Lingshan Buddha

We had the opportunity to get out of town (well, just the city-since technically we were still in Wuxi) for the weekend, so we packed our bags and headed to the Lingshan Buddha which is about an hour drive from here.

Seeing the big Buddha was something I have had on my list of places to see while we are living here. There are a lot of tourist attractions I could care less about, but the Buddha isn't one of them.

Although the entrance to the Buddha was quite crowded, once inside the grounds, there was tons of space to walk freely, which was nicer than what I'm used to. Usually at the tourist attractions, you're part of a herd of disorderly cattle whether you like it or not. We took Sal's new lightweight "travel" stroller that I purchased for an upcoming trip (Osaka--sashimi anyone?) and it was much easier for NZ to haul up the steps than our daily SUV sized stroller. He took the stroller, I manned the boy. There were too many steps to count, but I believe one of my expat friend's daughters counted, and it was in the ballpark of 270 stairs up to the Buddha. That's a lot of stairs to lug a stroller and a 24 pound kid up.

The sun was shining and although the typical Wuxi smog muddled the view, the landscape was beautiful. After months of living in a concrete jungle, to see such an expanse of greenery was a nice change.

Hitching a ride with dad

Touching the Buddha baby for good fortune

Many people hoping for good fortune

A meditating monk

Sal and Nick

The big Buddha

We had a wonderful time, and it is on our list of places to take our visitors. Not only is it a beautiful, mostly uncrowded tourist attraction-- it is also a really good workout!

My legs hate me today!

Pencil us in

I've barely blogged at all this week! I have good reason, though...

...we've been on the go!

To give NZ a little reprieve from the Sal and mama show that takes place daily in our living room ...babble babble babble, mom makes faces and dances like an idiot, babble babble babble, laugh laugh laugh, Sal and I filled our calendar with activities that kept us out of the house for the better part of each day.

Making it even better, was our weather. We finally caught a break! We woke upon Wednesday to gray skies, and low humidity, and it was oh.so.nice. Of course the humidity and rain have returned for the weekend, designating today as a lazy day, but those three days were worth it!

On Monday, we walked from our complex to the local Xīngbakè ( Starbucks) with a bunch of neighbors to meet up for Wuxi International Club's first gathering since summer vacation. Many expats are returning after summer holiday, so it was nice to meet some new faces--and Sal got loved on even more. He's grown quite used to the attention.

Tuesday, we stayed in for a little while before heading over to a friend's house to visit for few hours.


Wednesday, we jumped in Mrs. Georgia's van and her driver took us to Nanchan Temple, here in Wuxi. We met up with Mrs. Frankfurt, and her son and toured the temple. Mrs. Georgia and I climbed to the top to take photos, and by the next day, both of us had sore legs! There is a lot of tourist driven shopping stalls in the temple area, but I am still having trouble enjoying the experience when I have Sal in a stroller. It is impossible to keep one eye on his stroller, policing who touches him and what not.

Stopping to window shop is a bad idea--because when I do that, I usually turn around to find a crowd of gawkers surrounding us. They will just keep coming until I start pushing my stroller over people's feet. It definitely detracts from the shopping experience, and makes me thankful for being able to window shop hassle free in the states. I did score about a kilo of apples for 5RMB, which I thought was just pure awesome. That's like 75 cents for 2.2 lbs!

Mrs. Singapore flanked by gawkers as she watched the boys while we climbed the temple stairs.

We climbed to the top

Nanchan Temple



A monk

On Thursday, Sal and I walked to Subway with Mrs. North Carolina and Mrs. Michigan for lunch. It was so nice out that we grabbed our lunches and sat at outdoors at a little cafe where we tried out their drink menu. Being that I am not a coffee or tea lover, I tried out the "Lime Green Lemon Lime Soda"...and it was just that---Sprite with lime green syrup added. Hellllloh sugar high! I think next time I'll give seltzer water a try. The hostess quickly moved us inside when it started to drizzle, cause you know, the baby might catch a cold or something!




Lunch with the ladies...Thursday

Friday was our busiest by far--my driver took Mrs. Michigan and me to IKEA where we met up with Mrs. North Carolina and Mrs. Barcelona for a shopping fiesta! I lllllllooooove IKEA here. Not so much at home, but here---it's a sense of security and familiarity. It's quite funny to go into someone Else's home here and see so many of the same items you have in your home though. Guess we all have good taste! We sat down to lunch before heading home, and all in all, it's nice to have other ladies to shop with! No rushing or anyone telling you not to buy things (which reminds me of this blog, which splits my side every time I read it)--actually, NZ is a pretty good sport about the things I buy and shopping that I do, since I am usually pretty spendthrift. After my grand purchase of 15 RMB ($2.25) for a pair of gray oven mitts, I walked out satisfied. Once we were done at IKEA, I dropped Sal off with his dad for an hour or so, and delivered supper to a couple who just welcomed a daughter.

I got home, kicked my shoes off after such an eventful day ( yes, shopping can wear a girl out!!!) and settled on the couch with my iPad. We ended up accepting an invite from the Michigan's for supper, so we grabbed a couple taxi's and headed out for some live music and German food. It was a really fun night, and the kids danced on stage, Sal got serenaded by a possible tranny singing Justin Bieber's "Baby baby song", and we returned home well fed and feeling like we've started to really live life over here, rather than just survive.


And that, my friends, is a good feeling.

Suzhou day trip

Humble Administrator's Garden, Suzhou

This past Saturday, NZ, Sal and I joined our friends, the Royals for a day trip to Suzhou. The initial idea was to take the train into Suzhou and get some tailor made clothing made for the boys ( and maybe sneak a dress or two in for the girls). We also wanted to do some  sightseeing, so we decided between a museum and a garden walk.



Suzhou

Pretty much anywhere you go in China on the weekend will be busy. Wall to wall people. Suzhou was no exception. The line for the museum wrapped around the corner,  so we made a split second decision to do the garden walk instead--even if it was sweltering outside. The guys went and got tickets while we girls did our best to avoid the crippled beggar man on a home depot cart with mad rolling skills. He kept circling us asking for money and just about took Donna out at the knees on his last go round.

MEO. MEO. MEO! ( Don't have. Don't have. Don't have!)

Once inside the garden, it was a bit shadier, but not really any cooler. It was very pretty and there were a lot of architecturally neat rocks and buildings inside the gates.

The Zentils in Suzhou

As you can see by the photos, it was HOT out there. Like not just heat hot, but humid hot. I can't even begin to explain the humidity here. I've never ( not even in Texas) felt anything that compares..... I'm quite certain we all lost at least 2 kilos just walking around and sweating all day. We were all super hot messes, but didn't let that curtail the photograph taking. The boys were smart, bringing extra shirts and underwear so that they could spare the tailor their sweat soaked shirts during measurements.

From the Humble Administrator's Garden, we took cabs to the lake in Suzhou and ate the best Mexican food we've found here. It was a great retreat from the heat and we all walked out with full bellies. From the lake, we took the metro into the city again, to go to the tailor's shop. We arrived to the tailor only to find a sign taped to the door--closed the 19th and 20th.

BOOO!

We did try another tailor, but the prices were white people prices--and they weren't willing to budge on price. So, we walked out and decided we will go back another time for clothes to be made. No sense paying more just because we are white---which happens a lot here. We pay more for vegetables and fruit than our ayi does--or than my friend from Singapore does. It doesn't make me mad, but it is a tad bit frustrating when I sit back and think about it. I try to just be thankful that we have the money to buy things, but I also don't want to be taken a fool here by the locals.

We walked around an outdoor mall with many stores blaring techno music. It felt like we were in a nightclub duel walking from storefront to storefront. There's only so much of that stuff a girl can take (as mentioned a zillion other times in this blog, this girl doesn't do techno--talk about agitation!). To beat the heat, we grabbed 3 RMB ice cream cones from KFC, which is like an ice cream cone for 50 cents! I'll have 4 more, please!

Sal goes for geek chic in some lensless glasses. They're the rage here.

I think the sun had gotten to us by this point, so we hopped in taxis and headed back to the train station. Sal had to ride in front ( no airbags in taxis here--and the only seat belt is in the front seat in most of them--so please please please, spare me the lectures...being belted in his car seat is far beyond what most do here) and I was afraid we might crash because the taxi driver took a liking to him and was so busy making faces and smiling at him that there's no chance his eyes were on the road. Taxi driving here is not for the faint at heart.

By the time we arrived back to Wuxi and hopped in the cue to grab a taxi home, Sal had had enough for one day. He pitched a fit like no other ( his first and only fit of the day--he was a happy guy the entire day up to this point) and was Sca-ream-ing and calling all the pterodactyls in China from this hot stuffy line we had to stand in. Good thing there were only about 150 people in front of us in a cue line that zig zagged back in forth about 4 times. Were we waiting for a ride at Disneyland or for a taxi? It's so easy to forget. Oh--no cameras around the necks? Must be a taxi line.

Sorry it's sideways. My iphone pics come out this way sometimes. Sal's first train ride.

Some Chinese guy, presumably a black taxi driver ( private taxi--they charge an arm and a leg, and most their cars are black in color--hence, black taxi) came up to NZ yelling at him. Pointing to our screaming child and telling us to follow him. NZ insisted that we not go with him, and the guy just yelled more, threw his arms in the air and walked off. Pouting anyone? He came back another time and just did the same thing..Yelled, threw his arms in the air and pulled aside a railing. Thankfully, a guy in line in front of us, somehow managed to let us know that they were allowing us to skip the line to the very front. The waving taxi guy wasn't a black taxi driver after all. He was just trying to tell us we could go to the front. Apparently, screaming babies are the ticket to line jumping.

How do ya like that?

A taxi pulled up, we hopped in, and off we went.

Just like that.

Not a bad way to end a super fun day in Suzhou!

Turtle head Park

Aside from our trip to Shanghai to meet up with NZ's cousin, we have yet to do any sight seeing. Before anyone chastises us for our lack of getting out and about...let me just say one thing.

It's freakin' hot outside.

And humid.

And hot..oh, I already said that..

Because it's totally like walking out of the building straight into a Bikram Yoga studio. The humidity just takes your breath away and you feel the urge to down-a-gallon-of-water-to-replace-what-I-just-sweat out in the first 5 minutes of breathing the summer air.

Stifling.

And if that's not enough, I'll throw the baby in there as an excuse. Yep, I just used Sal as a scapegoat.  In all actuality, he is the main reason we have yet to really get out and do much exploring of our area, other than air conditioned supermarkets and jumbo malls. Simply put, this kind of heat, for long periods of exposure, is just too dangerous for a little guy like him. Babies overheat so easily, and we're within the mindset that we really really don't want to test out any emergency rooms here.

That being said, I've got many local attractions, that come fall, will fill our weekends up with exploring our new city and its surround.

Thankfully this morning, we woke up to cooler weather ( 85 F at 8:30a) and a nice breeze--okay, the breeze was more like gusts of wind, but it really made it feel much more bearable outside...So, we did it. We left the building to do something fun!

We packed the backpack and the boy up and headed to Turtle head Park Isle ( Yuan Tou Zhu), which is located on the shore of Lake Taihu, our local lake. Lake Taihu is the 3rd largest fresh water lake in all of China. Here in China, it is common to pay a fee to enter a park, much like one would do in a US National park, such as Yosemite. We each paid 150 RMB to enter, the equivalent of $24 USD.

We had asked the driver to come back in an hour and a half, but easily could have spent the better part of a day there wandering the gardens and staircases to traditional Chinese buildings located within the park. We only saw about half of the attractions, since we were tight on time, and definitely plan on returning in fall when no one is in danger of heat stroke. I hear that in fall, the foliage is beautiful reds, oranges and yellows---something that we southern California bred kids rarely experience, seeing as the only way we know that winter has arrived is that people start to wear jeans with their flip flops.

                       

We returned from our hike, a sweaty mess, but are looking forward to going back once Autumn arrives so that we can see the trees change color and visit the other half of the park that we missed today.