A Curmudgeon Abroad : The End is Nigh!*

Thursday, December 21, 2023

The End is Nigh!*

*The end of the year, that is.

The Liangma River on a cold Thanksgiving evening

By all accounts, I should be an anti-vaxxer. I'm not - I have a college degree, I can say I've seen a lot of the world outside the United States, I don't watch Fox News, and I like to think I'm a reasonably intelligent person. I'm fully vaccinated, as is my daughter, and I don't regret having gotten a single jab. Well, that last assertion isn't completely accurate. Because it seems lately that every time I receive a vaccine of some kind or another, the reaction to it has been brutal. After all, the first time I was struck down with COVID-19 came in the immediate aftermath of, ironically, a second coronavirus booster shot (and fourth overall), given in conjunction with the first shingles vaccine.

Last month, as I do every year, I received the seasonal flu shot. Then, a couple of weeks ago, I opted to get the latest Covid booster injection, and almost immediately following, I came down with the worst case of...you guessed it, influenza, that I've experienced in years (I assume it was the flu, as I tested negative for the coronavirus at home). I missed several days of work, and spent most of the weekend before last lying in bed in a state of delirium. I was still at home as recently as this past Monday with a variety of ailments, including a loss of appetite and an upset stomach. Hopefully, I can see out the end of the year standing up, and without the lightheadedness that's plagued a big part of my daily existence for much of 2023.

But I like to think my body is building up a vast wellspring of viral knowledge that will pay out dividends in the long run, a health-oriented Library of Congress that will enable me to attain my goal of dying peacefully in my sleep of natural causes as I last well into my old age. And for the time being, at least, I'm not due for any boosters or other vaccine shots. But if I ever end up with RSV or shingles, I may have to reconsider whether going down the reactionary rabbit hole might actually be a viable option.

What follows is a roundup of recent photos that were taken as we near the Christmas and New Year's holidays. What Thanksgiving dinner looked like in our household:

Our daughter plays the flute during a performance at a school charity bazaar. Her formal winter concert, unfortunately, has had to be postponed twice, first due to an outbreak of illness among some of the students; and then from what for Beijing constitutes heavy snowfall:

Lunch at Annie's, a local Italian restaurant chain:

Getting ready for the post-lunch banana latte:

Winter is just about officially upon us, and as Beijing 北京 sits inland at a northern latitude, it shouldn't come as a surprise that it can get cold in these here parts. It's the speed at how quicky things have cooled down that surprises. Like one weekend morning when you awake to find the temperature has fallen to 1°C/34°F (even though the day before you were comfortable in a hoodie), which doesn't stop you from getting on your bike and riding to check out the Agricultural Exhibition Center 全国农业展览馆, less than 20 minutes away via pedal power:

Though I was supposed to scan my Chinese ID card at a turnstile in order to get in, I don't have one, and the bored security guard just waved we past. The free-of-charge Chinese Agricultural Exhibition provides an overview on the history and development of Chinese agriculture by way of dioramas and artefact displays:

Officials providing on-the-spot guidance, a time-honored socialist tradition:

A replica of a drag-on-bone water lift with pedals for bringing water from the river to the fields:

Birdwatchers? They were all pointing their cameras at a cage in the middle of an empty field, but I couldn't see what, if anything, was inside:

The extensive grounds of the Agricultural Exhibition Center include a large pond. Ducks taking off from a pond already partially frozen:

This building appeared to be closed but the door was unlocked, so I stepped inside to have a peek at the 1950's-style socialist interior decor:

"I've seen things that no cat should ever see" - Timi the Siamese:

On another frigid weekend afternoon, Amber and I cycled to Tuanjiehu Park 团结湖公园, where we watched an elderly gentleman write a poem on the pavement using a wet brush:

"Exercise can cure fake illnesses, but drunkenness can't cure real sorrows"

A typical weekend day in a Chinese park:

Huanbo Bridge:

Afterward, we rode over to a Baker & Spice for a coffee break:

The wife found out about a nighttime drone show in Chaoyang Park 朝阳公园, so off we went one evening after dinner to have a look:

Flying phoenixes seemed to be the theme:

Dinner on another evening at a Japanese restaurant called Zaku:

An English-style breakfast at the South German Bakery:

At Shu-E's suggestion we had dinner at an izakaya 居酒屋 called either Yuritei (in Japanese) or Baiheting (in Mandarin) 百合亭, meaning "Lily Pavilion":

Fujisan Beer:

The owner is a Japanese woman who has spent the past 20 years in Beijing, though she was stuck outside of China until recently due to Covid-19 lockdowns. She's the one wearing a yellow Hanshin Tigers 阪神タイガーズ jersey, and being followed around by a camera crew:

Sea grapes 海ぶどう:

Takoyaki たこ焼き:

Kushikatsu 串かつ:

Enjoying a Coke highball コークハイ:

Gōya Champurū ゴーヤチャンプルー, a stir fry dish made with Okinawan bitter melon:

Kura くら Awamori 泡盛, aka Okinawan fire water:

If you've detected a particular theme, there was an Okinawan festival going on that evening, with entertainment provided by a musician named KEISUKE, who addressed the patrons in both Japanese and Mandarin, while singing several songs in the Okinawa dialect:

I actually recognized most of the songs he did, like Ashibinā 遊び庭:

The original by Shuken Maekawa 前川守賢:

Shima Uta 島唄, one of the most beautiful songs in the Japanese language:

The original by The Boom, who actually hail from Yamanashi Prefecture 山梨県:

The final song of the evening had to be Haisai Ojisan ハイサイおじさん:

The original by Shoukichi Kina 喜納昌吉:

We were given a goodie bag for attending the festivities:

My wife was surprised by the cover of a local magazine aimed at Japanese expats. I wasn't:

Unfortunately, that was the weekend I came down with the flu, which meant I couldn't go with the girls to the National Center for the Performing Arts 国家大剧院 on Sunday evening:

What made this particularly bitterly disappointing was that I couldn't see Taiwan's premier modern dance troupe, Cloud Gate Dance Theater, in action:

The girls went to the show and all I got was this stupid program:

Monday's weather saw a rare snowfall hit China's capital. According to a measurement I made with a ruler, up to 10 cm/4 inches eventually accumulated on the roof of our car. As the temperatures have yet to rise above the freezing point, most of the snow hasn't gone anywhere:

How things looked on Wednesday last week, following a second dusting:

And the scene last Thursday, when the powers that be decided it was bad enough that students had to stay home that day and study online. To be fair, it wasn't the volume that had the authorities concerned, but the effect it would have on traffic during the next day's commute:

Timi didn't care much for the wintry conditions:

Apparently the situation was serious enough to result in a subway crash Thursday evening. Cold or no, we did go out on Saturday for lunch at an establishment called Maixiang 麦香 "Fragrance of Wheat", specializing in soup dumplings and braised noodles:

Lemon soda:

What happens when it's -9°C/16°F outside:

On Sunday things had warmed up to a balmy -6°C/21°F, so we headed outside again for lunch:

A-Gong A-Ma 阿公阿嬤, a Taiwanese establishment:

Wall murals to make the wife feel nostalgic for her childhood growing up in central Taiwan:

Yuchi Milk Tea 鱼池奶茶, presumably named after Yuchi Township 魚池鄕 in Nantou County 南投縣?:

Oyster omelet 蚵仔煎:

Minced meat on rice 肉酱饭:

Eaves dropping:

Birdwatching in my daughter's bedroom:

A couple of nights ago Shu-E went out for dinner with some friends, so Amber and I had our own meal outside at the SOLANA mall, then did some late Christmas shopping. Wǒ shì māo 我是猫, the Chinese translation of the Japanese classic I Am a Cat 吾輩は猫である, by Natsume Sōseki 夏目漱石, in the display window of a bookshop:

Checking out an artwork by Chinese artist Zhang Ge 张戈:

Standing in the cold in front of the mall before retreating to the warmth of home:

I'll finish off this post was a series of photos taken by my wife this afternoon (Thursday). For while I was in the office as usual, the girls spent a frigid afternoon at the Forbidden City 紫禁城. There, they donned outfits resembling those worn by the aristocracy during the Qing dynasty 清朝 and had their photos taken as they walked around the complex. The more formal portraits will be sent to Shu-E later, but the shots below were taken by the girls and shared here via WeChat, courtesy of my wife:

This post will most likely be the last of this year, so I'll sign off by wishing you all the happiest of holiday seasons. See you in 2024!

Some postscripts: Friday the 22nd was the Winter Solstice, an occasion known in Mandarin as dōngzhì 冬至. To celebrate, following dinner Amber and I had bowls of tāngyuán 汤圆, boiled balls of glutinous rice flour. The cat, naturally, had to have a closer look:

Here's an article on the dos and don'ts of dongzhi.

On the eve of Christmas Eve the three of us had a buffet lunch at the Liangmahe Hotel 亮马河大厦:

Tadpole 蝌蚪啤酒, a local brew:

Christmas Eve. The girl and I went out to a bookstore, stopping off first at a Sukiya すき家 to have some lunch:

Gone it seems are the days of large bookstores in Asia with sections catering to the expat market. The likes of Kinokuniya 紀伊国屋 and Maruzen 丸善 in Japan are still around, but their selections seem limited compared to the past when I was a regular customer, while the Beijing branch of the Foreign Language Bookstore appeared to be on the verge of shutting down when I visited more than a year ago. However, a recent Google search turned up several branches of the Singaporean chain Page One still in business in this city, so Amber and I headed off in search of supposedly the best one, in the Qianmen Street 前门大街 district. At the very least this Page One was a good place for some cake and coffee:

There were some nice views from the second and third floors:

This Page One had a quite a few English titles, but most of them were related to art and literature, and I was disappointed with what history and travel books they had in stock: