( which seemed over kill with the already pungent leeks) and sugar to sprinkle on the skin (again unnecessary). Making a trip to Made in China despite the price tag (expensive by Chinese standards) was definitely worth it for the duck.

The only other dish I really thought hit the mark (we ordered another 10 or so dishes) was the Cantonese style sweet and sour fish. A classic dish, but very well executed.

Olympic Handball

We had to watch at least one Olympic game while Miko was in town, so we managed to get tickets to see a women's handball game. The first match was Germany versus Sweden, then Romania versus Angola. First problem: what in the world is handball? It sounds like some invented game played on playgrounds. After a quick glance at wikipedia I decided that it was something like soccer but played with hands instead of feet.

That was about as much reading into the wide world of handball as I was willing to commit to. So off we went to watch the game. We took a taxi because changing trains 3 times seemed excessive. This is where the real problems began. Getting to the Olympic venues is hopelessly difficult. After dealing with monstrous traffic, you have to find an entry gate, walk through metal detectors and smile while being scanned to get into the huge Olympic park. Once inside there is no transportation and the whole Olympic area is at least 4 miles long! Plus, there are few to no signs telling you where anything is.

We walked all the way to the Bird's Nest Stadium and back again looking for our way

Only good part was the view

We had made the very faulty decision not to bring the stroller to make our entry easier. Once inside we walked for close to half an hour to get to the stadium where Miko thought the game was, only to discover that it was at a different location. We had asked the Olympic information helpers at 3 different stands how to get where we were going and all of them offered different and conflicting information. The correct location was outside the Olympic park and on the other side of a freeway. Who decided to put a freeway through the middle of the venues? We walked for at least another half hour to get there. Nico (who is a toddler after all) and Flo (who had not had lunch) were cranky and I was melting in the boiling sun, but Miko insisted we press on. We made it to the stadium just in time to watch the last match... go Angola (or Romania)!!!

Nico holding his ticket

The boys enjoying what was left of the game

Handball players

Romania won

To make Nico happy after dragging him all over the Olympic park and then making him sit through an hour long game, we striped him down and let him run through the water fountains

Miko helping Nico into the water

Nico and Flo enjoying the water

How many spectators did a naked Nico get?

Everyone watching Nico

Nico getting squashed by one of the Olympic mascots

Our new resolution? Watch more games, but bring a stroller, a sun umbrella (it's really hot in the sun), good shoes, and plan on it taking over an hour to get to the right stadium once we enter the park.

This Weeks Treats

I've been a bad blogger! We've been very busy the last few days, but I'll have a proper entry later today.

In the meantime, here is a quick summary of the tasty bites we've had so far this week!

The top dish so far this week, was a super simple bowl of noodles. Miko and I jumped into a little hole-in-the-wall for a lunch of Shaanxi-style noodles. The restaurant, called Huanghe Shui Shaanxi Mianguan, had about 10 card tables with folding chairs and 5 large photos for their menu (although we suspect that there was a longer menu we couldn't read). I ordered a dish of rice noodles in a mild chili sauce with sprouts and bok choy. Miko had the "hamburgers" a classic Shaanxi dish of pork-filled round flat bread. Mine was the preferred dish until miko decided to pour various condiments over top to identify them all (luckily I was close to finished by then).

Favorite noodles so far

We went back to the Sichuan Government Provincial Restaurant with a larger group of 10 people so we could try more dishes. The most classic dish we ate was chili peppers and chicken. The chunks of chicken were fried then sauteed with a billion chilis, and peanuts. I managed two bites before my mouth was on fire.

Lots and lots of chilis with a little chicken

Last night we went to try Liu Family Courtyard House Restaurant - a Beijing style restaurant and another Jeffery Steingarten recommendation. The menu was disappointing and the food was just okay. We had a Peking duck just to test it out before our super duck dinner this Sunday. The most classic dish we had was sauteed soy bean pulp. It tasted slightly fermented, and just didn't appeal to me.

Soybean pulp

To satisfy a meat craving we headed to a Chinese Muslim restaurant (specifically from the Xinjiang province). It was very tasty which moved the Xinjiang government restaurant to the top of our "restaurants to try" list. I can't give the name of the restaurant as it was a recommendation of a friend of a friend, and was in a little ally somewhere without an English name. Here is what we ate.

A tomato based lamb stew, with pieces of bread around the edge to sop up the juice.

Hand rolled mini noodles with a brothy tomato sauce.

Fried tofu with black fungus

Bok choy with shitaki mushrooms

Dumpling Lessons

I've been taking some cooking lessons at Hutong Cuisine with a woman named Chun Yi. The classes are given in her tiny courtyard under the shade of pomegranate trees. There is a large island for chopping (luckily under a roof so the classes happen rain or shine), and an outdoor kitchen of sorts, with a sink and several woks. The charm is in the authenticity of the location, and Chun is quite fun too.

In my most recent class with Chun, we made dumplings. Here are some secrets to tasty dumplings. First you have to use equal amounts of cabbage and pork (filling options vary widely). Secondly you have to add some liquid to the pork. Chun salts the cabbage and then adds the rendered cabbage juices to the meat. A Chinese friend of ours - who claims to be quite the dumpling maker (I'm pushing for lessons from her too) - said that the liquid she adds to the pork depends on what she feels like adding to the filling. She uses everything from dried shrimp or from dried mushroom soaking liquid to broth. They both agree that adding liquid is key to a good filling, as is stirring the meat to break it down until it turns glossy, and smooth.

Filling ingredients, and my cutting board.

With the filling secrets revealed, we moved on to the dough. It was a simple mix of flour and water (a bit dryer that for bread dough), that we kneaded forever.

Dumpling dough

We then cut the dough into 16 pieces.

Cut dumpling dough

Then we rolled the dough out. I started to roll it like I would for pie dough and Chun smiled and said "yes, yes, you can do it western way, but this is much easier". Here is her method.

I spent the better part of the evening trying to perfect her method, which was much easier (once I had figured it out) and it made more perfect rounds. Just when I started to get that down, she showed us the filling and folding.

My first attempts were failures.

My first dumplings on the near side of the photo and Chun's on the farthest end.

My ugly dumplings and the prettier ones I made towards the end

The dumplings were delicious. Chun served them with a dipping sauce of soy and sesame oil which she says is the norm in Guangzhou where she is from. Here in Beijing they are always served with vinegar.

The fruit of our labors.

Three is NOT a Crowd

Our favorite vacation companion arrived yesterday! We usually invite all of our friends and family on our trips with us - the more the merrier- but we always know we can count on our friend Miko to make an appearance. Not only does he come, but he always makes our vacations better! 

He'll go out and have fun with Flo at night, so I can go to sleep early. Then he'll gladly go shopping, sit on the beach, work out at the gym, or gossip over lunch with me. He'll even help me guilt Flo into buying more expensive food items without meaning to. He is one of the few friends we have who is just as much my friend as he is Flo's. Oh, and did I mention that Nico adores him?

Here are some fun facts about about the best vacation buddy ever:

1. He moved from Paris to Berlin with us, and let me torture him with painting our new apartment. After all the painting we named the room he painted "the Miko room" and we have
had a Miko room in all of our apartments/vacation rentals ever since.

Miko's birthday party in Berlin 2005.

2. He has been on exactly 6 vacations with us. Here they are in order.

Ireland 2005

Germany (near Osnabruck) 2005

Slovenia (only for a few hours) 2005

Croatia 2005 (no kids or jobs in 2005)

Miko and Mika (his beautiful girlfriend) Italy 2006

Miko and Nico Montenegro 2007

Boston 2007

Beijing 2008 (with a bunch of strangers)

3. He and I once ran into a Berlin mall soaking wet, sweaty from our jog, and wearing ugly matching yellow rain coats only to find ourselves in the middle of a beauty contest...we didn't win!

4. Miko loves Natalie Portman, and we actually ended up in line behind her at a museum. Flo didn't believe that it was her, and kept saying very loudly "that isn't Natalie Portman" which of course made her very uncomfortable. 

5. When we first met Miko, he and Flo hit it off instantly. Here is proof.

Back when Flo and I first met Miko 2002.

The only problem with Miko visiting? His name is far too close to "Nico". No one ever knows to whom we are talking or whether we said "Miko" or "Nico". We often say "Mnico" or "Nmiko" out of confusion.  Oh well it is a small price to pay to have our better-vacation-maker with us.