Rats, rats, and sea cucumbers
The first night in Winnipeg we discovered that there was a bit of a rat problem. We discovered this by folding the sheet down and finding that the bed, under the blanket, was covered with rat droppings. Under the pillows. Between the comforter and the blanket. On the sheet beneath the blanket. Rat droppings. It's a good thing I don't gross out too easily. We put all fresh bedding on the bed, after horrified utterances from the mom, and protestations that it simply couldn't be happening from the dad.
We slept soundly, and late. We got up a bit after 11 am (9 at home). zestyping tried to take a shower, but there was no hot water. I gave up on the idea, but he tried again later, and eventually the water was at least warm enough to stand under. There was a cleaning lady here working on the house, and we apparently needed to wait for her to finish before we went off to dim sum. This meant we didn't leave for food until after 1 pm.
The dim sum was quite lovely, and it was great fun going with people that knew what they were ordering, and who could even order special dishes. I learned today that Chinese don't go out for "dim sum", instead they go for "yum ta". Yum ta means to drink tea, so the whole process is a Chinese tea. Dim sum means a small or light touch to the heart. So, the dishes are dim sum, small dishes that touch your heart, but the meal is yum ta, drinking tea.
After yum ta Ping and I went to the Forks. The Forks is the junction of the Red and Assiniboine rivers. There are a bunch of interesting things there, including a children's museum, a children's theater, and a mall with local stuff. One of the stores even had a sign above some moccasins that read "Made by: Locals". We went for a walk on a path that ran along the edge of the Red river. This river clearly floods regularly. The bank next to the path is made up of dry caked mud, some of which has had folks' initials carved into it.
Our next stop was the Oak Hammock Marsh. I fell asleep on the drive there. Maybe some day I'll grow out of my habit of falling asleep in cars, but it hasn't happened yet. Oak Hammock Marsh is a lovely restored wetland and bird sanctuary. I wish I were better at identifying birds. If I'd had mdrohl with me I'd be better able to tell you what we saw. As it is I have a vague list of what there was. There were several species of grebes (least grebe, red necked, and probably others), american coots, many species of swallows and sparrows, a willow flycatcher or kingbird, yellow headed blackbirds, common juncoes, american white pelicans, lots of canadian geese, a warbler with a yellow breast, and a couple of sandpipers. There were lots of dragon flies and cabbage whites. We also saw a colony of ground squirrels (they gallop, it's great), and some muskrats swimming in the marsh. We got a guided tour of the marsh, and it really made me want to be doing field work again.
I managed to stay awake almost the entire drive back. We stopped at a charming gas station in a tiny town near Stony Mountain. The only person there looked like a boy of 15. He pumped the gas and sold me juice, and I wandered around the market looking at packaging that is just slightly different than what I see in the states. We almost stopped at a farm to get saskatoons, which we learned are berries, and which neither of us have ever had, but we were running late for dinner. Maybe we can find some more tomorrow.
Ping's mom made us dinner. It was a 5 course Chinese dinner. We started with sea cucumber soup, and then had marinated tofu with yow muk choy stems, sea cucumber served on yow muk choy leaves, eggs with tomatoes, and garlic stems with mushrooms, carrots, and some pickled vegetable. It was all delicious. I think she appreciated the fact that I was really interested in how she made everything. For dessert we had cantaloupe and papaya.
We had planned on learning/relearning mahjong tonight, but folks are a bit tired for that, so I'm writing. Maybe we'll even get to sleep early-ish. Over dinner folks found out about my sculpting, so tomorrow I may get to see bronze sculptures. We will probably also go to Folklorama tomorrow. Anything else will be a surprise. Then off to the lake. Woot!
We slept soundly, and late. We got up a bit after 11 am (9 at home). zestyping tried to take a shower, but there was no hot water. I gave up on the idea, but he tried again later, and eventually the water was at least warm enough to stand under. There was a cleaning lady here working on the house, and we apparently needed to wait for her to finish before we went off to dim sum. This meant we didn't leave for food until after 1 pm.
The dim sum was quite lovely, and it was great fun going with people that knew what they were ordering, and who could even order special dishes. I learned today that Chinese don't go out for "dim sum", instead they go for "yum ta". Yum ta means to drink tea, so the whole process is a Chinese tea. Dim sum means a small or light touch to the heart. So, the dishes are dim sum, small dishes that touch your heart, but the meal is yum ta, drinking tea.
After yum ta Ping and I went to the Forks. The Forks is the junction of the Red and Assiniboine rivers. There are a bunch of interesting things there, including a children's museum, a children's theater, and a mall with local stuff. One of the stores even had a sign above some moccasins that read "Made by: Locals". We went for a walk on a path that ran along the edge of the Red river. This river clearly floods regularly. The bank next to the path is made up of dry caked mud, some of which has had folks' initials carved into it.
Our next stop was the Oak Hammock Marsh. I fell asleep on the drive there. Maybe some day I'll grow out of my habit of falling asleep in cars, but it hasn't happened yet. Oak Hammock Marsh is a lovely restored wetland and bird sanctuary. I wish I were better at identifying birds. If I'd had mdrohl with me I'd be better able to tell you what we saw. As it is I have a vague list of what there was. There were several species of grebes (least grebe, red necked, and probably others), american coots, many species of swallows and sparrows, a willow flycatcher or kingbird, yellow headed blackbirds, common juncoes, american white pelicans, lots of canadian geese, a warbler with a yellow breast, and a couple of sandpipers. There were lots of dragon flies and cabbage whites. We also saw a colony of ground squirrels (they gallop, it's great), and some muskrats swimming in the marsh. We got a guided tour of the marsh, and it really made me want to be doing field work again.
I managed to stay awake almost the entire drive back. We stopped at a charming gas station in a tiny town near Stony Mountain. The only person there looked like a boy of 15. He pumped the gas and sold me juice, and I wandered around the market looking at packaging that is just slightly different than what I see in the states. We almost stopped at a farm to get saskatoons, which we learned are berries, and which neither of us have ever had, but we were running late for dinner. Maybe we can find some more tomorrow.
Ping's mom made us dinner. It was a 5 course Chinese dinner. We started with sea cucumber soup, and then had marinated tofu with yow muk choy stems, sea cucumber served on yow muk choy leaves, eggs with tomatoes, and garlic stems with mushrooms, carrots, and some pickled vegetable. It was all delicious. I think she appreciated the fact that I was really interested in how she made everything. For dessert we had cantaloupe and papaya.
We had planned on learning/relearning mahjong tonight, but folks are a bit tired for that, so I'm writing. Maybe we'll even get to sleep early-ish. Over dinner folks found out about my sculpting, so tomorrow I may get to see bronze sculptures. We will probably also go to Folklorama tomorrow. Anything else will be a surprise. Then off to the lake. Woot!