May in July ? Only in America !

What do I mean by that ?

Well , this weekend .. Qing and I spend Saturday in Long Beach CA. .
This is about 90 miles south of where we live . This did not change our Minds though , to be part of a Festival .. that is actually celebrated in May .. in China that is . Hence , the Title of this Post .

As I saw with surprise on my PC , the mentioning of the 2011 Dragonboat Festival and Races over the this Weekend . Some 100 + Races of Young and Old alike . Anybody that can hold a Orr and is not afraid of the Water .

Need to get up early ( before 6am ) , have Breakfast and hit the Road south by no later then 8:00am . Knowning , that this place where all is going to happen .. will not be easy to locate/find . I only been twice in my 39 years here in California to Long Beach . That was to Visit the "Queen Mary" Cruise Ship .

As I suspected , we ( actually I ) were lost arriving in Long Beach . Going down the 710 Fwy and looking for the 7th Street Exit .. which never came . Finding ourselves in the Ship Yard and in the Un-loading area of all those oversea's Container's ( most of them from China of course ). Interesting view , as some of them I think were stagged 10-15 high . Some sight for sure . Anyway , me admitting that we are lost ( yes .. there are some Men that do admit their lost ) , it was time to ask some unexpecting Soul to guide us in the right direction . Remembering this from our last Downtown LA visit ( ask five People for Angle Flight and nobody knew where it was ) , of course the first Lady I ask at a SuperMarket .. had NO idea of the area where she Worked . hahaha
Oh , I now remember .. most work  2 Hours from Home and have NO idea where their at .

Asking a second Person , I could see .. we were at least close to our Destination . I saw some familiar Street's that were mentioned in the Printout I had taken with us from the Computer . Made me feel good , I can actually take some credit for finding the Place .. that always looks good in front of your LaoPo .

By now it was close to 11:00 am , not bad .. As I have figured in .. this well before .

Here we were , in the middle of dozens of Dragonboat's and People that will races them . Along all the Crowd that had the same idea of coming here . What was strange , is that Qing has never been to one in China in all her years growing up in Shanghai . It is also my first experience seeing this , even though I wanted to see them plenty of times in the Past .

Strolling with the Crowd , we came to an Stage that was to have different Performance's from different Countries/Cultures . Of course Chinese-Jananese-Hawaii-Tahiti .This was a nice welcome between the Boat races , as one sits under a Tent and out of the Sun .

Enjoying ourselves for about three-four Hours and walking slowly back to our Car , the Scenic Route .. to check out the beautiful Homes near the Marina . Turns out , Qing was even more interested in those Homes then the Boat races . Seeing on of them for Sale , picked up a Flyer to see what they are asking for one of those beauties . Oh .. a cool $ 1.2 Million for a 1936 build ( but renovated ) .. cough .. cough ! Not that I think they are not worth it , after all it was 2600 sq feet of obsolute " I love this " . Let me quick check my Checkbook and see .. if ?

One can Dream .. right ?

So on the way Home , we took the Pacific Coast Highway all the way to Venice ( not Italy ) . Including a view of old Queen Mary sitting like she does for many years as an Tourist Attraction .Qing loved the drive through one Beach City after the other very much , but she really liked Long Beach .. as she now wants us to take her Brother's Wife there .. when she comes in Sept. this year .

I'm now wondering , what happened to Pasadena .. did "IT" now move down on her List of favourite Cities ? Then again , the Beach Cities are beautiful to the Eye . I'm not the kind to go in the Ocean Water's , either for Fun or Sport . What I like most is the Temperature year-round .. comfortable .

One more stop we planned on the drive home , that was the Asian Market .. that we just can not pass up being within 5 minutes off the Freeway . Nice time shopping with Dinner next door and then .. call it a day .. it is .

Putting up a Shelf for Qing's Buddha .

Being married to a Chinese Wife , has brought this up in my Mind many times . What do I do about the two different Religions we have .

Before I get into it too much , I must realize .. that we are both not the practicing kind . We do have each our strong believe in our own Upbringing . As of late , I find myself only going to an None-Denominational Church . Qing has gone to a Temple to pray many times for Family Members and before we actually met .. even prayed for a good Husband . Well , she now definitely believes .. that wish came true . I myself , have prayed after I lost my first Wife .. for the Lord to give me strength to go on in Life . I'm blessed much more than that , as my Blog is proof of that .

Anyway , I will let this difference between us NOT get in our way at anytime .. now or later . I'm not the Type to push my Religion onto anybody and I expect the same in return . People that think , they better because they live and breathe a certain Believe .. well let them think just that . I don't care ! It still comes down to one thing , are you a GOOD Person to other's or NOT .

I do spend time to tell my LaoPo about the Bible and my understanding of it , but thats it . I'm not here to change her Mind and tell Her .. you better off with my Religion . Do I really know that for sure . After all , I'm not the Judge of that or where anybody is going for living their style of Life .

So , I build my LaoPo her Shelf on our Patio . You know what ? I love it just as much as Qing does and I'm proud of it .. having done it .

Now , as some Friends have suggested/ask .. what about Qing's Son when he get's here ? Another thing I have been thinking over a lot .. now that his paperwork is in the Process . Mmmmh .. this is not an easy one , him being only Ten . I need to find out what he knows/learned this far .. growing up in Shanghai and just take it from there . It is after all for us to decide , as he is not old enough to make up his own Mind just yet . Then again , Chinese are smart People ( even Children ) .. he might have make up his Mind already ? We'll see , but Qing and I are living as a Married Couple should and with Love and Respect .. Honesty to a point .. where Jealousy is not ever going to sneak up on either one of us .

Here are some Photo's again , from the last few days .

A "Delight" under the "Night" !

Last Saturday , was our first Concert under the night sky .. here near our Home . Something I have been looking forward to . Knowing pretty much all the Band's/Singer's from the 50's-60's-70's , this was not one I wanted to miss . It happens to be " AMERICA " and their are on their 40th Anniversary Tour , with one more Show left after this Performance . Of course everybody knows the Song " A Horse with no Name " and sure all know .. this is NOT about a Horse at all . Anyway , Qing and I first enjoyed a Asian Buffet ( mostly Sushi for me haha ) . Stuffed and no need to buy Refreshments/Drinks at super high prices , that make the Admission look like it's Free . So the Show was to start at 8:00 pm and we arrived about 6:30 pm and most good ( near the Stage ) were already taken . So we stand there among the Crowd and look for a place to put our Chairs , when Someone saw us looking further and further back away from even being able to count the Band members when it's time . Well almost ! So here comes a Guy and ask Me , if I wanted two Seat's in the front ? My first thought of course .. was , how much does he want for those ? So I ask Him , to my surprise .. he said ! Nothing , two of my friends did not show up .. so their yours . Heck , he did not have to say that twice . Well now , I would have never thought .. we would be sitting in the third row and just a little to the left of Center Stage . I now really felt a little Quilty , not haveing to dish out some kind of Money for those . When right next to me , sat all the VIP's in their Chair's .. having paid somewhat more then my $ 5.00 first come first serve Ticket . Also a great start for both of us , even before it started .


Eight PM came , here comes "America " with four .. over sixty or close to it and are about to sing all that they know .
All I can say , what a great Performance .. even Qing was busy waving the US flag ( the ones everybody recieved entering ) . This was by far one of the best Concert's , along with " The Who " . I also thought of it being funny , they call themselves " America " when they actually come from England . Then again , what Band doesn't ?


Sunday , Qing and I went to Home Department Store to get some Spot Light's for our soon to be reallity Water Fountain and all the Wood for Qing's Buddha and Accessories .


As one can see , I'm still putting the finishing touches on Patio and Backyard . I will up-load some Photo's again , when I have them ready .
Back to the Store , I like to share how Store's are trying to ceat People . Last week , we went to the same Department and saw the Bar Table/w two Chair's ( to match our large Patio Table ) on SALE . This is what the sign read  .. $ 200 off - Regular price $ 499 .. so $ 299 to buy . This time the sign read .. $ 100 off - Reg. price $ 399 .. so still $ 299 to buy . Now , I wasn't going to pay $ 299 .. when I bought the large Table / w six Chair's and Cushion's for only $ 399 . This is where I got to show Qing , I can bargain too .. and I'm not even Chinese ( well I learned that from her of course and my Trips to China ) . The Manager comes buy and see's us looking this Table over and I told him about the " Two Sale Sign's " I have seen . He played like he had no idea ??? Anyway , he tells us .. this is the last one and I can let it go for $ 250 . I was thinking more like $ 199 , so I told him too much for this " Little " Table . He left us alone again and I told Qing , there is no way I will Pay more then what I think this is worth . It is after all " Made in China " . haha   naturally !
He came back a second time and I told him , I'll pay $250 .. but no Tax on it . Well , it didn't take him long .. before he lowered the Price down to $ 225 .. as he told me he can not take the Tax off . Good enough for me , let's wrap it up and I'll take it .. Ohhh , and don't forget to put one of those $ 5 Plugs in the middle .. hence I don't need an Umprella .


This must of gained me some PLUS Point's in my LaPo's Book . I know , we here are not use to Bargaining in our Stores .. but then again .. why not try . People that been to China know this very well , stuff Made in China can be Bargained there .. so if you feel your being taken for a ride .. give them He** ! or tell them to Sho** it !

Ahhh .. living by the Number's .

It is somewhat scary looking at this Clock without any Arms to tell you the Time nore AM / PM .

http://www.usdebtclock.org/



Then again , do I need to worry ? After all , it's not my Money going out the Window .. now is it ?
Makes one wonder if this will ever run backwards at some point or it just will be doing all it really knows .. " ADD " ? Somebody please find the Plug and ... Pull it !

This Post is for anyone married to a Chinese Wife

As I think often how it would have been between Qing and myself , had she no understanding or very little of the English Language .. when we first had our contact or right now being here .

The way it is in reallity , I think we are both lucky and benefit from Qing knowing English very well .

Starting out a Relationship with Translators ( Alive or Electronic ones ) and continueing living together , got to be as hard as it can get on both Parties . I really don't even want to go there , much less think about .. what if  ?

Anyway , not having to deal with this .. I know has us so much closer as of now .. then I could have ever imagined just a few years ago . So one of my close Friends from Down Under , has mentioned just what makes a Marriage work between two different Cultures/Languages so well . For a Lady/Wife coming to "Your" Country to live , this is number one in my Book to succeed in this .

Most Men , most likely think .. well she will adjust when she's here . When in Fact , it should be the Man that needs to adjust more so than the Wife . Qing's been here almost two years now and I had to do many changes/adjustments on my part . This can be very hard for some individual , as a lot of Man are very stuburn when it comes to changes . That pretty much includes many .. many situations faced with over time . I'm not an exception , I had ( I say had ) trades/stuburness that I'm not proud of . Did I adjust after I got Married to my Sweetheart ? You bet I have . Qing is a witness and besides .. we make Fun over it now . She always tells me , how easy I adjust under any circumstance now . Why the sudden change ? All I know , it is out of "Love" and "Respect" for my LaoPo .. knowing she's the one having her own adjustments to handle . Yeah , the ones we might never even see in Daylight .. like missing her Son .. just to mention one .

My Job is , make her as comfortable as much I can possibly make her feel . Is that so much asked of me ? Heck , no way ! What does anyone think I get/receive in return in all this ? Of course the greatest LaoPo alive , mind you .. I would not/never think of her any less than that .. at any time . Result ; a Honeymoon ( I know I bring that up often ) that has seemingly no end in sight .. what's whoever . 

Live by this Principal , how can anything really go wrong ? Simply said , two Hearts "Truely" in Love .

Just one weekend of many .. together as Happy as can be . Eating , walking , visiting , driving , at home .. it does not matter one bit .

A change has come to my Blog .

I have decided to make my Blog more Private . Starting this month , I will invite all my Followers and other's I know .. by giving me their E-Mail Address . I will gladly add them to my List of Friends .. People I know of course . As for our Forum , access will continue with no change .

Sorry if this causes any inconvenience and of course love to have you all continue enjoying/reading my Blog as it keeps up-dates as usual .