Good-by, Shanghai. Next stop, U.S.A. and HOME!

It has been a whirlwind, interesting, educational, and some times crazy . . but WONDERFUL trip of a lifetime.  Special thanks to these two ladies - the absolute BEST!

        

   WHAT A PLEASURE IT WAS TO MEET MANDY MAY, CINDY'S NIECE.  SHE GAVE ME NEW FAITH IN THE NEXT GENERATION.  SHE IS SMART, WELL-MANNERED, AND VERY EFFICIENT.  LOTS OF FUN AND SMILES, TOO!

                                    

                                      I WILL NEVER FORGET HOW MUCH SHE LOVES PRAWNS!

        

CINDY MAY, MY FRIEND FOR OVER FORTY YEARS. THEY SAY THAT YOU KNOW SOMEONE IS A TRUE FRIEND IF YOU ARE APART FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS AND YOU PICK UP RIGHT WHERE YOU LEFT OFF.  CINDY IS THAT KIND OF FRIEND. I AM SO IMPRESSED WITH HER KNOWLEDGE OF THE BUSINESS WORLD, AND THE WORLD IN GENERAL. HER UPBEAT AND POSITIVE SPIRIT IS A BLESSING TO THOSE AROUND HER. I FEEL PRIVILEGED TO CALL HER MY FRIEND.  THANK YOU, CINDY!

Tai Chi and Shanghai's Old Town . . .

Cindy and I started the day at 8 a.m. We decided it would be fun to take a Tai Chi (pronounced tie chee) class that was offered at the hotel. How hard could it be to do a few poses, right? Wrong. Just because something looks easy does not make it so.  We have been laughing about it all day. Our instructor was Chinese, and knew very little English, but we soon figured out "no" and "do again." The thrill of the class was when she gave us a thumbs up. It was a riot. We plan to go again tomorrow morning . . . that is, if we are not too sore.

                                    

                                                                   OUR TEACHER

                                    

                                                            SHOWING ME WHAT TO DO

                                    

                                                                         TA DA!

After breakfast we headed out to Shanghai's Old Town, where we spent the rest of the day. We must have looked confused after we were dropped off by a taxi because a nice Chinese man that could speak English came to our rescue. He showed us where to go to see the sights we had targeted. Before we went on our way, he invited us to see his store. It turned out to be the highlight of my day. He sold fresh water pearls, jade, and tea. He opened one the oysters for us and it had 15 pearls. There were three colors - white, pink, and purple. We looked around for quite some time, and then he invited us for tea. It was so much fun! 

                                  

                                    THE STORE OWNER OPENING THE FRESHWATER OYSTER

        

                                INSIDE THE OYSTER -- Can you see where the pearls are hiding?

        

                                              THREE OF THE PEARLS THAT WERE INSIDE

        

                                       THESE ARE SOME OF THE TEAS THAT WE WERE SERVED.

        

          THE MAN IN THE MIDDLE IS THE STORE OWNER. THE GIRL IS PREPARING AND SERVING THE TEAS.

Then we proceeded to the Yuyuan Gardens for a self-guided tour.  The Gardens were established in 1559, and took 20 years to create. They were restored between 1959 and 1961. They feature six main scenic areas and thirty pavilions, all linked by bridges and walkways. The Gardens were created as an idyllic retreat, where the founder, Pan Yunduan, and his family could relax.

                                       HERE ARE SOME PICTURES FROM INSIDE THE GARDENS:

        

       

        

        

        

        

We saw so many things, but here are some highlights from Old Town.

                                   

                                                      THE FAMOUS HUXINTING TEAHOUSE

        

                                                                  THE OLD TOWN MARKET

                                   

WE SAW A LOT OF THESE BROOMS AROUND SHANGHAI. THEY HAVE A BAMBOO HANDLE WITH STICKS TIED TO IT. WE HAVE IT PRETTY GOOD IN AMERICA, DON'T WE?

        

                              WHAT REMAINS OF THE WALL THAT USED TO SURROUND SHANGHAI

                                    

                                                           A WiFi HOT SPOT!  Ha!

Tea time -- and I don't mean tee time!

It continues to rain heavily in Shanghai, setting some records. The trade show ended today. Cindy did a great job with her presentation and all in all, it was a great success. We did not see many American companies during the three days. In the late afternoon, we went to tea time at our hotel. We drank two different teas and also had creme brûlée. All three were new experiences for me.

                                   

                      SAW THIS LITTLE BOY ENJOYING THE RAIN OUTSIDE THE CONFERENCE CENTER

         

                                                         "DONG FANG HONG" OOLONG TEA

       

                     "JASMINE DRAGON BALL" SCENTED TEA (Can you see the flowers in the teapot?)

        

                                                                     CREME BRÛLÉE

Asia for Children - "Flags: A test"

Hello, to learners of all ages!  Here is the flag test I told you would be coming. How many can you name? Don't be afraid to look them up if you can not remember. That is what learning is all about! If it is too much work to look them up (the teacher says sarcastically), the answers are at the bottom of the post.

                 #1:      

     

                  #2:       

             

                  #3:

         

                  #4:

         

                  #5:

         

ANSWERS:  #1 - JAPAN

                   #2 - SINGAPORE

                   #3 - MALAYSIA

                   #4 - INDONESIA

                   #5 - CHINA

The Trade Show and The Grand Dinner . . .

What a day! The trade show began today (Tuesday). Our booth looked great and it was interesting to be the exhibitor instead of the attendee, as I am at teacher conferences. It was a sea of people - several million we heard. I have never been in such an enormous group of human beings. Amazing! We were there from 9:00 a.m. until 5:30 p.m.  The expo continues for two more days.

                                                 THE ENTRANCE OF THE EXPO CENTER

        

                                              FEW PICTURES OF THE GRAMINEX BOOTH

                                  

                                  

         

We were invited by Jebsen Industrial, who shares our booth, to a GRAND DINNER. There were two tables of twelve in a private room.  At my table were people from China, Hong Kong, Switzerland, and France. Most could speak at least some English.  The meal lasted about two and one half hours and I lost count after twenty courses. If you have a weak stomach, continue reading with caution. New foods  I ate included: rice flat noodles with sesame seed paste (good), Sweet Chinese tofu (nothing like our tofu, and quite sweet), black fungus (don't ask), pork belly with hoisin sauce, Chinese cabbage and pork spring roll, lychees (a fruit that was pretty tasty), abalone (what we would call conchs, and I would call gross. Slimy, hard to chew, and even harder to swallow), Chinese broccoli, Alaskan halibut (good), coconut/tapioca soup (great), mushroom/pork soup (not that great), jellyfish (yuck). Be ready . . Thankfully, I did not know what the following were until after I ate them: shaved duck head, duck stomach, crispy duck skin, and chicken feet. Need I say more? Cindy also ate hairy crab. I did not attempt it -- I could hardly look at it! Cindy evaluated the Grand Dinner this way: "The Carmenerre Chilean wine was the best part of the meal." Perhaps I should have tried it.

Hello, Shanghai!

We arrived in China late Sunday evening after a flight delay in Tokyo. We are staying in another beautiful hotel - the Park Hyatt, Shanghai. It is ultra modern in architecture and very high tech...more on that at another time. We are on the 80th floor (of over 90). It is so high that the view out of my window this morning was CLOUDS! There is a giant hole through the top floors that an airplane can fly through!  

                                                                   Here is a picture:

                                     

The trade show starts tomorrow, so we spent our "free day" sight-seeing.  First, we went to the Bund, an area of Shanghai that has a beautiful walkway on the river, the financial district, historical buildings, as well as local commerce.  Here is a sampling of some things we saw.

         

                                      COLONIAL BUILDINGS (turn of the century) ON THE BUND

         

                                             THE HUANGPU RIVER THAT FLOWS THROUGH SHANGHAI

         

                                         A NEWLY MARRIED COUPLE GETTING PICTURES TAKEN

                                   

                                                    MONUMENT TO THE PEOPLE'S HEROES

        

                                                        CUSTOMS HOUSE AND BANKS

         

                                                 BEAUTIFUL WALL MADE FROM FLOWERS 

         

                                            SHANGHAI STOCK MARKET (only a Bull Market here!)

                                     

                                                            SIGNAL TOWER FOR THE SHIPS

                                      

                                                         THE GORGEOUS WALDORF ASTORIA

                                      

                      ONE OF THE MANY ENORMOUS FLOWER ARRANGEMENTS - EASILY 6 FEET TALL!

                                       

I ORDERED A RASPBERRY ICED TEA. THIS IS NOT LIKE IN THE US. IT IS RASPBERRY SIMPLE SYRUP ON ICE. IT WAS VERY REFRESHING.

                                       

                                                  OUR TREAT OF MACAROONS AND MERINGUES.

                  

       

           FROM THE OPULENCE OF THE WALDORF ASTORIA TO A FARMER BRINGING FOOD INTO THE CITY

                                   

                                               THE NEXT STOP WAS THE PEOPLE'S SQUARE.

        

                                                                 POLICE PATROLLING  

       

                                               THE WALKWAY HAD INTERESTING BRICKS . . . 

       

                                                      . . . AND LOTS OF PIGEONS! 

       

                                         THE BIG FOUNTAIN IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SQUARE

       

                                              THE CHILDREN WERE HAVING LOTS OF FUN!

      

                                    

                                                                     SO WAS MANDY!

       

THE VIEW FROM THE VUE LOUNGE. THE WALKWAY A LITTLE TO THE RIGHT OF THE MIDDLE IS THE BUND WHERE WE WALKED EARLIER IN THE DAY.

       

WE WENT TO THE "CHINA KITCHEN" THAT WAS RECOMMENDED TO US BY THE EXECUTIVE CHEF WE MET IN JAKARTA. OUR FIRST COURSE WAS A 10 VEGETABLE SALAD THAT HAD MUNG BEAN SPOUTS, CARROTS, GREEN AND RED PEPPERS, CELERY ROOT, CUCUMBER, CHINESE CABBAGE, SHITTAKE MUSHROOMS, AND THREE OTHERS THAT I CAN NOT REMEMBER. NEXT, WE HAD SIZZLING COD WITH A DELICIOUS SAUCE MADE FROM SESAME SEED OIL, SOY SAUCE, WHOLE GARLIC CLOVES, SPRING ONIONS, AND HONEY. VERY YUMMY!

                                  

                                                         CARVING THE PEKING DUCK

        

                                       THE LAST COURSE WAS BLACK PEPPER CHICKEN.