cheese in china.

After about a month in China, I had the chance to attend a UW alumni reception with some other expatriate Beijingers. After the cocktails and hors d'oeuvres, and a short video from the Honorary David Johnston, then - UW President but now - Governor-General of Canada, we stumbled through a quaint alleyway named 南锣鼓巷 [nánluógǔxiàng]. It was then that a native Beijinger and fellow UW alumnus pointed out the place to go for homemade "yogurt". I made a mental note to go back - it only took about a year and 4 months, but I finally made it. 

friends forever.

Thanks A :)

A couple weeks ago, I got the nicest card in the mail from a very dear friend - which just goes to show, that no matter how far you are, friendship doesn't really have any limits.

Seeing this card, it instantly reminded me of a place I had gone with another friend to catch up and hang out. A friend who, for the past three years, has managed to live within hours of me. Whether it was London-Paris or Tianjin-Beijing, I can always count on him to make the short trip to come visit!

So just where did we go? What more ideal place can there be, than the Friends Café in Beijing.

titillating translations.

Can you figure out the original meaning...?

星巴克 卡布奇诺  xīngbākè kǎbùqínuò

(Hint: A staple in my life; it's a faux pas to drink these after 11am in Italy.)

shivering in one's shoes: shidu.

The sequence to my
shining "seconds".

"Not too shabby" is what I'm stewing in my soul ...

...that is, until they shackle my shins and secure my shirt and my shoes, shattering my conscience.

The shakes. The shudders. Sheer shock.

"Simply rush off the sheltered shelf."

Shrugging off my shivers, I take a shot... all the while sensing my shrill shrieks of "oh sh**". 

A short while later, a shadowy silhouette in a small ship shouts at me, seeking to shuttle me back to shore. 

And thus is the story of how to shed off your shame.

A stouthearted spirit.

Shady ship back to shore.

Shidu, a scenic spot

in the Beijing suburbs.

baskets, bells, bicycles...oh my!

Beijing's bicyles are beyond belief. Believe this bargain: below 30 bucks!

Biased by a beautiful beacon of brightness, I boldly bought a brand-new bike, with basket, bell, the whole she-bang.  

As I braved through Beijing's bustling boulevards, I became aware the basket was bent and bearably banged up, so I brought it back to better it.

A bit of banter later, I was ready to begin basking under the bright beacon and to barge down those Beijing back alleys.

Being back to a bona fide biker, my booty is bearing quite the beating. I'm hopeful the breaks don't bust before I bust my behind.





Bicycle, bearing...

 

butterfly basket, bearing...



Billy bag.



twenty-five candles.

Quarter of a century. XXV. The atomic number of manganese.

Latté...where cameras are not safe.

Special appearance by some masked-strangers.

My favourite pic of the night!

After you've danced the night away.
(photo courtesy of: A.)

"This year, your birthdate is a palindrome: 11-4-11."   - guess who... 

titillating translations.

One of the interesting things I've always thought about learning a new language is the way certain "un-translatable" words become translated. Take brands for instance, or names of stores. What would be the equivalent of Sephora in French? Well, considering it was originally founded in France and the name stems from the Greek word for "beauty", sephos, I should really be asking, what is its English translation? 

As my study of the Chinese language progresses, I'm becoming more and more familiar with the Mandarin equivalents to what I always thought to be natural in the English language. Let's see if you can figure out the original meaning...

大卫贝克汉姆  dàwèi bèikèhànmǔ

(Hint: He has a gorgeous wife, three equally handsome sons, and soon expecting a daughter. )

march madness.

 Something must have been in the air during the 80's, particularly in the summertime, maybe it was love? It's the only explanation I can think of for all the birthday parties this month... already on the 7th alone, the names of 5 birthday babies come to mind (including my homegirl S - sorry I couldn't be there for your big 2-5!).

This month also marked the start of the second semester at school... and I'm not going to lie, but I'm already really behind. It might have something to do with the fact that I spent just as many hours at these soirées as I did at school (ok, I may have also missed a few classes... blame it on the a-a-a-a-a-alcohol especially during the mid-week festivities).

And considering it is March of course, who can forget the be-all, end-all of alcohol-related celebrations, St Patrick's Day! This year, I had the pleasure of attending two (rival, because this is about the 3RD time these lads have had parties on the same day) house parties... good company, good fun, mixed in with  some green-clad gangsters (R - I guess someone had to represent the ghetto that is Rosedale/Summerhill!) 

To add to the frenzy of this month, we cannot forget about the calamity of the March 11th tsunami. My heart deeply goes out to all of those who were struck by the earthquake, to those who lost or are still searching for loved ones in Japan... and to my own loved ones back home, thanks for all of the messages of concern, Beijing hasn't been affected by any radioactive leaks and the whole potassium-iodide-massive-increase-in-salt-sales crisis was just due to a rumour on the internet gone wrong (the man responsible for the post was arrested).  

And now for some of Michelle's most memorable March madness moments...

The host with the most.

905/416 represent.

Lesson here: do not piss off
your Chinese neighbours.

Free beer at Helen's.

Dim sum at 5am.
(photo courtesy of: A.)

Little brother's sweet 23rd...
good times never seem so good.

And now, time to finally hit the books... 

spring fever.

Spring officially began last Sunday and to mark it, the Beijing government officially turned off all of the central heating, everywhere.

Every year like clockwork, the city officials dutifully flick the switch that is the capital's source of heat. For these 4 months, from November 15 to March 15, can Beijingers actually remove their jackets indoors... for the months leading up to and afterwards, that's another story.

As a result of this rather unexpected change in room temperature, my body hasn't been coping well and somewhere in between home, school and the local restaurants, I definitely caught something that resulted in a sore throat (especially painful when yawning - monday mornings are the worst) and chain sneezing. With the help of (the useless) western medication, hopefully my body can fight off the notorious Beijing bug soon, and *fingers crossed* develop enough resistance to prevent any potential future Chinese hospital visits - something I do not want, EVER, to blog about...