China Romance
All About China => Your trip to China => Topic started by: Irishman on February 09, 2010, 12:35:23 pm
-
I'm off to China for my fourth visit - my third to Guangzhou, and liekly for the best trip of them all!
This time I am going back into the arms of my lovely Sunny, the last three months away from her has seemed eternal.
This trip will be extra special because I will be sharing the Chinese New Year experience with her family , I feel so privileged. I hope that I can make a good impression and be welcomed as a future member of her family.
I also hope that we can decide on a wedding date. That would just be the most happy thing I have ever experienced. To know that I will be married to a girl like Sunny just seems so impossible, so nice, I can scarcely believe it will happen!
Of course I am looking forward to hopefully meeting up with a couple of the brothers i haven't met before and meeting up with Ted and being introduced to his lovely wife.
Ted , I wont forget to bring the oregano for you as promised!
I hope you all have as wonderful a Chinese New year time as I hope to have, thank you all for helping to bring me this far, it hasn't all been plain sailing but now the water is smooth , the weather is good and I see a beautiful tropical paradise just ahead :D
-
Ahh man thats awesome brother, have a great time and a great holiday. Good luck w/ the family and your wedding plans.
-
Irish
Have a great and safe trip! Good luck with Sunny and all your plans.
-
Best of Luck Irish..
-
Ronan,
not that you need it, but good luck. Hope everything goes as planned.
Don
-
Hey mate enjoy your trip bro:icon_biggrin:
-
Hey, have a great New Year and light off lots of fireworks and all the best to you and Sunny. When you return, lets hope it is as a
married man.
-
great irishman looking forward to meeting up with you and also
meeting Sunny. see you soon
Ted
-
Thanks guys, really looking forward to this trip, promises to be a special one :)
-
Thanks guys, really looking forward to this trip, promises to be a special one :)
Go and sit down Ronan and have a cup of tea.
We do not want you getting too excited now as you will have enough excitement when you get back here. I mean to say meeting Ted and the boys - what more could a man ask for!!!!!!LOL
Willy
-
Have agood trip Irish. Wish I could get down there but it looks like Mama and family will be here. Should be interesting. By the way, paperbus does work on getting to favcebook, etc. Works well.
-
Have a great trip
-
Irishman,I think you donn't need to bring any present, Because you are a present !
-
Can I have Sunny's Email address? I want to send her pictures of Leprechauns. That should get her thinking about them again!
-
Irishman,I think you donn't need to bring any present, Because you are a present !
Thanks, hopefully they see it that way too!
I am here now, flew in via Beijing which was icy cold, was glad it was only a stopover there! Cool here too but nothing compared to home.
There are little orange trees everywhere and the Chinese equivalent of xmas trees igues with the red envelopes instead of glitter decorating them, very cool.
Sunny is in work today so getting used to new surroundings , have a nice apartment beside South China University stop which is very convienient.
Had breakfast of a pot of tea, 5 dumplings, a weird sweet soup with rice and fruit in it (i just pointed as it looked nice!) and a kind of spring roll, for 10RMB which is the right price.
Its good to be back!
-
Martin WHERE did you get pictures of me? (Leprechauns) hahaha:icon_cheesygrin::icon_cheesygrin:
-
Irish , the best of Luck on this fourth Trip . All good things come in "four's" .... or was that three ?? :icon_cheesygrin:
-
Hope you don't get stopped at the border with all those shamrocks in your pocket...:icon_cheesygrin:
-
Irishman,
all that for 10 rmb??great i usually pay 5 to 10 rmb for 4 to 6 dumplings around here???
unless my wife makes them on the weekend with her stuffed mushrooms also and the
homemade chow mein
-
Irishman,
all that for 10 rmb??great i usually pay 5 to 10 rmb for 4 to 6 dumplings around here???
unless my wife makes them on the weekend with her stuffed mushrooms also and the
homemade chow mein
Homemade is always nice , however this place does killer steamed dumplings, i have to restrain myself from odering another serving of five as i could eat em til my stomach exploded they are that good. The place is about a five minute walk from Zhujiang New Town on line 3 and its cheap and fast and clean. Everything is in Chinese though you can point an guess for the more unusual stuff - adds to the experience in my opinion :)
I just say jiaozi with a crazy look in my eye ( think Martin without a dumpling in sight) and it gets the job done.
-
Welcome home Rhonan ? China is quite comfortable, isn't it? I hope I can move here soon, the more time I spend here, the more I love it. I just need to learn the language and I think life will be good here, it already feels comfortable now, it will be hard to leave again especially with my sweetheart staying here, I better book a new ticket soon :icon_cheesygrin:
-
Irishman,
new town is very close to the house maybe 15 minute bus or taxi ride and 5 stops on
the metro. maybe we could go there for lunch next week. then i will know were it is. i
know i havent been there becuase i would remember the price. i guess i have settled
well here as i now tend to look at prices and say "to much" at times even though it
is still dirt cheap:icon_cheesygrin:
and i hope that one day you get to taste my wifes homemade dumplings
and her large mushrooms stuffed with the pork and veg are awesome also
-
Sounds good Ted we will do that for sure.
Well the big day is here. The day I get to meet the folks.
Sunny is in the shower right now and I'm sitting here more than a little nervious. I think it will be fine and overall a pleasurable experience but there is no denying I wish I was writing about it in the past tense!
Its cold and rainy in Guangzhou, I seemed to have brought the cold weather with me, it was apparently in the high
20's C a few days ago, msn shows it as 6C here now! I brought warm clothes this time so its fine.
Hope everyone else heree has a wonderful New Years celebration too, try and get some dumplings to participate :)
-
Warm Clothes --- check ; chain on my Wallet --- *^#@* darn .. I knew I forgot something . Hahaha
Sunny in Shower --- you lucky Dude !!!
-
...and her large mushrooms stuffed with the pork and veg are awesome also
Isn't that just for yourself to know...:icon_cheesygrin::icon_cheesygrin: Or are we talking about food....lol
Ted sorry could not let this pass
-
we are talking about food Rob :@
-
You guys are gonna weigh 300 lbs by the time the women get done feeding you...hahaha
I hear those dumplings go right to the waist.....willy are you listening?
-
We made dumplings last night. Right, I said WE. of course mine looked like an oblong roll but still edible. Gina made the stuffing and the dough, then her brother, sister in law and I stuffed them and rolled them. They were good. Gina tried to get me to say they were better than her Mama's. I did not fall into that trap.
-
Funny you mention that Jim . Qing also asks me if her cooking is as good as her Dad's ? So I tell her it tastes exactly like your Dad's . This is of course not the answer she is wishing for , but she has to be satisfied with it . haha I also plan on helping her with the next Dumpling adventure and see if mine will make the grade or not .
PS : Isn't it time for an Up-date from our Man from Irland ?
-
Arnold,
he has been busy meeting the family and no news is good news as
they have probably welcomed him in the family in a big way:icon_cheesygrin:
also it would be interesting to get the nutrition facts on the dumplings as
i do love my dumplings and the family goes out of the way to buy me dumplings
or make homemade ones for me.
-
We'll give him another day . It's not like him to stay silent for too long . I hope it's the home made Cooking that's keeping him .:P
-
he has still been quite? maybe the family is really giving him the once over :huh:
-
Maybe he made the same mistake I did, and told the family about leprechauns. I made the mistake of mentioning this to Sunny when we met last November in GZ, and I guess she really believed me that they were real. Irishman might have the family out looking for the pot of gold.
-
It is not like him? When he goes to China it is very much like him. He has taken 3 trips, I think, since I joined and all 3 trips he will disappear for a while.
-
Perhaps they found a bottle of aged Irish Wiskey for him....haha
or a pub full of Irishmen and
"little people"...:icon_cheesygrin::icon_cheesygrin::icon_cheesygrin:
-
Perhaps they found a bottle of aged Irish Wiskey for him....haha
or a pub full of Irishmen and
"little people"...:icon_cheesygrin::icon_cheesygrin::icon_cheesygrin:
HOI you taking my stature in vain...LOL:icon_cheesygrin::icon_cheesygrin:
-
No Rob, Scottsmen have scotts wiskey and hagis
Irishmen have Irish whiskey and any other whiskey they can find.....hahaha
Now, Scottsmen can get blasted and still remain gentilmen and get along.
Irishmen get blasted and blasted and blasted and don't get along very well in pubs.they also forget their married as long as there are a couple of sheep in the pub
...hahaha :icon_cheesygrin::icon_cheesygrin::icon_cheesygrin:
Just kidding Irishmen....no offence...:icon_cheesygrin:
-
...they also forget their married as long as there are a couple of sheep in the pub
...hahaha :icon_cheesygrin::icon_cheesygrin::icon_cheesygrin:
He he I thought it was the Welshmen that liked the Sheep...lol
Ps
Any Welshmen on here...:icon_eek: (looks around to check...)...lol
-
...they also forget their married as long as there are a couple of sheep in the pub
...hahaha :icon_cheesygrin::icon_cheesygrin::icon_cheesygrin:
He he I thought it was the Welshmen that liked the Sheep...lol
Ps
Any Welshmen on here...:icon_eek: (looks around to check...)...lol
Oi !!!!........Now look you here...boyo !!!
I may be an Australian now, but your post made me rise to the defence of my Welsh roots......and no, they werent sheep either :icon_cheesygrin::icon_cheesygrin:
If you Haggis bashers could take a break now and again from "tossing your caber" (!!!!)...you might find those hairy Highland Cattle a lot more attractive !!!
And I hope you realise the sacrifice I have made to rise to the defence of the Welsh and write this post ????
I have dragged myself away from a large , warm bed...and a small hot Chinese Woman ........such dedication :icon_cheesygrin::icon_cheesygrin:
Now she will want to know what was more important than her at this time...how do you explain "small , mad Scotsman in a kilt" to a Chinese Lady ??????
I know I will pay a heavy price for this (hahahaha)
David
-
Damn? What's going on with the computer? I see David posted but all writing is just two letters?? It just keeps repeating.... Baaaaa baaa baaaa :icon_cheesygrin:
-
Hahaha ... Vince , this happens when .. one's Hand is out of Bed and the other in Bed with the Lady .:blush:
Soon we will call missing Person Bureau in Ireland and let them know ... they lost a Citizen in China .:huh:
While we are looking for lost Persons , where is Paul ?
-
Damn? What's going on with the computer? I see David posted but all writing is just two letters?? It just keeps repeating.... Baaaaa baaa baaaa :icon_cheesygrin:
ROFLMAO....LOL hahahahahaha:icon_cheesygrin::icon_cheesygrin::icon_cheesygrin:
Absolutely brilliant Vince...Hahahahahaha:icon_cheesygrin::icon_cheesygrin::icon_cheesygrin:
Now she will want to know what was more important than her at this time...how do you explain "small , mad Scotsman in a kilt" to a Chinese Lady ??????
Awww David I didn't know you cared:heart::blush::angel:
but I am with someone now...:huh: But I am flattered ;-))
LOL...:icon_cheesygrin::icon_cheesygrin:
-
I think he turned his back to you or maybe she pulled him around to face her.
-
Now she will want to know what was more important than her at this time...how do you explain "small , mad Scotsman in a kilt" to a Chinese Lady ??????
Who wants to explain 'small, mad Scotsman in a kilt' to ANYONE?
Willy
-
aawww, the other hand was holding the bag pipe.....:icon_cheesygrin:
-
Rumours of my demise are grossly exaggerated!
As usual, no news is good news on these trips :)
I have been having a wonderful time this trip I am very happy to report. Sunny and I are more loved up than ever :heart:
For most of my first week here we spent the days at her folks place . I have been spoiled rotten! The food is utterly incredible, if you like Chinese food than a weeks worth of home cooking will probably be your idea of heaven, mine certainly is!!
We made dumplings with auntie (mother is to be called auntie until we get married apparently) a couple of days ago and i am ashamed to admit i gorged myself in a style that would even make the dumpling monster Martin blush!! They gave me a big bowl of dumplings, which i polished off in no ti,me, then uncle gave me half of his plate, then auntie gave me about another five or so from the emergency (lao wai is running low stockpile), i think it was north of 25 or so before i was done :icon_twisted:
Thankfully for me this is a complement to aunties cooking and she wanted to discuss the wedding idea later...so i must have done good!
She gave her blessing and Sunny beamed from ear to ear as didi I, boy I was sweating it as she asked me very straight questions!
Sunny's sister was visiting GZ for the last week and it was the first time she saw her folks for a year so Sunny and I made a point of bringing her out with us, we went to the circus, to see Avatar - the first 3d movie any of us ever saw and was a massive hit with all!
I think probably this went down well with auntie and it was nice to see Sunny so happy so her smile of course made it worthwhile. Probably the next time the sister will see us will be at our wedding :heart:
I dunno if Ted has written about the weather the last week here in GZ already on the forum but boy oh boy, it was unbelievably cold!! Everyday was windy with a damp drizzly wind that just chilled totally to the bone. By the third day of it i cracked and said enough is enough, I REFUSE to be chilled like this, its just ridiculous to be soooooooo cold even indoors! So we got a heater fro 190RMB or so and the difference was like night and day in the apartment, even Sunny was clearly enjoying the warmth!
Its funny, one of her friends met a American on chnlove and he was visiting last week and he bought a heater on the same day, i just thought it funny that we both cracked on the same day! Lao wai must be good for the home heating business in GZ!!
The weather now is thankfully warming up again but the pollution is back, buildings only a 100 meters away look gray again - no doubt I'll have a sore throat tomorrow and a smokers cough again in a few days. yesterday it was sunny and so nice walking around in the warmth, i wish i took my camera. I brought it today but the light is terrible with pollution...she shedding of layers on the womenfolk is not the hardest on the eyes i have to admit though :icon_cheesygrin:
I am struggling with a problem - the apartment sunny rented for us is near Ganding area which is a bit computer part of the city - they have malls just for computer stuff and outside the street sellers sell all kinds of electronic stuff.
There are fake - every kind of phones. I am sooorely tempted to get one of those fake iphones!! There seems to be three types of them, a regular one without 3g, or wireless which sells for about 350RMB, one with wireless for about 570RMB and one with 3g for around 1200RMB I would like to get a wireless one but Sunny said the street seller told her that i needed to sign up to a data provider to use that - i think he is confusing it with 3g maybe? I had a look at it and there was a wireless option on it and i did connect to a wireless network but he took it back off me before i could figure out how to open a browser and try getting online with it - any techie types care to speculate on this? All the iphone clones have two simslots and little on-board memory the have an sd slot instead which would be fine at the price point.
That's all for now, Sunny is working this weekend (both Saturday and Sunday) to make up for the holiday days off, she is going to try and request some more time off next week. I hope we can meet up with Ted then for dinner.
I hope you all are having as nice a New Years holiday as I am (it really is like Christmas here, the Metro line wasn't packed for the last week, REALLY weird!!, but is back to normal jammers now).
At the end of the festival Sunny and I will visit her folks again for more good food and to enjoy ore fireworks, downtown Baghdad is not a patch on this place when the fireworks get going! The inner child in me really enjoys the noise and the spectacle!!
-
Hey Ronan,
Glad to see you're alive and well and kicking. Hopefully we'll get to hear more specifics about your (mis)adventures. :icon_cheesygrin:
-
Congratulations Irish. Glad things are going well.
I saw this article today about cheap, knock-off iphones. Maybe you will find something worthwhile: http://apple.slashdot.org/story/10/02/19/2126221/What-You-Get-When-You-Buy-a-40-iPhone-In-a-Bar
-
Haha ... funny how a couple hundred of Yuan's can keep them from being COLD and being comfortable and cozy in a warmer Home .
The weather really is crazy all over the Globe . But as long the Heart is warm the Blood will flow at a higher Temperature . Is that not right Irish ? Awesome to hear things are going as well as they can for you and Sunny . Please bring us more of the same and a Photo or two would be nice too .:icon_cheesygrin:
-
Thanks guys, I'll try and post some photos later. I am using the laptop i got sunny and its all in Chinese so I'm struggling to do simple stuff like understanding app menus.
On another note, does anyone know where to find a Mocha maker like the below in Guangzhou - Starbucks do them but are rip off pricing even by western standards never-mind Chinese.
(http://www.coffee-maker-review.net/images/bialetti-sixshot-stovetop-mocha-pot-espresso-maker-21165445.jpg)
-
Ronan.
Good to hear everything's fine with you over there, some of us were getting worried!!! lol!!!
That looks to me, as a good old fashioned Italian style coffee maker that you put on the hob to heat up. There normally sold in the hardware stores, but not too sure about in China. You will definitly find one back in Ireland though, just look round the bigger department stores like Debenhams, House of Frasier and the like. They do make a really good cup of coffee with the right brand of ground coffee, ....That's for sure ...lol!!
David....
-
does anyone know where to find a Mocha maker like the below in Guangzhou - Starbucks do them but are rip off pricing even by western standards never-mind Chinese.
Link to Walmart - China locations (http://www.wal-martchina.com/english/walmart/wminchina.htm)
-
Ronan,
Glad to see all is well.
Vince,
You never cease to amaze me. You find all kinds of things even with a TRS-80. :icon_cheesygrin:
Shaun
-
there is a new Sams club open in Guangzhou also that wasnt on the list
but has very few foriegn items for sell in it. was a little disapointed as i was
looking for a few items from back home like" jack links beef jerky " still havent
found a good beef jerky here to snack on:@
-
Ted fill me in on 'Jack links beefy Jerky' It sounds as it that Sam Club is great fun. Next time I come to GZ I am off there to find a women who will perform that for me. Just need to know what to expect!!!!!:angel::angel:
Willy
-
its food Willy hahahaha not what your thinking
but i will find you some girls for all your messages :icon_cheesygrin:
just dont tell angel i did that
-
Where there's a Walmart, there will be a Sam's Club. Same Company. Well there's no Costco in mainland China. No BJ's that I know of there? I don't know where else you can find that beef jerky?
-
look to a store that has an Indian owner, I am sure they will have one. Everywhere I look here I see stores with ton's of it.
And most are owned by some family from India.
Willy, try a massage parlor...you'll probably find one called
"Sam's club" 10 won for massage, 20 for a massage with happy
ending......:icon_cheesygrin:
-
Vince costco is alive and well in Beijing.I seen a delivery truck.With costco written on the side of it jist outside of Beijing.
-
Ted, the local supermarket here does a great chili jerky, i go though it by the lb at this stage!
I just asked sunny to show me where the jerky was at and I now help myself, they have a kind of pick'n'mix counter at the supermarket here.
Talking of massage parlors , Sunny and I had foot massage yesterday which was great :D
Weather today is warm and sunny, very nice, getting hotter too later in the week. Sunny and I are planning a day trip down to Shenzen later on in the week - she hasn't seen the city and has never seen the sea so it promises to be good fun for all concerned.
-
which supermmarket is that Ronan??
-
Rhonan,
I can fill you in on the fake iPhones a little ... there is a "3GS" that has Wifi, 3G, dual SIM, dual cam. In Shenzhen it was offered to me at 850 RMB and I tested the wifi which worked no problems. I was also told that battery life is better than the original and that any iPhone apps will work on it (cloned iPhone OS on there). Since you'll be local, get the seller to commit to a warranty as some models (not sure about this one, the seller said the one with TV antenna had quality issues, not this one, but then he's the seller right?) seem to have problems.
I'll get one when I move to China or maybe a 4GS by that time lol
Frank
-
which supermmarket is that Ronan??
Its not one of the big chain stores Ted, the name is in Chinese also which doesn't help! Its accross the main road to the right the C exit at South China Normal University MTR stop.
Boy, is it heaven in Guangzhou today!
Its about 28°C with a light breeze and sunshine, the locals ladies are shedding clothes and I just shared lunch with Sunny and she showed me around her office which was nice (the work canteen lunch was 8RMB for a huge meal i couldn't even finish...great value and quality!).
She's back in work now and I'm nursing a cold beer, it doesn't get any better than this :icon_cheesygrin:
-
It is too darn cold in Beijing. I am freezing my butt off. I got a cold on the 14th and have not been able to shake it off. Down in my lungs now. Good thing my wife is a nurse, she is giving me IV's everyday for 3 days. I envy you the weather Irish. I wont be back in February again, at least not in the north.
-
Forecast warm (high 20's C all week) here Jim for the next week, Ted and i would welcome you to Guangzhou for sure if you can swing it :)
It was below 10°C here for my first week, i couldn't believe it with damp cold, really chilling to the bone. Then the weather then changed and got 20°C hotter within 48 hours, nuts!! Inside all the walls and stone floors are slick with the moisture and the subway has has had a bunch of outages due to the amount of water condensing on the still cold surfaces.
Its crazy to see it for me- but Sunny assures me it is normal here for the time of year here.
-
this is very normal for GZ this time of year and yes the women are shedding clothes
so its time to put the blinders on so i dont get in trouble looking :dodgy:
-
Wow, women shedding clothes, GZ sounds great. On the other hand in Japan the young women think there's nothing strange about wearing stockings and suspenders and garters in the street - if I had a Japanese wife and we went to her home town can you just imagine the trouble I would get in for looking!!!
It's slightly spring-like in the UK today but the weekend weather forecast is horrendous. This has been a nightmare winter, especially as nobody can be bothered to clear pavement ice anymore :dodgy:.
-
Hahaha ... all I do is go to Venice Beach here in LA . Nothing left to the imagination with some of those Women ... skating , biking or just sunning themselves . Since I can have three GF , it's not a NO-NO for me .:icon_cheesygrin::blush:
-
Arnold,
i remember Venice beach quite well from my younger days lol got myself in quite a few
situations there lol
i need to give you my home phone in China so your wife can tell my wife the benefits of
me having 3 girlfreinds hahahahah
just kidding of course as i have a really wonderful lady here in Guangzhou
-
We had freezing rain this morning. spent the day inside. Decided to stay in bed until 10:30. I love the cuddle up time. then we went ot the Generals home for lunch. I wish we could come to GZ, but I leave in four days and still have some things to get done.
Jia Fu and YunXiang
-
well Jim can we hope to see some pics soon?
-
I can see you Irish ... but I have nothing to read !!!:icon_cheesygrin:
Hope for some great update soon and I'm sure so are other's . I know you in good Hands , but think of us .
-
yes i was wondering were all your pics are? lol