So much went on since my last non-parent trip related blog entry, let's see....what to talk about....hmmm, Imus...nope old news, Virginia Tech shooting....too early to say anything funny about (actually when I am in a more serious mood, gun control and how hard it is for any kind of immigrant students to fit in in the US schools will be subjects of blogs), NHL playoffs....wait, isn't it an oxymoron to say that the NHL playoffs is news?, NBA playoffs...to early, Oden and Durant going pro....did anyone doubt this?, Earth Day....I don't care about this, oh I know, my dinner last night....perfect.
After church we headed off to Cafe Du Monde, a nice restaurant that serves New Orleans style food. This is our second adventure to this place since it opened close to our house about a month ago. The food isn't the best ever, but it is very good and I especially love the fact that I can get a sandwich that is on par with sandwiches in the US (the Chinese haven't yet mastered the whole taking fresh meat and putting it in between two slices of fresh bread with some choice condiments to go with it). We were there with friends last night, British friends, who I had to try to explain what kind of food New Orleans style food is....conclusion to that conversation was that I really couldn't (I did my best, I said it is a nice cross of French food and Caribbean Island spices, but I don't think that is okay). My wife and I shared a shrimp po' boy (as seen above) and it was very good. The place was empty (consistent with our last meal), which is unfortunate, but I guess even if you have good to great food, if you don't have a crowd willing to fill your place you won't do well. A good thing about owning a restaurant in Shanghai is the fact that your overhead is very low so that you can survive a pretty long time on just a little bit of business (rent, labor, and electricity is next to nothing compared to the States). It was really raining hard last night so its hard to say if that had a factor with things being slow. Anyway, if you actually do live in Shanghai and are in Pudong this is a nice place for a family to head to when you are looking for a good quiet meal.
IN: Plaid - I hate plaid, but if the GAP and other fine mall retail shops have anything to do with it (and they definitely do), your eyes will be experiencing weird depth perception problems as a result of a slew of people wearing plaid this summer (Am I the only one that has these depth perception problems, I mean all those lines and squares and things, if someone is wearing a plaid jacket I can't tell if their coming or going). So remember, you heard it hear first, plaid will be the men's fashion this summer, so all you cool fashionable people (me not being one of them as I still enjoy my carpenter corduroy pants ala 2004), go out and buy up your plaid shorts and shoes so that you can throw them away in September when it goes back our of style.
OUT: Alec Baldwin's parenting skills - I have kids, two of them, neither of them are older then 3 and I can confirm that kids can push your limits of tolerance, but leaving a phone message like he did is just wrong. I understand that he never gets to see his daughter, I understand that his only communication with her is over the phone at an agreed upon time that may not be the most convenient to his schedule, and I understand that his daughter most likely saw that it was her dad calling from an unknown number on her phone so she didn't pick up, but Alec, this is not a way to react to your 11 year old daughter. Alec Baldwin has had a history of anger management issues and is reported to not be the nicest guy in the world. A couple of things that are really disturbing about the call: 1. He wasn't sure the age of his daughter, he first said 12 and then tried to correct himself by saying 11 2. He called her names that are just inappropriate for a father to be calling a daughter of any age let along an 11 year old daughter 3. He mentioned his former wife in a very unpleasant manner, if he was mad at her leave a message for her not for his daughter.
Bottom line, yelling and screaming and calling your kids names is not the best way to parent. Again, I understand how frustrating things can get (I am a parent), but that is not the way to parent, if you go through with having kids you have to be ready to sacrifice things in your life to make sure you are there for them while they are growing up.
On another note, I'm glad that blog and I have reunited, hopefully we can stay together for a little while longer this time around.
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