Our Weekend

This weekend started with Chinese tutoring make up class on Saturday morning. Here are the characters I was writing on the board while my tutor dictated them to me....

Chinese is written with a specific stroke order. I like to shortcut that order a lot of times because it's easier for me to remember the characters then. But Chinese people call you out on it as my teacher was doing. Once again, a reflection of how they are taught to stay inside the box... don't question the stroke order!




We went out with Ben and Kate (from Russia) to Lan. It's a restaurant that has the craziest atmosphere ever. I would say it's decor is a bit like the MadHatter's Tea Party in Alice in Wonderland.




Chase sitting in one of the chairs in the hallway of the restaurant. No piece of furniture is a like throughout the whole restaurant and club that it attached.




There's tons of art on the ceiling and gorgeous light fixtures. This one I thought was great.




On Sunday we went to the train station to buy tickets to Shanghai for next weekend. It's Labor Day on Friday and I have the day off. So we are going to Shanghai, except it will be by plane.
We walked around to a grassy area near the station which is close to Temple of Heaven park and flew our kite! It was great fun and the new kite looks so beautiful in the air.

All the Chinese people walking around there would stop and look at the laowais fumbling around with their kite.



We made it over to San Li Tun for some food and a massage. While we were in the Village (shopping/restaurant center) we noticed three cranes working on a Sunday afternoon. Labor in this country doesn't rest except when it's raining.




In the middle of the Village, there were some djs playing electronic music with visual effects up on the big screen. And we thought it was interesting how parents would just allow their children to be around the blasting techno music. I wonder what those children will turn out to be.




So we didn't get a chance to go to the Botanical Garden. We both have come down with some sort of head cold and are lacking energy. So hopefully we can make it through this week chomping down lots of multivitamins and C. Four more days and then a vacation to Shanghai!

This week...

Wow. I am sitting down on my couch for the first time in a few days (well, ok, yesterday I laid on it half asleep) with my my legs up on the "L" part of the couch. And I've got a bottle of Italian Toscana wine at my side. Let me tell you that the wine in China is sub-par even for my amateur tastes. But nevertheless, I broke down, and hoped for the best. And I'm watching this show called Californication that we have on DVD. It's on Showtime and I'm catching up with last season's episodes on recommendation via Chase via Denton.

Chase is out with a friend who is hosting a networking event. We are meeting up for dinner and then tomorrow we have many things to do before a picnic to the Beijing Botanical Gardens on Sunday.

This week my Dad stopped by on a surprise visit on his way back to America. So that was fun to spend a few hours with him. I got to see some of my wedding jewelry as he was bringing it from the jewelers in India. And I must say that the gems are exquisite! I know. I'm bragging. But I just want to get excited about the wedding and it seems that everything is coming together in tiny little pieces and the events are getting closer so it's on my mind every day.

I really wish that I could have been that bride that lived and dreamed for her wedding for the whole year before it actually happened. Like actually visit and talk with the vendors, cake designers, have multiple fittings for my dresses, etc. But I'm so far away that it's all done remotely through my family. So that's my only wish for my time in Austin this summer- to think and breathe wedding, workout a lot, play with Lola, and read.

Anyways, I hear Chase at the door so it's time for dinner!

Joey Negro

Yeah, we like music and a legendary house dj, Joey Negro, was going to be in town. So even though we were pretty tuckered out from our hike. We went out for a night of dancing.

The bar we went to was called Zeta Bar, a sister bar of the Zeta Bars in London and Sydney.

Roma and I.



Almost all the clubs in Beijing have entertainment- dancers, fire twirlers, laser shows, etc.






WhAT?!?!

Our Day WIth Roma

We faltered all morning long on whether or not we should go out to Fragrant Hills to hike. The sky was looking cloudier by the minute. But after realizing that on Sunday it was going to be worse and rain, we headed out on the Subway to the end of Line 10 (that's our line) to Bagou to meet up with our friend Roma. Roma's from Australia where she grew up but her family is from the Phillipines. Here's Chase striking a pose on the platform.



Bagou is still in Beijing. But it feels more like a village after living in the CBD for so long. Everything here in the CBD is well lit, signed, and civilized. But out there even though there were still multistory buildings within sight, it felt like a different world- no running water, delapidated homes, trash everywhere, open sewage.

So we took a cab the rest of the way and started our hike up to Xianglu Peak. After about half way up, the path became just a series of staircases because it was so steep. We climbed nearly 500 steps before we had to sit down and take a rest.

After we got up, Roma noticed her butt sweat left a mark on the ground. So while Chase held her back and out of the picture, I snapped this one.



Here we are at the top. We ended up climbing over 1000 steps.



Part of the reason why Fragrant Hills is so fragrant this time of year is because of the blossoms.



There were many pagodas you could hike to and here is one in the distance.



We started our hike down on another more circuitous route that followed a wall like structure on the side of the ridge that has some sort of historical significance. Doesn't ask me for more details. Ask the expert tour guide, Chase.

Hmmmm, I wonder where I could put my trash???



On the way down I met this family that had twins. There aren't many twins in China because of the one-child policy. Well, I suppose the won't make you give a baby away or something if you have twins, but I guess genetically, they are not common. These little ones climbed all the way up to this point by themselves. I had a great time chatting with the Mom. She doesn't look very Chinese in her features and mentioned that a lot of people take her for an Indian. I thought so as well.



Here's that famous wall I told you about. No, I know it's not the Great Wall. So Chase found a spot that he wanted to climb on. He mentioned that was the first outdoor climbing he had done since moving to China.



And here's Roma in Natarajasana (dancer's pose) at the end of our hike.



Our entire hike took nearly 4 hours. Afterwards we went to a cafe called Sculpting in Time where I had some of the best Earl Grey I've had in China. The tea was made by an Indian company, Roma told me, called Dilmah. Never even heard of it! It was smooth, velvety, and rich. Just the way I like my tea. We went through nearly two pots of it! We decided to sit outside on the back patio where we were visited by a stray cat who came and sat next to us hoping to be petted or fed. It was good to hang out with Roma because most of the time we are with a big group of people and don't really get much of a chance to talk and get to know the people we hang out with so often. Roma's really cool and fun and easy-going. So after some good conversation around 7 we headed our separate ways to go home, shower, and get ready for a night out in Beijing. That will be my next post.

What's Happening

It is Thursday morning here. Easter has come and gone. It was more like we didn't even notice it over here. I am up this morning as usually catching up with wedding related emails. It's taking up my free time at this point, which is not a lot.

I can't not express how difficult it has been to plan a wedding, of the size that we are having, from a country on the other side of the world. What were we thinking!??!?!

In a few minutes I have a call with our wedding coordinator to just catch up and see how everything is going. I am glad that I have a team of helpers and family members who are willing to make my wedding extraordinary, but it also means managing everyone's feelings. Which has proven to be really difficult when it's over the phone, over email, etc.

We have barely gotten off the ground with the wedding, but I know it will come together and I am so glad I have six weeks in Austin to really manage it all this July and August.

Update on the work situation: It's either Beijing or move to Hangzhou at this point. I go back and forth each day on which situation would be better. Oh and there's also the possibility of moving to Hong Kong. So that's in the mix. I think I should have it figured out in the next three weeks though.

Tonight we go out to dinner with friends. So finally, after living in the Jing for about 8 months we are having the first wave of our friends go back to their countries. Last week it was Morgan. But he should be back in China, just not in Beijing. And then, Fabio, who is from Germany but he's Italian. I guess that is what happens when you live in an international city. There is a constant flux of people coming and going so friends are pretty transitory. Unless you start making Chinese friends, then they are for the long term.

Alright, gonna go make this phone call and head out to work.

Dad Visits Beijing

So we had our first visitor to Beijing. My Dad! He came this past week to spend some time with us on his way to India. He had never been to Beijing and it has been his dream to visit mainland China since he was a young boy, he later told us. So it was an honor to share with him our life here for the past several months. 

The first day, Chase picked him up from the airport and we decided to go out to dinner at a HotPot restaurant. We were hurting the next day because the food was so spicy. 

The next day, we sent him off using the subway to see TianAnMen Square and the Forbidden City. He managed on his own which I thought was great that he had that adventurous attitude. I know my first few days in Beijing were holed up in the Robarts' home just adjusting to my new work. I didn't dare do anything touristy for a week or so. 

On Wednesday, Chase and I took the day off to go to the Great Wall with Dad. We chose to do a grueling 12km hike along the Great Wall. We started on the JingShanLing Section and traversed the ridgetops until the SiMaTai section. 

As usual, I am having trouble putting the pictures in order. So they are backwards from the end of the trip to the beginning. 

Here is Chase at the edge of SiMaTai East on a suspension bridge we crossed. I don't know what used to be there in terms of a wall, but nowadays you pay 45 Kuai to cross over to the other section. 

Here's Dad at the end. His quadricep was cramping up but he managed. What a trooper! 

Here are Dad and I climbing a section. Dad bought a walking stick to help him along the way. 

Here's a view from the JingShanLing section. It was a really great day to hike. The air was crisp, the sun was out, and there was very little wind. 

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Here is one of the many sets of steps we had to climb. Can you imagine that guards used to run up and down these one a daily basis to get to their posts in the watchtowers? Much of these two sections of the Great Wall are being redone but there are sections where you can see crumbling stones that are original. 

Thursday was a recuperation day as we were sore. We treated him out to a delicious Buddhist vegetarian meal at Pure Lotus (remember we ate there a couple of weeks ago and loved it). He left early Friday morning. We had a great time with my Dad and can't wait for him to return in a couple of weeks. He's staying just for one night on his way back to the US.

We love being hosts so please come visit us in Beijing! 

Bayby Does Yoga

Bayby came to visit us the other day. We had a blast with her as always and are very fortunate to have the chance to play and look after her. It really makes my absence away from Lola more manageable. 

While I was doing yoga, she was running circles around me- up, down, across the sofa, in between my legs. Finally she began to do some yoga of her own. 

Here she is in Eka Hasta Bhujasana prep. (Really, she's scratching herself with her leg behind her head.)

Simhasana. Lion's pose. ARG!

This is her version of Savasana (corpse pose at the end where you lay there and let everything from you practice be absorbed into your body).

And here's an attempt at straight-armed Urdhva Dhanurasana from me. 

We Have So Much Fun in Beijing

Living in Beijing means going out more to meet people we know. Otherwise, we would never see them. We don't really see our neighbors. Actually, we just have one neighbor currently. The other two apartments on our floor are under heavy renovation. Go figure. Beijing is basically one big construction project. 

So in Austin, we used to always have something to do on the weekend that was social, at least one night of the week. Here in the Jing, it revolves around going to bars and clubs and events throughout the city. We try and make it cultural as much as we can, though.

Last weekend, we skipped any cultural outing and just went for the good old stand-by: Ladies drink free at Tun. That's short for SanLiTun, where most of the bar crowd hangs out. I only managed to drink one Long Island Iced Tea that night (technically, before 12am).

Here are some Californians by way of Colorado that we know. Ryan and Briton. They attend the same language school that we do. 

Ryan and a girl named Lilian from NYC.

Our good friends from Monday night dinner club Ben and Roma. Note that Chase is pre-hair cut. We have had a tumultuous time with Chase's hair over the past few years. You may remember him giving himself a mohawk when we lived in Austin. And then he proceeded to buzz his own hair for about two years. And finally he began to grow it out last summer in preparation for the wedding. So this picture was taken about one week day before his last haircut which he has received many compliments on lately, by the way. 

*Svetha pats herself on the back for persuading Chase to get a "mop" haircut.... quoted by a recently admirer "totally trendy, but worth it"

Me and the girls from the language school.