We are visiting our friend A. and his wife H. in western Xinjiang Province this week.
Internet connectivity is spotty at best. We will post again when we can. Continue reading “Western Regions, the desert and friends”
Category: travel
Beijing on Holiday
Beijing on a hot hot day in mid-August is filled with street life. Beijing life happens on the street, talking, cooking, eating, shopping, card-playing, napping. I’ve seen lots of babies and children giggling and playing with their adults, lots of people walking their dogs. Old people stare at us and smile when I say ” Nihao”. Continue reading “Beijing on Holiday”
Beijing Dumplings
As 10am approached, I packed up my projects and we headed around and around the corners of the warren until we found Black Sesame Kitchen again, this time with the bright sun streaming through their windows. Coco and Michelle and Chefs greeted us again. Unlike when we were the first to arrive for dinner the previous evening, we were among the last to arrive to a full class of 11 international adults learning how to make basic Chinese dumplings “from scratch.”
Here’s how to make a handmade dumpling.
Continue reading “Beijing Dumplings”
Beijing Morning
Beijing Black Sesame
First order of business: buy a cheap mobile phone…sound familiar?
After our long bike ride, we took a shower and changed closed because we were DRENCHED with sweat. That felt a lot better, and Alison promptly fell asleep on the bed. As much as I wanted to do the same, it was 5pm and I needed to get a phone to be able to communicate with the tour guides on our next two stops.
I went back to the busy street near our hotel, and thankfully everything was now open. I scanned each shop on the side of the street where I remember seeing the shop and eventually it appeared: a small stall, no bigger than a closet with a glass case displaying his wares — many different iPhone types, and then a few cheepo Nokias. Perfect! RMB200 later (I’m sure I should have haggled and I’m sure I was over charged, but $35 for a new Nokia seemed fine to me…) I waked out with a working, texting phone! I immediately texted Michael’s number, and he immediately texted me back. Hooray!
Having gotten that done so quickly, I decided to figure out where Black Sesame Kitchen was located — we had signed up for a dumpling class there on Saturday. It’s also in a hutong, not far from our Courtyard 7 Hotel hutong, except they were located in a small bit that had been built into the courtyard space by subsequent generations of residents over the centuries, so you entered a gate into is best described as a “warren” turning left, then right, then right, then right, then left every few steps until you enter a small open space in front of Black Sesame Kitchen. I was greeted by Coco, one of the workers who speaks English, and I confirmed that I would arrive for the dumpling class the following day. She asked: where will you eat tonight? I said that we would like to find a nice duck restaurant, and she told me where she likes to eat duck, but then she said: Would you like to eat here? She showed me the menu, written up on a small chalkboard on the wall, and it looked like a compilation of many many dishes that I’ve cooked, or wanted to cook, but would love to experience when done by a skilled chinese chef. She said they had two open spaces around the two communal tables they sit people at, so I said I would ask my wife and get back to them.
The BSK space is probably no more than 100 feet from our hotel room, but, as they say in Maine, “you can’t get there from here.” Still its only a five minute walk around the warrens and the lanes, and when I described the option to Alison she enthusiastically said YES so I confirmed and we showed up at 7:00pm on the dot.
Continue reading “Beijing Black Sesame”
Beijing Big Day
First day on vacation HAS to be a big day: you’re excited about arriving in a new place and you want to see EVERYTHING right NOW…and boy did we try.
Our first order of business was to find and buy a cheap phone because the one I brought from Maine (an old Droid) mysteriously would not charge. I had spotted a phone stall on the main street just above our hotel the night before s so at 9:00 we went back to the main street to look for it. Shutters everywhere. There was very little street life (at least compared to the night before) and nothing was open. I guess our area is all about the night life.
One of the things I really liked about our hotel, as I browsed among the choices, was that they offered free access to bicycles, and many people we talked to who had been to Beijing told us that biking was a great way to travel around the city. After our failed attempt to find a phone stall, we returned to our hotel around 10am and picked up our bikes. They came with locks that were fixed to the bikes, and nice baskets on the handle bars. They were both one speed with sketchy brakes, but they basically worked.
Continue reading “Beijing Big Day”
Beijing Arrival
We took Air Canada on our last trip to China and liked it so much (comfy, good food, GREAT on-demand entertainment system which really helps make those 14 hours “fly” by, and of course good price) we took it again. Either their mapping system is different, or the route really is different Beijing vs. Shanghai, but this time our map line went EAST over the arctic ice (there’s still ice up there in August!), instead of west before dropping in over Siberia crossing over the Chinese northern boarder before landing in the haze that blanketed the City today.
We’re not sure if it was an actually *foggy* day in Beijing, or if this is the infamous Northern Chinese smog…?
Continue reading “Beijing Arrival”
Heading East
Stay tuned: if The Great Firewall permits me, I will update the RectorSite with posts from our trip to China.
Why and Where?
Chillin’ in a corner of Toronto Pearson airport waiting for the LONG flight to board
Continue reading “Heading East”
A Visit to the PHX AZ Rectors
We went on a Road Trip, Carol and I. Our main objective was Giants Spring Training in Scottsdale AZ. Every year, I’ve talked about going to spring training and every year Carol would say, “I can’t take time off at that time of year.” Carol retired — WooHoo — so this year, we bought the Giants Spring Training package. Tickets to 3 games and hotel for three nights, tee shirts, caps and other goodies. We’re going to spring training!
After the games — around 5 on Sunday evening — we popped over to Tempe to visit my Uncle Frank, 93 and Aunt Wilda 89 and 3 of my Phoenix area cousins that I’ve hardly seen since childhood. Wilda — always full of energy and hustling around — served some snacks and a ridiculously good cherry creme dessert.
Everybody posed for pictures.
Two Guys Traveling
Eric in New York City
Brian and Natasza in Belize
Eric and Brian went traveling and made the mistake of sending me emails with pictures. I thought the juxtaposition was great, so I threw them up here. Brian is still out there, so if he sends me any more stuff, I’ll add it.
Tight connexion to Belize flight in DFW turned into 30-min “security check” delay (which was originally called a “cleaning delay” when it looked like it would only be 10 min). This carried over to our arrival in Belize 30-min late, giving us one hour to get our bags, clear customs, & drive 30 minto th last water taxi to Caye Caulker, where we had prepaid for our hotel & needed 2 b at 8:30 tomorrow morning to catch our 3-day sailing trip. It was quite likely that the 30 min delay was going to screw up our first 3 days in Belize. Well, as u can c by th photo, we made it to th water taxi (of course nothing here happens on time) escorted by our warm, cheerful taxi driver Solano who didn’t even have to speed. It would’ve been completely out of character for th place (although th water taxi threw up a righteous rooster tail for 45 min straight). Got a golf-cart taxi from the pier to th hotel and was greeted by proprietor Rob, a US transplant about my age with th permanent spacey smile of one who makes a good living hanging out in a tropical Eden. We decompressed for a minute in our rustic room before changing into flip-flops & parrot-head shirts and ambling down one of the islands three dirt roads to find a grilled fish.
If yer looking for a grilled fish big enough for two that was minding its own business on a tropical reef this morning, walk ~4 blocks thru th salty, steady sea breeze down th main drag of th island (see below) & turn right across from th pier. U may decide to stop along th way at one of several mom & pop stores for some bottled water that is sold at a refreshingly sane price (50¢ for a half-liter) in a place where a) u can’t drink tap water & b) there’s absolutely nowhere else to buy clean water. We’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto. Continue reading “Two Guys Traveling”
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