5 things I'm missing....

Okay...I've been in China for 12 days now and although I'm totally enjoying this experience, I'm finding that there are some things I am sorely missing...

1. Blue skies....I haven't seen color in the sky since I got here. No clouds, no stars...it's always the same hazy, off-white, overcast sky.

2. Fresh air...ah for a breath of cool mountain air with a scent of fresh pine, lavender or whatever is growing nearby in it...All I have when I breathe deep is heavy, hot oxygen. There is nothing sweet or invigorating. I doubt many Chinese (in Beijing at least) wake up and say "It's a beautiful morning!"...I know I haven't yet.

3. Personal space...I have been butt to butt, nose to nose and sweaty body to sweaty body with more strangers than I ever thought possible, I want some SPACE!!!!

4. Food I recognize, (see below) and most especially salad! I can't/won't eat salad here for fear of sickness and I'm craving raw vegetables! (except of course mushrooms, olives & tomatos...I doubt I'll ever crave those).

5.and most especially, I'm missing this cute little guy...

(photo compliments of Desert Dog Daycare where Lucky is spending some of his time away from me, www.desertdogdaycare.com, the best doggie daycare & boarding in Salt Lake! -they put up with worry-wart me!)

Do you recognize this dish?

a meal to refuse...this was a 'Scheschwan chicken' dish but the flavor was hard to describe and the "chicken" was a part of the chicken I've never seen before. This is how we received the dish and how we left it. Not a good choice on our part.


Noodles...a better option but still we didn't eat much of it. The first dish was enough to put me off eating for the rest of the day.

The beer was good though...