Something happened on the way from Liuku (Nujiang) in the almost-Burmese far west of Yunnan province to the supermarket shelves of Hong Kong's Central district. I assume the resulting morphed melon is encouraged so that it is in a more convenient shape for handling and storage. If nothing else it does look like it's easier to gift wrap. [Photos taken within weeks of each other earlier this year in China] |
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The evolution of the Christmas dinner: from mess tent rations to a very big bird (9.5 kg) in just two years. Christmas in China is pretty much business as usual and if you're not watching out for it, it is possible for December 25th to slip by like any other day. But this year my Christmas dinner standard has suffered some significant enhancements as these shots attest. In 2011, my first Christmas dinner in China was a hastily gobbled pre-Christmas concert affair of rice and three stir fried veg, consumed in a vast grey university canteen furnished with row upon row of plastic poster-plastered tables and chairs, on metal mess tent trays and using plastic chopsticks and water bottles. For Christmas 2013 I have graduated to grownup chairs and tables, glassware, and western crockery (oh blessed plates!) and cutlery, and a roasted turkey too big for its own dish. The turkey (pictured) represents a mere fraction of the magnificent Christmas banquet I enjoyed with good friends and new acquaintances within the cozy walls of Barbara Duff's well known Kunming kiwi eatery, Slice of Heaven. In fact many slices, chunks, scoops, and mouthfuls of festive fare heaven. Hats off to the three women central to the Slice of Heaven operation - Lu Fan, A Li, and, of course, Barbara - who worked all day Christmas day just so that this small band of fellow travellers, Barbara included, could enjoy a happy, luxurious, warm and delicious Christmas. 感谢你们! [Slice of Heaven: "The best New Zealand cafe, bakery, and wine bar in Kunming, possibly China."]
So if I jiggle my foot like this......
The as yet unfinished new Peoples Daily Headquarters in Beijing. Photo by Imagechina/Rex Features Who could tell what might have been on the minds of the architects when they came up with the designs for this mighty erection (who could resist). Or perhaps it is indeed an, albeit unsubtle, commentary on the mighty media organisation to be housed within and which will continue to serve as a mouthpiece for the Chinese government.
Yup! Jamtin is back in China! Stay tooned.
My current nomad's life has landed me in beautiful Yangshuo (Guanxi province). And happy is the nomad and budget traveler when she finds a great little guesthouse in the heart of town offering far more than one should expect in a guesthouse that costs roughly $12 a day for a large double room with en suite bathroom. Over the moon that it should also include hot and cola showers and bathroom Chinglish. And secretly delighted to be able to add my own small (and childish) contribution (left) to the Chinglish collector's treasure trove while at the same time, perhaps providing at least the illusion of Nirvana, for some of my fellow nomads. That Hong Kong is a city of fog and gloom, or that giant rubber duckies bob about in the sun in Victoria Harbour - who would you believe? CNN or me?
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