A few weekends ago, on a bright, crisp, late-winter day, boyfriend and I headed up to The Schoolhouse at Mutianyu, which is, as its name suggests, at the base of the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall. Beijing was just beginning to thaw after a long, cold winter — it had even snowed during the […]
The Wall Street Journal looks at the downfall of the cupcake industry today, marked by the crash of Crumbs’ stock — from more than $13 a share in 2011 to under $2 today. I remember when my sister first introduced the cupcake fad to me. I was visiting her in San Francisco soon after she […]
My last post was kind of whiny and dour, and really, I don’t despair about those things, I kind of just accept it. Stupid people are found everywhere in the world, so I hope China doesn’t come across as any worse than other places. There are certain things in my life here that I wouldn’t […]
There is a food shortage going on right now in Beijing. I went to three different restaurants for lunch today and they were all out of food. Restaurant 1: Wild Honey Boyfriend and I sit down, ready to try something new. It was 1 p.m., admittedly on the late end for lunch, but the small […]
One of the things I like most about China is that, even though I’ve lived here for two (!!) years now, there are still surprises. For instance, when I found gummy penguins outside my office a couple of weeks ago. And then, in another instance, today, when I was at Wal-Mart after work buying the […]
The candy man staked out in front of my office today at lunch. Naturally, he and his cart captured my attention with all its colorful, sugary goodness. So many kinds of gummy candy! Gummy bears, gummy lychee, gummy Coke bottles, gummy worms, sour gummies…. Then, I noticed these! Gummy penguins! My sister introduced me to […]
I bought a giant mango. How giant? How about 1.5 kilograms of giant? That’s, like, 3 pounds. It cost me, though. I paid 30 freakin kuai ($4.71) for it. But it was good. I treat myself so well.
If I ever had any doubts about the reality of a rapidly developing China, they may be tempered by the explosion of lunch time choices available to me right in front of my office. When I first started working here food carts parked on the sidewalk carried little more than unappetizing pre-prepared he fan, a […]
At some point last week, I peered into my basil pot and saw that the soil was all dry and had receded. I mean, the soil line was, like, a good inch lower than it was when I first filled the pot. I’m not really sure why. I panicked. I was so busy keeping the […]
I’m growing basil. Well, I’m TRYING to grow basil. I have a notorious killer green thumb. I bought this basil pot in, like, February, so I hope it’s still growable. Anyway, now you can follow its progress with me! Here it is, at planting time. Maybe I should name it? But I’m going to eat […]