Brewing Again!

Well I finally put away all of the stuff that I dragged home from China, so it was time to get back to brewing!


With the help of a couple of friends (STEB and Gary), we produced a double batch of Wo Bu Zhi Dao Red Ale. By the way that's STEB in the "Beer Security" hat, and he was doing a good job of securing the beer. ;-)


It's name is derived from the fact that I couldn't get the hops that I usually use for my red, and since it's been so long since I've brewed I really don't know what this one will turn out like! (Did my hint help you with the translation?)

Let's keep our fingers crossed that it comes out good and I'll let you know!


Oh I almost forgot, the hops are growing like crazy again this year too!

My New Office

It's small, functional, and for the first time in 9 years I actually have a door!


Yes my new office actually has a door that locks and everything! This will be short lived however because they plan to make this area an "Agile Office" space in about a year from now. Hey so I'll enjoy it while it's here! ;-)

The somewhat sterile walls will eventually be covered with calendars, comics, and/or photos, but they won't stay blank for long!

He's baaack!

Just a couple of pictures of Thunder. He's back in the states, adjusting quite well and playing with his toys and friends! The weather is supposed to be nice so we are riding on Saturday with a bunch of friends. Should be a good time!

Sunrise at Pensacola Beach

Just a shot of the sunrise here at PCB!

The past few days have been beautiful!

We actually did something productive while we've been here, we went over to our friends house and helped them build a deck!
Yep that's me doing some manual labor, and you thought I just sat around in an office all day!

Of course we were lucky to have some experts on hand that knew what we were doing, and I wasn't allowed to touch any of the power tools! ;-)

26 years together

For those of you who follow Pure Florida blogspot here are a couple of pictures from our vow renewal. 26 years ago on St. Patrick's day Thunder took me on our first date. We decided it was the perfect time to renew our vows with friends in Cedar Key. What a beautiful sunset and the vows we wrote weren't too bad either! We are just starting a new chapter in our lives together.

We've moved a bit further north now to Pensacola Beach where we're enjoying the beach, but not until after a brush with a venomous armadillo! Just look at the size of this thing and note the menacing look in it's eye! For an absolutely hillarious video of the encounter please check out www.pureflorida.blogspot.com/2009/03/attack-of-killer-diller!

"Bear" feet?

Just a quick post...for those of you that also follow Pure Florida we are spending a week at the Headquarters. Here is Bear and Katie. Today we are headed to Paynes Prairie State Preserve to do some gator watching. Watch for more photos!

Talked to the builders yesterday and everything seem to be on track to get our new home started. We also got to meet what will be our new neighbors. Vicki and I forget his name because as he was introducing himself we met our first resident snake! Needless to say I was slightly distracted! Oh well, once we get things going there will be plenty of time for chatting over the fence!

Zaijian Beijing!

It was a good night having dinner with friends, but saying goodbye is always bitter sweet!


I am here in my empty apartment as my bags are packed and I'm ready to leave. Well, OK my bags are packed and I'm leaving. ;-)
I look back on this year and I cannot believe that it has ended so soon. It has been the experience of a lifetime! The weird thing is that as I shed tears for Beijing the city seems to be shedding tears for me too, because as I take the picture (below) I feel droplets of rain hitting me slowly and in no particular rhythm as if they were tears falling from the sky!

They say that you can never go home again and now I know what they mean, but I'm going to give it a try anyway! ;-) I think that it's really that you will never look at the world the same way again, and that's definitely true! This past year has stood my normal views of the world on it's side. Wo bu zhi dao (I don't know)what is to come, but I think I'll be up to the challenge

Zaijian Beijing, for I will not say good-bye because I know I will be back some day!

What the????

Just a quick post to show the aftermath of living abroad for 6 months! Whew, I've only unpacked two of 5 suitcases and I only have three days before Thunder drags in his own! Gotta get busy, time to clean up the carnage, no time for blogger today!

Spectacular Sunsets!

Yea I hear ya what's up with all these sunsets, but take a look and hopefully you'll understand some of my fascination. Since I've been here for a year now I have tracked the sun from it's furthest position to the north during summer and it's furthest position south in the winter and now it has returned to the spot it was when I first arrived. The "clouds", oh wait a minute these really were clouds, can help give a very colorful display.

Just see for yourself:

In this shot I utilized my polarized sun glasses as a filter (a trick I learned from a certain Florida friend), and it worked!

In the few minutes following this shot we actually watched the sun moving from window to window until it dropped out of view! The light was a bit too low for me to get the additional shots, at least for my talent with the camera anyway! ;-)

Before and After at CCTV Beijing, China

I just thought I'd share a before and after shot of the building that burned down during the Lantern Festival fireworks celebration this past month. I think it shows why it's a good idea that most big cities ban the use of fireworks within city limits! You may need to click on the photos to enlarge them to see the major differences.

Before



After

Pretty vivid reminder to be careful on the 4th of July! ;-)

Close Encounters in Beijing!

Do you need more proof that they exist?



Definitely!

I go past this structure nearly everyday on my way in to work and I finally had my camera ready on a fairly clear day so I could get this shot.








If you look close you can even see the mountains in the background. I think I'm facing north when I took this, but I have to confess that since I've been in Beijing my sense of direction is failing. I think it's because my internal compass might be running backwards over here! ;-)

Signs in Beijing

Just thought I'd post a couple of pics from right down the street. We don't know what the one says but the other is very obvious! We went in to see if they really were "probably" the best show club in town or not....NOT! We ordered two beers and
got popcorn instead! Too funny!

Fun in the Snow

A couple of days ago we got hit with a blast of cold air coming from Siberia, which mixed with the warm moist air that we were getting from the south creating a few days of snowy weather.
My regular driver had to go to company meetings today so I had to try to hail a random taxi off the street. During snowy weather the early bird gets the worm, and apparently I wasn't early enough, because I stood outside for 30 min with no empty taxis in sight. So it looks like I'll be working from home today!

A young artist took advantage of an abandoned vehicle to show off his/her talent
(STEB/Taco - I thought you guys would especially enjoy this one!)

Wintery Precipitation

No that's not the usual thick haze and particulates (oops I mean "clouds") that are normal here in Beijing, it's actually snowing!

Not much accumulation, but it was still sort of fun to see it snow here for the first time this winter!
A few flakes that landed on the railing of the balcony

Traffic, Sunset, and the Best Fish in Beijing!

Well with the end of the years biggest festival(s) traffic in the city is back to normal, OK normal for Beijing that is. Here's a couple of shots from the balcony of weekend traffic:



Yes of course I had to share another couple of shots of the sunset. the shots are not the best but they are significant because as you can see the sun is just now becoming visible from the balcony which is the mark of the returning of spring!


One of our friends has returned to Beijing from her home town and we had dinner with her last night at my favorite grilled fish restaurant. We had good food, good conversation and some fun comparing the size of my hands to hers!




The weather turned winter cold again yesterday, but I know that spring is just around the corner now. I just hope it warms up a bit more and I can get some good shots of pre-spring Beijing before I have to leave.


As of today it's 23days and a wake-up!

1001 Nights

While our visitors were here we had a few of our Beijing friends meet us for dinner at a place called 1001 Arabian Nights. Yes it's named after the famous book that contained stories such as Sinbad, Alibaba, etc. The original tale (and I hope I get this rightt)is of an Arabian Sheik who would request of his wife's that they entertain him, but once he became bored with their entertainment he would execute them. So this one wife had a brilliant idea that she would tell these fantastic tales which really had no ending and sort of intertwined with each other, and each night she would start again where she left off the previous night. She was able to continue the tales for a total of 1001 nights.

All I know is that the food and entertainment at the restaurant were excellent!

See for yourself:




Just another night in "The Jing"!

Sun Rising as the Moon Sets

I guess you know by now that I have been infatuated with the sunrises and sunsets since I came over here, but some of them are just so breathtaking that you have to stop what you're doing, take a look, and hopefully remember to grab the camera and take a photo.

The shot above was taken at about 6:30AM this morning as I stepped out onto the balcony to do a quick temperature check to determine the necessary outer wear for today. You can see the reflection of light from the rising sun against the new Westin hotel, in the distance, while the moon is still clearly visible.

This week we have warmed up into the 60's during the day and hopefully we're on our way to an early spring. It's at least encouraging to be able to see the sun both on the way to work and on the way home again! That is unless it's a "Cloudy" day! ;-)

One More Trip to The Wall

Just getting back into the routine and thought I'd post a few more pictures from the visit with our friends. While they were here we managed to get to the Great Wall at Mutianyu. This is my 4th trip to the wall, the other three were all at Simatai, but this was my first time to Mutianyu.



From there we headed to the Jade Market and then on to the Ming Tombs.

This was one of the main buildings on the grounds of the Ming Tombs. I tried to use our friends to show the scale of the enormous building. The columns and beams are made out of trees that were brought from the forests in Sichuan province which is a couple of hours plane ride from here. I can't imagine how difficult it must have been to have moved them that far by floating them upstream to get them to this area!

I'm glad I was able to share the experience with good friends!


Two updates: 1) As of today I now have 29days and a wake-up before returning home and 2) I finally hit my weight loss goal and am now down to 85kg for a grand total loss of (drum roll please!) 20kg!

More Photos of Westsiders in the Jing

We are still having a great time with the crew from Cincy! They are out with Thunder today being tourist....Great Wall, Jade market and the Summer Palace. Will have more photos tomorrow.


Father Daughter dance


The Tim of Tim's Texas Roadhouse


Happy smiles


Jivuel, Taco and Tatiana


Thunder having a Mojito


It must be in their DNA


The year of the Ox