Madness In The Middle Kingdom

Well … maybe more like the Green Lantern. We were a tad late in getting our pumpkins this year and this is the best we could get.

Carter so far hasn’t complained that every other pumpkin in the world is orange but his are green. Nathan has been largely disinterested in the whole thing.

On Sunday we set out to carve the pumpkins and I definitely made a few rookie mistakes (ex. making a straight rather than angled cut when cutting out the top so the “lid” has no danger of falling in). All in all though it was loads o’ fun.

“Gutting the pumpkins”

Getting design tips from the Foreman

Modelling

One down, one to go

The completed project

Isn’t that scary kids?

Trick or treat photos to come.

Getting ready to head out the other night for a delicious dinner at Pizza Hut Carter was in a mood to try some stuff on.

These boots were not made for walking

Yo Homie! Wassup?

The following information comes from
http://www.calacademy.org/RESEARCH/anthropology/utensil/chpstck.htm

“Chopsticks were developed about 5,000 years ago in China. It is likely that people cooked their food in large pots which retained heat well, and hasty eaters then broke twigs off trees to retrieve the food. By 400 BCE, a large population and dwindling resources forced people to conserve fuel. Food was chopped into small pieces so it could be cooked more rapidly, thus needing less fuel.

The pieces of food were small enough that they negated the need for knives at the dinner table, and chopsticks became staple utensils. It is also thought that Confucius, a vegetarian, advised people not to use knives at the table because knives would remind them of the slaughterhouse. Chinese chopsticks, called kuai-zi (quick little fellows), are usually 9 to 10 inches long and rectangular with a blunt end. By 500 CE, chopstick use had spread from China to present-day Vietnam, Korea, and Japan.”

Carter has been attempting to use chopsticks to a moderate level of success after watching his friend Hailey use them rather well at a recent gathering. The photos tell the story

Wanna learn Carter’s secrets? Head on over to the website Eat With Chopsticks

Well this is beginning to really p*ss me off! First Flickr where I store my photos, then blogsome where I host this blog and NOW YouTube where I post all my videos.

This country may be progressing in many ways but it is significantly regressing in terms of internet access.

ARRRGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

The JinZhou Zoo is not exactly the San Diego Zoo and I oppose zoo’s of all kinds because it is cruel and unusual what they do to these animals all so we can have a look. So why did we go to one yesterday? This particular zoo has lots of rides for little kids and Carter’s second favourite trampoline (second to Amma and Ampa’s house). We went for the rides and to get out of the house.

These are a few of my favourite shots. You can view more by looking at the photos I uploaded to Flickr by clicking HERE

Carter proves that David Blaine street magician is not the only one who can levitate.

Carter and Nathan have two cases to keep their DVD’s (Baby Einstein, Spiderman, Elmo, Inuk, etc). To us they are both Winnie The Pooh cases and as far as we had noticed they were in fact the same case and you could only tell the difference by looking inside. Alice asked Carter to get a particular Baby Einstein DVD that he and Nathan like to watch. Carter asked her which case he should bring. Alice said they were both the same. He said “Do you want the one with Pooh Bear and Piglet digging a hole or the one with Pooh Bear, Piglet and Tigger eating?” When he brought them both back and showed us the evidence ….

we had a pretty good little laugh.

What’s the point of this semi-amusing anecdote? When your life has got you running ragged worrying about money, time, putting food on the table, doing a good job at work and all of life’s other “adult” pressures once in a while take a breather and look at life through a child’s eyes.

Are your DVD cases different?

This is one of the most mundane posts to come along in a while but today I cannot think of anything else other than the allergic reaction I have had since 5 am this morning. Like a complete idiot I did not buy my usual supply of good old Western medicine antihistamines and today was a battle just to remain sane.

If you don’t suffer from allergies then it is hard to explain in words what it feels like. The symptoms include sneezing, itching and weeping eyes, stuffy or runny nose, and cough. That doesn’t truly capture the feeling however. Imagine that the back of your eyeballs and your brain are inflamed and itchy beyond belief and scratching them by putting a knitting needle up your nostril actually seems like a good idea. At the same time if a man with a giant cleaver offered to chop off your nose to rid you of the itch and burning sensation you would not only take him up on the offer but you would pay him to do it.

Well a few moments ago Craig of the Engleson Files dropped by with a present - Sudafed! Glory be the wonder of Sudafed! At least now I don’t have to find a knitting needle and hunt for a man with a cleaver.

Achooo!

Continuing in our superhero theme we have Carter in two starring roles - Batman and Spiderman.

I genuinely do not like doing copycat posts but I have to admit that I am guilty of it this time. Magnus over at The Engleson Files debuted his Spiderman costume. It turns out the costume was a bit too small for him and Carter, the lanky lad he is, inherited it while Magnus had another one brought in from Beijing. If you take a look at this post from the Engleson Files first you will see my shameless copyright violation. Yes I tried to jazz up this video with some music and graphics but it’s still plagiarism. Without further adieu I give you Spiderman too!

Just a shot of the boys hanging out watching Inuk or Cars or some such movie and munching on some apple slices.

October 1st marks the founding of the modern nation of China under Mao Zedong’s Communists. To highlight this celebration China implemented the “Golden Week” holiday that gives us and the regular Chinese folks a week long holiday. The actual holiday is 3 days but most companies work 2 days in lieu and then tack those on to a weekend so we get 7 continous days off work.

The idea was that this holiday (and a Golden Week in May to celebrate the International Communist Holiday of May 1st) would stimulate domestic tourism however it would seem that this hasn’t really happened. Most folks use the time to travel home and visit family. The proposal now is to cancel the Golden Weeks and spread that time out over other more traditional Chinese Holidays like the Dragon Boat Festival or Mid-Autumn Festival. The result would be some long weekends throughout the year rather than a lump sum two time holiday.

We decided to spend this October break at home getting rested and reacquainted as a family. Most of the other family units in our circle of friends (which has been referred to as a clique by the way) decided to do the same. Instead of a great time doing hockey, beach visits, playing in the park and enjoying nature we have been subjected to this weather forecast which is far from “Golden”

It doesn’t matter the day … it’s always like this for “Today” and “Tomorrow”. The result has been some serious cabin fever. On the plus side it might make us actually appreciate going into work.

Yes Picasso is alive and has taken the form of Carter Brown. Thanks to a certain K.E. we purchased the Ikea Easel and although it has taken a year we are really starting to get some use out of it. Carter draws and Nathan erases. Despite Nathan’s proclivities to get rid of Carter’s work as quickly as possible I have managed to snap a few shots of Carter’s latest creations. These are the self titled works ….

The Bug

The Shadow

Thanks going out to Craig at The Engleson Files for a great breakie today. He was gracious enough to share with our family and the Defieux’s a little treat called Eggs Benedict. The English muffins from home (can’t get ‘em in Dalian) were a special treat. Top it off with some scones, banana bread, “curly” bacon (how did he do it?) and Phillipino coffee and it was a culinary success.

PS Craig’s Eggs Benny looked 99% like the photo above with the exception of the sprig o’ mint garnish.

Yesterday Brad and Nathalie put on a great birthday shindig for their two daughters Maya and Olina. We had good food, good drinks, good company, good weather and a good park location. All in all I would say it was good.

Some shots of Nathan doing two things he likes … picking up stuff off the ground and eating.

Some shots of Carter doing the things he likes best .. running, laughing and playing with his bestest buddy Magnus.