Yesterday we went to the 6Banyan Tree Temple and the Sun-Yat Sen Memorial. Contrary to popular belief, not everyone who stays at the Westin uses taxis. Especially, when taxis here have never even seen an infant car seat, much less used one. So we took the subway.

There were some interesting stops along the way. One is Peasant Movement Institute. Who knew that you could go to school to learn how to start a revolution? Some classes include “Unwieldy Pitchfork Carrying 101″ and “Torch Safety II”. Coincidentally Martyr’s Park is right next door.

(map custom deconstructed by MissG’s grubby paw)

You may have noticed that beuk.tv was down for bit. This is because after Startlogic (our hosting provider) decided to change our server with out telling us and then proceeding to take us offline for basically the month of December, we got a lil upset and have left them more over spite than anything. Now we are proud to have not only our content but domain names as well all hosted by GoDaddy. It is working great so far and the support is excellent. 

The big question on your mind is WHERE IS GIOIA? I know, I know. Today I managed to call Beijing who is issuing us the letter to go to Chong Qing. They said that the letter was sent yesterday and should arrive this weekend. If that is true then TUESDAY we will be on our way and should have her in our arms Wednesday morning! YAY!

In other news we are interviewing nannies. It is a little tough as they tend to speak only Mandarin, if that. Meaning some speak only Taiwanese, BUT they are good candidates and are extremely protective of children. I just need to figure out how to provide them insurance (seriously, they asked).

In the mean time enjoy some of these pictures of what we have been doing lately, and if you scroll all the way down you just might find a surprise!

We made a big footed bunny for my Chinese teacher. Her comment when she saw it… “I thought you were going to make me a doll!” :( BFB is now enjoying life on a Chinese sofa.

I have been trying to stay away from beer, because I seriously think it is making me fat. The other day though I had one in a pub with a friend. When they brought it I was shocked! Truly American size. Look at how big the glass is to my hand! IT was a BIIIIIGGG glass.

I found out what the noise was under our window. Apparently, people are just too good for “REAL” bricks anymore. Chock this up for what else can be fake in Asia. The bricks are just a red facade covering concrete. The concrete is cracking so they remove the brick, plaster in some more concrete and then lay the red facade back. The noise??? The ETCH OUT EACH BRICK by hand with a circular saw. No lie. Only in Asia!

This here’s one of them new fangled beauty saloons. In case you wanted to get a beer and a spot o’ whiskey with your haircut their pardner!

If the saloon is not your thing, perhaps you would like to unwind at the Dublin Teppanyaki Restaurant. Irish Sumo night is murder though. Get there early.

and as promised we did manage to find a few more pics of Baby G. Enjoy!