Spring Break - Part 2

After returning home from the overnight trip to the mountain, we slowed the pace a bit. The non-stop coming and going of Mon-Thurs drained our energies a bit.

Friday, Eric and I played tennis (not very competitively, unfortunately, but we played nonetheless) and the four of us ate jiaozi (dumplings). We bought some new plants from "plant street," including a small indoor trained tree that is now at home on our enclosed balcony.

That evening, we went for hot pot at the restaurant we were introduced to by our Chinese friends - it is down the street, on the other side of the highway, down an alley, and between two automobile garages. That being said, the service and food are quite good. We usually go a little early, around 5:30 - and since the restaurant is not busy yet, ALL the waitstaff (~25) are standing at attention by the entrance ready to greet us. Can you say intimidating?

In other food-related news, we had some other good experiences over the weekend. One of our local favorites is shao kao, which we can get in the night market in our neighborhood. It's so simple - grab a tray, and fill it with whatever meat and vegetable goodies you would like.

They cook it and spice it up, and voila!

It's even on sticks, which is helpful for non-chopstick users :)

Liz and Rachel also baked a cheesecake - though due to the temperamental nature of our little oven, it did not turn out as planned. Don't worry though, it all got eaten in the end!

Other observations from the week:

For all the double-scooter riding we did, there were no crashes!


Spring here is nice! For all the clouds we had over the winter, there has been a surprising amount of sunshine and blue sky.
Finally, Rachel is now the new most popular foreigner on the block. No one else is daring enough to go out and try this:

And because everyone loves animals, here's some more videos to see!

-alan