Spent the day with Li Jun, my tour guide from when I was in China in 2009. I met his wife, Ola, who is Polish and also a tour guide, and their two daughters Asia (pronounced Asha) and Zuzia (pronounced Zoojah). Asia is 4 yrs old and has no limits to her energy! Zuzia is 2 and can be very moody. Both girls are highly adorable and I had a lot of fun with them :-)
Walnut drink
Cut up bamboo shoots for soup
Hong shao rou (red cooked pork)
Shrimp (still alive when put in the wok!)
Sautéed pink and green leaves, emits a pink sauce, very pretty
Delicious strawberries
Li Jun's cooking was FANTASTIC, and I'm so lucky he let me watch him while he was making some of the dishes! I hope to be able to watch a lot more Chinese cooking so that I can learn the ways :-D
We all took a walk around the apartment complex to exercise the dog and girls. Wore out little Zuzia, but of course not Asia!
It was sooo nice talking and catching up, the hours just flew by! Before I knew it, it was dinner time and they invited me to stay for hot pot. I looove hot pot, and after making sure I wasn't overstaying my welcome, we enjoyed some more time talking together. So so tasty, and such an easy meal to throw together. I definitely need to utilize my hot pot at home more when I get back!
It was really nice to bounce ideas off each other and just share perspectives on everything from work to families to similarities and differences to kids to food to travel and just life in general. Li Jun and Ola were so open and hospitable, it was really touching how sweet they were. Even though Li Jun and I only spent 10 days together 5 years ago, I've always felt close with him. When he was recounting his time with me, he said he always felt like I was from China and he would forget that I was American heh. I kept telling him in 2009 that I would come back and here I am!! They talked about possibly coming to the US in the future to do a road trip and I can't wait to be his unofficial tour guide and return the favor!
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