Shanghai By Night

While in Shanghai, we took a boat ride on the harbor at night and it was absolutely breath taking.

This is the boat we were on - kind of like a river boat.  Below is a small cruise ship in the harbor.

Side note:  Do you see the crane in the background in the photo below?

I heard a statistic while we were there.  That is...

one-third of all of the cranes in the world are in China.

And I believe it.

They were everywhere - so much building going on.

A lot of apartment homes were under construction.

Bigger, taller, and better than the ones before.

I'll show pictures of those later.

We were able to sit on the very front of the boat and

these two young girls sat at our table.

They were more than happy to pose for a picture for me.

Yes, I loved shanghai!

Easy, Tasty Breakfast Casserole

I saw this recipe - maybe on Pinterest - can't really remember.

But it looked so good, I decided to try it.

 First, brown hash brown patties in a pan.  

I like them crispy.

 Place them in the bottom of a baking dish.

Don't forget to spray your pan with oil.

 I then placed chopped ham and bacon pieces on top of the hash browns.

I poured an egg mixture (like you would make scrambled eggs)

over the hash browns and meat.

 I sprinkled cheddar cheese on top and placed it in the oven to bake.

350 degrees - for probably about 45 minutes.

Sorry, I just can't remember.

 Finished!

Really good!  Try it!

Ever had dragon fruit?

When we traveled through China, our tour guide purchased several dragon fruits, and served them with one of our meals so that we could try them.

This look like this - pink on the outside.  The peeling is actually not too thick and peels off quite easily.  So I bought one at my local Sprouts because I wanted to see if there was any difference with the ones purchased in the States.

All of the ones I saw in China were white with small black seeds - kind of like a kiwi.  You can imagine my surprise when I cut it open and found this - a hot pink dragon fruit.

They looked like the color of beets. The color temporarily stained my hands.

They are good, but truly reminded me more of a sweet beet than a fruit.  For the price I had to pay at Sprouts for one ($6!!!), I don't think I will try it again.  The price in China?  $3.  

More of My Trip to China

This is a helmet - hard to believe, right?  It is so ornate with things hanging down on the side.  It's amazing that you might see this in battle.  It was mainly  made of metal and looked extremely heavy... and just a bit cumbersome.

One night on a walk back to our hotel, we came across this temple, all lit up.  Absolutely beautiful.

These wire cables are unbelievable!

I have never seen anything like this.  I mean, what a way to hang cable, right?  Rolls and rolls and hundreds of cables all running through the same pole.  I can' imagine how they find the right cable if they have to work on one.  That would be a nightmare.

These pictures were taken in Shanghai.

It's crazy, right?

What a gorgeous smile!

Meet Brody.

He's celebrating his birthday with family and friends.

What a laugh!

Laughing so hard he throws his head back.
And we can see he's missing some teeth.

Life should be that way - especially when you're 6.

Cowboy Caviar - One of my favorite dips!

One of my favorite dips - it's almost a salad -

is Cowboy Caviar.

You start with:

1 can shoe peg corn, drained

1 can black eye peas, drained

1 can black beans, drained

 I like to add crushed garlic.

Have you ever seen these? 

You can get them at Sprouts in the frozen section.

We love using this product - so easy.

 To the drained items, add:

3 chopped tomatoes

chopped green onions (to taste)

chopped cilantro

I used 3 avocados.

That's my favorite part. 

 The recipe calls for vinegar (2 tsp), but this time I used

Balsamic Herb Dressing that I bought at Costco.

Also add salt to taste.

 Finished!

Great for a pot luck!

Terracotta Soldiers near Xian

Near Xian we went to the Terracotta Soldiers exhibit.  You should really google what they are and to get better information, but in a nutshell, the first emperor of China (a young man, 13 years old) had a terra-cotta army built in the likeness of his soldiers. His artists/sculptors worked on it the entire time he was the emperor.  They started the project in the year 246.

They weren't discovered until 1974. Once found, they built this structure over the exhibit in order to work on the soldiers and preserve the location.

It was totally amazing that they survived as well as they did.

Of course, Pat and I had to get a selfie with the soldiers in the background.

This is another one of the pits they found.  They have uncovered three pits but believe there are many more.

Now THAT's Confidence!

I just love this photo!

One Sunday after church, we were outside visiting with Sondra and the boys.

I don't have a picture of Isaiah (Isaac's older brother), but I wish I did.

It was bright, and Isaac wanted to put his sunglasses on - all by himself.

He did such a great job

and even posed for a picture.

He was happy, so we were happy.

Way to go, Isaac!

Beijing

There are people everywhere in China.  We were told the population of Beijing is 19,000,000!  Because of that, you can't just go buy a car in China.  You have to apply to purchase a car and the applications can run up to $15,000 - that's above the price of the car.  And then you wait YEARS to get approved, maybe ten years or more.

So because of this, many have gone to alternative travel - bicycles, motorized bicycles, motorcycles...

and Barbie cars!  This car was even smaller than a Smart Car but she wasn't about to let the larger cars get the best of  her or run her out of a lane.

Their office buildings are very modern and sometimes futuristic looking.

Tucked into crannies are small businesses and stands.  

I just think they are so quaint - run by hardworking people.

I love this idea - a Travel Log

As many of you know, I have started traveling internationally

in the last few years.

It's not that I am forgetting things, 

but I decided to create a Travel Book. 

I love this because it is a snippet of each trip.

Where and when did you go,

Who did you go with,

Memorable events,

Souvenirs, etc.

And then on the back, there is a spot for photos

or additional notes.

This particular book is a birthday gift for Pat, 

one of my travel partners.

I think this is genius!

Even if I do say so myself.

Top of the Wall

Just a few more photos of the Great Wall

 This little building was situated at the top of the Wall.

They sold souvenirs and ice cream bars!

 Here's Pat with others from our tour group.

 This was the last leg - to the store at the top!

 Headed down - look at how steep it is.

And the stairs are not uniform.  One step might be 4 inches 

and the next could be 15 inches.

Thank goodness for handrails.

 My reward for making it up - and down -

Shopping!

 This shop actually had great prices.

The Wall was definitely a highlight of the trip.

Check out my tub!

I am so very, very excited!!

My townhouse is 46+ years old and so is the tub in the main bathroom.

Believe me, it was gross: discolored and lots of scratches.

I wish I had a "before" picture, but I failed to take one.

 I hired Adams Fiberglass to re-finish the fiberglass tub.

They did a fantastic job!

 The price was so reasonable.  Only $425,

with a 5 year warranty.  

Their estimate was exactly as they quoted me.

They changed the color to make it match the sink and toilet.

This company was a pleasure to work with - they were great!

I am so glad I went this route

rather than replacing the entire tub.

I totally recommend Adams Fiberglass.