Steve's China Blog

Friday, April 30, 2010

Warm weather is here

The last few weeks we have had some unusually cool weather. This week though, the weather has gotten really nice and we have even had some sunshine the last few days! It's nice not to have to wear a sweater and/or a jacket now. Of course, it also means that the lovely ladies of Chengdu have started to wear mini-skirts and short shorts in earnest again. Don't you guys wish I had posted pictures?

This coming weekend is a three day weekend, since Monday is a holiday. I did not make any plans to travel anywhere, but am hoping to just relax and enjoy the nice weather some here in Chengdu. Maybe go see some sights.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Party, game, party

Last Friday evening I went to a party at Hooters. The theme was a Hollywood party. The Hooters Girls dressed up in costumes, and at least one guest did (Charlie Chaplin). Here are some pictures...


Hooters Girls (left to right): Cathy, Catherin, Sophie, Cici (ex-Hooters Girl), and Nancy


Me with Hebe dressed as a beauty queen (I think).


Lady Gaga (aka Nicole) and I


Ruby playing around


The long and lovely Fiona

Like the Halloween party they had a limbo contest...


How low can you go?

...and a beer drinking contest...


Whoever invented these stupid hats is probably very rich now.

They also had some singing and dancing. There were also some girls at the party who use to be Hooters Girls but finished college and went out to work in the real world, such as Cici and Sarah. They came to enjoy the party as customers instead of as waitresses. It was great to see them.


Sarah was on the 2009 China Hooters calendar. I sure miss seeing her around Hooters.

The game Everquest II was having an Experience Bonus Weekend so I spent all of Saturday, and most of Sunday, playing my Paladin and my Alchemist some. They both made lots of experience in the game. Here's the latest picture of my Paladin...


Stea in the Pillar of Flames desert.

On Sunday evening I decided to get out of the apartment and go get a pizza at Shamrock. I figure it would be pretty empty on a Sunday and I could enjoy some quiet time, but it turns out there was a group there having a party for some charity. It was pretty funny since the theme of the party is red dress, so a lot of people were wearing red dresses... even some of the guys! You can see info about the event as well as pictures here. (Note: these pictures are from last year, but you get the idea)

The event was put on by a group here called the Chengdu Panda Hash House Harriers, who go out for a run somewhere every two weeks. I've been thinking about joining them, even though I do not run anymore. Some of them walk though, so I can do that. Sounds like a good excuse to get out of the city for a day.

Monday, April 19, 2010

NBA, movies, and food

Last week on the way to work we drove by a school in town and there was a big event going on there. We couldn't really see what was going on, but the students were putting on quite a show for someone with basketballs. Browsing around on the internet I discovered this person's blog and it looks like the event was for some NBA players in town...

Mike Gansey China Trip Day 2: Can You Say Rock Stars!

On Saturday I went out with Phyllis. We went to see the movie Alice in Wonderland. It was pretty good. I couldn't even remember the story, since it was so long ago that I read it (or it was read to me), so the story was new to both Phylis and I. The 3D effects were really good, and the story was really good. All the actors did a good job too. I couldn't even tell that Johnny Depp was the Mad Hatter most of the time. After the movie we went to a sushi place for dinner. I don't usually have high expectations for seafood here, but it was really good. It was a really good evening.

Today I was browsing around some local news sites from back in the DC area and found this review of a Chinese restaurant outside of Falls Church, Virginia. The restaurant is called Hong Kong Palace, but the Chinese characters on their sign are for Chengdu...

FOOD: Wok on the Wild Side at Hong Kong Palace

It seems that the chef at the restaurant is from Chengdu and even went to the Sichuan Institute of Higher Cuisine in Chengdu. If you live in the area and are curious about some of the dishes I have mentioned in the past you might want to try this place.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Long Quan and Luodia

I have not posted in awhile, and I should have posted about this awhile back... A few weeks ago the peach blossoms were blooming and everyone was going out there on the weekends to see them. A friend of mine named Lisa and her cousin took me to a place called Long Quan to see the peach blossoms.


Not many blossoms around

I guess we should have gone a few weeks earlier since there were not many blossoms left.


Lisa and I

After walking around for awhile, and not finding many peach blossoms, we decided to go to a place called Luodai which was nearby. Luodia was an ancient town near Chengdu, and today it is a busy tourist trap.


An introduction to the town of Luodai

There isn't much left of the ancient town, but a few buildings. The recreated a lot of the buildings and stuff, and now the place is full of shops selling junk and lots of snack places.


A beautiful dragon wall

We went to one of the snack places and had a variety of different noodle and tofu snacks.


Mmmm.... Sichuan snacks


Uhhh... no thanks

Not too much else is going on. My brother is coming out to visit in June and I've been trying to arrange that trip. I'll post more about that later.