Holiday Recap

Since I failed to post updates after each holiday we've celebrated recently, I thought I'd just throw them all together into one post. We'll start with Halloween, which we celebrated with jack-o-lantern painted mandarin oranges, costumes at music class, and then a fun trick-or-treat tour organized by my friend around her apartment compound. A bunch of kids and just a few pretty close stops (4 building lobbies and the gate guard station) made for the perfect amount of candy and walking for TJ and her friends.

 Then came Thanksgiving, which we celebrated three times! On Thursday, just a regular workday for Matt (which meant he wouldn't be joining us for dinner), I made glazed carrots and roasted brussels sprouts and ordered a rotisserie chicken for a Thanksgiving-ish meal for me and the girls. On Friday, Bompa came over and we celebrated the football portion of the holiday: replays of all of the games, a special cheeseburger dip that Bompa made, and some quality guitar duets. Finally, Saturday we had our third annual traditional Thanksgiving dinner hosted by our American friends, and attended by Italians, Australians, and Chinese friends. For this one I made an apple pie and two classic casseroles, green bean and sweet potato.

sweet potato casserole topped with pecans in back
green bean casserole with homemade onion rings in front

Finally it was on to Christmas. Even in our short time in Shanghai, we have seen a huge difference in how much the holiday is celebrated. Each year, more and more places around town get into the holiday spirit, and they're also getting the decorations more accurate too. Check out this gorgeous tree in the lobby of a hotel on the other side of Shanghai where we enjoyed a little "staycation" one weekend.

TJ says "PRESENTS!!!"

Our tree was slightly less impressive, although the story behind it was quite amazing. Matt made a quick pit-stop at IKEA one night after work and cajoled the manager into selling him the very last Christmas tree they had: the display model. So he bought the tree, ornaments and all. Brought it home in the back of a taxi. Christmas champ!

the legendary "last tree in Shanghai" (and it was still November!)

We did a bit of decorating and baking this year to get ourselves in the holiday spirit.

TJ decorated these ones herself!

I remember making these with MY mom growing up

Matt and I did these ones

Buddha even decided to celebrate with some mini-trees

Santa came, but failed to assemble before delivery. So one elf built a kitchen while another ate a cookie.

...which were much enjoyed

snacks for Santa and his reindeer...

Matt hard at work on the kitchen

Santa's gifts for Tyler (she asked for a little kitchen)

Santa's gifts for Avery (Tyler told us Avery wanted a giraffe)

the scene after Santa's visit

On Christmas morning, both girls patiently hung out on our bed waiting for Mama and Daddy to shower and Bompa and Crystal to arrive. Probably the last year that's going to happen! Then we enjoyed a pleasant morning of slooooowly opening and playing with gifts, eating a two course breakfast (cinnamon rolls and fruit salad, followed by omelettes), and then in the afternoon Bompa made his special family recipe of Goulash. Matt calls it "dirty sock soup" because in lieu of cheesecloth, you can put the spices in a sock. Which we did.

Christmas morning cuties

breakfast round 1

Pat with the "dirty sock"

nothing says Christmas morning like a screwdrivers & Bloody Marys ;)

One of my favorite parts of the day was when Tyler gave her gifts to Avery. I explained to her the whole idea of presents -- receiving AND giving -- and we came up with the idea that she would go through her old toys and choose a couple things to give to Avery. Then she helped me wrap one and decorated a bag for the other. She's a very sweet big sister.

the girls being goofy

Fortune Cookie

We have lived here for over two years now, and in that time have sampled many types of Chinese food, including Ayi's Anhui homestyle; local cuisines from Yunnan, Sichuan, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan; hot pot, noodle shops, Peking duck, street dumplings, and xiaolongbao (soup dumplings).

But we’ve never eaten Chinese food like this before . . . here.

the familiar florescent sign gives us our first hint of what's to come

Fortune Cookie is the classic American Chinese food experience, down to the notorious takeout containers and that annoying waving cat.

We ordered crab rangoon, chow mein, sweet & sour pork, and orange chicken. We can't wait to go back for their beef & broccoli and some chop suey.

Their fortunes may be a bit unusual, but the rest of the experience was spot-on authentic – we were transported! And it was delicious.

only the fortune inside the cookie reminds me that we're still in Shanghai

Mooncakes

We just celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival last week, which is a national holiday dating back to ancient China, and is meant to worship the harvest full moon. Similar to American Thanksgiving, there’s generally a lot of eating and drinking with family. Typical customs during the modern holiday include moon-gazing and eating mooncakes.

fancy box of mooncakes

In my opinion, mooncakes are a bit like our fruitcakes: supposedly a beloved traditional treat, but actually not that incredibly addictively delicious. Like most Chinese desserts, they aren’t overly sweet. The outside is a dense eggy cake, often with fancy flowers and calligraphy imprinted on it. The filling is traditionally bean paste, but I’ve seen everything from meat- to ice cream- filled mooncakes.

mooncake surface view

cut open to reveal the filling

This year, Pat*’s boss gave him a box of lotus-yolk mooncakes, which he brought over to share with us. I’m not sure what I was expecting on the inside, but I guess I wasn’t thinking quite so literally.

egg yolk!

Yes, that is an egg yolk surrounded by lotus bean paste. I liked the bean paste, subtly sweet and a rich texture. The yolk, well... it wasn’t my favorite part.

中秋节快乐！(Happy Mid-Autumn Festival)

*Pat is Matt's dad, he also lives in Shanghai

Blue Skies

Proof that sometimes the pollution lifts and we are actually under the same sky as everyone else in the world…

(and if you’re wondering, this is the view out the windows of our 16^th story apartment)

Sisterly Love

Tyler is a very enthusiastic big sister. Perhaps a little too enthusiastic, actually.

She is so eager to hug and kiss Avery that it often devolves into smothering. She has been caught numerous times with my breast-pump to her bare chest, attempting to "get milk for Avery". She wants to share every toy with Avery, even ones that might not be so appropriate for tiny hands or teething mouths. She has become insistent that Avery always be positioned to watch Tyler eat, color, read, solve puzzles, etc.

Tyler recently learned how to climb in/out of her crib, so we transitioned her to a "big girl bed." And then Avery was outgrowing her bassinet, so we transitioned her to the crib. I'm guessing you can see where this is going, as you're (hopefully!) less sleep deprived than I am... but next thing I know, Tyler is in the crib with Avery, trying to "cuddle" her as she naps. Yikes!

Last night over dinner, Tyler kept asking and asking and begging and whining to hold and feed Avery. So I decided to let her channel all of her sisterly affection in a more positive -- and supervised -- way. She was very patient, stayed focused, and was gentle and supportive with Avery. For her part, Avery seemed enthralled with Tyler, and actually drank an ounce of milk while on her lap.

I am really enjoying seeing the girls' relationship develop. Well, at least when it's sweet moments like this. I could do without the crib incidents.

Tyler Sings in Chinese

Tyler has learned her first Chinese nursery rhyme!

It took me awhile to figure out the lyrics, because Chinese is difficult enough for me without having to also understand through the mispronunciations of a toddler and the heavy accent of her teacher, our Ayi (helper). I finally had to enlist the help of our friend Crystal, who is fluent in both Chinese and English. But it's a cute little song, sung to the tune of Frere Jacques.

First, the English translation, since that's probably the only version that means anything to the blog readers.

TWO TIGERS

Two tigers, two tigers

Running fast, running fast

One has no eyes, one has no ears

Very strange, very strange.

Next, the Chinese version. I've written the tone-less pinyin (our alphabet) under the hanzi (characters).

两只老虎

LIANG ZHI LAOHU

两只老虎，两只老虎

Liang zhi laohu, liang zhi laohu

跑得快，跑得快

Pao de kuai, pao de kuai

一只没有眼睛， 一只没有耳朵

Yi zhi meiyou yanjing, yi zhi meiyou erduo

真奇怪，真奇怪

Zhen qiguai, zhen qiguai.

And now, Tyler’s music video debut – enjoy!

A Little R&R in Shanghai

Matt just switched jobs, and in between finishing one and starting the next we had just enough time for a very very mini vacation. We decided to travel on the cheap, spending less than $2 total to transport our family to the Sheshan Le Meridien resort, which is located within Shanghai district limits and is accessible by subway. 

It was amazing travelling nearly to the end of the subway line. I really realized how expansive this city is and how it can host over 24 million residents: there were still blocks and blocks of high-rise apartments even after travelling 45 minutes by train out of downtown.

Once we arrived in Sheshan, a bit more than an hour from downtown via subway, we were greeted by hawkers selling all sorts of beach and sun paraphenalia. Sheshan is an interesting place, famous for its "mountains" (barely hills by Colorado standards) housing an old Jesuit chapel and observatory. Nowadays it's probably more popular for the scupture park nestled into the forests, the amusement and water parks, and a few resorts -- such as the Le Meridien -- that have established themselves as a destination for corporate retreats and small conventions.

In any case, we got to enjoy huge indoor and outdoor pools, a playground and bouncy castle, a manmade beach (although for safety reasons we decided it best to just look and not play in the sand or stagnant water of the lake), and expansive grounds with lots of pathways along the lakeside and through the forests. Matt even ran up the mountains to check out the chapel and observatory.

While it was by no means a luxurious beach vacation, Sheshan still proved to be a welcome respite from the Shanghai city heat and hustle. It's nice to know we have an option of a nearby and affordable little escape whenever we need a weekend recharge.

view of the "beach" from our room

because what resort doesn't need a giant satellite?

the cathedral and observatory on the hill in the background past the convention center

TJ loved the bouncy castle

a little wedding chapel on the hotel grounds

path across the lake to the outdoor pool and playground