Chengdus & Don'ts

Back and ready to start again

2012-01-31T21:21:00.005+08:00

Finally, we have all of our holidays behind us and now can try and get back into a routine. I know, I shouldn't complain. A 3 week Winter Break followed by 2 weeks of routine and then a 1 week Chinese New Year break sounds nice. It is....but it is so hard on all of us to get back into our groove. I have already missed my exercise routine 2 days because of catching up I needed to do.

I am however buckling down and wrapping my head around the spring. I am already doing well on my New Year's resolution of reading more. I have read 5 books since the Christmas break which is more than I have read in the last 3 years combined. I have to say that I am quite pleased with my reading and hope that I can keep it up although I am sure the holidays had something to do with it.

I am also please to say that this is my ninth post of the New Year which is more posts than the past 3 years combined. I am constantly thinking of new ideas about what to write about, new places I want to try and new things I want to cook. I am so happy to have a couple tidbits that I will be writing about in the near future, one which will be about the beautiful food in Burma and the second thanks to the recent visit of Sichuan food expert Fuchsia Dunlop, I have this wondering article get me back on the food trail again.

On the Road Again

2012-01-20T21:26:00.002+08:00

As I sit here writing I am listening to the pre-game fireworks. This year, I am sorry to miss the show on New Year's Eve, but at least we will be back for the last 8 days.

We are heading to Burma for a week. It is an exciting time to visit this country that is going through so many changes very rapidly. I will be offline for the week, but look forward to getting back at it when I return from my travels. I hope to have some photos of the beautiful stupas, temples, and food from this exotic location.

Good-bye Year of the Rabbit, I am looking forward to the year of the Dragon!

You Know Chinese New Year Is Upon You When...

2012-01-19T10:30:00.000+08:00

Your kids come home from school and tell you they brought a live rooster home. Huh? I have lived in China for 6 years, so this shouldn't surprise me, but for some reason it did.

This was the first year that my ayi actually brought a rooster into the house. She had gone outside for some reason and it coincided with the kids return from school. The kids came running upstairs shouting "Mommy, Mommy we brought a rooster home." I thought they were lying, but both my kids are terrible liars (like myself). So I went to investigate.

I guess the rooster had to use to the bathroom?

I asked them if they had touched it because I wanted them to wash their hands and they both said no. Two hours later I was freaking out on Angus because he changed his story and was actually the one who carried it home. My kids thought I was a freak and I yelled at Angus telling him could get Avian flu and die by touching a chicken and then sticking their fingers in his mouth (like he always does). I seem to be in 'be afraid' parenting these days. Maybe I over reacted, but I made my ayi put the bird outside until it went home with her. Lucky for us we have a dog kennel for the rooster.

Avoca Love

2012-01-16T21:10:00.009+08:00

Today I decided that it would be one of those days where I didn't eat any meat. I really didn't feel like I needed any and like I said I am trying to have meat less than 1 time per day. Tomorrow will be a different story as we are having people over for dinner and dining on New Mexico cuisine which requires lots and lots of pork!

When we were in Northern Ireland at Christmas I was told by my mother-in-law about a fantastic cafe called Avoca. She said it was the perfect place for someone who loves to cook and loves trinkets for the kitchen. On the way out of Belfast I took the kids there for brunch and it was the most delicious brunch/lunch I believe I have ever tasted. We opted for the 'cafeteria' style cafe with communal tables and bench seating. There was a smorgasbord of items to choose from and I was finding it difficult to make a decision. Gemma had ordered a berry and cinnamon scone and homemade yogurt with honey, while Angus had a fruit salad. They both had the most amazingly rich and chocolaty hot cocoa to go along with their brunch. I ended up with the Tuscan roasted vegetable tart with goat cheese and a frothy cappuccino to get me started for the day. This food was so amazing I needed to figure out how to recreate!

Lucky for me it was Christmas and Avoca has a wide range of cookbooks. I decided the Avoca cookbooks would be a great addition to my collection and would make a nice, easily wrapped Christmas gift for me.

This evening I made my second attempt this year to make a recipe out the Avoca Soups and Avoca Salads. The first attempt was a Potato and Herb soup that turned out better than I anticipated although it wasn't a huge hit with the kids. Tonight I tried their Tomato and Roasted Red Pepper soup and the Carrot with Roasted Sesame salad.

The soup was perfect, but one recipe was not enough for our family. I will have to double or triple it next time. I added some crusty bread to it to make it more hearty since one recipe was so scant. It was a huge hit with the kids! Unfortunately they were not so hip on the carrot salad, but Jonny and I were over the moon about it! I followed the recipe and also added more seeds such as pumpkin, poppy, and sunflower seeds. I cannot believe how much those seeds added to the overall flavor of the salad. The recipe required the Avoca French dressing which I made 800 ml of to use on this salad and future salads. The best thing about our meal was that everything we completely vegetarian! I will be doing more experimenting from these cookbooks in the near future! Avoca is my new love!

My New Year's Resolutions

2012-01-15T23:33:00.007+08:00

I love the New Year and it is even better living in China because you get to celebrate two of them. This year the New Years are about 3 weeks apart, so it seems like January has been one big party especially with Gemma's birthday right smack dab in the middle of them. One of my favorite things to do at the beginning of the year is to make a few, very achievable resolutions. I am not into setting resolutions about weight loss or exercise, I am more about setting resolutions about how I can make a difference on this earth.

I was thinking about setting a New Year's resolution about becoming a vegetarian, but I thought that was a bit drastic. Just last spring we started eating meat only 1 time per day because of all the reading I have been doing online about plant based diets and also to help Jonny with his health kick and weight loss regime. Now this is coming from a girl who was raised in Nebraska from parents who attended the church of corn-fed beef. I wanted to make the goal obtainable, so I slightly increased the goal to eating meat less than 1 time per day. This means that maybe we eat meat 1 time per day or maybe we skip it altogether. I hope that I am able to share recipes in my journey to cut out more meat throughout the year my blog on new vegetarian dishes or recipes I manage to concoct.

The other resolution I set was that I wanted to get back to reading books. This is one of those 'for me' resolutions. For the past 2 years I have maybe read 3 books in total. That is very sad for someone who started a book club back in Arizona (that is still running strong although I have a suspicion there is more drinking than reading going on these days) and attended book club in Chengdu religiously for the first 4 years of living here.

I started reading over the Christmas holiday and managed to finished 2 1/2 books over the holidays. The first book I read was "11 Minutes" by Paulo Coelho which then made me what to read his book "The Alchemist". I have never had the pleasure to read anything written by Mr. Coelho, but I definitely will looking for other books by this incredible yarn spinner. I also managed to finish "The Paris Wife" by Paula McClain. It was the January pick for our book club and since I recently watched the movie "Midnight in Paris", which was a movie by Woody Allen about the 'Lost Generation', it motivated me to read this historical fiction book. I am happy to say that I have made it through 2 books this year, "11 Minutes" is registered in the 2 books read last year tally. I have already started my third book and February book club selection "Tall Grass" by Sandra Dallas.

I am feeling really good about 2012! My this is my fifth blog post of the year, so I am keeping up in all my resolution categories!

Baking for Gemma's Birthday

2012-01-13T22:55:00.006+08:00

This week my sweet, beautiful girl turned 10 on January 11th. I was reminded by my dear friend Nancy, not only was it the day my daughter was born, but it was the day that I first became a Momma! I honestly had never thought of it that way and it made the day all the sweeter for me. Thank you so much Nancy for giving me the opportunity to think a little bit deeper about January 11th.

This week I have been under the weather and not feeling like doing much of anything, but laying in bed and reading a book. We all seemed to contract the same bug while we were in Thailand and then pass it around the house. I really had to push myself this week to get the job done when it came to the all the birthday preparation that I was doing in the kitchen for my dear Gemma girl, but so far I didn't disappoint her.

Her first request, which she made last year, was that we would do something special the day before her birthday to celebrate her last day as a single digit. She made the decision to stay at home and to pick any meal she would like to have on her birthday cooked by yours truly. I made her favorite dish of lemon chicken, broccoli, and rice. This recipe is a Western-style dish although it sounds very Chinese which was made with chicken breast pan fried in a lemony sauce. This was an old stand by recipe from the early years before we had kids and since we have not been eating very much meat, especially chicken, in our house I was a little rusty in making this. The chicken turned out quite tender, but luckily the kids didn't notice I forgot the chicken stock in the recipe. Oops!

On the day of her actual birthday Gemma requested that I make homemade lemon bars and deliver them to school for her classmate to share. I used Ina Garten's recipe, which is a family favorite both here and back in Nebraska. I highly recommend this recipe if you are a connoisseur of anything lemon and especially love extremely tart tasting desserts. I was so surprised that all but one of Gemma's classmates finished the lemon bar. I thought for sure they would be way to sour. I had one boy say to me that "they taste like Skittles" which I first was offended, but then realized it was more of a compliment.

I had a couple days off from preparing birthday dinners/treats, so I had a couple meals out, but that is for a different post with a couple new restaurant reviews.

We found a great idea for a birthday party for Gemma last year and decided to give it a shot for her big double digit birthday. She absolutely loves to sing and dance, so what better thing to do in a city with a gazillion KTV (karaoke) bars, give her her dream party. I had Jonny check out the KTV and see if we could find a room large enough to squeeze 25 screaming children into. We were happy to find out that we could have the party early in the afternoon to avoid the busy time where business men and scantily clad women came after their business dinners.

The next step was to ask Gemma what she wanted for a dessert. She immediately said "lemon meringue pie". I about choked when she said it. I just kept thinking of all the crusts I would have to make and how ugly they would all be! I told her that yes, I could make 2 pies, but it would probably only feed 12 people, so she would have to pick something else. By the end of the week I was at my wits end with the thought of making the pies and I had to let her down. I tried to talk her into lemon cheese cake, which is one of my specialties. She didn't want to serve that because most of her friends do not like cheesecake. One of the problems living in Asia, most Asian do not like cheese! I told her that I would make Christine Tosi's Milk Bar Crack cookies (Not really the name, but I have read so many people online refer to these cookies as 'crack' and the corn flake crunch alone is enough to give you an immediate addiction!) and she could pick something else too.

I made the crack cookies a little small this time. They are supposed to be massive, but the amount of butter and sugar plus the number of kids attending the party made me decide that the smaller the cookie the less sugar they would ingest which would keep me saner at the party. Here is a photo of the crack!

Gemma then decided that she wanted a lemon poppyseed cake from the Hummingbird Bakery cookbook. I had never tried it, but usually I have the good luck that things turn out the first time. The good thing was that the cake turned out, but the bad thing was that it was way too small to feed the army of kids that were coming to celebrate Gemma's big day. Therefore I had to make a second cake.

Here is the first of the two cakes I ended up making. I will glaze it in the morning and hopefully I have have a very happy 10 year old tomorrow!

Eat Me! Not literally...

2012-01-04T00:57:00.000+08:00

I had to make a separate post dedicated to one of my most favorite restaurants in the world "Eat Me". I stumbled across this restaurant on Trip Advisor on one of my two visits to Thailand last year. I ate there one night and it was love a first bite! I first fell in head over heels for the fennel and fig bread with an olive oil and cashew/kaffir lime dry dip and then raved to anyone I knew about how delicious the food was at this fine establishment

The ambience is incredible with candles and dimly lit lights. The owner is Australian and the last I knew the chef was from New York City although I didn't see him there on this visit. The wait staff is amazing and our waiter, who is Thai and married to a Scottish woman, remembered us from the time we visited last April. The menu has a subtle Asian flair to it with cocktails, salads, starters, mains, and desserts that make it difficult not to order the entire menu.

On this visit I started with a Marrakech Bellini (instead of peach juice it had pomegranate juice) while the kids had a watermelon and mint juice and mango juice. Gemma ordered her favorite rocket, pear, and parmesan salad with black truffle dressing and homemade penne in a tomato sauce.

Angus ordered a black chicken salad that had the most amazing shavings of freshly, toasted coconut in it (it also had red onion, so when you took a bite you weren't quite sure what you were getting) and New Zealand black green lipped mussels.

I ordered the heirloom tomato salad with olive oil ice cream, shaved parmesan, mint, and basil (which was divine) and Thai barramundi in coconut milk.

I was a little disappointed that we didn't get the normal fig and fennel bread and dry dipping sauce, but they had a lovely garlic and rosemary foccacia as a substitute.

Our dessert was the highlight of our meal and something we were all looking forward to. I had to order what we usually ordered which was a deep, dark, chocolate extravaganza of sweet which included the dark chocolate flourless chocolate cake that was so moist in literally melted in your mouth and the spicy chili and chocolate ice cream.

They make their ice cream homemade and I have never tasted such a subtle taste of chocolate to chili ratio. The kids absolutely flip over this ice cream because of this as your taste buds are rewarded by a bittersweet dark chocolate taste followed by the slow burn of chili. We balanced our chocolate craving with the pavlova with bananas, passion fruit, and cream. I prefer this to pavlova with berries and cream as they passion fruit is the perfect sour compliment to the meringue.

I am looking forward to my next trip to Bangkok, hopefully later this year!

The most indecisive woman in the world! ME!

2012-01-03T00:10:00.006+08:00

Jonny, the kids and I returned from Northern Ireland on the afternoon of December 31st. Jonny and I thought it would be a great idea for me to take the kids to Thailand for the first week of January since they had one week left of their Winter break. Now, I never turn down an opportunity to go to Thailand. It is my home away from home and it makes me smile the minute I step of the plane into this steamy environment.

Originally I booked a yoga retreat in Koh Mak, but unfortunately getting there and paying for the retreat were a little bit too difficult. I invited a friend and her two boys to tag along with us as they spent the Christmas holiday in Chengdu. I thought it would be fun for all the kids to play together and for the Mom's to relax on the beach. My friend and I opted to make the decision on where to go when we arrived in Bangkok. Luckily for me my friend is very easy going about these things which balances off me being a total freak about these things.

Last night we spent 3 hours researching every beach and hotel in Koh Chang trying to make a decision on where to stay, but I was still not happy. Honestly, location and the service of the resort are what is most important for me, but when you are looking at pictures of places to stay it is quite for me to make a decision. After reading lots of Trip Advisor and Agoda reviews I was still unhappy with the choices in front of me. We decided to sleep on it and make the decision in the morning.

Gemma woke us up at 10 am and said we had to get up and have breakfast. I looked at the clock and saw that we slept through the 2 alarms that I had set for 9 am. I slowly made my way to the bathroom and got myself ready for the pool. Our friends were already in the pool splashing away.

While I sat by the pool reading my new book I avoided the subject of where to go because I was not sure where to go and I was thinking that we should just try to make it to Koh Mak because it seemed like an easy solution, or better yet just stay in Bangkok for the week. Finally my friend broach the subject and said she had found some hotels she thought would work. I agreed to come to their room and bring my laptop to discuss the options.

After we left the pool the kids and I went for showers and I did more research. There was a hotel that wasn't available yesterday that had rooms magically appear on the internet. I thought this was a great place and met all of my needs. We went down to their room and looked at the hotel with my fried and decided it was a go. We both simultaneously booked our own rooms, but I got a funny message saying something to the affect that my credit card may or may not have been declined. I couldn't believe it! After finally making a decision I was going to have to start all over! I thought there was something wonky about my credit card because I had used it in 3 countries in 3 days, but basically there seemed to be only one room with that particular booking agent.

I went back to our room and called the hotel and tried to book directly with them, but they were quoting me a price double the price I had originally found. I told them that there was a cheaper price on their website, but they could only give me a small discount. The woman on the phone was very nice and suggested I try Booking.com. Lucky for me they had one room left at a cheaper price and promptly booked it! I have used Booking.com twice in two months and have been really pleased with them. I think I may have to bookmark them.

Koh Chang here we come!!!

Happy 2012!!!

2012-01-02T01:29:00.005+08:00

A friend of mine gave herself the Christmas present of starting her blog again. I decided to follow in her footsteps.

There are many reason I wanted to do this, one being that I really wanted to do something for ME and do less for others. That may seem quite selfish, but I feel that I deserve a pass. I am a Wife, a Mother, and a Community Organizer. Three of the most underpaid, thankless jobs that you can have. I am not complaining, but instead of being a martyr I decided to rise to it and do something that I enjoy doing.

I was thinking about changing my blog's name, but the name is still extremely brilliant (thanks to Melanie Parkes-Spatgen) and I still live in Chengdu. The only thing that may change is that content will become broader since we have now lived in Chengdu for 5 years.

One of my main passions in life (besides being a Wife, Mother, and Community Organizer) is food. I love to cook it, eat it, play with it, look at it and read about it. I am hoping to discuss food topics such as cooking in China whether it be Sichuan cuisine or food I am adapting to local ingredients, food I am eating while traveling, restaurants I enjoy and anything interesting I am doing in my day to day diet.

Wish me luck in 2012 that I take the time to do this for ME!

Back in Nebraska and Back to Blogging!

2009-06-25T20:43:00.002+08:00

After quite a long hiatus from blogging and about a year since I was last stateside I am back to blogging. I would love to use the excuse that the country in which I reside cut off internet access to both Blogger and Flickr, which is entirely true, but I was so busy in the spring that I do not think it would have been possible.

We returned to Nebraska this past Monday and I am so happy to be here. I think the most exciting thing about being here (other than seeing my Dad) is that I am bound and determined to take it easy and have a relaxing 4 weeks here. I have caught up on reading my friends blogs, practiced yoga and started reading "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society ". I just keep I can keep on the relaxation route for the next 4 weeks. So far so good!

Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper by Fuchia Dunlop

2009-03-06T14:02:00.006+08:00

Tonight I am over the moon with excitement! I have been asked to moderate the book talk of Fuchsia Dunlop the cookery book writer from England. As most people know food is my passion and I have found a new affinity for Sichuan Cooking! Although I have dabbled a bit in Sichuan cooking the past 3 1/2 years since we have lived here "Shark's Fin & Sichuan Pepper" by Fuchsia Dunlop has given me much inspiration for this sassy food. I have been on an eating adventure the past month while reading this book and cooking many recipes from her "Sichuan Cookery" book. I looking forward to spending the next couple days at moderating Fuchsia's book talk and attending a lunch at her favorite Chengdu restaurant Yu Jia Chu Fang (Yu Family Kitchen). This will be my third trip there and I am looking so forward to hear an in depth discussion on what we are eating and how it was prepared.

新年快乐！

2009-01-21T20:06:00.004+08:00

Chinese New Year is just around the corner and we are getting ready to head to Koh Tao, Thailand for a week of rest and relaxation. Koh Tao was just listed in the new Lonely Planet's 2009 World's Best places as one of the top places to visit in the world. From what I understand from others who have been there and the Lonely Planet is that this little island is unspoiled and excellent for diving and snorkeling. The kids are looking forward to it because you can snorkel right from the beach.

Angus has 2 weeks off from school so the two of us are staying on a bit longer and heading to Yoga Thailand for a few days. If you haven't gathered by the amount of Thailand pictures from my blog I call Thailand my home away from home away from home!!! I can't say enough good things about Thailand and highly recommend putting this amazing country on your travel list! Especially for those of you who are foodies like myself.

Swimming with the Fur Seals on New Year's Day

2009-01-01T18:05:00.004+08:00

Happy 2009 to everyone!!! We have been really enjoying our time in New Zealand and I hope to get my pictures and commentary posted sometime when I return to Chengdu next Monday.

Today we were scheduled to go whale watching at 11:45 am. It was beautiful outside, but when we arrived at the place of departure they told us that children under 5 were not allowed on the trip. We were pretty disappointed and rescheduled for later in the day. We decided to check out what other activities we could do instead of our whale watch and we found out that we could go swimming with fur seals. I had already seen some of these beautiful creatures on the way down from Picton and was able to get up close to these friendly seals. I was thrilled to hear that we could swim with them and the kids could go to.

We all suited up in wet suits for the trip. The kids actually had to wear 3 suits to keep them warm and buoyant in the water. We took a 10 minutes boat ride to the place we were going to swim with the seals and it was quite bumpy. Angus was quite freaked out by all the splashes and bumps, so this didn't really get him in the mood for the swim. Gemma didn't mind the boat ride, but as soon as we got in the water both the kids were too cold to swim. We put them on the raft and they were able to see the seals on the rocks and swim by them in the water. Jonny and I were able to take turns snorkeling and checking out the sea life in the ocean. The seals were incredibly playful and they would come right up to you as if they were going to swim right into you. One of them got really up close to Jonny and grabbed his flipper with his mouth as if he wanted to play.

After swimming for about 20 minutes the seals seem to get bored with us, so we tried a new area. Unfortunately I think most of the seals were bored with us and we didn't see anymore in the water. It was really great to get so up close and personal to nature and to have the kids see it first hand.

Tomorrow we are hoping to go on our whale watch, but it all depends on the weather. We heard that after we were turned away today that the cancelled all of the tours for the rest of the day due to rough waters. I hope it is smooth sailing tomorrow!

The Agrodome, Rotorua

2008-12-27T18:19:00.000+08:00

After our trip to Te Puia we headed over to the Agrodome to see the Sheep Sheering Show. We knew there would be other things to see, but we didn't realize how many entertaining things there would be at this attraction.

Gemma and Angus jumped on the sheep dog as soon as we arrived.

And then on the Kiwi!!

Angus was waiting patiently for the farm tour to begin.

Our first stop was to feed the ostriches and emus. I have to say interacting with the animals is always a highlight of any trip for me.

They also have an organic farm in the Agrodome where they grow kiwis, olives, and feijoa. This picture is of the kiwi vines. It is summer here, so you can see the small fruits on the vines which will be ready for picking in a couple months.

We also got to see this deer which has over bred itself in New Zealand. They now raise them for the velvet from their antlers to make medicine and for their meat. Here are a few of the deer resting in the pasture.

On a side note it has been wonderful to see all of the sheep and cows in the pastures grazing across the country. I rarely see that even in my home state of Nebraska.

Angus and Lily checking out the sheep and alpacas.

They also had alpacas which I absolutely adore! Their coats are so soft and it makes the most divine wool for knitting. There was on alpaca that was quite friend and I was able to run my fingers through its wool a few times.

Three very sweet alpacas.

We also saw several varieties of cows. The black one is none other than the Black Angus!

Here is a gorgeous Highland Cow that came to New Zealand from Scotland.

The sheep sheering show was extremely entertaining and also a tongue twister (you don't even want to know what Jonny kept calling it!). The sheep shearer brought out 20 different varieties of sheep to the stage. I didn't even know there were that many and that probably would explain why I thought all the sheep in Ireland looked so different from our American sheep! The sheep that was in the top row center was a Merino sheep, which has almost as divine of wool as an alpaca.

The Sheep Shearer and his victim. They put them on their back to shear so they cannot get away.

It took him about 2 minutes to shear one sheep and he will receive US$1.75 for the wool off 1 sheep.

Jonny and a Drysdale.

I was extremely impressed with the Agrodome and would highly recommend it to anyone who was visiting Rotorua. I think as a knitter you really can appreciate a place like this, but it is also great for city kids to see how things are done on the farm.

Te Puia, Rotorua

2008-12-27T15:31:00.000+08:00

After we left the beach we headed to the tourist city of Rotorua which is know for its Maori culture and geysers. When we were driving into the city there was a horrible smell which I immediately blamed Jonny for, but to our surprise Rotorua just smells like this due to all the geothermal activity. We checked into our hotel and started to plan our time there. We checked out the hours of some of the sights and activates.

We went to Te Puia to see what they had to offer in regards to Maori culture and decided to come back in the morning for one of their tours and Maori Cultural shows. We also went to a Polynesian Spa, where there was a family area.

The next day we were up early and headed to Te Puia. We began our day with a tour of the grounds which sit in a geo-thermal valley.

The geyser was beautiful. Each color on the rocks represented oxidation of different chemicals.

Gemma really thought this was really stinky!!!

Gemma and Lily trying to escape the smell.

Gemma and Angus with the geyser.

We also went to this mud pool which was boiling hot.

Te Puia also had a Maori carving and weaving school located on site. Here is one of the carvers hard a work. Even though he was carving with an axe he was amazingly accurate.

This woman was an incredible speaker taught us about Maori weaving in a very short amount of time. They use flax to weave with and the finished product was once compared to Irish Linen.

The Cultural Show is about to begin. We are going to be invited into their community house.

I didn't find the invitation very inviting and Angus was definitely a bit freaked out, but we went with it anyway.

Lily was one of the first volunteers for the first dance they performed.

Jonny also volunteered to learn how to do the Haka.

Some of the performers in the Cultural Show.

Christmas Day at Waihi Beach

2008-12-25T18:11:00.000+08:00

On Christmas Eve we took a leisurely stroll into downtown Hamilton for brunch and to do a little last minute Christmas shopping and also to kill time until Lily finished work so we could caravan up to Waihi Beach to spend Christmas with the MacDonald Clan.

We had an incredible greeting when we arrived with lots of hugs and kisses when we arrived. It was such a warm greeting and it helped us feel right at home. Mark's parents rented a beach house to get the entire family together for Christmas. Mark is the youngest of 5 and we had the pleasure of spending the holidays with his parents, 3 brothers, 1 sister, their partners, 1 cousin and 14 nieces and nephews. Needless to say Gemma and Angus were so happy to have such a large group of kids to spend Christmas with.

A view of Waihi beach from the house where we spent Christmas.

The New Zealand Christmas tree, the Pohutukawa tree. These trees live along the coastline and they have gorgeous red flowers.

Yeah!!! Lily and Mark!

On Christmas Day morning I did my best to help Mark's family prepare the Christmas feast. When I was trying to come up with things to add to their Christmas menu it was a bit difficult since I was so used to making Christmas dinner in a cold climate I was trying to think of things that were a bit more beachy and bbqy. I helped out with a few of my recipes which included my bruchetta, guacamole, and potato salad which I think by the warm reception turned out well. Dinner was absolutely amazing! We had cold leg of lamb that was raised by the MacDonald family, the best smoked ham I have ever tasted, white bait fritters, chicken mignon, boiled potatoes, green bean salad, and glazed carrots.

Our New Zealand Christmas Buffet!

Santa Lily

After I ate more than my fair share of food I took Angus for a little nap because he was over tired from playing so hard and not in the best of moods. I fell asleep with him for 2 hours and it was the best little post Christmas dinner nap I have ever had! We were happy to see dessert was on the table and that we didn't miss out on our Christmas sweets.

The MacDonald clan having drinks on the deck! That is my kind of Christmas!

Lily and me enjoying the beach.

The great thing about NZ in the summer is that it stays dark really late. The kids went to the beach in the early evening to do some boogie boarding and Gemma really loved it! She really took to the sea water last Christmas and she keeps getting more and more daring. Here are a few shots of her with the board.

Surfer chick!

Gemma catching some waves!

Gemma made a ton of friends on our two days at the beach. Here are her with her new friends Paige, Skye and Brie.

Us with the MacDonalds! We are looking forward to hosting them all in Chengdu in the very near future!!!

The entire Christmas Clan. What a fabulous Christmas we had and what welcoming hosts!!!

Waitomo Caves

2008-12-23T17:57:00.002+08:00

The family inside Ruakuri Cave.

Today we went to Waitomo Caves to see the glow worms, stalactites and stalagmites. I do have to mention that on our way to the Caves we stopped in a small little village on the way to have an Original Kiwi Pie. Now I have had meat pies in my life, but I had the best chicken pie I have ever had! The crust was flaky and light and the chicken filling was extremely tasty.

We had a nice day at Waitomo Caves. We opted for the two cave package of the Glowworm Cave and Raukuri Cave. There are so many things that you can actually do at Waitomo Caves, but it is definitely for people who are more adveturous (than me anyway) and someone with adveturous older kids (10 & up). You can do everything including caving, black water rafting, abseiling, and much more. The Glow Worm Cave was a 45 minute tour with a 10 minute boat ride out of the cave. We were able to see thousands of glow worms. It was a cool thing to do around Christmas because it looks like the cave is lit up with thousands of Christmas lights.

The second cave was a longer tour of Raukuri Cave which included a close up look at the Glow Worms along with amazing stalagtite and stalagmite formations. Here are a few pictures of our day.

A column, when a stalagtite and stalagmite join together.

One interesting fact was that it takes 300 years for a stalagtite to grow one cubic inch!

This is how they grow. There are minerals in the water which cling to the existing formation.

I thought these stalagtites were the most beautiful. They reminded me of icicles and what a better place to see icicles than at Christmas in a country where it is summer!

Here are the fishing lines (as our guide called them) of the Glow Worm Larvae. This how they catch their food.

Glow Worm hanging from the rock formation.

Our First Day in New Zealand

2008-12-22T16:51:00.002+08:00

We had a good nights sleep and we were all up relatively early for breakfast. We had decided the night before to have kind of an easy day of exploring the beach town of Raglan. Raglan is known for its surfing and its quaint little town. Unfortunately I forgot the memory card in my camera and the only pictures I have of this lovely little town are on a little disposable camera that will be developed sometime when we return to Chengdu. We had a fabulous day having a coffee in one of the many little coffee shops, looking around the little shops, having a lunch by the sea and watching the surfers surf.

On our way back to Hamilton we stopped at Bridal Veil's Fall which was also a nice little walk and gorgeous scenery.

I have already charged my batteries and put in the memory card into my camera, so I hope to have pictures to post of our adventure tomorrow. We are heading down to Waitomo Caves to check out the glow worms.

Christmas Trip to New Zealand

2008-12-21T16:30:00.003+08:00

I have not had a chance to blog or catch up with my blog like I would have liked to this past few months, but once again I will make a New Year's resolution to try and keep up! I really enjoying blogging, but it is always the first thing to go when I feel overwhelmed with other things in my life. I thought I would start my resolution early by blogging about our Christmas Trip to New Zealand.

We left on Saturday afternoon for Hong Kong and wait for our flight to Auckland. After a 10 hour flight and a little over hours drive to Hamilton we arrived at our hotel and quickly called our friends Mark and Lily, who we had come to visit.

They came over to our hotel where we had a few drinks and caught up with the latest news from Chengdu. We then went out to get a few groceries and back to the hotel for some take away Indian food. It was a great way to start our Christmas Holidays!

Here are a few pictures of Mark and Lily:

Tomorrow we are heading to Raglan beach to watch the surfers and play on the beach. I hope to get some great photos tomorrow!

Tokyo Disney, the rainy version!

2008-09-30T23:22:00.009+08:00

Jonny and the kids at the entrance of Tokyo Disney.

On Monday we had planned to take the kids to the 'Happiest Place on Earth!', unfortunately we looked at the forecast and it looked like the typhoon from Taiwan was heading our way in the form of a tropical storm and we were going to be rained out. We decided that since it was going to rain the remainder of our time in Tokyo we might as well give Tokyo Disney a chance besides, there would probably not be that many people there, right? WRONG!!!

We arrived at 11 am and it was sprinkling heavily. We had 3 umbrellas and the kids had their rain jackets on. We really thought there would be less people visiting the park today, but much to our surprise there were long lines and when we tried to get a fast pass at 11 am it told us to come back at 8:20 pm! We decided to make a go of it though as this would be our only chance to experience Tokyo Disney.

This park is almost exactly the way I remember Disneyland in Anaheim. Here is Walt and Mickey. Notice the park is all decked out for Halloween! I think the Japanese are just as mad about Halloween as we were in the America!

The Castle

I really loved all of the Halloween stuff! We just don't get a ton of stuff in Chengdu for Halloween, so this was a special treat!

The kids and me posing in the rain. Notice Angus and I are sporting our new rain coats. Angus was not happy about it at all!

Jonny and Gemma on one of the rides.

Toon Town decked out for Halloween.

Gemma and Angus posing with some of the Halloween decor.

The Toon Town was exactly like I remember it from Disneyland. I have a picture of Gemma when she was 2 in the same jail.

Here she is!

Angus really didn't mind the rain! It was his first trip to Disney and he was all about seeing Mickey Mouse!

We were able to get dry on the carousel.

Jonny and Gemma enjoying the carousel.

Next we were off the It's a Small World! Here is Scotland...

and Ireland....

and Vietnam...

and Japan...

and Africa.

Then we were off to Alice's Tea Party.

Lots of tea cups!

The kids and me in the cup.

Jonny and the kids in the cup.

We were in motion and Jonny took this picture. I love the expressions on their faces! Of course my face was probably very green as this was my least favorite ride.

I found this picture of Gemma in the teacup with Jonny and my Grandpa when she was 2.

We needed to get out of the rain so we went to have an early dinner in the Queen of Hearts restaurant. We actually sat inside in the warm to dry out for over a hour.

Then we decided to wait for 140 minutes to go into the Nightmare Before Christmas Holiday Haunted House.

I know, I am a bit over the top with the Halloween pictures, but you can imagine how I feel living in a country that hasn't caught on to the concept of Halloween yet!

Jack and Sally

Santa Jack

It was a really cool haunted house and not too scary for the kids.

The normal parade was cancelled due to in climate weather, which was an under statement! They did have a little something for us though and Angus was finally able to see Mickey Mouse!

We also went to a 4-D movie which was a bit stressful. I have gone to three 4-D movies in my life and I don't think I will go to anymore. I hate when things run under your chair! I loved this picture of Gemma in her 4-D glasses though. She maintains this smile through the entire rainy day!

Our last ride was the one we had the fast pass for which was a Buzz Lightyear ride which Jonny and Angus loved!

We walked out of the park at 10 pm, which was their official closing time.

Angus didn't even make it to the train! He was out for the count after we walked out of the exit and slept on Jonny's shoulders all the way to the train station which was about a half a mile walk.

Despite the rain we still managed to have a great time. I think it would take a lot to keep the Dallas children down, they are super troupers! As for Mom and Dad that may be questionable, but we put on our brave rain faces!

Our First Day in Tokyo!

2008-09-29T23:57:00.000+08:00

A view from our hotel window.

After arriving quite late with a sick little girl we all had a nice sleep and woke up fairly late. The apartment we were renting was on the 24th floor so we had a fantastic view of the Shinjuku area of Tokyo which is west of central Tokyo. I picked this apartment due to the great reviews once again to Trip Advisor and once again the user reviews did not disappointment us. We have a kitchen in our room and it is really handy to roll out of bed and make toast.

Our first venture outside was to have lunch before we went exploring. We asked the front desk to recommend a Japanese restaurant close to the hotel. The woman at the front desk was great and she recommended a famous ramen restaurant called Musashi Ramen that was two blocks away from our apartment.

We were happy went we saw a line outside the restaurant because we knew it had to be good food if there was a line. When we finally reached the inside of the restaurant we noticed that people were putting coins into a machine and were receiving tickets in exchange for their money. We got a closer look at the machine and there was no English, so we just took a wild guess on what we were having for lunch.

Jonny and Angus waiting in line for our seats and watching the noodle pirates!

I called them the noodle pirates because they were dressed like pirates and they kept yelling things in Japanese from time to time.

Gemma getting her chopsticks ready for her noodles.

Angus prepping his spoon for his soup!

We were very impressed by our lunch and it tasted really great. Ramen noodles originated in China, but the Japanese tend to have them more regularly than the Chinese. We had ordered 3 bowls of noodles and they all looked similar. It was definitely a great start for a holiday.

We decided to hop on a train and go down to Harajuku and Meiji-jingu for the afternoon. I wanted to take a look at Harajuku because it is a very famous fashion area on Japan with so really wild styles. (You may have heard of the Harajuku Girls made famous by Gwen Stefani in the U.S.)

We walked from the train station down to Harajuku. The thing I noticed was that the Japanese seem to enjoy Halloween just as much as Americans as I was able to pick up a few things for Halloween while we were shopping.

After our shopping trip to Harajuku we went to see the Meiji-jingu Shrine. I couldn't believe our luck when we stumbled across the Rockabilly Club who is in the video above. I had the hugest smile on my face when I saw these guys dance. I couldn't believe that the music of my Dad's era was alive, well, and trendy in Tokyo!

They had great clothes, shoes, hair and their dance moves would put Elvis to shame!

This gang had girls in poodle skirts in on the fun!

There were actually 3 gangs of dancers and it appeared as if they were having a dance off! This was my favorite group, Rockabilly Club Harajuku City!

This guys wins the award for best hair by far!

Angus enjoyed his trip to the park.

And so did Gemma!

There were many people just sitting around blowing bubbles. This couple was in the park without kids, but of course my kids migrated towards them.

The kids popping the bubbles and the bubble blower and her boyfriend enjoyed the company.

Meiji-jingu was a really great park with people hanging out having picnics, exercising, having little jam sessions, tap dancing, blowing bubbles, juggling, playing the bagpipe, playing the trombone and you name it!

Here is Gemma watching a group of instrumentalists. I am not sure what instrument they are playing, but it looked like some kind of bow instrument.

There were a few tap dancers on hand too! I really loved watching these two!

Gemma and Angus kept finding things to play soccer with. In this instance it was an acorn.

When we were walking out we saw some of the Lolitas of the Harajuku area. This one seems to be of the Lady Boy sort.

There were quite a few =Goths on hand. Quite a few of them had 80's bank hair. I swear they look like Motley Crue from the "Shout at the Devil" Album!

I really enjoyed seeing all of the different fashion styles. The thing that was most amazing to me about our visit to Harajuku and Meiji-jingu was that no one seemed hung up about how people were dressed or what anyone was doing. I hope one day I have the chance to dance in public like the Rockabilly Club!

Our Flight from Beijing to Tokyo

2008-09-29T14:25:00.000+08:00

We had a rough flight from Beijing to Tokyo. Gemma screamed and cried the entire way complaining of ear pain. When we were landing she started puking. I think she was in so much pain she finally just threw up. She eventually got relief when we hopped a bus from the Narita Airport to the apartment we rented. It was an hour and ten minute ride, so she was able to sleep. She woke up for a little while and seemed to be doing much better. When she woke up Sunday morning she was good as new.

We fly quite often and this was the 2nd time this had happened. She was completely fine during flights over the summer and I had refrained from giving her Dramamine and carrying Tylenol with me on trips. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know!

Fernando Gonzalez the 11th Ranked Tennis Player in the World!

2008-09-28T20:00:00.003+08:00

If you think this picture is good, you should see him in street clothes!

We were in Beijing just to go through customs on our way to Japan when we were reboarding our plane and I saw this very good looking man with a bag of tennis rackets over his shoulder. I remember that the China Open was being played this past week and I thought for sure he was a famous tennis player. I told Jonny, but I was too chicken to ask because I honestly didn't know who it was for sure. Thankfully he asked for me and he told me his name was Gonzalez from Chile. I still wasn't familiar with his name, but I do follow tennis and would recognize Nadal, Federer, Andy Roddick, and James Blake. He was definitely none of those guys. He was on his way to Japan for another tennis tournament. I asked him for his autograph and looked forward to looking up his stats (and first name!) on the internet.

To my surprise he is the 11th ranked player in the world and his name is Fernando! I feel bad because I didn't recognize him, but it is probably pretty nice not to be recognized when you are a gorgeous tennis player!

Off to Tokyo!

2008-09-27T08:10:00.003+08:00

We are once again off on another adventure this time to Japan! I hadn't actually seriously considered visiting Japan because I am a huge fan of Southeast Asia, but we jumped at the chance when Jonny found out he had to teach a class there.

We will be visiting Tokyo, Kyoto, and different cities around Kyoto. I am not too organized for this trip, but I think we will have time on our 6 hour plane ride to do a bit more planning. I will have internet access the entire trip, so I am hoping to post some pictures of our trip.

Until then Sayonara!

Happy 40th Birthday Xiao Yang!

2008-09-24T22:27:00.004+08:00

This past Saturday we had the pleasure of having lunch with our dear ayi, Xiao Yang for her 40th birthday. It was really nice to see everyone and to have lunch at one of their favorite eateries. Here are a few pictures of the day.

Xiao Yang and her Mom

Xiao Yang and Da Yang having lunch!

Xiao Yang's sister-in-law who is extremely pregnant in this picture! Good new, she left the lunch with an upset stomach and ended up in the hospital the next day with labor pains and on Monday she gave birthday to a healthily baby girl!

Xiao Yang's son Bobo with Angus. Angus loves Bobo!

There was quite an array of interesting cuisine on hand for the birthday lunch. Here was one of the delicacies, duck head! We also were served up fish stomach, rabbit and pig's ear! I just love that the Chinese do not waste anything!

The man on the far left is one of Xiao Yang's younger brothers who became the proud Papa on Monday. The man on the far right is Xiao Yang's boyfriend, although that is currently debatable.

First Days of School

2008-09-01T21:32:00.005+08:00

We have been back in Chengdu for about 3 weeks and have official got both kids off to school. Gemma began school on the 21st of August and I am happy to say she still loves school! Her teacher this year happens to be a dear friend of ours and she has 20 kids in the 1st grade class, but she is lucky to only have 10 kids in her classroom. The great thing about QSI is that they have such a great teacher student ratio with no more than 12 kids per 1 teacher and 1 teacher's assistant. As you can see from the photo is was absolutely raining cats and dogs, so I didn't have a chance to get many pictures. She is wearing a new qipao that I just had made at my favorite tailor here in Chengdu, but I found this cute cherry blossom material during my visit to the US this summer.

Angus on the other hand Angus wasn't so excited about going to school. Angus' first day of school was today and he is attending a Singaporean School called Eton House. We decided to send him to a Chinese Kindergarten instead of an International program because we were worried that he would lose his Chinese language skills. Angus decided that he didn't want to go to school and he definitely didn't want to wear his uniform. After a major struggle of getting him dressed and refusal to eat breakfast we went on our way to the bus stop.

Here he is getting ready to get on his big yellow bus.

He is still a bit apprehensive in this picture, but much better than the tears of 5 minutes ago.

I put him on the bus and there were some tears, but when Jonny and I met him at school a half an hour later he seemed much better. We took him to his classroom and made sure he was comfortable. He seemed to do fine, so we went on with our day. When I picked him up from the bus he was smiling from ear to ear and he is really excited to go back tomorrow!

Back in the 'Du

2008-08-15T08:25:00.003+08:00

We have made it back to the 'Du and I am slowly getting over my jet lag. I have to say I am not doing very well this time around, but I think I am making up for having no problems when coming and going to and from the US and going to the UK. I have seemed to figure out my problem with blogger and I am still able to read blogs again in China, yeah! I am planning on catching up with my summer posts now that I have a little time before our crazy routine of school begins next Thursday. Wish me luck!

Amster Damn!

2008-08-10T22:51:00.011+08:00

On our way back from Northern Ireland we had a long layover in Amsterdam. We had never been so we were excited to see this city. We had heard so many good things about it from our Dutch friends in Chengdu that we were really looking forward to judging for ourselves. The best thing about our visit was that our friends Dan Mahoney, his wife Madeline and two girls, Lillianne and Amelie.

Dan was so gracious to pick us up at the airport and the great thing was it was only a short distance from the city center. It was so great to see them as we hadn't seen them in over a year and had yet to meet Amelie. It was so great to see the Mahoney family and they were fantastic hosts! We got a great overview of the city and we are looking forward to coming back next summer for an extended stay.

Gemma, Angus, and Lillianne in their flat in Amsterdam.

The beautiful canals in the middle of the city.

This is a very bicycle friendly city with very few cars around. Here are some of the small quaint streets in Amsterdam.

We were able to see Anne Frank's House, but we didn't have enough time to go for a tour. Next time we will though!

Anne Frank's House

For brunch we had the pleasure of going to a very famous Dutch Pancake restaurant called "The Pancake Bakery". The pancakes were not like your American-style pancakes. They were much lighter and you could choose several different toppings including savory fillings. I had a cheese and mushroom pancake and it was delicious and so filling.

Dan outside The Pancake Bakery.

Amelie getting ready to enjoy her pancake. They had great pancakes for the kids including a princess pancake for Gemma served with a crown and a Policeman pancake for Angus served with a gun and handcuffs.

We went to the main square where the palace is and there were many performers. Angus couldn't believe his eyes when he saw a very unfit looking Spiderman!

They also had a Madame Tussaud's in this gorgeous old building.

Angus and Jonny with the Square in the background.

The Palace

Of course we couldn't pass up a tour of the red light district.

It was quite interesting to be in a place where people really didn't care about sex and drugs. Everyone seems less uptight and less judgmental. Obviously Jonny was feeling less uptight!

I really loved taking pictures of the canals and all of the bicycles were really great to see too!

We struggled with the kids to take this pictures!

There were these cute shoes by the main square and we couldn't resist taking a picture in it!

The Mahoneys!

We're Here!

2008-07-27T18:52:00.000+08:00

We had a great flight from Chengdu to Amsterdam on KLM. I highly recommend that flight! What a great way to get to Europe! And the inflight entertainment system sure makes that trip go by quickly. We also found a gem in a new hotel at the Schiphol Airport called citizenM. If you have to have a stop over in Amsterdam it is the perfect place to sleep!

Friday morning we flew Aer Lingus to Belfast where we were greeted by Jonny's parents, our nieces and nephew.

We have had a pretty mellow first few days staying pretty close to Jonny's parents' house. Today Jonny and I headed to Belfast to have his passport renewed and get the kids their British passports. We found an internet hotspot, so we are catching up on emails while we wait for his passport to be finished.

I hope to find internet access somewhere by the in-laws house so I can add some pictures. The weather has been fabulous here and I have some beautiful pictures to share.

On Our Way Again....

2008-07-24T11:34:00.003+08:00

We have been back in Chengdu a week and we are leaving again for Northern Ireland to see Jonny's family and friends. We are taking a direct flight from Chengdu to Amsterdam today and over nighting in Amsterdam. We have a morning flight to Belfast and should be back in Limavady by lunch time on Friday. This is the first opportunity we have had to go to do the direct KLM flight from Chengdu to Amsterdam and we are really looking forward to it.

I meant to do some posting this past week and I actually had time to do so, but I think someone is messing with blogger and I was unable to access it for most of this past week. I seem to have normal access again and hope to access while we are in NI. I hope to do some posting while we are there of beautiful Northern Ireland.

A Quick Post

2008-07-18T14:29:00.003+08:00

We just arrived in Chengdu on Thursday at 8:10 pm. We were pretty tired and all were in bed by about 10 pm. At 12:40 pm I was jolted from my bed by what I think was an aftershock. I had convinced myself I was imagining things with jet lag and all. I checked http://www.usgs.gov and sure enough there were two tremors registering at 4.6 and 5.0 which were back to back. What a welcome back to Chengdu! Luckily we are leaving again next Thursday for a while. I guess I should let Northern Ireland know that I am nothing but bad luck.

Some good news though, I checked my blog and I can now read it without having to go through a proxy server! Yeah!!! I hope this motivates me to post more!

Back to China

2008-07-16T11:58:00.003+08:00

We have a 7:59 am flight tomorrow to Chicago to catch our flight to Beijing. I cannot believe how quickly a month has flown by. I believe I have had a very relaxing time in Nebraska compared to my day to day life in Chengdu. The kids however probably will sleep for days when we get back as I have never seen them play so hard in their little lives.

I was really hoping to catch up with my blogging, but I haven't even posted my 4th of July pictures yet. We will see if I have time between the jet lag and our trip to Northern Ireland (we leave a week from Thursday!!!). I guess I should have caught up while I was here because it wouldn't have taken me as long because the internet connection is so fast it is unbelievable!!! Until next summer!!!

Here are a few shots of today. We hung out with my sisters and their kids.

Angus and Aiden playing in the sand. Boy are my kids going to miss this!!!

Gemma and Isaac on the trampoline. And this too!!!

The cousins! (Gabe couldn't be with us because he was going to Adventure Land.)

Aunt Becky and Gemma

and Angus

Aunt Jenny with Angus

and Gemma

The Hendersons

The Woods

Larry's 70th Birthday Party

2008-07-14T20:12:00.004+08:00

On one of our last days in Nebraska we had the pleasure of attending the surprise 70th birthday of our dear friend Larry Knutzen. Larry and Rida's daughters have been my friends for years and Paula was the maid of honor in our wedding. Jonny and I always love catching up with the Knutzens when we are back in NE and Jonny loves to have an Old Milwaukee with Larry!

Larry just finished golfing and was surprised to see a room full of friends and family. Here he is with his lovely wife Rida.

Gemma made friends quickly with some of the Knutzen cousins.

Larry's youngest daughter Holly with her little girl.

John C. Fremont Days

2008-07-12T20:07:00.006+08:00

While we were back in Nebraska we had the pleasure of attending one of the most popular events of the summer in my hometown, John C. Fremont Days. Fremont was named after John C. because he was know as an explorer and was nicknamed the 'Pathfinder'. I was really excited to attend because it was the 21st year of these Days and I had heard from my parents that it had turned into quite the event. I have to say I was extremely impressed with the evolution of this event and really enjoyed everything about it.

The highlight of the event for me was being introduced to a band called the String Beans. Now maybe I shouldn't be the one that got all excited, but these Wigglesque band were hugely entertaining and their tunes were extremely catchy.

Gemma eating her kettle corn on Grandma's lap.

Angus and Abby really enjoyed the String Beans, but from a distance.

Poor Aiden was bit by some type of bug the night before and had a horrible allergic reaction. My poor sister had to endure jokes about her being an abusive mother all week-end long.

We also had the pleasure of attending the parade. Here was one of the tractors that was a hit with the boy cousins!

And the old cars were popular too!

My favorite was the marching bands!

A Visit with the Colgan Family

2008-07-11T09:37:00.003+08:00

We had the pleasure of going to Omaha to visit our friends the Colgan's. We had a great time which included seeing Bridget's new baby Jason and the kids playing with Bridget's daughter Anna.

If you go back to this post:
http://chengdusanddonts.blogspot.com/2006/08/day-25-27-fun-in-sun-and-old-friends.html.
There is a picture of Gemma and Anna 2 years ago when they were really little girls.

We had lunch and Cath Colgan so graciously watched the kids in the pool (which is no easy feat I might add when Angus is involved!) while I caught up with Dick, Bridget and Kelly. Here are a few snapshots of our day. I had a great picture of Cath with her new grandboy, but I accidently deleted it from my camera! Sorry!

Gemma, Angus, and Anna after their swim.

Dick

Bridget, Anna and Jason Weeks

Henry Dorley Zoo...The Best Zoo in the World!!!

2008-07-06T22:21:00.008+08:00

One of the most favorite things I like to do with the kids while I am home in Nebraska is to take them to "The Best Zoo in the World!!!", Omaha's very own Henry Doorly Zoo. I actually didn't get a chance to go last year and I was really and I was really sad because this zoo is the tops and it is so enjoyable for the entire family! Now if I could only talk the rest of my family to go!

We started our trip with the Desert Dome!

It looks like the Outback of Australia when you first walk in.

Even down to the kookaburra sitting in the old gum tree!

Then we moved on to our old stomping grounds!

The kids in the Sonoran Desert of their home state Arizona!

We were able to see our favorite Javalina! Just don't call him pig!

They also had their nocturnal exhibit in the basement of the Desert Dome. It is really creepy because there are lots of bats, snakes, and spiders. There is even a swamp section with some other scary animals.

The alligator really freaked me out in the dark.

But we also were able to see some adorable beaver busy at work.

Next we were off to the Lied Jungle which is an indoor rainforest. Angus in the boat at the entrance of the Jungle.

Here is a view from the inside of the faux-Jungle.

There were gorgeous birds from the Amazon.

And some Tapirs too!

Gemma and Angus taking a break in the Jungle.

There were all types of monkeys and chimpanzees.

When we strolled out of the Lied Jungle we saw what appeared to be a baby zebra, but I never had it confirmed by anyone at the zoo.

We went on to my favorite exhibit the Scott Aquarium. I think the penguins were the hit of the zoo for me and the kids. We could have spent hours here watching these adorable creatures.

We went through the aquarium tunnel where there were sharks and manta rays all around us. There were a few scuba divers in the tank and Angus screamed "Daddy!!".

The sharks were really cool to see floating around the tunnel tank. This is a side view of the end of the tunnel tank.

After the aquarium the kids decided they want to catch the steam train to the other side of the zoo. We bought our tickets, but while we were waiting we took a look at a few other animals.

There were more penguins, but these were the little penguins that you find down on Philip Island, Australia.

The funny thing was that the giraffes and the little penguins shared an area.

The ostriches and zebras also shared space with some Emus that didn't want to be photographed.

Here comes the train!

As we got off the train we saw this extremely attractive peacock. I have to say I think they are most beautiful thing in the entire zoo!

The kids were happy to take a ride on the carousel.

We then went on to the Hubbard Gorilla Valley which would have to be my 2nd most favorite exhibit in the zoo. It is quite new and there are so many gorillas and they are massive!

Angus is almost as big as an orangutan!

I took this picture because it reminded me of one that was taken 2 years ago when Gemma was 4. She is definitely taller than a ring-tailed lemurs tail!

She wasn't back then, but same look!

One of the big windows in the Hubbard Gorilla Valley.

These animals were gigantic!

It was another fantastic trip to the zoo! While I was research the contents of this post I learned that the Henry Doorly Zoo is the 4th best zoo in the U.S. as rated by user ratings on Trip Advisor. I think it is probably the best though! I highly recommend a trip to Omaha if only to see this incredible zoo!

4th of July

2008-07-04T17:45:00.006+08:00

This past 4th of July I had the pleasure of spending it with most of my family in Nebraska. We had a great couple of days of swimming, hanging out with the family and fireworks.

We went down to Wahoo to enjoy the picnic and games in the park which we always attended when I was a little girl. I was a bit sad to see that they didn't have as good attendance as we had when we were kids. I guess I was just having a bit of a nostalgic day of 4th of July in small town USA.

After our little picnic all of the cousins went swimming in Wahoo (the town where my Parents were born and my Grandma lives). Here are some pictures of the pool.

Isaac a little cold after his first dip!

Abby enjoying the water!

Becky and Aiden

Angus really didn't understand the whole concept of the 10 minute rest break. We don't have those in China.

Aiden didn't mind the break.

They had fun games at the pool and the kids were to go under water and fetch some diver sticks and in turn they would get a lollipop. Of course you didn't have to tell our kids twice!

The funny thing about 4th of July at the Wahoo Pool is that back when I was Angus' age I went swimming at the Wahoo Pool on 4th of July. The next week in the Wahoo Newspaper was a picture of me swimming in the baby pool. I wish we had digital photos back then and I could share it with you!

After swimming my dear, sweet 90 year old Grandma invited us to dinner at her apartment complex. She reserved the party room for us and had the food catered by the local grocery store. She also treated us with some patriotic music on the electric keyboard!

Grandma tinkering on the ivories!

After dinner we went back to Fremont to watch the fireworks display there. We found a great place to sit in a field. The kids quite enjoyed the field because they were able to run around and be crazy for a while.

Isaac and Gemma

Fireworks!

A Visit with the Nishumuras!

2008-07-04T09:38:00.002+08:00

While we were in Nebraska I stopped by my Great Aunt Misao's (Gerry) house to see if she was around. To my luck and surprise not only was she there, but her daughter Barbara, her son-in-law Hisao, and grandson Matthew were all there from California for the 4th of July. I usually do see Matthew when I am in Nebraska because he usually spends the summer with his Grandmother, but what a great coincidence that both his parents were also visiting. We made plans to have breakfast and then go out to my Great Aunt's lake house to see her. It was really great catching up with them and we hope to make a yearly thing as they always go around 4th of July.

Gemma and Hisao

The Nishimuras, Aunt Gerry and the kids and me.

The Nishimuras, Jonny and the kids.

Aunt Gerry and her family

The Dallas Family

Fireworks at the Lake

2008-07-03T21:42:00.003+08:00

The one major disappointment on our trip back to Nebraska was that we had the major storm the week-end before the 4th of July week-end. Woodcliff Lakes, where my parents live, always has an incredible 4th of July party with the best fireworks display I have seen (in America)! Unfortunately they decided to delay the party to Labor Day week-end! We ended up having some fireworks of our own though and had a great time!

Jonny's favorite spot in Nebraska!

My Dad, the fire master!

Isaac, being cute!

The kids loved the fireworks!

Angus holding his ears and watching the show.

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Isaac and Gemma holding their ears.

The funny thing about my kids holding their ear was that I think they were trying to copy their cousin! They have survived 3 Chinese New Years in China and have never held their ears and we have fireworks from 8 pm to 4 am every night during Chinese New Year!

Dinner with the Lahtis

2008-06-30T12:01:00.003+08:00

After our successful class reunion I wanted to spend a little more time with my classmate, Rhonda who I haven't seen in over 15 years. It was really great to catch up with her and meet her fabulous husband Richard and their adorable little kids. It was also really great that our daughters were the same age and had a great time with each other!

We went to their house on the outskirts of Omaha which was really beautiful! We had a glass of wine before heading over to this sushi restaurant called Sushi Japan for dinner. The sushi was excellent and the company even better! Here are a few snap shots of the evening.

Angus and Richie

Gemma and her new friend Kalley

The Lahtis

Gabe's 3rd Birthday Party

2008-06-29T17:44:00.000+08:00

Gabe and Angus

On Sunday we headed to Omaha for Gabe's 3rd birthday party. My brother Mark and his wife Missy live in a great neighborhood. They are friends with all of their neighbors and they even share a backyard with their next door neighbor, so they have double the area for their kids to play.

Angus playing on the neighbor's patio.

Gemma on the neighbor's trampoline.

The kids loved the trampoline!

Jared (Becky's husband) and Aiden having a bite to eat.

The Lightening McQueen Cake!

Blowing out the candles.

Gemma loves cake!

Aiden, Angus and Gemma also love frosting!!

Gabe in his new fireman's hat.

Angus trying it on for size.

The kids had a ball at the party and Gabe made out like a bandit in the gift department. It has been so great to get all 6 of the Snelling cousins together this trip. I hope we can do this every summer!

This is one incredible lady. This is Missy Grandma and she is such a sweetheart! She was so interested in hearing about China and so up on current affairs. I think I hear my old career calling me again!

Fishing with Daddy

2008-06-29T07:50:00.007+08:00

Jonny fishing off the dock.

Everytime Jonny visits my parents one of the first thing he does is throw a line in the water. This trip it was all about teaching the kid to throw a line in the water.

Angus loved to net the fish for his Daddy.

The proud fisherboy!

Jonny trying to get Angus to release the fish by himself. He wasn't quite sure of the slime factor.

Another catfish too small to keep. Gemma reeled this one in and Angus netted it for Jonny. Although I do not have many pictures of Gemma fishing she loved it!

Taking out the hook, a Daddy job.

Cedar Bluffs High School Class of 1988

2008-06-28T11:49:00.004+08:00

Well we made it! It has been twenty years since we roamed the hallways of Cedar Bluffs High School, but we were able to meet again after all this time. We had a pretty good turn out for our 20th class reunion. Paula and I did a ton of research to try and make sure everyone received an invitation the party. Unfortunately we weren't able to get in contact with a few people. A few people didn't return our phone callas and a few couldn't make it back. I am happy to report that we had over 50% of our class in attendance. We had a nice time catching up and hearing about everyone's lives and seeing lots of pictures of people kids (of course I forgot pictures of mine!). I think we all seemed to be more mature and have learned from life's lessons. It was nice to step back in time for an evening with a group of people that you spent 19 years of your life. Here are some pictures from our evening.

Kim, Darren and Paula. Paula was the maid of honor in our wedding. We not only went to high school together, but went to college together too. We have been friends from 32 years! Darren was one of the first to arrive with his new wife Mindy.

Stefani was someone I played softball with since I was in grade school. She eventually came to school in Cedar Bluffs after finishing school at her country school. We ended up playing volleyball and cheerleading together. She was the only person I didn't recognize when she arrived. It had been at least 13 years since I had seen her last. She looks fabulous!

Some serious conversation.

Rachel, Kim, and Nikki. Rachel was invited to the reunion by me because she grew up in Cedar Bluffs and we played softball together, but she went to Catholic School in a different town. Rachel and I have always remained close and I always try and see her and her family (she has 6 kids!) when I am home. It was so great to see Nikki and I am so glad she decided to come for the reunion. She was one of my closest friends in high school.

A couple of the husbands making the burgers.

Rachel and Stefani, old softball buddies!

Rachel, Shumain and Nikki

Stefani, Shumain, and Rhonda, you should have seen them on the volleyball court!

Some of the boys.

William, Nikki's husband and Jonny. Jonny just flew in from Singapore and arrived at the reunion.

Enjoying the food and conversation.

Shumain, Rhonda, Me, Rachel (Bill's wife), Paula, and Rachel

Poor Shumain, she was trying to take the chicken out of the oven and dumped it on her leg. Luckily she wasn't hurt.

Cindy and Darwin. Darwin is a principal in Iowa.

Stefani, living in Blair on the farm with her husband and two kids. She works at Wal-Mart in Omaha.

Rhonda and Richard are the proud parents’ two cute kids. Rhonda is the General Manager of 7 radio stations in Omaha.

Mike and Wendy have 5 gorgeous kids!

Bill and Rachel have two adorable little boys Bill was my neighbor growing up and he is a stay at home Dad.

Nikki and William live in Excelsior Springs, Missouri. They are the proud parents of two beautiful kids.

Paula and Alan have two darling little girls. Paula is the principal of an elementary school in Omaha.

Melissa and Dana 4 girls. Dana makes fire engines for a living! Angus is dying to go see him do this!

Pat is living in Cedar Bluffs and is farming thousands of acres with his brother. Unfortunately they lost quite a few crops on Friday. He was so awesome on Saturady! He came early without being asked and helped us set up. He also graciously paid our rental fee of the American Legion where we ended up having the party.

George and Missy live in Omaha with their two boys. George in a teacher in Papillion.

Darren and Mindy are newlyweds. Darren works for 3M.

I feel like bad luck!

2008-06-27T11:26:00.007+08:00

The day before my class reunion as I was preparing the food for the party the weather started to get a bit dreary, so my Dad turned on the television. The weather report was that there was a hail storm heading our way. I was cursing to myself because my van was just out of storage for one week and now it would be pummeled with hail the size of golf balls. While this was all going on I was also on the phone to my friend Cyndi. I ended up having to get off the phone with her because the winds picked up and the water on the lake had so many waves it looked like a really rough bit of ocean. We started to hear noises on the rough and I took the kids to the hallway thinking a tree might fall on the house and that would be a safe place. The wind didn't stop and there were more loud noises and I finally realized the bathroom would be the safest place for all of us. The kids and I climbed in the bathroom and in true fashion my Dad paced around the house checking out what was going on outside. In my 25 years of growing up in the Midwest through hundreds of thunderstorms, tornado watches and warnings, I have never seen a storm quite as bad as this. I was thinking to myself as I sat in the bath with my kids, 'We just made it though an earthquake and now this?'. Honestly I couldn't believe that I could go through two stressful situations like this in a matter of 45 days.

After about 10 minutes the wind started to slow down and the loud noises from the roof stopped. I had the kids wait while I went to assess what had happened and I couldn't believe my eyes. Here are some pictures of the damage.

One of the 5 fallen trees and one side of my parents back patio.

The other side of the back patio.

A view of my parents house from the beach. (This is about an hour after the storm. Notice how it appears to be sunny and great weather.)

The roots of the tree.

My parents side yard. The leaves just stuck to the fence.

We had part of a tree fall of the roof. I think this is the one that made me run to the bathtub.

My Dad's truck underneath some pretty big branches. There is also a power line that fell 4 feet from his truck. Remarkably there was no damage to his truck.

A tree across the drive from my parents house.

Many people thought the storm was a tornado, but it was actually called a Straight Line Wind Storm and if you could see the damage it went in a complete straight line through this area.

The worst thing that happened though was that there were thousands of corn and bean crops that were completely shredded. The beans were replanted, but it is too late in the season for the corn. It will result in big losses for farmers and food prices growing again.

We ended up being without power for 5 days, but luckily thanks to my electrician brother-in-law Jared we had a generator that provided power to a few outlets in the house. My class reunion had to be moved to a different location (post to follow!).

We took a drive around the neighborhood and here are a few pictures from our damage tour.

One of the fallen trees. There were hundreds of trees just like this in the neighborhood.

There were a couple houses with massive trees on top of them.

This garage was complete destroyed by a tree.

Mark and Gabe's Visit

2008-06-26T12:26:00.001+08:00

My brother and his son Gabe came up to my parents’ house to hang out with my family. My parents had just brought home this water trampoline and Mark was just in time to assemble it for my Dad. After about an hour of filling it with air the kids were excited to use it. Here they are getting ready to do some bouncing.

Gabe and Mark

Setting off a few fireworks.

Gabe and Angus in the water again.

Visit with the Peatrowskys

2008-06-24T11:16:00.001+08:00

Cassie and Angus hanging out on the couch.

In preparation for our 20th Class Reunion I headed to Omaha to do a little shopping with Paula, my classmate and dear friend of 32 years. I brought Angus with me and left Gemma with my parents for the evening. Paula's husband Alan so graciously watched not only Cassie and her baby sister Joelle, but Angus too! It was great to get out with Paula for a little while sans kids!

Alan and Baby Joelle

Angus and Cassie eating some yogurt.

Sunday with the cousins

2008-06-23T11:12:00.004+08:00

Breaking out the noodles!

Isaac and Aiden came home with us from Grandma's birthday party and spent the night with their cousins. The kids had a ball together and here are a few shots of their high energy day!

Papa found a fish that hopped the seawall and the kids watched it swim around.

Angus was contemplating what to do next.

They are all a bunch of posers!

They got tired of their noodles and decided to catch some rays.

After they basked in the sun they went and picked mulberries! Here they are running back to the house with their harvest. They were really yummy!

We got the two little boys to bed and Gemma and Isaac had time for a very serious game of Trouble.

Grandma Snelling's 90th Birthday Soiree

2008-06-21T11:26:00.004+08:00

Dad and Grandma

My Dad's mother Rosella Snelling turned 90 years old on the 17th of June. She is probably the most incredible 90 year old woman in the world! She is not only beautiful, but she is funny, a ball of energy and incredibly musically talented. She planned the entire party and sent out the invitations out herself. She also performed for us playing the keyboard. Here are some pictures of her special day.

Grandma and my Mom.

Grandma getting warmed up before the dance off.

My cousin Shannon, who lives in Texas and teaches kindergarten with my Grandma. She grew up down the street from my Grandma.

My niece Abby and my nephews Isaac and Aiden.

Me, my sister Jenny and Becky and my Mom. Who do you think I look like?

Angus chasing all of the cousins with his scary monster face.

Grandma performing on her keyboard. This woman has never been able to ready music and can play the piano, keyboard accordion, and button accordion all by ear. It is pretty amazing that she can still do this because she is extremely hard of hearing. I think it is all about feeling the rhythm.

My family

Grandma cutting a rug! She was definitely the Belle of the Ball!

All of the Snelling cousins. We are actually only missing one.

My Uncle Allan, cousin Jan, and my Dad. It was the first time I had ever met my cousin Jan in person! Oh how I missed out in life! She is probably one of the coolest people I have ever met and we have so much in common! My Dad is probably happy didn't meet before now because we would have raised hell when we were girls!

My Uncle Allan's family

The Woods!

Angus stealing the decorations.

Me and Jan at my parents' house.

My cousin Terry, who is Jan's half sister, my Dad and Jan.

First Couple of Days in Nebraska

2008-06-19T09:09:00.004+08:00

A view of the lake from my parent's dock.

It is hard for me to believe that we have been in Nebraska almost a week. The time has really flown by and I am so happy we decided to spend a whole month here as oppose to splitting our time between Arizona and Nebraska. It has been so relaxing! I think this may be the first time in my life I have taken the time to really relax!

Our first day we had a visit from the kids' cousin Abby. Abby is 2 and lives very close to my parent's house. Here she is on the dock with Angus.

Abby on the dock.

The next day while we were hanging out Angus fell asleep on my parents' cat! What a great cat! He didn't even move!

We went to the Wahoo Swimming Pool to meet up with my friend Rachel and one of her 6 kids. My kids aren't really familiar with procedure, so it was a bit difficult for them to understand. Here is Angus at the pool during the 10 minute safety check.

Gemma taking a break.

Back in Nebraska...

2008-06-18T09:42:00.003+08:00

Well I have taken some time off from blogging mainly because I have been busy, but also because of the earthquake. The kids and I have returned to Nebraska for one month to hang out with my parents and siblings. I have made a few plans while we are back like taking some tennis lessons, enrolling Angus in swimming lessons, attending my Grandmother's 90th birthday party and hosting my 20th class reunion. There are also tons of fun things going on that I used to enjoy doing when I was a kid like Old Settlers Days in North Bend, 4th of July at Woodcliff with my parents, and John C. Fremont Days.

It should make for some good blog material. I am also going to be doing some back posting starting with finishing my posts from our Malaysia trip. There will also be some pictures of the Bamboo Sea (we went there the week-end before the earthquake) and Yoga Thailand. I look forward to catching up!

Sichuan Quake Relief

2008-05-24T10:03:00.005+08:00

Please click on the above link to make a donation. 100% of your donation will go to the people in the affected areas. Both Jonny and I are volunteers for Sichuan Quake Relief.

Earthquake in Chengdu

2008-05-23T17:36:00.005+08:00

Here is the letter I sent out after the earthquake that affected our area.

Dear Family and Friends,

Thank you so much for your emails and phone calls we really appreciate you thought. I just wanted to make give everyone an update on our situation here in Chengdu. As many of you know on Monday we experienced a 7.9 earthquake just 60 miles north of here.

Angus and I were at our house on the 3rd floor. I was in our home office and Angus was taking a nap in his room. Gemma was at school and Jonny was at work. I was just sending my last email before heading to Gemma's school to play basketball with the high school girls when the wall of my office started to shake. My first thought was my ayi (helper) was really going to town with the cleaning, but then the bookcase on that wall started to shake. I then thought it was the construction next door, so I went to check on Angus. The house then started to shake and I realized it was an earthquake. I went and grabbed Angus who was still sleeping and my ayi and we laid on the floor next to Gemma's bed. The house was swaying back and forth and we could here things crashing from the other floors (we have a 4 story town home). I kept thinking the roof would definitely come down on us. My ayi kept praying and I just kept saying "please stop". After what seemed like an eternity, it stopped. I went to the window and say someone I knew and she told us to get out of the house. We went out to the main street in front of the compound and everyone was on the street dazed and confused. It was such a shock and none of us could believe what had just happened.

The phone lines were down, so I didn't know if Gemma and Jonny were ok. It took about a half an hour before I knew that the kids at the school were ok and another hour to find out Jonny was ok. Gemma returned home about an hour and a half after the earthquake. It was just stressful trying to decide what to do as the management office of our compound told us not to go back in our homes. We ended up in the common area of our compound and everyone started setting up camp. Jonny was finally reunited with us at 8 pm, which made me feel a whole lot better.

We slept outside on the Monday, which was fine. There were several aftershocks, but nothing huge. Everyone was extremely stressed and on high alert. The kids slept great, but of course we had a very restless night. Tuesday it started raining and continued on through the entire day and night. We decided to move back in the house and have slept in the doorway for the past two nights. We have been lucky to have lots of friends all around us and we have opened up our house to everyone. Our friends Ingrid and Paddy have friends visiting from Sweden and they are sleeping with us at the house until they can get a flight out of here on Saturday.

We have decided to stay in Chengdu for the time being. We will leave if there is an issue with water or food supply, but right now things are good. Jonny is busy getting the Intel site open and I am staying busy playing hostess at watching the kids. Gemma is going back to school tomorrow and thing that the worst of the aftershocks are over. Today I went to Metro, the Costco type grocery store here and ran into several of my friends. Everyone is pretty shaken up, but seems to be trying to get back to normal.

Please keep us in your thoughts and we will keep you posted. More importantly, please keep the Chinese people that are just north of us in your thoughts. There are many sad stories and there are so many children trapped in the rubble of their schools. If you are at all interested in giving aid to the people of this area, I can get donations to organizations that can directly help and not take your administrative fee off the top. We are willing to do it through our bank and eat the cost of the exchange rate and service charge.

Below is an article from the Omaha World Herald. They called me for a phone interview yesterday.
Look forward to seeing you in the summer!
Much Love,

Nebraska native, son 'rode it out' in China
BY CHRISTOPHER BURBACH AND LESLIE REED
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITERS

As a Nebraska native in China, Kim Dallas didn't immediately think "earthquake" when the shaking and roar began in her home in the city of Chengdu, 60 miles from the epicenter of Monday's quake.
Maybe it was construction next door, she thought as she headed to check on her 3-year-old son, just down for his afternoon nap. The cause of the rumbling only dawned on Dallas as she reached little Angus' room.

"I realized it wasn't stopping; it was an earthquake," Dallas said by telephone Tuesday night, or this morning in China. "I grabbed my son and my helper. We lay down next to my daughter's bed, and we just rode it out."

Three frightening minutes that felt like hours followed. The house rocked back and forth. Crashing sounds came from other rooms. She thought the ceiling would fall. But it held.

An anxious 30 minutes passed until she learned that her daughter, Gemma, 6, was safe at school. Then another half-hour or so until word came her husband, Jonathan Dallas, was OK, too.

The family spent Monday night outdoors for fear of aftershocks; some strong ones, including a 6.0-magnitude tremor, hit Chengdu, the provincial capital. They slept little. Kim Dallas said they felt less jittery this morning as they banded with fellow expatriates. But they worried about people closer to the epicenter of the 7.9 magnitude quake.

"It's horrific what is happening up there, children smashed in schools," Dallas said. "They're trying to pull people from the rubble, and I'm so impressed with what the Chinese government is doing. But the roads are really bad into where some of the worst damage is."

Dallas, 38, graduated from Cedar Bluffs High School and the University of Nebraska at Kearney. Her parents, Steve and Kathryn Snelling, live in Woodcliff Lakes, near Fremont. Kim has lived in Chengdu for three years with her husband, construction manager for Intel's Chengdu operation.

Just before the quake, Kim Dallas had reached out to friends in Cambodia, hoping to aid relief work in Myanmar.

Dallas loves Chengdu. But she's looking forward to visiting Nebraska this summer.
Thirty University of Nebraska-Lincoln students also were in China when the quake struck. The students felt tremors in Xi'an, China, where they are participating in a four-week study program.
The epicenter was about 500 miles away. But it shook a small bridge and splashed water out of an ornamental pond at Xi'an Jiaotong University, where they were taking photographs.

In a cell phone interview at 4:30 a.m. today, China time, Kent Campbell, 22, of Lincoln said the Nebraskans didn't grasp the quake's scope when they first felt tremors about 2:30 p.m. Monday.
It was only later that the students realized the terrible scale of the damage, Campbell said.
"We thought it was something localized. . . . We didn't realize all the implications it had," he said.
None of the Nebraska students was injured. Chinese news reports indicated that 50 to 60 people died in Xi'an, a city of 6 million where the Xi'an Jiaotong University is located.

Peter Levitov, UNL's associate dean of international affairs, said there were no plans to cut short the Nebraska students' study program. They are scheduled to return to the U.S. on June 3.
Kim, Jonny, Gemma, and Angus

Leaving Kota Kinabalu

2008-05-04T21:14:00.003+08:00

The morning of our departure we had breakfast and tried to wear the kids out a bit for our journey to Bangkok where we would over night before heading back to Chengdu.

Gemma enjoying the swings! We definitely take swings for granted as they are very hard to come by in Chengdu.

Jonny and Angus on the teeter-totter. Angus couldn't figure out why he couldn't get the darn thing to go down!

We had a fabulous vacation and we were very happy to visit this beautiful island. I really felt well rested from this vacation and ready to tackle my hectic summer travel schedule. I

Last Night in Kota Kinabalu

2008-05-03T13:22:00.004+08:00

Gemma excited for the party!

On our last night of our vacation Gemma attended the Kid's Club party and Angus had a babysitter in the room so we could have a peaceful dinner together.

Jonny posing.

Jonny and I went to the Sunset Bar to watch the sunset. We were not disappointed and had a beautiful view. We also ran into the new friends we met who also opted for the kids club party and babysitter for their two sets of twins.

Jonny and I had a very nice dinner in the Italian restaurant in the hotel which I wished we had tried before our last night. We went to pick Gemma up around 10 pm and this is what was going on when we arrived.

Gemma having a ball!

When we went to pick Gemma up they had a magician and the kids were not fooled by him, but they were having a blast trying to figure out his tricks.

Kayaking in Kota Kinabalu

2008-05-03T12:10:00.002+08:00

Gemma and Angus on their kayak.

On our last full day in Kota Kinabalu we decided to take a page from our Vietnam adventure and take the kids out on kayaks. This time it was nice and warm and the water was very swimmable. Here are some pictures from our ride.

Angus and me

The kids and me.

We kayaked out to this little uninhabited island which was about 20 feet by 20 feet. We got off and took a little swim in the water and had a bit of a rest. One thing we did discover on our little kayaking trip is that we really enjoy kayaking and would love to have more of an outdoors type of camping and kayaking vacation in the near future. The kids love being on the water and it is quite a good work-out for us.

Jonny and the kids.

The kids and the kayaks. You can see our hotel in the background.

Snorkeling on Manukan Island

2008-05-02T22:52:00.002+08:00

A view of the beach on Manukan Island.

We took a 10 minute shuttle boat over to the small island of Manukan for some snorkeling and lunch. We were hoping to get the kids used to snorkeling on this trip and also get sometime in ourselves. Here are some pictures from our day on the island.

Lunch was too tempting for us. They had a huge BBQ with tons of seafood and of course we couldn't resist. Here is the BBQ station.

There were a couple of gorgeous cats hanging around the BBQ station and the kids were intrigued by them.

Gemma and me at lunch.

Angus loving his special treat of Sprite!

Now for the exciting part! Gemma was able to over come her fear of snorkeling! We were all over the moon! Here she is looking for fish with her Daddy.

She looks like a real pro here!

Angus was happy enough to hang out on the beach and play in the sand and in this kayak. He would have been fine with the snorkeling, but his mask was too big for him and water kept getting in his eyes.

On the boat on the way back to the resort. We had a great time snorkeling and can't wait to get the kids in the water again.

Rasa Ria Orangutans

2008-05-01T09:04:00.000+08:00

Gemma and Angus getting ready to hop on the bus.

Yesterday the kids and I headed over to the Rasa Ria Resort to check out the Nature Reserve located inside the resort. Little did I know that we could actually bring our swimsuits along and enjoy the swimming pool and other activities at this beautiful resort. I ended up having to buy Gemma a swimsuit and watch the kids from the edge of the pool. I was able to take some great pictures of them though, so it was definitely worth forgetting my bikini. Here are some pictures of our day.

When we arrived there was a man playing this musical instrument. As you can see a couple of the kids (of course Angus was one of them) tried to accompany him on his song.

Angus spotted a sprinkler. As you can tell by his grin, he wanted to run through it!

Angus enjoying the pool.

Angus enjoyed the pool a little too much and ended up in this chair for a little break from the pool.

Gemma loved the pool and her new suit!

We met another family who was also staying at our hotel. They have four kids, twin boys and twin boy and girl! Here the kids are with the two boys in front of the Nature Reserve.

The tour of the Nature Reserve was quite quick. We just walked up to one of the feeding stations to watch the ranger feed the Orangutans. We could stay as long as we wanted and snap pictures. They were quite active, but I only got a few great pictures.

Here is a little information about Orangutans I found from the Nature Reserve's website:

Orangutans (from the Malay phrase Orangutan, 'man of the forest') live in Southeast Asia, on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. 10,000 years ago, Orangutans ranged as far north as China, and as far south as Java in Indonesia. Now they are only present on the islands of Borneo (estimated population: 22,000) and Sumatra (estimated population: 5,000).

Why are they endangered?
The greatest threats to Orangutans is habitat loss due to mechanized logging. Agriculture is the most obvious threat presently facing Orangutan populations. In addition, Orangutans have a slow reproductive rate: female Orangutans have only one baby every 7 to 8 years.

What can be done to help?
Rehabilitation Centres, such as those in Sepilok, have been set up to accommodate confiscated pet Orangutans. The aim of the rehabilitation centre is to guide the young Orangutans through their development and ultimately return them to the forest.

Gemma and Angus were definitely more interested in the other kids. Gemma's new nickname should be the Baby Whisperer. The baby twins absolutely loved her!

Another happy Orangutan, climbing trees.

After another dip in the pool and lunch for Jonny who met us for the tour of the Nature Reserve, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the dinner at the Sunset Bar along with a Traditional Malaysian Dance performance.

Angus with other musician in the lobby of our hotel on the way to dinner.

At dinner with the family. Gemma just couldn't keep her eyes open for the pictures.

Here comes the dancers!

Gemma loved it!

Gemma coming back over to us after the performance. Unfortunately the weather got bad with high winds and then rain, so the performance was cut short. We did really enjoy ourselves and had a ton of yummy food.

Relaxing in KK

2008-04-30T22:11:00.000+08:00

On our first full day in KK we didn't do a whole lot. We took a bike ride around the other side of the hotel grounds which lasted a whole 10 minutes due to the heat and humidity. The hotel grounds are really lovely with such a gorgeous sea view. The other thing that makes the grounds so beautiful is that it is so lush! I really have learned to appreciate greenery after living in Arizona for 10 years and Chengdu for the past 2 1/2 years.

Jonny and Angus

Gemma and Jonny with a great view!

One of the cool things we found in our room is a robe that is Gemma's size! She really loved it and has been wearing it every night. She had been dancing and practicing her Kung Fu in the mirror when I snapped this shot!

We have arrirved in Paradise!

2008-04-29T20:54:00.006+08:00

We arrived in Kota Kinabalu on Sunday around lunch time. We were so happy to arrive at our resort about 10 minutes after we hopped in a taxi. The hotel was very beautiful and this was the view from our room.

We had afternoon tea and took a tour of the hotel facilities and grounds to see what we were going to do during our week before taking a quick dip in the pool. Here are a few pictures of our surroundings.

The boardwalk around the hotel was well built and very picturesque.

We took a peek of the pool through the beautiful tropical plants.

Their is a small private beach at the resort. The island is quite rocky by the sea so I suspect this is a made made beach, but still incredibly beautiful.

There are quite a few orangutans on the island and the other hotel actually has a Orangutans Rehabilitation Center which we are planning to visit during our stay. The water is quite calm here too, so we are going to take the kids out snorkeling for their second go at it. (The first time wasn't too successful!) We are also going to try and a day hike around Mt. Kinabalu. I look forward to sharing the pictures of this lovely place!

Petronas at Night!

2008-04-28T21:06:00.003+08:00

In front of KLCC in Kuala Lumpur.

After all of our morning and afternoon activities we headed back to KLCC for dinner at Madame Kwan's for some Malaysian cuisine. Once again I chose the Nasi Lemak! Not only does this make a fine breakfast and lunch, it also makes an incredible dinner. If you have a passion for Indian and Thai cuisine you would absolutely love Malaysian food! It is probably one of my top favorite foods in the world.

It was dusk when we left the restaurant to go back to the hotel. I took a few shots up close of the Petronas Towers. They really look incredible at night.

Here is a photo from the 31st floor of our hotel.

Between the Towers and the Hotel...

2008-04-28T16:43:00.003+08:00

Between our hotel and the Petronas Twin Towers there was a huge parkway with a great park for the kids. Even though it was incredibly hot and humid the kids insisted that they had to play on these great structures. Here are some pictures for our quick jaunt to the park.

Of course Angus the boy loved this structure!

King of the mountain!

Coming down the slide on the other side.

Gemma striking a pose! I love her toothless grins!

She was really, really hot!

Jonny and his hot kids!

Playing with a palm leaf.

A park view of the Towers. Could you tell I really enjoyed the Towers???

Beautiful KL and the Incredible Petronas Twin Towers

2008-04-27T15:39:00.000+08:00

After our long journey we woke up to this view of the beautiful Towers with a backdrop of blue skies and sunshine. I guess since moving the Chengdu I always like to emphasize my love of blue skies and sunshine! We were so impressed with the Trader's Hotel that I am going to write an extremely positive review on Trip Advisor singing the hotel and staff's praises!

We woke up around 8 am and Jonny volunteered to head over to the Petronas Twin Towers to stand in line to buy tickets to go up in the Twin Towers and walk across the bridge. The kids and I headed down for breakfast and then back to the room to wait for Jonny to return. I was worried whether or not we would get to go up in the Towers as they only sell 800 tickets a day and it is an extremely popular site to see in KL. Jonny return about a 1 1/2 later with tickets in hand!

We had a 1:45 pm appointment to go up and see the Sky Bridge, so I headed over the KLCC to do a little swimsuit and sunglass shopping. The strangest thing about Asia is trying to find swimsuits. I found very few suits in Hong Kong last week and I was surprised again to not find a huge selection of suits in Malaysia.

After my shopping trip I met Jonny and the kids for lunch. We ended up not having enough time for a sit down meal, so we headed to the food court where they had so many Malaysian hawker type foods. I settled for the Nasi Lemak and Jonny and the kids just snacked on Malaysian style potatoes and fruit.

We headed to the Petronas Twin Towers and waited until it was time to go up. There was an informational exhibit and a short film about Petronas we saw before we headed up in the tower. We actually didn't get to go to the top of the tower, but to the Sky Bridge which is located on the 41st floor. The top floor is actually the 84th floor, but I guess it isn't open to the public. Here are some pictures from inside the Sky Bridge.

There is our hotel from the Sky Bridge. I am pretty sure our hotel has the best view of the Towers in the whole city!

Malaysia, Simply Asia, for real!

2008-04-26T09:57:00.007+08:00

A view from our room of the Petronas Twin Towers.

We arrived at our hotel last night around 12:00 am and we were all exhausted. Our flights were all on time, but it took a ton of time to get our bags and get a taxi at the airport. The cool thing about the taxis at the airport is that you have to buy a ticket to your destination before hand and you don't have to worry about the taxi driver trying to rip you off.

Even though we were exhausted we were pleasantly surprised to open the curtains in our room and see the amazing Twin Towers. The main reason for coming to KL was to see this monstrosity. At 452 meters high it is the tallest twin towers in the world. I also believe it is the 3rd tallest building in the world next to a building in Taipei and then the Sears Tower in Chicago.

We are on our way up it this afternoon, so we should have some great pictures of the sky bridge which connects the two towers together.

A note about my blog titles....

I have now realized why the slogan for travel to Malaysia is "Malaysia, Simply Asia". It is an incredible combination of Asia. Where else can you have dim sum, curry, noodles, and rice for breakfast! The cultures here seem so intertwined it is quite incredible.

Malaysia, Simply Asia!

2008-04-25T13:28:00.007+08:00

We are getting ready to leave for a the May holiday on our trip to Kuala Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. We have traveled to Penang, Malaysia before, but we have never been to these parts of Malaysia. Our favorite thing about Malaysia is the food and we are looking forward to more of that plus some beautiful beaches.

I hoping to share some pictures during our stay in both places. Stay tuned!

Hong Kong Week-end for Two!

2008-04-20T08:01:00.000+08:00

This year Jonny has been traveling a ton and just last week he had to go on a trip to Hong Kong. He had this great idea for me to join him on Thursday and spend the week-end there sans the kids. I have always been pretty hesitant to do this, but I also really craved some alone time with Jonny. I went accepted and our wonderful ayi, Xiao Yang and my dear friend Cyndi helped out with the kids while we were gone.

The week-end was really wonderful and included lots of eating and sleeping in without interruption from the kids. Most of our time was spent inside malls shopping as the shopping in Hong Kong is incredible! We also went to a movie called “Escape from Huang Shi” which was really great and I highly recommend it.

As we didn’t do any site seeing we only have a few pictures from our trip which is of the Victoria Harbor with the Hong Kong skyline in the backdrop. We actually took it outside a mall in Kowloon.

I have to say it wasn’t as hard as I thought and I we have already planned to do this again in September!

Sleepy Sunday

2008-04-13T16:00:00.002+08:00

Last night Gemma had a slumber party to attend and then another birthday party this afternoon. Jonny and Angus dropped Gemma off at the party while I stayed behind to organize the office. I heard them come back, but they never made it up the stairs. I brought a few things out to the garage and this is what I found. I guess the boys were tired.

I think this is one more Chinese cultural thing Jonny and Angus have picked up while living here. Sleeping sitting up!

2008-04-03T17:58:00.005+08:00

For the second year in a row Gemma's Class has had the pleasure of a surprise visit from a real live leprechaun on St. Patrick's Day. He did about a half an hour presentation to very attentive 3-4 year old and 5-6 year old classes. He even did a solo of Molly Malone which I have to say was excellent and well received. The thing that kills me about this presentation is that he encourages the kids to tell their parents to drink Guinness! What school in the US would let that one fly!!!

Here he is making his grand entrance!

Gemma with her famous father. Gemma's teacher Mrs. Hoke is on the far left and very Irish looking. She is leaving to go back to the U.S. soon to have her baby!

The other half of Gemma's class.

The family Leprechaun!

My dear friend Cyndi just returned from the US last month with her new baby girl Katie. Here is a picture of me and Katie. She is such a sweetheart and also seems to fit in with the St. Paddy's Day theme.

Here is our resident leprechaun with Gemma, Angus, Maggie and her sister Katie.

Hoi An, The Town

2008-03-30T23:49:00.001+08:00

Even though the weather let us down, the food, historic sites and people did not let us down! We spent our second day in Hoi An exploring the Old Town Historic area. During the 16th through 19th century Hoi An was an important international seaports. Today Hoi An is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and remained fairly unharmed from the Vietnam War.

We walked around the city and the river for the day and enjoyed the sites and shopping of this charming little town. Here are a few pictures of our walking tour.

We loved all the dogs in Vietnam, they were so stylish sporting their t-shirts!

Gemma is trying to grow her fringe out. I love her new look!

Hoi An was full of great restaurants, but we kept coming back to the Cargo Club. They had amazing desserts and they of course all had the great French flair to them! I think I had dessert at this place every day while we were in Hoi An.

This was the only semi-sunny day we had our entire trip! You can see us squinting for the camera!

We were in Hoi An during Tet Festival which is there lunar new year, the biggest holiday of the year for the Vietnamese. Here are some boys getting their dragon ready for a parade.

Hoi An, The Beach

2008-03-29T15:56:00.006+08:00

The beach that was right outside the door of our room.

We arrived in Hoi An and we were expecting warm weather compared to the unseasonably cold weather of Hanoi. Unfortunately the cold weather seemed to be following us and we didn't find the sun. In our wildest dreams we would have never thought that it would be cold in Vietnam. We just kept thinking tropical and tropical it was not!

Gemma right outside our bedroom getting ready to hit the beach.

Our room, which was so spacious and perfect for a family of 4. Mom and Dad even got their own bedroom!

This kids didn't let the cold weather get in their way of frolicking on the beach and in the water!

We are still here!

2008-03-23T23:29:00.002+08:00

I just thought I would post really quickly to say that hopefully I will catch up with my blog soon before we take off again on another adventure. I also wanted to let everyone know that you may have been seeing Chengdu on the news quite a bit lately with the recent developments in China. Things are relatively normal here in Chengdu, but we are a bit anxious being so close to our neighbors to the West and not being able to access our normal online channels of information.

One night in Hanoi

2008-03-04T20:03:00.004+08:00

Before we left on our trip to Halong Bay I had booked tickets for the Water Puppet Theater for the evening we returned. I read a little about the Water Puppets and thought the kids would really enjoy the show. The Water Puppets are actually puppets that perform in water. If you are interested in the history of water puppetry in Vietnam check out this link.

We were pleasantly surprised by the music and the show. It was a combination of traditional Vietnamese singing and instrument pieces along with a spectacular wooden puppet show in the water. We took some pictures, but it was quite dark and our camera didn't really cut it.

The puppeteers

After the show we headed to a lovely little French cafe for dinner. Jonny and the kids waiting for their food. Angus is now obsessed with Tiger beer! I wonder why???

We were all very tired from our trip to Halong Bay and the Water Puppets. Plus we had to do a little shopping in the morning before we headed to the airport to go south in search for the sun in Hoi An.

Last Day in Halong Bay

2008-02-08T16:28:00.000+08:00

We gladly said good-bye to Cat Ba Island and joined up with the other group. We really enjoyed the trip to Halong Bay, but would recommend two nights on the boat and skip sleeping on Cat Ba Island especially if the weather is bad.

Jonny took a ton of pictures of the kids on the boat. They really enjoyed being on the boat and pretending they were pirates and the captain of the boat. Here are some of the great pictures he took.

Relaxing after a day of being pirates!

Halong Bay and Cat Ba Island

2008-02-08T15:27:00.000+08:00

We woke up bright and early fir breakfast, but of course were the last ones to the table. We were asked if we wanted to go kayaking for 2 hours or for 45 minutes. I was actually thinking we couldn't go at all with the kids and it was freezing, so to me kayaking wasn’t exactly desirable. We decided we may as well go for it since they had life jackets that would fit the kids’ snuggly.

Here we are getting ready to get on the kayak.

I have to say that our kayaking experience was quite good. Jonny and I each took a kid and we paddled around the bay. It is a bit tricky to get the hang of, but since it was just me rowing by myself it wasn't too difficult.

After our kayaking we met up with another boat and said good-bye to our boat mates. The other group of people we met up with were going to spend the night on Cat Ba Island as were we. We headed to Cat Ba National Park for an 8 km hike. Here are a few pictures of our hike.

An aquaculture farm. This particular farm was growing crops of fish and shrimp.

Gemma our little hiker girl!

Angus on the other hand preferred Jonny's shoulders.

We met a few friends along the way. We were most surprised by the heard of cows coming our way. Our guide had a stick with him and of course we were wondering why. We asked him what he was doing with it and he told us it was in case we met up with any cobras! Luckily for us we didn't!

Angus hitched a ride on the back of this man's bicycle.

While walking through the park we were trying to reach a little village to have a rest before traveling back to our boat. Here were the rice fields in the village. I have always wanted to see rice fields up close and personal.

Gemma and Angus checking out all of the sites including dogs, cats, ducks and chickens running all over the place.

We stopped for a bowl of noodles and a drink, but we were didn't think the kids could walk another 8 km back to the boat. We decided to break a major rule and put the kids on motorbikes.

Angus getting ready to go. Of course I went with him. I know, I know you are all judging my parenting. Honestly, I never thought I would be doing this myself, but when in Asia....

The motorbike ride was probably the kids' highlight of Halong Bay.

We headed to another island for lunch on the beach. The others on the boat with us were a Canadian couple and an American girl. They were all teachers in Seoul, South Korea. The funny thing was they teach with one of our friend's brother and sister-in-law. Talk about a small world! I swear all foreigners are interconnected in Asia!!!

After lunch we headed to the other side of Cat Ba Island where the hotels were located. It was the weirdest place I think I have ever been. I felt like I was in a Scooby Doo cartoon or in a really bad horror movie. The island seemed to be deserted as did our hotel. The hotel was nice, but didn't have working heaters and the weather in Vietnam is unseasonably cold.

Here is a photo of the hotel from the beach. It was nice, but I definitely think a little sun and warm weather would have done wonders for our stay.

The hotel had a little playground for the kids.

The view from the hotel of Halong Bay was gorgeous.

Here was another sea gypsy village on the other side of the hotel.

Halong Bay Day !

2008-02-05T23:13:00.000+08:00

On Sunday we headed to Halong Bay to spend two nights. We left around 9 am and we were all feeling pretty good. About an hour into the trip poor Gemma vomited her breakfast in the back of our van which included 6 young Australians. I am fairly sure Gemma was just a little bit carsick and seemed to do fine after that. Jonny on the other hand was covered in puke. We managed to get the driver to pull over so we could clean up the Gemma, Jonny, and the van.

Here is Jonny changing his jeans at the side of the road.

We got back on the road and arrived in Halong Bay promptly at 12:30 pm. We boarded a small boat which then took us to Santa Maria Cruiser that we would be sleeping on for one night.

Here is the harbor packed with boats.

Here we are getting ready to go to the Santa Maria.

Here we are at our table on the Santa Maria.

The kids were so excited to be on a boat especially to be sleeping on a boat. We were excited to see the beautiful limestone rocks and emerald waters of Halong Bay. None of us were disappointed with this day! The kids had the time of their lives and we enjoyed picturesque Halong Bay. Here are some are some photos from the day.

Captain AngusSword!

On the water were many sea gypsy villages. Many of them make their living off tourism. Ever time we got off the boat there were boats coming up to our boat trying to sell us things.

At this stop was a gorgeous cave with stalactites and stalagmites. Here are some pictures from our little tour.

The pictures didn't turn out the best, but the cave was definitely worth seeing. It was also a good chance for the kids to stretch their sea legs!

A site I saw very disturbing while on the boat was the young children from the sea villages rowing around the tourist boats begging for money. I estimate the boys on this boat were between the ages of 4-6 years of age. I can't imagine letting Gemma and Angus rowing a boat around the ocean like this.

After a great day in Halong Bay we ended with dinner. Here are our spring rolls served in a pineapple.

And I thought China had a lot of people!!!

2008-02-02T22:23:00.000+08:00

We all had a great nights sleep and Gemma and I seem to be on the mend. We decided we would have to hit the Ho Chin Minh Mausoleum to start our day off.

Jonny and the kids at the entrance of the mausoleum.

It was kind of a freaky tour. We had to follow a path all the way to the mausoleum (as seen in the background of this picture), we couldn't step off the path or on the sidewalks. Jonny could not carry Angus in anyway. We all had to walk in a line. The mausoleum itself was pretty cool and "Uncle Ho" is what they refer to him in here, was preserved quite well. The mausoleum building was located in a large park area with some other sites to see. Here are a couple other things we saw in the complex.

Ho Chi Minh Museum

One Pillar Pagoda

After the museum we tried to get a taxi, but they tried to rip us off. We started walking and decided to take our first cyclo ride. I had seen this type of transportation first at our favorite Vietnamese restaurant back in Chandler with the same name, but never dreamed I would actually be riding in one.

The thing that has really been different about being in Hanoi is the traffic. I honestly thought that you couldn't top traffic in China, but this is really the craziest thing I have ever seen. It is organized chaos at its best. Here is a little video snip of our cyclo ride and the traffic of Hanoi.

After our ride back to the hotel we decided to grab some lunch. We went to a little place called Cyclo Bar and were pleasantly surprised to see the cyclo seat at our table. We had our first Vietnamese food of the trip and it was more than yummy! I had my first bowl of pho and some delicious spring rolls! We also had dessert and thanks to the French influence it was scrumptious!

The kids were tired at lunch, so we headed back to the hotel for a little nap. Jonny went and scoped out the area for us and planned the rest of our day. We woke the kids up and headed out to do a little walking tour of Hanoi. Here are some pictures of the tour.

Hoan Kiem Lake

Angus sporting the famous conical hat.

A typical alleyway in Hanoi.

The old gate into Hanoi city.

One of the many temples.

We loved the offerings to the gods, especially the Tiger beer!

We made the mistake of walking down this street. It was literally standing room only.

We had a very successful day and even though there was tons of traffic, I definitely thought we saw quite a bit of the Old Quarter of Vietnam. Tomorrow we are heading out to Halong Bay for couple of days. The kids are quite excited about it because we are taking an overnight cruise on a junk boat. It should be another adventure!

We are in Hanoi!

2008-02-01T20:49:00.000+08:00

After a morning, actually an entire day of being quite nauseous (no, I am not pregnant!), Gemma puking in the car on the way to the airport and a horrible turbulence we have made it to Hanoi. I guess we aren't too surprised, but it is freezing here! I was shocked to read that Hanoi actually does have a winter. I assumed the entire country was tropical. We had about a 1 1/2 hour drive from the airport due to rush hour, the upcoming Tet Festival, and more motorbikes that you can imagine. We check into the hotel and I am having second thoughts about my choice in holiday. I think the saddest thing about this is that I haven't been able to eat anything all day and I am in Vietnam with all of their yummy cuisine! I hope I am better tomorrow! I just can't imagine eating anything right now which is extremely out of character for me!!!

On the brighter side of things we were warmly greeted by the staff of our hotel the Hanoi Elegance 3, which is located in the Old Quarter of Hanoi. I am very happy to have free wireless plus a heater in the room. I am looking forward to some sleep and hoping for a better tummy tomorrow.

Vietnam Bound!

2008-01-30T23:10:00.000+08:00

Chinese New Year is fast approaching us and we are getting ready to embark on our first trip to Vietnam. We have been dying to get to Vietnam since we moved here especially because it is the birthplace of our dear friend Thuong Ngyuen. We fly into Hanoi and spend two days there before driving to the UNESCO site Halong Bay. We will spend one night on the bay in a junk boat and one night on Cat Ba Island before driving back to Hanoi for a night. We will fly to Da Nang and spend three nights in Hoi An and two nights in Hue. I think the thing I am most excited about is eating the scrummy food of Vietnam especially since it will be authentic. Another great thing about Vietnam is that almost every place we are staying has free wireless access, so I will be able to share photos of our time there.

Xin Nian Kuai Le!

Happy New Year! The year of the Rat!

Liu Bing's New Baby

2008-01-29T09:37:00.000+08:00

Our driver, Liu Bing and his wife Liu Ye had a baby girl last week. We had the pleasure of meeting her this past week. She is really adorable and has a full head of black hair. Here are some pictures from our visit.

Liu Ye with her new little bundle of joy! Isn't she so bright looking!

The kids were actually quite indifferent to the baby. Gemma has been begging for a little sister, so I assumed she would be all over the baby.

I thought I could get Jonny interested in doing this again, but even though his expression says 'Yes!', I got a big fat 'No'.

Auntie Xiao Yang taking baby talk. It is funny that the Chinese have their own baby talk language too! Xiao Yang was talking away to Xiao Liu and it was so sweet!

Xiling Xue Shan

2008-01-24T22:46:00.000+08:00

Last Saturday we made a trek up to Xiling Xue Shan to check out the snow and the skiing in China. Xiling Xue Shan is about a two hour drive from Chengdu. We went up with the Zaleski family who had just moved to Chengdu this past fall. Here are some pictures of our trip.

In the parking lot before going up the mountain. Notice the kid’s new skiing apparel? They are from this great sporting store called Decathlon. There stuff is great quality and dirt cheap! I think I was able to outfit the two of them including boots, gloves, hats, snow suites for under $100 US dollars.

Here are the kids getting ready to go!

We had to ride a cable car up to the top of the mountain. Kate took some amazing pictures of the snow and ice. Here are some pictures going up in the cable car.

Angus really loved his snow suit.

Here we are going up.

We arrived at the top and had to get on a bus to get to the lodge. We checked out the prices for skiing and decided to get lunch before we made any decisions.

Jonny and Angus eating lunch! Yummy, mian tiao!!!

The girls decided to make some snow angels before we decided what to do for the day. I think they could have done this all day and been quite content.

My favorite picture!

Dashing through the snow, in a one horse piece of wood with two wooden benches nailed to it!

A little sledding!

After being out in the snow for about 3 hours we went into one of the lodges. Luckily it was the heated one! The kids played a little mah jong while Mommies and Daddies had a couple drinks to warm us up!

We decided to head back to town after our rest. We had a nice day and hope to go back after Chinese New Year to try skiing and maybe stay the night.

We went back down the mountain and in the parking lot the parking lot guards decided to make a guardman! We also enjoyed a snowball fight in the parking lot! I guess a trip to Nebraska in the winter is in order!

Angus and Fei Er

2008-01-22T22:19:00.000+08:00

Angus has had a little girlfriend who has been our neighbor for the last year. They absolutely love each other! Xiao Yang has already promised Angus' hand in marriage when they are of legal age! She came over last week to have a little play date with Angus. Here are the two of them posing for some pictures.

Happy Birthday Gemma!!!

2008-01-21T21:52:00.000+08:00

Our baby girl turn 6 almost two weeks ago! I can't even believe that is possible for her to be that old! Of course we had to have a party! She asked if she could have a slumber party and we said 'Why not?'. So we invited every girl in her class which was a total of 11 girls and we had 6 spend the night.

Her friend Zoe came over right after school and they had a pre-party playdate and included Angus in on the fun!

Here are some photos of the crazy night!

Zoe close-up!

Systke close-up!

Julie close-up!

The girls and Angus after opening presents. Gemma was such a happy girl!

Our good friends Carin and Barry Jones came over to help with the party. Carin helped me give all the girls manicure and pedicures while Barry was literally the entertainment! He had two new girlfriends before he went home for the evening!

Here was one of the girlfriends!

After trying to get them to settle down for an hour. I tried to read them a book.

Systke really wanted to sleep! The other girls weren't very agreeable!

At 11:30 pm after musical beds and a lot of shhhhing! They finally fell asleep! Fortunately we made it through the night with no one waking up and wanting to go home. Pretty good as 3 of the girls had never slept over night at a friend's house before! Our sleep was short lived as they were up again at 6 am! I am sure there were some grumpy girls on Saturday afternoon!

Here the girls are eating blueberry pancakes, french toast and hot chocolate for breakfast.

Happy New Year!!!

2008-01-06T20:46:00.001+08:00

I actually thought I had posted pictures of our New Year's Eve, but here we are on the 18th and I just realized I hadn't posted anything about 2008 yet! We spent our New Year's Eve out for dinner with friends at our favorite Indian restaurant Tandoor. After that we headed to the Shamrock for their presentation of the "Sound of Music" in which Jonny was playing a small supporting role. Here are some of the pictures of the festivities.

Arnaud, Kieran and Mike preparing for the rugby clubs rendition of "My Favorite Things". I bet you can guess what these boys’ favorite things are!

Jussi in his liederhousen getting ready for "Action!".

Ivy, as one of the VonTrapp, I mean Wang family singers.

They had our doctor Sam dress up like a lion. Everyone thought he was the Lion from the "Wizard of Oz", but he was supposed to be the MGM Lion!

David, one of the sisters at the Abby.

The Wang Family Singers! These costumes were fantastic!

This was my favorite performance. Etienne's rendition of "Edelweiss ".

Frankie and Limit! Our favorite Shamrock waiters!

Isabel and Me! Doesn't she look so young!!!

Nabilla, Kelly, Jonny, Me and Arnaud getting ready to ring in the new year!

The rugby teams "Favorite Things". Number one of course: Guinness!!!!

Arnaud, Emily, and Kieran.

Just a note about this picture. Kieran told Emily two things at the beginning of the night: 1. He doesn't dance. 2. He would never take his shirt off in public. Emily has a way with convincing people to do things they say they would never do!!! Happy New Year!!!!

Our last day of vacation!!!

2007-12-31T16:24:00.000+08:00

Always my least favorite day of the holiday! We went to breakfast as normal and the kids played with their new friends from Norway. We had such a nice time meeting new people from new places. I feel so fortunate to have to opportunity to meet people from all over the world. It really gives you a whole new perspective about things. The really cool thing is that Angus isn't so much our little baby anymore. He actually made his first holiday friend all by himself. It made us so happy to see them so social and able to play with other kids so easily. Here are some pictures from our last day and the kids with their new friends!

Gemma at lunch! I love this beach!

Here is Angus' new best friend Oliver from Norway!

Oliver is 4 and Angus is 3. Here they are playing in the pool.

Olivia, Gemma, Angus and Oliver finishing up their swimming with a group hug!

Angus' last romp in the water. Our last sunset was probably the best of the whole trip!

We decided to have dinner at the hotel restaurant Sassi's, so we could get the kids to bed early for our 4:30 am wake up call. Angus didn't even make it to ordering before he fell asleep. Gemma and Olivia were able to get some more girl time before we left though.

Olivia and Gemma at dinner.

Gemma with Olivia and her Grandma and Auntie. They were also leaving on the same flight as us the next morning.

After we got the kids to bed and settled Angus woke up at 11 am and vomited. We thought he was getting sick, but it must have been the ingestion of pool water as he swam all day. Gemma then was sick on our flight back to Chengdu, but luckily for her it was right before we landed. The joys of traveling, I wouldn't change it for the world!

More pictures from Khao Lak

2007-12-30T16:17:00.000+08:00

olivia_kids_1 src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2372/2145857295_6c01a5372d.jpg" width=500>

We have met some nice friends on this trip. Here is a picture of Gemma and Angus with their new friend Olivia from England. She was a lovely little girl who was enjoying her Christmas away from cold, England!

Olivia was kind enough to take our picture on the beautiful beach.

Christmas Day

2007-12-26T22:44:00.000+08:00

We spent most of Christmas Day on the beach. I thought I would share some picture from the walk and swim we took on the beach. The beach and water here is just perfect! Gemma and Angus really took to the sea on this trip. We could hardly keep them out of the water.

Now here is a fish story! On our way back to the hotel, a fishing boat came to shore and the fisherman caught a good sized mackerel. Jonny thought he was funny and posed with the fish.

We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve

2007-12-25T00:10:00.001+08:00

On Christmas Eve morning we headed into Khao Lak to check out the little village. It was probably the nicest little Thai village we have ever seen. There were lots of places to shop and little cafes everywhere. My main goal was to give Jonny his Christmas present. We walked along the sidewalk until we found the IQ-Dive shop. Luckily they had a clown fish sign a.k.a. Nemo because the kids were able to spot the shop a mile away. We walked in and I told Jonny "Merry Christmas". I had signed him up for a 2 day open water diver course so he could get his PADI scuba dive certification. We had tried last Christmas and he loved it, so I thought it would make a perfect gift.

After the gift giving we went to lunch at a small cafe in the village. Here are a couple pictures from our lunch.

Jonny and the kids headed back to the hotel for a nap while I went to the beach for a massage. I had never tried the $8 full body oil massage any time I have been in Thailand, but I have to say I was missing out. I had a fantastic massage that was over and hour and the woman worked out all of my kinks! The greatest part of the massage you could hear the waves crashing into the beach which to me is a very relaxing sound! The smell of sea air and jasmine also added to this most pleasant experience!

The stage for the evening’s entertainment.

We had to begin getting ready for our 7 pm Christmas Eve dinner after my massage. I love to see the interpretation of Christmas through the eye of people who do not celebrate Christmas. You always get very interesting decorations and customs.

Angus and his little Norwegian friend Ella. She was visiting Thailand with 14 other of her family member.

The hotel gave us a package of things to wear, i.e. masks, hats, and all sorts of noise makers. I think they were thinking New Year's Eve. I wonder what they will give out for that evening...

Jonny and the kids.

Angus and Gemma with their noise makers. Gemma was too cool to wear her mask or hat.

Santa arrives on a motorbike! I do believe this to be true in Asia!

He handed out gifts for all the kids. Angus was very happy to claim his gift. Gemma was very hesitant. She told me later that it wasn't really Santa because the beard wasn't real!

I did finally talk (bribe!) Gemma into having their picture with Santa and his helpers.

Pictures from Paradise!

2007-12-24T11:20:00.000+08:00

We didn't do too terribly much yesterday except eat, walk on the beach, swim, eat, nap, swim, and eat! I think that will be the drill for the rest of the week too. Khao Lak is absolutely beautiful and the best beach we have ever been to in Thailand. The food is amazing! We have tried a couple of the beach restaurants and the fresh fish and seafood have been delicious! Here are some of our pictures from yesterday.

Angus enjoying his phad thai especially the peanuts!

Gemma enjoying her green papaya salad, jasmine rice, and noodles!

We did quite a bit of walking on the beach yesterday. Here is Angus and his mad hair blowing in the wind.

Angus, walking on water!

Angus and Jonny's acrobatics.

Sunset dinner, a perfect ending to a relaxing day!

We made it!

2007-12-22T23:14:00.000+08:00

The Pool with the beach in the background.

We departed for Thailand yesterday for our Christmas break. It was a stressful day as everything seemed to go wrong for us. We got on our plane and the flight ended up being delayed for 1 hour. We only have an hour to catch our connecting flight. I talked to the flight attendant from Thai Airways and she said she would call ahead and help us make our connecting flight. Right before we landed she moved us up to business class so that we could be the first off the plane. We had to ride a bus to the terminal and then try and catch our flight. We were pleasantly surprised when we were picked up by a Thai Airways van which whisked us away to our airplane. When we arrived at our plane the woman who picked us up spoke to another woman and they both hopped back in the van and took us back to the terminal. They didn’t tell us what was going on and I didn’t want to ask. They told us that we would have to go through customs first. They took us to customs, but as we were trying to get through someone radioed them and said the plane left. We had to go to the Thai Airways counter and try and catch another flight to Phuket. We were able to get a flight that was about 4 hours later and they were nice enough to let us use the business class lounge until our departure which was really great. We thought that nothing else could possibly go wrong, but when we arrived in Phuket at midnight there were no taxis stands open and we were at the mercy of the taxi drivers that were just waiting to take advantage of foreigners. We negotiated for about an hour before we found a very dodgy taxi driver to take us to Khao Lak. We arrived at the hotel at 2 am and we were very disappointed to find out that the room we booked was no longer available, so they put us in a different room.

A view from lobby of the pool and sea.

Since it was so late when we arrived we didn’t get to see much of the hotel or the grounds. We were pleasantly greeted by beautiful weather and scenery when we woke up in the morning. We went and had breakfast and then took a tour of the pool and the beach. I thought the tour of the pool and beach was important to do before I went to complain about the room, so I didn’t really let them have it. The pool was lovely with 3 different areas with different depths. The beach was more than fantastic! I couldn’t believe how clean and gorgeous it was and it seemed to go on for miles! The water was very aquamarine and warm.

I went and sorted out the room situation and they offered to discount us for two nights and gave Jonny and I a free hour massage in their spa to make up for their mistake of giving our room away.

The rest of the day we spent by the pool and on the beach with great food in between. Here are a few shots of our holiday so far!

The beautiful beach!

Jonny and the kids enjoying the calm, warm waters of the Andaman Sea.

We went to dinner at a restaurant on the beach. The kids ordered watermelon shakes and this is the glass they were served in. We love Thailand!

Gemma loved the beautiful flowers that were served with every drink and every dish we ordered.

The kids horsing around after dinner.

Khao Lak here we come!!!

2007-12-21T08:57:00.000+08:00

We are heading off today for a much needed "China" break to Khao Lak Thailand. I am sure you can tell by now that we just can't get enough of Thailand! It is the most stunning place I have ever been and I have never been disappointed with the place we visit and definitely not disappointed by the most divine food I have ever eaten!

Khao Lak is located 1 hour north of Phuket by car. It is on the Andaman Sea and about a 3 hour boat ride to the Similian Islands. The Similian Islands are a favorite spot of scuba divers and snorkelers around the world.

Once again we went with Trip Advisor's advise and we are staying at the Ramada Khao Lak. It was rated 3rd on their website and was the hotel that actually had rooms available. We usually don't stay at chain hotels, but I think it seemed to be the best hotel to stay with kids. Plus we always enjoying meeting other families with kids and they all tend to stay at the chain hotels.

We are wishing you all a fabulous Holiday Season! Look forward to seeing all of our friends and family in the New Year!!!

Happy Birthday Angus!!!

2007-12-11T22:07:00.000+08:00

My little boy is 3 years old already! We celebrated a couple times. We had a little party for him while my dad was still here and had a few of his friends over. On his birthday though we had a little family celebration.

At one of the malls here they have a gigantic indoor soft play area with ball pits and trampolines. We went there because it is Angus' favorite place to go in Chengdu and probably our favorite place to take the kids to burn off some energy. Jonny took the day off partly because he was injured from rugby and partly because he wanted to hang out with us in the afternoon. We all had a great time at the ball pit! It was fun because we were probably the one of the few families there and had the whole place to ourselves. But mostly because we always take our family time for granted and it was just nice for the 4 of us to hang out together. After the ball pit we headed to one of our favorite Japanese restaurants called Ajisen and had tons of yummy food. I thought the choice may have been a little bit selfish on our part, but I can't believe how much Angus loves sushi!

After dinner we headed home to have cupcakes and open presents. Here are some pictures of Angus enjoying his cupcakes and presents.

Lunch at Da Yang's House

2007-11-29T00:10:00.000+08:00

One of the things I love to do when we have company is to go to dinner at our ayi's family's house. They always seem to invite us when we have family in town and we kindly accept. I feel this is really what China is like on a day to day basis versus touring around temples, etc. My Dad really enjoyed his experience although there was a language barrier and he wasn't too sure about the food. Here are a few snapshots from the day.

My Dad loves kids and he fell in love with this little one. This is one of Xiao Yang's nephews.

Angus feeling very comfortable at the Yang's place.

Da Yang is one of the best cooks we know in China. We love an invitation to eat her food.

Da Yang and Xiao Yang, they are cousins on their fathers side.

Gemma getting ready for the feast!

A little maj jong action for Gemma and Angus.

Liu Bin always enjoys our days out to the Yang's house. Here he is playing maj jong.

Dad relaxing outside with the old ladies.

Da Yang, her husband and daughter Bi Yang. Gemma and Angus LOVE Bi Yang!

We finally had the pleasure of meeting one of Xiao Yang's brothers that we had never met before because he was always working. Here is in the Yang siblings with their mother. Their father spends most of his time at home because he had a stroke years ago and is confined to the house. Xiao Yang is the oldest of the lot.