Time with the rents (part 1)

Well, as I think I may have mentioned before, my parents came to visit for two weeks.  I'm proud to say that they did very well and have earned all the merit badges a traveler needs for their first visit to Asia.

Chopsticks - check.

Even though they came prepared with titanium sporks, there was no need.  Mom and Dad toughed it out and got used to the chopsticks right away - by the end they were total pros.

Sushi - check.  Although they've tried it before, I think they actually enjoyed the sushi and sashimi this time.  Here's Mom with a piece of raw salmon.

Pearl drinks - check.  They are totally in love with the boba and Mom says she is going to try to find it at Cub.

Pandas - check.  We went to see the panda exhibit and got a great show.  I will probably have a video example of the panda antics once I download the rest of their photos.

Sightseeing - check.  Here they are in Macau Tower.  Although a lot of tourists go up to the lookout, I doubt many of them lay on the floor to take pictures.  (I bet the Chinese people were horrified!  They never let anything touch the floor - ever.)

Lots of walking and climbing hills - check.  They also mastered the bus system, airports, ferries, passport procedures, and by the end they could find their way around quite well without any help from me.

Quality family time - check.  We had many great adventures while they were here. 
More to come!

Thanks for the presents!

Just a quick post to say thanks to some people who recently sent me gifts.

 1. Photo frames made with great flare by my niece, Elloise.  Thanks baby!

 2. Two boxes of treats from Cat and Jay.  Jay sent my favorite Girl Scout cookies - thanks!  And Cat send a bunch of other fun and special gifts: a leakproof mug, post-it notes, earrings, hot chocolate, tea, toilet seat covers, a magnetic bookmark and a map.  Thanks!

And I almost forgot, she sent this ring too!

Don't Worry...

That's right, you know what comes next.  Be happy!  I was soooo happy tonight because I went to see Bobby McFerrin in concert in Macau.  I loved him when I was 12 and I love him again today.  Words really cannot do justice to his ability so I've included some videos below of a few of the songs he did for us that I snagged from YouTube.

 This is the poster that got my attention in the first place.  A huge one was posted along my morning bus route and even though my parents are coming to town tomorrow and I should be doing other things, I knew I'd regret it if I didn't go.

The advantage of going to a concert by yourself is that you can get a good seat between groups of people.  I was right in the middle of the fourth row.  He was so close that I could have thrown my chapstick and hit him without even standing up.  Simple stage - just a chair, a mike and four speakers with a single spotlight when he came out.  This is about how he was dressed, just a t-shirt and black jeans and dreads.  Oh, there was also a bottle of water next to the chair.  He walked out, bowed to us, sat down, took a drink, hummed a little scale and began.  He spent the next 10 minutes on an improvised scat/beatbox/humming extravaganza.  He never stopped to take a breath, he just works it into the music.  After the first 10 he stopped, we clapped, he took another drink and started again.  Unbelievable. 

I've never been to a concert that was so fun and so beautiful.  He's incredibly talented, but uses that talent to include you and have fun with it.

He does a lot with audience participation and did this routine with us.  So fun!  I was amazed at how well the crowd did too!  I guess musical types are the likely audience members, but still - not everyone knows how to hit the notes on a scale.  But everyone around me was doing quite well!  It was fun to see who was in the audience too.  I'd been wondering if Bobby's style would appeal to the Chinese.  There were a lot of Portuguese and Westerners there, but the audience was more than half Chinese and judging by the volume they were totally into it!

This was amazing too.

He did an even longer version of this - I love the microphone-to-the-neck effect.

And by the end he had us all singing this, and the William Tell Overture, and a couple more I can't remember.  We did not sing the words, just the melody, but still - it was pretty amazing how many people knew it.

For the grand finale they brought out the Macau Cultural Center children's choir, and I can honestly say, you ain't seen nothin' until you've seen this guy lead a bunch of 12-year-old Chinese kids in Ave Maria - in Latin.  Wow!

What's new

So here are a few shots I've been collecting that were not related to Becky's visit.

One recent event is that Spring is here, which means the humidity and mold are too.  I've been noticing it on my windowsill and then a few weeks back I noticed this in my drawer. 

That's right, it's mold.

So then I figured I should pull the desk out and look behind it - and I found what I expected.  Gross.  I guess it's normal for this time of year and all I can really do is keep wiping it away, but I'm not thrilled.

 In other news, I've been trying some new foods!  Angie and Carol introduced me to a Vietnamese place nearby that makes these little treats for dessert.  This is some kind of coconut pudding with a layer of sago (which is like tapioca) underneath, all wrapped in a special kind of leaf, which you don't eat.  Yes, that's a kernel of corn on top.  Yum!

 February 22 was Angie's birthday (at least we think so, she's very secretive about it).  We went to a place in our neighborhood and ordered the fish plate.  That's a fried fish in the middle, with it's cooked meaty insides on the top and bottom in different sauces.  Fried noodles underneath.  YUM!

Then on the weekend, we went to HK to celebrate Angie's birthday some more.  She wanted to get a proper steak and we found out that there's a Lawry's in HK.  This was very exciting since it was her favorite steakhouse in SoCal.  (Yes, I mean Lawry's like the seasoned salt.  Did you know it was invented to be eaten on prime rib?  I didn't.)   I couldn't resist getting these little guys as an appetizer.  So good.  Honestly, what's better than cold shrimp cocktail?

An enormous rare steak, says Angie.  Here she is with her dream meal.

 I have to admit, it was pretty delicious.  I had the California (smaller) cut, which was still huge, and mashed potatoes and gravy and Yorkshire pudding and creamed spinach and a glass of pinot noir.  I was really full afterwards - ho bao, as we say in Cantonese.

 Then afterward we met up with Angie's cousins and went out for dessert!  Really really ho bao.  At last we took the subway back to crash at our "4-person room".  This is what you get when you like the cheapest person alive choose the accommodations.  ;)  We joked about it a lot, but in reality it was just fine.  Cozy, but fine. 

 So, I've been looking for months for a box that's big enough to fit the lamp I bought back in December.  I'm trying to plan ahead for shipping it home and due to it's size and shape, it was difficult to find something.  So every time I walk past a store with broken down boxes out front I've been stopping to measure them.  Finally, I found one.  I had stopped at my favorite grocery store and saw this beauty out front.  Taller than I needed, but the other dimensions were perfect.  Plus, it still had the styrofoam packing materials inside, and it had cutout handles in the cardboard.  Could not have been more perfect.  All I had to do was get it home.  So I picked it up, just like this, and started walking back the 4-5 blocks to my place.  I had to stop and rest a few times, because it was awkward to walk while carrying it down all the little sidewalks full of people.  I had to keep alternating between holding it off to the side so I could see, and moving it back to the front to let people pass.  I'm sure every person on the way probably stared and said "chi-seen gweilo". 

But who cares, because now my lamp is perfectly boxed and totally secure for the trip home!  I love it when a plan comes together!

Last Friday the weather was so nice when I got out of work that I had to put on some sandals and go for a walk.  Here's the proof. 

 And, last but not least, the photos you may have been waiting for.

yet (1)

My "I just let it dry however it wanted" pre-haircut hair.  

Bye-bye long hair days, it's been fun.

yee (2)

Carol told the stylist that I wanted to keep my hair because I had joked about making it into a wig.  I think this is only enough for a Barbie wig.   It was funny watching the stylist try to explain to Carol (for me) that my cowlicks in the front were going to be a problem for the style I wanted.  Yes, I'm well aware of what a problem they are.

saam (3)

Usually I leave my henna concoction on overnight, but I've never done my whole head before.  After a couple hours the heat made it start dripping out from underneath my stocking cap, so I had to wash it out earlier than I intended.  Luckily it still seemed to take just fine.

 

 say (4)

Taadaa!  Just like it was when I was 21, more or less.  Not bad considering all I really did was finger-comb it the right direction when I first got out of the shower and then put in a little goop once it had dried.  I'm already happier with it than I have been since I started experimenting in December.  I think that's a good sign.  It's still a little weird and I can't stop touching it, but overall I feel like it was a good choice.  It was fun to see my students and coworkers' reactions throughout the day.  Mostly it got favorable reviews.  One boy told me it was "very beautiful".  A+ for him.  :)

BECKY WAS HERE (the end)

Well, this is probably my last chance to finish talking about Becky's trip before Mom and Dad arrive, so I will ignore the fact that it's getting late and just finish.

 We did some souvenir shopping and decided to get these cheesy matching t-shirts, because having a red dragon t-shirt is a good idea for everyone.  We were told by the shopkeeper that we could choose any color we wanted because white matches with everything.  I seriously beg to differ.

I was also asked whether I was Russian while we were shopping.  I'm guessing it's because I'm wearing this hat, even though it was made in Tibet.  In this photo, I'm drinking a super-chocolatey hot chocolate at the Macau Museum cafe and we're waiting for the rain to let up so we can go home.

 Becky bought this very carefully chosen mahjong set and so we wanted to try it out.  We took a break from playing the Chinese way to try it American computer solitaire style.  It was actually quite fun and we made up some new rules to make it competitive.

 The next day we went hiking on the Big Taipa Trail.  We passed these guys on the way up and I wanted a picture even though I'm dressed like a fool.  There are my favorite guardian lions in all of Macau. 

There is a park at the top of the trail and there are bronze statues of all the different ethnic groups in China - like 50-some.  They're awesome, but I'm a little biased since I totally love anything bronze.

 I took Becky to my favorite Indian place in Macau, cause you can never have enough Indian.

The next day, Carol was kind enough to invite us out to have dinner with her friends.  The woman with the noodles was our host - Iny.  We're having hotpot, which is what the Chinese often do for special occasions.  The food was delicious and it was fun to hang out with a bunch of new people.

This is cow stomach, and yes, I tried it.

 After dinner Becky and I put our mahjong skills to the test against Francis and Carol.

I got a very lucky hand - too bad we weren't playing for money!

But speaking of money, I did get my first red packet from Iny's dad, who came up and handed them all out during dinner.  I wasn't expecting to receive any of these since they're usually for younger single people, but it was fun!

 On our last day we went to Coloane and found this temple - kind of by mistake.  Pretty huge thing to not know about huh?  Oops. 

 Becky liked these little lions all in a row.

 We also enjoyed the fact that all the dragons on the many pillars had bows tied on their noses - I guess to celebrate.  All I could think of was "pin a rose on your nose". 

 Our real destination was this enormous white jade statue of A-Ma.  I've been wanting to see this since I first learned about it months ago, but it's up on a small mountain and not a place I normally go.  We discovered the temple on our way up.

 That concludes my coverage of Becky's visit.  It was a great time and I'm so glad she was able to make the trip.  Looking forward to starting another round on Wednesday.

p.s.  I cut all my hair off today and dyed it red, much like it was when I was 21.  Still perfecting my styling technique - will post a picture when I'm satisfied.  :)