29 May 2010: Mr Sun takes us to lunch, Rod under the shadow of Mao and Sarah's first trip to Japan

29 May 2010

Greetings all,

Hope everyone is having a nice Memorial Day weekend in the USA.  Don't forget to Thank a Soldier for their service..it is our fallen soldiers we remember on this day.

This past 2 weeks has been very busy for me (Sarah) and I'm glad to be home!  Before I left last time, Rod and I were invited to eat by our driver.  We were a little unsure about going, since we knew it would be very expensive for him.  We went though and had a great time.  He took us to a nice restaurant and insisted on paying.  The restaurant was huge! (gotta have room for some % of these 8 million people that live here in the city somewhere!) The process at the restaurant was that you entered from the street onto a grand lobby with lots of food displayed (live critters in pans/cages) and cooked dishes on ice, and the main tables were upstairs.  We went upstairs and were seated and almost immediately, the waitress came to the table and gave us menus for the dumplings...all in chinese, no pictures!  I just laid it on the table and picked a spot and pointed!  The driver then took Rod downstairs to pick out what we were going to eat in addition (at least here you could see what you were ordering!).  The dumplings I picked were good...1 was egg and tomato dumpling and 1 was some sort of beef..I think!  Below are a couple of pictures of Rod, me and the driver at the restaurant and also some of the "food" offerings at the entry of the restaurant.  We both felt bad, because I'm sure this was at least  15% of the drivers salary for the month.  We'll find a way to pay him back over time I'm sure!

 Restaurant view from the outside...it's huge!  It's famous in Shenyang for Dumplings

 Rod & Sarah Miller with Mr. Sun at lunch

 Mr. Sun at the restaurant.

 Some menu choices...we didn't order any of these, but I just had to get some slimy pictures!

 Sea Cucumbers are a big deal here...some sort of aphrodesiac I think..

After the big meal, I had to go to the airport to go to France for 10 days, then followed by a meeting in Japan.   Since I've already shared some pictures of France, I won't repeat this...just know it was beautiful..azaleas, rhododendrons, roses...all blooming at the same time.  This time the weather was very pleasant and so nice.  I was very busy with work, so I didn't get to enjoy it fully, but it was nice to be there again.

Unfortunately, while I was gone, Rod got some sort of bug and was really sick.  We're not sure where he got it, but we think it was when he went on a visit to the country with the driver.  He's much better now, but it was a scare for me.  Thanks to those who kept checking on him!  He did manage to get out to and get a picture of him here in Shenyang at the center statue of Mao...not a picture I would have dreamed to see Rodney posing in front of Mao...but here it is and some other close-ups of this statue.  It is quite the piece of art!  There is one photo in which you can see a Chinese woman, pointing a pistol...wouldn't want to mess with her!  The expressions are so lifelike!

I then went to Japan for my meeting.  This was the first time I was in Japan.  The meeting was in OTA, Japan, which I think is North of Tokyo.  I arrived at the airport and then took a bus to OTA.  On the way, I saw some rice fields and took a photo while traveling on the bus.

 Rice feilds in Japan

The meeting went well, but I can't say I enjoyed the food in Japan. In the US, I love going to a Kobe steakhouse and  Im sure it was the choice of restaurants, in Ota, Japan.  We went out to eat at what looked like a bar and I was the only woman.  The menu came and I ordered some steak kabobs and chicken kabobs and they were good.  The big plateau we all "shared" was the fish bowl..raw fish.  Here's a picture of the fish bowl. Note the fish has been cut up and his carcass/tail on the right.  The only piece I ate was the orange

(Salman)..I tried the other, but just could get over the texture!

 Sarah and some work collegues eating at a Japanese bar

 Lots of raw fish to eat...didn't gain too much weight that night!

 Fish and chips brings on a whole new meaning

That's about it for this time.

Take care and keep those cards and emails coming!!

Sarah

15 May 2010: New Recliner and Sofa, Mr Sun and Rod's explores the markets

15 May 2010

reetings all from Shenyang,

Spring has finally arrived here in Shenyang!  The trees are budded out and the annuals have been planted!  It is still cool in the mornings and pleasant in the afternoon low 40's in the mornings and low 70's in the afternoon.  I've been busy at work and trying to cram a million things into the 1 week in the office, so this update is mosty about Rod's adventures and photos of his daily sights here in Shenyang. He goes to really interesting places..and he normally takes me there on the weekend, but since I've got to fly out again today, I'll have to check out these places myself when I get back!  But before we go out on the street, I wanted to show you girls our new home decor since I've redecorated and added 1 additional piece of furniture..a matching sofa for my recliner!

Our living room.  We will eventually get some artwork on the walls,  and maybe a Chinese rug on the floor, but at least now, the furniture layout is the way I want it, and I can recline in the chair...or layout on the couch...both items of comfort after a long day!

So, now to the streets!

Some of you have asked what kind of car we have.  It's a Chinese brand "Jin Bei"..I liken it to a Chinese copy of a Toyota Camery.  The man in front is our driver Mr. Sun.  He is a very nice man, and we are learning to communicate.  We each have a dictionary and a phrase book...so when we get stuck...which is often, we both go to the book and eventually, we understand each other!  My Chinese lessons are coming along...but I have to admit, it's hard to study Chinese when I'm in France...my brain just can't adjust to 2 foreign languages at the same time it seems...or maybe I'm just not focusing enough...at any rate, I'm making progress, but it's a slow go!

Sarah, going to work with Driver Sun in the Jin Bei car in front to the IC hotel in Shenyang.

Every day, there are many vendors on the streets selling food...all kinds of food!

Fresh fruits and vegetables and prepared on-the-spot.  Here some examples.

Have truck, have market!  Note this is a 3 wheeled truck...there are a lot of these here!  Lots of watermelons here and other small melons.  He is parked beside a construction site (of which there are many here too!)  Notice, how many cranes there are in the background..this place is growing!

 This little boy is the son of the guy making the bread.  He was so cute, we just had a to get a picture!

Rod described this as the wafflehouse of Shenyang.  The set up shop on the sidewalk not far from the hotel about 6:00am each morning and go until 11am. He is cooking on a flat top griddle over a propane fire.  She is rolling out the doe....what a team! This doe forms a type of pocket bread and they put an egg and a split hotdog inside and then put it in a small plastic baggie and "the regulars" come up on their electric bikes, put their 3 RMB ( 50 cents) on the cashbox (front and center) and they take their baggie and go. Fast food!

So, that's about it for now.  I'll be in France for the next 10 days, then in Japan for 2 days, then coming back here in the 29th of May...this month has literally flown by..of maybe I've flown by the month...at any rate, it's going by fast!  For those of you on FB, see on there!

Take care and keep those emails coming!

Sarah & Rod

9 May 2010: Vichy, France

Greetings all,

It's been a couple of weeks since my last update and this update is less about life in China, (since I haven't been here, I've been in France) and more about life in general for the Miller's in China.  When I wrote you last, my computer had a crashed hard drive.  I'm proud to write that this email is coming from the restored computer!  When I left, Rod got the computer fixed here in Shenyang, got the Time Capsule backup up to restore the entire computer to exactly what it looked like before the crash. Amazing!  Then, also while I was gone, Rod got us moved into our apartment here at the intercontinental and received our air shipment.  What a guy!  This whole move would have been almost impossible for me to do by myself...I'm glad I don't have to worry about that!  Today, in my jet-lagged fog, I'm trying to get my clothes sorted out, put up and getting the apartment furniture rearranged (if you're a woman reading this, you knew it would be just a matter of time before the furniture would have be moved!)  Rod also got my AppleTV connected up to the TV so I can now watch my US favorites (NCIS, Bones, etc) that I downloaded back in March before we left.

I arrived last night from France, after being there for 2 weeks.  I'll stay here in China for a week, then go back to France on Saturday.  My schedule will be hectic for awhile, but I"m OK.  While in France, I took a short weekend trip up to Vichy.  Vichy is a spa town known for their naturally carbonated, straight from the source waters.  There are several of these towns across France.  Each water is believed to have some medicinal benefit, so if you are on the French medical system, you can actually get a prescription to go to the spa for a period of time and the cost is reimbursed by the social medical system.  The spa in Vichy is believed to help the liver...not sure I believe this, but I drank it anyway! The water is free of charge and is in a nice pavilion.

The weekend I was there, they were having an old car rally, so there was a lot of visitors and old cars in the park.

 Horse carriages take tours around the park in Vichy

 The old car rally (not just a show...these cars were in a race on the roads, that ended up in Vichy!)

 A simple garden gate in a house beside the park in Vichy

 Pansies in the park at Vichy

 Water garden and a nice old pot in Vichy

 This is an private house garden in Vichy...very classy in this context!

 Wysteria in the park at Vichy

It was spring in France as you can see in the photos in Vichy.  The hotel where I was staying in Clermant is just down the street from a public park.  It was breath-taking this time of year.  When it wasn't raining, I walked through the park to work.  What a nice way to start the day!

The is "Jardin du Coq" in Clermont-Ferrand, France (world-wide headquarters for Michelin)

 Jardin LeCoq park in Clermont-Ferrand, France...more about this park in future updates.

You can probably tell, I love France.  Many of you know we lived there for 4 years from 1997 - 2001.  I have many fond memories of our time there.  It was good to be back.

That's about it for this week.   For those of you on FB, I'll be back on there next week when I go back to France.

Thanks for all your emails and notes.