Well after going home to the U.S. with Mr. T, I have returned to China and found… that it’s still China.  Who’d have thought?  It’s been really humid lately so everything is very green and that’s quite nice.  Even sometimes it smells like rain, even though it’s not raining; this surely beats the default smell which frequently rises from the "storm" drains.  Yesterday, walking home from dinner at The Garden Cafe, I could smell some gorgeous flowers (well they smelled gorgeous, I couldn’t really see them in the dark).

The Chinese New Year celebrations are upon us.  Sunday night we went to a work party and had an amazing variety of food served to us along with the entertainment of a company talent show.  All of the management were expected to participate in the talent show, so Brad recruited us to help him out. We sang two camp songs (try translating that concept), "Fish and Chips and Vinegar" and "Juicy Moose".  We requested audience participation for "Juicy Moose" and got some good laughs, which is what we wanted.  Sing-a-way-o-wayo!

Last time I tried to add a link on this blog it wouldn’t work. Let’s try again.   I was really craving ketchup and homemade fries so I made this recipe. Nope. It doesn’t work (embedding links that is), so if you want to see the recipe go here:  http://www.purplefoodie.com/2009/04/garlicky-baked-fries.html .  Someday, when China stops making decisions for me, I will switch back to Blogspot.  It’s tempting to do that anyway.  I like their format a ton better, but for now, this is what it is (anyone remember that stupid Spanish Language radio commercial?  "S-O-C-K-S" (Eso si que es. =  It is what it is.))  Back to the fries. And ketchup.  Finding good ketchup in China is interesting, but it can be done, you just have to be willing to throw away the stuff you don’t like, otherwise the open bottles all piles up on you.  Since coming to China, I’ve had to learn a new level of wastefulness with-out guilt.  Try it.  If you don’t like it, throw it away.  Otherwise we’d never try anything, and we’d never find the things we need or want, either.  We’ve thrown away cookies, clothes, bread, crackers, ramen-style noodles, nuts, black chicken, candy, and a bunch of other stuff.  Every now and again I think, "But there are starving children in China!" If I could share our rejects with them I would.

Brad’s been having trouble with some sort of allergy since before Christmas.  He has hives all over, and they really itch.  I wish I’d realized the extent of the problem while I was in the U.S.  I would have called the doctor about them to see what he recommended.  I could have maybe brought back some medicine (I can pretend that he would have taken it).  I think the allergy is to sesame seeds, they bothered him before, but here it’s nearly impossible to avoid them or the oil here in China.  He’s trying a raw food diet for a while to see if he can clear it up.  I should probably get him to take some "Primal Defense" as well (you Google it), since that can help clear up those sorts of problems by repopulating the digestive tract with beneficial bacteria and enzymes.

Miss M. and Miss S. are out getting their hair cut.  It’s an hours-long process and quite and experience for less than you’d pay at Fantastic Sam’s.  I hope they like the way it’s done.  Nothing like having two teenage girls having a bad hair day!  …..  They’re back and they at least mostly like their hair, whew!

The star fruit tree in our back yard is in full production right now, making a mess all over the ground.  I noticed it this morning.  There is a ton of fruit on that tree and it’s pretty good, though watery in flavor.  It looks cool cut up at least.  Speaking of which I need to go take care of some of it.