A Fun Sunday

We had a fun outing this weekend.  We get lazy and spend a lot of weekends hanging around the house but there are so many fun places to go!  We didn't feel like planning anything ahead of time so we went to a big park not too far from the house.  We found all kinds of crazy stuff!


This car has fish inside it!

Next we wandered over to the Aquarium.  This is an amazing aquarium that was built by the Discovery Channel and then was given over to the Chinese.  These fish are eight feet long!  Don't tell Uncle TJ where the big fish are located.  Ssshhh.

Next we have the typical deal in China.  We always wonder, who thought that would be a good idea and why?  That is actually a sidewalk up to the top of the tree.  Huh?                                                                                                     

                    

                                                                    


More huh?

  We went to the Beluga Whale show and that was fun but they are so big that it is difficult for them to get out of the water.  The elephant show we went to a couple months ago was shut down because of the animal rights issue.  So who knows if the Beluga show is next.                                                                                                                                                                                                       
                                           

I was about to go postal when the kids wanted to go on the rides but I couldn't seem to purchase enough tickets for them to get on the rides.  So I kept buying more tickets and after I spend about $20 USD on tickets the rides only needed 2 tickets each.  Then a man took a ticket for me to join Linds on the ride but I couldn't understand what he wanted.  He also wouldn't start the ride.  So I called our Management Office to translate but no one answered.  Ugh.

After a long day we were ready to get a taxi home but we had to walk through the ghetto to get one.  It was a safe area but very economically challenged.  This man here is loading a washing machine onto his scooter because that is what they do.  We also looked into a Dentist's office that was about 10 square feet inside.  Sean noticed that some of the dental tools were on the floor.  I am guessing that new end pieces are not opened from that wrapping like at home.  I think I will wait until we go home and see Dr. Johnson!

What are Ryan and Lindsey up to?

                                                                               

Lindsey talked me into being her Girl Scout Leader and that is super time consuming for me.  Everyone was wondering what I was going to do with myself without work but the kids keep me really busy. 

Each of the kids received awards at the assembly at school last month.  Ryan looked pretty nervous on stage but he got over that.  Neither one knew that they were going to be on stage.                                                                          

 Both Ryan and Lindsey are making friends and having fun at school.  They have always been great at the social part of school! 

Everyone was pleasantly surprised that the Americans here organize Trick or Treating at Halloween.  Ryan was convinced that the Chinese people were going to give out fruit instead of candy.  They pulled in lots of candy, but one lady wasn't prepared and gave out rice cakes.  Those immediately went in the trash!



Ryan is the red and black Ninja

          


Our new activity is ice skating!  Sean and I thought that we could just take the kids and show them how to ice skate.  Just after Mom fell on Lindsey and I was thinking that she would be leaving the rink on a back board we signed them up for lessons.  Ryan is a fast little guy on ice!  He loves it but Linds is tolerating it.  This is only the second time on skates!  Dad is hoping for a hockey player!

                   

Waterfalls on Cebu

 

We went on a cool tour of some waterfalls in a rain forest at the other end of the island.  It took us about 3 hours to drive there, but it was worth it! 

It's a couple kilometer walk to the falls.  Mostly just locals hang at these falls.  The falls reminded us of  Havasupai but there are restaurants and hotels right at the falls.  The hotel at each fall is definitely a no frills establishment!  The locals carry their whole picnic for 30 family members.



I guess that is the best way to carry stuff when your arms get tired!
















Ryan was a trouper!

It's important to have entertainment in a rain forest!

The restaurant was excellent!  I love Filipino food! 
They sell a bottle of rum up here for $1USD.  I think that is why everyone is mello and hangs out all day.  I am afraid that rum that cheap may cause serious health problems!

While hanging out at the falls, everyone jumps aboard the bamboo rafts and cruises under the water for the water massage.  We tried it and it hurt! At least the water is warm.

Cebu, Philippines Vacation

                                                                            
Sorry I have been slacking on the blog but we have a million things happening!  I am a Brownie Troop Leader and that creates more meetings to go to.  I also volunteer at school a lot.

Our family went to the Philippines in October and that was a fun vacation.  We stayed in a nice hotel with a snorkeling reef out back.  Lindsey LOVES to snorkel!  We had to drag her out of the water every night! Ryan wasn't as in to the snorkeling but he loves to hunt for seashells! 

This was our favorite restaurant.  When you arrive they bring out all the fresh seafood that you get to choose from.  Some of it is still alive!  Next you need to choose how you would like it prepared.  I loved the Mud Crab.  I don't know what they do to it but it is fabulous!   We had some fish that was steamed whole with eyeballs and it was really great as well.                            



This is how we got back to the hotel after dinner!  This is the public transportation, called a Jeepnie.

                                                                                                                                                                       

The people are super friendly and happy even they live in extreme poverty!  Due to the poverty, we did get the feeling that we could be in grave danger at some point.  When cars come into the hotel property they are checked with mirrors underneath, the dogs sniff the vehicle and they open each door and the trunk.

                                    
Everyone likes having their picture taken by the tourists!  They must not have seat belt laws  for kids!

The coolest part for me and Sean was that we found a boat that would take the kids snorkeling while we dove.  It was a family boatie day.  The dive shop even brought some one's cousin to watch the kids while we were underwater.  Sean was attacked by a fish when we dove earlier in the week.  Just a minor flesh wound!

Cricket Market

                                                                      

I thought we were going to the Pet Market but it turned out to be mostly crickets.  The whole cricket operation is amazing.  Hundreds of people are sitting around in the market tickling crickets with a stalk of wheat to make them chirp.  There is a cricket in every little box in the pictures.  

This is the story that explains why this area has great crickets!

When you have a bunch of crickets to keep alive you have to give them food and water just like any other pet.  That is what this lady is doing.  Check out the picture with the little food and water bowls for the little crickets!

They have cricket fights to see who has the best cricket and those go on in the little plexi glass container because you wouldn't want your prize cricket to escape! At least this is a sport that won't fill you garage with gear!

Don't forget the cage!

                                                         
                                                                               

The kids really want a Chinchilla!  I tried to get them interested in the crickets but no one was biting in that hook.  I thought at least the crickets could be cheap.  But they would not be coming inside the house!

There were all kinds of other creapy things at the market like these little squirels.  The array of water creatures and reptiles were impressive!

We are not bringing home a squirel!

                                                          

There is Something in My Soup Looking Back at Me!

We actually went to  a low end Chinese restaurant last night.  As usual much of the food that looked good on the menu didn't look so good on our plates.  So now we have plates and plates of food that we won't eat and I am feeling bad for the cook.  When what I thought was going to be fried wontons shows up as soup, I just start eating it.  I try not to look too closely at my food here.  Sean gets a wonton soup when I am almost done with mine and says "Something in my soup is looking back at me!".  These are little tiny shrimp with big black eyes.  I couldn't eat anymore.  Here is a picture of the soup.

I am still going to try not to look too closely at my food or I may starve!

The Financial District

                                    
 
When we first got to Shanghai, we stayed in a fabulous high rise hotel in the center of the Financial District.  It was cool to stay in that area because it's the center of lots of fun stuff.  My favorite part was that the Metro (subway) was across the street.

The Pearl Tower is the cool tall pink structure.  One can ride to the top of it and do the tourist thing.  We never did it because there were always thousands of tourists in line for it.  When we arrived in August, it was hotter and stickier then the hottest day in Phoenix!  I didn't believe that anything could be more miserable then Monsoon Season at home, but now I do.  Try Monsoon Season multiplied by ten.  Next summer I am going to try the teas that the Chines drink to detoxify your body and stop the effects of the heat.  Non of these people seem to sweat so it must work.

From the 27th floor we could see thousands of home that the locals live in.  I have been told that all these houses have airconditioning and flush toilets.  I have a hard time believing that because many of  them have their windows open.  If I have a choice of a/c or windows open in August I would chose a/c.  Lots of the locals believe that the cooled air is bad for you and causes health problems.

Here we have a cool riverboat!

This picture is funny because about ten minutes later everyone was drenched and dying for air conditioning!  I promise that is more miserable then Monsoon Season in Phoenix!

I love the bottle opener building!  It's an architectural marvel, I am sure.  I love it because it can be seen from everywhere!  We live out in the middle of nowhere but I see it all the time.