Hot Pot 季季红

Hot in every way.

Harbin Binchun

Baizu Silver

Where's All the Good Food Pictures?

Well, since I've been on this tour, there aren't any. In fact, last nights dinner, included pork stomach, pork colon and beef tendons, all things I'd rather not eat. I've managed to find the only cooked on the spot food in the hotel buffet breakfast. Thanks for the noodles.

Snow Beer

Bai jiu

Yanjing Fresh Beer

Yunnan Lancangjaing Pijiu

Poster from Cultural Revolution

Wind, Flower, Snow and Moon

Dali Beer.

Chandelier in the Regents Hotel, Baizu Old City, Dali, Cina

Lijiang from the 14th Floor

Lijiang > Dali

Dali V6

I am in Shangra-la ...

…I think.  There's apparently some disagreement on the subject.  https://maps.google.com.hk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=shangri-la&aq=&sll=27.070285,100.251789&sspn=0.085446,0.154324&vpsrc=6&brcurrent=3,0x0:0x0,0&ie=UTF8&hq=shangri-la&hnear=&ll=26.975933,100.202179&spn=0.342071,0.617294&t=m&z=11 shows it on the same side of the mountain from Lijiang.  Which is where I am.  I am going to go with it.  I am in Shangri-la. Latte-da. 

I'm in Shangri-la ...

…I think.  There’s apparently some disagreement on the subject.  https://maps.google.com.hk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=shangri-la&aq=&sll=27.070285,100.251789&sspn=0.085446,0.154324&vpsrc=6&brcurrent=3,0x0:0x0,0&ie=UTF8&hq=shangri-la&hnear=&ll=26.975933,100.202179&spn=0.342071,0.617294&t=m&z=11 shows it on the same side of the mountain from Lijiang.  Which is where I am.  I am going to go with it.  I am in Shangri-la. Latte-da.

Yunnan Tamarind

Harbin Beer

Kunming > Dali > Lijiang by 7 Hour Bus Ride

Hot Pot

Dali V8

Dali V8

Arrive in Kunming

Fly to Kunming

Windows 7 Sucks ... I Am Sure Windows Nine will Make the Rest of My Hardware Obsolete

Windows you blow.  I am never going to buy another product of yours, ever.  I grabbed a sweet new laptop to take to China and assumed (stupidly, I could add) that my current memory card reader would work.  It doesn’t.  Why not? Total mystery.  Then, I transferred a truckload of data to a new memory stick  bought in China … can Windoze 3.1 recognize it … probably.  Windows 7, no. 

So from now on.  I will only buy Macs.  You totally screwed my plan.

Pizza!

Pearl River Lager Beer

Day 1 -- Birthday Party

Breakfast in Renhe, Guangdong, China.

Southern China Day1.

It's currently the fifth of March 2014 and I am in a suburb of Guangzhou, China,and it's late in the day.  Today actually stated at 5 AM on the west coast of California, Monday March 3, when I woke up.  I went to work finalize some things and got on a plane at 11:10 that night, there was a one hour delay taking off from SFO, which caused a lot of sweat 16 time zones away, when we had to run through the Honng Kong terminal to make our connecting flight to Guangzhou. 

Right now it is 5 AM Wednesday, on the West coast, so I have been awake for 48 hours. 

Included in today was an awesome lunch of mostly noodles and some pork, winter melon, along other awesome flavors, a trip to a farm which raised a variety of pets, including mice, guinea pigs and goldfish.  There were Chinese cymbidiums and an award winning flock of homing pigeons.  After that there was a birthday party for my girlfriend's 92 year old mother, which was a lot of fun. 

For now, I am off to bed.  Apparently, I am not going to be able to upload pictures taken in China on my Iphone to blogger. 


 

The Mysteries of Asia Unlocked -- Gloria's Hot and Sour Soup

Tonight Smiley made hot and sour soup, which I was told, contains hundreds of ingredients and takes hours to make.

Not true, apparently.   

You will need:

1/4 c. dried black fungus

1/4 c. dried daylilies

100g package of preserved vegetables 

4 T. cornstarch 

4 T. water

3 cups water 

1 12 oz can of chicken stock 

1 lb of lean pork

1 ordinary package of supreme soft tofu

1 egg
4 tablespoons Chili sauce
60 ml of vinegar.
Salt to taste
Fine black pepper to taste

Soak a handful of Black Fungus and a handful (about1/4 cup) of dried Daylilies (many restaurants would use bamboo shoots)  in water for a while to soften and start a large pot containing 2-3 cups of water and a can of chicken stock to boiling.   Take about 1 lb of Pork and cut into strip about 1/2" by 2" Add a slurry of 2 T. cornstarch and 2 T. water and set aside.  Mix 2 T. of cornstarch with 2 T. of water and set aside.  

Cut the tofu into strips about 1/4-1/2 by the length of the cube.  Scramble the egg.   Strain the fungus and day lilies and add to the boiling liquid.  Add the pork, the preserved vegetables and the tofu. Add Some of the cornstarch mixture to thicken. judge the thickness based on your history of eating hot and sour soup.  Add the vinegar and the chili sauce. Salt and pepper to rase. Add the egg by stirring and drizzling it around in the soup 

 Serves 6-8.   Enjoy

Packing for China

So -- I am packing for China and at the suggestion of  my friend The Grillmaster, I am bringing my 4x5 with me to China.  I will shoot only roll film and it seems like a win.  All parts packed, it looks like 25 pounds, plus film.

What I am taking:

Wista 4x5 Field Camera
Schneider 90 mm lens
Schneider 210 mm lens
Shneider 135 mm lens
Manfrotto Carbon Fiber Tripod
Slik Tripod Head
Shen Hao 6x17cm 120 Roll Film back
Wista 6x9 Roll Film Back
Shutter Release (2)
Shower Cap
Filters (about 12) and Adapters
Magnifier (2)
Headlamp
Light meter and Spare 9V Battery
Kitchen Timer
Magnifier for Ground Glass (2)
Lens Cloths
Dusting Bulb for Lens
FlareBuster
Hacky Sack

What I am not taking:

Rodenstock 55 mm lens.  Although it covers 8x10, I can't get it to focus in my camera, becase it runs into the camera body before it get short enough to focus.  It's possible that I could fix that ... 

Polaroid holder.
4x5 film holders.
4x5 film.

China!

I booked my flight to China:

03 Mar to Guangzhou
08 Mar to Kunming for a tour of Yunnan province.
15 Mar to Hongkong
26 Mar home.

The travel med docs think I need typhoid plus antibiotics, but no malaria prophylaxis.

Christmas is over, and all through the house ...

not a creature is stirring not even a mouse.

I had a wonderful Christmas.  Family, friends and an abundance of love.

My family, and my friends are amazing.  It started with a party night with friends on Friday.  Then a short vacation to Mendocino with Smiley.  3 days in a northern California paradise with the girl I love so much.   I am blessed.

Then family and friends at Christmas eve.  Gifting and the white elephant thing. So fun,

Today was a loved filled calendar,  Merry Christmas everyone.