Welcome Girls!

Fu's daughters (ages 5 and 10) are in town visiting. It's been an exciting adventure already. They got to fly on airplanes for the first time! They've never been to this region, or even out of their own region AND they haven't ever been to visit their mother before.

Traditionally here in China, when you have a child, you often leave the child with your parents to raise while you go to where the jobs are and send money back to your family. This situation is a bit more complicated in that Fu's husband died and his family immediately got rights to her children. She left to find work to show she was capable and has worked here at the hat factory for the past 4 years. This means she was forced to leave her youngest with them before she was even 1 year old.

She spends time knitting them sweaters and making them things in her spare time and goes there to see them whenever she can -- this journey being a 7-day round trip just to get there and back.

THIS is a CELEBRATION! The girls are visiting for the rest of the summer!

The big sister had been in charge of Mom's mobile phone yesterday. She was so proud as she'd never held one before. When Fu got to the office, she borrowed Mag's phone and called her daughters. They were SO EXCITED to get a real phone call on a REAL mobile phone.

I have never seen Fu smile so much and walk so tall as she has this week. It was a treat and honor for me that she brought her girls today, Sunday, for lunch at the factory with Mag and Mossie and I.

The girls made the dish they are holding. Pineapple and small sausages pinned together on toothpicks. (It was Yum too!)

Fu made my NEW FAVORITE DISH (it was my first time having it served to me!)

A delicious spicy and refreshing fish head dish (watch out friends in NYC, I've gotten directions on how to make it and I'll be trying it out myself in NYC!!!)

It is SOOOOOO tasty!!! A steamed fish head with a light sauce of red chili peppers, ginger, scallions, soy sauce and sesame oil on top, finished with chopped fresh mint leaves. It's served over plain white "Lah Mien" noodles. Be sure to pour a little bit of the spicy sauce over the noodles too. Ooooh so good!

YUM YUM YUM!

What? You want to learn how to make it too? OK! I videoed Mag's translation, posted below or you can find it HERE. **UPDATE - video upload keeps crashing the computer...I think the internet connection isn't strong enough. I'll post it later.**

What was it that the girls were most excited to try for the very first time? CHICKEN! They had their first chicken cooked stir-fried with vegetables. Their second chicken was today's lunch time roasted chicken... they liked it cooked this way better than stir-fried. The grandparents are vegetable farmers and are quite poor, so meals are most often all vegetables with rice. Once a year, at Chinese New Year, they buy a whole pig and cook it. They enjoy the pig for as long as it lasts and then no more meat until the next year at CNY.

The little one didn't speak to anyone but her sister, even when addressed directly. She'd look at her big sister who would answer for her. Even to their mother. It will take time for her to get to know her mother. I think when she finally starts talking to everyone, they won't be able to stop her.

I asked the big sister if there were any people in her region that looked like me (fair skin, auburn hair, blue eyes.) She said she'd never seen someone that looked like me. Never seen blue eyes before (both girls kept staring when they thought I wasn't aware.) I told her that very often the little babies cry when they first see me because I look so strange and funny. That I suppose they find it all a little scary.

She replied, "Yeah, you look a little scary. But you are very pretty." This made me laugh.

After lunch I started making silly faces for the little one. She was pouting because she's STILL furious that her grandmother cut off all of her hair! After about 5 minutes she was DYING to smile but held it back. Finally she took her big sister by the hand and began talk-talk-talking her head off half under the lunch table. It was good to see her smile ad hear her laugh.

Time to get back to work. We may head out and shop a little bit late tonight. Time will tell!

Undulating

Update - progress! Since the flight over here to China was on a brand new start-of-the-art entertainment packed flight...I thought I might be distracted and get sucked into a movie or two...

I was enjoying an episode of Anthony Bordain telling me all about the food in Indonesia when they announced they'd need to reboot the system because 10 seats didn't have working TVs. After the reboot, neither did anyone else. No radio. No TV. No games...and no lights. Well, not exactly, if you had your light on when they rebooted then it was ON...if not it wouldn't come on... for 5 hours. Then suddenly, all of the overhead spotlights came on...for the next 8 hours! Then, just as they were serving our meal...the lights went off. THe poor staff in having to deal with the situation. I know they had someone working on the problem for the entire 15 hours of the flight! We kept seeing our screens reboot...bad Red Hat for making a program that is so difficult to get to work!

What's a girl to do but knit, right? So, progress was made on my Undulating Rib Socks! I'm 6 rows from starting on the green heels!

I was also seated next to two swell fellas. One 10 years younger and the other 20 years younger than myself. Our conversations were often and entertaining and ranged from what to do in China and Hong Kong to Mandarin lessons from our youngest seatmate. Thanks guys!! It certainly wasn't a dull flight even with the lack of electronic entertaiment.


Mid-flight I peeked out the window and snapped a stream of photos of the polar ice up over the North Pole. Sooooo coool! Below are a few...more can be found HERE.
After landing, Mag met me at the airport in Hong Kong and we headed into China. First stop, DINNER!!! We had many of my usual favorites as well as a new steamed pork dish that was delicious!!!

If you want to see any of the food photos in a higher quality they can be found HERE.

When my head hit the pillow, it was ready for sleep!

Headcold - Curses! Knitting - YIPPEE!
Day 5 - Florence, Italy

It hit late yesterday with avengance...a cold from the chill I'd sustained the
day before unable to warm p-up...but I had with me the Sri Lankan herbal
Ayurvedic remedy called Samahan and I've been taking it like mad! You disolve
one pouch in hot water and drink. Up to 4x a day. (Seems to be working!)

My boss and his family left this morning for home.

I spent the morning doing 4+ hours of work...this involves preparing any files
needed to email, shrinking them as small as possible, moving them to my
wish-it-was-bigger thumb drive...followed by a walk down the block to the
Internet Train where you buy a card for time on one of their computers. My hotel
should be finally installing Wi-Fi by June and it will FINALLY offer internet
access within the hotel (AMEN!) for the first time ever!!

I was ready to email before the I-Train was open, so I ran to the shop where I
bought that yummy outfit the other night, and fetched my VAT paperwork (I'll
take the 10+% back from the VAT tax -- especially with the US$ being so terrible
against the Euro right now!!)

Hmmm...that's done...I-Train still not open... I guess I'll have to... Go Yarn
Shopping!

I BROKE MY YARN DIET!!!

How I thought I'd be able to withstand the magnet that pulls me to Beatrice
Galli's shop located across the street and a few steps down from my hotel, I
have no idea!!! The mere idea that I wouldn't at least have a proper LOOK... Ha
ha ha ha ha! (It's always good when you can make yourself laugh, no?)

A wee look turned into me dashing to my room for my knitting...I fear I'll be
short yarn on the sweater I'm designing and knew she'd have a yarn to suit...

And she did...

Along with 2 other yarns that made me melt...

My Italy budget officially finished...I was consious to keep from buying anymore
as not to dig into my Paris budget!! I still have one more day in Florence...
Darn that awful US$ exchange rate. Can't we all just get along???

While I was there, the front door was more active that usual, which made me happy to see. A very pretty young woman came in and after a few minutes, we were in deep knitting conversation. Tatiana, in her first week of living in Florence (well, Scandicci) by way of Milan, is actually from Spain. Phew! She had found the shop on the internet and I'm glad she did.

We both had errands... I still had time to log at the I-Train, but thought we might meet up later on the Ponte Vecchio for a knitting by the river session.

I spent the following 2hrs at the I-Train. Some work...done. All that would fit onto my thumb drive. I cleared it and will refill this evening. No matter, the NY office seems to be closed for Good Friday. (My boss & I always work G.F. as
the only non-Catholics in the office...but apparently it's an official company holiday! All these years, who knew?)

I wandered to the Ponte Vecchio for a bit of KIP but seemed to have missed
Tatiana. Really too bad...thankfully we had each others email and blogs, so there would
be ways to get back in touch.

I realized that I was STARVING!!! Lunch time!! I wandered down a side street that I've been passing for years but had never wandered down. I happened upon a lovely Trattoria with outdoor seating in the sun! Yeah! Lunch at Buca Poldo was yum. Spaghetti with small bits of steak, a georgous mixed salad and of course, a glass of Chianti (and bottle of water!) My head seemed fairly clear and the sun was shining.

Beautiful.

The flower boxes are in bloom here and the Spring sun reflected such a lovely
color off the buildings.

Time to check out the shops and see what my competition has on offer. ;-)

After a stroll through the department store la Rinascente, I wandered to the roof for a treat and a treat. It's an open-air cafe, umbrella'd, overlooking the Piazza de Republica and some of the Duomo. I just love the terra cotta colored roof tops!

So beautiful!!

Oh The VIEW!!! The other treat -- TREATS!!

First a wonderful hot chocolate with fresh whipped cream (heaven!!) Together with a bowl of fresh yummy strawberries (they are in season here.)

My blackberry beeped...
It was Tatiana!! We decided to meet, we two and her husband, for dinner at 8:30pm. What a great turn of events!! I took them to --- where I'd eaten a few nights before and fun ensued.

We laughed and laughed. I will be back in September and we have a plan for dinner then!

How nice!

Until we'd spoken, Tatiana, being a new knitter. & blogger, had no idea how vast
our knit-blog community was! DO stop by her blog and leave a word of encouragement. She's in her first 3 months knitting and seems to have been bitten by the bug we all have been bitten by!

Mumbai - Day 3



Part I - Laundry and Getting There

As with any business trip, I'm here to work.

This means it's often the "getting there" where I get to see most of the culture. Is you peer out the window you have to decipher what you see in little bites until you have the full story. This often involves a long continuous list of "what's that" "why does that have a" "is that the norm?" etc. to whomever is sitting near me, local and speaks English. Shown at right here is a view of housing that I saw daily as we left central Mumbai.

One of the things that I saw a lot on these hour+ long drives to the factories, were the families sharing the mopeds/motorbikes. Although I've see it so many times in China, it amazed me to see the women riding side saddle due to the restricted movements in their saris. Often is was four people with a second child seated between the parents. Almost no one uses a helmet either, although the government is desperately trying to enforce this compulsory law. They certainly don't have the man power to stop every bike with non-helmet wearing passengers. Instead, they are using signs, like this one at right, at toll booths that you must pass through when traveling 40 minutes outside the center of Mumbai.
Another option are the Auto-pedicabs (shown left.) They were out in droves this morning. I didn't see them within Mumbai center much, so I'm not sure what their driving restrictions are, but just outside the center -- VOILA! They are about as wide as 2 seats at the cinema, smooshed together and are set-up like a trike with 2 wheels at the back and one front. The driver most often, from what I noticed, is barefoot and sitting on one foot casually as he navigates the traffic and roads. Three people are often seen to have poured themselves into the back, sitting upon one another in order to fit. Yes, it's a less expensive mode of transportation from the taxis that also abound.

A I travel, I find myself trying to imagine what it would be like to live in which ever country I'm visiting. What would I be up against if my finances or class level kept me where I was without much chance of change in my lifetime... A hard thing to think about.

This morning on the way to the knitting factory, we were treated to a stop by a Mumbai landmark.

The Laundry.

Perhaps you're thinking what could be so interesting about a bunch of people doing laundry? How about this:





or this:



Dan and I couldn't help but stare in awe before grabbing our cameras and going for it. I was hoping my camera would work for a few more minutes (it was slowly dieing), and it didn't let me down. Even let me get a few moments of video (see it at the very bottom of this blog entry)!

This is where the hotels, restaurants and many households send their laundry to be done.

It extends nearly as far as the eye can see!! An amazing sight.

To the left of the area where laundry was being done you can see the commuter train, at times bursting with people. Some hanging on as they half hang out the door.

I have so many photos of the laundry...but only space for a few!!!

India...
There are just SO MANY PEOPLE here.

Everywhere you look - people. You can tell this a bit as you watch how they interact with each other and how they walk. Very little personal space is accounted for. Everyone walks very close to one another...something I see in China and Hong Kong too. I suppose when you put this many people into a small space you don't learn what it's like to have personal space. It really makes you appreciate it when you have those few moments where no one is so close to you. I sometime have to remind myself that people aren't being rude and that their culture is different. It can be very overwhelming when walking through crowds.

Mumbai - Day 2: Weddings in Mumbai, India

Part II: To Close for her Comfort:
Let me begin by saying all information presented here was directly told to me on the long drive to the office today. I'm not sure if these traditions are the same all across India, or simply in this region...but it's a heck of different way to do things than we do it in the USA. Also, there are so many photos that I wanted to show that I've stuck them in along the way. There are zero photos to go with the top story...they most all go with the bottom story.

You'll see...I'll begin...

My vendor had originally planned to join us for dinner on Sunday night but had needed to cancel for some family business. What family business would take someone away on a Sunday from their clients who'd just flown in from the USA? (And who were thankful to be able to just go to bed any way...)

Wedding business! (Now pay attention - this is a little crazy!)

My vendor's niece lives some hours outside of Mumbai in a small city. She put her, I'll call it, "marriage CV" (the best photos you can have taken, age, size, weight, like/dislikes, education, class etc.) in with a matchmaker (I think from her church) who had found a young man in Mumbai that liked her CV and whose family wanted to start the introduction process.
Keep in mind that Women in India get married usually between ages 17-24, while men get married from 20-25ish. In India I'm well an Old Maid. This gal is in her early 20s nearing the end of her prime marrying time.

Because her Uncle is of good class and is well respected in Mumbai, where the young man lives, she journeyed to her Uncles house and now her Uncle would act as her guardian for the process ahead. He got the call on Friday that he and his wife and family would be expected at a tea on Saturday afternoon that was being presented by the prospective boy's family.

He and seven of his family members, all adults of good standing, went to the tea. The young man and young woman were NOT invited. The families take time to chat and size each other up to see if they think the families would be a good fit for each other. The outcome? The families call the young man and tell him to come to the tea. The young woman is summoned for as well and they are allowed to meet. Being that both of the families involved are rather modern, the two are allowed to go out to dinner and a date that evening to see if they are fond of each other. Had the families not been modern, they would have gotten 30 minutes alone together in a room to decide whether he is interested in her or not. In that case, if he was interested and her family also thinks it's a good match, she will have to marry him even if she's not interested in him. Divorce is not accepted and thus many a bride has been known to kill herself shortly after the wedding.
But back to "modern" times.

My vendor's daughter, almost of marrying age, went along on the date so the young lady would not be alone with a strange man. He picked her up in a super fancy car. Brought her flowers (something that's rarely if ever done in India.) She was pleasantly surprised by both.

The outcome? The date was not good. She didn't like him at all. When telling her family she didn't like him WWIII broke out. Her Mother was convinced he was from a good family. As a woman in India, having a good family (in-laws) is seemingly more important than a good husband. Once married you will likely live with your in-laws. It's rare for a young man to have his own home. You may also be living with the sisters, brother and their spouses...all under one roof. So you'd best get along with the Mother-in-law and sister(s)/sister-in-law(s), or your life will be hell.

After the date, her family waits. They wait to hear from the boy's family. It can be mere hours or days...or you may never here from them again.

Sunday morning they received a phone call from his family, and a second meeting was requested. This means my vendors family now had to present a fancy tea to the boys family.

Approximately 10 people from the gals side went to the tea...and almost 30 people from the boys side arrived. They can bring as many people as they want. They are all interviewing the gal's family to make sure she's a good fit for their boy...after all, even if she and her family likes him, if he says no, a mark is put on her family. Her family sends word through the matchmaker, an announcement at this time of how much they would be spending on the wedding. This shows not only their class level, but how much they care for their daughter.

A small wedding costs $100,000 USD with around 1000 people attending. (I don't even know 500 people!) From how it was phrased, I think they would have had to say a larger number for this gal. All of these things must be thought through very carefully even BEFORE the first meeting of the families. Nothing can be done to loose face along the way.

Both sides decide the kids should go for a second date. Begrudgingly the gal agrees for her Mother's sake and a lunch date is had. When asked, even her cousin, my vendor's daughter, says she doesn't favor this boy for her cousin. She can say no more in case her cousin ends up marrying him. She too cannot loose face.

Date two...not good. The bride returns home telling her family absolutely NO WAY will she marry this man. His family calls, still eager and interested in the gal and invites her family to their home for tea. The adults go in order to see where their girl would be living.

It was a very very good thing they accepted the offer for tea at the prospective new home.
HORROR! The house, although seaside, is a sliver of a house. Almost no windows (none facing the sea, no air circulation) and no room for yet another person. It was described to me as having had tea in JAIL.
They returned home to tell the girl she wasn't going to marry this family. They suddenly realized that it was likely the boy had even borrowed or rented the fancy car to woo her. This family was not of the same class level -- and had she married down - - oh the shame on the family. Of course the bride was furious that she had been put through all of that knowing she didn't want him from the start. She now goes back to the start and hopes for a better candidate once she has calmed down enough to consider trying again.

Photo at top right: A "Just Married" car outside a restaurant in Mumbai.

Part III: Tonight's wedding:
This is wedding season. It's an auspicious time. Monsoon season is just around the corner so the wedding business is buzzing in Mumbai right now! This wedding we were attending was the son of a middle class man who seemed to volunteer all over Mumbai with various organizations. It was a middle sized wedding... only 5000 or so people in attendance. Yes, I said 5000. Everyone he knows is invited. The mailman, yep, him too.

We arrived at almost 11:45pm and the reception was still hopping! My boss decided to return to the hotel instead of joining us for the festivities , so Dan and I were on our own with my vendor and his wife. This open air space was huge, the size of two football fields in the shape of an "L". From the street you may have thought it was a stadium the way it's lit up! You enter at the corner, through a gilded and flower covered archway (top right photo) greeted by a golden statue of Ganesha (shown second photo from top right). Ahead of you in the distance is a stage (Second photo down on the left lit up like Disneyland) with the bride and groom on it. Facing from the stage you see HUGE statues of horses and waterfalls. (Third photo down on the right.) The goal was to make this location look like a Palace of sorts. Yeowza! As you walk around you see random statues of warriors or Greek Gods (we weren't exactly sure) all to fit into the Palace theme.


People lined up for HOURS for their turn for a photo with the new couple.



The bride looked 19 to me, the groom perhaps 24. They had been standing there for HOURS. The beautiful bride wore an amazing bead encrusted dress, said to add 10kg to her weight. (That's a damned heavy dress to have to stand in with a smile on your face in the heat for hours.) That wasn't including the added with by the stone encrusted bangles or necklace! It is her duty to stand and greet and smile and thank and nod quietly at the side of her now husband. It's hard to say if she had a single meeting or many with him prior to the marriage.


I caught her eye for a moment in this photo. She looked down at the floor and then back up and me and smiled exhaustively at me as I smiled and gently nodded to her. With a blink she was back in place attending to her guests.

Once a photo had been snapped there was a mad rotating dash of people...

Then Voila... Ready for another shot...and another...


Dan and I were pulled into the crowd and suddenly there were flash bulbs going off. Our photo was taken with my vendor and the bride and groom and their parents. Of course, we were in it so we don't have it... I can picture them going through the wedding photos coming across this one and saying, "Honey, who's the white guy in jeans and the white girl in the sundress at our wedding??" No, we weren't exactly dressed for such an event, but it's not like we blended in as it was. **Grin**

From here we walked off the stage and towards the seating. Big over stuffed love seats and chaise lounges had been laid out to rest weary feet were located in the long part of the "L" parallel to the stage, to one side. These girls looked so beautiful in their modern patterned but classic saris. I LOOOVE the one on the far right!! Just beautiful!


The area that had housed the actual wedding ceremony was in the bottom part of the "L" where the food was now displayed. Food tour time. The night was winding down and man of the food station had closed. We were brought around to see what a food presentation at an Indian wedding was like...but not to eat. (Not because there wasn't enough, but because out vendor suggested we abstain since we had no idea how many hours it had been out in the heat! Wise I think.) Some of the presentations were interesting too. Below right is a display for South Indian food. They used corn (on the cob with the husks) to make flowers that hang from the "tree."

There were food stalls lining the outer edges of the huge space as well as free standing tables spread out around the middle. On one end was a single "U" shaped seating area that had been used for a small sit-down meal for the bride/groom and family. Everyone else ate buffet style, wandering and unseated. Remember, the seating area is in the other section of the "L" nearer to the stage. The tables in the background of this shot each had different types of cuisine on offer. Including a few Chinese tables and even a Baskin Robins!! Crazy.

After our very interesting peek into this wedding culture, it was finally time to call the day to an end... we needed our sleep. Tomorrow's our last full day in Mumbai and we've got a knitting factory to see!

Mumbai - Day 2: Food...and a little work
Part I: It must be Monday

I haven't talked much about the food yet. Whenever I'm in another country I try to eat their food, their way. In China I have Chinese food (yes that means noodles for breakfast - YUM!) Thus in India, today I had a dosa for breakfast. A dosa is a crisp South Indian rice and lentil pancake that's filled with turmeric potatoes and served with a lentil stew. The dosa is served as shown in the top right photo, all rolled up covering the tasty potatoes inside. You rip off pieces of the dosa and pick up bits of the turmeric potatoes with it, eating it with your hands. The second photo on the right shows it about half finished after I'd uncovered it enough to take a snap shot of the inside.

As shown to the lower left, I also had some bread (the round ball), Aloo Gobi (potato and peas), fresh Mango juice (SOOO YUM!), Parantha (the triangle of bread with mint and maybe chickpeas in it), Coconut Chutney (in the small bowl), fruit and coffee. Yum yummy yum!!









Sadly I can't show you Dan's meal as he awoke feeling increasingly lousy and decided to rest in for the day since he had the opportunity to do so and hopefully kick this bug before we reach Sri Lanka on Wednesday.

The schedule ended up changing a little today. The work part of the trip where I design a number of items and work out the details for sampling etcetera took hours longer than it should have. There are many reasons for this. One of them is the breaking of my new camera. No, not by me. There are other reasons that I won't go into - they don't make me happy and I want this to be a happy post. I finished my work, but alas there was no time to get to the knitting factory. So that has been moved to tomorrow.

Part of me is happy about this as perhaps Dan will be feeling well by then. He really enjoyed yesterdays factories and I'm sure he'd be interested to see this one too!

Dan was feeling better enough by evening to join us all (vendor, his wife, my boss and I) for dinner at Masala Kraft located at The Taj (the fanciest hotel in town.) Contemporary Indian food.

Paneer, some of the BEST cauliflower I've ever had and various other vegetarian dishes were served. Yum!! We also tried a nice local 2004 Sauvignon Blanc by Sula Vineyards, located about 180km northeast of Mumbai in Nashik. A very new vineyard indeed, the first bottles sold in 2000 (if you are interested in a young vineyard read there About Us section on the link above). This one was light and crisp. Well paired with the spicy veg courses.

We were also treated to a local favorite cardamom ice cream dessert. Mmmms all around!!

Half-way through dinner our host told us that the son of a friend of his was getting married a few moments down the road (between the park where we watched the cricket match and our hotel) and if we wanted to, we could stop into the reception after dinner. Weddings are a HUGE deal in India... so I shall post this and take proper time for Part II: Weddings.