Ganges In Haidian

海淀区成府路160号
or go to the south entrance of Qing Hua University

Wednesday night, we went to Ganges, a small Indian restaurant in Haidian. They were full when we arrived but managed to seat us pretty quickly, with drinks while we waited.

The menus were trilingual, and one of the staff spoke English! He was really helpful with us, especially with our co-worker. She remembered that she liked a curry. It was orange. And it was good. Did he know what that is? He went through the extensive menu with her until she found what she thought it was. (I’m not kidding)

The Chinese-speaking waitstaff were also very helpful, and used to hearing second-language Chinese from customers. One of the best things about being in the city — well, besides the access to better food — is that more people have heard second-language Chinese before meeting me. They’re more likely to say “What did you say?” instead of “Yes,” which really makes all the difference.

The food was great. I actually had a culinary plan B, in case the menus were in Hindi and Chinese or in case Chinese Indian food wasn’t, uh, what we expected, but we didn’t need it. We ordered way too much delicious food, which tasted exactly like Northampton or Montclair Indian fare. Amazing. It’s not only the British who get homesick for curry.

Der Landgraf in Fengtai

Der Landgraf
A2 Pufang Lu, Fangzhuang, Fengtai, Beijing
芳庄蒲芳路甲二号

This Saturday, Stick and I went out to German restaurant in Fengtai. We planned to trek out there, have lunch and then, assuming an authentic German restaurant didn’t exist in a vacuum, wander around the area.

Der Landgraf was easily spotted because it had a winterized beer garden in front, a very auspicious beginning to our adventures. When we went inside, the hostess walked over and stared at us. I know I should be adjusted by now, but I’m not. I’m always touching my hair and making sure my fly is closed.

She then made vague motions in the direction of a table. Actually, in the direction of all the tables. We figured that meant we could pick our own.

The menus were trilingual, and awesome. No “Happy Fragrance Pig Intestines” here… in fact no Chinglish at all! Stick enjoyed it, like me, he learned the foreign-language words for food he likes, so he was all “mashed potatoes” and “sauerkraut”, only in German.

Good food, good prices (for foreign food, that is), very clean and nice pub-like decor, but unfortunately typical Chinese service. Food, drinks and silverware arrive at their own haphazard pace, via giggling waitresses.

After eating, we walked around the neighborhood. I thought that Der Landgraf would probably be in the center of a German bubble or an expat area. There are a bunch of those little foreign pockets near the different embassies, and wouldn’t it be cool of one was close to us? But sadly it was in one of those Gatsby neighborhoods characterized by one KFC per intersection, pseudo-Western shops and knockoff boutiques.

Yeah, I act like I’m too cool for it, but it’s easy to be superior with a smoothie in your hand.

Free Games In China? No, Just Kidding.

So I heard a rumor that the masterminds at Blizzard were about to change World Of WarCraft from a monthly subscription to free in China. I was pretty excited, my boyfriend and I have been talking about getting a copy of Chinese WoW to practice our Chinese as we slay bad guys, and waiving the monthly fee would definately motivate us.

Unfortunately, it went the way a lot of stories in the Chinese media go… a retraction.

Zhao Yurun, deputy director of The9’s marketing and public relations department, told Interfax that reports of any free-to-play plans for WoW were “speculation” and “rumor” on the part of media and gamers, despite the quotes from The9’s CEO. Zhao declined to comment further.

From Tianjin Daily, from Kotaku.

Beyond 311 Travel Tips

Regular flyers are by now well aware of the Transportation Security Administration’s 311 system of allowances for carry-on liquid items:

1. All liquids, gels and aerosols must be in three-ounce or smaller containers. Larger containers that are half-full or toothpaste tubes rolled up are not allowed. Each container must be three ounces or smaller.
2. All liquids, gels and aerosols must be placed in a single, quart-size, zip-top, clear plastic bag. Gallon size bags or bags that are not zip-top such as fold-over sandwich bags are not allowed. Each traveler can use only one, quart-size, zip-top, clear plastic bag.
3. Each traveler must remove their quart-sized plastic, zip-top bag from their carry-on and place it in a bin or on the conveyor belt for X-ray screening. X-raying separately will allow TSA security officers to more easily examine the declared items.

Recently the TSA began to institute more advanced measures for carry-on and checked luggage, requesting, firstly, that all heavy items be packed on the bottom. They are asking that different types of items be packed in separate layers. Clothing is to be neatly folded atop the shoes. Electronic items are to be grouped in plastic bags and layered atop the clothing. Pack tightly, or the electronics will slip to the bottom as you carry your luggage into the airport.

As far as the zip top quart size bag goes, that’s 8 inches by 7.5 inches. It must be removed from a carry-on and placed in a bin or on the conveyor belt as you plod your way through the security check.

People with medical conditions or babies have exemptions from the 3 ounce rule for certain products like formula, saline, liquid nitrogen. See the list at the TSA website. However, these exempt products are subject to special regulations:

1. Separate these items from the liquids, gels, and aerosols in your quart-size and zip-top bag.
2. Declare you have the items to one of our Security Officers at the security checkpoint.
3. Present these items for additional inspection once reaching the X-ray. These items are subject to additional screening.

The Donut Mill, Woodland Park, Colorado

The Donut Mill * 310 West Midland Avenue, PO BOX 5710, Woodland Park, Colorado 80866 * 719.687.9793
A 30 year tradition in the heart of Woodland Park, along Hwy 24. They claim the fame of being “The” Woodland Park Landmark. This nice little bakery/donut house has a friendly staff and incredible pastries. Their biscuits and gravy are to die for as well. It’s a great stop off on your journeys into the mountains and valleys of Colorado’s wonderlands. Our brief visit was very satisfying as we dropped in for a visit and a brunch on our way to the Orient Land Trust. Rating: 4 stars out of 5. Visited 11/10/07.

The Orient Land Trust, Villa Grove, Colorado

The Orient Land Trust a.k.a. “Valley View Hot Springs”
info@olt.org, olt.org * PO Box 65, Villa Grove, CO 81155-0065 * 719.256.4315 * 9 am - 10 pm. Open to the public 7 days a week - closed December 1st - 28th.
This fantastic Land trust is dedicated to the preservation of natural resources, wildlife habitat, open space, historic and geologic features of the northern San Luis Valley for the enjoyment of current and future generations. The OLT protects a humongous bat colony, hot springs, alternative energy use, and is well known for its high altitude dark skies for astronomy, exposed active geological fault, limestone caves, numerous trails, historic buildings, town sites at an abandoned iron mine, and a working ranch. The OLT is a naturist community (clothing optional) with 24 hour access to the hotsprings when camping or renting their rustic lodging cabins. They limit the number of visitors based on space availability and environmental impact. For current pictures and views … visit their web site, linked above. The entire grounds are clothing optional - while the majority of the guests tend to swim and soak without swimsuits, there is no pressure either way. The OLT welcomes a diverse clientele of couples, singles, and families from all walks of life - children are always welcome, though require supervision. They offer camping and cabins, their indoor lodging have heat and electricity, though there are no telephones, clocks, radios, or tvs in any of the rooms. All of the ponds and pools are outdoors - there are no private pools or hot tubs - there are four natural ponds with temperatures ranging in the 90’s, an 80′ long spring-fed swimming pool (no chlorine) in the high 80’s, and a heated hot pool around 105 degrees. Our visit to this fantastic resort was over the weekend of 11/10-11/11. A must visit for any hot springs or naturalist enthusiast. Rating 5 stars out of 5.

DVD Shopping In Beijing

On Saturday, Stick and I roused ourselves from our WarCraft stupor and went out in search of sour cream. Stick thinks that a life without sour cream is barely worth living, and Stick complains so rarely that I mapped out a route from our apartment to the embassy district’s Friendship Store.

We came out of the subway at Yonganli, into a magic fairyland of Christmas lights, classy shops and Western chain restaurants. For a while, we just walked around, trying to decide if we wanted Lavazzo coffee, cones from TCBY or any of the other lovely treats. It was like that part of the Nutcracker ballet where all the different candies from all over the world come out and dance. Only without the dancing. We passed a DVD shop in our travels, and looked in.

“English DVD? English DVD?” the shop assistant said. I ignored her, actually I tune out any sentences with “hello”, “DVD” or “look, look, you buy” in them. It makes my life so much easier. Stick is fundamentally nicer than I am, so he answered. The shop assistant called over another employee, who motioned us to follow him.

He led us through the classy men’s wear shop attached to the DVD store, and then pushed one side of a full-length fitting mirror in the corner. Behind it was a set of rickety, winding stairs, and at the bottom of the stairs, was a clean, well-lit, extensive American DVD collection.

Of course.

Beijing’s Capital Museum

Stick and I went to the Capital Museum to see the Treasures From The Louvre: Art From Ancient Greece exhibit. Stick and I are both classicists so we were really excited to go. It was great to see statues and vases showing stories we could “read” instead of seeing some guy… with a dragon… um… doing stuff… with some other guy… Unfortunately, the actual exhibit was almost completely overshadowed by the behavior of the other visitors.

I’m not really fond of the Chinese custom of eating cold dumplings out of a plastic bag on a crowded bus or subway, but next to priceless antiquities it makes my skin crawl. Ditto for carrying and drinking soda in the museum. You don’t have to be a conservationist or a classicist to know that food and antiquities do NOT go together. It’s an accident waiting to happen, and we can’t go buy a new red-figure oinochoe because someone spilled Coke on this one.

Remember that this is Beijing, so the eating and drinking is in the midst of a crowd all pushing and elbowing each other as they try to take the perfect picture.

I thought this was pretty bad, until I realized that, no, they’re not just leaning over the ropes to get a good flash photo, they’re actually touching the statues. As in, hmm, I wonder if Athena’s dress folds are actually cloth? Nope, it’s marble. Hey, come touch this! It looks like fabric but it’s stone!

I’d like to end with something funny about what a different culture this is, but I have to go write to the Louvre and ask them to take their pieces back to France while they still have them.

Chinese Fire Drill

No, really.

So in my last class today, we were playing Guess Who? (Made extra challenging because all the kids have the same hair color, eye color and are wearing the same uniform) when there’s an awful sound outside the window. It’s the sound of the skies opening, of torrential rain, of… some guy spraying the classroom windows with a fire hose. Not just spraying, it looks like one side of the classroom is going through one of those drive-through car washes.

You cannot hit a classroom window with a firehose and expect 6-year-olds to play attention to class. I mean, I’m a fun teacher and all, but come on! FIRE HOSE!!!

Anyway, we’re just getting back into our seats (kids) and calming our hysterical laughter (me), when there is a crash and a flexible ladder slams against our windows. It keeps moving with the breeze and crashing against the window, which may be even funnier than the power-washing.

Fortunately class was over by this point, so we all went to the window to watch some guys in camo make a formation.

Later, my TA explained that this is the, uh, practice drill for the fire drill tomorrow.

Beijing Noodle Shop

The Muslim Noodle Shop just got better. I think I’ve mentioned that I love this place, partly because the food is almost always delicious, partly because it’s cheap, but mostly because the staff doesn’t laugh hysterically at my attempts to speak Chinese. They actually go out of their way to figure out which dish I mean when I say the main ingredients.

We have dishes we always order, but we like to see what people at other tables are eating or what looks good going past, and order a bowl of that, too. Most people are really friendly, they tell us what they’re eating and that it’s really good and we should get it, or if I don’t understand what’s in it, they offer us a bite. And our usual waitress recommends dishes for us.

Today Stick and I went there for lunch, and while we were waiting for our beef-and-potatoes to arrive, another customer walked over with his bowl of spicy tofu. He asked if we wanted some, and before I could say “huh?,” he scooped tofu into each of our bowls!

Hey, foreigners, try this!

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