Guo qing jie kuai le!

Happy National Holiday from China! Last weekend was China's National Holiday, and most people had this whole week off. In another uniquely Chinese twist, the technical holiday was last Saturday, Sunday and Monday, and while most people had this week off, they have to work this Saturday and Sunday.

Basically that means that they have 7 days to travel, and then return to work for 7 days straight!


You can see that Shanghai's famous waterside, known as The Bund, was COMPLETELY packed with people. We stayed away after hearing horror stories about the crowds from Tiffany's coworkers. Apparently there wasn't any scheduled entertainment, just thousands of people roaming around Saturday night with air-filled toys!



Air-filled toys? We have no idea why or what for, and it didn't really appear that the locals knew, either. They just like to carry them around for the weekend. I decided to carry around a dangerous looking Hello Kitty air filled hammer with a menacing look on my face the entire night.


We went with a group of our Abroad China friends to go dancing, instead. From the left, Vanessa, Kevin, Ahmet, Brian and Tiffany. We had lots of fun dancing around, hitting each other with the hammer. Ok, well I had lots of fun hitting other people with the hammer. I think Brian finally took it away from me and threw it away...

Wedding Flashback

The Chans were kind enough to put together a musical slideshow of wedding photographs and a videoclip of our infamous 'Don't Go Breakin' My Heart' dance. If you're interested in checking either out, just go to http://mindobserver.com/tiffzach/. Enjoy!

How to leave comments on our blog

We've gotten some questions on how to leave comments on the blog, here's the easiest way to do it:

1. Click on the actual word 'comments' on the blog post, not the envelope or timestamp.

2. Choose a name, you can put your own name, anonymous, or the default, which is your blogger account name. If you just let it default and do not have a blogger account on this site, it will force you to set one up. But if you just put your name or anonymous, you don't need to sign up for anything and can just post your comment.

3. Be sure to complete the word verification after you finish your comment.

Hope that helps!

Shanghai Culture (Couture?) - PJ's and low hanging undies, oh my!

Tiffany and I were walking innocently through Shanghai today when we got clotheslined, literally. Someone had strung up their not-so-privvies across the sidewalk so that we had to limbo under them. With the wind blowing strongly, it was a real challenge to maneuver through this obstacle course.





This poor kid wasn't so lucky. Word from the hospital is that he's recovered from the panty faceplant impact but is still in shock from the up close encounter with the skidmarks...

And then of course this couple, who I suspect are the culprits. Clearly they are strong supporters of the Private-Schmivate movement...

RABID DOGS!!!!

Vendors sell everything from kitchen sponges to pirated DVDs on the street in Shanghai. Here, the item of the day is puppies (for pets, not dinner, we checked).
















With blatent disregard for the San Francisco CDC worker's warning not to touch dogs in China due to the high rate of rabies, Tiffany picks up one of the cutest puppies ever!!!

Tacos and Salsa and Chips, Oh My!

Sept. 29, 2005 Tiffany
My co-workers and I went out for Mexican food last night. Most of them had never tried Mexican food before, or even heard of most of the dishes. After explaining what tacos and quesadillas tasted like, I finally convinced the girls to try them. They liked both so much, we ended up getting 2 more platters of each. I've never seen Chinese people take to Mexican food so quickly!


Belinda loves her quesadillas! Along with tacos and quesadillas, Brian and I gave lessons on the meanings of pinatas, guacamole, and chile rellenos (another crowd pleasing dish). While Shanghai is filled with a variety of different ethnic foods, mexican restaurants are very rare. 















Effie was hesitant to try her first margarita, but she took it down like a champ!

The girls wanted something with lots of vegetables after all the platters of tacos and quesadillas. Needless to say, the Chinese version of taco salad doesn't include much lettuce.....but they loved it anyway!

Care Package Extravaganza!

Sep 27 - Presents!!! Tiffany unwrapped a huge care package from my sister Lisa and out of sheer enjoyment had to fight an overwhelming urge to roll around these blessed, easily-identifiable and familiar snacks like a pig in the mud!!!! THANK YOU!!! I highly recommend sending us care packages here in Shanghai. I guarantee it will be an incredibly rewarding and fulfilling experience. (And you might even enjoy it as well ;) 


Sep 27 - Here I am coveting the Crunch & Munch and Peet's coffee that Lisa sent. Even as I type, I'm chewing on some of her beef jerky, envisioning the feast I will have tonight: Kettle Chips, followed by Cup of Noodles and finished off with Crunch n' Munch!! Bliss is me :)