Fall Family Foto Fun

A Farmer's Dinner

Saturday noon we joined our landlord and her husband, for a "farmer's dinner," country cuisine popular with city-folks who yearn for a simpler time. A Farmer's Dinner features simple foods, locally grown, and set in the mountains away from the hub bub of town.

Despite the fact our landlords are incredibly wealthy by any country's standards, we dined at a restaurant/mountain hostel on scrambled "mountain eggs," local river fish (whole fish... teeth, scales... eyes still looking up at us), deep fried bug larva, boiled potatoes, and fresh chicken that probably had spent the morning pecking about the Laoshan mountain area. It was done "chainsaw chicken style" (whole chicken chopped up with a meat clever). I had to search a while for a body part the kids would be willing to eat.

"You're kids aren't hungry?" They kept asking. "What would they like to eat?"

"Rice." We replied.

Three steaming bowls of rice, several warm Cokes for the kids, two premium bottles of imported red wine, and a few Tsingtao pijius later, our meal was complete. We made our way to their mountain villa. They apologized profusely for not preparing a meal at their home. They had been so busy, he had had meetings. But we should come anytime. They would just give us the keys if we wanted their place for the weekend.

The place ended up being an absolutely beautiful home done in the style Chinese have a penchant for... the "European villa". Surrounding the three story home, perched on the side of the beautiful Laoshan mountains, were little plots of land, planted in neat rows with bai cai(a Chinese cabbage), tomato plants, and radishes. "Good water.... Good air" he kept saying.

No kidding we agreed! And the view wasn't bad either. The kids frolicked inside their three story-six bedroom weekend home. The adults cozied up on the Ming style furniture made of some heavy African wood that had set them back around $15k USD! We drank expensive tea grown exclusively in Southern Fujian province. Then we switched to local Laoshan green, Mr. Johnson's favorite. They made sure to let us know everything was only the best.

When the kids floated in, the landlord's husband peeled apples for them with sharp knife and sliced off sections into their open palms. They broke open a pomegranate and offered freshly plucked tomatoes. "Good air.... Good water," became the anthem of the afternoon.

We smirked as we thought of the single bottle of Chilean red we had bequeathed them along with three baseball caps sporting Mr. Johnson's company logo, because... when it was time to go they presented the girlies with three traditional dragon kites and with us with four bottles of imported Spanish wine. We learned their mountain villa featured a 6000 bottle wine cellar!

As we drove back into the city, away from the good water and good air, Mr Johnson lamented that we had not spent much of our nearly four years in the mountains. “Today was great,” he said, after we stopped to take pictures of the craggy mountain faces and the smooth stones of a nearly dry mountain stream... rounded over many years by spring rains. And it had been great. The kids had worn themselves out. They had had fun. They talked about the retired military dog that they met at the farmer’s dinner, about the generosity of our Chinese landlord, about being guests in their home.

They didn’t mention the bugs or other funny food… the treacherous mountain road… the extra attention they had received everywhere we had been. Four years ago our take on the Farmer's Dinner would have been different. It takes some time to ease into those kinds of situations. Time to xi guan (become used to) the events of days like Saturday. We promised ourselves, though, we would have to come back.

A Full Weekend

Its been a busy weekend. A happy busy. Catching up with our good friend from MI who was in town for a few days. Hitting the Comedy Night with him Thursday night. (Three raw comics from England = Culture in QD.) We felt bad for his Japanese and Chinese colleagues who joined us, as we could barely keep up with the British accents!

Friday night pizza and catching up together with our Michigander and friends from Turkey, Germany, China and France.

Listening to the twangy sounds one of the first mandolins to roll through Mr. Michigan's production line. Aged woods, recessed frets, mother of pearl in-lay and bone tips. Start to finish a product overseen by a handful of talented people we have the pleasure of knowing. Beautiful! Check it out @ http://www.northfieldinstruments.com/
Hanging out with friends and listening to the girlies giggle and enjoy each other's company. This pic was shot when they were winding down at the end of the night.

Saturday morning soccer. ... Saturday lunch with the landlord. And a Sunday morning family photo shoot. More pics soon to follow.

Sushi Go-Round

Thursdays with Bei Bei have been a hit. When I asked her Wednesday what she thought we should do this week she enthusiastically replied, without missing a beat, "Sushi!!" Never mind that she doesn't like sushi. That she hasn't really tried it beyond dipping her chopsticks in a dish of soy, or asking me politely to remove the salmon so she can eat my rice balls.

The draw for her was the conveyor belt. It's like going to the airport, but instead of luggage, little plates of Asian delicacies cruise past. You simply grab what you want.

Thursday when we arrived she told me she really didn't want and sushi, but she wanted cold noodles (something else she's never ordered.) I talked her into some hot udon noodles with vegetables.

But... shortly after this pic was snapped, she began to pout. She didn't like these "chubby noodles," and could I please remove the wasabi from her dish of soy. She poured up more soy. She dipped her chopsticks. She ate my rice balls. She dropped her flip flop from her perch on the stool. She belabored the point that she really doesn't like the chubby noodles. Her tea was too hot. The milk we brought in was gone.

I was getting a little frustrated. Finally out of desperation I offered her the soup broth they brought out with fat udon. And... she loved it!

"This is just like the soup I used to eat at my little Chinese school!" she chirped happily.

I noted the visible bouillon and the meaty piece of seed weed in the otherwise meatless cup of broth. Probably loads of MSG. A great companion to her starter of straight-up-soy!

So she doesn't like sushi. So she can't sit still. She has a problem with Japanese noodles. But my four-year-old who has celebrated all her birthdays in China and has a penchant for sodium possesses the willingness to try, of all things, seaweed soup.

We paid or bill. We found the flip flop. We probably won't make a repeat appearance.

Next Thursday we'll be in Thailand. I can hardly wait!!

Zhanshan Temple, Qingdao

Lunch with the Monks

Monastic Dining Hall Sign

in Chinese, English, Japanese & Korean

Bea opted just for rice

(this is hers, in the chipped bowl)

then sampled my wok fried veggies

We had flimsy little chopsticks

(like tiny dowel rods, not tapered @ either end)

Bei Bei expertly rubbed them together to eliminate slivers

We sat on long benches set against long tables.

Our meal cost 72 cents.

(The lemonade we brought in cost the same)

Bei Bei's Mad Chopstick Skills

This is what the Food Service Area looked like.

Beverages were not provided.

Other diners opted to eat their food, fill it the empty bowl

with boiling water from the big kettle,

and then drink out of the bowl.

Thursdays with Bei Bei-- Music Square

Sculptures along the Seaside Walkway

Scooter Girl

Statue of Nie Er, composer of the Chinese National Anthem

A Salute to Chinese Film