带着两个“孩子”（宝爸比小丫更难伺候），没有度假的感觉，只好忙里偷闲............

 

跑北京，塘沽，只为了让这两个孩子开心，如果有那么一天，可以独自归来，哪儿也不去，每天窝在老娘身边睡大觉，和姐姐弟弟混，血浓于水，可惜远离万里，人生的每个阶段都有遗憾

 

旧友竟然没有太多相见，临走见到法国的瓜娘一家和她的朋友们.......千里相会，友谊无价

 

和Jenny一样，我们都是在国内尝遍五味，终于在异国找到归宿，所谓奋斗不过是一种挣扎.............主动也好，被动也好，只因不肯放弃生活

 

一定一定要努力，无论险阻，让爱我的人们开心

 

明天就要飞回去努力，让生活美好起来

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monday, April 6, 2009 – More hot fish

 

We didn’t do much today, but that was my own fault　（狗脾气发作）.  I regret this, because the weather was so beautiful.  What we lost in the daylight hours, we made up for in the evening.  We went to a photo lab to pick up copies of the pictures from Angela’s photo shoot.  I am immensely pleased with them.  We will give one set to Xiao Wei’s parents, and another set to my mother.  I’m sure they will enjoy them.  Angela is such a beautiful girl, and the photographer did a wonderful job of capturing this.

 

After we picked up the photos, we took a nice walk around the Hua Yuan area and then we went back to the hot fish restaurant ( FEI TENG YU XIANG) that we visited the other night.  This time, we got much hotter fish.  It was hot enough to numb the mouth, and eventually, make me feel like my entire head was on fire.  I love it.  I really think that somebody should open a hot fish restaurant in Dallas.  I think it would be very successful.  Good hot fish is an exciting dining experience.  I’ve read food critics in America write that certain restaurants had flavors “that seem to explode in your mouth.”  Oh yeah?  Well, this kind of hot fish will really feel like an explosion in the mouth.  First it’s hot and salty.  The tongue and lips feel the burning sensation.  Eventually, the tongue goes a bit numb, but the burning sensation is still there.  What a wonderful experience.  The service at this restaurant is very good.  I really appreciate good service, and I’ve found that most nice restaurants in China have wonderful service – the way it should be.  Too bad they don’t tip here, because this seems to be about the only place where wait staff really deserve tips!

 

We also got a friendly taxi driver, who spoke a few words of English.  He was an older man, and liked to banter with Angela.  As much as I dislike the taxi drivers in Beijing, I like the drivers in Tianjin.  They seem quite friendly, and are trustworthy.

 

Tomorrow’s the day – Sichuan food for lunch!  I can’t wait!

 

 

Sunday, April 05, 2009 – An absolutely pleasant day!

 

Today was an absolutely splendid day.  The weather was perfect.  This was the warmest day since we’ve been here, and there was a nice breeze.  We spent the day with Xiao Wei’s brother (and his family) and her sister (and her son).  Xiao Wei’s brother and sister are perfectly charming people, and I enjoyed spending the day with them.

 

First, we went to Xiao Wei’s brother’s home.  He and his wife offered us some wonderful green tea from Hongzhou, and some snacks.  His son played the piano (very well for a young child).  We then went to a dumpling restaurant nearby their home.  Oddly enough, I’ve been here for two weeks and these were the first dumplings I’ve had.  I love dumplings, particularly when there is a wide assortment at the table.  After lunch, we went home to rest for a little while, and then went to meet Xiao Wei’s sister and nephew.

 

We took a taxi to a big plaza ( yin he guang chang) , near the museum of history, and an amusement park.  It was quite crowded, but a wonderful sight!  There were hundreds of people there, many flying kites, and others roller blading or skating.  I’ve never seen so many kites in the sky at one time (literally dozens and dozens).  Colorful fish, birds, bats, squid and all kinds of other designs were everywhere.  I was immediately impressed by how so many people had kites up in the air without everyone getting their lines tangled up.  We almost immediately met Xiao Wei’s sister and nephew.  They had some kites with them, and we had an absolutely wonderful time flying kites.  This is something I haven’t done in about 35 years.  This was quite a nostalgic moment for me, and words can’t describe how much I enjoyed it.  We then strolled around the plaza and let Angela ride a groovy little rickshaw that was pulled by a robotic doll (that looked like a cartoon character).  That was one of the most ridiculous things I’ve seen in ages.  Everyone seemed to enjoy this.  I saw stranger after stranger taking Angela’s picture as she rode around in this little robot-pulled rickshaw.  It’s fun to see my daughter bringing smiles to so many faces.  I am so proud of her!  We than sat and enjoyed the sunshine for a while.  This was one of those afternoons that I wish could last forever.  Such pleasant weather, and such a fun, vibrant scene.  People everywhere, and they were all enjoying themselves in their own ways.  In the midst of all of this, one can’t help but feel happy.  Friends, families, lovers, tourists, seniors were all enjoying the perfect afternoon in their own little groups, but all together. What a wonderful sense of harmony!  At one end of the plaza, there was a karaoke machine set up, and some poor dude was “singing” in a key unknown to the human ear.  This poor guy seemed to think that if you can’t hit the high notes, just yell a little louder and you’ll reach them.  He must have had the vocal range of a whoopee cushion (and the pitch of one, too).  I thought it his singing was hilarious.

 

We left the plaza and went to a restaurant for dinner.  Xiao Wei’s sister chose a buffet, which was another first for me.  I’ve eaten at many Chinese buffets in America, but never one in China.  Turns out, it was a buffet, but wasn’t Chinese.  It was called “Mr. Beer” (what a great name!) and was barbeque.  The main foods were fire roasted on spits and sliced off at each table – much like Brazilian churrascaria (passadors and all).  It was very nice.  My only gripe is one that I have with many places back in America – and that is rare meat.  I don’t want my dinner heated, I want it cooked - through and through! 
All of the meats were roasted to perfection, except for the duck and sirloin.  Pity, because I love duck and sirloin!  Anyway, it was a very nice dinner, and it was nice to see Xiao Wei spending time with her sister.  Xiao Wei’s nephew is a very bright boy.  In fact, both of her nephews are bright little boys.  The eldest (with us at dinner tonight) speaks some English and I am able to understand him rather well.

 

Today was one of those days that no packaged tour to China could ever give me.  There were no tourist traps of any kind, or tour guides telling me what I should enjoy.  Just a fun day visiting family and flying kites on a perfect, sunny day.  The atmosphere was perfect.  It all reminded me of how lucky I am.  I have married an absolutely beautiful and kind-hearted lady, and have the most wonderful daughter.  I also think the world of her family.  They are good people, and I enjoy every opportunity to share family time with them.

 We hopped a taxi and came back home.  I’m in the mood to watch one of my new Chinese DVDs now.  All in all, this was an absolutely sple

 

前半生的城市，日新月异，宝妈不喜欢，每次回来都希望和走的那会儿一个样，这样可以回到过去，唏嘘感叹

 

看到这个城市变得几乎不认识，很失落.............还好，家人--- 这些一如既往爱我的人，都没变

 

宝妈自己也在变，受不了那么多人，更受不了那么多的加塞争抢粗鲁贪婪，还有污染

 

美国，那么陌生的地方，酸甜苦辣，一点点地熟悉起来，渐渐的有家的感觉，终归其所，是爱

 

一个人，如果找到可以填饱肚皮的地方，甚至可以奢侈的被爱着，无论南极北极，足以当家

 

所以，怎样的丈夫无所谓，居留哪里无所谓，穷富无所谓，活着更无所谓

 

给点儿吃的，再来几句好听的..........咱就继续努力

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday, April 4, 2009 – My love for Chinese film

 

The last couple of days, we’ve been getting up pretty late.  Part of me really likes this, because vacations are for relaxing.  Part of me doesn’t like it, because time in China should be spent making the most of each day.  I didn’t even leave the house until almost 5:00 pm.  Xiao Wei and her mother went to buy shoes (for Xiao Wei and Angela) this morning, and I stayed here and played with Angela.  My brother-in-law and his son came over and visited for a while, when Xiao Wei returned.  We then took what was supposed to be a 30 minute nap, that lasted over 4 hours.

 

We took a bus to the Exchange Mall, and bought some bak kwa.  I just can’t get enough of this!  We then rode the subway to a huge bookstore.  This was our first time on the Tianjin subway, and it is very nice.  I can’t wait until all of the lines are completed – especially the one that goes to Hua Yuan.  We bought about $40 worth of DVDs and CDs at the bookstore, which was a LOT of discs.  Angela got all kinds of educational videos and cartoons.  We even found a Little Einsteins DVD for a mere $4, which is about $11 less than we pay in America, AND this should have Chinese language!  I want Angela to continue to focus on Mandarin skills.  She has done very well on this trip, communicating almost entirely in Mandarin.  She communicates well with her grandparents, which pleases me to no end.  I got some old Chinese movies with English subtitles, and another copy of “The Road Home” – which may very well be my favorite film of all time.  This is a really beautiful love story that is so different than American love stories.  It is interesting that the two central figures in this film (the young country girl and the school teacher) are so deeply in love, but never actually touch each other.  This is a love story that is purely emotional, and not physical.  Although I’m not much of a fan of Zhang Zi Yi (except for her hilarious musical performance at the 2008 Chinese new year show), she really lights it up in this film.  I have a copy of this at home already, but I don’t know what I’ve done with it.  I would watch it tonight, but it’s too late.  We didn’t get home until almost 10:00 pm, and it’s almost midnight now.  Angela and I have been playing with stuffed toys for the last hour or so.

 

I really love Chinese film.  I am particularly fond of older films.  I think that they give a marvelous glimpse into the soul of this culture.  One of my favorite film-watching experiences was a few years ago (over here), when Xiao Wei and I watched an old film titled “Today Is My Day Off.”  Xiao Wei had to translate this for me, but it was a very simple film, with simple dialogue.  I loved the beautiful simplicity of this film.  No convoluted plot, or over-the-top violence.  Sure, it was primarily a propaganda film, but the storyline was a good one and the message a positive one.  My favorite propaganda film has be “The Red Detachment of Women.”  I saw a copy of this tonight, but already have it in my collection.  The scenes of women dancing with machine guns, singing about the growing hatred in their hearts… wow!  The dialog in this film is great… “You catch me five times, and I’ll escape six!”  I loved the fact that his message is delivered in such an “in your face!” fashion.

 

Hong Kong gets a lot of credit for its films, and a lot of them are pure crap.  Once in a while, a good one comes out, but most are simply efforts to over-publicize singers who are marginal actors (and actresses) at best.  This is the only reason the Twins girls ever get film roles.  It’s pretty obvious that neither one can act, but because they’re popular singers, they MUST appear on the big screen to rake in more money from their fans.  I think the idea is to capitalize on performers while they are hot.  A few singers actually make better actors (and actresses) than singers… like the late Leslie Cheung.  I think that Karen Mok is a better actress than singer.  Anyway, mainland Chinese film is better than most westerners realize.  Unfortunately, when you mention Chinese film to most Americans, they immediately think of bad gongfu films or Hong Kong gangster films.  Personally, I love the bad Shaw Brothers’ gongfu films (Shaolin Executioner, Fists of the White Lotus, etc) and I think that some of the gangster/cops and robbers films are pretty entertaining, but I think that mainland Chinese film deserves more serious attention than it gets.  I still think that Korea does the best comedies in Asia (e.g., My Sassy Girl, and My Wife is a Gangster), and Japan does the best psychological horrors in Asia (e.g., Ringu, and The Audition).  Still, some of the more powerful films about the ordinary human condition that I’ve seen in recent years (e.g., The Road Home, and Together) were Chinese film.

 

I can’t wait to watch my new DVDs!

 

We ended the evening out with a visit to UBC Coffee, for some tea and a few spicy dishes.  I love green tea, and enjoy nothing more than sitting around sipping away a couple of hours.  I really wish that we had good tea houses in Dallas.  Just one would be enough.

 

Friday, April 03, 2009  lazy day

 

We got up late today, and it was just a lazy day.  This is fine, because we’re on vacation, and every vacation should have its fare share of lazy days.  Today we went to E-Mart to pick up Angela’s pictures and photo albums from the studio.  I am impressed beyond words.  These people are really good (when they want to be).  Angela is so lovely in these pictures.  I am so very proud!  Later tonight, I’m going to e-mail some of my faves to family and friends back home. 

 

We didn’t do much today – apart from picking up pictures and letting Angela play at the E-Mart playground.  She had fun, so I had fun.  After we picked up the pictures and CD, we took the CD to a photography shop to have individual pictures developed.  This evening, we returned there to copy the pictures to my thumb-drive so I can e-mail them.

 

We had dinner with some of Xiao Wei’s friends, and they took us to a really good hot fish restaurant.  I must say, this is the best restaurant I’ve been to in all of Tianjin (since my favorite seafood restaurant closed).  The dishes are so hot and spicy – it’s an exciting dining experience.  After a few minutes, my lips and tongue quit burning and started to go numb.  Not just any kind of food can do this in a good way.  The food was quite spicy, but not painful (like some Sichuan huo guo I had a few years ago).  We are definitely returning to this restaurant before we leave.

 

样片：

 

 

Thursday, April 02, 2009 – I almost heart Beijing

 

Yesterday was pretty uneventful.  We went to visit a couple of people who have been really good to Xiao Wei in dealing with CGFNS.  One of them was not in her office, but had an emergency meeting, so we’ll try again some other day.  I appreciate what these ladies have done for Xiao Wei.  We stopped at a bakery and had a wonderful pastry called “sweetheart cake” or “wife cake.”  It is a pastry filled with a mixture of almond paste and winter melon.  It is absolutely wonderful!  Angela and I ate 5 small ones.  I have to get some more.  We also went by Xiao Wei’s old neighborhood, where she grew up until the Tangshan earthquake.  It seemed quite a nostalgic trip for her, and I enjoyed hearing about the neighborhood she grew up in. She said that it has changed a lot.  In the evening, Xiao Wei met some friends of hers for huo guo and tea, so I stayed home with Angela and we played.  I like for Xiao Wei to have time to laugh and talk about old times with friends.  My brother-in-law and his son came over to visit, and brought some watermelon.  Nice!

 

Today we left early for Beijing.  We took a high speed train (about 200 miles per hour).  It got us from Tianjin to Beijing in just about 30 minutes.  It was wonderful!  Best of all, they gave away free bottles of Tibet spring water!  Hey, since they were giving them away, and most people weren’t bothering to take them, we decided that they shouldn’t go to waste.  I also don’t want the Tibetans thinking that we don’t appreciate their water… or the train people thinking that we don’t appreciate their generosity.  We appreciate it all very much.  We took 6 bottles.

 

Beijing was fun.  We strolled along Wangfujing, and took a tram ride around the neighborhood.  We then stopped for lunch, and then did some window shopping.  We decided to stick around for the night and go to the Great Wall on Friday, but the girls at the Nanjing Great Hotel (where we stayed twice before) refused to give us a room without proper ID.  We forgot our passports, and they didn’t care about Angela’s birth certificate (which Xiao Wei happened to have with her) or my Texas driver’s license.  This kind of ticked me off.  Why do they need my passport to rent me a room?  So they copy the passport number down.  Big deal.  What are they going to do with it?  Are they going to check it against the U.S. State Department databases?  I seriously doubt they have access.  So what if they would have given us a room and made up a number.  Who’s going to check it?  The hotel check-in police (with a directly line to the U.S. Passport Office in Houston)?  To make it all worse, they pulled up record of my previous two stays, which included my passport number!  This kind of “can’t do” attitude really ticks me off.  Yeah, I’m sure they are just following rules given them by their superiors, but this can become downright absurd.  It’s like trying to order a Big Mac at McDonalds in Singapore, but without special sauce.  “Can’t do that, lah.  It has to have sauce.  All Big Mac have sauce…” the ah beng (or ah lian) tells me.  “Sure you can.  Just make it like you normally do, but leave the sauce off.  Nobody will get hurt.”  “It comes with the sauce.  I have to put the sauce on.”  “Really?  What do you think will happen to you if you don’t?”  “I don’t know.  It comes with sauce, lah.  I have to put the sauce on.”  I’ve met this same attitude in America, too – which is why I’m still boycotting the Camelrock Casino in Tesuque, New Mexico.  When I was in the gallery business, I really went out of my way for collectors (and still do with the website). I want people to have what they really want, and I’ll do what I can to help them.  If they put their trust in me to do business, then I owe it to them.

 

We were going to just spend the night at the home of Xiao Wei’s uncle, but the taxi drivers in Beijing made me so angry that I insisted that we go home, and not spend any more of our money in Beijing.  Last year, we couldn’t get a taxi driver to give us a ride.  One finally picked us up and told us why we can’t get rides.  He said that the problem was a stroller.  It means that we had a small child and probably wanted to just go back to a nearby hotel, instead of the airport.  The taxi drivers in Beijing only want to do long trips that score bigger fares.  He wasn’t kidding.  We got brushed off by one taxi driver after another.  We saw three lanes of taxis lined up outside of the Forbidden City that day, and none of them would give us the time of day.  It’s as if they lived in the imperial palace.  At what point were Beijing taxi drivers elevated to the status of emperor?  That day, we walked back down Wangfujing Street towards Chang An Road, and saw taxi drivers waive off prospective customers near the Beijing Hotel, but when someone with a suitcase walked by, they nearly wet their pants trying to get out of their cars and get the person’s attention.  In fact, on that day, we saw two foreign ladies get into a taxi parked in a line near the Beijing Hotel and the driver chased them out of his taxi.  I hope this fool sat alone in his taxi all day and got ZERO passengers to the airport!  These Beijing taxi drivers are obsessed with trips to the airport – to the extent that it really costs them.  Once, we had a little punk taxi driver who picked us up at the Song He Hotel (near Wangfujing) and when Xiao Wei told him that we wanted to go to bus station with buses that go to the airport, this punk slipped off the deep end.  He whined about being cheated, and when we got to the bus station, the threw our change up in the air, smarted off and drove away in a huff.  Fortunately, I got his license number down and Xiao Wei called to complain a few days later.  A couple of weeks later, she received an apologetic call from the transportation authority in Beijing and was told that this punk was being forced to go through training again for two weeks at his own expense.  Good!  Someone needs to slap this bad attitude out of these idiots.  Anyway, we were waiting outside of a big mall on Chang An Road (and Wangfujing) and some idiot in the taxi lane gets a look at us (stroller and all) and speeds off.  Idiot!  When we finally get someone, he drives us on a wild goose chase, ignoring the fact that we know how to get to Xiao Wei’s uncle’s home from where he picked us up, and it doesn’t require driving in circles.  For the most part, I love Beijing and its people.  It’s normally a great city, with remarkable character.  But it has a bunch of prima donna taxi drivers who need a serious attitude adjustment.  It’s getting worse with each trip.  What most of these fools don’t know is that we’re pretty good to the taxi drivers, and often give them tips for good attitudes (pretty BIG tips in some instances).  I know that this can be a thankless job, but I want good people to know how much I appreciate them.  Oh well…

 

p.s 一般我们都会多付车费，从北京饭店转到松鹤饭店，5分钟的车程，司机很无奈说不挣钱，宝爸就给了100块车费.........尤其短途，如果司机态度好，至少多付一倍的车费......... 司机态度极度恶略的时候才会去投诉

 

We took the high speed train back to Tianjin, and picked up another six bottles of Tibet glacier water - yes!  I was so glad to get back to Tianjin.  This place is really starting to feel like home.  On the way out of the train station, some chick deliberately cut off Xiao Wei at the turnstile (in a rather rude fashion), and it really annoyed Xiao Wei.  I think that in the past, she didn’t get annoyed by stuff like this the way I do.  Now that she’s lived in America for a while, she sees why I always get annoyed by people who don’t know how to wait their turn in line.  Anyway, we got a taxi driver here with a great attitude, and he seemed happy to take us where we asked to go.  No whining.  No driving us in circles to jack up the fare.  Good guy!

 

All in all, we had a really fun day (apart from the Beijing taxi drivers).  Beijing is a fascinating city full of history and culture (tradition and pop culture).  The shopping is great, and the locals seem to really enjoy life.  We watched as a bunch of restaurant employees were gathered behind a building jumping a rope.  Two of them swung the rope and the others got in line and ran through it and jumped as quickly as they could.  I thought that this was wonderful!  I wish my office would get out in the middle of the afternoon and do the same thing – just to lighten things up.  As long as we traveled by bus, subway and tram, it was all peachy. 

 

这次回国，感觉特别的累，物是人非 （I mean 物非人非）

 

哪儿哪儿都不对劲儿

 

没闲没钱，宝妈真真写不出什么，交给宝爸来汇报

 

今天终于找个机会，撇下缠人的大小laowai，和朋友们去吃火锅，转战茶馆，开心的看着他们打牌闲扯

 

难得太难得

 

写出这几个字，纪念逝去的岁月