Moving To China, 2007

Zhong Shan (中山）

Jacob Redding — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 06:27:18 +0000

This is a raw unedited look at my day. Its around 9 minutes long and if you don't know me this is going to be really, really boring but if you're curious what I'm seeing on a day-to-day basis this would give you a partial idea. Its really of value only to the family ;)

The day is Monday October 1st and the location is Zhong Shan (中山), China(中国) where Diana's parents live. In the morning, 8am-ish, Diana, myself, and her parent's walked about ten blocks to a rather fancy restaurant located on the 5th floor of the nearby mall. At the restaurant we met up with her Grandparents, her dad's friends, her mom's friends and various other familial-type relations the extent of which I don't know. We had a traditional Chinese breakfast, "Dim Sum".

Dim Sum describes both the type of food served and the style in which it is served. Dim Sum consists of several small dishes served in a rotating fashion. In the US these dishes would be similar in size and portion to an appetizer. The dishes are items such as vegetables, buns, dumplings, sliced pork, ribs or other 1-3 bite items. Essentially anything that you can pick up with chopsticks and eat within a few bites is a Dim Sum dish. Its not uncommon to order a dish that has only 3 buns in it despite the fact that there are 10 people at the table. You simply order 11 various dishes so that there is enough variety for everyone. Also I should note that the rule is to order one dish for every person plus on additional thus for 10 people you would order 11, its tradition and polite.

The style of Dim Sum is also a defining feature. We were in a private room at the restaurant so we ordered from one of the waiters. A few people at the table took charge and selected many small dishes from a large menu of available items. The items were then brought in one by one throughout the course of the meal. The items are placed on a lazy susan in the middle of the table and we all just dug in ;). If a dish placed in front of you doesn't look appetizing just spin the lazy susan until something looks good! Had we been in the main dining hall we could have either ordered from the menu or waited until one of the many food carts came to our table. A food cart has several various dishes on it (same as the menu) and looks similar to the 50s-era desert carts.

Anyhow.. that's Dim Sum. Insanely popular and extremely good.

After Dim Sum we went to the Supermarket to pick up some fruit and veggies. This is the majority of the video. Its really nothing more than me letting the camera roll while I walked around the supermarket.

I definitely need to point out that Monday was National Day and the week is called "Golden Week". National day is like USA's Independence day. Almost everyone in the country is off of work for the entire week. Its packed everywhere!

Finally.. I screwed up. This wasn't Monday it was Tuesday the 2nd. My camera said Monday because it was still set for Pacific Standard Time, 15 hours behind, and I believed it. Whoops!

From Pancakes to Intestines

Jacob Redding — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 15:03:35 +0000

Oh how days can be interesting. On Wednesday morning Diana and I woke up around 9am in Los Angeles, California. Our flight to Hong Kong wasn't scheduled for departure until 1pm and our rental car wasn't due back until noon-ish, leaving us with plenty of time to have one last American meal.

Diana Chowhounded (yes that is now a verb) a local American diner; Panns. Panns is a true 50s style American diner. Everything from the building's architecture to the waitress' uniform was straight from the era. Actually, and probably more accurately stated, the Diner was built in the 50s and hasn't changed since. When it works, it works.

We sat down at an outside table and perused the available menu. The standard Diner choices were there without much variation. Eggs/Ham/Toast, Eggs/Toast/Bacon, Pancakes/Eggs/Bacon, Pancakes/Eggs/Sausage, French Toast/Eg.... Well you get the idea. It was exactly what Diana and I wanted before we left for our extended stay overseas. She ordered a plate of french toast with a side of fresh fruit and I went full on A-MER-I-CAN, pancakes coupled with two eggs over-medium flanked by bacon AND sausage and a tall cool glass of milk to wash it all down.

Hey if you're gonna go out, go out with a bang!

The breakfast was standard Diner fare, nothing spectacular but good and fattening. We both left with our stomach full about to burst with a nice "heavy" feeling to them. That was just fine with us though as it was only 10:30am and we still had to return the car, check-in, get on the flight and then wait. Our next meal most likely wasn't for a good six hours or more.

Return the car was easy and taking the shuttle to the airport was remarkably uneventful. There was no line when we checked in with Cathay Pacific and everyone at the ticket counter was extremely, extremely polite, courteous and helpful. The gentleman at the counter was so helpful that he spotted an empty row on the plane and moved us to that row so that we could have a row to ourselves. That's service! (Cathay Pacific gets my recommendation for that one!)

TSA security was the disorderly, confusing, frustrating and non-comforting mess it always is. The wait for the plane was boring, as it always is. And we boarded the plane late as, yup, it always is. Even though our plane was delayed we landed in Hong Kong early; go figure.

The plane ride itself wasn't anything to write home about although it was an international flight on a non-American airline company. If you haven't traveled overseas on a non-American run airline company you need to. This is not to say that American-run companies are horrible on overseas flights (or domestic ones) but.. umm they are. Shortly after the flight took off the extremely friendly flight attendants gave us towelettes to wash our faces with and a small pouch containing socks (to wear during the flight so that you don't have to wear your shoes), a toothbrush w/ paste, and breath mints. Eyeshades were also freely available upon request.

Lunch was served a short time later and, although good for airline food, was nothing spectacular. Almost immediately after lunch it was time for the plane to go to sleep. Companies that have been doing this for a while know what's best for their passengers. We took off at 2pm PST but in Hong Kong it was 5am. After lunch was served it was approximately 8am. People in Hong Kong were just waking up whereas we, the passengers, had already been awake for 7 or 8 hours. With a 14 hour flight you have to squeeze in some sleep. The flight attendants request everyone to close their shades, the cabin lights were dimmed and, after a while, turned off. Best of all though is just before the lights were dimmed a final serving of beer and wine went around. Diana and I opted for the beer/wine/Tylenol PM combo! Oh ya... it puts you right to sleep.

We arrived in Hong Kong somewhat refreshed, at least not-groggy, cleared the temperature screening areas, grabbed our luggage and swiftly made it through customs. Diana's Uncle, whom had also picked us up on our first visit to Hong Kong, met us in the main lobby of the airport escorted us to the correct bus route that took us to our hotel in Kowloon. We checked in, dropped our luggage off and then, as it was only 8pm in Hong Kong went out for dinner. Charles, Diana's uncle, had "Hot Pot" on the mind!

Hot Pot!!! Oh, hot pot how do I love thee? Let me count the boiling bubbles that create juicy tenderness. mmmm... hot pot.

For those of you who don't know what hot pot is try to imagine this with me. A round table that seats roughly six to eight people with a hole in the middle of it the size of a large stew/soup pot. In that hole is a round metal bowl with sectioning plate down the middle. In one section is broth similar to American chicken broth. In the other section is a red spicy broth. As the bowl is sitting atop a flame or electric stovetop the water is boiling rapidly.

This picture is from a meal we had last year.

Around the table are various raw vegetables and meats. This is, of course, where China becomes interesting. Charles had ordered the standard fare sliced beef, chicken, shrimp, scallops, fish balls, etc. I think he forgot that I had been to China before and he also ordered pig intestine, fluffed pig skin, and some kidney shaped "things" that he couldn't remember the English word for. I'm not exactly sure if he truly likes pig intestine and skin or if he was just trying to show me "Hong Kong".

I've had all of these things before except the kidney shaped items and although they sound bad in reality they don't taste horrible. Pig intestine, yes it is thoroughly cleaned, doesn't taste like anything at all. It is just a glutinous mass. Fluffed pig skin quite honestly tastes like pork rinds if pork rinds were soft and boiled versus deep fried. One could probably make an interesting Mexican/Chinese fusion dish by combining the two.

The kidney shaped items, however, were the interesting choices. Charles chose them because they are believed to give men, and men specifically, strength and sexual vigor. OK, let's stop for a second. Whenever a Chinese person hands you something that supposedly gives you "sexual vigor" or "strength" but only for a man you know that it is an animal's testicle or an animal's penis or animal bile or... well you get the idea, its genitalia or related to.

Oh well, I want to be a strong sexually invigorated male don't I? Still not knowing exactly what it was I cooked it in the hot pot for five minutes and chewed it up. It tasted a bit like liver and wasn't necessarily horrible.

I wasn't able to leap over any buildings after eating it but Diana's pregnant! With twins!
(I am kidding of course. Jet lag negated any effects of the "thing" I ate).

Goodbye U.S.

Jacob Redding — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 15:20:10 +0000

This is my last post from within the United States. Its currently 8:15am and I write this while the morning commuter traffics clogs the 405; which is right outside my window. The sun is bright, shiny and warm as it should be in Southern California. In approximately five hours we'll be on a plane bound for Hong Kong and around fourteen hours later we'll be landing in Hong Kong. The current temperate in Hong Kong is approximately the same as in the U.S so there won't be much of a temperature shock. Culture shock, however, is another thing.

Although I've been there before this time its different. This time its not a quick vacation, its at least a year-long endeavor into learning a language and really discovering a new culture, society and way of life. Our bags are packed, the plane is waiting and well there is always opportunity knocking.

My next blog entry will be from China! Until then...silence

Goodbye my love

Jacob Redding — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 19:13:26 +0000

Over eight years ago we met at a little shop in Portland, Oregon. You were a Portland native and I was a newcomer to the area. You showed me around and helped guide me whenever I got lost. Your popularity, at times, was costly to our relationship and I considered abandoning you for another but we held on. People would call you from all over the country and the world. Together we traveled to over 30 states and 7 countries. In only three of those countries did they speak your language but you came along anyway. You traveled well and have always stuck by my side.

I remember the days before you had a camera. How did you function back then? The camera you have now, although old, has captured the fondest of memories. We'll cherish them forever.

Sadly its the pictures we'll have but the relationship we won't.

On September 25th, 2007 I must say goodbye to you. Forever. I'm traveling to a place that doesn't speak your language. You are not welcome in their land. I must make new companions and seek out new forms of communication. We've had a great time together but times change and we must adjust.

Goodbye my Verizon cell phone. You've been great but I have to move on. Please don't txt it only makes it harder.

Grandma's house

Jacob Redding — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 23:33:39 +0000

After leaving Los Angeles we headed up to Ojai, California to visit my good friend Markus. Markus' place in Ojai is absolutely amazing and was a perfect retreat from two full days of "talking tech". Its amazing how exhausted you can get from just talking.

Back to the reason for this post. My Grandma. She is the only reason I am here in California if it weren't for her we'd be in China by now. I couldn't leave the US without getting in some good quality Grandma time. We arrived at her place last week and have just been hanging out. It's been great. Both my Grandma and I couldn't resist showing Diana around, especially this was her first time to King City, her first time to the Salinas Valley, first time to Monterey county, first time... well her first time to a lot of place and a lot of experiences.

One of the first things that Grandma had us do was to head down to Hearst Castle. We, Diana and I, wanted her to come with us but she's steadfastly refused and I learned long ago, through my Sister's mistake, that you don't resist Grandma for too long. Hearst Castle was awesome to see again. When I went as a child the one thing I remembered most were the pools. I longed to swim in the outdoor Neptune pool AND I really wanted to take home the indoor tiled pool. It looks so inviting.. refreshing, clean, clear.. aaaaahhh.. I want to swim!

Hearst Castle took up our entire Friday. On Saturday I wanted to have a nice day with Grandma visiting places, talking, chatting... you know just soaking up the "Grandma time". Nope! Grandma had other plans. Off to the annual AG tour for Diana and I. A luxuorious tour bus toted Diana and I, as well as 80 "slightly older" people around to 5 farms around the Salinas Valley. We toured a seed barn farm, sod farm, Artichokes, potatoes and one of the many Wineries. Sadly the Winery gave us no wine :( Wonderfully Cowboy Suppers in King City now including a full spread of local wines.

Oh how I've missed the tri-tip, grilled chickens and huge steaks of a King City BBQ.

DrupalCampLA

Jacob Redding — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 16:35:29 +0000

Diana and I left Denver, Colorado a bit early and flew off to LA so that I could attend DrupalCampLA. The only person I knew at DrupalCampLA was Crystal, the camp organizer. I wanted to attend because this was the first DrupalCamp in Los Angeles and I'm constantly amazed at how quickly Drupal has grown and, more importantly, how strong the community around Drupal is.

I was able to grab the audience for the first opening session to give one of my "Use Open source" speeches; which I enjoyed. I also did a few sessions on module development and various other topics and talked "tech" with a lot of people.

It was a great time. Now its time to head off to China (First Grandma's and S.F)

F L I C K R !

Rim of the world

Jacob Redding — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 01:03:37 +0000

After spending a day at Joshua Tree and another day/night in Big Bear Diana and I headed back to the great city of Los Angeles via the scenic route. This winding road is called "The Rim of the world". I can only assume its named that because L.A believed that they were/are the edge of the world because really.. what's beyond L.A? hhmm. San Diego, Mexico, Central America, South America.... Ok just a few things.

The road was built around the end of the Great Depression as both a "make work" program and a way to revive the spirits of Americans by giving them a freakin' amazing view. When we drove the "Rim of the world" it was almost exactly the opposite of a depression but it was still one heck of a view!

Leaving Denver

Jacob Redding — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 15:31:46 +0000

Diana and I are heading out for LA in about two hours. We'll be spending the next few weeks in California meeting friends and visiting my Grandmother. Then we leave for Hong Kong on the 26th. Today marks exactly three weeks before we move to China! Oooh I'm excited I can't wait.

Unfortunately I didn't write much while in Denver but I did take a ton of pictures. I will try to get them uploaded later this weekend. For now you can check out this picture from our hike over Labor day weekend. While most people lounged on Labor day we hiked up a freakin' mountain (literally). We nearly summited Mt. Evans and by "nearly" I mean we did. My legs are sore, my back is sore, my face is sunburned but hellz yeah we climbed a mountain! Booya! (wow, where'd the booya come from?)

ssshhh. Don't tell Diana but we're going to Joshua Tree this evening!

Hiking in Denver

Jacob Redding — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 14:04:35 +0000

Over Labor day weekend Tony, Deb, Diana and I went up to Mt. Evans in Denver, Colorado to do some hiking. On Sunday morning we drove as close as we could to basecamp which was still about 3 miles away and a few thousand feet below. We hiked up and into the Colorado woods quite literally. After setting up camp, building a nice fire and getting a good nights sleep we decided to do some more hiking. This time we opted to just go up a "little" hill next to our campsite.

The little hill turned out to be a few thousand feet tall and we nearly summitted Mt. Evans. Even though I say nearly what I really mean is that we did summit it. That is what I'm going to tell you, all of my friends, everyone I meet and every single one of my nieces, nephews, children, grandchildren, great grandchildren.

Oh did I mention that it was up hill in the snow both ways? Well it was.

My what a week..or two..or four

Jacob Redding — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 23:15:37 +0000

I'm not exactly what is going on with me lately but since I left New York I have been unable to hold onto the things I need to hold onto. Less than one week after arriving in Florida I lost a folder that contained all of my important financial information (tax returns, bank account info, retirement accounts, etc. etc.). This caused me about two weeks of daily phone calls to financial institutions to change account numbers, add security passwords, alerts and/or shift funds around. Now nearly a month later I'm still not done due to some very old-school (and possibly incompetent) institutions (*cough* MetLife *cough*).

Now I've lost my phone. A phone that I've had for over 5 years and I was planning to get rid of........when we left for China. But not NOW! Every phone number I have, lost. Pictures that are 4 years old, lost. Txt messages from twitter,lo.. wait, who cares. I've been phone-less for about a week now and it feels like a throwback to the 80s. How did people live without cell phones? really, how? I guess I'm going to find out. We're in the U.S for another 3 weeks and there are no plans to get a new cell phone. *gasp*

Despite losing a folder that is an Identity-thief's wetdream and losing my cell-phone things in Denver have been going pretty good. The weather has been amazing. The mornings start out around 70 degrees, reach a high of upper 80s to low 90s and then cool back down in the evening. Afternoon rain showers are pretty common but they go as quickly as they come and the water dries up within the hour. There has only been a single large thunderstorm that sat on top of Denver for about 30 minutes. It woke me up at 2am and had me a little fearful of being hit by lightning. What is life without a little fear though, eh?

We haven't had a chance to do much in Denver yet due to varying circumstances. Our first week in Denver Diana went to California and I stayed behind to do work. The second week was filled with planning our trips around California and China, determining dates where to stay, etc. as well as starting our Chinese studies up again and getting acquainted with our surroundings. Finally in our third week we have plans to really explore Denvey by leaving it.

Tomorrow Diana and I are picking up a rental car and heading out of town. We're not exactly sure where we're going yet but there are a few possibilities. Garden of the gods, Pikes Peak, Mt. Evan, Colorado springs, or heading to Wyoming to meet my good friend Ryan.

Who knows what tomorrow will bring...