We made Thanksgiving again this year and it was a lot of fun! We cooked a turkey and friends brought different dishes to complement it. Lots of great cooks, so we ate well! We even watched an old Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade and football game to make it perfect! The only thing that was missing was family and friends from home.
Event
4th of July in China
Since there were some teachers and parents who stuck around Zhuhai for the beginning of the summer, Sam thought it would be a good opportunity to celebrate the 4th of July together! We asked the head of school if we could use the campus, since it was not being used, and he approved! We played games, ate delicious food from the bbq, and just had a fun time! We wanted to play disc Frisbee, have a water balloon fight, and get wet on slip and slides, but sadly we didn’t have the time… maybe next year!
B52’s Roam (China Remix)
We finally finished our China remix to the classic B52’s song “Roam.” It is in homage to the quirkiness of the original video.
Many thanks to all those who helped in the making of the video! Enjoy!
Robin visits China
Robin came to visit us during this winter holiday. We showed her around Zhuhai and Hong Kong, but also took a trip to Beijing together. It was Billy’s first time in Beijing as well. We ate some delicious food, like Peking duck, dim sum and the freshest asparagus ever! We climbed the Great Wall, saw a big Buddha, met up with some old friends and filmed using a green screen. The resulting movie is in post-production at the moment, but will hopefully be released world-wide soon. Here are some picts from our adventures:
Thanksgiving in Zhuhai
Thanksgiving is probably my favorite holiday. It is all about family, friends and food; it is non-religious; there are no presents to stress over; and it is always on a Thursday, so usually you have a 4 day weekend! Sadly, living in Asia makes it hard to celebrate because I am far from family and friends, we don’t have any days off and it is difficult to get and cook a turkey!
This year though, a local import store was selling 10 pound frozen turkeys and our oven was big enough for the bird! We ordered one and asked some friends to come over for a Thanksgiving meal. They all made something as well and it was a wonderful day! Now all we need to do is finish all the leftover turkey. More turkey, more problems. 🙂
Mom & Dad visit China
Mom & Dad came to visit us in China!
Their overseas adventure started in Hong Kong. Hong Kong is not only a great place to shop but also to experience great food. Since Hong Kong is a good walking place, we walked a lot and saw many interesting things. We also went to Macau, which is closer to where we live. Macau is also a great place to experience delicious food. We really loved the egg tarts! The main part of their visit was to see where we live, Zhuhai. We enjoyed Cantonese food as well as very local food in Zhuhai. It was great to see three different places through their eyes and experience new things together. We even all put together a closet with no instructions! It was great to hang out and show them where we live.
Yangshuo 2014
We just came back from the Year 5 & Year 6 school trip to Yangshuo. Yangshuo is located two hours drive from the Guiling City centre in Guangxi Province, China. Guiling City is located one hour flight from Zhuhai City where we live. Yangshuo is one of the most popular destinations for both domestic and foreign travelers. Its krast mountains are very attractive and have been drawn by many painters. If you ever seen any Chinese paintings, you have certainly seen the scenery of Yangshuo.
We stayed one night in Guiling city and five nights in Yangshuo. We did outdoor activities including Chinese cooking and boat riding in Li River. We enjoyed biking the most! Unfortunately the weather was not the greatest and we had mostly rainy days. The guide told us that usually April to October is the best time to visit. However, due to the late winter, this time was not a great and is still a wet season. We had great tour guides that helped us in many ways. This place is one of must-to-visit places in China.
Harbin Ice Festival
This year, we decided to have a snow Christmas in Harbin. However, it turned out to be an ice Christmas. The city of Harbin was icy and we only got to see snow falling down for a few hours during our stay.
Harbin is the largest city in the northeastern part of China. It has a strong Russian influence and was also occupied by Japan during the Second World War. Harbin is a city with dark yet important history to visit once in a lifetime. We experienced many things that will definitely stay with us as a tale to talk about in the future.
One of main purposes for us to visit Harbin was to see Ice and Snow Festival. The whole city turns into winter wonderland filled with Lego-blocked ice buildings with snow sculptures all around. Since the temperature of Harbin stays well below freezing (-20 degrees to -30 degrees Celsius) the sculptures are in no danger of melting. Of course, we knew it officially starts in January 2014. Yet, there are supposed to be many events starting around the 20th of Dec. 2013. So, we took a two hour bus from Tangjia to Shenzhen, stayed one night in Shenzhen, took a four hour flight to Harbin, took another an hour bus from Harbin airport to Harbin railway station, and finally took a 20 minute tuk-tuk from Harbin railway station to our hotel. It was quite a trip but the cold and crisp air (and people spitting) kept us awake the whole journey.
NYC
After visiting New Jersey, we took a NJ train to New York City. Billy’s friends, Patrick and Karen, were kind enough to let us stay at their apartment in Chelsea and treated us so well. Their lovely dogs, Ellie and Buster, also entertained us day and night. It was also a great to see other friends who came out of their way to see us. It was a very short time but we really appreciate the time we spent together. Although Chiz has been to NYC before, she had not been to Brooklyn so this was a good opportunity for her. Bobby and Gabrielle took us for an amazing tour of Brooklyn including Billy’s old neighborhood, Coney Island and the Promenade. It was also good to meet their beautiful daughter, Isabelle. Lastly, we got to see Billy’s Uncle Michael and Aunt Leona. They were not only nice enough to store our luggage while we were visiting New Jersey and NYC, but were also nice enough to take us to the airport. Before heading to the airport, we had breakfast together at a ‘traditional’ dinner where we enjoyed our last supper in USA! It was a great trip! Check out the pictures below:
Atlanta Botanical Garden – Imaginary Worlds
We were lucky enough to be in town to go to Atlanta Botanical Garden to see the Imaginary Worlds exhibition. The exhibition was not actually new but new to Atlanta. As the title indicates, it makes you feel like you are in imaginary worlds by nature. All statues created by greens and flowers were well-done and some take your breath away. Both children and adults can surely enjoy this exhibition. We not only enjoyed the exhibition, but also had great time visiting different gardens. They had huge greenhouses with plants from different climates and even a garden for edible plants. It was educational and also nice walking around and enjoying all the nature in the summer.