So I went to the taping of the first episode of the first season of China's NExt Top Model the other day! What a hoot! The stage was set up outside and these girls must have been freezing! I got the inside scoop though on the controversy that you can expect this season, you know, for when you are watching China's next top model! :) There is a Russian girl who is Married to a Chinese guy and has a baby with him, she is obviously just there to piss off the other girls (she has a pookie Paris Hilton type face and don't think she stands much of a chance anyways!) and... are you ready? One of the girls is a few weeks Pregnant! Dondondon! There you have it! Impress your friends! I got a big kick out of the whole thing! Some of the girls are seriously cute though and could be a good race!
So I have been told that when I can't check my email or myspace or facebook etc. It IS something to take personally. Apparently because I check too many Western sites out consistently, and also probably because I have a blog (which I can't even read myself! And if you have a blog, my apologies for not being able to break down this great wall to read it!)
Our Ayi just left. She comes once a weeks to clean (for five US dollars!) She is a very cute tiny woman who every time tells me I'm beautiful (probably one of the only things she knows in English!) but I have gotten to the point in Chinese where we communicate pretty well and I'm always saying funny phrases in Chinese she gets a big kick out of! But she always does the weirdest things... Like I've lived in this apt. 3 months now, and in the kitchen everything has a pretty obvious space, but she insistently, even after I have showed her, puts the silverware in a cup and hides it! Either under the sink or up on a top shelf! Always in different spots too! I'm not quite sure what to make of it, so it has just become a funny game! 'Ayi' by the way is the general word for the maids, like everyone has an Ayi. Ayi really translates to Aunt or Woman over 40! Try getting away with that one in NY! haha!
Got some friends coming over for dinner and Scrabble tonight! Norm made this ginger/honey vodka that is delicious to serve too. Tomorrow I am going to my new best friend's place- The Tailor! To pick out fabric and get fitted for my next outfit. Love it!
Looking forward to my US visit, have a feeling it will be more exhausting than relaxing. I've slowed down out here in my old age and am not as used to that NYC pace that I used to chew up and eat for breakfast, but I a have a feeling I will surprise myself and manage quite irresponsibly! When in Rome... :)
Friday 4 January 2008
Wednesday 2 January 2008
It is all coming together!
Happy New Year! I am so pleased with how my 2007 went! The decision to leave NYC when I did and being brave enough to move out here to Shanghai are proving to be two of the best decisions I've ever made! We are getting very excited with the way the club and show are moving ahead and soon enough you will all be invited out here for a 2008 opening!
This year for New Years we decided to go with a group of friends 3 hours outside Shanghai to "The Real China" and stay up in the mountains at Moganshan! It started on the train there, which was surprisingly cozy and nice! It made me smile to see that each car had decorative fake plants, pink ornate seat covers, and ladies walking through the isles selling cashmere scarves, food and drinks. Then we switched to a taxi and then a hired van. The drive was really interesting. It all was very flat until we got to the mountain. The most noticeable features in the landscape are tall apartment complexes, some of them with little peaks on the top, almost Victorian, and in all different colors- pinks, blues, greens... and then fields of people working. It really is unbelievable how many people live in China! It wasn't very pretty, I have to say, but so fascinating and interesting, I couldn't stop thinking how unbelievable and lucky I am to see these things!
Moganshan (Shan means mountain) was so special! We were all the way at the top of the mountain and it was VERY cold! We walked about almost immediately, there was a lot of walking up and down stone stairs! It is a village up there, fairly deserted as it is the off season. Huge stone houses with chicken sheds in the back of each and outdoor tubs! THe views were absolutely breath-taking, looking down you could see villages miles off, and rivers and hills. I literally have seen pictures like what I've seen in National Geographic! Bamboo forests for miles... It is hard to describe just how beautiful it was, but luckily I took a ton of pictures which are at www.flickr.com/photos/ameliakallman Norm kept teasing me that I might see a panda bear, I got all excited, but we didn't... I'm pretty sure they live much further south and the joke was just on me!
We went to dinner, the ten of us in our group, to a local 'restaurant,' which is really someone's home, and we were the only customers! When we got there, there was no heat on and blaring florescent lights. We moved into a private room with it's own heater, but there is no getting away from those nasty energy-saving bulbs they are so in love with (We had to change all ours when we moved in). It was very lovely though: We had so many courses! Tons of food! Chicken soup (the WHOLE chicken, with the head, beak, and feet and claws in it), pheasant (with the liver cooked separately... I opted out of the liver!), delicious unknown white sprouts, miniature eggplants in sauce- great!, tofu in sauce, beef and potatoes, loads of different greens (and browns), beef and peppers, rice, tiny fried ribs... a lot more, but I'm not really sure what it all was! Very good though! The realest Chinese food I've ever had! She had been cooking for four hours before we came, just for us! She got a lot of pleasure out of serving us, you could tell! She was so sweet, also serving traditional Chinese New Year wine that she brewed herself at home! Such a lovely thought, but I barely made it back for a second sip, just to see if it got any better! It was like sweet vinegar! We had 2 in our group finish their glasses, and they both passed out asleep for a few hours after that! It cost 70 rmb's a person or $10. So wonderful! And I was truly inspired by my friends levels of Chinese who had been in Asia a few years! I could pick up about 1/3 of it all, which isn't bad for a month and a half of practice!
Then we went to the Lodge , which is run by an English guy and his Shanghai-ese wife. It is very cozy, food, drinks, family environment with kids about, all the guest were interacting etc. I think their Lodge not only does a great business, but has really helped bring a lot of the expats out there.
Our group had a room in a suite, so the rest of the night we all brought out our instruments (yup, I even played along on guitar!) and we sang and danced. Played some fun party games like charades, and girls-against the boys group songs...
Our group was so diverse! We represented: Italy, Spain, Burma, BRazil, Korea, Hong KOng, NY/Bristol, London, Canada, and USA! At midnight we did the Spanish grape thing when you are supposed to eat 12 grapes in 12 seconds! I made it to 8! haha! It was lots of fun! We had a terrace too, and I don't think I have ever seen the stars so close! It was beautiful and clear, millions of stars, just so close!
Overall, a spectacular new year!
So tomorrow we have been invited to go back to that restaurant that a friend of ours helped open here, for the recording of the last episode of the next season of "America's Next Top Model!" Haha! I think it will be a hoot! Going with our Aussie friends, so I know at least we will be having a laugh and good time!
Maybe I've mentioned it before, but we have fallen in with the best crowd and group of friends we could ask for! A bunch or artsy, creative, interesting people that have quickly become close friends that I hope to know a long time! It's pretty unreal, and we are always saying to each other that this would not/could not have happened in any other city in the world-NY, LOndon, LA.... It is pretty refreshing! Also, I think Norm and I fill a spot nicely, both of us being genuine NYC crazies! :)
So I am traveling back to the states Jan 14-28. My plan so far is.... Fly into NYC 9:00pm Jan 14., sleep at Scrappy and Mikey's, wake up the next morning (hahaha!... I'm really going to try hard that whole waking up thing! I will just time-traveled back in time after a 14 hour flight!) and take a bus down to VA, then on the 16th my mom and I are driving to PA to see my grandparents, then back to VA for some quality time, and I think I'm going to invite my VA friends to this cheap (very good) Mexican food and Margarita bar one night for some hardcore catching up! Then to NYC on the 21st and I leave the morning of the 28th. I will miss Norman and Shanghai (which is a good thing!) But am looking forward so much to visiting with family and friends!
I'm in 2 books that just came out: " Inside the Chelsea Hotel" by Julia Calfee, and "Atmosphere: The Chelsea Hotel" by Linda Troeller! They are both such beautiful, talented, strong women who I very much admire and am honored to be featured in their work! I can't wait to pick up copies while I'm there! The pic on here is the one from Linda's book and I will post a few of the pics from Julia's I just got a hold of (there are 3 of me and 3 of Norm, making us the most represented in the book!) We went to her opening and I couldn't believe how much a pic of me was going for! Very cool!
Oh! I have an official Fan Club now on facebook! I have 86 members! haha! So funny and cool! I love it!
I guess that is about it for now.... I hope this year is your best yet! Thank you for all your love and support in 2007! I have a feeling 2008 is going to be a good one!
Love, Amelia
This year for New Years we decided to go with a group of friends 3 hours outside Shanghai to "The Real China" and stay up in the mountains at Moganshan! It started on the train there, which was surprisingly cozy and nice! It made me smile to see that each car had decorative fake plants, pink ornate seat covers, and ladies walking through the isles selling cashmere scarves, food and drinks. Then we switched to a taxi and then a hired van. The drive was really interesting. It all was very flat until we got to the mountain. The most noticeable features in the landscape are tall apartment complexes, some of them with little peaks on the top, almost Victorian, and in all different colors- pinks, blues, greens... and then fields of people working. It really is unbelievable how many people live in China! It wasn't very pretty, I have to say, but so fascinating and interesting, I couldn't stop thinking how unbelievable and lucky I am to see these things!
Moganshan (Shan means mountain) was so special! We were all the way at the top of the mountain and it was VERY cold! We walked about almost immediately, there was a lot of walking up and down stone stairs! It is a village up there, fairly deserted as it is the off season. Huge stone houses with chicken sheds in the back of each and outdoor tubs! THe views were absolutely breath-taking, looking down you could see villages miles off, and rivers and hills. I literally have seen pictures like what I've seen in National Geographic! Bamboo forests for miles... It is hard to describe just how beautiful it was, but luckily I took a ton of pictures which are at www.flickr.com/photos/ameliakallman Norm kept teasing me that I might see a panda bear, I got all excited, but we didn't... I'm pretty sure they live much further south and the joke was just on me!
We went to dinner, the ten of us in our group, to a local 'restaurant,' which is really someone's home, and we were the only customers! When we got there, there was no heat on and blaring florescent lights. We moved into a private room with it's own heater, but there is no getting away from those nasty energy-saving bulbs they are so in love with (We had to change all ours when we moved in). It was very lovely though: We had so many courses! Tons of food! Chicken soup (the WHOLE chicken, with the head, beak, and feet and claws in it), pheasant (with the liver cooked separately... I opted out of the liver!), delicious unknown white sprouts, miniature eggplants in sauce- great!, tofu in sauce, beef and potatoes, loads of different greens (and browns), beef and peppers, rice, tiny fried ribs... a lot more, but I'm not really sure what it all was! Very good though! The realest Chinese food I've ever had! She had been cooking for four hours before we came, just for us! She got a lot of pleasure out of serving us, you could tell! She was so sweet, also serving traditional Chinese New Year wine that she brewed herself at home! Such a lovely thought, but I barely made it back for a second sip, just to see if it got any better! It was like sweet vinegar! We had 2 in our group finish their glasses, and they both passed out asleep for a few hours after that! It cost 70 rmb's a person or $10. So wonderful! And I was truly inspired by my friends levels of Chinese who had been in Asia a few years! I could pick up about 1/3 of it all, which isn't bad for a month and a half of practice!
Then we went to the Lodge , which is run by an English guy and his Shanghai-ese wife. It is very cozy, food, drinks, family environment with kids about, all the guest were interacting etc. I think their Lodge not only does a great business, but has really helped bring a lot of the expats out there.
Our group had a room in a suite, so the rest of the night we all brought out our instruments (yup, I even played along on guitar!) and we sang and danced. Played some fun party games like charades, and girls-against the boys group songs...
Our group was so diverse! We represented: Italy, Spain, Burma, BRazil, Korea, Hong KOng, NY/Bristol, London, Canada, and USA! At midnight we did the Spanish grape thing when you are supposed to eat 12 grapes in 12 seconds! I made it to 8! haha! It was lots of fun! We had a terrace too, and I don't think I have ever seen the stars so close! It was beautiful and clear, millions of stars, just so close!
Overall, a spectacular new year!
So tomorrow we have been invited to go back to that restaurant that a friend of ours helped open here, for the recording of the last episode of the next season of "America's Next Top Model!" Haha! I think it will be a hoot! Going with our Aussie friends, so I know at least we will be having a laugh and good time!
Maybe I've mentioned it before, but we have fallen in with the best crowd and group of friends we could ask for! A bunch or artsy, creative, interesting people that have quickly become close friends that I hope to know a long time! It's pretty unreal, and we are always saying to each other that this would not/could not have happened in any other city in the world-NY, LOndon, LA.... It is pretty refreshing! Also, I think Norm and I fill a spot nicely, both of us being genuine NYC crazies! :)
So I am traveling back to the states Jan 14-28. My plan so far is.... Fly into NYC 9:00pm Jan 14., sleep at Scrappy and Mikey's, wake up the next morning (hahaha!... I'm really going to try hard that whole waking up thing! I will just time-traveled back in time after a 14 hour flight!) and take a bus down to VA, then on the 16th my mom and I are driving to PA to see my grandparents, then back to VA for some quality time, and I think I'm going to invite my VA friends to this cheap (very good) Mexican food and Margarita bar one night for some hardcore catching up! Then to NYC on the 21st and I leave the morning of the 28th. I will miss Norman and Shanghai (which is a good thing!) But am looking forward so much to visiting with family and friends!
I'm in 2 books that just came out: " Inside the Chelsea Hotel" by Julia Calfee, and "Atmosphere: The Chelsea Hotel" by Linda Troeller! They are both such beautiful, talented, strong women who I very much admire and am honored to be featured in their work! I can't wait to pick up copies while I'm there! The pic on here is the one from Linda's book and I will post a few of the pics from Julia's I just got a hold of (there are 3 of me and 3 of Norm, making us the most represented in the book!) We went to her opening and I couldn't believe how much a pic of me was going for! Very cool!
Oh! I have an official Fan Club now on facebook! I have 86 members! haha! So funny and cool! I love it!
I guess that is about it for now.... I hope this year is your best yet! Thank you for all your love and support in 2007! I have a feeling 2008 is going to be a good one!
Love, Amelia
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