A Respite Next Door

One of my favorite things about being in a new location is finding those special spots. They could be anything: a cafe, a quaint bookstore, or even....a cemetery. My love for cemeteries stems from Paris, when I would pick a spot on the map and spend hours wandering. At first I shied away from those large green patches on the maps until one day there was one between me and my desired cafe. Summoning my courage I briskly strolled in, only to slow immediately at the still beauty. Birds flitted across the continuous stones, from the lush lavender wisteria twining over a monument to the pooling water on a centuries-old marker. It was a secret garden, full of unexpected treasures, and I fell in love. I remember the Cimetiere du Montparnasse and the side-by-side graves of Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone De Beauvoir. I clambered across the hills and crowded stones of Pere Lachaise, in search of Chopin, Colette, and Jim Morrison. I spent hours strolling, simply enjoying the stillness and the reverent beauty.

And now I've found my new respite. Last weekend Brian came home and told tale of a cemetery right down the street. So, on a sun-filled afternoon we sauntered in and once more I found myself slowing at the sight. Mountain View Cemetery, the location for many movie scene filmings, is so for a reason. Much less crowded than its parisian counterparts, this cemetery wooed me with vastness and views. Designed by Frederick Law Olmstead (of Central Park), the gently curving roads wind their way to the hilltop, with glowing sunset views of downtown Oakland and the San Francisco Bay. Brian and I are both enamored and are already planning afternoon picnics and slow walks, to continue our discussions on the romance of side-by-side stones, the incredible detail on the personal mausoleums, or the beauty of family legacy. 

 

Catching up on September

"Welcome to the future. Today's date is September 9, 2011. I know that, to you, only 3 weeks have gone by, but to the rest of the world, your last post was 4 months ago."

That, my friends, is the dialogue that just occurred when I sat down to write this post. Um, what? April 28th? My last post? I thought that during this time of transition for Brian and I, the whole rest of the world was put on hold just like we were. Apparently I was in a time warp. Sigh. 

So...now that the pressure of 4 months of missing posts is all on this one, I'm unsure where to begin. Perhaps I will revert to my writing crutch: a bulleted list. 

1. April 29th, 2011: Brian and I flew from Beijing, China to our "home" in Orlando, after an incredible goodbye party thrown by none other than Greg Kaeuper. Set in the dappled shade of the Stone Boat in Ritan Park, we ate dumplings, speared marinated peanuts, drank chinese beer, and played the range of Chinese kids games for an entire, glorious afternoon. Friends from our offices, church, and elsewhere all gamely played badminton, hackysack, and some sort of game with a string and a double-sided orange top...and sent us off in grand fashion. (These were taken on our Diana Mini...not sure exactly what happened, but i think somewhere the film got stuck and started double exposing. I hated them at first, but the more I see them, the more I'm intrigued)

EDSA group

EDSA friends: Austin, Yan, and more

Nathan and his beautiful mom Bridget

the incredible Kristiana Leniart

Justin and Sadie Stone

Me, Sadie + Me and the always-lovely Ariane Brault

Small group! Kelsey, Melissa, Maria, and Ryan + The poker fiends: Dana and Tom Zemke

having fun...and looking really cool

Maria and Melissa

Yan. Coolest girl in school.

Gordon, Kristiana

Ashton, Tracy (Guo Xiaoying)

The Russian Princess Marina, all-around cool guy Stephen

The best Tawainese ever: Tiger and Jenny

the one, the only: Greg Kaeuper (and stephen trying to do the double-top thing....and failing)

Jenny succeeding at the double-top and string game

Brian....dubious success.

absolutely gorgeous afternoon

2. In the above statement, "home" is in quotes because all of our belongings were still in storage from the previous August and we had given up our apartment in Lake Eola Heights. To our rescue, however, were Kristina and Justin Miller, who allowed us to completely crash their new home and stay with them for 3 months. 

3. Brian and I both worked at our respective companies through June, finished projects, were hosted by wonderful and gracious people for welcome back/goodbye dinners, and attended lots of weddings. 

4. Then came 3 weeks off, in which we spent loads of time with our loved family members, eating incredible food, laughing, adventuring, and canoeing...in Florida, Minnesota, and Texas. 

Camping in the Boundary Waters & Quetico

Brian did really well in not yelling at me.

cooking delicious food for my parents' 30th wedding anniversary

saw some incredible art in Houston

hung out with family

5. Road trip. Brian and I have decided to move to the Bay Area of California in order for Brian to get his masters in Urban Design from UC Berkeley. We're so excited. So we took 4 days, piled our little Toyota Corolla high with suitcases, dog treats, and Hanna and ventured cross country. We saw the Grand Canyon, cruised the Las Vegas Strip, and regaled one another with facts about Albuquerque. 

6. Now, we're here! We settled in the Piedmont area of Oakland, California and are absolutely loving it. There is so much to see, do, and experience in short reach. We've got great shops, grocery stores, and amazing fish tacos all within walking distance and San Francisco is only a short BART jaunt away. I'm so looking forward to sharing our new adventures with all of you!

San Francisco Bay

Tastes of China

This last month has been rife with things that I've been wanting to do for the past 6 months, and just hadn't gotten around to yet. Going to a tailor, finishing off my restaurant list (didn't make it to lunch at Maison Boulod!), and learning to make chinese food. On Monday I attended a Tastes of China cooking class at The Hutong. http://thehutong.com/blog/  The Canadian chef, Joel, guided us through 3 regional dishes: a Sichuan Chili Fried Lotus Root, a Hunan Braised Pork, and a Steamed Eggplant dish. We chopped rolling cuts, drank pu'er tea, and ate our creations til the late hours of the evening. How delicious. I can't wait to get back to the states and begin building my asian cuisine repetoire. Now I just have to find lotus root back home.

Chef Joel.
photo courtesy of Jane Menon

prepping
photo courtesy of Jane Menon

Braised pork....I can't wait to try this one on my own
photo courtesy of Jane Menon

Fried lotus root
photo courtesy of Jane Menon

chef Joel and his group from around the world: the US, Europe, Australia, Ireland
photo courtesy of Jane Menon

Do the Chengdu

Happy Tomb-Sweeping Festival (Rather belatedly)!

Since Brian and I didn't have any tombs to sweep here in China we went traveling for our last jaunt of these 6 months in Asia. The plan was originally to head to Hong Kong, since we have yet to see that famous city, but Brian was sent to Chengdu for work and so I bought a ticket to head there instead. Chengdu is located closer to the center of China, in the Sichuan province, and is known for its spicy food, teahouses, and giant pandas. It's also surrounded by mountains containing some amazing scenery, making its indirect sunlight and misty days rather iconic.

I realized that I haven't done a Top Ten list in a while. Apologies.

Top Ten Things that we did in Chengdu:

1. Renmin Park and Baihuatan Park - Brian and I spent one whole day simply wandering the streets of chengdu in the general direction of Renmin Park. We'd heard it was good....and it didn't disappoint. Chock full of people, drinking tea, playing cards, rounds of mahjong, kids running around, and.....(this is my favorite) dance gardens. Who would have thought? In the center of the park (aka the Monumental Monument, in their words) is an area that is segment into smaller paved spaces. In each of these a different group would be gathered, playing a particular style of music and dancing traditional dances. Brian and I just sat there and smiled. How could you not?

amusement park rides for kids!



the best adventure playground



they would hang bird cages amongst the trees in this park. beautiful chirping, color, and accent. delightful!

2. Pandas - Just to the north side of Chengdu is the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. I read that you should arrive early, and you definitely should. On the misty morning we were the only people in the park and headed straight to the back and the adult panda pavilions. We saw 3 huge black and white beauties lumber out, plop down and start chomping on large stands of bamboo, just watching us with their big black eyes. Very Hanna-like. Then we wandered over and saw a whole group of younger pandas playing and eating, ruled by The Tyrant as Brian called him. They climbed trees, fell out of them, ran around, ate bamboo, and wrestled. Absolutely delightful.

a red panda

The Tyrant (aka show-off)

3. Pet and Plant Street - during our wandering day....loved it.

tadpoles, puppies, kittens, koi fish, birds

4. Lingxiu Hot Springs Spa - A tier of naturally scalding hot spring water down to cool temperatures. You start at the bottom with the cooler pools and work your way up. We stopped for chuar and some beer in the middle, mentally soaking up the misty mountain around us. There was also a strange series of pools, of which Brian and I did not partake. They were labeled Banana Pool, Mint Pool, Pineapple Pool, and Chocolate Pool. Also appropriately colored neon yellow, mint green, and purply brown. Hmmm.

5. Hand-pulled noodles - After the park strolling we happened upon a tiny streetside muslim restaurant. We picked from the pictures on the wall and then sat to watch the noodling-pulling show. This guy was good. His dad was so proud of how good he was...and we were not lax in showing our admiration.

6. BBQ fish in Baguo Town - After a few luxurious hours in the hot spring Brian and I went wandering into the nearby town to see if we could find something to eat. And we could. The specialty of the house was a large fish that we picked out of a tank. Within 10 minutes that delicious fish was slammed on the ground, thrown into a searing liquid, topped with piles of fresh herbs, and placed on our table. I'm still overcoming my childhood dislike for fish, but it was wonderful.Oh, and the owner tried to make us pay 2 kuai to use his plates! nu-uh. Not on my watch. Brian still teases me about it, but I threw out a laughing 'shen me?' in the tone of 'whaaaaat?' And it worked. We saved 4 kuai.

7. Finding the bus back to Chengdu - God blessed us incredibly with buses. In Chengdu going to Mount Emei, we walk into the station to get tickets and ask when it leaves. 'Now' is the reply. We walk into the terminal, miraculously pick the right exit lane and are the last two seats together on the bus. Then, heading back to Chengdu we buy a ticket with 10 minutes to spare, buy some snacks, and once again get the last  two seats together, the bus pulled away 1 minute later. Timing is everything.

8. Mount Emei - This site would be an incredible multiple day hike. However, I wasn't really informed of that before we went. I thought we could grab a bus to the top, see the famous buddha, and then alternately hike and catch buses back down. In one day. Ummm....not so much. We did grab the bus to the top....only to find that it takes over 2 hours to get there, then a hike, then a cable car, then another walk. So, we didn't get to see much of the mountain other than the buddha. However, we met a fun group from Hong Kong on the bus who took us under their wing, helped us buy wicker sleds for our feet, and tried to give us directions. It wasn't a bad experience, but during this day I definitely understood why people travel with tour groups in china. If you don't speak or read mandarin, there is virtually nothing (websites, visitor centers, signage) that can help you navigate. It can be very frustrating...and yet make you feel like a true adventurer.

9. Street food - I still don't really know how to spell chuar. But I know what it is. It's delicious meats, veggies, and tofu shish-kabobed onto wooden skewers and cooked over small charcoal troughs. After a few months in Beijing and our friend Greg removing a lot of the fear of such cooking, Brian and I eagerly sampled chuar and handmade honey candy at every stop that we could. Man, it was good. It was such a great moment to be strolling through these bustling, happy city parks snacking on sichuan spicy snacks.

hand-formed honey candy

10. Intercontinental Hotel Buffet - Before heading back to good ol' Beijing, Brian had another surprise in store for me. We taxied south of the city center to the Intercontinental and lazily enjoyed an incredible spread of cuisine from everywhere. Thai noodles, sichuan meats, french cheeses, american ice cream, Indian curry, and japanese sushi....all in a big beautiful atrium with calling birds and falling water as a backdrop. A perfect way to end our fun weekend.

our awesome hotel river view