Back to China

Chris and I returned from the U.S. in the middle of December and, fortunately, didn't have long to wait before the girls started arriving.  We had less than a week to get over our jet lag, for Chris to get some work done before his vacation, and for me to catch up with my Tai-Tai friends in Shanghai.

I've been very lucky here in Shanghai to meet some wonderful women and have made some great friends.  We've met some great couples as well, mostly through Chris's work or Peter's friends, but it's the women friends I've met here that have made living in Shanghai a wonderful experience.  Chris doesn't have an office in Shanghai and covers the entire Southeast Asia region, so he travels extensively.  I've loved traveling with him at times, especially our trip to Australia, and the travel we've been able to do in Asia together and with our family, but day-to-day life here would be much harder and lonelier without my friends.

Because of school and work travels, the girls arrived here in Shanghai one a day for 3 days in a row, starting on Friday, December 19.  They each traveled to Elmhurst before flying to Shanghai both because the flight is shorter and direct if you start at O'Hare, but also because they each wanted to spend some time in Elmhurst before and/or after leaving Shanghai before returning to NYC, Ithaca, and Atlanta.  So, we started picking girls up at the airport on that Friday afternoon, when Samantha arrived, even before Chris returned from Ningbo.

On Saturday, before going to the airport to pick up Miranda, Chris, Samantha and I went to a Christmas market at the Kerry Parkside.  We sort of stumbled on it when we decided to go to Johnny Moo's for lunch.  Johnny Moo's is sort of a Johnny Rockets kind of place, with burgers, hot dogs, milkshakes and truly western food, which was a good choice the day after arriving. We also took a trip to the eyeglass market with Samantha, who was more excited about getting extra pairs of glasses and prescription sunglasses than you would believe.  The market is three floors and hundreds of stalls full of glasses and sunglasses, made to order. You can bring in your prescription from home or they'll do an eye exam on the spot.  The good news is, we could order two pairs of prescription sunglasses, a new pair of my regular progressive glasses, and a custom (extra-wide) pair of reading glasses for Chris, all for under $100 US. Samantha was like a kid in a candy store and can hardly wait to go pick up our order this week.

Miranda arrived on Saturday afternoon, so Sunday morning we headed to the Science and Technology Museum, not for the museum, which we've been to before, but for the knock-off markets beneath it.  Miranda and Samantha each had a list of gift items they wanted to buy for friends and, well, so did I, so we went to do some serious haggling.  We were there for two hours, but made a lot of great buys.

Elizabeth arrived on Sunday afternoon.  When we got home, everyone was busying wrapping Christmas gifts, as we had a little Shanghai family Christmas on Sunday evening.  Chris was surprised and excited to get a salt block and a salt block cookbook.  The block of salt can be used to serve cold foods or heated to cook hot foods.  He decided to try it out on Monday morning and made eggs.  While the eggs had a faint salty taste, the block didn't seem to impart too much salt in the cooking process.

Monday morning, we headed to the fabric market so the girls could order some tailor-made clothes.  Again, the market is three floors of hundreds of stalls of fabric and styles of clothing, so we wandered the market looking for things that appealed.  Samantha ordered a new trench coat for her professional, after-college life, as well as a dress and a blazer.  Elizabeth ordered three dresses and some slacks and Miranda ordered two blazers and a dress.  I even ordered a new silk blouse from the same stall I bought one from in March.  We went quickly on Monday morning, knowing that it would take a week for the clothes to be ready so we could pick them up after we got back from Cambodia before Elizabeth had to fly back to the U.S.

By Monday afternoon, the driver took us to the airport for our flight to Siem Reap, Cambodia and 5 days of tropical Christmas celebration, relaxing by the pool, massages, and exploration.