Tricycle Ride

Dear Friends,

No Christmas day is complete without a tricycle ride into town for dinner.

Love,
H & B

Dinner in the Antique Store

Dear Friends,

Our Lonely Planet guide book recommend this place for dinner. It was literally like eating in an antique store. There was stuff everywhere. It was so bizarre. The spicy calamari was fantastic so it was worth the trip!

Love,
H & B

Magellan's Cross

Dear Friends,

One of the only points of interest in Cebu City was Magellan's Cross. So, of course we had to stop and have a look.

Love,
H & B

No Spitting!

Dear Friends,

It is really unfortunate that this restaurant had to put up a "No Spitting" sign.  Can only imagine what was going on before the sign went up.

Love,
H & B

Snake

Dear Friends,

We have no idea what this man was doing with his snakes on a busy road in downtown Cebu.  He did draw quite a crowd.

Love,
H & B

Jeepeny

Dear Friends,

We kept talking about getting a ride in one of these works of art on wheels but it never happened.  Most of the time, the traffic in Cebu was so bad, it was easier just to walk.

Love,
H & B

Philippines

Dear Friends,

This year for the holidays, we traveled to the Philippines. We thought some nice beaches, fresh air and sun would do us some good. It was the most relaxing vacation EVER!

Love,
H & B

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

Life was a little busy before the holidays and getting to the blog was difficult.  We are going to try to get back on track.  SCIS threw a great holiday party before we all left for the break. I think it is safe to say we all had a great time.

Wishing you all a happy and healthy new year!

Love,
H & B

Holiday Decoration?

Dear Friends,

A few of us tried to figure out the meaning of this particular holiday decoration. We have NO idea.

Love,
H & B

Our Tree

Dear Friends,

It is a little Charlie Brownish but we like it anyway.

Love,
H & B

Christmas Trees

Dear Friends,

Which would you prefer?  The lime sherbet tree or the purple/pink combo tree?

Love,
H & B

Drummers

Dear Friends,

These drummers were encouraging runners near the marathon finish line. I can still hear the beat in my head.

Love,
H

Shanghai Marathon

Dear Friends,

I went out to cheer on friends for the run. Thought this was one of the more interesting runners I saw.

Love,
H

P. S. Next year, I will be running NOT watching! (I hope!)

Blue Roses

Dear Friends,

We are not sure what occasion would call for these glitter tipped blue roses. Any ideas?

Love,
H & B

Fall

Dear Friends,

It has been nice to see the change of seasons again.

Love,
H & B

Chips

Dear Friends,

Many of you ask if we can find familiar food here.  As you can see we are not in need of tortilla chips.  Of course, we haven't actually purchased any of these as they are $10 a bag.  Think we can wait until summer to enjoy these treats!

Love,
H & B

Thanksgiving

 Dear Kent and Hanrich,

Thank you for the fantastic Thanksgiving gathering. The food was amazing but the company was even better!

Love,
H & B

Bikes with Carts

Dear Friends,

Guess the carts and bikes with carts are not allowed in the bike lane. They must slow down the bikers and scooters.

Love,
H & B

Transportation

Dear Friends,

My bike is finally in action. I LOVE it! We have great bike lanes here.  Just a quick 20 minutes and I am at work. I am hoping the double locks will keep it safe.

Love,
H

Chicken

Dear Friends,

You can buy this yummy chicken leg at 7-11 any time of day or night.

Love,
H & B

Improvements

Dear Friends,

My classroom is finally starting to feel like a kindergarten classroom should. A big improvement from the beginning of the year.

Love,

H

Moving Day!

Dear Friends,

It's HERE!!!! Finally, the paperwork is complete and our things made it to our apartment.  We have a LOT of work to do!

Love,
H & B

Veggie Dumplings

Dear Friends,

After years of being "forced" to eat La Choy, Chinese food has never been my favorite.  However, I did find one thing I really like...these lovely steamed veggie dumplings.  YUM!

Love,
H

Green Giant

Dear Friends,

I happened to mention to a friend that I was anxious for our bikes to come in our shipment. This kind gal, I'd known for about two weeks offered up her bike. The Green Giant made my commute to work and running errands much more enjoyable. Thanks a million Sarah!

Love,
H

Blue Chairs

Dear Friends,

I have absolutely no idea what these miniature blue chairs were doing outside the nice wine bar but, I liked them anyway.

Love,
H

October Break

Dear Jenna,

Thanks for not giving up on your trip to see us. We are both so glad to have had you visit for a few days.

Love,
H & B

Memorabilia

Dear Friends,

If the figurines aren't enough...there are wall hangings.

Love,
H & B

Sweet Potato Chips

Dear Friends,

We had to try these.  They were delicious!

Love,
H & B

More Lanterns

Dear Friends,

There are tons of fun lanterns around town. I am resisting the urge to buy some.

Love,
H

Mao

Dear Friends,

Found these all over the market. No, I did not buy one! : )

Love,
H

Playing Cards

Dear Friends,

The market had a wide variety of playing cards. I am sure we'd own several sets if Brad had been with me.

Love,
H

Antique Market

Dear Friends,

There were all sorts of interesting items at the "antique" market. Fun way to spend a morning.

Love,
H

Pajamas

Dear Friends,

Wearing your pajamas out on the street is perfectly acceptable here.  Not sure why.

Love,
H & B

Calligraphy

Dear Friends,

The man at this street stall was willing to write anything for you in calligraphy. I just liked the brushes and the porcelain brush holders.

Love,
H

East Nanjing

Dear Friends,

Went shopping down on East Nanjing Road during the holiday.  Just us and a few thousand other people.

Love,
H & B

Superman

Dear Friends,

We never saw these at the Calvin Klein store in the US.

Love,
H & B

Lanterns

Dear Friends,

The Chinese love red.  Lanterns, wall hangings, envelopes, you name it.  It does make the market feel festive.

Love,
H

Bust Roller

Dear Friends,

Even after reading the back of the package I'm not exactly sure what the "Bust Roller" is supposed to do.

Love,
H

Cover

Dear Friends,

Surprisingly enough, we did not purchase the fuzzy toilet seat cover.  Yuck!

Love,
H & B

Bird Cages

Dear Friends,

We walked through the park wondering what all the older gentleman had under the cloths.  One look to the trees solved the mystery. There were dozens of birds in cages all through the park.

Love,
H & B

Liquor Grenade

Dear Friends,

Saw these liquor bottles at the bus stop.  Can only imagine how tasty the liquor is.

Love,
H & B

Chips

Dear Friends,

There is quite a variety of chip flavors here. Have not tried these  yet but will before we leave.

Love,
H & B

Shanghai Skyline

Dear Friends,

The skyline is beautiful.

Love,
H & B

4th Floor?

Dear Friends,

Good thing we were not looking for the fourth floor.  Guess it is an unlucky number here similar to the 13 at "home".

Love,
H & B

Shook

Dear Friends,

We went out to celebrate a friend's birthday on Tuesday. We had dinner at a fabulous place right on the Bund.  The upstairs patio had an amazing view of the Shanghai skyline.

Love,
H & B

Bamboo Forest

Dear Friends,

The walk through the bamboo forest was a great ending to a fun day!

Love,
H & B

Countryside

Dear Friends,

It was so great to get out of the city and see a little more of China. We had a beautiful walk back to our bus from the raft trip.

Love,
H & B

Huh?

Dear friends,

This is typical of signs that are "translated" into English.  We think this was actually a changing room at the end of our raft trip.

Love,
H & B