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Wandering Bangkok

Late afternoon I left to wander the streets of Bangkok. Of course one must stop at temples along the way.

Erawan shrine.On the way to the next temple I saw many Christmas displays with holiday music playing.

Wat Pathum WanaramOne of the monks was trying to get one of the cats to play with a laser. The cat was not amused.Inside the temple. It is always peaceful inside Buddhist temples.Now hungry I decided to go to the palladium night market and on the way stumbled on a different part of the winter street food.The pad Thai here is amazing and the first thing I saw. I enjoyed the dish while listening to Christmas music.

A nearby shrine.
At another night market on the way back I enjoyed mango sticky rice. Yummy.

And the affection of another cat.

Upgrade… This is a boring post.. But how often do I fly business class…

Every once in awhile it is okay to splurge. It seems little but why not.I was having pain in my breast with enlarged lymph nodes in my armpit and decided to have it checked out at Bumrungrad hospital in Bangkok. They are very thorough and once there they run every test without having to come back to make other appointments. First class hospital. Worth my time.I booked Kenya airways and received an email on whether I wanted to bid for upgrade to business class. I did some research on the difference in price and bid for about 20% of the difference between business and coach, or $75. It was accepted for the flight there. Since it was a later night flight I was excited about sleeping in seats that reclined to a bed. Even better yet was the pass to the premium lounge.Of course, people who know me understand that the first thing I saw was the jar of marshmallows in the lounge. I can’t help it…I didn’t stop at marshmallows, and yes they were strawberry flavoured. I had carrot soup, spring rolls, fried fish, Thai fried rice, fresh pear, wine…If I would have known how great the lounge was I would have gone to the airport when earlier!!!Probably not, but will consider purchasing a lounge pass on long layovers.I people watched from up above…I even graded papers…. Yeah not exciting… But so many to do and they take over an hour a piece to grade. Got to love IB courses…You literally can walk right in to the plane. You get a special lane for security, fast track through the gate, and all this space…The seats had so many positions for lounging and of course sleeping.I will take the snack offered on this flight any day. Definitely better than what is offered in coach.By reclining to a flat bed I had a great 1.5 hours of sleep before landing. Since my appointments at the hospital are early morning, I appreciated that.Update: the source of the pain is lymph nodes most likely caused by hormone levels. Not sure what that means, why it is lasting so long, and what will resolve it… But at least it is not a mass that needs worried about. Since there is family history I wanted it checked by one of the best hospitals around. They also helped with the hepatitis B series I still need to get!Now tomorrow I can tour Bangkok!

Happy Thanksgiving to you!

Today is already Thursday and Thanksgiving here in China. There has been a lot going on which is true anywhere you are. Teachers especially can relate to this time of year and the school year in general.I would not really be aware that Christmas is coming other than the “cable box” which includes some US channels now regularly has Christmas commercials. I might also add the Black Friday ads in my inbox and blog feed that I see but am glad to miss the actual event. I still however search on weekends the channels I know are most likely to play Christmas movies. But I’m glad there is not the craziness here or that I don’t have to do much gift giving as family does not do that anymore. For the kids, I fly them out to see me once a year instead.A local store in the expat area does bring out the seasonal goodies and I am on charge of the secret Santa at my school.I have had fun joining a craft club. This month we used glass paint to decorate glasses. We meet at a local restaurant, eat, and craft. Fun!I am thankful to be in an area where good fresh food is cheap. Everything in this picture was 85 kuai. That is about $12. These before were purchased for a Thanksgiving dinner I cooked for a Chinese friend of mine who had never had an American Thanksgiving dinner. For reference the turkey we bought was 280 kuai or about $40.That is a good system that is honest in what it costs to bring something to the table. The US good system has everything skewed incorrectly. The food here is fresh and must be used in a few days unlike the week or so veggies last in the states.The night of Thanksgiving dinner. Lily and her son had never had roasted turkey, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie. She loved mashed potatoes and wants to learn how to make them. Lily brings international people together. I met her at a ball and was welcomed into her group. She does so much for us that we loved to do this for her.From left above is Killian the athletic trainer, Lily, Edward her son, Stephen, Evan, and Siqin who are good friends at the school.I also go to Internations events once a month. Each time they are at a beautiful hotel with great food and people from all over the world who are members.The Canton tower from the hotel deck of the last event.Since I’m training for a half marathon on December 8, my life is pretty much just running. This includes after school with kids, with the Nike run group, and on my own on weekends.At the last run with Nike at the sports center there were more groups dancing including these women in traditional Chinese clothes and umbrellas. One of these days I’m going to just join in their dancing. Very graceful and beautiful. You can see groups dancing in every park throughout the day.On other runs on the weekend I run along the river……Or I run through the mall of the world pedestrian area. It is always beautiful.Our school did have a Thanksgiving dinner the weekend before and a barbecue with corn hole competitions the night before. Both were a wonderful time but I forgot to take pictures!As for school work, my students turned in their individual assessment. This is a scientific experiment that they create and report on. Think college level publishing of an experiment. They take a long time to grade.Tso Tso loves the pencil but waits patiently until I put it down.

APAC cross country to Thailand and Shanghai

Another great season with kids has ended and two great trips in the process. I was prepared this year to all the work I needed to do and not be crazy during the season. To prepare I planned lessons well in advance and kept procrastination to a minimum. Still, coaching and student council is a lot and I am looking forward to having a little free time and more choices in my personal running time.

We had stellar students who really excelled this year in running and it was fun to see them compete and boast personal records throughout.

We went to Kanchanaburi in Thailand again for an invitational in September. Still rainy and muddy but better than last year as we knew what to expect – and there was less rain.

These are a few of the beautiful views on the long run before we left to fly back home.

It was great to run with all the kids and the coaches. We ran with some exceptional athletes, many of them triathletes so it was intimidating.

We had a few meets near our campus and our kids dominated the local races. It was great practice for them to see what they could do.

For APAC, we headed to Shanghai in October. I have flown into Shanghai before but took a train out of the city for a half marathon and did not have time to spend there. As this was a pretty tight trip with races and chaperoning, our only time to sight see was during the scavenger hunt.

Coaches stayed at the Ramada. A teddy bear and rubber ducky to await my arrival.

At the race at Bianjing park. The girls before the race.

The start of the boys race. It was a really fast race with many runners under 28 minutes for the 5k.

The start of the girls race. Another fast race.

After a rest and snack, students were separated into teams for a scavenger hunt. On the bus we ate lunch. For the hunt, there were clues to get to some notable sights in Shanghai near the river along a walkway called the Bund.

It refers to the outer bank (Huangpu River). This part of the riverfront is farther downstream than the inner bank area adjacent to the old walled city of Shanghai.

At each spot we completed a task and received a stamp.

1. The bull is actually found along Wall Street.

2. The people’s monument shows the history of China in the stories along the wall at its base. It is near Waibaidu bridge which is the oldest (did not get a picture.)

Our selfie task from this spot.

3. The Bund Mast.

4. At the finance center there is a building that looks like an organ.

5. Across the river you can see the Pearl Tower. This is a radio and TV tower.

The building in the middle is shaped liked a lotus on top.

Statue of Chen Yi, the first mayor of Shanghai.

We took a ferry across the river to collect stamps found on that side before we met for a snack and returning to the school.

6. Shanghai Tower.

The three tallest buildings on that side. The one on the left is known as the bottle opener building.

Standing in the middle of all three.

7. Lujiazhui green space near the the three tallest buildings. Students were not happy they had to do 10 burpees here!

Looking at the Pearl Tower from Isola restaurant in the IFC mall (4th floor). Lots of tired kids and adults!

Afterwards we went back to the hosting school, Concordia. What a beautiful school. We had a great dinner and awards ceremony. Meeting and talking with other coaches was great!

This week…and travel plans!!

I finally finished planning my next vacations. Over the holidays I will go to Cairo (maybe learn to dive? Alexandria also) and Athens including some islands.

For Chinese New year in January it will be New Zealand for an adventure vacation. I start with half arthon in Auckland. Then: Skydiving, tough kayaking and hikes, hot springs, abseiling into glow worm caves, hobbiton, and beaches… Lots of adventure. Excited for both now that they are planned..

Glad I finished planning these before my tough week.

This last week was long….

Parent teacher conferences run two days and it is like speed dating with teachers. Non stop. Parents are generally positive and receptive. Some students and parents want to question predicted grades for their IB students. As my kids are now 12th graders it can count towards college acceptance. I find it difficult as this is my first time predicting and no past experience to draw on. I sought out advice and made my best predictions.

As usual, my school provides breakfast and lunch which makes getting ready for school easier.

On the first day of conferences, the other student council advisor, Katie Dean, made this beauty. Tasty… As usual… Yummy!!! Marshmallow, caramel, chocolate ganache… Teachers hyped on sugar!

The simplest meal near my apartment is where you choose the veggies, proteins and noodles. You pay by weight and they make a noodle soup from it. You then add seasonings at the end to your liking. On weeks like this, it is easy, fast, cheap, and yummy.

At the end of the week, a school from New Zealand visited and demonstrated Maori dance and culture. New Zealand is one of the few countries whose native inhabitants are actually mainstreamed into the culture. It is not forgotten there. It was fabulous.

Here are two dances that I recorded:

Now I am sitting in an airport ready to fly to Shanghai for the last meet of the year for cross country.

More Guangzhou…

Ryan and I toured around areas of Guangzhou before he left.

Dongshan neighborhood

My friend Lily hosted a lunch at a local vegetarian restaurant that I am familiar with: shifunyuan vegetarian behind the Wuyangcun metro. We had fun lunching together with her son and my friend Siqin.

Siqin is in the center and Lily is on the right.

We ate wonderful food. A pumpkin dish.

Vegetarian fried rice.

Eggplant in a Thai sauce.

Sweet and sour tofu.

We then walked around the charming neighborhood a few blocks away. Very expensive to live with great schools, historic homes with architecture, and beautiful churches.

There was a history of silk and women’s role in garment industry art installation.

There were also commemorations to modern China as the holiday was this last week.

The canals on the way to the park.

We cut through the local park to get to the metro that could take us home. It was beautiful as well.

Taigucang

At night we met other friends for dinner in an older part of Guangzhou. There are not many high buildings despite having a large metro stop with a huge underground mall that spans several blocks.

Frog legs, bamboo with mushrooms, soicy green beans, spicy cabbage, and other meat dishes.

Afterwards we went to the wharf where there are large converted warehouses. This city amazes me with everything it has. It is crazy big.

Amy, Ryan, me, Amy, Siqin, Stephen, and Fiona.

We were pretty whipped and Ryan needed to fly the next day to go home. Always pretty emotional.

At the airport.

I tried to get a tattoo appointment whole he was here just do he could see the tattoo artist from last year that he had met. Through setting up the appointment he had a chance to meet with her and have some fun one night. I left him at the airport to go to the appointment. The result is this tattoo. This is the artist and the girl that Ryan was able to see again.

And a better view of the dragon tattoo. It is upside down of course.

Green in Taipei

Taipei is a beautiful city. It is green with lots of parks much like Guangzhou. In fact, it feels like a cross between Japan and Vietnam. Japan in how beautiful, clean, and the feel of the roads in getting around by walking.There are many motorcycles that remind me of Vietnam.

Where bikes need to u turn and would otherwise block the crosswalk, there are boxes for them to wait in.On the way to the MoCA, Taipei at museum, we passed great cafes.

There is an art park mostly for children but beautiful.

And like Guangzhou there are great parks where people gather and spend time in a place that is quieter. Here you could see Tai chi and a karaoke group of older people.

The birds here are happy being fed bread crumbs.

Tai chi.

The gardens outside of Chiang Kai Shek.

The MoCA (museum of contemporary art), Taipai

Listening to George Orwell’s story “you and the atomic bomb” while viewing the images.

Multiple acrylic pieces you see through at one time. It changes each different way you look.

Sun Yat Sen.

The MoCA from the outside.

On the way back to the hotel, we took the metro. Pretty swanky metro stop with some cool shops.

National Palace Museum garden

Here are pictures of the Park near the national palace museum.

A dragon fountain.

Another park on the way back to the hotel. Shuangxi park.

The garden maze park

It was beautiful and walking around various parts of the city was a great vacation.

Taipei, looking at history

Walking around waiting for the art museum to open, we found the memorial house of Sun Yat Sen.

Sun Yat Sen
Sun Yat-sen was a Chinese politician, physician and philosopher who served as the first president of the Republic of China and the first leader of the Kuomintang, the Nationalist party. He is widely revered in China and Taiwan as being the Father of the Nation and in the overthrowing of the Qing Dynasty.

In Guangzhou there is a Sun Yat Sen hospital and I had not realized the background of this famous person.Chiang Kai ShekWe also went to Chiang Kai Shek memorial hall. It is impressive. The white building is in the shape of an octagon. The number eight is traditionally associated with fortune and wealth in China.

The blue and red accents, are the colours of the Republic of China. The stairs lead up to the main hall where a large bronze statue of Chiang sits.

The characters behind Chiang’s statue read “Ethics”, “Democracy”, and “Science”, and the inscriptions on the side read “The purpose of life is to improve the general life of humanity” and “The meaning of life is to create and sustain subsequent lives in the universe”.

Chiang is regarded as a controversial figure. He brought China and then Taiwan into the modern age. He, along with Sun Yat Sen, had a major part in unifying the nation and leading the Chinese resistance against Japan. He was known as a dictator at the front of an authoritarian regime who suppressed opponents.

When Chiang Kai Shek was fighting the Japanese, they moved many of the Chinese artifacts from the forbidden city to Shanghai and Nanjing. During the civil war that immediately followed they were moved to Taiwan. Here they were protected from destruction, a tactic used to overthrow regimes and rewrite history.

National Palace Museum

The National Palace museum was created to house these artifacts which is the largest collection of Chinese heritage.

Buddhas

A zither, stringed instrument.

A zither made of pottery. It actually can play music.

Pottery.

Pottery from early history during the warring states period.

My favourite. Cloisonne with dragons.

Cloussone zun vessel in the shape of a bird from the Qing dynasty.

This flower basket is actually carved from a peach pit!

Lapis lazuli carved into a mountain.

Furniture.

Bronze metals.

Look at this one. It is a To water vessel with an animal handle and humans as feet. It is from the Zhou Dynasty.

They had a special collection of jade. It showed how jade can be carved in different ways to show tension, movement, etc.

This is a Zhi cup carved with birds and animals from the Han Dynasty.

A jade screen from the 1940’s that was originally not thought to be made of jade but instead a similar looking mineral. However it is all jade.

Jade had irregularities in colour week died to mimicking something in life. This is a carving of a vegetable. The colours are amazing.

The architecture of the museum itself is a piece of art.

Adjacent to the museum is a cute park. The next post will be about parks and the art museum…

Shilin night market, Taipei

We spent a quick almost 3 days and 2 nights in Taiwan. Obviously we could not see everything and that would be true even if we stayed much longer.

We decided to stay in the Shilin area as it is the best night market in all of Taipei. There is no easier way to eat dinner and people watch! We arrived on Wednesday night and stayed at the Shilin Metro Yes. Very cheap and no frills but very nice and clean. No front desk, you enter with a door code, and it is just a room with a bathroom. For those looking to find it, this is what the outside looks like.

We went immediately to the night market as the street food in Taipei is the best. The first thing we found was sweet potato balls with cheese filling. Amazing and not greasy.

Note: not all of these foods were eaten in one night. We went to this night market both nights! Not in the night market but eye catching.

These are different types of said fried together. I did not try this but caught my eye every time. The did is carnival like but not as great or heavy. Regardless, I can’t eat as much of these as I used to.

I wanted to try this but forgot on the second night.

These are candied fruits. Tomatoes, plums, some other fruit, and strawberries. I have had the strawberries before in Laos and here I tried the plums. Yummy!

These are king oyster mushrooms. It always has a long line. The caps are removed and the stalk is roasted, then grilled with a sauce. After bring cut up, it is sprinkled with choices of seasonings. Unbelievably good and meaty.

These are bean and sesame rounds rolled in peanuts. Yummy.

This was just entertaining: watching meat cooked with a flame torch! They are very flamboyant in his they do it.

Lots to see and great fun trying different foods, people watch, and check out what seems to be popular these days.Our favourite: the sweet potato balls. We had them both nights!!!

And of course Taiwan beer!

Chinese National Day

Ryan came to visit during the second biggest Chinese holiday of the year! They always decorate the various areas around the city with flowers arranged in incredible sculptures. He actually arrived the day before the start of the holiday and I was glad that they opened the exhibit across from Canton Tower early before it became crowded. As usual it was beautiful.

Each of these large flowers are made of plants. China National Day was on October 1st and celebrated the birth of modern China and the Cultural Revolution.

This is the 70th anniversary of national Day.

After viewing flowers we walked to a hotpot restaurant. I love restaurants like this where you choose bins of various foods that you can add to the hot pot from veggies to various proteins. You cook your goodies in a pot with very fragrant broth at the table.

After that I showed Ryan the book center. It is many floors of a book store. Each floor is a different genre with other stores surrounding it as well as restaurants and cafes. This is the English section. I always seem to be drawn to Marvel.

We met with Killian and his twin brother Zach. Killian is the athletic trainer at the school and a lot of fun. Zach is a journalist from Taiwan who just applied to law school. We went to the Beijing Lu temple for vegetarian food and then went to play pool at Mr. Rocky’s cowboy bar. They actually did a great job in designing the bar. It was packed on a week night and many things for people to do. Here Zach ordered flights of beer. It came with dry ice coming up from the middle. I especially liked the peppered beer. Yes, it tasted like pepper. I like to try the unusual foods!

Afterwards we played ping pong at the sports center near to our apartments. Since playing I finally bought my own paddles. I might as well learn from the masters here in China. They are really good here and never toil busy to give helpful hints on holding paddles.

I love the exercise equipment that everyone uses and found on the street. People use it regularly especially those who are older. It helps with flexibility.

The next day we went for Korean food and ate bibimbap. I added these little fishes and it tasted great!After, we went to Liwan Lake Park. Right outside this sign is so funny. Since it has clothing in the store I think it should read “children’s wear center”. Instead you see this….

Other views of the park.

We missed some of the celebration including the fireworks but had a great day having fun.