Day One...travel to Malaysia

Fun facts about Malaysia

• Flight from Shanghai to Kuala Lumpur is 5 hours
• All the cool kids call Kuala Lumpur...KL
• Flight from KL to Kota Kinabalu is 2.5 hours
• Malaysia is divided into states
• Kota Kinabalu is in the state of Sabah
• Malaysia is in the Eastern China Sea
• There are three common languages of Malaysia...Malay, English, Mandarin.....all three taught in the schools
• The currency is RM...and the exchange rate is 3RM to 1 US dollar
• The airport took every currency except China RMB......maybe because it is a moving target right now??

Airport in KL...beautiful banners decorated the terminal
Abi and Tim looking for our connecting flight

We left our house at 6:30am and arrived at the hotel in Kota Kinabalu at 8:30pm. It was a long day but we were greeted with large glasses of peach ice tea and a beautiful open air lobby.
Drums in the lobby

Ahhhh....bed time for the Spoffords....this is Abi's bed....long enough even for Tucker

Tomorrow morning we are off to Malaysia...I had to look at the world map to see where Malaysia is located. FYI...it is north of Indonesia and south of Thailand. We are flying first to Kuala Lumpur ....famous for the very tall twin towers that are connected by a walk way...you have probably seen it on "How did they do that?". Kuala Lumpur or KL is on the same peninsula as Singapore. The other half of Malaysia is on an island about 1.5 hours flight from KL. We are staying on the island at Kota Kinabalu which is just north of Borneo. The suit cases are packed and so is the sun screen! We will all need it because we have very white smoggy sky skin.

More adventures in Shanghai...

On Friday our quilting class went on a field trip to the "old fabric" market to visit our favorite "blue cloth" vendor. I have been there several times....he is a cute little old guy that has sold this fabric out of a little hut for over 17 years. Most of our closets are larger than his whole store.

Cutting cloth for our quilts...

This cloth is homespun on a loom and was used for clothing during the cultural revolution. Most of the people in China do not like this fabric because it is very "utilitarian" , thick, and a little stiff.
Kandy with Mr. Blue Cloth man

This whole area where the old fabric market is located will soon be torn down. I wonder where Mr. Blue Cloth will sell his goods?

Food on the streets....we stopped and purchased some stuff that looks like slices of peanut candy. It is a little sweet and tastes like salted nut roll candy bars.

Our next stop was the blue cloth store in the French Concession. I had not been here before to it was exciting to find a new source for fabric!!!

Beth, Kathy, and Kandy

We went down this little street and turned into a smaller walk way and then to a really narrow alley and arrived at the fabric shop.

Outside the shop was a small green space. It was a really nice day so the fabric was drying outside. It was so pretty to see it hanging in the trees.
They start with white fabric, then lay a stencil over the fabric and spread bean paste over the stencil. The paste goes into the fabric at the stencil openings. The paste drys and then the fabric is dipped in blue dye. The dye colors the areas of the fabric that are not covered with bean paste. The result is beautiful.
I showed great restraint and purchased only 2 meters of fabric....

I am sure I will be back here often!

Thursday afternoon Tim and I were interviewed by a Taiwan TV crew about living in Shanghai...specifically living in Pudong. They came to our apartment and asked us lots of questions and video taped our house. They are doing a comparative program....they choose one city outside of Taiwan and compare it to a similar size city in Taiwan.

BTW...as I am typing this we are watching ESPN golf (the BMW )pen) that is being played in Pudong. We can see JinQiao in the background and some of the housing complexes where our friends live. Tim played this golf course two weeks ago and just said.... "Hey....I went in that creek!"

Knotty Business...

I finished my Chinese knot tying class on Wednesday.....It is a good thing I have photo step by step instructions or I would never be able to do this again!

This is the famous button knot. You can buy single knots like this at the fabric market...and....sew them to your clothing for buttons. They also have double knots that are used for cuff links. I have a jar full of them and always wondered how they made them..."inquiring minds want to know".
These are my practice button knots.

This is the double coin knot...

This is my favorite....A) I can make it easily, and B) it looks really cool!

This has a button knot, four double cross knots, and two sliding Peru knots. The sliding knots are very impressive when they work. You can make the necklace shorter or longer depending on your mood.

We also learned the finishing knot, connected snake knot, the single snake knot, and the sliding button knot.

I am pretty sure knot tying is not my thing. I can confidently check this off my list of "Things I want to do when I grow up"

Tim spent yesterday in bed with a migraine.....stress abounds! He went to work today but is moving slowly this evening.

Abi and I went shopping tonight for some summer clothes. Sunday we are going to Malaysia for the week. It will be nice to get away from Shanghai for a while and spend some time on the beach. I am hoping for blue sky and fresh air, Tim is looking forward to some time on the golf course, and Abi is counting the seconds until she can be on the beach. I am also looking forward to being the beach but I am not looking forward to the "swim suit" season. Yikes!!!

I took the second of a two part class today on Chinese knot tying. It seems pretty easy while I am in the class and then I forget everything as soon as I get home....hmmmm.

Tucker is enjoying being back at school and is very busy preparing for the senior review that is at the end of this term. He continues to have a positive attitude even though we know he is under a lot of stress. I think Tucker and Tim would appreciate your prayers.

The smog is back again today...we enjoyed the clear day yesterday...I guess we only get one of those every month. Bummer!!

It was a pretty normal day at the Spoffords....I added one more student to my quilting class today, Abi won her election (not a surprise since she was running unopposed) and Tim is a bit overwhelmed with all the "work stuff" that keeps him so busy.

I actually had to remember how to cook dinner tonight. Xiao Zhangs daughter was sick today so I took over as "back-up" Ayi. Such a hardship....I made the beds, washed dishes, and cooked dinner.....I am exhausted!!! :)

Yesterday when we went to lunch there were a whole bunch of policeman on little scooters riding towards Super Brand Mall. They were soooooo cute. It looked like a parade of Key Stone Cops.

Abi is running for Vice president of Student Council. She will give her speech on Monday and the election is on the same day. She has a high chance of winning....because she is running unopposed!!! We are very excited for her. The school is littered with brightly decorated election posters...which we found out at our parent teacher conferences this week is a "first" for the school. Abi's teachers said she "bent" the rules a little by hanging her posters in the commons and it was a great thing! Other students followed and it is the most school spite they have ever seen around the election. We are so proud....I think.... :)

Abi's friend Abby is running for treasure so they combined their campaign efforts...

It's in your hands....Vote Abbi (squared)

Abi went to Yu Garden and bought kids sun glasses and passed them out at school....One of her slogans is.....Vote for a "brighter" future....

Saturday-The painting process begins...... Bedroom being prepared for painting...furniture being moved out, curtains coming down...etc...

The new furniture arrives while the bedroom painting is in progress...

the table arrives on the elevator

a little maneuvering and it fits through the apartment door

Ah...now we have a house full of furniture...

The bedroom paint progresses.....the greenish blue is a little more blue than expected...but we will live with it!! Wow....we had crown molding under all that white paint....Who knew?

Sunday....the bedroom painting is finished....curtains are taken to the dry cleaners and things are returning to normal.....Tim and I slept in the guest room and discovered it is very quite compared to our bedroom that is next to the river....

Monday....we put our house back together and I taught a quilting class....

Monday evening...we started preparing for the rest of the painting project...

Tuesday- Our living room is covered in plastic and has turned to chaos!!! The "light man" moves the dining room light so it is centered over the table....I did not ask permission to do this....I will beg forgiveness later.... :)

The new furniture is piled in the dining room and also covered with plastic...

More chaos!!! Welcome to our mess

This is our master bedroom....I guess we will not be sleeping in here for a while...

Help!!! I can't get to the dresser....or the telephone

The walls and ceiling in the living room are just about finished...

Green walls and tan ceiling...AND...look we have crown molding in here too!!!

Wednesday- painting continues in the entry way.... tan walls, yellowish ceiling.......and....

Green in the coved ceiling.

Thursday- the painting continues....the mess grows and the dining room wall gets painted "Big Cypress" which is a rusty brownish reddish color.

Thursday evening....suddenly all is back to normal...Yippee!!!

The new furniture is set in place...

Friday-the pictures are hung.....and the entry is back to normal with a fresh coat of paint
The dining room is also back to normal....well.... with a few new pieces of furniture!!!

Ah......the project is finished ....

Gosh...it seems like it was so easy now that it is over!! NOT!!!

I am glad this week is over!!! We had our living spaces and our master bedroom painted. Our house was total chaos starting last Saturday.

Painting for decoration is a new concept in China....and as the saying goes here.....everything is possible....nothing is easy!!!

Observations about the painting process....

• Latex paint is expensive....$50 per gallon
• Paint rollers are expensive...$10 for one
• Our painters had never use a roller pan.....I could not find one at the paint store...so I created one with a cardboard box and showed the painters how to use it.
• I interviewed several painters...all were perplexed that I wanted to paint different colors on the wall and ceiling
• One painter said he had never painted anything except white....everywhere!
• Getting paint colors mixed was a very challenging experience

And.....just to add to the confusion.....while our bedroom was being painted our new dining furniture was delivered. Two tall hutches, one very large heavy table, and eight chairs...all came up the elevator to the 36th floor. The furniture is beautiful....and it was delivered by the craftsmen that made it. (Only in China!) Remember the pictures of the furniture factory we visited about a month ago?

Photos to follow of the furniture and the painting adventures.

Here is a recap of my day.

Left the house with Tim at 7:15am
Dropped him at the Hyatt at 7:50
Arrived at the Shanghai Center at 8:30

(1 hour 15 minutes sitting in the car)

Left Shanghai Center at 2:15
Arrived home at 3:10

(55 minutes sitting in the car)

left the house to pick up Tim at 4:05
Arrived at the Hyatt at 5:00

(another 55 minutes sitting in the car)

Left the Hyatt at 5:30
Arrived at Malone's (restaurant) at 6:20

(another 40 minutes in the car)

Left the restaurant at 7:00
Arrived home at 7:35)

(another 35 minutes in the car)

Hmmmmm....that is almost 4.5 hours sitting in the car....in traffic. I could have driven to Seattle and beyond in that amount of time.

I think the biggest lesson I am learning in China is PATIENCE!!! And...I am getting tired of waiting to master the lesson!!!

Besides sitting in the car all day....I facilitated a color workshop for our craft group....


Today we discussed color "value". Here is team 1 sorting their fabric swatches from darks to lights.

Team 2 focuses on the value puzzle...

Ahhh...the end results....darks to lights...each team matching almost swatch to swatch

Last week we created color wheels with embroidery floss
Remember those primary, secondary, complimentary and analogous colors?
Good team work!!!

Reflections on Wednesday...

I met a "newbie" to Shanghai this morning for coffee. Her husband is a work acquaintance of Tim. They have been here for 3 months and she is looking for things to do and maybe a job. I took her to the flower market and then to the Community Center. The HR person at the community center might have a job for her....it was a successful outing!

Our decorating project continues....I spent the rest of the day talking to painters and searching for paint. Sounds simple right??? Not!!! One of the painters said he has never painted more than one color in an apartment....mostly he paints white....everywhere. He was quite perplexed when I told him I wanted 4 different colors in our living spaces. Some of the paint in China is very smelly and probably toxic. We don't want to move out of the house while they are painting so I am very picky about the paint. Then....I discovered that having colors mixed is also much more "iffy" because no one has a computer matching system as we do in the States. Yikes!!!

So....the final decision today....I hired one of the painters to paint our bedroom. If he does a good job I will have him do the living spaces. Ahhhhhh....just another day in China!

I have been collecting "spring" things this week. The rain from yesterday washed away some of the smog so the sky was a lighter shade of gray today. I miss the fresh air, our yard and flowers this week!

Iris and daiseys

Bringing "Spring" indoors
Lily and "green puff balls on branches".
More flowers

At the risk of being blocked from the Internet again I want to say that we are very concerned about what is happening in the western autonomous region of China. We do not get much news about it....the news is blacked out on CNN whenever they are reporting on this event.