Happy White Valentine's day !!

This is my first time to write here, don't get it wrong, I am Sean.
My husband think it will take me forever to write here, But we will see...
I am in Beijing now, and my husband is in Shanghai, he is watching a movie - probably already fell asleep as he always does, HOHO

Finally, Beijing has snowed, it said it is the latest winter snow in Beijing in the past 60 years. No matter how late it was, we both love snow, snow always makes us happy, especially a white valentine's day!
I was surprised today, caz I think there will be less people come to my class because everybody was busy to date, but turned out more students came...when i told them have a great night, there were a lots sighs arised.Then i told them, if you dont have a date tonight, treat yourself something good, like a good meal, buy something good or watch a happy movie, because if you love yourself, people will love you! After class, I went out with Sunny. we went to Taiwanese noodle. It's always good to go out with Sunny, just relax, listen to her family stories and Jewish school kids stories.

Today I also want to say thanks to my husband. we have been being together for 16 months. I am so glad to met you, have you. you are a great person, always take care me, kindly embrace me, and show me the good life. I am looking forward to moving to Shanghai to join you. And I know there will have some differences in our life style and habits. But I choose to go to face it. Because if we can't contain and melt our life together, how can we say we will be together a long long time? And I hope myself will be a good guy :)  And also hope my Jeremy keep forgiving me if i say something wrong or do some thing wrong.

Sights and Sounds of the City During Chinese New Year

Drive up Fireworks Supermarket

Portable Potato Oven

Hey there ..Wanna Ride?

Lights in the City

Look Honey No cars....looks like a ghost Town

East Meets West According to Beer Bottles Chinese Bars..

Need a Guide to Which City?...

No trip is complete without a Trip Here....



Sights and Sounds of the City During Chinese New Year

This year of the rabbit, here in china I spent 5 of the 10 days in Beijing, with Sean, getting reacquainted of sorts with the traditions of what the city has to offer during the special holidays. Most times when I work in cities I have no time to really see and experience the traditions, and I am happy that I was able to revisit the city, and not have to work, but to be the tourist, of sorts caz my honey was leading me all over the city to the sights that I have not seen..Some of the places we went... (I arranged dinner by the way...)Dinner at Xiao Wang Fu, of which was excellent, and for those of you who haven’t tried Mr. Wong’s food I suggest you make it a Priority! Beijing home cooked food, is excellent and well worth the trip to one of his 4 restaurants.. I suggest you Google it, as my Chinese spellings of the places would destroy it indeed. Sanliturn and it’s never ending happy hours at blue frog, (my choice again, it’s like our hang out) as we sit with my Ipad and play the endless games of golf, while enjoying my cosmopolitans, and beef and eggplant spring rolls. The city has many sights to be seen, for those of us living here , of which I have for 6 years, things sometimes do not hit me at first sight, but maybe after a few whacks to the head I see things differently. Fireworks were a big part of this year’s holiday, you can see them being sold everywhere, and the night’s skies were lit up with the bright colors of red, green, gold, as the rockets went hurtling in the air, exploding into their lovely colors, and designs. Certain days the fireworks would explode starting at midnight and last well till 1am...the skies filled with color from every part the eye can see. The trips to the temples revealed even more sights with the sweet potato portable oven wheeling and dealing its hot smelling product to the locals to warm them as they are filled with the sweet flavor of the potato. The streets were deserted of which brought a quick notice to my eyes, this city is always filled with traffic, and cars coming from every end of the city it would seem, on this trip there were times when you could walk across the street and not see a car or bicycle for miles..Reminded me of a ghost town of sorts… Wandering down the streets you come across sights, one such window revealed more books of different places then I have ever seen in one shop here in Beijing, how it was lined up and displayed in the window definitely caught my eye, across the street of this semi closed street was what I like to call a east meets west kind of pub, beer bottles all piled up outside against the walls and door of a traditional Chinese store front, …many sight s and many sounds..So take the time if you can to visit china, Beijing and shanghai are wondrous places with many sights and sounds... (They definitely test your nerves some days) but it’s always great to share all the moments weather big or small with the one your with..…As I like to say food for the body, mind and soul…cheers~~

Lunch on a Sunny Afternoon

Sean and the Salad

Beef with Chili and Scallion

Sean's Eggplant

Me waiting for the Sliced duck hurry up..I'm hungry

Master Carver At Work

Wait before you eat let me take a photo~

Lucky Draw Prize, Cotton Candy Flowers~



Lunch on a Sunny Afternoon

As Sean knows I like to eat duck, he had suggested that on the last day we would go to a very special restaurant where they specialize in Roasting Duck. When he told me the name I was excited, as many times I have recommended this place to people when I was working in Beijing, but had never had the chance myself to go. So after a brief taxi ride, after Momma needed her coffee… we arrived. Now we arrived on the street, and we looked around a little before we had found it, but Sean has a good sense of directions, or should I say a nose for food...Hehehe (opps sorry Honey ) so when we arrived as we had made a reservation all tables were just about full. The menu was presented and soon as I opened it I knew that it was going to be a great meal. The Menus images of the food dishes were well photographed and the English explanations were elegant and made the food sound good. So we choose our selections, one of course was Duck; also we selected eggplant, a salad, and Beef. The salad was the first to arrive and I must say the taste was incredible the flavors and the vinaigrette of whole mustard seeds was a nice combination of flavors. The beef arrived on the stone slab, and then the eggplant, lastly the duck made its way to the table with a young carver all wrapped up like he was going to war. They young carver sliced his way to the meat, and skin like a master swordsman…and of course I’m sure he’s cutting 30 – 40 a day. After wards, there was a lucky draw, and Sean Picked a dessert as the prize, later did we know when we got to the entrance we could have had a Ipad...hehehe oh well the dessert was a nice treat indeed, and better than nothing. All and all the lunch was delicious and the price yes of course steep indeed, but never the mind, good food and good experienced  spent with the one you love outweighs all else…

Dong Yue Temple (Make a Wish)

Going to buy our wishes

Our Wishes

Tie them Tight Honey...

Here we are amongst the rest~

Ok, I'll Tie mine tight!~

Hit the Center and Ring the Bell~~

Look still here after the second day!~

Play boy Bunny? Or Rabbit Year?~~



Dong Yue Temple (Make a Wish)

On February 2, 2011 we went to this famous temple that I had walked by numerous times in the year previous, looking and seeing it as another one of the many temples and traditional Chinese Structures in Beijing.  This first time inside after paying the entrance fee of 10 RMB, I was amazed at how many people were in this little place, and in fact how massive it turned out to be. The Chinese culture is all about History, and different beliefs and traditions. This temple is a place where people come and pay respect to the different gods. There is almost, every situation imaginable represented and displayed from; longevity, to the gods of the forest, mountains, and wind. To the different departments that represent judgments’, honesty, disease, and honesty. All displayed in different settings with the judge, or head sitting in front and all others standing at the sides, waiting for their turn to be given a chance to be heard. The other part of this temple which I found to be more fascinating was that you would make a wish on a wooded plaque, and sign your name on it, then you would place 1 of the set of 2 on the section of the temple where it was designated to place that wish. The other you would take home with you and hang...the theory or thought behind is that this would make your wish come true. Know as I love the Chinese Culture and history, this belief struck me as a exciting new thing that I didn’t Know, So I gathered my thoughts and asked Sean way to many questions about the different designs on all the red wooden plaques .so I could try to come to some conclusion on what to wish for in the New Year of the Rabbit. So after 5 minutes of back and forth and his way of saying “honey this is all they have”…we decided on Business, and on a general “all your wishes and dreams come true”, figured that one would cover it…hehehe.

So both wishes are left hanging in the temple, and one now hangs in my office, the business one of course, and the other hangs in my apartment.

So the next day I dragged Sean back to the temple to get another wish that we could share, and to see if the wishes had still stayed there or someone had removed them. But as we didn’t find the wish we wanted together we looked inside for another charm of sorts… we ended up with something even better, a charm of happiness and Longevity. This is what we shared, and it hangs in my apartment as a Daily reminder of the things that have come to pass, and how happy I have become...or trying to become. (And I also checked my two wishes to make sure they were still hanging, yes, a few layers above were placed on it as the day had progressed but I found it. I’m interested to know where they will be hung, as Sean told me that they will be hung for the whole year. If that’s the case I want to each time I go back, revisit the wishes, see how they weather in the heat, sun, and rain of the city…and of course to make sure no one snags them.

The first day we were there it was so crowded and busy, as we were looking and walking at all the different stands I came across something that I had seen before in Beijing, and knew its meaning..that day we passed by it and just looked, as it was our second trip back in I handed Sean some money before we got into the temple ( as the Chinese Vendors  will give a lower price 9 times out of 10 to a local ) and we discussed that I want to get the walnut bracelet we had seen the day prior…so as we arrived to the table my honey did his thing , talked with the vendor and got to hear all about the bracelet and also the vendor told him how to clean, and how to make it look better, so as he gestured over to me, I smiled and agreed at the one he had , and the vendor also was introducing to him..So the bracelet keeps my hands busy, and also represents tradition, and cultural awareness. More so the meaning to me as it was something that Sean helped me pick out, now for me this is a good thing, although sometimes the cultures see it not that way, I think the opposite!~ Something picked out , has a deep meaning..More special than if just bought by the one who wanted it… it was for sure a temple day…morning one temple afternoon on the second day another..Walking the city...Was a nice bit of exercise, the time seemed to fly as when your with the special one, you tend to forget things….but as a reminder 15 minutes is 15 minutes, and not 30minutes…just as a friendly reminder..hehehehe ( oh I’m sure you’re going to  kill me over that one..heheheh~~Kisses!

Gui Jie (Hot Pot) Lantern Street

Red Lantern Street

More lanterns

Seans Placing our Order~

Aaaa..chili so delicious!

Ok, all foods on the table lets EAT!!~

That's me..B&W version

Buffalo wings...NOT!~~



Gui Jie (Hot Pot)

As part of the traditional things to do in Beijing while celebrating during the Long Chinese New Year Holiday, Eating Hot Pot is to way to go… You should make sure that you wander down to Gui Jie, the area known for its Red Lanterns and its large amount of Night eateries. The Restaurants try anything to get you in the door, as they have their workers out on the street, trying to lead you in the door. The only things of this are everything is in Chinese, I’m Glad that Sean is with me, so that the impossible becomes possible. I can get by with ordering some things, if I pronounce it correctly, So recommend that you take friends, especially Chinese Reading and Speaking, as the Hot pot Menu is written in Chinese only, So the menu is easy for Sean, mark this mark that,  and all is easily done. The choice is easy for the hot pot selection, as I like chili, and so does he, not to the extent I do though we choose 2 in one deal. the Ying yang, or as it’s more commonly known as Half spicy and half plain …We also tried the spicy chicken wings, but why should I not be surprised when the tips come out and not the wing part of drumstick…Now for Chinese people they like that part, for us westerners we like more the meat, always a new experience when it comes to food ordering…. The whole meal was nice and delicious…dipping the beef, lamb and bean curd skin in the accompaniment of the peanut sauce was a nice evening treat, and a good warm way to spend time with Sean…no room for the Ipad on this table…hehehe …the heat was so hot that even the plastic chinaware was too hot to handle…so after the meal, and a little hit to the pocket book, we headed out into the street to wonder under the lanterns a little while more before we got to cold, and hailed a cab…back to the hotel.

Dinner at the Tepan, Beijing

just add Brandy and Poof...

Drag Queen Bottle?

Our Dinner, can we eat it all? Sean always has a big appetite ..

So Cute..

Light up the room

Are you looking at me?



Well, on my recent visit back to Beijing to take care of a few important matters, of which was to see my husband.. I found myself back at one of my favorite eateries, the tepan located on the third floor adjacent to blue frog, is where I was. We entered at 600pm and were immediately told that they could only set us at 630pm, and then we had to be finished and out by 830pm. I wondered why, but then as I remembered it was a special holiday, and most businesses needed to close by 830. So I looked at the Sean and said yeah should be no problem, and we agreed; besides 2 hours should be plenty of time. As we were seated out flew the menu, and as in most times, I just order everything on the menu. The menu is quite deceiving, as the pictures are large and beautiful, but what comes out is different and also geared towards a single or double or so on portion control. Having been here a few times I was not shocked any more, and just made the adjustments as I ordered. But then Sean decided that he wanted some extra goodies, and as it is all you can eat, hey..what the hell…Go for it!~ Food arrives on plates with tickets and then an elegant ballet of sorts begins where food starts to be cooked and flipped, and seasoned then its transported onto the plates for consumption. What is nice about dinning on a tepan table is that most times you are seated with fun people and the entire experience is better, more so than none. So if you want to get things cooked fresh and served up hot, I would definitely recommend you to visit the Tepan all you can Eat...Well Worth the Money.. But I would skip the Flamed Banana Dish, although it looks nice and it is the show art, of this dish when it has been cooked on the tepan then flamed it seems to take on a charcoal Nasty Flavor and is not that appealing any more. So it’s good to watch, bad to eat...Other than that id give this place a 9 out of 10 on the Dinning Guide for sure!~

Our First Month

The Boat

Us

Elevator Photo's

Whip out the Camera every Chance I get to capture a warm smile on my sexy man's face. Thats almost everyday, thank goodness for the memory cards, once filled download, erase and back we go again shooting and shooting those special moments.