Chongqing with the Xu family
It feels a little odd putting the two days we spent with E's mother's side of the family into one entry, but unfortunately, it wasn't that eventful. We awoke that morning and was told to come down to their apt and have breakfast around 9am. We had arrived to our room around 2am, but her aunt and uncle were in the boat, so who are we to complain? Their apartment was about a block or two away from hotel room, fully planned. Breakfast was very tasty and we finally got reunited with our original luggage. All of our clothes, toiletries, and plug-ins for our cell phones that weren't used but were dying nonetheless. After allowing us to take our luggage back to our room and cleaning up properly, we headed out to E's Grandmother's burial site and their future apartment. I should elaborate on former. When E came back to China in 2006, she got to see her grandmother, as did E's mother. Her grandmother was hospitalized towards the end of E's trip and died a short time after they left. E and her mother were not able to go to the funeral. In China, the typical way of burial is first cremation, then burial. We were going to where her memorial tablets resided. It took a long time for us to get to their new apt. Both because of traffic and her uncle's driving, just too timid. The apt building was being constructed still (all interior-based). The apt was still in the renovations stage, but you could tell how nice it was going to be. Their son, more on him later, had done a lot of designing many different aspects. They were hoping to have it all done before we came, but even in China, what should take a month is always delayed to 3 or 4 months. We left their future home to visit her grandparents burial site. When we arrived, E, her aunt and cousin purchased items to burn in honor of her grandparents (her grandfather passed long ago). I was there to film the entire ceremony, this was so E's mother could watch it later. After the ceremony, we decided to head back to their apt, that took a long time also. We stopped to have lunch around 1-2p. It was a hot pot place, but not the spicy kind. It was chicken cooked in broth and you would stir in ingredients to eat. It was a good mild lunch. The rest of the afternoon was occupied by me working on job-related stuff.
That night, all of the Xu family that lived in Chongqing or nearby areas came together to eat hot pot. First came a reunion of family, then pictures (I lost a lot of my soul because of so many pics), then we ate. The hot pot had a mild broth bowl in the center, for wimps like me, but the spicy wasn't too spicy. I think that everyone went milder due to me and their older age. I don't think I had Sichuan Spicy while in Chongqing. Something to do next time. The highlight of the night was when E got to see Aunt 7's son. They were good childhood friends. He was a few years younger (b. 1983) and was also a graphic designer/artist. I will say that it is pretty presumptuous for me to say 'also'. This guy is so far out of my league, it would be like a high school athlete saying their as good as a professional. He showed us some of his work, jaw dropping good. He has won awards for his work. He will be an art director (even though he is already leading for some projects) by his early 30s, you can count on that. Something for me to aspire to. The night ended with me leaving early and working some more (only had about an hour previously and had to capitalize actually having internet). E brought her cousin to see pics, thankfully he never asked to see my work. Would have been pathetic.
The next morning we had a wake up call to come eat and we checked out of our clean hotel. Today was shopping day. We took the bus (thankfully, same sluggishness, but less stressful when you are the big boy) and went to this shopping mall. Kind of built underground, no well known stores. We kept checking out different clothing options for E's teenage sister. So needless to say, I was really bored. My stomach was doing the greatest either. So we eventually went back to the apt, probably b/c of me, and ate lunch made by her uncle. Pretty good. They went back out to shop and I stayed at Aunt 7's apt, in her cousin's bedroom. and worked, I was only slowing them down. It was an adventure to get the internet to accept me (a PPPoE network) but I was able to. I would like to tell you something interesting happened, but nothing did, b/c I passed out. I was taking a break, goofing on the iPod and then... I woke up. I awoke to her cousin grabbing stuff from his room. I felt so bad sleeping on his bed, but it was unintentional. We then ate some dinner, it was awesome. Tied for best meal on the trip. Don't know how he did it, but dishes he made for lunch, he somehow made them better the second time. I did learn something while with E's family, eels have a lot of little bones. I did not know this, and it was quite annoying. I only had eel sushi (unagi) before, I figured they were cartilaginous creatures, was I wrong. After dinner, we were picked up by Cousin Deng (not his name, but he is from E's dad's side of the family) and we were taken to our next hotel. No surprise, close to where they live. We finally got to arrive a hotel and not be completely exhausted. We received our instructions on when they would come to get us, left us breakfast, and we went to bed for the night. Our next adventure would be 2 days with E's dad's side of the family. Let the fun keep-a-rolling!
That night, all of the Xu family that lived in Chongqing or nearby areas came together to eat hot pot. First came a reunion of family, then pictures (I lost a lot of my soul because of so many pics), then we ate. The hot pot had a mild broth bowl in the center, for wimps like me, but the spicy wasn't too spicy. I think that everyone went milder due to me and their older age. I don't think I had Sichuan Spicy while in Chongqing. Something to do next time. The highlight of the night was when E got to see Aunt 7's son. They were good childhood friends. He was a few years younger (b. 1983) and was also a graphic designer/artist. I will say that it is pretty presumptuous for me to say 'also'. This guy is so far out of my league, it would be like a high school athlete saying their as good as a professional. He showed us some of his work, jaw dropping good. He has won awards for his work. He will be an art director (even though he is already leading for some projects) by his early 30s, you can count on that. Something for me to aspire to. The night ended with me leaving early and working some more (only had about an hour previously and had to capitalize actually having internet). E brought her cousin to see pics, thankfully he never asked to see my work. Would have been pathetic.
The next morning we had a wake up call to come eat and we checked out of our clean hotel. Today was shopping day. We took the bus (thankfully, same sluggishness, but less stressful when you are the big boy) and went to this shopping mall. Kind of built underground, no well known stores. We kept checking out different clothing options for E's teenage sister. So needless to say, I was really bored. My stomach was doing the greatest either. So we eventually went back to the apt, probably b/c of me, and ate lunch made by her uncle. Pretty good. They went back out to shop and I stayed at Aunt 7's apt, in her cousin's bedroom. and worked, I was only slowing them down. It was an adventure to get the internet to accept me (a PPPoE network) but I was able to. I would like to tell you something interesting happened, but nothing did, b/c I passed out. I was taking a break, goofing on the iPod and then... I woke up. I awoke to her cousin grabbing stuff from his room. I felt so bad sleeping on his bed, but it was unintentional. We then ate some dinner, it was awesome. Tied for best meal on the trip. Don't know how he did it, but dishes he made for lunch, he somehow made them better the second time. I did learn something while with E's family, eels have a lot of little bones. I did not know this, and it was quite annoying. I only had eel sushi (unagi) before, I figured they were cartilaginous creatures, was I wrong. After dinner, we were picked up by Cousin Deng (not his name, but he is from E's dad's side of the family) and we were taken to our next hotel. No surprise, close to where they live. We finally got to arrive a hotel and not be completely exhausted. We received our instructions on when they would come to get us, left us breakfast, and we went to bed for the night. Our next adventure would be 2 days with E's dad's side of the family. Let the fun keep-a-rolling!