Summer to Fall
First I want to add this photo I couldn’t find for the last post as it is so over the top. It is of all the people swarmed around the tiny pond that has stocked with fish. The fish are swimming in circles as the people fish for their dinner. Too crazy!
After the endless flight that is the flight NYC to Beijing, Dan met me at the airport and I returned to our new home that I had only live in one day before heading to the States at the beginning of the summer. It was great to see Dan and Morton but then they were off to school and work and I was in this house that still had lots of unpacking and organizing needed. A little depressing but I got to work.
A few days after I got back to Beijing Morton headed out to Hokaido, Japan. At the end of the last school year, one of the school’s art teachers heard about a photography competition in which a school submits a three students photography and if they are a winning team, they and the faculty advisor, get an all expenses paid trip to a small town, Higoshigowa, on Hokaido, Japan where they meet with teams from around the world, each day having different photography assignments and competitions. Morton and his team was chosen and at the end of August they headed out. We weren’t thrilled about his missing a week of school but were also happy for this honor and hopefully amazing experience. It ended up being a life time highlight. He had such a great time taking photographs, working with his team, and getting to know kids from all around the world.
A few days later My friend DaHai asked me to go to our neighborhood meeting. He was out of Beijing but the community management really wanted foreigners there and he wanted to stay on their good side so I agreed to go. He promised it would only be a one hour commitment and I didn’t have to say anything. He said someone would pick me up – which seemed odd as the meeting was in our tiny community but I guess they really wanted to make sure I was there.
About 20 minutes before the allotted time two people showed up at my house. I got into their car and went the max quarter mile to the community organization building. It quickly becomes clear that this meeting is being filmed by CCTV and there was a pre meeting going on and the actual meeting wouldn’t start for about an hour. When I expressed that I was told it would be one hour of my time – there was some shuffling around and the meeting quickly started. Apparently the meeting was being filmed to show how international communities meet to discuss proposed changes to their communities. No idea why the International part mattered – maybe it was a series about international communities?? During the meeting they presented two proposed changes in the community and then they went around the table asking everyone to state their opinion. The second was about what to do with a large empty space in the neighborhood. Turning it into a library area was proposed. Drawings and diagrams were presented. Again – around the table. Everyone thought it was a nice idea. When it came to me I said I didn’t think anyone would use this space as everyone has a nice house with books and a place to sit. What would draw them to that space? What was the need? What would actually draw people out of their houses and maybe crate community. Maybe a restaurant or cafe or gym or space for Dance (seniors dance a lot for exercise in China) . I was then quickly told delivery men would use it and they’d consider my ideas and moved on.
Then we were told to drink the tea (which was completely cold by now)for the cameras and then the meeting ended.
After the meeting the host for the tv show told me my comments were really interesting – he really liked them. Every building with extra space is turned into a library and such an interesting idea to think what people would actually use. So strange that this was an interesting idea.
Dan heard that the first Minigolf course in Beijing (maybe China) had just opened – so of course we had to go. When we got to the address a woman sitting at the building’s entrance told us there were two courses, the first eleven holes (???!!) was up on the building’s 5th floor and the second course was outside and had 13 holes ( again – what 13 holes???). We told her we would play both. She brought us up to the 5th floor and turned on the lights – no one else was there. Both the indoor and outdoor courses were odd with hills too steep and holes in locations that made no sense. It was as if the creators of these courses had never actually played mini golf – which possibly was the case, but nonetheless Dan and I had fun playing – Morton I’m not so sure – being a professional, he was more disturbed by the nonsensicalness of most of the holes.
Every year the Australian Chamber of Commerce organizes a gala on The Great Wall – aptly called Ball on the Wall. We were supposed to go last year but the school’s board called a meeting during it so we couldn’t make. We wanted to go once while we are in China so at last minute we bought tickets to go this year. It was a part of the Wall we had never been to before – not too far outside of Beijing. It was a beautiful night, it was fun to get dressed up, go to a beautiful location, catch up with friends who were there and dance up on The Wall.
And I continued to unpack and organize the house. We invited the parents of Morton’s “No Screens Saturday Nights” group over for dinner, along with the boys, to kick off this school year. This was a good push to get at least the downstairs of the house under control and art work up. The house came with artwork on the wall that I didn’t want to live with and the house owner agreed I could take it down. I couldn’t (or didn’t feel comfortable) getting one of the pieces down. I hired the community workers to help me. They brought over this crazy ladder with rope supports. I had never seen anything like it.
I am just putting the above picture up because – what a color! I went to breakfast with a friend and ordered what I was told was “plain yogurt with mango, granola and”(other fruit I didn’t catch). When it came, it was this color! I loved the color but wasn’t sure I wanted to eat something this color. It ended up being pretty good.
This is Morton at the school’s club fair. He is co-captain of the school’s ultimate team. Morton also proposed putting in a disc golf course at the school last year. His created a budget and was given money for a few holes. The short course was a hit with PE classes using the course – along with Morton and his Ultimate cohort. The school suggested he create a new proposal with budget and design sketches for more holes. Now the school has installed under his guidance a nine hole course!
One weekend Dan and I went to breakfast in an outdoor mall not too far from where we live. Afterwards we decided to stroll a bit. Walking around we came across this: kids paddling around in the middle of the mall. Pretty funny – and fun!
A good friend of ours came to Beijing around 1980, working for a firm that was interested in opportunities in China. Seeing the state of medical facilities, Roberta and a friend, suggested importing medical equipment. Eventually they started doing it on their own and this led to founding a hospital – which now has grown to a large chain of high end hospitals. She came to give a talk at the school recently. It was so inspiring to hear of her life here in Beijing.
The following weekend, we went on a hike with a few of Morton’s friends and their parents. The hike and company were lovely – as were the view. We ended our hike in a little village where we first visited the most beautiful coffee shop. The owner had taken a traditional small village home – in which the walls are not insulated and people traditionally would just paste old newspapers on the wall to keep out blowing cold air – and where the beds were elevated on tatami style mats under which ran the pipe from the cooking stove – offering the only heating in the house. They left it much as it had been and then installed beautiful artwork and furniture. It is almost unheard of in China the leaving and appreciating the old – as that past is so recent – people want the new and the shiny.
After the hike and tea house we went to Texas BBQ restaurant that a parent at the school opened. I don’t think I have ever been to a Texas BBQ restaurant before. Funny the first time I went was in a small village in China. Apparently the restaurant has brought people to the village, bringing many weekenders and thus the sophisticated coffee shop. I don’t eat meat, so I had some delicious BBQed fish balls (not sure they have that in Texas), grilled vegetables, a yummy kale salad and some slaw. The meat looked quite impressive and everyone ate beyond their fill.
The Jewish New Year was upon us and our diminishing Beijing Jewish community (foreigners are leaving at much higher numbers than arriving) flew in a rabbi and his wife from Chicago for the holiday. We had a lovely service and meal in our friend’s back yard.
School got out for the National Holiday/Golden Week vacation. That afternoon we headed to the Winter Olympics campus to see the first qualifying round for the World Table Tennis Smash competition. I don’t know a ton about table tennis, but it was super fun and dramatic to watch.
Clearly in China, some of their players (mostly the male ones) are celebrities – with women traveling far to come see them play and the fans cheering them on. On our way home we saw fans on the street stopping players for autographs and pictures. We were getting into our van, me from the door in the middle of the road, when a man ran over and pushed some paper and a pen at me. I was very confused. First I thought he wanted me to sign it for some reason – then I thought he was trying to sell me stationary. I told him no. He stepped back and he was hit in the back by a passing car (luckily a very slowly moving one). He was fine – but it was a bit scary. Our van door closed and Dan and Morton asked why I wouldn’t give him my autograph – clearly he thought I was a famous player -or I think a coach is more likely.
The next morning we were to leave for Hanoi, Vietnam. I had spent a lot of time planning the trip and as we were getting on the plane I got a message from the place we were going to the second day for a few days, that we wouldn’t be able to go there due to an approaching hurricane – and rain was predicted everyday of our vacation.
We arrived, dropped our stuff at the hotel and I tried to see if there was any way to get to the island – the government stopped all ferries to the island for the following few days. Knowing we had an extra couple days in Hanoi we decided to take a nap. After the nap we headed to the Old Town to go to the water puppet show.
Traffic was insane and it took us much longer to get there than planned. We had to walk the last block or so and the road was insane with walkers, scooters weaving in and out of everywhere and a few cars that were the slowest moving. The sidewalks were either non existent or generally in disrepair with scooter and motorcycles parked all over them making walking by impassable and pedestrians were pushed into the narrow and crazy streets. When we arrived to theater we were 20 minutes late for the show. I asked at the theater if we could use our tickets for a later show (no), or if we’d understand the narrative going in so late (this concept met with not understanding faces – understandably as those who spoke English it was not their first language). We decided to go in. There was no narrative as we know it. The Puppets appeared to be dancing and swimming in a pool of water that served as the stage. People from behind a screen controlled the puppets from poles that ran under the water. The show was vignettes about country life in past Vietnam. It was beautiful to watch but coming in late was the correct decision.
Afterwards we headed back into the crazy streets to walk to a restaurant I had read about – a chu ca restaurant (a famous fish dish). The restaurant was full of local people. They only served chu ca. it ended up being a wokish type pan they placed in the middle of our table with battered fish pieces in it. They placed many bowls on our table. One contained a green vegetable and we were shown to throw it in the wok and cook it with the fish. Then we put some rice noodles, fish sauce, some leafy herbs, and peanuts in our small bowls before adding the fish and greens. I was afraid Morton would be scared away from the food but he, along with Dan and I, really liked it. Afterwards we wandered the streets for an hour or so more- Morton shooting photographs- before heading back to the hotel.
The next morning we had breakfast in the hotel rooftop, taking in the view, before changing hotels. I thought if we were going to be stuck inside a lot during a typhoon we should move to a hotel with amenities (pool, gym) and closer to the sites. Dan found us a place that fit the bill and we caught a Grab (the Lyft/Uber of Southeast Asia) to the new hotel. We checked in and then headed out to walk to the Botanical gardens – which was more of just a park with an entrance fee of about equivalent to 10 cents. Morton wanted to find a geo cache there (notice a theme). Morton was struggling to find it and asked us to help him. I looked down and saw it immediately. It was quite funny.
We grabbed a late lunch at a Malaysian restaurant before Morton went and joined a local Ultimate team for a practice. Dan and I strolled some more – with the Botanical Gardens “guard” – an elder lady- insisting we repay the entrance fee to walk back through the garden. We eventually headed back to the hotel to get out of the rain (- it was lightly raining on and off all this time) and hang out at the super nice hotel pool .
That evening we headed out to another restaurant I had read about. We struggled to find it and finally realized it was just some tiny plastic tables with even smaller stools on a sidewalk with some umbrellas up for the rain. They served some form of Pho. It was pretty good – a bit spicy- and was a fun experience. Afterwards we walked the crazy hectic streets again before heading back to the hotel.
The next day we found a cute cafe in the quietest neighborhood we’d found in Hanoi (which isn’t saying that much but Hanoi is very hectic). We loved the little cafe, DoubleB’s, which sat on a canal. We sat on it’s outside patio which was on the street but nestled between two buildings, protected from the rain.
Sitting there Morton spotted an interesting store on the other side of the canal he wanted to check out. On our way there we got caught in a major downpour before ducking into it. The store was a men’s thrift store of what I think of as American clothes from the 70’s. Morton bought two cute shirts.
We then called a Grab and headed to the Hoa Lo Prison museum – where the U.S. captured pilots were held during the Vietnam War – as it would be interesting and it would be indoors. The museum’s main focus was about the origin of the prison which was originally built by the French to hold Vietnamese prisoners under terrible conditions. In the end of the museum there was a section on the time during the war with the U.S. – including a picture and story of a very young John McCain who was held there for 6 years and was super cute.
That night we met up with a Beijing friends who were also in Hanoi, and then Dan and I went to the Sky Bar at our hotel – on the top floor. The view was amazing – no idea why we didn’t take any pictures!
The next day was our last day in Hanoi and the Typhoon was in full throttle.
We had to check out early but were in no rush to get to Ninh Binh – the next place we were headed to – as everything there is very outdoor centered – including our hotel – where only our room was indoors. So we checked our luggage and headed back to Double B’s. We decided it was too rainy to walk the short distance there and once we had a taxi, we were concerned the taxi would be washed away as many of the streets – especially the canal side street DoubleB’s was on was extremely flooded. We eventually made it and hid out in the alcove enjoying our nook and watching the crazy storm.
After enjoying an extended time at DoubleB’s, and trying to get a taxi for a long while, we had to head back to the hotel by foot. Luckily the rain had slowed a bit. At the hotel, we spent a couple hours at the gym and at the fantastic pool and pool deck – that was under an arched glass roof that opened whenever the rain stopped.
Later that afternoon we had a driver pick us up to drive us to Ninh Binh. The streets were a bit crazy and the driver had to alter his route when he came to roads that were too flooded for driving. Once he took a ramp off the highway and had to do a uturn when the bottom of the ramp was too flooded – reentering the highway via an exit ramp. A bit scary! When we finally got to the area of the hotel, the roads were not paved – they were incredibly bumpy with flooded areas and we had to do a uturn at one point and find another route.
We finally got to hotel and it was a lovely place on a small lake with tiny cottage rooms surrounding it and lots of hanging white lights, Christmas style. It was lovely.
The next morning the plan was to take a row boat/raft along the river to see the scenery – which was similar to Yangshuo, China with karsts – though much wider karsts than Yangshuo. We decided to walk to boat as it was only supposed to be about half a mile walk. The walk was so lovely, walking on the dirt path looking at the lovely scenery and local homes….until the road ended in a flooded lake and we could go no further. Did we go the wrong way? We walked back to the hotel and told the manager we couldn’t find the boat. He explained it was very close and very easy to find. He reexplained where we were to go. We realized we had made a mistake and we headed back out again, retracing our steps. We soon realized we had missed our turn as this road was so flooded it looked like a lake. Much to Morton’s shagrin, we tried to walk around the flooded area but to no avail. We tried to call a Grab, no luck. We again headed back to the hotel, thinking we would rent motor scooters. Ended up they only had one left. Eventually the hotel manager got us a private car for the price of a Grab.
We were dropped at the boat, bought our tickets and headed to the boat launch. There were few tourists but clearly it was set up for massive amounts of tourists. Our driver later told us that during the high season there are over 100 people lined up before 5am waiting for the ticket office to open at 7Pm when they quickly sell out – and at the high season there are 2000 boats on the water at once! sounds terrible! As we approached the boat launch area a major down pour started. We hid out until it slowed and then caught a boat – but as the ride was about 2.5 hours – there was no way to avoid being caught in heavy rain. A highlight of this boat ride is not only the scenery – which was lovely – but also going into the local caves. Unfortunately the water was too high for us to be able to go in. But the local guides were excited to point out the local “village” with sculptures of people that was built for the movie King Kong. Sadly none of us had ever seen the movie.
After the boat ride we grabbed some lunch and then rented motor scooters, and headed out. The roads were all deep potholes full of muddy water, so it wasn’t an easy place to start riding these gas scooters – which have a much different feel than the electric ones we drive in Beijing. We headed to a hike I had read about up to a pagoda with an amazing view. Again – we had to detour due to flooded roads but eventually we pulled up to what was clearly a big tourist site. A person stepped in front of my bike to try to force me to park in their parking area. As a newer person to this scooter – it was a bad idea but somehow I didn’t hit them.
The area was quite beautiful. We walked along a beautifully manicured swamp area with walkways – clearly set up for tourists to take photos. The hike was a 500 steps up climb to an amazing view. It was steep and we sweat but it didn’t take too long. At the top there was a crazy line to stand with the dragon at the top of the mountain. We passed. But Morton and Dan did search and find a geo cache up there.
Once we got down we strolled through the pretty swamp/lily pad area, then stopped and bought a coconut to drink from. We headed back in the dark and found a little cafe to get some food before heading back to our hotel.
The next day we decided to spend the day exploring by motor scooters. We saw sights, but to me, the highlight was just scooting around, seeing the scenery. We stopped at the old capital from around 900AD.
We hiked up to some kind of alter where Morton searched for and found another geo cache. Near by I was looking for a pagoda and we came across a place set up for tourists but no one was there. Morton thought it was creepy and wanted to turn around. The entrance was a tunnel drilled through a mountain karst. Bikes were for rent and a big sign hung above the tunnel. We weren’t sure it was worth our time and money as we couldn’t find anything about the place and no one else was there, but we finally decided to buy tickets, rent bikes, and enter. After biking through the tunnel we found ourselves in an opening between mountains with a lake in the middle and a biking/walking path around. It was lovely – but strangely empty. We biked around, stopped and hiked up to one lovely temple in a cave, and then finished our loop before heading out.
Dropping off the bikes at the entry, we jumped back on our scooters for more exploring. We grabbed a late lunch at a roadside restaurant before searching for a temple in the area. The map took us to the back of the temple grounds but the guards said (or more gestured) that we couldn’t enter that way – that we had to enter by the front. We tried biking around the grounds – we could not find the entrance! We stopped at what ended up being a hot springs (if only we had planned for this!) – they pointed us in a direction – still couldn’t find it. Unsure if this was worth the trouble as I thought it was going to be a single temple and I was just using it for a point for us to explore. When we finally found it – just as we were about to turn around and give up – it was one of the largest parking lots (all empty) that I think I have ever seen. It felt like going into an empty Disney World. At the ticket booth we were informed there were different options – the higher the price the more you could ride the electric shuttle around the grounds. We were tired and hadn’t planned on such a big site so we paid for the most expensive tickets. The place was beautiful and HUGE!! I felt lazy but glad to be able to jump on the shuttle between all the different religious sites. Apparently this complex gets used for religious events, but hard to imagine how it supports itself. One of the last stops on our shuttle gave us tea and a foot soak. It made us feel so much better!
We left as the sun was going down, and we headed back to our hotel in the dark. I was a lot more confident on the dirt full of ditches than I had felt the day before. We jumped in pool, then shower at the hotel, had dinner, and headed out to catch a 10PM train heading south to DaNang. Morton is always asking to take trains, and specifically an overnight train, but I always opt for flying as we live right by the airport in Beijing and the train station is an hour and a half away – so I decided we’d take this opportunity to take the train. I heard it was supposed to be a beautiful ride. I wan’t happy to see the third bed in our birth was taken, but the Chinese man who travelled with us ended up being super nice and spoke more freely being in Vietnam about his issues with his home country. The train was an old Soviet Era train that was extremely slow and rattled a lot. The ride was fine. The view in the morning was nice but I’d take the plane next time. – even Morton agreed.
We had been told to stay at a beach resort by Hoi An – which was about 40 minutes by car past DaNang. Dan booked the Robinson Hoi An. Driving more than an hour past Hoi An, it became clear that the Robinson in Hoi An was not IN Hoi An. We were all tired from all the travel and not excited to be so far from the city we came so far to see, and then we drove into The Robinson. It was so nice. Three lovely pools, tennis courts, padel courts, a beach volleyball court on a lovely wide white sand beach with nothing else on the beach as far as we could see. Yoga classes, a lovely two room suite, and fantastic food. We ordered some food, sat down on the beach and realized we weren’t going to make it to Hoi An.
The next morning Dan and I got up early to take a yoga class. The teacher asked us if we were foreign. I was very confused. Obviously we don’t look Vietnamese. She then clarified that by foreign she meant not German. Apparently it’s a German hotel chain and almost all of their guests are German – though at the time it appeared as if they didn’t have more than 15 guests at the hotel – at most – maybe not more than 8.
We spent a few lovely days at Robinson before heading back to Hanoi, by plane this time, and then onto Beijing to settle back into our Beijing life.
Back in Beijing, the head of development at the school asked me to design a hongbao envelope for the school’s 45th anniversary (a Hongbao is a red envelope that people hand out holiday tips in). I spent the last few days working on it.
Only thing more to mention, this morning I got up early with Morton who took the PSAT this morning. I put on some water on the stove to get some hot water to clean the dishes (the hot water takes a ridiculous amount of time in this house). After a moment I heard a, “beep” and the stove turned off and wouldn’t turn back on. After many calls and texts I finally got a workman over to the house who showed me that to get the gas to go back on I had to first pull out everything from a cabinet, worm into the cabinet, then stick what looks like a credit card into the meter back there, then pull out a knob on the top of the meter and then, “voila!” (French is the next language I need to study!) – the gas goes back on. No idea what this is all about. I assume the card is registering our gas use? And at some point we’ll be charged – from the card?? I have no idea. But we have gas back on our stove top, so I’m happy. I’ve had a terrible cold for the last few days but it’s a lovely early fall day and Dan and I just sat outside at a cafe and I got some soup – so can’t complain. I hope you all are as well. Xo
ADDENDUM: A day after I wrote the above. Just had lunch with two Chinese friends. They told me I need to go put money on my gas card for when gas turns off again. If empty – won’t refill. Good to know. Better go do that!