"Onions" tries Macaroni and Cheese

I used my kitchen!! Readers of the blog (or those who visit me or even my Ayi) will know this is a HUGE moment.  Baked Macaroni and Cheese!!

Why?  My friend, who's name sounds like "add onions" and so I call "onions" has cooked me dinner at his place, so I returned the favor.  He loved the smell, and here's the first bite.

One bite was enough!!!

We went out to dinner!!!

Qingdao Part 2

Qingdao Day 2 and again we are blessed with our friend and guide, Weiyou.  We're driving through Badaguan, which means "8 Big Passes", named after the major passes of the Great Wall.  The leafy neighborhood is the home to the old German homes.  It reminds of of the United States.

First stop, the most famous of the Badaguan homes, the famed Huashilou.  It's nicknamed "The Generalissimo's House" since at one point General Chiang Kai-Shek and his wife resided here.

Not your traditional Chinese architecture.

Overlooking Badaguan, we might as well be along any nice seacoast city in Europe or America.  A little slice of Germany here in China!

Memories of the Pacific Northwest!

My obsession with wedding party photos continues!

Next stop, Laoshan.  Here we have Weiyou using his "Guangxi" to pull some strings so we can drive into the park in his private car, and not have to take the tourist buses.  We saw the park in comfort!

"The number 1 combination of mountain and sea"

Laoshan is just a series of a pile of rocks at the end of the Qingdao Peninsula.

Laoshan tea is the northernmost tea grown in China and covers the sides of the hillsides.

The ponds here are to grow and harvest abalone.

The harbor in modern Qingdao

Site of the 2008 Olympics sailing competition.

The view from shore out onto the Qingdao bay and the sailing course.

The flags of the nations.  JPC and I actually had a difficult time naming all of them.  I thought I would get them all.  Time to study the flags.

Qingdao Part 1

Mid-Autumn Festival.  Four day weekend!!  Two days on the coast in the city of Qingdao. Yes, the town famous for Tsingtao beer.

The city is a seacoast city in Shandong Province and most famous for the fact that it was the German Concession in China.  The Germans left their architectural mark. Here's the former Governor's house.  It's a great juxtaposition to see this stone European style building with a Chinese flag flying from it.

The facade of the Governor's house, which faces the water.  JPC and I stayed in The Castle Hotel, about 100 meters down the hill, which was the former German Consulate.

Not the best picture, but this is an attempt at Raphael's Madonna on the rocks.  The artist did a pretty good job....except the eyes are clearly Asian.

The view down to the water...with the ever present crane.  So CHINA.

It's Germany so there has to be beer!

The symbol of "old Qingdao" is the long pier leading to the pagoda in the harbor.  After years of waves, storms and tides, the pier washed away in June 2013.  It is being rebuilt.

Our trip to Qingdao was made ever better by having a local guide, Weiyou, who was introduced to us by our Beijing friend, Tao.  Weiyou drove us everywhere with such patience and willingness!  Plus we learned so many great things about him!  Yes, I'm wearing my new yellow athletic shoes.

And over in "modern" Qingdao....a light show.  This is the TV tower.  The colors change.

This is the symbol of "modern" Qingdao, "The Wind of May", memorializing the May 4th, 1919 movement.

I thought this was created reuse of a double decker bus.  Order downstairs.  Eat upstairs.

 

Then onto dinner at Ayi Liu's Kitchen (43 Guangxi Road) as recommended to me by my friends David and Anny.  Here we are in negotiation for the crabs.

Myself and the owner.  Why is it that Chinese people ALWAYS have to ask "So what do you think about Qingdao?", "What do you think about our food?", "What do you think about this dish?"  It became such a theme on this trip that everyone we met wanted so much confirmation of our liking of anything.  Why do Chinese need so much praise?  Weiyou kept asking us, as did the owner of the restaurant.

This guy was a waiter....but just cool.  He didn't need reassurance.  Always a smile and a calm demeanor.  He instantly became my favorite guy of the evening. And he looks like a young Deng Xiaoping, according to those at the restaurant.

My discard pile.  BUT....I think it may have started the stomach problems I experienced the next day.  But at this point, it was just an amazing seafood dinner.  Clams! Sea Snails! Crab! Scallops! Shrimp!  Fish Dumplings! Qingdao Beer!