10.31.08
Posted in Main Page at 11:04 pm by Tammy
There are days which, by the end of it you just feel so glad it’s over, and you don’t wanna relive it once more.
Today is one of those days.
Well it has been a necessary trip but things just didn’t turn out as well as planned.
First of all this “cu do mundo” (excuse me…) turned out at least 100 kilometers further away than expected. So even when we started out in the middle of the night we still ended up arriving in the middle of the day. There were so many bad parts of the road being fixed and so many worse parts needing to be fixed. It took 6.5 hours to get there, 7.5 hours to come back. Just 2 hours for the actual work. (including lunch) Anyway, as I said, it was a necessary trip and it couldn’t be done differently.
So…altogether Gordo had driven for 14 hours in one day. ( I said I wish driving was a sport…)
There was a hiccup on the way back–someone was just putting the first cone for repairing part of a road and at 110 kilometers/hr auto-pilot Gordo reacted quick enough to slow down and stopped before the cone. However, almost at the moment we stopped, there was a “bang” that came from our behind and I felt the shake of the car.
“Oh no.” I thought.”Did it really happen?”
First thing in my mind was: shit, this is gonna set us way back in getting home. We were doing good timing there!
Second thing that came to my mind: Oh yeah, gotta get out and check on the damage.
To my relief I didn’t find anything too ugly. It was an Ok picture, visually. We were about 20 meters away from the other car.
“It looks OK to me.” I said,”You think we could go?”
Gordo:”See if the other car is Ok…”
One guy from “the other car” came up, and I was bending down checking on our car for the 2nd time and deliberately waiting for him to talk first.(always wait for the other guy to talk first, because you never know if he is a bully, a bum, or just someone nice like us,who has better things to do than staying there arguing whose fault is that and trying to hassle you for as much money as he could…so just wait and see.)
“How is your car” He asked.
“well…not…too bad…”,”what about yours?”
“oh, ours is bad.” he said.
Then we pretended to examine our car again, and by this time I figured I could propose now:”Listen, it looks like our car is OK. We are kind of rushing somewhere, so if you’re ok too, I guess we’ll just let it go.”
The guy was pretty relieved and as we were about to leave, from far away,the driver, a younger guy,a much more stupid one, who obviously doesn’t know tailgating is wrong, made a different decision.He came up and sort of threw his attitude towards me, which did not bother us except the fact that we really wanted to be home earlier and he was obviously gonna make a fool of himself by wasting our time.
A few minutes later the highway patrol came. I greeted him and finished explaining the situation in like 3 short sentences.
The police took a look and immediately told the young guy he was at fault. He was protesting but I thought the policeman asked him to take a hike..something like that.
The police did it beautifully, and we left gracefully(considering easily, he could have paid 400rmb on sight, and afterwards fixing the scratches at our rear and correcting the gas tank that now is so crooked it will hold maybe 2 litres of gas less! Oh yeah and one of our mud-guards is gone). All we asked is more time to ourselves.
Regarding the old volkwagen, well let’s just say now the car and the driver deserve each other. er…it was flying and break so suddenly the whole front of the car squeezed under our car and kissed our gas tank. It was all banged out of shape.The front hood is a very 3-D inverted”V” shape now.
Conclusion is , Peugeout 307 is good. It stands the test of “bom”. You’ll see the difference.
Well that explains the 1 hours more time spent on the way back.
P.S. Lunch time we were taken to this restaurant where they keep alive porcupines and wild cats(maybe not cat, wild something) for cooking purpose. Poor animals–they were so trapped and helpless. They had the same innocent eyes like Xiao Tan, but instead of naughtiness, there is so much sadness. To think they are still caged in a damp, dirty place waiting to be slaughtered as I am sitting comfortably in home with the A.c now, just makes my heart ache.
We made a quick stop at this lake. It is supposed to be a reservoir, but hard to believe, because it is sooooooooo big!
Perhaps it was the best moment of the day. To think hours later we would bump into an asshole and the road to home that seemed so endless.
Anyway, we made it.
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10.29.08
Posted in Main Page at 4:27 pm by Tammy
Today we got the ownership of the apartment!
The loan was paid off in August but we’ve been delaying making the papers to claim the ownership.
Under my impression, nothing involved official documents could be obtained without one’s patience being tried and his extremes of tolerance being challenged, for example, the rudeness of certain clerks in service, inefficiency or stupidity of a working system plus a stubborn/inagile way of handling special case if any.
However, to my surprise, the process was unbelievably breezy. To the point I had uttered extra amounts of “is that all?… that’s all? u mean I can go now?… so i am leaving….”
The agri bank gave us the “certificates” in 2 minutes without us having to show a big amount of proofs and papers which I had previously sorted out and carefully kept in a plastic folder. The only thing I had presented was my ID. Everything was done systemetically, efficiently and beautifully. Then with a clear explanation and 10 rmb to hire a pilot motorcyclist to lead the way, we went to the National Land Resources Dep and chop chop, done.
The good thing is, the apt is paid for. The bad thing is, well I am already tired of this apt. er….life…is not easy.
Came back home I was happy to be able to finally start throwing away papers that I hadn’t dared to throw away before. It was until then I figured out how it worked…I mean how the whole thing about how much we’ve paid, how much we’ve loaned and all sorts of relevant details. What looks pretty clear to me now was such a mess 5 years ago. Coming to think about it, lots of things in life was achieved without knowing much of it. scary.
I am seriously missing the tiramisu I had on ZY’s birthday party last night. It was the best cake I ever had.
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10.24.08
Posted in Main Page at 9:45 pm by Tammy
Lazy blogger comes back to clean away the cobwebs…
I can’t remember doing anything meaningful in the past 10 days so…
In fact I can’t remember doing anything at all.
One thing very disturbing& personal is that the pimples came back. I’m way past teen-age and still very much troubled. Last week I switched doctor so obviously I am having new herbs to brew now.
Made a new T for Gordo today. cost me about 8 hours( lunch and breaks unaccounted for). I don’t have an over-lock machine and was working with linen so mostly I had to do French seams. Double work, triple work!
Couldn’t finish the piece in the end because I was short of buttons. Gordo looked horrible in it–not his fault–something is wrong with the shirt. Same pattern but I forgot that I had added 2cm on last shirt. As a result this new one is tighter. Almost too tight.
Whole day of pimply face+pajamas+oily hair+under strong white light+a roomful of needles and threads=nothing!
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10.14.08
Posted in Main Page at 6:46 pm by Tammy
Oh God please stop me….
I’ve been having this urge to own a little cat for a while now…
I know once I have an “evil” idea, it is quite difficult to get rid of it…
But I am afraid I’ll regret–no–I am sure I’ll.
I’ve never liked cats (in my adult life), but this changed after I saw a yellow cat in a store where I bought water from during my dancing days. It was a regular cat but for the first time I really bothered to look at a cat and found it very cute.
Today I saw a pic of a kitty waiting to be adopted…
Make myself busy and forget about it. A bad idea…
I’ve finished the Seinfeld for the 2nd time now there is this big void in my life.
Can’t find anything as good anymore…
Sigh.
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10.11.08
Posted in Main Page at 4:53 pm by Tammy
Once upon a time, I casually told Mira that I’d love to paint my bookshelf in red, and she took it seriously. On one beautiful Saturday she came excitedly with a bucket of red paint, brushes, buffing paper and chemical.
Why did I even mention that… We know that if I said no now, she’d have to kill me. So… I’ll just let her have fun and pray that it comes out good.
Went to danceroom in the morning. It’s been a while since last time and my old set of bones need some shaking-up.
My teacher likes to introduce people starting with name, then occupation, then follows with the year in which they are born. So this roomful of pretty girls are either 88, or 90. Geez I am almost an auntie now…
While I was in a big dress and feeling “auntily” myself, my teacher had me put on one of her black shorties. It was until then I felt less of a “last generation.” The long legs and slim waists of those 90’s-borns does make me feel conscious about aging process. But thank God I am not too bad among them, just ALMOST bad… but it’s gonna get there…I could feel my skin is not in the same spirit as it was 5 years ago.
Nevertheless I sweated enough and they pretty much liked my demo. I think I’m gonna make an OK teacher if I want…
So I decided not to have any lunch (to reverse aging process, since a big part of it is about extra amount of ef ei tee). I walked around Friendship store planning to buy myself a new tube of lipstick,and saw a handsome guy in front of me, and I stared and stared as I walked towards him. (Since he was staring at me too…). –Then we both stopped–only to find out we actually knew each other. sigh…
After meeting Mira I decided I couldn’t really skip lunch. The thought of a nice hot crab porridge from the Chaoshanese restaurant is simply irresistable. We ended up having a late lunch.
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10.10.08
Posted in Main Page at 10:10 pm by Tammy
Since we are in a retrospective mood these days…
Here is a picture of Mira(my best friend) when she was a kid.
And a picture of me when I was around 3 y-o. (right)
Although we are from different places, it looked like back in the 80’s everywhere looked the same. Even the quality of the pictures are the same.
Unfortunately now we are both kind of ….like this:
Sometimes more normal:
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10.09.08
Posted in Main Page at 9:24 pm by Tammy
Back in the arms of a dark grey sky with a humidity of 120, ready to breathe in the heavily polluted air of Guangzhou.
Home, sweet home.
While unpacking, someone else found a cozy nest for herself.
What are wind shields for?
I brought back a tank of ShanXi vinegar as Wei insisted. I was freaking afraid that they vinegar will spill inside of the luggage and ruin all my donkeys and everything else.
Fortunately, the tank stood the test of pressure and kicking around. My vinegar made its way to my kitchen.
However, the bloody terra-cotta statue I had wrapped so ever carefully, broke its wrist on the way back.
I need super glue…………..!!!!!!!!!!!
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Posted in Main Page at 9:12 pm by Tammy
One of the reasons I am most attracted to these places is the old houses.
They are real. They are old, but they have spirit. I can smell them.
It’s a tunnel where you can travel back in time, to feel, and to touch.
Early in the morning. Qi Town, small town in ShanXi pronvince.
People came out to work, on foot or on bicycle, buy groceries…
Half a leg of a pig laying on a wooden platform, tomatoes on the floor–that is the street market.
Clash.
I lived in houses similar to this before.
I am a city brat. I can’t tell crops. I don’t have a super refine taste. I find most abstract art funny. Lots of things I don’t care.
But this, is beautiful even in my eyes. 
A cat in the yard peacefully. well now it’s a disturbed cat in the yard.
very in the picture but very out of place….
The Qi’s courtyard. This place was used to shoot the movie “Raise the Lantern”. After visiting this place, I watched the movie again, for the 3rd time. And this time I could tell the places…
If I were the fourth wife of a business man, I’d be…well, kill me.
Again, it all looks so good, so beautiful when you are not in the picture.
Looking from far away, even the most tragic story has a beauty to it, only because you are not the victim.
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Posted in Main Page at 8:36 pm by Tammy
The hustles and bustles were there, or in another phrase in Chinese–”People mountain, people sea”.(just picture seas and mountains of people, esp. in the holidays).
However, you simply don’t feel hectic– no pressured to fasten your pace like you’ll find yourself doing in a Hongkong street.
It’s very relaxing in spite of the crowd.(Of course I’d LOVE to see the crowd disappear…), perhaps because of the way the kites swing in the wind above the 700 year-old city Walls? or the slow music of a flute somewhere at the corner of a street?…
Drum tower. A medley of old and modern, new and obsolete. Kite is a touch of romanticism.
When night falls…
If you visually delete (ignore) the busy street full of traffic and neo-lights of night life, and just stand there, focus, and focus, maybe it was pretty much the same 700 years ago. Well the moon certainly adds a mood to it. Very nostalgic.
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Posted in Main Page at 7:23 pm by Tammy
This city has been the capital of China for 13 dynasties lasting more than 1100 years. Walking through the streets of it feels like reading a history book, or watching a film of Chinese ancient history.
Colors, colors, bright, noisy, loud, the visual impact on me is huge. Mix and match, mix and don’t match, who cares. They clash, they scream, yet on a whole picture, they look so harmonious…
Where the hell is this place…I really don’t remember anymore, but it’s beautiful, isn’t it?
Street of ancient culture, where you find all sorts of local folk art products for a good bargain. Constructions alongside still remain pretty original as they were in the old days.
I am crazy about them. Funny interpretation of animals by the Shaan’xi people. I regret not stuffing more in my luggage, although I realized my bag was already full of donkeys the day I left… Can I have enuff of it?…probably not. Not for the time being…
Well, that was a must-have. I came home with this table cloth and now it sits beautifully on my tea table.
food, oh food…
Food made me VELLI happy….
What would be of a trip without a little shopping?
Here I bought sweet jujuba and little tomatos. Dried fruits are everywhere for sale in the Muslim Quarter.
My one and only shopping of clothes. If u call it clothes at all. This is called “Du-dou”, sort of a brassier used by women in the past. Great embroidery for 15rmb. Maybe 500 years later we all can wear just our bras in the street. who knows.
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