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!
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.
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!
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
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