On the 21st, we had our first vacationing visitors arrive from the US. From Cincinnati, Erik came for his first visit to Asia with buddy Will. From our California friends, Ahmad arrived on the first day of his sabbatical, while Matt & Kjerstin arrived after a few days in Hong Kong. Three groups of friends all at once!
The first evening was a matter of keeping arrival times straight and getting folks settled. The real activity started Wednesday. Erik & Will woke up early due to jetlag and found their way around our neighborhood (we did a short orientation walk the night before). Lila then joined Erik & Will for a visit to the Museum of Urban Planning. For a city of 20M people, it was impressive to see the city planning efforts – both historical and plans for hosting the 2010 World Expo Afterwards we visited the incredible Shanghai Museum. The exhibits were fascinating and a wonderful China history lesson in bronze, currency, pottery, calligraphy, ethnic minorities, etc. All these months in Shanghai and we had never been to the museums.
In parallel, Karl took Ahmad, Kjerstin & Matt to the back street behind our apartment for a Chinese street breakfast (dumplings, fried bread, and Chinese breakfast crepes). They then went off to the fabric market to have some clothes made. They were quite proud of all "the money they saved" by having things tailor made.
We all met up for a lunch of famous dumplings at Yu gardens, which has been rebuilt in the old architecture. We had heard a ton about the restaurant, but had never been - so it was great exploration for us too. We all got a kick out of drinking soup out of a big steamed bun with a straw! We had originally planned for a water village in one of the nearby towns, but we ran out of time & energy. So we wandered around the Yu garden neighborhood, full of trinket shops and hundreds of thousands of people. From there we went to the next stop: Taikang street. The 1930s buildings now house a maze of small cafes, boutiques, and art shops.
It was 4:15 by the time most of us made it home for a break. Matt & Kjerstin opted to have a few suits made by the fancy tailor shop Karl loves on the way home. Erik & Will ended up walking around the French Concession some more. By 5:30, everyone was sleeping or resting with a glass of wine in their hand!
Dinner reservations were for 8pm at South Beauty, spicy Sichuan cuisine. Our table, on the outdoor deck, had views of the river and Bund all lit up, the Pearl tower, and the new financial tower (highest building in China). It was really incredible. While everyone would have loved more energy, we opted to go home. Erik & Will went out and explored some more, while the rest of us stayed back and packed for the Silk Road tour.
It was fun to play tourist, and we are thankful to have patient friends as we sort through how to host people here in Shanghai.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Monday, October 20, 2008
4 Days & 40 Hours Sitting
The past 2 weeks have been a whirlwind. After Portugal, Karl returned to Shanghai for a whopping 24 hours before heading to Beijing, then Tokyo, and finally back to Shanghai. He spent the weekend at home, ill with his first Asian cold.
Meanwhile, Lila went to the US for a few days of meetings followed by a quick trip to Chile. When we mean quick, we are talking 15 hours on the ground in Santiago. What a shame it wasn't longer; it is such a beautiful city. Within 4 days, she spent 40 hours sitting on airplanes. Upon return to Shanghai, Lila had 2 team members visiting from the US. Tired of sitting for so long, she had requested a pedometer.
Back in Shanghai together, Lila struggled to stay awake past 8pm each night. The weekend finally came and we spent much of it socializing and making up for lost time. We went out for drinks Friday evening, met up with US work visitors, ran errands on Saturday (including to the flower market & a sporting goods store), had brunch with co-workers, and got Vietnamese cooking lessons and dinner on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Lila went to the US for a few days of meetings followed by a quick trip to Chile. When we mean quick, we are talking 15 hours on the ground in Santiago. What a shame it wasn't longer; it is such a beautiful city. Within 4 days, she spent 40 hours sitting on airplanes. Upon return to Shanghai, Lila had 2 team members visiting from the US. Tired of sitting for so long, she had requested a pedometer.
Back in Shanghai together, Lila struggled to stay awake past 8pm each night. The weekend finally came and we spent much of it socializing and making up for lost time. We went out for drinks Friday evening, met up with US work visitors, ran errands on Saturday (including to the flower market & a sporting goods store), had brunch with co-workers, and got Vietnamese cooking lessons and dinner on Sunday.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Voting: Enjoying our Democratic Privileges
There is nothing like living in China to help you appreciate the right to vote. We can vote by sending in an absentee ballot. Since we did not receive one in time, we could fill out a form from the internet for overseas voters. US citizens even can FedEx their vote for free if they are based in China. It is a very empowering feeling to send in a vote by express mail! As Lila completed her paperwork, she asked her assistant (Sheila) to help send it. Sheila took so many precautions to ensure she did it right. As Sheila said, In China, we do not have elections so I really want to make sure I do this "ballot thing" right. It was such a charming and meaningful statement -- she may never know just how much I appreciated her comment.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Fun fact: Flying 2/3 around the World
Today is a sad day – vacation ends. We’re convinced the world would be much better if vacations never ended. The interesting point about today is that we departed from Lisbon to Frankfurt together. From there, Karl and Lila depart at the same time. Karl goes East to Shanghai. Lila goes West to San Francisco. The total difference is a mere 200 miles. Given the distance between Shanghai & SF, this means the Liebats will fly 2/3 of the world today!
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Perfect Portugal Vacation
The week of September 30th was China’s MidAutumn Festival, a week long holiday. It also happened to be the first available week Lila could arrange business meetings in Portugal. We decided to cancel our initial holiday plans in Asia in lieu of work + holiday trip in Portugal. It was a fabulous week, marked by our Top 10 adventures below in no particular order:
1. Saturday w/Chavez & Socrates. Venezuelan President Chavez and Portuguese Prime Minister Socrates unveiled details regarding their trade agreement. Among the collaboration areas were the export of 1Mu of Magellan PCs based on Intel’s classmate PC reference design from Lila’s group. We attended the press conference, as perhaps the only Americans in the audience. Needless to say, exciting and fascinating. Later in the week, we passed an oil refinery in Northern Portugal. Karl asked the taxi driver where the oil came from. His response, “we sell computers to the crazy Chavez for oil.” Karl then inquired about the types of computer. “They’re very good, for children, and not so expensive.” How cool is that: taxi driver who’s totally on message. J
2. A trip of “firsts” – This trip marked our 1st trip to Europe together. It was also Karl’s 1st time flying over Siberia (arriving in Europe from the East) & 1st time to Portugal, and our 1st trip where we tagged vacation onto one of Lila’s international business trips.
3. Castles, Forts, & Churches – Oh My! After a week in the country, we believe there are castles on every hilltop and a few churches in every valley. Given the geographical location of Portugal and its very rich history, the architecture is a mix of various centuries and styles. We enjoyed exploring a large majority of them, though got a bit Churched and Forted out after a while.
4. Southern California with a Mediterranean Flair – We spent one afternoon driving along the coast North of Lisbon, visiting the towns of Estoril, Cascais, & Guincho. It was very reminiscent of the San Diego coastline, but with many white washed homes and red tiled roofs. We enjoyed the old fishing villages and visiting the western-most point of continental Europe.
5. Tasting Our Way Through Portugal – Everyday we ate at least 1 meal at a Michelin-rated restaurant. We also tasted port in Porto, wine in Evora, and smoked meats & cheese throughout. We tasted Codfish cooked a few of the acclaimed 365 Portuguese ways (or 1001 ways, depending who you ask). We saw Prosciutto carved off a hind leg of pig, right before our eyes at a high-end restaurant. We had the best shellfish our lives, covered in garlic and olive oil. We enjoyed many desserts, including cheese with pumpkin jam. It’s a good thing the holiday is only 1 week. We would weigh 500 lbs/each if we lived here!
6. Sintra – Our first side trip from Lisbon was Sintra. It’s supposedly a 45minute drive, but took us twice as long as we couldn’t figure out the Portuguese road signs! Famous as a romantic getaway, the town in hills has extraordinary architecture and we learned about Manueline architecture. Our first stop was an over the top estate (Quinta da Regaleira) built in early 1900s. We enjoyed all the hidden doors & staircases. From there we explored the Moorish castle which we equated to Portugal’s “great wall.” The 9th century fort overlooks the coastline with steps along the walls. We were going to make it to the other famous castles, but decided we were castle’d out & opted to hang out in town. We spent a few hours roaming around the tiny streets, small stores, and eating lunch in a café before driving back to Lisbon.
7. Porto – our favorite…and not just for the port! We spent 2 nights in Porto, a beautiful city 3 hours north of Lisbon -- famous for its port and 67 churches. We had a fabulous 1-day private tour around the city where we visited the major neighborhood areas of the hilly town, 6 churches, a tiled-covered railway station, the old stock exchange, and had dinner by the ocean. The highlights also included a 1hr cruise on the Douro river and a private port tasting In Vila Nova de Gaia Grahams. We left with a 1970 vintage bottle of port. The following day, we did a bit more port tasting including at Taylor and Noval. We finally found an area we disagree – Karl prefers ruby’s and Lila likes tawny’s. Overall, a fabulous getaway!
8. Evora – Sleeping at a Convent in a World Heritage Site. Per recommendation of a colleague, we ended our trip in the town of Evora, southeast of Lisbon. We spent 2 nights at a Sheraton Luxury Collection hotel which was a restored convent from the 1400s. During the day we visited a cork factory which was not on any tourist map! The owner called his son from home to give us a tour and explain how cork is imported from around the town, sorted, treated and shipped out for processing. We have a new appreciation for the complexity of cork manufacturing! We toured the country-side of small towns white washed houses and the Alentejo wine region. Most of the day was spent wandering inside the old town within the fortified walls. The trip ended with a private wine tasting in the hotel’s wine cave, with 2 of the hotel staff explaining Portugal’s wine regions and history. What a fabulous way to end our holiday.
9. Everything that China is not, Portugal is! Great wine, blue skies, no crowds, delicious meats, lots of fresh fish (without heads attached), great cheese, and clean public toilets. Portugal is everything that China is not.
10. Lisbon – While Lila had a few days of work, we managed to find time to explore various neighborhoods of Lisbon. It’s a very charming city with outstanding food and architecture. We’re very surprised it’s not more of a destination spot, aside for all the Europeans. While we really liked Lisbon, the quieter towns of Porto and Evora were more our vacation pace.
The lowlight?
Avoiding sticker SHOCK death - our sole entry to the list of worst memories: cost. The US dollar makes traveling in Europe an economic pain in the wallet. Monopoly money would have gotten us further. The perfect example is our tiny rental car cost $100 to fill up ¾ tank. And watching CNN’s coverage of the flailing US economy didn’t help. At least the memories and experiences were priceless!
1. Saturday w/Chavez & Socrates. Venezuelan President Chavez and Portuguese Prime Minister Socrates unveiled details regarding their trade agreement. Among the collaboration areas were the export of 1Mu of Magellan PCs based on Intel’s classmate PC reference design from Lila’s group. We attended the press conference, as perhaps the only Americans in the audience. Needless to say, exciting and fascinating. Later in the week, we passed an oil refinery in Northern Portugal. Karl asked the taxi driver where the oil came from. His response, “we sell computers to the crazy Chavez for oil.” Karl then inquired about the types of computer. “They’re very good, for children, and not so expensive.” How cool is that: taxi driver who’s totally on message. J
2. A trip of “firsts” – This trip marked our 1st trip to Europe together. It was also Karl’s 1st time flying over Siberia (arriving in Europe from the East) & 1st time to Portugal, and our 1st trip where we tagged vacation onto one of Lila’s international business trips.
3. Castles, Forts, & Churches – Oh My! After a week in the country, we believe there are castles on every hilltop and a few churches in every valley. Given the geographical location of Portugal and its very rich history, the architecture is a mix of various centuries and styles. We enjoyed exploring a large majority of them, though got a bit Churched and Forted out after a while.
4. Southern California with a Mediterranean Flair – We spent one afternoon driving along the coast North of Lisbon, visiting the towns of Estoril, Cascais, & Guincho. It was very reminiscent of the San Diego coastline, but with many white washed homes and red tiled roofs. We enjoyed the old fishing villages and visiting the western-most point of continental Europe.
5. Tasting Our Way Through Portugal – Everyday we ate at least 1 meal at a Michelin-rated restaurant. We also tasted port in Porto, wine in Evora, and smoked meats & cheese throughout. We tasted Codfish cooked a few of the acclaimed 365 Portuguese ways (or 1001 ways, depending who you ask). We saw Prosciutto carved off a hind leg of pig, right before our eyes at a high-end restaurant. We had the best shellfish our lives, covered in garlic and olive oil. We enjoyed many desserts, including cheese with pumpkin jam. It’s a good thing the holiday is only 1 week. We would weigh 500 lbs/each if we lived here!
6. Sintra – Our first side trip from Lisbon was Sintra. It’s supposedly a 45minute drive, but took us twice as long as we couldn’t figure out the Portuguese road signs! Famous as a romantic getaway, the town in hills has extraordinary architecture and we learned about Manueline architecture. Our first stop was an over the top estate (Quinta da Regaleira) built in early 1900s. We enjoyed all the hidden doors & staircases. From there we explored the Moorish castle which we equated to Portugal’s “great wall.” The 9th century fort overlooks the coastline with steps along the walls. We were going to make it to the other famous castles, but decided we were castle’d out & opted to hang out in town. We spent a few hours roaming around the tiny streets, small stores, and eating lunch in a café before driving back to Lisbon.
7. Porto – our favorite…and not just for the port! We spent 2 nights in Porto, a beautiful city 3 hours north of Lisbon -- famous for its port and 67 churches. We had a fabulous 1-day private tour around the city where we visited the major neighborhood areas of the hilly town, 6 churches, a tiled-covered railway station, the old stock exchange, and had dinner by the ocean. The highlights also included a 1hr cruise on the Douro river and a private port tasting In Vila Nova de Gaia Grahams. We left with a 1970 vintage bottle of port. The following day, we did a bit more port tasting including at Taylor and Noval. We finally found an area we disagree – Karl prefers ruby’s and Lila likes tawny’s. Overall, a fabulous getaway!
8. Evora – Sleeping at a Convent in a World Heritage Site. Per recommendation of a colleague, we ended our trip in the town of Evora, southeast of Lisbon. We spent 2 nights at a Sheraton Luxury Collection hotel which was a restored convent from the 1400s. During the day we visited a cork factory which was not on any tourist map! The owner called his son from home to give us a tour and explain how cork is imported from around the town, sorted, treated and shipped out for processing. We have a new appreciation for the complexity of cork manufacturing! We toured the country-side of small towns white washed houses and the Alentejo wine region. Most of the day was spent wandering inside the old town within the fortified walls. The trip ended with a private wine tasting in the hotel’s wine cave, with 2 of the hotel staff explaining Portugal’s wine regions and history. What a fabulous way to end our holiday.
9. Everything that China is not, Portugal is! Great wine, blue skies, no crowds, delicious meats, lots of fresh fish (without heads attached), great cheese, and clean public toilets. Portugal is everything that China is not.
10. Lisbon – While Lila had a few days of work, we managed to find time to explore various neighborhoods of Lisbon. It’s a very charming city with outstanding food and architecture. We’re very surprised it’s not more of a destination spot, aside for all the Europeans. While we really liked Lisbon, the quieter towns of Porto and Evora were more our vacation pace.
The lowlight?
Avoiding sticker SHOCK death - our sole entry to the list of worst memories: cost. The US dollar makes traveling in Europe an economic pain in the wallet. Monopoly money would have gotten us further. The perfect example is our tiny rental car cost $100 to fill up ¾ tank. And watching CNN’s coverage of the flailing US economy didn’t help. At least the memories and experiences were priceless!
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