Shanghai Tang

Shanghai Tang revealed its Spring Summer Collection for 2011 in Beijing's Honglingjin Park. Despite its moniker, Shanghai Tang was actually founded in Hong Kong in 1994. I had received an invite to the launch celebration being held by the "global ambassador of contemporary Chinese chic" from my good friend Swathish. We were welcome additions to China's fashion scene, posing on the red carpet as photographers clicked away.

My favourite Chinese bombshells were in attendance, including actress Fan Bing Bing and MTV China VJ Zhu Zhu. Fan Bing Bing and I made eye contact for a moment. Time froze and a lifetime together was imagined in that split second. I had first seen the captivating Zhu Zhu hosting an event at the Sanlitun Village in my early days in China, and did not expect our paths would cross again. Zhu Zhu interviewed Fan Bing Bing. After regaining consciousness, I went to get a drink.

After cocktails were served, the guests were ushered to seats near the stage. The actual fashion show portion of the gala was over in a flash. One model was indistinguishable from the next, presumably so the clothes could stand out and grab the attention of the trendsetters in the audience. The models strutted to the front of the catwalk, jutted out their bony hips, swivelled, and returned backstage. Even though a warm weather collection was being revealed, Beijing in March is still quite chilly. I empathized with the plight of the scantily clad beauties that stiffly patrolled the catwalk, understanding why they had broken neither sweat or smile.

*****

“Fashions fade, style is eternal.” - Yves Saint Laurent

ARNABites: My First Pizza

I usually write about my passions such as travel, work, and ARNABabes. Cooking is a lesser passion which I rarely dabble in, much less mention. When living in exotic places where the food is delicious and affordable, I find no need to cook. Only when I am back in Vancouver do I occasionally add to my culinary arsenal. Since I never use prior recipes or write down what I did while cooking, I must piece together the different ingredients contained in my edible enigma using my memories and photographs later on. It is with great pleasure I reveal the first of my ARNABites recipes. The venerable pizza is one of my all time favourites.

Ingredients:

• McCain International Thin Crust Parisian Pizza

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees
2. Place pizza inside the oven for 15-18 minutes
3. Take pizza out of oven 
4. Subdivide into equally sized slices
5. Enjoy!

 *****

“You better cut the pizza in four pieces because I'm not hungry enough to eat six.” ~ Yogi Berra  

Somewhat Perplexed

A Japanese guy with decent Chinese speaking skills and I are sitting at a train station in a small town. A Chinese man approaches, staring at me intently.

Chinese guy: Where's that one from?
Japanese guy: Canada.
Chinese guy: Then why is he so black?
Japanese guy: All sorts of people can be Canadian... Chinese people can be Canadian... Indian people can be Canadian...

The Chinese man shakes his head disgustedly and walks away. Soon after, another approaches and conducts an identical survey.

They Call Me Mister Tibes

Hurricane Eloisa cut a swath of destruction through Puerto Rico in 1975. The remains of an ancient community were uncovered in Tibes in the flooding that followed. Fragments of bones and ceramics revealed that the area was first inhabited soon after the birth of Jesus by the Igneri tribe. They abandoned it six hundred years after for reasons that remain a mystery to this day. A different tribe, the Taino, arrived in more recent times to resettle in the area. A model of the ancient dwellings has been created at the Tibes Indigenous Ceremonial Center so that visitors can get an insight into the lives of the early indigenous people of Puerto Rico.

The large grounds contain structures that show it acted as a guide to the stars, which was important for an agrarian society in determining the dates of the solstice and equinox. A cemetery containing almost 200 human bodies lies within the most important archaeological site in the Antilles. Sports fields, where a soccer style game called batey was played, were also found. Legend has it that after a Christian missionary was captured by the tribe, they decided to play ball to decide his fate. The winning team would get to kill him.

*****

“The nature of man is always the same; it is their habits that separate them.” ~ Confucius 

Chuanr

Chuanr is Chinese for kebab or skewer. Originating from the Muslim region of Xinjiang, it soon spread to street side vendors throughout the nation. You know that you are pronouncing it correctly if it sounds the same as the noise your stomach makes immediately after your eyes have spotted a chuanr vendor. A variety of delicious meat is normally attached to the sticks, but potatoes, lotus roots, bread, or anything else imaginable can also be skewered in a positive manner. Priced at only a few RMB each, the sticks can make for an affordable snack or a full course meal depending on the quantity consumed.

Some of my best memories of China involve chuanrs - from my first independently purchased meal in the country, to the times spent eating and drinking at local joints, to insect tasting at Wangfujing. Once a friend and I consumed 120 meat sticks at a single sitting, leaving behind only a few chunks of fat, onions, and astonished looks. On another occasion I was strolling the streets with an American-born Chinese, chuanrs in hand. After finishing each stick, he casually tossed it on to the pavement. I arched an ARNABrow at him, intrigued by his penchant for littering. "Just keeping the peeps employed" he wisecracked.