Hotel Chu is Open for Business

I know we are seriously behind on updating this blog but to all our friends abroad just to let you know we have landed safely in China and are now open for business. =)

I am having difficulties uploading the photos both here and via email so let me describe the settings of the new Hotel Chu...

2 Bedroom/ 2 Bathroom/ Living Room/ Kitchen and small study (with a futon)

It's 120 sq meters.... well Chinese sq meters so a bit smaller than that. While a bit of a walk to the tube and CEIBS (but only at 14 RMB cab) it is a block away from our current favorite place in Pudong.. Carrefour! Carrefour here is huge and has EVERYTHING, my new favorite is a Taiwanese shabu shabu place which is delicious and only 37RMB pp or 3.7 GBP or c.$6. And there's a Taiwanese chain, Yong He King which has do jiang you tiao (fresh soy milk with Chinese Donut) and hong shao niu ruo mien (beef noodle soup) oh and mai tsai ko ruo (sorry don't know the translation)

So far we've had a chance to meet some folks, one of Eugene's classmates and a friend from LBS and his friends, which has been nice. And I'm just starting the job search so wish me luck!

Miss you all and start planning on visiting, we wouldn't want this great place to go to waste!!

London Outings during the eye of the storm

In my infinite genius, and occasions of over ambitiousness, I've painted myself into quite the pretty corner. With 5 electives (2 being rather weekly work heavy) and 2 projects my days are quite busy... not to mention I have now signed up to go to Ghana right after the term ends for two weeks, meaning there's no wiggle room for finishing all my work any time after the term ends. Couple that with Vicky and Ed coming to play that last week of the term, even more motivation to wrap everything up before then.

Add to this my plan my life 9 months in advance personality... Eugene and I are going to start travelling on the weekends again soon too.

But to my point, this last Saturday, my last without my hubby, was quite a fun event out on the town.

Met up with several girls near London Bridge to attend this treasure hunt meets dinner mystery theatre called Accomplice. Ximena, Carolina, Darice and I grabbed some Raclette first... can't pass by Borough Market without it, and then we met up with Ania, Mandy, Kristin and Ines for the start of the "show". It's quite fun because the actors are really in character, and interact with us in quite a fun way. Kristin stole the hearts of the OCD cleaner and speech impediment Schwarmacist. We all got funny little nicknames ... Bag, Burlesque, Giggles, Scarf, Blonde, Blue, etc. and all in all a good time. The best part was after we solved the ending we got to watch the next group try to figure out the final puzzle (which we figured out in a jiffy) making us feel good about our problem solving abilities. Although sense of direction was not strong with us, getting distracted from one puzzle to another by some arrows on the ground which led us to the Rose Museum.

After a couple of drinks and chatting with the girls I made my way down to my next event... A real Chinese New Year's celebration. We (Tak, Mei, Miwa, Nick, Rheza, Jonas, Monica, Beng-fai, Yuki, Zeynep, Kelvin, Kim, Sachin R) met up at Ran (Korean BBQ in London... yea me!) and headed down to the private room where we had amazing Korean food (thanks for ordering Mei!) and good company. But the real fun began when we moved from Plum Wine and Beer to Cucumber Soju and then just Soju. That really loosened up the vocal chords as we sang a compilation of good oldies, newbies, japanese and korean songs. Good times!

Sweden in October

First weekend in October we made our way to Stockholm to visit Phoebus and have dinner with the LBS Stockholm Trek folk

Max's Junior Burger... best deal in Stockholm (this is one EXPENSIVE city) and oh so yummy... Phoebus was our saviour and bought us burgers and garlic fries for dinner on our way back
Stockholm is gorgeous and pristine... especially nice to have our knowledgeable guide Phoebus to show us around
A must see! Vassar Museum... basically a poorly constructed but super ambitious warship sailed for 20 minutes and then sank by a strong wind (reinforcing the importance of physics).. because of the level of salt in the water wood worms can't survive so it's pretty much in pristine condition
This is what it looked like in its original form... I personally like the classic dark wood look better
This ship is HUGE
Even the cold air doesn't stop people from sitting outside and people watching... according to Phoebus this was also a square where there was a massacre...I have forgotten the details
Smallest street in Stockholm... good thing we're skinny
One of my favorite places to visit in a foreign city... the supermarket! Stockholm'swas super interesting... tunnbrod...sort of like big ol crackers
Interestingly...they like to vacuum pack everything... probably because space is even tighter here than London
Being a homogenous society perhaps they don't know why some people may find this offensive...
We went to _________(means frog) with LBS it was soooo goood....
Swedish delicacy plate...herring is surprisingly good
Fish soup... fancy fish soup that is so good....this place had amazing bread too!
THE BEST place for Cinnamon Rolls and Cardamom Rolls
Skansen...its a park of old farmsteads and structures around Sweden, Finland and Denmark, its meant to give people a view of what life was like back then
That isn't snow, its the leftover glass from the glass blower building
It was arts and craft weekend which meant all of the craftspeople were there to show how things were done back then. I think the cobbler looks a lot like St.Nick =)
The good students... Phoebus and Eugene chatting up the engraver
and then the printer
Phoebus' favorite place in Skansen....and I suspect favorite place in Stockholm
The home of fresh, home made Tunnbrod!
Skansen also has a mini zoo... I've never seen an owl's head actually turn 360...until today! CRAZY
Oldest structure in Sweden... I think it was a mill house
Eugene and Phoebus tempting a moose with some leaves
Skansen... gorgeous view of a beautiful (but expensive) city! Thanks Phoebus for hosting and showing us around!

Waltzing around Edinburgh with Parents

October 23rd and 24th we took Eugene's parents to Edinburgh, Scotland...gorgeous city but oh so cold!

Again, Eugene will jump anywhere he can...
Scottish breakfast... like an English breakfast but with Black Pudding
Edinburgh castle...check

As seems to be our timing... protests held in front of Edinburgh castle while we were there



One day.... Ed will be able to afford this ;)

In Bruge... and Brussels =)

November 13th and 14th we ignored the planes and took the Eurostar to Brussels... where we found protests in Belgium too... we're getting the world tour of protests...

Unfortunately what we didn't realize was the Belgium was known for its rain...lots and lots of rain... two umbrellas destroyed
Frites with Mayonaise.. yum! Still no Amsterdam Mannekinpis(sp?) we dream of you still..
Belgium is also known for its food... and Noordzee is almost worth the Eurostar ticket itself... most amazing meal ever! Totally worth standing in the cold
Poisson Soup ... basically fish soup that was soo good... Eugene and I weren't sharing
Oysters.... ::sigh::
Mussels... can't go to Brussels and not eat mussels
Perfectly cooked and seasoned Scallops... so very perfect
We met a Belgium at Noordzee who said if we wanted waffles we had to go to Belgraufa... we did and this was our first taste of heaven!! (**we luckily found a stand at Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park)
Tin Tin shop/museum... oh those Nickelodeon days
The original mannekinpiss... as usual much smaller in person
Cafe Leon.. tourist trap for a good reason.. the most amazing mussels I have every head... I literally ate every last drop...even using the bread to soak up all the juices... soooo gooooood!
Showing extreme self control we just picked a few tasters of Belgium Chocolate... Eugene was disappointed they weren't making the chocolate in the store.. I think he thought it was going to be like Chocolat the movie
Good fortune shines upon us as we find a Belgaufra stand outside our hotel ... we didn't share this time .. making for a delicious but VERY heavy brunch to go
In Bruge we find our home away from home
A Hot Chocolate Lover (me!) dream... you bet I brought some home
This is Belgium beer made from a 17th century recipe... it was yummy... but all Belgium beer is quite yummy...
We wouldn't be the Chu's without an awesome jumping photo
Bruge has got a lot of history and is really a beautiful city to wander


Very pleasant before we got poured on and had to ride soaking wet back to London... but all in all with our bellys full and romance rekindled it was an amazing trip

Happy Holidays to our friends and family!