thepismire » China

Bump In The Night

thepismire — Wed, 19 May 2010 07:37:32 +0000

The Sleepyfish in Dali, China | Aug 2009

Chiner Keepers: No More Bunz

thepismire — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 16:26:35 +0000

Finding pleasant surprises in Chiners is money, especially if it’s a food item that you thought this place would never be good at. No More Bunz was introduced to us by Jason, who is pictured above. This post is also dedicated to him. The rest is history. This place has become a regular spot for us, and it’s always a right choice if we decide to eat there. Heck, we even got them delivered on certain occasions. There are many memories attached to this place: Charlie, sauerkraut, deli mustard, baozi, Germany, “the old guy” and how we hated him, etc. No more bunz? More like “No more no good times!”

Chiner Keepers: Old People Hanging Out

thepismire — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 09:19:16 +0000

The Temple of Heaven was pretty neat, but even neater was the old people community teeming right outside. It was busy, and they were straight up playing the er hu, doing coordinated dances with various items, playing them cards, singing, ballroom dancing, having impromptu choirs, tagging calligraphy with water. The place was insane, son. The old people culture in China should be considered a sightseeing item, and if you’re ever in the neighborhood, just head on over to your nearest park in the morning, pack some bread crumbs to lure them in, find a bench, and enjoy the show. Old people FTW.

Chiner Keepers: Mao Harvest/Orphanage

thepismire — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 10:07:48 +0000

Two things make this a keeper. The first thing is the Mao Harvest. We challenged our youth club to raise money for a good cause by collecting maos (Chinese equivalent of pennies), inspired by NYC’s Penny Harvest (hence the name). It was our first time doing this, but one thing that I have learned while working with youth is that they have a tendency to come through in amazing ways. One student in particular, Paul, who actually deserves his own post, got his fellow classmates at school to join in and raised a lot. It even got the attention of his school administration, who thought it was a really good idea to even implement in their own school. Amazing.

Our students then voted to donate all the maos to a nearby orphanage. It was great seeing our students interact with these orphans. In China, the disabled, diseased, any part of society that isn’t part of the norm are brushed under a rug. Out of sight, out of mind is the idea. We hope that our students learn the importance of justice, and that they can do so much more with what they are blessed with, than to waste it all on educational success.

Christmas Spirit

thepismire — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 20:42:24 +0000

Christmas this year started off with the most authentic White Elephant I have ever played. It was straight up things from our places that we didn’t want. I decided to give away the polo I received last Christmas in Thailand from Ajan Jurassic, but I was nice and included a chopstick set, which also was from Thailand. Ironically, the gift that I ended up with was a stuffed elephant…from Thailand.

This was the best gift of the night. For those that lived in China, you know what this is.

This was the worst… I can only describe this as a two-headed toothbrush that grew a pair.

Christmas in China is really subdued compared to the rest of the world. It’s not really a big deal here. I mean, I gotta give them some credit for trying. For example, the mall nearby our home put up decorations and had a theme for the month called Cookie Christmas. Unfortunately, there was a typo, and all the signs in the mall now say, “Cockie Christmas”. FAIL. So, basically, there is no “Christmas spirit” up in this place. This is a stark contrast to my usual Christmases spent in the US where I can even smell Christmas spirit. Yes, it really does have a smell.

So what do you do about it? Well, if the mountain will not come to Mohammed, Mohammed will go to the mountain. We created our own Christmas spirit, and the two ingredients to this equation are baking sweets and Home Alone 2 on repeat. Christmas Eve was well spent, and with a huge help from our friend, Sue, we baked sugar cookies, chocolate almond oatmeal cookies, Russian tea cookies, blueberry shortbread cookies and created a gingerbread house. That place was so full of Christmas spirit that Santa would’ve crapped his pants if he walked in.

Chocolate almond oatmeal cookies.

Really in the Christmas mood.

Building the gingerbread house. We were going more for realism than storybook, so no need for gumdrops and silly things like that.

Our finished product. There’s a background story. There was a severe snowstorm and this photo was taken right after the gingerbread family living here was evacuated, abandoning all they had known and built during their lives. Our gingerbread house is no laughing matter.

This is my ideal Christmas Eve. Cookies + Kevin McCallister’s shenanigans.

We then finished the night off with Settlers.

I am definitely baking every Christmas Eve from now on.

The Harlem Globetrotters

thepismire — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 07:37:39 +0000

Of all the places, I had the opportunity to see the Harlem Globetrotters in China. Out of the many firsts I’ve had here, this will be one of the more memorable ones. I remember as a kid, my only exposure to these guys were commercials of their appearances during the Saturday morning cartoon block. Sometimes I would see them in highlight reels on Roggin’s Heroes (remember that?). Now, actually seeing them was amazing. The only unfortunate thing about the whole event was that the crowd was just not into. I don’t know if it’s the culture or if it was just a bad day for everyone, but the Globetrotters practically had to beg for some cheers, clapping and smiles. I almost felt bad for the guys, but they still kept their showmanship up, and gave us a good time. This one was for free, and honestly, I don’t think I would have paid over $30 for the Globetrotters, but still, I was thankful to see some Americans showing their skills to the PRC. I know this is wrong of me, but I secretly was hoping that the Globetrotters would play one of the CBA teams out here and beat them just to show how much they suck…”You just got beat by a team of basketball clowns son!” Yea, that would’ve been oh so sweet.

Reppin’

This was when the Globe got tired of begging for cheers and snapped.

Got tricks.

Ant!

Yay for fun times!

Chinese Weddings

thepismire — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:47:06 +0000

Congrats to Yue and Sun on their marriage! Dude, what an event. It was definitely a different experience than America. Not to say it was bad because it wasn’t at all, just different. Here were some clear differences I experienced between a Chinese wedding and an American wedding.

Things are last minute…BUT it’s all good. My friend might even be a little more extreme for China standards, because as a bride to be, she started planning her wedding one whole month in advance. ONE month. Compared to the typical year of planning in America, mad props goes to her for pulling it off.

Privacy of the bride before the wedding is non-existent. As Isaiah and I were snapping some photos of the bride getting ready, anyone and everyone came in at least once just to check out what was going on. At times there were 10+ heads up in the room. BUT, again, it’s all good.

It was a nice, small, not-so-quiet ceremony. I can’t say this one is true for all weddings in China, since locations can vary. This ceremony was in an office building, and the room was packed. Also, the hootin’ and hollerin’ that’s usually saved for the end in America starts right at the beginning in Chiners as the bride walked in.

The wedding variety show. Immediately after they are married, the bride and groom were pushed aside, and it was time for testimonies. Anyone from the audience could come up and give a little speech about the couple. Some groups sang and some groups presented gifts. Mind you that it was all in the same room. I heard at some weddings they can go more than an hour…eek.

The all-in-one package. The first thing I noticed in the room they held the wedding was the wedding cake. I didn’t realize that the cake cutting, bouquet toss, and snacks were all done in the same room right after the ceremony. This one really bothered me though because we had all these desserts (i.e. brownies, cookies, banana bread) in another room so that after the ceremony people would migrate over that way. Instead, people would get a plate or bag, and pile on as much as they could and take it in to the ceremony so that they had a snack while they watched. By the end of the ceremony, there was nothing left to my dismay. Not even ONE cookie left. Bunch of hoarders…

Overall though, it was still nice. Actually, the ceremony was pretty care-free, and everyone was just having a lot of fun celebrating their loved ones getting married, and I guess that’s all that you can really ask for in a wedding. Congrats to the lovely couple once again.

Jason & Grace’s Engagement

thepismire — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 17:09:14 +0000

A couple of friends of mine are getting hitched, and asked me to take some photos for them. We decided to go to the 798 Art District here in Beijing, which I really enjoyed before. I like this place because it’s so “industrial”. A lot of pipes, rusting metal, concrete, steam, basically it has a lot of character. My buddy Isaiah, who’s a veteran when it comes to wedding/engagement photos, came along to help out too. Again, good times.

Yue Peng & Sun Qi’s Engagement

thepismire — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:14:03 +0000

My friend Sun Qi asked if I could take some engagement photos for her and her fiance Yue Peng. I’ve never done an engagement shoot, let alone pose people for shots, and found myself being totally nervous. I think it’s because I’ve only been shooting still life and scenery, where I usually take the role of an observer. The subject in the photo takes the focus, and I just get credit for being there at the right time. Not this time. This time, how well the photos come out is all me, and I’m saying that in the most humble way. It’s true, these shots are the direct result of how photogenic the couple is and the location, but the majority comes from whatever my creative brain squeezes out. At first, I was so nervous, I was having them take these shots which I can only describe as “vacation” photos. Very linear, very…safe. It’s kind of scary to think that your photos will be up for criticism, with the two most important critics standing right there. I thought my abilities were being tested. I know I’m no professional, and they knew that too, but still, who wants to show that they suck at something? But, as the day progressed, we kind of got into the rhythm of things, and I was able to relax. Sun Qi and Yue Peng were suggesting a lot of things too so that helped a lot! I guess it was a good first experience. My respect for photographers, and artists in general went way up because I can now see that it takes a lot to put yourself out there for all the world to see. Here are some of my favorites from the day.

This is my favorite one.

Burritos In China

thepismire — Mon, 11 May 2009 17:09:29 +0000

Burritos in China. Good burritos in China. BIG, good burritos in China. Yep, once again, my buddy Jason has come through (see Hot Dog post). Located in Sanlitun, in an inconspicuous location, sits a lonely restaurant that has salsa playing through its stereos. Once inside, the smell of the place instantly reminded me of exactly what I came for…burritos. David, our burrito chef, started right away. I got adobado, carne asada and shredded chicken with pico de gallo, salsa verde, cilantro, lettuce, grilled onions & bell peppers, cheese and guac. After I watched him struggle rolling it up, he handed it to me. I cradled it like a child. I couldn’t believe how heavy it was. I ate it with delight.

The adobado tasted like some chinese BBQ pork dish, and the carne asada was not even close BUT for China, it’s more than “close enough”. I’m even going to say that it’s better than Chipotle. Yea I said it. Better because, you can ask for more of anything and they’ll pile it on gladly. I could’ve even skimped out on the rice and had them just fill it with more meat. It still doesn’t beat a carne asada burrito from Molca Salsa, but I still have to give credit where it’s due. Burritos in China, what’s that about.