Chicken in a Bucket 29.06.11

DanDan's Mother was given a bird that one of the old women that lived in the Building complex had caught and felt it would be fun for Leon, it had a string tied around its leg to prevent it from flying away.

Leon was not too interested and we agreed to let it fly away, After that we headed out looking for a travel club my wife had heard about in the area as she wanted to go to the Royal Sea World in Fu Xun, no luck but I did see a Chicken in a bucket and it wasn't even KFC.

Found a small place that had He Fan just across from our Building complex.

Went to visit DanDans Lao Gu, she had invited us and we had eaten Yang Rou Chuan Er with her family before, Its where Leon got a taste for it. She had moved house and the new place was very modern and reminded me of some Irish developments I had seen right down to the shamrocks.

It was a while before the charcole was ready for the meat and there sure was a lot of meat. Er Gu arrived with her grand child, which was a happy little 16 month boy, he could walk and would get into everything and when his nanny tried to stop him he would throw a tantrum but over all he did not go near the fire and would laugh at everything.

After food it was getting late and Lao Gu's Daughter and her husband said they would bring Leon to somewhere he could play games, Chinese is a very vague language and you never get the full picture so We had no idea about where we where going. We took a double decker bus which was a first for me in China. Even though it was getting dark outside the bus keeps its inside lights off to save electricity and save money. I also found a very big IKEA while I passed it on the bus.

We ended up in a Da Jia Ting on the other side of the city in a place called xi tie. Leon went fishing and we ended to night in KFC eating Ice Cream untill mosquitoes started falling from the air conditioning, then we got the hell out of there.

Another night Market 28.06.11

Not much to report, I lost my connection with the outside world for a time in the morning because paypal reported my subscription to Surfbounder as fraud and got them to return my money so I had to get that sorted. Huang Yu arrived with baby and when he found out I had access to youtube he asked did I have anything to show him that was banned here, Not really, Tiananmen guy dancing around a tank and thats about it. Boring really.

We went to Beihang, Ning Shan Lu night Market, much better than the one close to our house, it stretched to whole length of the road which was very long. The girls are also better here as they all wear the latest fashion and  keep themselves looking well. The whole street it self was falling apart, cracks every where and the soil where the trees were planted appears to have caved in, as in the trees were sinking. This could be to do with the underground tunnel that was dug for the subway, lets just say it was far from safe. DanDan's old house is on this road and I know the area well so we went to an old spot to grab some Chuan er, its alittle different now as the let you select your own skewer and then they cook them for you. Headed home in a Taxi for 10 yuan.

Carrefour 27.06.11

Went to Carrefour (The French Chain Shopping Mall) today, wanted to buy a Pressure cooker for to bring back to Ireland, while there I was amused by how much power to Old guy washing the floor had, As he headed in to a crowd and Shouted LAI,LAI,LAI! at the top of his lungs and the crowd just despairsed, he done this several times and I wish I had thought about recording it. I always like the displays in the Chinese Markets, lots of Cookies and meats as well as Water tanks full of fish. What I dont like is the places that want you to buy one item in one part of the store and another somewhere else, its just not convenient and it changes from store to store.

I picked up a Teresa Tang(Deng Li Jun) DVD with more than 99 songs, very happy with this as she was one of the greatest Female singers of her time. Finished our shopping in KFC, Annoying that fastfood outlets dont have diet drinks here as there are a lot of fatties and most seem to be patrons of these said fast food joints. The myth that all Chinese are thin is truly coming to an end, now all we have to do is convince the Chinese themselves.

Was munching on a cookie after we got home and heard a crack, one of my teeth at the back was not in good condition anyway but it had broke and twisted in, so I could feel it but not get at it. Finally managed to pull out the broken part without too much pain.

DanDan and her mum are making Jiaozi in the kitchen so guess I know what will be for dinner.

Leon Meets a new friend 26.06.11

Had BaoZi for Breakfast, Taste great. A few Chinese still dont trust BaoZi after hearing about people mixing chemicals into the bread to keep it fresh for longer. The plan today is to head to Wang Feng's home so Leon could play with his son Shuai Shuai. Shuai Shuai is a year older than Leon.

As usual the Chinese love nothing more than Children preforming and straight away Shuai Shuai's Nanny is calling  him over to show off his English and Math skills and then pointing out that Leon cant speak Chinese, what I didnt tell them was that Leon could speak alot more Chinese than Shuai Shuai could speak English. The 2 boys got one great as soon as the action figures were busted out, Ultraman is universal it seems. Nice people anyway. We went for dinner in a BBQ place and had Yang Rou Chuan Er. Actually Leon ate almost all the Yang Rou Chuan Er it surprised us all as he is usuall a fussy eater.

Later that day had a downpour, So myself and Leon headed out to the shops and bought some western food.

Night Market 25.06.11

So we found the night Market, it was in the same place as the Morning market and was nowhere near as busy, in ShenYang there is the 6 lane road and that for Cars, then there is the bicycle land which is clearly marked and is where our footpath would be, and that is for bikes and Mopeds, and the there is...wait a minute, there are no footpaths here. It seems that China does not have regular peoples interests at heart. It is a status thing here if you have a car, Then you are a somebody and all must clear the way in front of your mighty beast(quite the opposite to Ireland) then comes the cheaper forms of transport and then you come in at the bottom, having to dodge bikes and debris in your way to get anywhere, its just a way of life here and nobody cares one way or the other but pedestrians are really getting the short end of the stick and even when you find a crossing with a green light for prople to cross it still seems cars are allowed make left hand turns so its almost as dangerous as if there was no lights at all, this is what I have know for years but it is good I can post my observations.

The Market is located along a very long street which ends ar BeiLing(Northern Tomb) Park.

Leon played some machines outside a supermarket and I spotted a mongrel harassing some Pomeranians walking by its owners stall.

We picked up a pancake very like crepes but I have always prefared the Chinese version to the French. We got Leon a good Pair of Skates for a tenner and then headed into the Park for some fresh air, as it was getting dark and mosquitoes were litually bouncing off our skin(they never bite me) we didnt stay for long but did see some lights high in the sky, very UFO like, it was a triangular Kite, with changing lights. I am sure if I bought one and took it back to Ireland with me I could make the news papers with UFO sightings. We exited trough the front gate where there is always skipping and dancing and watched for a bit before heading home.

Mario Party 24.06.11

Today was my birthday, got up before the other 2, DanDans mother made some breakfast and eventually Leon and DanDan crawled out of bed. DanDan was still feeling sick so went to get a drip just outside the building complex. Was waiting for Cake to be delivered when a knock on the door presented a neighbour whos son had just come back from Ireland, he was with her and when I asked can he speak English he replied "yi dian"(a little) which was strange as you would think someone who had studied English abroad would be more willing to show off anyway we didnt speak a word of English until they said they may come back later and the guy said "see you later". After a few hours DanDan and her mother got home and DanDan showed me where they inserted the drip and where the also failed to insert it, her had looked like a pin cushion.

Later we left Leon at home and headed to Lao Da to try and buy some computer bits'n'bobs, first 2 sellers where looking for 50 yuan each for 2 bog standard computer mice, we eventually found someone that didnt have their head in the clouds and was willing to sell at 25 each. We also pick up a pair of Headphones.
Decided to walk to BeiHang as it was not too far from Lao Da. We passed a sign for 'Ma Jia Shao Mai'

which confused the hell out of us as the sign was hugh but everyshop under it told us its not here. We found it eventually on the 2nd floor of Bank of China, WTF. Thats the last place I would have looked. In fairness the sign did say something like that but we missed it at first.Went to the underground shopping area because it was so hot topside so decided to walk under ground to reach BeiHang. All the stuff is stupidly more expensive than it needs to be especially since shops selling the same stuff cheaper were just upstairs. Picked up a Mario Figure for Leon. DanDans Mother had booked the place for the party but getting there would prove harder than we thought, 4 o'clock and all the Taxis where full, every single one, so we walked to a more busy street, same deal but this time even taxis that had no passengers were passing us by, If we saw someone get off a cab we would run to ask the driver if he was working and he would say "Im going home now" we were so pissed off as we had to get to the restaurant by 5pm. So after 45mins we gave up and walked to the top of the road and got a bus, So hot and humid. Got to mthe party and met up with a Chinese guy we knew from Ireland Liu Peng, he was back in ShenYang after 10 years in Ireland. We headed to the room but the Taxi situation just ruined the whole day, turns out that in Shen Yang Taxis finish their morning shift at 5 and go home and then evening Taxi drivers start their shift at 5pm, just stupid. Cake was ok, KTV was bad and old and despite the guests it was no Mario Party.

Huang Yu's Home 23.06.11

Morning is wet and rainy so perfect for us Irish, My self and Leon went on a walk by ourselves as DanDan was feeling ill, she ended up going to the little hospital to get a drip. We looked around and ended up in a ZhongXing shopping center as Leon wanted some sweets and I wanted some Pepsi. Got home and DanDan was feeling better so we headed off to Huang Yu's home.

He said he would order the Megadrive flash card I was after off of TaoBao and invited us to dinner at Europar western restaurant for some Pizza and later some KTV. Tommorrow is my Birthday and we also booked a cake for it so time for bed.

Underground? 21.06.11

Went shopping in Bei Hang(northern Market) and I was looking forward to seeing the new subway in action, unfortunately it wasnt running, in fact I didnt even see any tracks. Makes me think maybe it was just an underground shopping area that was being build and not a transit system, well someone said it will be running by the end of the year so who knows. Bei Hang is the main market area of Shen Yang, If you want to get clothes at a bargin price this is the place to go. Really hot day so myself and Leon headed to KFC while DanDan tried to get my Mobile Phone fixed. Chinese Resturants are easy to order in, the names of dishes rarely change but Chinese KFC is a little harder, like their English speaking outlets the have special names for everything and as my reading of character is limited I had to just ask for what I thought it should be, miraculously  I managed to order chicken nuggets for Leon which is exactly what he wanted and got myself a chicken burger, Perfect. I saw some other foreign people at a food court at the back of the underground area, they had the same bewildered look of being lost that I have noticed on all the foreigners I see in China, They just need to relax and feel comfortable with the experience. We ended the day with Leon getting a home haircut.

Da Jia Ting 20.06.11

Leon awoke at 2am and did not sleep at all the whole night. We had promised him a trip to his fav place in China, The Mega Shopping Mall 'Da Jia Ting'.

So he was really excited about this. We all got very little sleep as the nigh was very warm. I got up and fed Leon some BaoZi and Bread and Jam(He Prefared the bread and Jam). I was finally able to get onto Facebook by buying an OpenVDP, it basically uses the internet from foreign servers so now I have no problem with any blocked sites while here. Only down side is yo must pay 3 euro a week to use. One word describes today HOT!, it is boiling outside and the sun is shinning with a bit of wind. Got Taxi to Shopping district and I happened upon of all things 'Irish Fast Foot' Restaurant.

We got to Da Jia Ting and as we have been there many times headed straight to the 4 floor, this place is so Hugh you would have to see it to believe. 5 floors not counting the underground levels and a street long, the 4th floor is dedicated to family entertainment. They have arcades, snooker, bowling, games for prizes, cinema, a petting zoo or you can just go fishing it really has it all.
We went to see the dogs in the pet shop first, 2 cute pups were on display. We paid 10 yuan to get in past the barrier. The adult dogs were kept in little cages (no different than American petstores) which was sad and I just dont see any future for these dogs as I mentioned in an earlier post ShenYang has new laws restricting Large dog ownership.

After that Leon took a pottery class and was very good at it.

Then we got Leons photo printed on a T shirt. We had a good time despite feeling wreaked, surprised Leon Had the energy to play for so long.

Went Shopping 19.06.11

Busy day. Went to morning Market, cool morning but so many people on one street including cars and bikes trying to squeeze past each other. Bought duck, pancakes and the best BaoZi I have had in 4 years. Also bought Leon some goldfish and some metal chopsticks. I heard there is a new ruling here that says they cant keep large dogs in apartments effectively ruling out most Chinese in the city, that said they had lots of small dogs, Pomeranians, Tibetan Spaniels and poodles all seem to be popular in total contrast to 2 years ago when most people were seen walking large northren breeds like Samoyed's and huskies. Later went to see DanDan's Da Jiu. He is 81 years old and everyone is worried about his health. The Government are knocking down his home in order to build a subway system, He will be compensated but the family dont think he will be around to see it. We took the bus to Tesco, its a big place. We headed to the 2nd floor as I remembered there was a Japanese tie ban place. Got Leon a Basket ball but unfortunately the pet selection was poor (I am looking for a "Cheap" good leather lead for Titan my Malamute). Today was the warmest so far at 32 degrees. Leon got some glass stuck in his finger, I pulled it out but he didnt cry even though there was a lot of blood. Put plaster on it. Took him outside to play basketball. A lot of Children wanted to get close to the foreign child, but once they did could not think of what to do or say. I had to put on my best act to look like I knew what I was doing as alot of Chinese assume LaoWai should be good at Basketball. It was already dark and DanDan wanted to find a night market she had heard about, we didnt find it but did stop in to a place and ordered some YangRou Chuan er(Lamb Skewers) to take way.

The Next Day 18.06.11

Awoke at 3am and stayed awake. Leon and DanDan also awake. 4am already bright outside,Old woman in the Garden watering plants.

Forgot most toilets have trouble handling toilet paper here, need to remember to use bin. In-laws up at 6am, cook food for breakfast, Leon wont eat, is more interested in playing his DS.

DanDan still  tired and goes back to sleep until her cousin Huang Yu's parents arrive with his 5 month old baby, a fat faced girl called DongDong, cute, Leon liked her.

Huang Yu came and brought a KFC bucket of chicken. Myself and Leon felt tired and went to sleep for a couple of hours. Went to BBQ place, not great, Korean Ban Fan was bad.

Leon bought bubbles from a street vendor and we played outside for a while, saw a little kitten in the shopping mall which was unusual. Tried to use the free gate software that Dereck recommended but it was all in chinese and 360 antivirus kept on stopping it from working, must find an alternative. Leon said he is having a good time.

Arrival 17.06.11

Arrived at ShenYang, Long flight. Plane from Dublin was late so really had to run when we arrived in Amsterdam as our flight to Beijing was already boarding. Food on flight was terrible, I got no sleep but at least Leon got about 2 hours before touchdown. Only saving grace about flight was that we had our own TV sets on the back of each seat.

ShenYang is warm but not too hot about 23 degrees, not sweat worthy. The city seems dirtier than I remember, dust covers a lot of cars and Buses as we navigate the gauntlet that is the busy roads of the ever growing city by the river.There is a lot of building work going on also which may explain the dust, new apartment complexes are popping up all over the place and replacing parks and other areas that were "not being used". Went to restaurant I was in 2 years ago, also in worse condition with a large crack going up the outside window, food was fine but the place specializes in seafood and we are on a strict no seafood plan due to Japan Radiation problem. Dont want to suffer from jet-lag so plan is to sleep from 5pm until next morning.