33:18:00

I hit 33 minutes and 18 seconds today for my 5k time! My best time in a loooonnngggg time. My goal is to run under 30 minutes. Should be no problem in a week or two. Running is not my favorite thing to do, but today I felt I broke some mental block and really was able to finish the last 1.5k easily. All of this after a terrible weekend of eating a HUGE hamburger at Malone's and cooking a whole leg of lamb for gyros on Sunday. I have lost 15 lbs since I got here, which I realize is now where near Tom's loss, but I feel good about it anyway. the sad part is that with that weight loss I am probably just now to what I should be and what I was a couple of years ago. Oh well. Good thing there are no Krispy Kremes or Skyline here!!! And no Erich, no pictures!

An Online THANKS to My Artistic Friend DIANA TULLIO

A year ago I found out that one of my best friends had an artist inside of her hiding! Julie, Kim, and I found the artist peeking out during a tattooing session in our hotel room during our trip to Monterrey last year. I was fooling around and asked for a tattoo of a bull on the back of my neck. Don't ask how much wine we had before I asked this. Read the whole description of the trip here, but check out the drawing I got on the back of my neck! It took several days to wash away. Then the artist hid again and we didn't hear from her again until the night before I was leaving Dayton. I received a wonderful pencil drawing that Diana had drawn. Well, I got see it electronically as the weather was too bad for Diana to make it in to Julie's that night. It was so good! In case you don't see it well, it is a picture of the Bramers (Tom, Shelly, and Natalie) with the Shanghai skyline in the back. And she had a card as well. The card reads:
Good-Bye... Sigh
Tom and Shelly and Natalie
have decided to leave the country.
They have packed their bags, and checked the nooks and crags
while racing about town frantically.

We have been planning our good-byes
amongst regrets and heartfelt sighs.
Except for some weirdo parent,
the Bramer's will leave with no apparent
need for anything but smiles and dry eyes.

Shelly gave notice at the old salt mine.
Then we drank all of Bill and Jeanne's wine.
A zillion lunches have come and gone, and
We have taken all occasions to "tie one on"!
Who will ever replace Shelly's penchant to dine?!

They will return some day.
We hope to visit them while they are away.
to go to China to live
is an opportunity not many would give,
so we will talk virtually and say...

Have a wonderful time in Shanghai!
We will miss you.
All our love,
5 Sisters

It definitely made me teary-eyed! (we had promised no tears). I finally received my drawings and card in one of the "care packages" that my wonderful friends sent me. Along with the Shanghai picture, Diana also crafted a "Shelma" picture for me based on the Velma character in the Scooby Doo series. Don't ask for an explanation that! I was so touched. I wanted to have them framed so that I could hang them up. I decided to go with over-the-top frames, but frankly I think they turned out beautifully! I am going to hang up the Bears somewhere in the living room. The Shelma will probably need to go in our bedroom. Tom thinks it is a little, well, weird, to have this picture hanging where we can see it in bed, but I think it is fitting! Oh, and besides the beautiful artwork, I also received a book of Haiku that Diana wrote with pictures from our California trip. Very impressive! One of my favorites is:

Big Sur - Part 2
Walk-a-bout rising
Surf and cliffs integrated
Heat, breeze, misty trail


I want to Diana to know how special her gifts are to me. On the occasion that I am having a Shang"low" day, I can look at the pictures and remember the great times I have had with my friends and how many we will have in the future. I have had a lot of opportunity to think about my life as it was up to this point and I more

clearly understand and appreciate

the role I have played with my friends and family up to this point. More importantly, I value the support that you get from a good set of friends, even if the miles

between them are great.

So, enough of my melancholy. A final shout out to Julie, Kim, Diane, and Diana. I love you and I miss you tons, but we are BFF and that is special!

Momma Mia - Natalie's First Musical

Yesterday afternoon we all went to the Shanghai Grande Theatre to see the international production of Momma Mia, the great musical based on ABBA's music. We had decided to take the chance that Natalie would love it. And love it she did. It was a bit loud, but she enjoyed it tremendously. She had some questions about the story. It was rather difficult to explain why Sophia thought she had three fathers, but luckily 4 year-olds accept explanations rather readily. She begged to wear her good dress (purchased last year for her grandparents 50th Wedding Anniversary) and tried it on with her sunglasses. How cool she looks, huh? She felt very grownup and was perfect through the whole show, of course asking a few questions where necessary. Tom and I enjoyed the show too. We had seen it with the US touring troupe in Dayton last year. It was interesting to hear the international troupe using British accents and British words instead of US words. Overall it was very good and I highly recommend you catch it if you have a chance. The theatre was beautiful as well. It seemed very full. It is located right on People's Square. We of course were over-dressed as we usually find we are. I am sure many of the attendees take public transportation to get there. There was a really cute older Chinese couple in front of us and they smiled and clapped through most of the musical numbers. I was sitting there thinking about if they had access to this music when they were younger and if they did, how did they. I know that ABBA music is really popular in the KTV (which is karaoke with video and is very popular here in Asia. There are while bars dedicated to KTV!). I was also interested to see what sort of rules would surround the "No entrance after show start" rule that is enforced stringently in the States, even at the small local theatres like Dayton. I think it is a fair generalization to state that the Chinese are not always the most "timely" when it comes to social activities. They are pretty easy going and it seems that showing up "fashionably late" is very fashionable. So no surprise that there many late entries. Almost through the whole first act. Of course the same problem occurred at the start of Act II. A little distracting, but part of the experience.

After the show was over, it was too early to go to dinner, so we headed home. Natalie has a new problem in that she gets car sick if she reads in the car and looking at the play guide in the car was enough to give her a tummy ache that prevented us from eating out once we got to Pudong. So we headed up to the clubhouse for the Sunday buffet at Ajo Blanco. They have a new menu this is a bit more kid friendly. They also have a new Chef who came out and asked Natalie if she wanted to see the kitchen. So she got to back and see the whole kitchen, the freezer, etc. She was pretty excited when she got back. I included some pics of her and her dad goofing at dinner. Another good day in Shanghai...

On Being a Momma Bird

I believe that my mother would attest that I have always had a pretty active imagination. I can basically imagine an answer for any question you ask me and I can imagine a solution for any problem you have. However, I have learned that my level of activity is no where near a four-year old's level. I had no idea how much effort it takes to sustain playing momma bird with Natalie for more than five minutes. I am good for the few first minutes when she wants fed and then I quickly fade into annoyance! Poor baby bird. Sometimes I want to just throw her out of the nest! Almost every day since I have spent time at home with Natalie she has pretended to be either a baby bird and I have to be the momma bird, or a puppy and I have to be the mommy dog. At first it was cute, but now we have a rule that she has to ask if it is OK to play and do I want to play too. I know that sounds harsh, but trust me, the use of my imagination in this particular game tends to suck all the life out of my head! My theory is that the game allows Natalie to impose a significant amount of dependence on me and my mental state simply breaks down and blocks it! What a tremendous defense capability a human brain can exhibit.

Well, I have to make this a short. I have to go play mommy koala bear...

City Cycling

Before Tom and I decided to take this opportunity in Shanghai, I had decided to treat myself to a new road bike (bicycle, not motorcycle!) at the beginning of 2007. I had a Terry Symmetry all picked out and had even visited the dealer to ensure I could order it locally to ensure a good fit. I have loved cycling for a long time, but 15 years ago I traded my road bike for a mountain bike. I quickly found that riding downhill on single-track was even more fun than riding on the road. But, alas, I found at the age of 40 that mountain biking required a much higher level of physical capability, and I knew that if I was not in good shape and could not meet the demands of a ride, I could get injured. So, back to the road for me!

And then we decided to move. No problem. I still treated myself once I got here! I looked for a month or so and then hooked up with a local bike shop and riding group, SISU. They make custom bikes as well as tuning purchased frames. While I originally wanted a road bike, they talked me into a good mountain bike frame with upgraded components to ride more easily on the roads here. There are a lot of traffic hazards (other bikes, motorcycles, carts, taxis who don't follow any traffic rules, etc.) that require more handling ability on the bikes So, I am now the proud owner of a Giant 790 MTB. Outfitted with disk brakes (these are the bomb!) and good Shimano components. Other than not being able to find any riding clothes that fit me, cycling is awesome. I have learned to appreciate the extra kilometers you can get out of a ride when you have a good pad in your shorts! Ha ha, no jokes about my "available" padding please!

So where to ride? I haven't ventured out for any rides with the SISU group yet. I want to get in shape first. They ride every Sunday to the ocean. It is about a 60k ride. So it takes about 3 hours riding at a good clip. I am riding 2-3 times a week for 0:45-1:30 depending on the day and weather. There is a lot of traffic to navigate through, so sometimes the wrong route can leave you exhausted, but overall it is great out and see Shanghai at a little slower pace than normal. There are many bike paths that run along the canals, and I enjoy the one that SISU takes to the ocean, though I have not ridden the entire way yet. You see the most interesting things in the morning when I ride. Many, many Chinese just stay in their pajamas when they go out for their morning walk to breakfast or shopping. And you see many young men playing pool at outdoor pool tables. When I ride by the canals I get to see fishermen pulling strange looking fish and eel-like things from the water. They place them in little plastic bags and tie them up. Then they lay them down in the basket of their bike and head off. Likely to be heading home to prepare breakfast of river slugs. Yuk. It really is a good way to get a feel for the roads here in Shanghai. I had a heck of a time getting through a section of Century Blvd that was somewhat under construction. I rode down an empty street towards traffic but a traffic control dude made me turn around and head backwards. Not sure why that road was closed other than to help control the flow. I have gotten lost a few times, but luckily there are good tall buildings that serve as good landmarks. Oh, and yes mother, I always wear my helmet!

Hosting Our First Dinner Party

Last night we hosted our first dinner party. The invitees included our Mandarin teacher Sammie, and three of her friends. Her room mate Sarah, Sammie's friend Annie, and Annie's boyfriend Jared. In the picture at the table, from left to right around the table are: Annie, Jared, Natalie, me, Zhong Cai Zhen (our Ayi), Sammie, and Sarah. There were many "firsts" for the Bramer's during this party: the guests brought 95% of the food, the guests did ALL of the cooking, and oh, we were the only native English speakers in attendance! Jared and Annie did all of the cooking for us. All I had to do was provide the drinks and some fruit for dessert. What a deal! They are all from other parts of China other than Shanghai. Sammie and Sarah are from Fujian province and Annie and Jared are from the Sichuan province. Sichuan is home to Szechuan cuisine and since that was the home of our cooks, some of the dishes were a bit spicy (yummy). The menu changed a bit after they arrived as they realized that a few ingredients were missing, but we had a total of 10 dishes! They got to our house around 5 and we ate around 7. So in two hours they did all of the prep and all of the cooking. I had no idea what types of dishes would be needed, but we got by with the few Chinese serving ware I had. I asked the Ayi to come and help and so we invited her to join our meal as well. I think she really enjoyed that! That included some small rice bowls, some Chinese style soup spoons, and lots of serving dishes. Here is the menu:

1. Jing Jiang Rou Si (Pork with Leeks)
2. Tu Dou Niu Rou (Beef with potatoes)
3. Ma Po Dou Fu (Literally translates to Freckled Grandmother To Fu!)
4. Shou Si Juan Xin Cai (Water Spinach with Pork)
5. Hui Guo Rou (Twice cooked pork)
6. Dou Fu Yu Pian (Fish with ToFu)
7. Rou Yuan Tang (Pork Ball soup)
8. Hong Jiao Rou Si (Pork with Peppers)
9. Liang Ban Xi Heng Shi (Tomatoes with Sugar)
10. Qing Jiao Tu Dou Si (Potatoes with Green Peppers)

Everyone had their own favorites. Personally I enjoyed the Jing Jiang Rou Si (Pork with Leeks) and the Qing Jiao Tu Dou Si (Potatoes with Green Peppers). I took the leftover potatoes and fried them up like hash browns this morning. Very spicy and tasty!!! At the end of the meal, I made everyone try my home brewed pijiu (beer) which I am not sure was received with the same enthusiasm as the rest of the dinner. Regardless, a great time was had by all, and no one was hungry! And we had plenty of leftovers Sunday. We also captured some good videos (Natalie did most of the recording so beware of low camera angles!), you can find them on our main china page. Unfortunately I did not complete all of the recipes, but will post as I fine-tune the details with our guests via email.

Making Zongsi with the Ayi

I have really been cooking up a storm these past few weeks, but seem to not be able to find the extra time to put the results out here! So, today I will put a few posts out specifically targeted at the recipes and cooking here in Shanghai.

A few weeks ago was the Chinese Dragon Boat festival which, as most holidays in China, has a rich history associated with it. This festival is in commemoration of Qu Yuan (340-278 BC). Qu Yuan was minister of the State of Chu and one of China's earliest poets. Long story short, he died in a river and people threw Zongzi (pyramid-shaped glutinous rice dumplings wrapped in reed or bamboo leaves) and eggs into the water to divert possible fish or shrimp from attacking his body. So, the Chinese make and consume the Zongzi during the festival. Sort of like making Christmas cookies for Santa I guess! I had never really tried them, so I asked the Ayi to show me how to make them. So we did! The recipe for the dumplings is actually quite straight forward. Note that I didn't really give good measures here, I think it depends a lot on the number you are making. The amounts I listed made the 10 or so that we finished. I uploaded some videos of her wrapping and I think you can see how complicated it is to wrap. It is generally in a shape of a tetrahedron, which means it is a four-faced triangle. For the engineers reading, got take a look and go for it! The Ayi told me that it took many years for her to wrap on her own. She was 30 before she could do well. So, I guess I have to make these for another 18 years until I can do it on my own (she was 12 when she first helped her mother make them!). They actually do taste quite good. There are dessert versions as well, with dates or other dried fruit in them. I didn't like the sweet ones as well as the savory, they seemed too sweet.

Oh, and one final lesson I learned. I learned to use my rice cooker for something other than cooking plain rice! We used it to steam the ZongZi. We placed the Zonzi into the metal bowl where the rice and water usually go and filled it with water. Cool. Also, the Ayi saw that I was going to hard boil an egg and talked me into adding the raw eggs (in the shell) to the cooker too. The eggs were cooked along with the ZongZi and the flavor that the bamboo leaves imparted on the eggs was really good. I recommend everyone trying their rice cooker for more than just rice! I think of it as a Chinese crock pot!

Enjoy!
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Pork ZongZi (Steamed Rice Dumplings)

1 1/2 Cup Glutenous Rice (also known as "sticky rice")

1/2 Cup Dark Soy Sauce

1/2 lb Pork (should be something fatty to ensure it is moist when cooked, we used Pork Butt)

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp Chicken granules

Bamboo Leaves for wrapping (takes at least four leaves per dumpling)

- Before using bamboo leaves, they will need to be washed 2-3 times. Let them soak in the sink in clean water and use your fingers to wipe off any dirt. After washing, let them dry. You can do this before you start the rest of the recipe to ensure the moisture is dry before folding into ZongZi.

Wash and drain rice well. Add enough soy sauce to ensure that all grains are well coated. Slice the pork into 1/2 inch cubes, distributing the fat! Pour remaining soy sauce onto cubed pork. Let the the rice and pork soak separately in this sauce for a couple of hours. Add sugar to rice and stir. Add chicken stock granules to rice and mix. Pour off excess soy sauce from pork into the rice mixture. Mix rice well. Now for the wrapping...

Not sure what to say here as it was pretty complicated. Start with three leaves placed in overlapping style. Place a fourth leaf directly in the middle. Fold the first corner of the tetrahedral being sure to keep it closed at the point so that the filling does not ooze out. Then place in a tablespoon or so of of the rice mixture into the cup that is formed. Place a piece of pork on top in the middle and then more rice to the top of the rim of the leaves. press down to ensure that it is firm and then fold the leaves over the top and around to complete the tetrahedral. Then use some string to tie it. There. Doesn't that sound easy? Moving on...

Once you have made them you can cook them in a steamer or a rice cooker. We used our rice cooker. She cooked them for about an hour in the "cook" position, turned them over, and then cooked them for another hour in the "cook" position. Then she turned the cooker to "warm" and left them until we were ready to eat. They were very moist and the pork had really cooked perfectly. The taste of the rice was not bland at all which is what I had expected. So, except for the wrapping, I would love to do these again!

How long was Michael Jordan’s retirement?

Ask my golf buddies in Dayton – they will confirm that I had announced my retirement from golf 328 days ago.

But this week I decided to take a vacation day and go golfing with Shelly. Only in China, does one have to take a vacation day on July 4th (actually that would be the case in any country but the U.S.). I didn’t really have the urge to golf. I had a greater curiosity to try out the new golf clubs that Shelly and I purchased about a month ago. Shelly and I each purchased the latest model of Callaway gold clubs - knock-offs for about $150

I had been curious on how they would perform. Would they break? Would they having the same striking capability as my old set?

Well, I am glad to report that they are built very solidly. I know three things for certain; 1. the hosel is strong; 2. the toe of the club head is solid; 3. the shaft can withstand high G-forces.

Shelly and I ended up only playing 9 holes. We really weren’t prepared for the round of golf. First, it was tremendously HOT. Secondly, I didn’t bring any suntan lotion to protect my scalp. Third, we probably didn’t have time to finish 18 holes. Finally, I didn’t have enough golf balls to finish another 9 holes.

I better get to the point before Shelly does but Shelly beat me fair and square. I was even playing from the women’s tees. She out drove me, out hit me on the fairway, but I probably beat her once we got around the green chipping and putting. I was very proud of her game because she hadn’t played in over a year. Matter of fact, with a year’s rust we both walked to the tee-box without going to the driving range or even the practice putting green. Shelly did really well. My game yesterday reminded me why I had retired 328 days previous. But I had fun and I will play again.

As I indicated previously, the next time I will be better prepared. I need to buy some balls, a golf glove, some tees, and bring proper golf attire. They were not going to let me play because I was not wearing the proper golf outfit. The course requires a “golf shirt with a collar and sleeves”. I guess my Tommy Bahama golf shirt was not appropriate. It is odd because a Tommy Bahama golf shirt is probably more formal than a traditional golf shirt. It has a collar and buttons down the front - top to bottom. They told me that I had to change. I argued briefly but they said they would give me a shirt to wear instead. They brought me a long-sleeved turtle neck shirt. I went into the locker room to change. I couldn’t get it over my shoulders. I was ticked so I went back out and said that I wasn’t going to wear the shirt. Told them that I was leaving and to put the clubs in my car. Well, the starter quickly got permission that I could wear my own shirt this time but next time I had to comply. It is funny because not allowing me to play due to my shirt was similar to telling someone that they could not be admitted to a business casual dinner because they wore a jacket and tie. But that is China – rules are rules and you don’t break the rules

I'm back with a short story

A funny thing happened at lunch today.

I mentioned before that employees play ping-pong at lunch. The talent and skill are very good. I never play but I enjoy watching. There are always about 10 players waiting to rotate into the game. The table is right outside my office area. Today I was walking though the playing area and someone slammed the ball towards their opponent in play. The opposing player could not return the slam. I was watching and saw the action develop. The ping-pong ball was flying thru the air heading straight for my head (I was walking about 10 feet behind one of the players). Without breaking stride or showing any expression I calmly reached up with one hand and snagged the ball in mid-flight despite its very high rate of velocity. As I initially grabbed the ball I said to myself that people should be impressed by my skill and coordination. That was a short-lived thought because one-second later – the scenario changed. Oh, I still caught the ball but I also crushed the ball in my hand during the process.

Now there I was with the crushed ball in my hand with everyone looking at me. Yes, they were impressed with my athletic prowess but they also wanted their ball back. I panicked and quickly threw the crushed ball back to them without breaking my original stride.

When the ball landed on the table with a thud (instead of a ping) they all went “uh?” They interpreted my action as a sign of dis-satisfaction and the game quickly disbanded. Well, as of a result of their action I had to stop and apologize. I told them it was an accident and that they could keep playing. I think they understood but I guess they only had one ball – a flat one at that point.