Malaysia Trip (Oct. 2 ~ 6)

I have gotten so far behind on my weekly blogs, that I decided to catch up by lumping all of October into a couple of posts.  So here goes . . .

I arrived back in China on October 1--just in time to head off to Tioman Island/Malaysia for a short vacation with Donn, Jenny and Lim.  We did some great snorkeling and then some terrible deep-sea fishing.

There were several types of travel to actually get to the island.  Our Suzhou driver, Mr. Chung, drove us to Shanghai.  From there, we hoped on an airplane and flew into Kuala Lumpur Airport in Malaysia.  We stayed the night at the Holiday Inn and then off to the airport for an early flight on Berjaya Air.   Once we landed on Tioman Island, we had to take a shuttle to get to the resort.  It was an awesome resort.

We had some amazing food there at a street vendor. 

The resort.  Saw lots of monkeys and lizards.  Not to mention beautiful sandy beaches and gorgeous sunsets.

We had monkeys right outside in our courtyard.  In fact, there was a warning on the door to make sure you closed your door and windows at night or you might have a monkey visit you.  They were a little scarey.  Especially the couple that tried to chase me when I ran out of food to feed them.

And now for the story about our deep-sea fishing trip . . .

Donn and Lim wanted to do a deep-sea fishing expedition in hopes that they could catch something spectacular.  I decided that I would tag along for the fun.  The boat was late and when it finally showed up it was a small little motorboat.  Totally different from the last time we went deep-sea fishing.  In fact, if we had caught anything bigger than a pound, we would have been pulled right off the boat.

Anyway, the guide took us out a ways and we started fishing.  We fished for about an half and hour and we didn't even get a bite.  So the guide took us further out into the ocean.  We traveled about an hour.  We fished a little more and the guide and Lim each caught a small fish.   The guide decided that would head back, but he said he was feeling a little sick, so needed to stop on another island.  He parked the boat and off he went into the woods.  We figured he'd be gone for just a few minutes.  Over an hour and half later he came back.  I think he had meant up with someone and they went off and did some drugs cuz he was really strange when he came back.  He kept singing to himself and waving his arms around like he was leading music.

He started the boat up and started adding gasoline through a hose and a gas can.  Big waves started washing over the back of the boat and knocked the gas can down and the gas spilled all over the boat.  The guide tried to start the boat, but water must have got in the engine because it wouldn't start.  He pulled everything apart and he finally got the engine going again.  So off we went towards the island.  He decided to stop again and try again.  After about an hour, we decided it was time to head home.  This time the guide couldn't get the boat started so here we are out in the middle of the ocean with a guide wasted on drugs and a boat that didn't work.  I was very scared.  Lim asked the guide if he had a cell phone.  He said no.  When we asked him how we were going to get rescued, he told us that eventually someone would come looking for us.  Fortunately for us, Lim had a cell phone and the guide called someone to come and rescue us.  It was a very long day, and I may never go deep-sea fishing again.  Even though this was a bad experience, it makes a great story.  Especially once we got back safely.

We also had a chance to visit a little bit of Kuala Lumpur.  Famous there are the Petronas Towers from the Mission Impossible movie.  We also shopped at a very high end mall.  I felt like I was on Rodeo Drive in California.

Petronas Towers and a picture of our hotel at the Ascott.

While shopping in one of the black markets, we found a great spa ~ they are fish that are breed in Japan and trained to eat the dead skin off of your feet.  It felt so weird at first, ticklish, but annoying at the same time.  At the end, it actually felt really good.  I am totally looking for a place like that in Suzhou.

Trip to U.S.A. ~ Aug 14 - Sept 29

My wonderful husband allowed me to take a trip back to visit my family.  I know it has been very lonesome for him without me (I have missed him as well), but I appreciate him letting me return to finish projects at work that I started last spring and wasn't able to finish.  

It was quite an accomplishment on my part to even arrive in Las Vegas as planned.  First I had to get to the train station.  Mr. Chen (and Donn) picked me up.  With Donn's help I knew the words for purchasing a train ticket to Shanghai.  I'm not sure if the teller understood what I said, but I did get the ticket I asked for and off I went to wait for my train.  Getting on the train with a couple of large suitcases was a little difficult, but with the help of some Chinese Nationals, I was on and ready for the 23 minute train ride.  We had traveled to Shanghai by train at least three other times, so I was pretty sure I would be okay.  Unfortunately, my train made an extra stop in Shanghai.  I was so confused because not enough time had past, but I knew we were stopping and the announcer did say "Shanghai".  Luckily the passenger sitting next to me was able to understand what I was asking and he told me to wait one more stop.  I was so happy I hadn't made the mistake of getting off.  

My instructions upon arriving at the train station was to go to the South Exit.  Two weeks ago we had spent over an half and hour trying to get to the South Exit, so in my mind it was going to be very difficult.  Luckily I headed left and within two minutes I had found the Shanghai driver, Carlos.  Off we headed to the Pudong Airport.  I made it through Customs and got on the airplane with plenty of time to spare.  My trip to Los Angeles was uneventful (thankfully).  The only hard part was that the couple in front of me had a baby that cried for three hours straight.  I was so happy when she fell asleep even though it only lasted for half of the night.  It was a very long flight and I mostly watched TV.  United Airlines had several movies that I hadn't seen so that was a bonus.

I arrived on Tuesday night.  Brittany picked me up from the airport.  We had planned a road trip to visit Wyoming Grandma and Grandpa and were leaving the next morning as soon as we had fed the babies.  Our trip to Provo (our stopping point for the night) was not the normal 5 1/2 trip from Vegas to Provo, but rather an 8-hour trip.  We were exhausted by the time we got there.  We also visited Lori and Dean.  Once we arrived at Grandpa Nimmer's house we visited with Lynn and Steve, Summer, Josh and their family, as well as Jessica Rivers. The next morning as we got ready to leave Brittany couldn't find her car keys.  Two years ago on this same road trip she lost her keys as well.  We tried calling everyone because the last place either she or I had seen them was in the cup holder on Steve's camp chair.  It was, of course, Lynn's first day at work so she wasn't answering her cell phone and Steve was inside and his wasn't ringing through.  Needless to say he went home and they were still sitting in the camp chair.  He brought them over and after a quick trip to Kneaders for breakfast, we headed off to Etna, Wyoming.  The four-hour trip was another long one, but we finally arrived.  Grandma G (g = great) was so excited to see her twin great-grandsons.  (She has her own twin daughters.)  It was so funny, though, because she couldn't remember the twin's names.  I guess that is what happens as we get older.  

While home in Henderson, I also got to spend a Sunday afternoon with Adam, Shannara, and Miles.  They had cooked a delicious dinner of Mexican corn, tenderloin with vegetables, and for deseret ~ peanut butter cookie topped with ice cream and Milky Way chocolate.

Miles is so adorable.  He is such a happy baby, but he is getting so wiggly I am afraid that he is going to pop right out of my arms.

Once back in Nevada, we had to go try out the new Rita's Italian Ice.  I had Swedish fish.  It was so delicious.  Today date (Sept. 10) I have visited three times.  So much for losing that ten pounds I've gained since moving to China.

I have had a great visit with my children.  They are totally spoiling me.  I spend the weekdays with Eric and Eliza and then I spend the weekends with Brittany.  I even babysat all five kids while they went out for their anniversary.  It is quite a task to feed and burp both babies at the same time.  I am not quite sure how Brittany and/or Tom manage this on a regular basis.

Carter and Crew

This is the latest picture of the twins.  As you can see, they totally look different if their eyes are opened.  If they are sleeping, it is a little harder.

Day 58 ~ Week ending August 11

After church on Sunday and after the weather had cooled down a little, we decided we needed to go for an exploratory bike ride.  We feel like we are kind of just going to places that we know.  We had heard that Suzhou is the Venice of China so we figured there must be some pretty cool places on the waterfront. This is one of the neat buildings.  Very oriental.

Jinji Lake

Ben is a friend we made through church.  We traveled with he and Jace on some of our shopping trips to Shanghai.  He was also a player in our Catan game at the Preston's home.  Donn was the winner, of course.

Funny, but with Suzhou home to over 6 million people we saw him twice on our hour bike ride.

Taken from our apartment window.

Just to be on the safe side, I had registered with the US Embassy.  On Tuesday I received the following e-mail from them:  This Emergency Message is being issued to alert U.S. citizens residing or traveling in the Shanghai Consular District, which includes Shanghai, Anhui province, Jiangsu province, and Zhejiang province, that the Shanghai Meteorological Bureau is tracking Typhoon HAIKUI across the East China Sea.  At this time the storm is expected to make landfall along the southeastern coast of mainland China and is expected to bring heavy rain and strong winds across Shanghai and coastal areas of Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces from August 7 to August 10, 2012.  We will continue to monitor Typhoon HAIKUI and will issue updated messages as needed.

Rain water on floor in family room.

The weather was so bad for three days, that I didn't go out.  We found that our apartment is NOT rain proof but having leaks in the following locations:  family room, hallway , dining room, and patio roof.  The water just drips out of the air vents onto the wood floor.  My guess is that they will never figure out how to fix it.  Hopefully we will not have too many typhoons while we are here.  The saddest part was all the damage to the trees along the roadways.  I also saw several road signs blown down on my way to the market.



On Saturday we headed to the Metro for a trip to the Silk Factory.  This is a huge tourist attraction for most visitors to Suzhou.  You can buy all kinds of duvets, scarves, and clothing.  Since we were in a hurry, we just browsed through quickly.  Most things here are very cheap.  Silk items are very expensive.  Here are just a couple of pics.

We were a little late for our badminton date.   We tried to get a taxi, but they were all busy so we jumped on a bus.  We were in good shape until the bus turned right.  We quickly got off at the next stop and backtracked to the main road.  Finally we jumped in a tuck tuck not realizing that we were only 3 blocks away from where we needed to be.  

Saturday evening we went to an excellent Korean restaurant named Pankoo.  It is so cool because you have a charcoal pit at  your table and you cook your own meant and veggies.  Everything was delicious.  This is Lim's family (Lim, Brendan, Christopher, Jenny, and me.)  Lim and Jenny's children really enjoyed cooking all the meats.



We also found out this week that there was an engineering error on the Pants building and they have to demolish the entire building and start over.  We've heard that they have around $14 billion into it.  Some heads are rolling at the government offices and lots of businesses are in huge trouble.  It really is heart-breaking.

Day 51 ~ Week ending August 4

On Sunday night our China telephone rings.  Donn answers it and the caller asks for him by name in Chinese, of course.  Anyway he can't understand what they are saying and tells them he doesn't speak Chinese and hangs up.  We don't think too much about it until the next morning when he gets up to shower and we have NO water in the house.  Apparently it was a phone call telling us that all the water in the entire building is being shut down.  Thanks heavens for the water cooler that also serves hot water.  About an hour later the water comes back on; but it was the most disgusting water I had ever seen.  It was brown like--well you get the gist.  It took almost 36 hours to get clear water running through the taps again.  

On Tuesday I had a second interview with GIST International College.  I am to met with the head honcho ~ Dr. Chong.  (Side note:  My first interview with with Dr. Wong.)  Anyway it was a very difficult interview.  He sat behind the desk mumbling softly with his hand covering his mouth.  I am not sure how many questions I answered correctly because I SERIOUSLY couldn't understand what he was asking as he had a very thick Chinese accent when speaking English.  At the end of the interview, he says, "Well where do we go from here?"  I didn't mean to be flip, but I replied, "I think that depends on you."  

Anyhoo I received a job offer, but I decided to turn it down.  The hours are long (from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.) plus I would have to ride the local bus back and forth everyday.  That in itself would take 45 minutes each way.  If the pay had been decent . . .

In working on getting our Z Visa, we had to have a physical.  Ours was scheduled for 9 a.m. on Friday morning.  It was very interesting.  We went with William.  (He is a summer intern at K2 who is learning to speak English.  He is a junior in high school.)   Anyway we went from room to room having the following things done:  stomach ultrasound, blood pressure, dental check, chest X-ray, height and weight check, heart check, and then blood work.  After we were all finished, they gave us this nice box of medicine samples.  It appears that it is good for any health problems that we may have in China.  There was also a very handy card inside telling us what to use all of the medications for.

Our Parting Gift from the Red Cross

Day 44 ~ Week ending July 28

Not too much to blog about this week.  We did another trip on the high-speed train to Shanghai to pick up the suits, the red coat, and the white shirts that we ordered last week.  Upon our arrival, we found that the sewing factory had been shut down for a day so our merchandise wasn't ready.  We shopped a bit more, and I found someone that we make me a very warm (fake) chenille coat.  It was quite the bartering feat, but I finally got them to an affordable price.  Stay tuned for a photo.  I think you will like my creation.

This awesome structure is being built right across the street from our apartment.  It is a huge building appropriately named "The Pants".  It is part of a huge mall that is being built.  There are also two more towers going up each side.  It will be fabulous when it is finished, but for me is it a great landmark because I can see it from all directions.  Although, I feel much more comfortable now and don't worry too much about just getting on the green bike to head to a store that I've noticed while out riding in a taxi.  The city is laid out pretty straight forward.

Day 37 ~ Week ending July 21

This has been a slow week for adventures as Donn was in Shanghai on Monday and Tuesday doing an audit with a perspective buyer.  Also the weather has been very rainy again.  Monday I had a job interview with Dr. Wong at GIST International College.  Apparently there wasn't really an opening, but he liked my CV so he called me in for an interview.  The driver Mr. Chen picked me up one hour and ten minutes before my scheduled interview time.  I arrived 45 minutes early.  Nothing says punctual like arriving that early.  Come to find out they actually had fired one of their teachers because he was never on time.

I ventured to a new grocery store called The Summit.  They were having a sale on yellow cake mix--only 15 RMB--$2.38 (which is a very good price as they normally run 45 RMB--$7.14).  Keep in mind that this is the exact same cake mix we all buy at Albertsons or Smiths for $1.25.  Expats have a good network to let others know when things go on sale.  Thanks McLemores!!

On Saturday we headed to the market that houses lots of custom clothing vendors.   Jace and CeCe went with us.  CeCe's parents know the vendors very well and she helped us get rock-bottom pricing.  Donn wanted to order some custom suits and white shirts.  He is sweating too much on Sundays in his long sleeve "Nordstrom" shirts.  The material is just too heavy.  We decided the best way to get there was by high-speed train.  This train travels over 300 km per hour.  That's at least 180 mph.  By car it takes 2 hours, by train it only took 23 minutes.  We upgraded on the way there and rode in the first class seats.  I also ordered a red cashmere pea coat.  We will pick these items up the next time were are in Shanghai.

High-speed Train to/from Suzhou/Shanghai 7-21-12.

While waiting for CeCe's driver to pick us up from the train station, we stopped by Ajisen Ramen to grab a bite to eat.  This was my first time at this restaurant.  It is one of Donn's favorite.  We ordered dumplings and a breaded chicken.  Both were delicious.  We also ate some edamame beans.  They were good--not to mention healthy as well.

Grape, Banana & Apple.

I also found one of my favorite US treats--Hi-Chew.  This was the first time I had ever seen the banana flavor.   My initial thought was that when I came to China I would give up sugar.  That hasn't happened yet as I keep finding all kinds of good treats.  The DQ two blocks away is NOT helping either.  My son, Adam, lost 20 pounds when he lived in Macau for six weeks.  Unbelievable!!!  Maybe if I were doing something besides sitting on the couch blogging and practicing Chinese things would be different.

A couple of my survival Chinese phrases:  Suxui Rd (pronounced Sue show Lou)  This is the road we live on.  Also helpful is tienuh rChi Horizon Resort.  Not sure the Chinese spelling or exactly what it means, but that is how I would say it phonetically and it gets me to the apartment. 

Day 30 ~ Week ending July 14

It is had to believe, but we have been in China for exactly one month.  I'm not sure if it makes sense when I say that time is passing quickly, but at the same time very slowly.

Gu ayi (our awesome housekeeper)

On Monday our ayi (housekeeper) came over.  Her name is Gu.  We played charades for a while as I showed her what I wanted her to do and which rag to use for dusting, cleaning mirrors and cleaning the floor.  We played again when she needed starch for the ironing.  It was fun, but I think I definitely need to learn some housekeeping Chinese.  Also I may have to get her to teach me how to cook Chinese food.  Donn is already tired of Ramen noodles.  We went grocery shopping on Saturday, but really didn’t have a lot of luck finding things to buy.  But I really think the food here is so cheap it is just better to eat out.  

Monday's dinner was with Don and Lee Preston at a Muslim Restaurant.  We had what I would call a taco pizza and some yummy caramel apples. 

I am proud to say that I did finally cook my first real dinner Thursday.  I made very tasty stuffed green peppers.  It was actually fun cooking again.  We also had invited Jace Stoker over as I had promised Denna that I would feed him occasionally.  As you can see by the picture, my kitchen is very small, and I don't have a lot of space. 

We had our first talk in church on Sunday.  The topic was patience.  It was interesting to see how impatient I have become since moving to China.  If you aren’t aggressive the Chinese Nationals will walk right over you--what I really mean is run you down.  I experienced it first hand while waiting to get my produce weighed.  People would just reach around me and put their stuff on the scale.  After having five people in a line of 20 just cut me off, I grabbed by squash and aggressively set it on the scale.  The lady looked at me a little strangely, but then she smiled.  I decided today that they reason they are in such a hurry is because they are surrounded by 6,000,000 people and if they don't push and shovel, they can never get where they need to go.

The Bensons had us over to dinner at their home on Sunday and then another dinner and game night on Tuesday.  Julie is a good cook and it was nice eating “normal” American food.  We took a taxi there which cost us $32 RMB ( ~ $5.00 U.S.).  We rode the bus home which cost us 2 Yuan (~ .33 cents).  I think we will be taking the bus a lot more.  Time wise it was about the same.

On Wednesday Ashley and Jeff McLemore took us to the shopping center called Metro.  I would compare it with a Sam's Club or Costco, but twice the size.

Masseuse #66.  No names, just numbers.

Saturday was a quick green bike trip to Walmart and then 2 hours of badminton.  We were very excited to try out the new racquets.  Again we had a great time, but I am a little stiff and sore from the drill work that Lim made us do.  A quick trip home for a shower and then off to Namaste  Restaurant.  It is located in Restaurant Alley.  It was delicious Indian food.  We ordered a variety of chicken, shrimp and lamb dishes.  Also my first time trying naan bread.  My favorite thing was dhania tomato soup.  It was fantastic and for those of you who don't know me well I don't like tomato soup. Then we headed off for our first foot massage since arriving.  (See Lim in yellow shirt.)  It was a 75 minute neck, back, arm, and foot massage. 

Lim, Donn, and nail trimmer technician.

 This amazing view is right off our balcony.  It was raining so the light reflection is amazing.

Night view off of balcony.  You can see the Frazier Towers.  Their manager's name is Peter Pan!!