Russian porn stars, Chinese horror movies and Halloween.

A cloak of smoke descended on Nanjing for Halloween. And rain drizzled. Everywhere people in hoodies and under umbrellas. It was as if Halloween could not happen under clear skies and clement weather. Halloween brought Autumn to Nanjing. However there is not much that can dampen the spirit of Nanjingren when it comes to an excuse for a night out.

We had read about a jazz guitarist appearing at one of the restaurant nightclubs and decided to brave the scary streets and see how Nanjing does jazz. As we approached the restaurant we were greeted by Chinese staff in masks and cloaks and looking particularly ghoulish in a glamorous kind of way. The restaurant had all the usual Halloween trappings, pictures of pumpkins and ghouls, candles inside watermelons (they are cheaper than pumpkins) and the staff were really getting into the swing of it.

We were shown to a table and given masks to wear. The masks were more of the Venetian Masquerade Ball type, glitter and feathers – but hey, we were not complaining. It was all in the spirit of the night and so we put them on.

Some musac was playing, the sort of background but soft loungey type, until a young Chinese man approached the stage with an alto saxophone (maybe Kenny Chee?). We settled to listen to some cool New Orleans or R&B then for his last few numbers he played the Carpenters and Lionel Richie while in the background there appeared Russian music videos that were verging on pornographic – we glanced at each other and made the comment “Only in China” and had a bit of a giggle! He wasn’t a bad saxophonist, save for a poor choice of music, and his friends thought he was just great, each song being enthusiastically applauded and smiles all round.

At about this time we were approached to draw a card from a tarot pack. Later in the evening there would be a card draw with prizes. The first prize a large handmade clipper style model boat, second prize a new antique toy truck and third prize a toy cricket bat with a boat in a bottle set into it. (???) We spent a few minutes wondering just what we might do if we won first prize and decided we could put a message in the boat and put it into the Yangtze. We wondered who might find it and if they would give us a call.

The next artist to grace the stage was a young Chinese woman complete with waist length wig in marvelous curls. From the waist up she was pure glam and bling. Below the waist denim mini shorts, black stockings and a pair of knee high cream stiletto boots. This young woman had a delightful voice and proceeded to deliver a few popular Chinese songs – they were nice and she sang well. The songs she sang in English sounded Chinese too. Her voice was nice and, after all, we are in China and Chinglish is accepted and used everywhere. The Chinese don’t get it when we don’t understand!

The Russians were still cavorting around bedrooms and bathrooms in a marble mansion and by this time they were naked and being pretty risqué! There was a spa bath in there somewhere and at times there were different men and women making out with each other but the singer held her own and charmed the audience with her repartee and rendition of Chinese pop.

A magician visited our table and performed some sleight of hand tricks. He was very clever. Dinner arrived and we ate while the Russians got it on in the background, the Chinese girl sang up a storm and some people played darts very close to our table. All the while the floor was vibrating to the bass of the discotheque next door and I am not too sure that the walls were not vibrating too – or was that the Russians cavorting!

The food was delicious and served with a glass of champagne (well, sort of champagne) another glass of red wine (well, it was also sort of red wine) and some watermelon juice – presumably made from the hollowed out watermelons. The staff fussed over us and did everything they could to make us feel comfortable – at this stage the Russian porn stars had been replaced by a Chinese horror film – lots of gore and angst, just what you need as you are trying to consume a plate full of food in the dark.

I have never been in an environment with so much sensory overload. Clearly the Chinese cope very well with this and it seems that if you add more and more fun elements to the night ( did I mention the DJ/MC, the cocktail mixing performance, the maitre de hovering within a few feet, the waiters visiting the table every few minutes, the mirror ball spinning on the ceiling) the night will be much more fun, fun, fun. Not too sure what happened with the advertised jazz guitarist – the waiters and the manager had no idea what we were talking about when we asked. Perhaps the guitarist got caught up in some other pursuit that night. Perhaps we had been in the wrong restaurant all the while. I came home exhausted and happy – it’s fun living in China!

Fireworks and chickens cause chaos…and hilarity!

It is not unusual to be walking down a street in China and “Kapow”, bang, bang, bang – fireworks just start going off all around you. It could be because there is a funeral, a shop opening, someone getting married, a birthday, or just to honour some long lost ancestor and bring luck and good fortune.

This morning I was on my way from the bank, where I paid some bills, to the telephone company and then to the laundry to pick up some shirts. Just a normal day really, wandering the suburban streets and doing my chores. When it all started! Bang,bang,bang – only about 50 metres away. Well I have to say it always takes me by surprise and I nearly hit the deck thinking that there was a battle beginning in the streets of Nanjing. However before I had the misfortune of placing my face on the concrete I looked up the road ahead of me and couldn’t believe my eyes.

A lady had been approaching me with several boxes piled high, she was just a few feet away. She was getting ready to strap the boxes to her bicycle, when out jumped a couple of chickens! They had obviously been startled out of their semi comatose state by the fireworks and they were on the run. The lady had some experience with these fowl creatures and she quickly grabbed one by the wing and hung on despite all the squawking and fluffing of feathers, however she wasn’t quite so lucky with the second one and it took off like a Ferrari down the street. So off she went with the other chook firmly in the nook of her arm, leaving her other parcels on the roadside.

As the escapee reached the road a #121 bus came around the corner and went straight over the top of it. I held my breath, I didn’t want a dead chook squished in front of me and I knew the poor Chinese lady was also holding her breath – this bird was probably on the menu for her restaurant tonight! The bus continued on its way and the chicken emerged startled and more frightened and determined to outwit busses, cars, people and bikes and head for the hills.

Now chooks don’t seem to run in straight lines and also don’t seem to know where they really want to run to. Add in a healthy dose of adrenaline and you have a chook doing circuits at pace, being chased by a Chinese lady who is yelling to all her ancestors and clutching her other precious cargo to her breast.

I am not one for chasing and catching chooks. I have no experience in the field at all. All the chickens I have cooked for dinner come frozen from a deep freeze and ready plucked at that! But I was up to clapping my hands and steering the chook back in the direction of the lady. I hovered back and forth at the edge of the road clapping and flapping and keeping the poor thing from become a drive thru corpse!

The neighbourhood had all come out to see this mad foreign woman clapping and dancing on the edge of the road; the chicken panicked and prancing and the poor Chinese lady huffing and flustered, with the other chook tucked firmly under her arm. I was successful at keeping the chook off the road, however it darted straight into an open door nearby – a restaurant where people had just sat down to tea. They all jumped up and the chook started flying from table to table and finally out the door. The mechanic from the shop next door, the security guard from the bank, the waitress from the restaurant and the poor Chinese lady chased and cornered the chook and managed to capture it.

Meanwhile I gathered the boxes back together thinking that she would need them to put the chooks back in. The people in the neighbourhood were looking at me quite suspiciously – I think they thought I was going to light off with the boxes. So I waited and watched till everyone had calmed down, meanwhile tidying the boxes and getting them ready to become chicken prisons again.

The poor Chinese lady had gathered her dignity again and with a chook under each arm she managed to mount the bicycle and stuff them into one box. She left the other box on the ground where I had put it. She must have said “Xie Xie” (Thank you) about 20 times in a few minutes as she rode the bike out onto the road and off to home. A few minutes later you would never have known – all had returned to normal, except for the giggling laowai woman, strolling up the road with happy tears rolling down her face. It is so much fun living in China!

Now you can purchase Cheryl's Art on Redbubble

It is going to take a bit of time to get all the artwork up and on the site as it needs a lot of editing and some of the work will be digitised with vector technology.

However! I have made a start. You can find me on "Redbubble" at 

http://cherylmalloy.redbubble.com/

Please visit and let me know what you think of my art. If you want to order you can!

The Nanjing Cableway

Just this weekend we decided to take a trip up Purple Mountain. The best way to do that was to hop a cable car.
Purple Mountain is the lungs of Nanjing. It is a huge Park that also has a few other attractions we will visit over time - Dr Sun Yatsen's Mausoleum and Museum, an Aquarium, Botanical gardens and lakes, The Nanjing City Wall and the Xuanwu Lake. It is quite heavily vegetated and I was hoping it was effectively sucking up most of the carbon Monoxide from the pollution in Nanjing. This proved to be a forlorn hope! When you look at the pictures you will see just how polluted it is here. These pics were taken in the autumn, so it was not yet cold enough for heating fires. They were taken mid morning so probably not a lot of cooking fires. And they were taken at the end of a holiday period of one week - so you would think the pollution would have been down a bit with some industries maybe taking some time off!

However this is where we live now and it doesn't effect me anywhere near as much as the desert did. I have done a collage of pics. The pollution is clear in the top photos - you could barely see Nanjing which is only a few kilometres away.

Visiting the parks is a very popular outing and there were literally thousands of people on the mountain. Generally people live in either very small (by our standards) housing or multiple family units. Young people spend a lot of time just hanging about using their mobile phones. 

Suzhou, City of Canals

We have just returned from a delightful weekend (well, 2 half days and a night) in the city of Suzhou. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzhou, http://www.suzhou.gov.cn/English/index.shtml)

Suzhou is about an hour’s train ride from Shanghai. Saturday morning, bright and early we met our travelling companions, Sue, John and Tina at Nanjing railway station and board our train. Cheryl and I are travelling light with just a backpack between us. The trains in China that we have experienced so far have been excellent. Yes, we travel first class because it’s cheap and we can book seats – but from what we see through the windows, there’s not a lot of difference with other fare classes. The train is fast, comfortable, and above all clean and well serviced.

Flashing through the countryside at speeds of up to 200kph, we arrive in Suzhou about 11:30. Thanks to our lovely Tina, who is Chinese, and takes on the role of translator and trouble shooter for the weekend, we skip the long taxi cues and soon have a minivan take us to our lodgings, the Pingjiang Lodge. (http://www.the-silk-road.com/hotel/pingjianghotel/index.html) This is a hutong, a culture hotel. It was once a small village like complex with multiple rooms in a warren of hallways and connecting courtyards. Parts are some 450 years old and the hotel claims to have items dating back to the Ming Dynasty times. It is totally charming. And even better, it is right in the middle of a local tourist area leading directly to some of the picturesque and historical sites in Suzhou.

After a delicious lunch and a bottle or two of Tzingtau in the hotel restaurant, we spend the afternoon wandering along the local streets alongside one of Suzhou’s many canals, gazing into corridors and shops that are little different from times of centuries past. Along the way, two players are presenting an opera on the footpath cross the canal. A simple backdrop and a tape player is all the support they need for this open air theatre. There is a tourist site – the Humble Administrator’s Garden nearby and undaunted by the crowds, we venture inside. It’s not huge (about 4 Hectares), but quite beautiful. A mini botanical gardens, with pergolas, hills, lakes and grottos scattered throughout. We think it’s lovely. Unfortunately, about ten thousand other visitors also choose to spend the afternoon here with us – which makes for quite a crush of people in parts. But then this is China.

Wandering back to the hotel, we take a small catnap and then it’s time for a light dinner. Back up the same street where in the afternoon we spotted a local dumpling restaurant. Again the food is yummy, and this time, cheap as well! Wandering on after dinner we stumble on an English Pub. Well of course this is a compulsory stop, where we watch a little footy, down a lager or two (and some chardy) before getting almost lost and taking a very long way home.

The next morning we begin rather casually and decide to take on Tiger Hill - Suzhou’s major tourist attraction. Our intrepid Tina is told that a number 2 bus will take us all the way. You Beauty! Off we go t the main street nearby. It’s Sunday morning, the streets are crowded (as they are every day), and Number 2 bus takes ages to arrive. When it does, it is very - - -very full. But, when in China …..

And so we are on - and in very close contact with a number of the locals! The streets are as crowded as the bus – and progress is painfully slow, despite the driver’s liberal use of his horn. At one point, so many people get on the bus that he can’t shut the doors. The driver stops the bus. A crowd crams into the back door. Driver shouts something and after a few murmurs and shouts to and fro, several people begin collecting bus fares from those that came into the back door. They jump out the back door, run to the front, pay the driver, and run back to the back door before he shuts it and we are off again.

By now we’re wondering if we’ll ever arrive. “It looked much closer on the map” But eventually we do. Begging for a coffee, we search high and low – plenty of bridal shops - where is Starbucks when you need them! By this time we’re a little concerned that traipsing into the Gardens of Tiger Hill, with the other 25,ooo people may not be a wise choice if we also want to catch our train at 4:15. So instead we catch a canal boat back town.

What a delightful journey. Photos don’t do it justice. We wander through a series of canals between centuries old houses and other dwellings past ramshackle extensions over the water and little stone patios almost falling into it. There are windows open everywhere allowing us a voyeurs view into the everyday existence of these canal dwellers. This place is just gorgeous. And remarkably clean. The sky is blue. There seems to be little air pollution and so the buildings and streets aren’t continually grimy, as in Nanjing. Everything appears clean, tidy and generally cared for.

Another local lunch (costing the amazing amount of about AUD$12 for the 5 of us and we travel by bone-jarring tuktuk back to the hotel. The advantage of the tuktuk is that they aren’t held up by the traffic, squeezing between busses and cars where a taxi can’t. A quick cuppa, and another tuktuk and we’re back on the train headed home.

Suzhou, we’ll be back. The Venice of the East is a delightful place – and well worth a longer visit. And yet again, we have the beginnings of another firm friendship.

Holed up with a very sore foot.

Yes well that says it all really! I have a very nasty and painful right foot which does not seem to be getting any better despite advice from doctors, friends, relatives and my Mum! So I am trying to rest it as much as possible - everyone said to do that!

This means I have a lot of time on my backside in a chair so I have started writing for the internet - have a look at my articles and photographs at http://www.triond.com/users/Cheryl+Malloy

I'd love it if you left comments on the articles and while you were there click through to a few of the ads on the page if they interest you.........that way I get paid for my work!

New post on my art page

Please visit www.cherylmalloy.blogspot.com and have a look at the blog I have started for my art. I love to receive comments so if you can master leaving one (I know it may not be easy for some) then please leave a comment about the pieces or some guidance for me to improve.

"How expat are you really"???

Today I went walking with a lovely group of (mostly) women in Nanjing. We wandered the streets close to the city and discovered lots of really authentic Chinese communities where people have obviously been living for many years. There was a fabulous market in a back street where there were absolutely mounds of wonderful fresh produce and also some live animals (including snakes) for purchase, presumably for consumption. We also visited a Buddhist temple which had an 'antiques market'. The woman who led the walk was patient with the slower people and we really just ambled along mingling and talking and generally enjoying ourselves with our cameras at the ready. How lovely!

During the walk I was talking to one lady from Europe and I would like to recount our conversation because it has made me think about the question in the topic - "how expat are you really?" The conversation went something like this:
1. Hi, are you new here in Nanjing?
2. Yes I am. I have only been here for a few weeks
1. Welcome, I am sure you will love it it is an interesting place.
2. Thank you. I am already enjoying it and starting to find my way around.
1. Which compound do you live in?
2. I live at Muxuyuan - it is a bit out of town on the eastern side of the wall
1. So who else lives in your compound?
2. I don't know any of the people yet, except our immediate neighbours. It is hard when we don't speak Chinese yet.
1. Oh but who are the other expats living there?
2. None. I haven't seen any other western people in our compound or in our community. It's nice really - I feel like a bit of a novelty, though I could sometimes do without the attention!
1. Yes but you do have a driver that can take you around
2. No I don't have a driver
1. Oh then you use the cabs
2. No it is a bit expensive when you live out of the main city. So I take the bus
1. OMG - that is so unusual. You are so brave! I have been here for 3 years and I have never taken the bus.

This conversation has really left me wondering about the experience of being an expat. We have chosen not to live in expat compounds in any of our overseas experiences and we have always chosen to live as close a life as possible to our neighbours. I know we are earning more than many Chinese so we will not be expereince life as the Chinese do - that would be too hard for us.

A fit of the giggles

I am spending a lot of time catching busses in Nanjing. People here are just not that used to seeing expats outside the city walls – well it seems that way to me. Each time I get on the bus – and even just waiting for the bus – I often wonder if half my breakfast is still on my face or if I perhaps have horns growing out my head! I truly am the object of a lot of staring and more than a little giggling. This attention is quite blatant and I am getting used to it and just taking it in my stride.

Today I got on the bus and sitting directly across from me was an older couple with what appeared to be their grandson sitting on their knee. They were obviously doting grandparents and he was the apple of their eye. However they did not have the view of him that I had. He was about 3-4 years old and sitting directly facing me. Where the fly in his pants was there was no zipper and so he was just sitting with his tiny penis peeking out of the hole. As we went along he was giving it quite a lot of attention and I just couldn’t help but giggle! Grandma and Grandpa had no idea – and I doubt it would have mattered to them anyway – but it really had me almost in a state – a fit of the giggles and no-one there to share my giggles with! Even the people sitting next to me remained totally composed and seemingly oblivious. I could barely contain myself and on exit from the bus just burst out laughing. It was one of those rare moments of absolute joy!

On our way to China

Our arrival in China has been a long awaited and anticipated event! We left the UAE on the 3^rd July and it is now almost the 3^rd of September. So the move has taken the better part of 2 months and they have been very interesting months.

 

Leaving the UAE we headed from Abu Dhabi to London. We had never been to England before and so we were really looking forward to this very first experience of Pommyland! Heathrow airport was one of the most frustrating parts of the journey. We couldn’t believe that an airport that can move a major number of aircraft safely and efficiently could get people movement (immigration, customs etc) so wrong. We stood in line for over an hour (perhaps nearly 2 hours) just to get through immigration. The system for doing this was ad hoc and disorganised and unnecessarily long.  However once through the procedures it’s a quick train trip to Central London and to our hotel in Paddington.

 

During our London stay we managed to fit in a number of the major attractions and also managed a trip to Coventry for the Godiva Festival. I think Ron was looking forward to naked ladies with long hair riding horses in the main street – it would have been very disappointing for him as the only Lady Godiva we came across was a woman of our own vintage dressed in a long white period costume ‘frock’ and wearing a wig! She did not have her horse with her at the time and remained fully garbed for Ron to have his photo taken with her! However it was a brilliant day and the sun shone (30+C) and we even managed to get a bit sunburned! I hear this is basically unheard of in England! The day in Coventry also included a music festival and a carnival as well as a lovely trip through the English countryside by train. We noticed the canals along the way and thought that one day we might return and explore England via the canals.

 

London was abuzz with tourists and it was the weekend of the Gay Pride celebrations. We did the red bus tours and also walked for mile upon mile to see the Tower Bridge, Tower of London, the London Eye, Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament. We walked a lot in Kensington Gardens as it was so close to where we were staying. We saw “Wicked” at one of the theatres in the West End, “Peter Pan” in a special tent style theatre in Kensington Gardens and did a jazz show at Ronnie Scott’s jazz club in Soho. I am not sure we could have fitted too much more into our 6 days. I think I would like to live in London for a while, or at least in England, and explore more of what there is to see, particularly to visit Scotland, Ireland and Wales as well.

 

Back to Abu Dhabi for a quick flight change and on to Brisbane. In Brisbane we caught up with family and really just relaxed and recovered from jet lag. The trip took close to 36 hours all in all and was only saved by being able to upgrade to business in the first leg. We will never look at flying in the same light again – wherever we go now it will be business class – it is just so much better and generally worth the cost to upgrade (if and when we can afford it!). After catching up with Helen and John, Garth, Mum, Gary and Fran, Di and Stan in Brisbane we fly down to Sydney. On the Central Coast we stayed with Deb and George and Terry and Brian and had a fabulous weekend away in Orange doing some wine tasting and merrymaking! It was lovely to catch up with all our friends and share some very precious time with them. One really funny highlight was Ron and Murray dressed as Emiratis taking a day trip around the Central Coast in Murray’s little yellow sports car. It was a hoot! We caught up with all Sydney people, both family and friends and then shot off to Melbourne to see Nerissa.

 

And then on to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia for a few days. We stayed at the Sunway Lagoon Pyramid Hotel (how many words does there have to be in a hotel name!) Anyway it was just like being in the Middle East again – lots of women in black robes – it was quite strange really! I think the hotel must be very popular with Emiratis and Saudis – they were everywhere! I was the only white woman swimming at the pool – all the other women were sitting around in their abayas and shaylas and watching their children and husbands swimming. There were some Japanese and Korean tourists who were in stark contrast with their skimpy clothing and swim suits!

 

Unfortunately I was robbed in the shopping centre and it left a really nasty taste for Malaysia. Apparently there are gangs that work the shopping centres regularly – so the Police told me. Malaysia is a beautiful place to visit and a lovely culture but watch your purse! We rode elephants, visited temples and watched a fabulous cultural show. However I am not keen on KL and if visiting Malaysia again I think I will head out to the coast and a more relaxing beach style holiday.

 

And now we are in China! So look out for the next few posts where we will introduce you to Nanjing.