We spent our winter holiday in the beautiful country of Thailand. Some of our time was spent in Bangkok and some on Ko Pha Ngan, where we visited our friend, Lea, in Haad Rin. This area is known for its different moon parties, but we just went to chill. The beaches are incredible, the shopping is great and the food is delicious – an incredible combination! We not only ate different cuisines (which is hard to find in China) but we also took a cooking class to learn some Thai basics. It was a really fun and relaxing trip! Here are some picts:
food we’ve eaten
Thanksgiving in Zhuhai 2015
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.
Visit to America
I went back to the states for some of the summer and it was nice to reconnect with family and friends. It was also great to do some shopping and eating! A lot of great food in the states! Here are some picts (mostly of food)!
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!
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. 🙂
Taiyun and Shanxi Provence
For Chinese National Day holiday, we went to visit our friend, Tina, who used to work with us at school. She is now back living in her hometown of Taiyuan. It is the capital city of Shanxi Province, and we met her to do some traveling around the province as well.
We flew from Guangzhou to Taiyuan. The flight was about three hours but from door to door it almost took six hours. We stayed at various hotels during our trip and ate at various restaurants. We visited two UNESCO World Heritage sites, Wutaishan and Datong. Shanxi has one of oldest histories in China. It contains many of oldest temples mixed with Chinese and Tibetan Buddhism. Jinju (Shanxi opera) is also the origin of the Peking opera. Although we knew a bit of Chinese history, it was surely a great opportunity to witness first hand some historical sites. We also experienced a lot of good food. Shanxi people love to eat noodles. There are many different types of noodles you can choose from. Local people say “when you get off a bus, you eat noodles, and when you get on a bus, you eat dumping.” Yes, we had amazingly delicious noodles and dumpling homemade by Tina’s mother.
Both of us enjoyed the trip, but what we really enjoyed the most was spending time with our friend and seeing where she lives. She is not only a good friend of ours but also a great translator and guide, helping us learn during our trip. Thanks to our lovely friend, Tina!
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.
Hong Kong – Chinese New Year
Over this Chinese New Year holiday, Chiz and I went to Hong Kong to meet up with her friend John. We did some touristy things like go to the Peak, haggle at the Ladies Market, and ride the cable cars to the Big Buddha. We also scouted out good spots to watch the parade, which was not so great, and the fireworks, which were amazing!!! It was nice seeing John and nice to learn a bit more about Hong Kong!