Steve's China Blog

Monday, April 27, 2009

Pizza and an assassin

Last week was a bit stressful at work, so I was happy when the weekend came. Friday night and Saturday day was spent just relaxing. I had forgotten that I had invited some friends over for dinner and a DVD on Saturday night, since they were nice enough to take me out for hot pot the weekend before. I was still in a lazy mood on Saturday afternoon and decided not to go shopping for groceries. After talking with my friends we decided to make some salads and order a few pizzas from Papa John's.

My guests were Reese, her boyfriend, and her sister. We had a couple of pizzas, a calzone, some salad, and some red wine. The meal turned out really well. Initially we started watching the first Narnia movie, but Reese's boyfriend switched it to Kung Fu Hustle while Reese's sister and I were in the kitchen. That's ok... none of them had seen it before and it's a pretty funny movie.

On Sunday I just did some laundry, did some cooking, and played Everquest II. I created an assassin character back in November of last year, but did not play him much until my trip back to the US last month. I'm actually having a great time playing him. Here's a screenshot of him...



Pretty cool looking, huh? I had found a pretty rare magical item that makes his eyes look like they are glowing blue. The glowing blue eyes go well with his horse which is a nightmare, and also has glowing blue eyes and hooves.

His name is Zarirahc Ri'Lineld, who's name I made up using a dark elf dictionary I found awhile back. His first name translates to shadow (Zar) dragon (irahc) and his last name translates to house of (Rilyn) the arcane (neld). The surname was chosen since he is a member of the Arcane Masters guild, which originated as House Arcane in Gemstone III years ago.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Springtime

It's springtime in Chengdu. The weather is getting up to about 30°C (about 86°F) every day, the flowers are blooming, the birds are singing, and the girls are starting to wear mini-skirts and short shorts. I think springtime is my favorite season in Chengdu.

Friday, April 10, 2009

Back from the USSA

I was hoping to post something while I was in the US, but didn't get around to it. Here's a quick rundown of my trip... I arrived, I ate, I played games, and I left. No, actually there was more to it than that. During my first weekend back I got together with my friends Greg, Amy, Gillian, Les, Lynn, and Bridgett for dinner at a new restaurant called Rosa Mexicano down at the National Harbor. The food was ok, and the company was great! It was good to see everyone.

My first week back was spent relaxing, playing Everquest II, and eating. One night we went to Charlie's to eat and had pizza. It was wonderful. Charlie was there and and it was fun to see him and his wife doing a little Greek dancing. It was really nice of Charlie to pick up the tab for dinner too!

On Friday my brother Jay and his son Nicky flew up from North Carolina. It was Nicky's first time flying on an airplane and he enjoyed that a lot. On Friday night we went up to Charlies for dinner and Jay and I had the gyros, and everyone else had pizza. The weekend was a little difficult to schedule since our days pretty much centered around the whims of Nicky.

On Saturday everyone went shopping and I stayed at home to relax and play more EQ2. In the evening we ate some really good crab cakes along with some chicken curry I had cooked earlier in the week, as well as some rice. Surprisingly to me it turned out to be a very good combo.

On Sunday we went downtown and visited the Air and Space Museum and the Natural History Museum.


Some rockets inside the Air and Space Museum


Outside the Smithsonian Natural History Museum


Nicky and Jay with the capital building in the background

On the way home from the museums we stopped at a seafood market and bought a bunch of seafood for a seafood feast that evening.


Lots of shrimp and fish at a seafood market


Crabs, oysters, and clams

We ate steamed crabs, steamed shrimp, and fried oysters. Oh, that was so good. Jay and Nicky flew home to North Carolina on Monday and I spent the rest of the week doing pretty much what I had been doing the week before with a little shopping thrown in.

On Saturday I went to the airport and arrived back in ChengDu on Sunday night here. Monday was a holiday and I spent most of the day installing some new parts for my computer I had brought back with me from the US. It didn't take too long to install all of the hardware, but installing Vista took awhile. I did take a break in the middle of the day and had lunch with my friend Victoria.

Tuesday I was back at work and for the next few weeks I am working an early shift.. 7:00am to 4:00pm. Waking up early isn't too difficult but I really start dragging after about 2:00pm because of my jet lag. After work I take a little nap and then go back to installing software on my computer until it's time to go to bed. Today is Friday and I'm looking forward to sleeping in late tomorrow.