THE FIRST DINNER PARTY

Our weekend was nice. We spent the whole weekend cooking and grocery shopping. On Friday night, Lila just returned from Portugal and Karl found out that his Sunday Singapore trip was cancelled. We decided to host a party to thank our key friends that helped us get established here. It was mega late notice (we didn’t send out the e-mail invite until after 7pm on Friday night). We decided to do a BBQ / wine party. We didn’t really have an recipes in mind and Karl thought he’d pull some ideas from our family website. However when we discovered the site was being renovated on Saturday morning, we decided to look through the Bobby Flay cookbook (Christmas present from mom) for ideas. We made the following menu:

• APPETIZERS: Lila’s family fried eggplant salad, Lila’s humus w/ various vegetables, Cheese & crackers imported from Germany (by Lila on Friday afternoon due to a plane transfer in Frankfurt), Grilled large shrimp tossed in a red chili vinaigrette
• MAIN: Sixteen spice chicken served w/ roasted red pepper sauce and sweet cilantro / spinach pesto, Mashed potatoes w/ pesto folded in, Chopped romaine lettuce & three bean salad served with a mustard vinaigrette, Mexican grilled corn salad, and homemade sundried tomato focaccia bread
• DESSERT: Homemade tapioca based dessert pudding with a cooked blueberry & mango topping.

Our friends added some hot/fresh bbq beef jerky (for an appetizer), two types of chocolate cakes, and some egg custard tarts. Throughout the meal we served three different CA white wines, three different CA red wines, and two bottles of French sparkling wine.
To build this feast, it took us stops at four separate grocery stores to gather all the ingredients. However even with all our searching (and pocket translation dictionary) we didn’t find things like fresh pumpkin seeds, onion powder, habanera peppers, tomatillos, or corn tortillas. I guess they don’t have many Mexican dishes / cooks here. We then spent most of Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning prepping all the sauces and raw ingredients. It was extremely relaxing for both Lila and I to spend the day in the kitchen.

The apartment looked great & the party turned out great! Fourteen of our friends were able to join the party. We enjoyed all the conversations – especially the ones that started, "Have you seen …. In Shanghai yet" It really meant a lot to us to be able to thank our co-workers and friends for all the help they’ve give us.

ALLERGIC TO CHINA: KARL’S RASH UPDATE

The rash has been driving me crazy, but we’ve finally figured it out. It is NOT as the first doctor said, "you’re allergic to China." In fact, it’s wheat.

Over the past few weeks, the rash got better than terrible again. I finally went to the clinic for the third time. The Dr said I had 2 rashes: Eczema and Urticaria. They are both caused by something internal, not likely a contact rash. The Dr said it was either stress or a food allergy. After reviewing the foods we’ve been eating, he told me to stay away from mushrooms, local seafood (farm raised), and spicy foods. What was I to eat?! Anyway, he prescribed 3 new drugs including allergy medication and steroid cream for my legs. I had them also run a blood test to see if they can figure out the cause, but it would take 7-10 days to process.

The medicines helped a lot as I anxiously awaited the blood report. I was told that I have an extremely high allergy level to ragweed and mugwort, which is hay fever. However the doctors does not think this is the problem that is causing my skin rashes. However I have to watch this going forward. I have a low to medium level allergy to wheat flour. The doctor recommended that I eliminate (or greatly reduce) all the wheat from my diet. Our guess is that I’m eating more noodles, dumplings, and dishes thickened up with wheat products here. We had Sheila translate "NO WHEAT PRODUCTS" for our Ayi (Helper) when she cooks, and will be searching for alternative food options (or bringing them back by the suitcase-full from US!).

Also searching the web I found that watermelon and bananas (eating a ton of both) are the foods related to ragweed sensitivity. Mugwort sensitivity has foodstuff connections to coriander, garlic, carrots, paprika, and hazelnuts. Oh my gosh – these are all my favorites! I’ll try this for a while and see how I feel. Luckily I can add mushroom & spicy foods back into the diet. At least I now know I’m not allergic to China…. Well, kind of.

Lila in Portugal

(Lila) I spent more time on airplanes this week then on the ground. But it’s ok because we had a huge win in Portugal, and it was really amazing to be a part of it. I departed Monday and got home Friday – but basically spent 3 days in airports. While on the ground in Lisbon, I had a great time catching up with my old team (Craig was there, Abdul too) and having meetings with the sales organization. The night after the launch my inbox was full of excited mails from my team around the globe. Their energy fueled mine, and resulted in not being able to sleep beyond 2 hours. I returned to China with a lot of energy and feeling very inspired.

You can check out the news at Intel's pressroom: "Intel Collaborates with Government of Portugal on a Comprehensive New Education Initiative" at http://www.intel.com/pressroom/archive/releases/20080730corp.htm?iid=pr1_releasepri_20080730r)

Along the way, I dealt with the Frankfurt airport during the Lufthansa strike. It turned out to be less of an issue than originally thought. Fortunately flights were on time. But no catering (food was small packaged snacks), no customs forms, and service that makes US domestic airlines look luxury (since you have to pay for food, but at least you get food).

On the return, I slept a total of 11 hours between the 2 flights which totaled ~13 hours.

Fabric Markets, Construction Magic, Cheap Massages, & More!!

We were pretty delinquent in writing a July update, so here’s the summary of the month. While there was a lot of travel, we did a good job of preserving our weekends for time together. It was wonderful. Some of the things we enjoyed:

Fabric Market - We discovered and liked it enough to make 3 stops in 2 weeks. There are about 300 stalls of which we tried ~10. Only 1 was below expectations. After a bit of trial and error, we figured out how it works. You take clothing or pictures you really like and want copied. You pick the store based on the fabric options, price you’re able to negotiate, and your guess of their quality. Lila had several blouses, a suit and a skirt made. Karl had some shirts, shorts, and linen pants made.
Approximate prices we paid at the market:
Men’s dress shirts = $11; men’s linen pants = $11; men’s shorts = $8.50
Women’s blouses = $14; woman’s wool suit (180 wool) = $45; woman’s silk blouse = $14
We had a blast and are excited to find this very inexpensive and funky method of shopping!

Flower Markets – Visited 2 different ones in the past few weeks. We bought some beautiful orchids, some outdoor plants for the balcony, and a few stalks of lotus that are taller than Lila. Great bargain, adds life and color to our apartment. We still can’t figure out why they dye roses weird colors (blue), then wrap the flower itself in netting and paper to do arrangements. Not so attractive.

Construction Magic – We were on the Pudong side of town on a clear day and got to see the tallest building in world (at least this month it is!). It’s beautiful! Also, we were surprised one morning to wake up and notice workers removing a tower from the building across street. Next thing we know, it was torn down. We’ve learned that buildings age in dog years here, and are quick to be torn down so something bigger and more stylish can be built.

Massages: Thank goodness they’re cheap. We now have a favorite new one (Sakura) – which is 3 minutes walk away. We average one massage per week over the past few weeks. The 2 hour traditional massage costs us about $25.

Restaurants: We found a few new places. Whisk is right around the corner, tucked behind a gate. Good food, reasonable, and easy. They also have awesome chocolate desserts! We visited the Bund brewery and enjoyed some real micro brew beer. Lila’s colleagues took us out to the famed Constellation bar, with its uber-precise traditional mixologist. We had so much fun we went back on our own – convenient 5minute walk. And Karl finally took Lila to Driver Peter’s favorite noodle bar where the man pulls and throws a bunch of dough then presto! Noodles. J

Waterfront: One Saturday, we found ourselves at this funky old mansion turned restaurant on the east side of the river. We were surprised that Shanghai really doesn’t look so big from the waterfront. Karl described it as "LA-like." We watched the busy river and barges going by. Some of the barges were carrying so many rocks they were half way submerged. Clearly the transportation laws are a bit different.

Office Stuff: In July, Lila had to deliver her first business update meeting, represent the entire organization in Family Day (which required her wearing a purple wig and hip hopping on stage). She took business trips up north to Shenyang & Beijing. Karl changed cubicles and hosted a US coworker. He’s been learning a lot about China from his team and is always full of fun facts.

Wandering: We also spent a lot of time wandering around on "many hour walks." We walked from our apartment to Jing An Temple. We did the Frommers walking tour of Old Town – which took us through a wet market, by the ancient city wall, and by a fight at a Taoist temple which brought 3 policemen! We did another walking tour of the Bund by the old 1930 European-style buildings. We met a college couple who were anxious to practice their English. We also had our first art appreciation class provided by a college art group (of course we were encouraged to purchase their student artwork afterwards).

A MOMENT OF A 1-HOUR COMMUTE

(Lila) Usually on my commute I catch up on email for the hour. I can’t do phone calls very well since the cell connection drops at least 3 places. It’s so frustrating. Anyway, today my computer died so I had to reboot. I found myself looking around instead – a rare experience. At a single intersection I saw…

• A workman in a white button down shirt and grey slacks riding a bicycle. As soon as he stopped, he rolled up his shirt and tied it above his waist to get fresh air.
• A woman on the back of the moped with her boyfriend. To shade her self from sun, she opened an umbrella.
• I’m no longer shocked to see families of 3 or 4 on mopeds. (yes, a family of 5 still grabs my attention)
• An old man standing by the side of the road in an undershirt and shorts pulling the hair out of his chin mole.
• A 3 wheel bicycle cart carrying enough styrofoam to fill a dump truck! (this still amazes me how they pack so much on bikes)
• A father carrying his little daughter. Chinese don’t use strollers, they carry kids as a way of nurture and protecting them. Given the 1-child law, there is a saying that 1 child has 6 parents – 2 sets of grandparents & 1 set parents. It’s the more spoiled generation.

And now my computer is working and we’re passed the intersection. Another glimpse of life in Shanghai…

The Best Chicken Feet

Lila's traumatic 24 hours of food incidents…

Last night, as we were walking home from sushi dinner – Karl told me about the day’s lunch with his cube neighbor. “They were the best chicken feet e-VER.” The trauma caused me to forget everything else about the conversation. I do remember something about toe hairs falling off the bones oh so gently. He swears he said 'skin' not 'toe hairs.' I think my story is better. Either way, YUCK!

I work in the middle of nowhere – 1 hour outside of Shanghai. Everyday I bring my lunch. Today I forgot my forks/chopsticks from home. So I went to the office kitchenette and started rummaging through drawers. This happened one other time when I was forced to use 2 coffee stirrers as make-shift chopsticks. Just as I was about to resort to fake-chopsticks, the cleaning lady came and got me a cup. I know how to say “cup!” But that’s not wanted I wanted. Finally I got an engineer to help translate what I was looking for. The cleaning lady walked over to the --- get this --- refridgerator and pulled out plastic ware. Expensive storage.

JAPAN & EGYPT

The past week had Karl in Japan and Lila in the Middle East. Fortunately we get to spend the weekend together here in Shanghai.

Lila in the Middle East: There’s nothing worse than being sick and traveling. Especially when going through so many airports: Shanghai. Dubai. Cairo. Abu Dhabi. Doha. Shanghai. Can you find those on a map?! The trip started very rough with feeling faint in the hour wait to check-in. I slept the entire flight, and was well enough to enjoy the few hour layover at the airport in Dubai. I really like the airport – it’s perhaps one of the most colorful, diverse, and clean airports.
My meetings in Cairo went really well, even though I wasn’t 100%. One evening we even made it to the Pyramid light show. Last time I went to the pyramids was 1994 with my grandmother. It was really amazing. We also had 1 weekend day – which included some sight seeing in Cairo. It was very special. The trip coincided with the entire regional sales team having a face to face in Cairo. I got to catch up with a lot of old friends. It was really wonderful. After my Cairo visit, I made a day stop in Abu Dhabi for meetings before continuing home.
I did realize that there are times that being an ‘Ibrahim’ is a good thing – like immigration in the Middle East. Although it’s officially my middle name, it stood out enough to always be asked "where are you from?" Trying to explain makes no sense and I’ve learned the right answer is that Dad’s from Lebanon.

Karl - JAPAN DELICACIES
I was in Japan for 4 days – Tokyo & Miyazaki, and will be returning every 6 weeks. Meetings went well, but the real highlight was the food. The sushi breakfast at the fish market in Tokyo was quite good, but dinner was one of the best meals ever at a restaurant recommended by the Imperial Hotel. I decided to build my own 5 course meal...
Course #1: Smoked summer vegetable with creamy anchovy sauce
2: Assorted fresh sashimi (including tuna, egg cockle, sea bream, ark shell, and halfbreak)
3: Grilled tuna cheek meat. Marinated in soy sauce
4: Roasted iberico pork with spicy tomato sauce
5: Tsugihagi special desert (plum cake, campaign gelatin with fresh fruit, chocolate cake, fresh cherry, fruit gelato)
Extras courses since I was sitting at bar: Cream cheese preserved in miso and Tuna liver with onion
Plus two glasses of sake:Azumaichi - Fukui Prefecture and Kakurei - Niigata Prefecture. Then finished with Japanese tea. I have to say this was one of the best meals ever!