Thursday, October 30, 2008

Constant Construction





Some photos of the constant construction going on in Shanghai. This is in central/downtown Shanghai - it struck me that there wasn't a single fence or anything set up for procautionary measures. I was just another pedestrian on the street.

Nintentdo Wii Phone?


I'm not going to deny it, I like new technology. I jumped on the iPhone bandwagon, the Wii Bandwagon and most of the other cool technology bandwagons just like everyone else.

Here's some cool information for those of you just like me! There are little birds buzzing about a potential new Nintendo Wii Phone. Check out the article here.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Will it ever end?

Looks like eggs aren't safe to eat now either.....

http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_10823478?source=rss

Good lord....my grocery bills are going to go through the roof only buying imported...

Friday, October 24, 2008

Morning Sights




I was out running some errands this morning and saw these lovely ladies out doing their morning exercises. What struck me is that they were combining dance, drums and red "flags" all together. Usually I just see the ladies using two out of the three. Pretty impressive! They even had quite an audience assembled. :-) I guess it's just a typical Shanghai morning...

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Mass Matchmaking in Shanghai.

Some 3,000 single men and women gathered last week at the Luwan Stadium for a mass matchmaking session, and by all appearances it looked like a very successful event. The men lined up in rows while the women went past them.

Check out the rest of the story here:

http://shanghaiist.com/2008/10/21/mass_matchmaking_session_at_the_luw.php

Monday, October 20, 2008

Travel Abroad - Mixing Religion and Hotels. Yes!


I read a really interested article today in the New York Times about a less expensive trend in lodging abroad. Staying in a Monastery or a Convent. Yup, that's right - spend your nights under the same roof with nuns and priests.

I think this is a fantastic idea - I've always found the idea of a monastery or convent fascinating. Imagine staying in a roman monastery, steeped in history surrounded peace and quiet. Sounds fabulous to me.

Check out the article here - it lists some great resources for more information. I'm already planning my next trip to Europe! There's something in it for all of us, my husband especially will love saving so much money on hotels. ;-)

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Shanghai - The Best 5 Places to Live Overseas in 2008

Shanghai is officially the "Best Hot New City" to live in for foreigners!

Check out the article below:

http://thetravelersnotebook.com/destination-guides/the-5-best-places-to-live-overseas-in-2008/

A Lesson in Burbon Whisky - Makers Mark Distillery

I'm still in the US, actually in Kentucky visiting my mother and grandmother (who is 102 years old!!). Kentucky gets a bad wrap for being a backward state filled with country folk. Ok...that is true to some extent, but not entirely true!!! It is beautiful, filled with trees and rolling hills and among other things has many historic whisky distilleries like Maker's Mark which are still in production.

My mother and I drove up to the Makers Mark Distillery this morning to take the factory tour and see how Kentucky burbon whisky is made. I'm not a big whisky drinker, but I made have been converted after today! The tour was facinating and to call the Makers Mark site a factory is just not totally acurate. It's just beautiful - they're still using the original buildings but everything has been restored.

The whisky making process is really interesting, Markers Mark uses a mixure of grains a majority of which is corn (something like 70%). They barrels that are over 100 years old to fermet the grains and then they turn it into moonshine (basically un-refined whisky) then it gets put into white oak barrels for 6 years while it ages to perfection. Finally it all gets bottled, packaged and shipped out to re-sellers. I should add, all of the bottling and packaging still happens on site, they still print the labels for the bottle on site as well. Amazing.

Really really facinating experience, I'm sure I've managed to muck up the explantaion of how it's
made, but hopefully you can get a better idea of the process from the photos below.
















Friday, October 10, 2008

Need a laugh?

If you're following US politics even a little you'll enjoy these HILARIOUS spoofs of the presidential candidates.

I've been back in the US for 2 weeks now and I feel totally inundated by the political climate and the economic crisis. We all need a good laugh to break up the depressed state of the country.

Check out Saturday Night Live's spoofs here:

http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/

Thank You!!!

For putting me on the list of the 10 hottest China blogs!

http://www.chinabloglist.org/


I'm currently in the USA visiting family and friends (and trying not to cry because of the economic crisis) but I'll be back soon and back to blogging on a more regular basis.

Saturday, October 4, 2008

China is faking it's reports from Space??

This has got to be an all time low for the Chinese Media....I mean seriously, how totally ridiculous is this:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/3082804/China-fakes-reports-from-space.html

Good lord!