And so we went to meet Al, at the fabulous restaurant, where Tom Cruise dined in the little minuret tower, and the executive chef was a friend, and so it was all great, and in the Turkish via Austrailian way, it was all glamourous, and yet, the view is what made it all fabulous – sitting atop this antique building and looking at the bay of Shanghai, and the born is young and old, hip…
What can you cram into a day when you got home at 3 AM and had four hours sleep? Well, let’s see, there was an errand to a $6000 a month apartment to drop off something, then there was a breakfast in an historic restaurant known throughout not just Shanghai, but Asia, for its dumplings, and a bridge there that is crooked and purposefully so, so that ghosts can’t cross it, because ghost can’t negotiate…
A friend tells of her Pakistani lover – a tale of friction and lust – he has another in Pakistan who calls him at each elected prayer hour – she has graveyard love for him – when he told her he was leaving, she tried to take her life – he feels responsible.
There are good lucks signs all around China – you don’t have to be a pig to receive these messages. We walk through a lovely old land house neighborhood that borders the water and a beautiful park with cypress and there are black and white birds, lovely, large, sitting atop the trees, and I ask, “what are those birds?” and someone says, “They are Chinese birds. They bring good news.” Of course, I think, good…
It is the city of love and marriage – everywhere I look there is a bride in a gown – then there are two, four, six, eight, ten brides in gowns – they are everywhere – and so are the lovers kissing near the sea shore – there is the nice looking Qingdao man who gives us a ride in the boat to the rock that is called “old men” – there is the woman…
We head to a Korean restaurant as there are many in Qingdao and I’m fearful of “dog” so I avoid the meat – what covers the table are sweet potato glass noodles with wood ear mushrooms, ice soup with soba noodle and cucumbers with ice floating on top, sticky rice with tripe, pancakes with kim chee and of course, tall, cold Tsing Tao in our glass.
One of the delicacies in China is the dessert vendors who have tiny Hawthornes on coating in a sugar candy coating – seven to a stick – yum!!!
1. Clams 2. Tsing Tao beer 3. The men (or as my friend tells it – naked men drinking Tsing Tao beer eating clams)
On perfecting one’s life – forgetaboutit – be in beta – the testing, the probing, the inside out and outside in – that’s life. The finish line is death.