Things that make you go "huh?"

Wow- hope I never end up at this place:



Happy Chinese New Year to everyone! Enter the year of the Tiger.
We are off to New Zealand so look for upcoming blog about the land of the Kiwis!

Shanghai Hair cuts

Since we have moved to Shanghai nearly 2.5 years ago, the cost of living here has risen quite dramatically. But some things remain cheap such as the cost of a hairwash. Since some locals do not have access to a private bathroom, it is quite popular to go to the salon to have your hair washed, scalp and shoulder massage, and a blow dry. Usually runs around $5. We decided to take the girls for a haircut today and I was sure they wouldn't go for the full hairwash but to my surprise, they were totally down with it! And afterwards, a little trim and viola! All for $7/kid which is pretty cheap compared to what we used to pay in the US for a kids haircut where the stylist only used a water bottle and no blowdry!

A enjoys her first "salon" experience

Ahh, this is the life...

The chinese style towel wrap

The girls enjoy all the attention (clearly, they were a little slow that day)

A with bangs! We think she looks so grown up now- even with the silly face she's making in this picture.

It's still a Shanghai surprise...

After 2.5 years of Shanghai living, it takes A LOT to shock me. So I had to share my latest shock story with all my faithful readers. The other day, we were driving down the street and I saw an older gentleman, dressed in normal clothes (so definitely not a worker), peering down into a manhole. I then noticed he had an over sized ladle in his hand which he was using to scoop poop out of the open sewer. Oh, and by the way, this was all taking place in front of the food stands lining the street. Now, I cannot for the life of me figure out why he was doing this- maybe he needed the poo for cooking fuel or something. Regardless, I did a double take and it's been a long time since I've seen anything that made my eyes pop out of my head.



Along the same lines, nothing shocks me with food anymore either. I've seen it all and for the most part, I've been able to avoid eating it; however, I was recently in a situation where it would have been very rude for me not to eat what was in front of me. And so now I can say that I have eaten shredded pigs ear (tastes like bacon), eel (tastes like white fish), and chicken feet (can't say what it tastes like as I quickly and discreetly spit it in a napkin while my hosts wasn't looking).
So after living in China for so long, I can still find it shocking...sometimes!

Mahout for a day (Chiang Mai part 2)

I mentioned in my last post that one of the coolest things we did on our vacation to Chiang Mai, Thailand was to spend time at an elephant farm as a mahout. A mahout is a professional elephant caretaker. This particular elephant farm is dedicated to the conservation of asian elephants and they have about 16 elephants that they care for. Upon arrival, we were given special clothes to wear so that the elephant knew to identify us as a caretaker. We were each assigned our own elephant and we started off by feeding them (always bribe an animal to like you with food). I had the only male elephant in the group- and his enormous tusks were very intimidating at first glance! When feeding, you put the food directly in their mouth, rather than letting them pick it up with their trunks. It was like reaching into a slimy hole- and we got lots of elephant slobber on us- yuck. Next, we had to examine their poop to see if they were healthy- 10 turds good, 2 turds bad. And we had to smell it- if it's healthy, it actually doesn't smell like anything. I wasn't as grossed out as I thought I'd be (changing diapers for 2 kids kinda makes you get used to dealing with poop).


Feeding the beast!

Afterwards, we brushed the dirt off with a branch and then took them into the river for a bath. Fun for us and the animals! Then, we learned how to properly get up on the elephant- grab the ear, step on their leg, and swing a leg over. When riding bareback, you sit on their neck with is terrifying because it's a LONG way down if you fall and there is nothing to hold onto!


Brushing off "Boon Pak"- that was my guy's name!


A wire brush feels so good!


Sev rinsing off his elephant

We rode the elephants into the forest for our picnic lunch. Our guide explained that it's not cruel to ride them as these are domestic animals- they were all born into captivity. So, just like you would with your pet dog, you feed them, exercise them, clean them, and ensure that they are given a safe place at night where they can't wander off. I thought that was a pretty interesting way to look at things.

Sev climbing up


Victory!


The view from the top- a long way down!

After lunch, we took the elephants swimming. It was fun but I was really apprehensive at first. I kept thinking "what if I get stepped on or he rolls over on me"- you have no idea how utterly huge these animals are until you are up close and personal!


An awesome traditional thai lunch- lots of sweet rice, fruit, and fried chicken.


Begging for food- our elephants got to eat our leftovers from lunch.


Bathing boon pak


A new meaning to the words "log roll"- scary!

All too quickly, the day was winding down and we headed back to "camp". Honestly, this was one of the best things we have ever done and I cannot recommend it highly enough. Plus, it's all about conservation and saving the Asian elephants- and after you spend a little time with them, you'll want to save them too.

The worst santa ever?

It's getting harder and harder to explain the "fake" santas to my kid. Especially when they look like this:

Well, it's China. You work with what you got, right?
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Chiang Mai, Thailand (Part 1)

As I mentioned in my Cambodia post, Sev and I really wanted an adventure vacation where we could do some things that we wouldn't be able to with the kids. Having never been to Thailand, I knew for sure I wanted to go there on our kid free trip but I figured since we could always take the kids to the Thai beaches, we should try the mountain city of Chiang Mai. On the agenda: visting some of the many temples in the city, zip lining through the rainforest canopy, traditional thai massage, and lots of thai food! Oh yeah, and a visit to an elephant farm which was so amazing, I am going to cover it in a separate post.

First off, we chose a small botique hotel called Rachamanka. It was decorated in the traditional Lanna style and the owner has filled the hallways and rooms with beautiful antique furniture. Plus, no kids under 12 allowed which was another reason we liked it! It was like an oasis in the middle of a busy city- I think I'd go back to Chiang Mai just to stay in this hotel! Plus the staff was amazing, and it seems that service and hospitality are something they pride themselves on in Thailand. On our first day in Chiang Mai we found out we had arrived just in time for one of their huge celebrations - the festival of lights. In the evenings, all of the temples and plazas were decorated with beautiful lanterns and we got to see a parade with all of the locals in their traditional costumes- so cool!

On day one, we spent our time wondering around the town and visiting many of it's famous temples. Along with the temples come the monks- they are everywhere! I don't know why but I got such a kick out of seeing them walking down the street (usually barefoot), in taxis, and on their cell phones- yep, cell phones! It seemed like a monk convention and we saw many young boys in training- wonder how one decides to become a Buddhist monk at the age of 10..hmm..

The next day we went zip lining in the rain forest. For those of you who don't know what that is- zip lining is a "sport" where you are strapped into a harness and you are connected by a pulley to cables which are strung (in this case) between trees. It's super fun and terrifying at the same time. I am apparently developing a fear of heights the older I get so I don't think I'd do it again but it was a great experience with amazing views of the forest.

All too soon, our time in Thailand came to an end but we both loved it and cannot wait to go back next year- I can definitely see why people get addicted to this country and go back year after year- it's been one of our favorite countries in South East Asia so far!


Outside of a temple.


Teenage monk on his cell phone- kids are kids no matter what!



The monk mobile- a public taxi rushing the monks to the temple.


Sev and I repelling down during our zip line adventure.


Me- finally brave enough to let go but I wasn't too happy about it...


Sev repelling down to a lower platform



Monks lighting up a temple during the light festival



Something for the ladies- Thai men in the traditional parade.



Our hotel courtyard- miss it already!



A gold gilded temple



A close up of the ancient elephant statues on top of the ruined temple


The ruined temple- at least 1000 years old but exact date unknown...

Lanterns which were hung all around the town

Gilded dragon at a temple

Cambodia

One place I never thought I'd ever visit is the Kingdom of Cambodia. It was never even on my radar screen until we moved to China and I began to hear other expats talking about what an amazing place it was. Fortunately for us, my parents have a wanderlust and were planning a 22 day tour of southeast Asia which gave me the perfect opportunity to convince them spend a week in Shanghai and watch the kids so that Sev and I could get away on our own (first time in 3 years)! When deciding where to go, we wanted to hit some places that we otherwise couldn't visit with the kids in tow. We decided on Chiang Mai, Thailand and Cambodia (Chiang Mai is covered in a separate blog post). And so began our adventure in Siem Reap, Cambodia. The town is really nothing special- except for the several ancient temples which lie nearby. The temples were built over 1000 years ago and all now listed as world heritage sights. As with other ancient temples (egyptian pyramids, Manchu picchu), Cambodia's temples were built with no mortar or cement and were only held together by the perfect fit of each stone. The most famous temple complex is Angkor Wat, which is where we started our journey. Most of the temples were built either to honor a specific buddhist or hindu god, or as a final resting place for the king.

As we explored the various temples, I felt totally overwhelmed by their size, beauty, and the ingenuity it took to build them so long ago. Honestly, I would rank them right up their with the Great Wall of China and the Forbidden City in Beijing. The funny thing is that when we told our friends back in the US that we were going to see Angkor Wat, not one person had ever heard of it. Crazy! By the way, the below pictures do not even come close to doing this place justice!

One of the many temples- look closely to see the giant faces carved into the stones.

A close up of one of the gods.

The citadel of women- built out of pink sandstone to honor a goddess.

One of the small temples in the Angkor Wat complex

Many of the temple walls were carved with these Apsara dancers or other stories about life during the time the temples were built (Sev liked this carving for obvious reasons).

A sign in front of one of the temples we visited- just 2 years ago we would not have been able to go there due to the land mines.

On day two in Cambodia, we took a boat tour of the flooded forest, Tongle Lake. This lake grows 20 times in size during the rainy season, flooding everything around it, yet providing a livelihood to the many local fisherman. It was on this trip that we really got to see how truly impoverished Cambodia is. Again, google Pol Pot if you want to understand why- he was a REALLY bad guy who totally screwed up the country and they are just now starting to get straightened out. I knew going into this trip that we were going to see some tough things- there are a lot of land mine victims from the civil wars (including young people), young children running around naked, and many kids from about age 7 were actually working- either tending to the family's cattle or trying to sell things to the tourists. It was really hard to see but everyone we met was very gracious and always thanking us for choosing to visit their country. Overall, it was an amazing trip and we would definitely recommend Cambodia to anyone with a sense of adventure!

A young boy tending the family cows.

Public transportation for anyone who is not a tourist- yikes.

3 children in a boat- alone- in the fishing village (and yes, the little kid in the back is naked).

Typical fishing huts on the lake.

Two small boys with huge knives- I swear they weren't much older than our kids! And there was not a parent in sight...

These kids had knives too which they apparently used to cut down firewood. Can you imagine American kids going out alone into the jungle to gather firewood?