Day 6

Started the day with a run around West Lake and ended with a 3 hr delayed flight that I've been told was quite bumpy, but I fell asleep at take off and in true Brooke fashion my head fell over on the person next to me during the turbulence and didn't even wake up! We are now in Southern China, so the weather is similar to Southern FL. Thankfully the air is working in the the Crown Plaza and I'm hopeful it will stay on all night! Oh and I did see a factory and have Pizza Hut for lunch too!

Tai Chi looked so relaxing this morning...thinking I should take it up!

 That might be the universal sign for McDonalds and Pizza Hut, but that is a long way from a universal

Today was Jennifer's last day over here, so now it is just me and the guys...my bathroom trips will not be near as comical here on out!

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Happy to check off days 4 and 5

On Tuesday morning we traveled to Bengbu.  We took a train, visited 2 factories and settled into our hotel for the night.  It was a Howard Johnson and I was very excited as I had heard such good things about them overseas, plus finally Bengbu had an American hotel!  The room was clean and the hotel was beautiful so on first inspection I gave it 2 thumbs up.  However, it all went downhill from there.  First the club where you normally go to get water, drinks, snacks, etc was closed...seems the hotel opened 6 months ago, but they never opened the club.  We go to eat in the hotel restaurant (which is Chinese) and they gave us an iPad to order.  We ordered 18 things...very typical, but they brought 2-3 of about every option.  We are not sure what happened, but we had enough food to feed a small army and a lot of sleep deprived laughing because it just kept coming.  Thankfully it was pretty cheap, so the total bill was just under $300.  So, we go talk to the manager to ask for them to open the gym at 6 vs 7, since we had to leave the hotel at 8.  Manager agrees and we say goodnight.  During the night they turned what little air that was blowing off, so our rooms averaged 25-28 C.  Plus they were having some type of street fair with loud music and shouting about a mile outside of the hotel, but it sounded like a circus in our rooms.  Needle ss to say I was up about every hour and even did my Slim in 6 video before going to the gym at 6.  Well, 5 of the 6 of us get to the gym at 6am, but nothing has power.  They can't figure out what is wrong, so we all did some type of creative exercise.  Jennifer (who is much younger than me and in great shape) and I did the 100 countdown someone had given me last year and it kicked my butt.  I will give the banana bread and bowl of watermelon I had for breakfast 2 thumbs up.  Due to traffic and a bit of car questioning, we basically ran to our train.  Two hours later we are in the town of the factory.  We have a lazy susan Chinese lunch with the factory owners (where I finally got some glass noodles!) and then tour the facility...which was decent.  Back to the train station and off to Haugzhou, which is also known as The West Lake which is a very tourist area.  I haven't actually seen the area as it was dark when we got in and dark when we left, but they do have a Las Vegas type fountain show in the lake across from the hotel.  We had teppanyaki for dinner, which turned into about 8 courses and 11pm.  Needless to say we had a lot of sleepy heads at out 6am wheels up on day 4.  Especially since the Hyatt too turns what little air that blows off at night!

Day 4 consisted of a 45 min drive to the train station, egg mcmuffin for breakfast, a 2.5 hour highspeed train ride (so about 500 miles) SouthWest, then an hour car ride (which was one of my worst yet) to the factory.  After a factory introduction, we went for a traditional Chinese lunch where I literally had to spit my soup out in order not to get sick!  Sometimes that inland is iffy for food, but the cabbage and broccoli were delicious.  We got back to the factory for the tour and it all went downhill (luckly it wasn't one of my factories).  So after touring, reviewing our samples and sitting some ground rules for what will have to happen for us to do business, we were back on our merry way...1 hour car ride, 2.5 hour highspeed train (in which my VP finally decided to discuss my upcoming line review for the entire time and all I wanted to do was nap.  I will forever wonder why he waits for the final week before the review to start questioning everything) and 1.5 hour car ride due to traffic. One car got a bit lost and that on top of tired guys and a bad factory made for some upset people.  So, we split for dinner.  I actually had an amazing lasagna dish and delicious salad.  All in all I'm ready to say goodnight on this day!

China is still China...

You have to close your eyes in vehicles (or voluntarily take the back seat and know you will be bounced around). As they pass into the incoming traffic and cut each other off like it is nobody's business. They don't tie their loads down, nor do the lines mean anything. Traffic is horrible, but vendors yell at the drivers Safety First! Hence why I request high speed trains whenever possible; yet you get pushed through lines and stepped on.

The pollution is so bad you can't see past the 1st set of buildings, but I hear there are beautiful mountains in the distance and today the China Sea is to my right, but I can not confirm that.

You never know what the next meal is you will want to eat, so you over eat on what you like. Hence why we consumed the entire bowl of watermelon at breakfast!

The government determines when the city can turn the air on and nobody runs AC all night...no matter when it is on it will never be cool enough for an American.

Your body will struggle to catch up on sleep yet you will wake up at all hours during the night (usually in your own sweat or from nightmares of horns honking and cars passing). You will feel dirty an hour after your shower. The country still doesn't use toilet paper, wash their hands or sit down to use the restroom.

Plus, you have to be on your work game 100%. Both train rides I ended up next to my VP who wanted to discuss the upcoming line review. Someone is asking you questions at 6 am train pick ups all the way through dinners that end at 10 pm.

However, it is an amazing experience and I feel very comfortable here (especially now that it is my 3rd trip). I can maneuver the train stations and have mastered the squatting potties. The vendors are so nice to us and would give us the necklace they were wearing if we said we like it. They are amazed with my blue eyes and just stare at them. They realize this is not our comfort zone and do what they can to make us comfortable.

We stay in some of the nicest hotels I've ever been in and they have the most amazing rain feature in the showers and the fluffiest of towels.

When the food is right, it is delicious (amazing cabbage, snap peas, pumpkin, mushrooms, broccoli and glass noodles...I just stay away from the meat!). They have some of the freshest fruit you have ever tasted.

Plus, I have mastered the packing list, so know what to bring to be as comfortable as possible...(note to add a portable fan for next time).

All in all even though I write about the challenges and such it is the challenges that are the most memorable and ones I want to laugh about when I reread my blog years later!

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Can we say...

Sleep deprived...I can't correct my post, but I think I passed out 4 times trying to type it. Good Night from Bengbu.

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Day 3 was uneventful...

Started with a high speed train, ended with a Lazy Susan Chinese dinner and contained 2 factories, a Pizza Hut lunch and many horns honking during our car rides. It was rainy and we can't tell if it is rain or smog or fog, but visibility was horrible.
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Checking off day 1 and 2

It's 11pm and we have cleared immigration, passed the temp check and checked into our hotel.  The only holdback is since it was so late when we checked in they only had smoking rooms, so not the best 1st night, but could be worse.  The air will go to 21 which I believe is 70, so that is a plus and a double plus is I remembered to bring my own sheet!  Wheels up at 6 am, so better try to sleep...

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12 hours

In the air...watched 2 movies (Nebraska and August), read some of my inspiring book (Kisses for Kate), ate 2 meals and slept 5 hours...I'll take it!
It got bumpy somewhere over Canada or Alaska, but what a view!


Landing in Tokyo at Narita...


Staying clear of the sushi in the sky club!


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24 hrs and 24 min journey...

Next stop...Narita, Japan...for now I'll be kicked back in my cube!


So glad Delta finally decided to get full size waters onboard! Oh how I look forward to these glazed nuts!


Ummm and I hope they have extra glazed nuts, because this menu is not looking that appealing!


Lots of love...Until next time!!

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Weekend wrap up...

Celebrated St. Patrick's Day with some of my favorite peeps with lunch, a carriage ride and a parade!

Only for Lily would Ray take a pink horse and carriage ride through downtown Memphis on one of the busiest days of the year!
Such a cute red head waiting for the parade to start!


Oh how I enjoy me some bagpipes!


Everyone had so much fun!
And Lily declared herself "Queen of the Beads!"
After early church and a few hours at work, I came home and started packing...this time next week I should be in Japan in route to China and Korea. It will be my longest trip and my first time in Japan and Korea, but I'll be the only girl and only person at my level, so not sure how this experience will go! But that is the key...it will be an experience!
Also, I am loving my Lenton Study group. Our church has weekly bible studies in neighborhoods around the city during Lent and I'm so glad I joined in. It is at a couple's house in our block and I have so enjoyed getting to know this couple as well as studying the bible while getting the perspectives from many generations...we have 20-80 year olds and it is so special to me. I believe everyone would say the same and I'm deeply upset I'll have to miss the next 2 weeks.
Happy St. Patrick's Day!

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Cheers to 60 Years!

Mom turned 60 this year, so we threw her a party!  We asked if she would be on board and she agreed if we kept it small and just invited her close friends she does stuff with often.  So that is what we did!  I think parties are much more fun when you have a theme and since mom and her friends like wine, we did a "How to taste wine like a pro" happy hour party.  We had 4 different wines and rating cards for everyone to rate their wines.  Surprisingly, the red wines won (maybe it was because I let Buster's pick the whites!).  I really wanted to have live music and we lucked out because Greg Lackey from Kings of the Delta just happened to be in Memphis for a gig later that night, so he agreed to play and he was awesome (and we had just enough room for a dance floor)!  

The food was fantastic (and I'll do a recipe blog post soon)! 

And the Chocolate Mousse was delicious!  

 Greg with East Nashville Stash!

You can tell Ms Diane Walker was a kindergarden teacher...she used faces to rate her wine!

 So happy mom's sisters were able to come Celebrate!

 Mom's Richland teacher friends!

 I wish I would have taken more pictures, but instead I just enjoyed celebrating the most amazing women and friend, my momma!

Birthday Wishes

So thankful for all of my special birthday calls, texts, packages and messages. I've had a relaxing weekend filled with sweet treats from 3 wonderful ladies...my mom, my mom in law and my old assistant, Kim!


Flowers from my 3 favorite kiddos...


Dinner with my parents and Ray at my favorite restaurant, McEwens...


I'm pretty sure I could eat this Sea Bass every night!


Wish making...

Band singing, wing eating, wine drinking (that I don't have a picture of)...
And a special breakfast at Paulette's after an extra early church service (thanks to the time change)!
Over the past year, I've felt strong and healthy and I really am ready for my best year yet!


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Love these 3

Oh so very much! I so enjoyed being with them this weekend and especially enjoyed having Mullen as my overnight guest (while his mom and dad had a night away). Hope they all come back soon!


Lily has decided she loves our jacuzzi!


Mullen slept well and I so enjoyed our early morning snuggle time!


Good Morning from Mullen!


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And it was March

When we got our 1st real snow and ice of winter 2014. I have some great photos from the weekend that I need to download and post, but in the meantime our poor trees are not fairing well in the ice...let's hope when it melts they will stand back at attention! Luckily our power has been restored and we had a warm home to come home to (and back in after an impromptu ding dong ditch and snowball fight. Here's to mom and dad and Emily and family to get power restored soon!











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