Now, FOUR Years in China

Despite the upward movement of housing prices in our part of town due to the influx of expats, there’s one thing that is still a bargain here…massages.

I was feeling a bit under-the-weather today and it occurred to me that the spa at the clubhouse is open until midnight. So I rode Lisa’s big pink bike over and walked right up for a hour full body Shiatsu/deep tissue massage. Despite falling asleep briefly, I emerged one hour later feeling great…relaxed with clear sinuses. I walked down, paid my $9 and rode home.

I have spent lots of time describing China, living there, and touring but I haven’t really talked about work. Well, it’s hard to say that this is much different than any consulting engagement in the states except the language barrier. The office isn’t any better or worse than other places I’ve worked. What’s really great is that I can poke into my daughters class at any moment of the day.

The Apple guys from Beijing and Singapore.

Our workspace. The other fellow in the photo is my coworker and new pal Dylan who is from New Zealand. He says “mate” as much as I say “ya know?”.

What’s an Ayi? It’s Chinese for “auntie” and describes the role of a maid/cook/shopper/assistant. It’s almost unheard of for a westerner not to hire an ayi when you move here. Doing things yourself is very difficult and your ayi makes everything smooth (usually). Here’s how it works with an ayi.

Morning - They arrive and walk the kids to the bus stop. They come back and begin cleaning and doing laundry.
Noon - They ride their bike to the supermarket with your list of items and a stack of money…shop, pay and arrange delivery.

Afternoon - They iron all your clothes…underwear included. They take the groceries that have been delivered and put them away. Pick up the kid(s) from the bus and bring them home. Play with them and teach Chinese. Then begin cooking supper.

Early evening - They serve dinner, clear and clean up after you and go home.

Weekend nights (optional) - Babysit

Cost: about $200 / mo….pretty cool.

So we interviewed an older ayi on sunday who spoke great english. Our friends said that an english-speaking ayi is rare and that we should jump on this opportunity. So we asked if she would work for 1 week with us and she agreed.

But there was something really bugging us about this ayi. She was pretty insistent upon hours and rates. She even mentioned the traditional Chinese New Year gift of 1 months pay. This is pretty bold. She also claimed to not cook well. In the end we could tell that she wanted a lot of money for not doing a lot of work.

Secondly, an ayi is a huge lifestyle change. You arrive in China and are surrounded with “foreign” sites, smells, tastes…everything. It envelops your life. Your home (or apartment) is your sanctuary from that…a place to keep China out. An ayi can overwhelm your personal space…especially in an apartment if you are not working at a job. It really becomes their home and they become a “mother”. With Lisa not working somewhere during the day, our concern was that Lisa would go nuts.

It’s very difficult. On one hand you need some help and would gain independence with an ayi but on the other hand, you lose connection with your own sufficiency. A tough trade off.

Unfortunately, this thought didn’t quite gel until 24 hours later when we all three agreed that we weren’t ready for this. I called the ayi and thanked her for coming but asked we cancel our arrangement. She graciously agreed and while I felt like crap, Lisa’s sigh of relief made my awkward call worth it.

We’ll revisit this after we move.

While I technically can’t call this a “review”, tonight we had liters of the best beer in Beijing. It was at the Paulaner brewhaus in the Kempinski Hotel which had fresh, dark microbrew to satisfy the taste buds of the discriminating German expat community. I think I’ll survive here.

Location: Shunyi District near Capital Paradise

While I wouldn’t recommend the commute from Beijing to for this, it was a nice little surprise this evening. I had a menu and ordered take out from The Yard. The experience was surreal because on the other end of the phone was someone speaking nearly perfect american accented english! We had Kueh Paiti which are little vegetable dumpling “cup” appetizers along with Po Piah which is a akin to a springroll. Our main dish was a Nyona mild curry chicken which with potatoes along with a few portions of char grilled chiken and beef satay on skewers. The really decadent treat though is the Roti Plata which is a heavy, oily flatbread which you garnish with onion, cucumber, and some delicious sauces such as spicy peanut, and other flavors which seemed to compliment all items. Lisa and I toasted another victory with 2 16 oz beers that cost $1 at the grocery store.

Without Lisa,

I attended a dinner at Red Basil which is an excellent Thai restaurant in the eastern Chaoyang District. I can’t exactly remember what we ate except that you need to be careful of the red curry chicken hot pot which packs quite a punch. I’m sure we will be revisiting this and I will be able to write a better review.

In our first family adventure in the city alone, without an escort, we ventured to the east Chaoyang district to visit the Noodle Loft which Lisa had read about in an american gourmet magazine. Nobody spoke english but we actually did ok because the menu had english descriptions of the food there.

The ambiance and decor was incredibley hip and urban with a trendy NYC feel. The restaurant has 2 levels…the lower contains the open noodle kitchen where chefs have taken noodle making to an art form. The food centers around Shianxi regional food and I must confess that I’m too fresh off the boat to understand the subtle differences. However, we accepted some recommendations such as the single noodle which is literally a damn long green noodle. We had white noodles for Maddy which she loved. They were plump and chewy with non-uniform, hand cut width. The noodles are served with various sauces and the pork hoisan sauce was great. We also had a sirloin sauce that lacked flavor. The treat was dried stringbeans re-cooked with pork fat. Avoiding the fat, the beans were incredible. We also had a cold vegetable, vinegary appetizer and some dried beef slices.

Our meal was cut short by a phone call that informed us of the discovery of Lisa’s wallet which had been snitched from her purse at IKEA. But otherwise, this is a place we would like to return to in the evening when it’s lit…which will definitely enhance the swank factor.

Noodle Loft Review in Frommers