How’s that for a title?
Today it snowed!! I figured it would, and I am just like a young girl!!! eek BIG squeals! Watching from my window on the 11th floor, playing “Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow” I couldn’t wait to get out and play in it…rather just walk in it. Today was full of traffic jams in slow moving traffic, taxis that didn’t want to take you anywhere, and overcrowded subways and buses because EVERYONE is using them today. SNOW days create a WHOLE new adventure in China!
BUT I had to get to Shifu Square ( Government Square)
And Today’s special EVENT was a Seafood hotpot with some members of the hiking group that we used to go out with on the weekend. 3 guys, 3 girls and me. They were thrilled to hear I was back in China and of course wanted to treat me to dinner. Sometimes I feel like I get invited to things like this just so they can have a foreigner sit with them at their table. Unfortunately the 3 ladies that were coming were traveling together and had a fender bender, very common on a day like this. I am so glad we took the subway rather than taxi. Anyway it ended up that I had lunch with the group leader (far right), my Chinese friend and another person I have never met from the club.
This was interesting as I could just sit back ( the conversation was mainly Chinese) and enjoy as many plates of crabs, prawns, shrimp, clams, mussels, oysters and the like… were steamed in front of us. After the seafood came the regular hot pot items with one very interesting item…bone marrow. eww…but I ate it and it was ok.
One thing I can not get used to is the mixed washrooms, side by side, at these restaurants.
On the way home I took more pics of the lovely snowfall before taking the subway which was sooooooo crowded. No pics of this because I was literally sandwiched between hundreds of people. I kept thinking if anything happened…explosion or whatever…I would never be found. SO MANY PEOPLE!!! That’s what happens on a snow day.
David was late getting home from work. He had fun in the snow too, rather trying to get home in it from Michelin. Normally they take a bus but because of the weather the company figured it would be faster by subway too!
This evening we were invited to dear sweet friends for dinner. Sarah has been here from the start of the Michelin Project in Shenyang and for the past two years has taken the position of site manager. You have to know she is an amazing lady to communicate in Chinese, and keep things top notch at the plant with mostly Chinese colleagues. There really aren’t too many expats left these days so her circle of business and the people she relies to get these accomplishments are Chinese. Our very first Christmas in China in 2011, they invited us to their home for Christmas dinner, along with a few other expats who didn’t go home for Christmas. Sarah & Rodney live in a serviced hotel apartment that does not have a kitchen and so over the years they have become close friends with the chef that prepares delicious meals for them tailored to their special diets. How wonderful is that? It was so lovely to catch up with her and her sweet husband Rodney. A perfect evening!
Everyday here is like a gift and I will treasure it in my heart for days to come…or at least until one day I can return?
There is an indoor skating rink at this mall so I spent a little time watching the skating lessons. The little kids are so much fun to watch and you can tell that one day they will be great skaters.
Then just a quick little browse through Zhang lan guan…another market. It wasn’t very busy today and I guess that a lot of the markets are suffering now because of alibaba. EVERYONE is shopping online for EVERYTHING these days!
I took the subway home. It’s much fast then taxi and a lot cheaper. Only 2RMB. It’s the fastest way during evening rush hour and some how the taxis struggle finding Somerset with the taxi card I give them.
I picked up a few things… tea eggs, tomato fruit and bananas, a couple seed squares ( peanut and sesame seed) and a McDonald’s coffee before returning to my hotel. I kinda felt like a Chinese person picking up their daily groceries from the market on their way home for supper.
… and I am relaxing and doing this blog post. Our time is going far too quickly. Tomorrow is Thursday already.
We browsed some of the shops and I found my Jade lady!!! I couldn’t believe it. I picked up a few small Jade animals and helped the guys with their purchases. Our Jade lady was so sweet and I got BIG hugs as we left. I think she was pretty happy we stopped by today.
After lunch, we went back to the hotel where I stayed for a bit of a nap and the guys got turned around and went out for more exploring…David wanted to show them the Electronics street.
I loved catching up with my China daughter Wan Jia Xiu and hearing about her boyfriend and teaching English in a private school in Shenyang.
It was a pretty AWESOME day. ( I think Ron can see why we enjoyed our expat time living and working here)
And then stops along Nanjing street, Zhongshan street, Heping, Zhongshan Park, a HUGE flower shop to show Ron the options he would have living here for surprising his partner with flowers lol. haha, I remember the HUGE bouquet David gave me one year for Valentine’s Day.
More exploring of side streets, the Underground ( my how THAT has changed) markets, hole in the wall places…
After dropping off some things to the hotel, we took the Metro ( crowded at evening rush hour) to Middle Street. The oldest, most famous walking street in Shenyang. It was dusk so the lights were beautiful! Oh how I miss this. It was fun to walk the street, popping in some of the high end malls to get warm. The cold bothers David’s back so we stopped often.
When we were finished we took a cab to one of our favourite restaurants for some familiar dishes . Yum!!! This is what I miss!
Andrew’s wife pulled it off! She surprised Andrew, our oldest son for his 28th Birthday!
Happy 28th Andrew! Wait…How can my boy be 28?
We took Hwy 8 passing Kejimkujik National Park on the way. We wanted to see the site of the really bad forest fires this summer. Such devastation.
Have a great week friends!
The Rugged Dude Burger at The Best Little Oarhouse in Nova Scotia, Bridgewater
Fish & Chips, Maxwell’s Plum, Halifax
We enjoyed lots and lots of amazing meals on our 3 week vacation too but since they were across Canada, it really doesn’t count.
Just An East Coast Girl 