SMP Skate Park

On Tuesday of this week (Tomb Sweeping Day) we journeyed to SMP Skate Park to join Regan and his friend's family for a picnic while the boys rode their skateboards.  The weather was beautiful with clear skies (by Shanghai standards) and temps in the mid 60s.  This skate park is billed as the world's largest and is where they hold the X-Games for skating and biking.  Regan's friend Jarod Baldwin and his brother Parker are regulars at the park.  The Baldwins brought a full picnic spread including BBQ grill with all the fixings.  We enjoyed hot dogs, grilled chicken, veggie kebabs, pasta salad and of course brownies and cookies.  I had to leave for the airport around 1pm as I had to catch a flight to Beijing but Cynthia and the boys stayed until the late afternoon.  For the skateboard fans in the blog audience, I have posted a photo album on Picasa so you can view some of the photos from the day.

Today one of our White Bear Lake friends and neighbor has arrived in Shanghai on business and we are going to join him for some sight seeing as well as pick up the care package that he has transported from the US for us! 

Electronic Weekend

Today, Tuesday April 5th,  is a national holiday - Tomb Sweeping Day.  We have had a long weekend as a result and have enjoyed the time off.  Not sure of all the details of the holiday but in a nutshell the Chinese honor their ancestors and family who have passed away by burning offerings of money (they use fake money now).  The idea is that the burnt money passes to them in the afterlife and provides them with prosperity.  People also burn paper furniture, houses and other material things so that their relatives will have all these things in heaven.  We passed a family doing this ritual on the sidewalk of a busy road on our way to dinner the other evening and while it seemed odd it also seemed very solemn and a good way to remember your loved ones.

This weekend Cynthia finally reached her wits end with her Chinese cell phone which seems to have a mind of its own and randomly places calls to people on her contact list - repeatedly.  Her iPod also died and so now she is without music.  This conversion of electronic anomalies led us to the Apple store here in Jin Qiao where some indescribable force overcame me and I purchased 2 iPhones and a 32G iPad2.  The iPhones were for Cynthia and Mason (whose Chinese phone would randomly reset itself not to mention the micro typing pad which required precise stylus skills and a magnifying glass)  The iPad2 was for me because I needed...to ...um...work...er...well I just really needed it - okay!?  Not to be left out - Regan "lost" his Chinese phone for which I paid a handsome price of 150 kwai ($20)  To be 13 and without a phone in Shanghai is next to insanity - or so I am told - but it is nice to be able to keep tabs on our family's social butterfly - so we headed to Carrefour and bought Regan a new phone.  Finally, Landon was not to be outdone by all this electronic madness and he ended up winning a new laptop at the Scout's Blue & Gold banquet.  Actually, he earned it by being the scout who recycled the most bags of plastic, cans and paper.  Early in the year Landon's den leader challenged the boys to recycle (which is not done in most homes in Shanghai) and promised the winners some sort of an electronic prize.  Well in the spirit of recycling the laptop is a recycled Compaq Presario (the Den leader owns a computer consulting business) and Landon was so proud of his prize which rounded off our family's electronic bonanza weekend. 

Mason's 19th Birthday

For his birthday, Mason wanted to go out and have a steak dinner with the family.  After an exhaustive search online and getting tips from friends and neighbors we decided to make a reservation at Pinnacle Peak. All we knew about it was that it came with high marks for good food at somewhat reasonable prices.  We all piled into a taxi, literally.  Taxi rides with the whole family are quite interesting as the taxis are really only meant for 4 adults.  Landon ends up sitting on a lap and at almost 5 feet tall it isn't comfortable for anyone.  After 30 minutes we arrived at City Hotel in the Jing An district of Puxi and started to pile out of the car.  The bellman was surprised to see so many of us climb out - think of clowns in the circus exiting the little car and you pretty much have the picture.  The hotel lobby was all marble and glass and quite elegant with fresh bouquets of flowers everywhere.  The restaurant was on the 5th floor so we headed for the elevator and punched in the floor number.  As the elevator doors opened we were all taken aback at the sight of western (as in cowboy) swinging saloon doors through which you had to pass to exit the elevator.  The next sight was equally amusing - a full Chinese wait staff dressed in blue jeans, boots, plaid flannel shirts and cowboy hats.  Suddenly we were transported back to our South Dakota vacation in the Black Hills and memories of "eatin' off the chuck wagon and singin' songs".  We all got a bit of a chuckle as we passed the mechanical bull which I presumed was for decoration - but noooooo...it was for ridin'.  After we ordered our drinks and appetizers Cynthia encouraged us to all take a try on the bull.  Regan was the first brave soul and he got tossed on level 2 but not until he's bruised his "left butt bone" as he so delicately put it.  Dad went next and also got tossed on level 2.  Mason was the third rider and made it all the way to level 3 and lasted several seconds before losing control.  Cynthia needed a little help from two Chinese cowgirls to get up on the bull and once there only lasted for one rotation at level 1.  Landon was the final contestant and did a great job hanging on for dear life.  Once back to the table our waiter brought Mason the "lucky" (everything special in China is deemed "lucky") cowboy hat as a reward for his ride.  We all ended up wearing the hat at one point or another during the course of the evening.  The food came shortly after we finished our "riding" and was absolutely delicious.  We shared 2 Caesar salads - one with bacon and one with spicy chicken, a sampler platter of onion rings, buffalo wings and fried calamari and we all enjoyed our own "Little Hoss" 11 oz. marbled rib eye - (I am getting hungry just writing this).  For dessert we shared a creme brule, chocolate sundae and fresh fruit platter.  Getting home in the taxi was going to be even more of a challenge now! On the way home we stopped by the boys favorite game store and bought Mason a limited edition Chinese version Halo game - all the voices are in Chinese so he can practice his language skills while he shoots aliens.  We all had a great night as we celebrated Mason's entry into his final teen year - wow!  Time sure flies!