Welcome to the real world

 

Not a certificate of adulthood, but the program of the entertainment for lunch

I interrupt this blog for an important news flash. As of this day my daughter is now a legal adult, having reached another in what I hope will be an ongoing series of positive milestones. To celebrate her 18th, my wife took charge of organizing the festivities, reserving a table for three for lunch at a restaurant called Gong Yan 宫宴, located in Beijing's 北京 Qianmen Street 前门大街:

Being greeted as we step off the elevator:

The restaurant splashes out on a themed banquet that includes performances (very) loosely based on Chinese dynastic histories. What makes the experience a bit more immersive than most shows-with-food is that at Gong Yan the diners can choose to dress up for lunch. Amber looked most fetching in an outfit presumably meant to evoke a female member of the Song dynasty 宋朝 aristocracy:

As you can see, both Shu-E and I remained in modern-day dress. Many young female diners did, however, don the duds:

The food was quite good:

Waxberry sweets:

 

Tofu soup:

Shrimp balls:

Steamed wild yellow croaker:

Braised pork tail (much tastier than it sounds). According to my wife, pig tails in Taiwan are a traditional birthday dish:

A sour soup stew:

Noodle soup with shrimp roe, winter bamboo, bean sprouts, and garlic chives:

Fruit yoghurt:

The program for the lunchtime entertainment:

At the end of the meal our daughter was given a birthday sweet treat to bring home with her:

She was also provided a bowl of shoumian 寿面, "birthday noodles" eaten to celebrate longevity. Sharp-eyed readers (at least those proficient in Chinese characters) might notice that the carrots form 生日快乐 - "Happy Birthday":

I certainly hope Amber enjoyed today's experience. 2024 will be a momentous year for her as she waits to hear which university will accept her application. It's all but certain that she will leave the proverbial nest at the end of this summer, and start to make her way in the world away from the protective cocoon Shu-E and I spent 18 years spinning for her.

It's going to be a difficult time...for me. I cried the day she was born, and I'll probably shed tears the day she leaves for uni. It's an expected stage in life, but not one to which I'm looking forward. And with the lifestyle I've chosen to live for myself and my family, it's most likely the physical gulf between us will be very wide, at least until I reach the mandatory retirement age, following which Shu-E and I look for a place to settle down. 

But that's for later, In the present, we will remain a family of three under one roof for the next half-year at least, so there's a preciousness to the time that remains. 

By the way, it's still chilly here in China's capital: -10°C/14°F when we left the house this morning, -5°C/23°F immediately following lunch when this photo was taken:

I now return you to our regularly scheduled blog posts... 

Seventh day in a land down under

Echo Point, with the Three Sisters in the foreground

The first day of 2024 greeted us with a low cloud cover obscuring some of central Sydney's higher buildings:

After six days in Australia's largest city, it was time to see a bit of what the immediate region had to offer. Renting a Toyota Corolla hybrid from Hertz, we (or I, to be more accurate) drove off in the rain toward the Blue Mountains. Driving on the left would not present a problem - I'd already rented right-hand drive vehicles in Japan, the Seychelles, South Africa, Thailand, and the United Kingdom in the past:

The biggest challenge would turn out to be New Year's Day itself. Come lunchtime, our dining options were extremely limited. It came down to a choice between a Subway outlet or an "American restaurant" called the Cheese Steak Factory. I assumed the pair of cockatoos out front belonged to the shop's owner, until I remembered that here was Australia:

While waiting for our food I took the time to admire this hoodie, the product of one of Australia's most iconic designers. "Oh gee, there goes Sydney, oh gee, Roozilla!":

"American restaurant" or not, I went with the Australian Cheesesteak:

Our first sightseeing stop of the new year was in the town of Leura, home of the Sublime Point lookout. The weather ensured the views wouldn't be as dramatic as the guidebook suggested, but it was still an impressive sight:

The scenery wasn't European or North American, nor was it Asian. If anything, the vegetation reminded me of Africa, Ethiopia to be more specific. In the end, it would have to be described as, duh, "Australian":

"This land. This...Australia!":

From Leury it was a short drive to Katoomba, the biggest settlement in the Blue Mountains. We checked in at the 3 Explorers Motel, our accommodation for the evening. It may have looked like a nondescript American roadside inn, but the room was surprisingly large, the bathroom came with a spa, and it was within walking distance of Echo Point and the Three Sisters (see below):

Our room occupied the ground floor on the left, with our car parked in front of the door. The story behind the name:

As stated above, it was only a short walk to the Echo Point lookout. The view at first wasn't much better than that at Sublime Point, but the clouds would soon lift enough to justify the viewpoint as the area's most essential sight:

There were a lot more visitors here than at Sublime Point. A lot more:

The girls take in the Three Sisters landmark:

My daughter and I would take the short (500 meters/1640 feet) trail to the first sister:

The bridge leading to it was closed, presumably for safety reasons:

We returned on foot to the motel, then drove into the center of town in search of dinner. With a lot of establishments closed for the holiday, in the end the choice came down to Thai or Tibetan. We went with the latter:

I ordered the mixed momo plate, steamed dumplings filled with beef, chicken, potatoes and vegetables, and served with chili and garlic sauces. All of these were washed down with a cup of Tibetan milk tea:

Amber had earlier that day read online about the Katoomba Falls Reserve Night-lit Walk, and expressed an interest in doing it. With Shu-E opting to stay in and rest, the girl and I made the short drive to the reserve, arriving close to sunset:

The walk wasn't a long one (only 1.3 kilometers/4265 feet in length), but it was suitably atmospheric in the gathering gloom:

The namesake of the reserve:

Posing with Orphan Rock:

The cable running in front of the rock would turn out to be for a gondola, as we would discover the following morning:

Presumably we were hearing some kind of Australian cicada, but whatever it was, quiet it wasn't:

Once the darkness had set in, the floodlights turned on, amping up the atmosphere considerably:

I'm not sure what she was photographing:

Back in the motel, and celebrating a successful start to the new year with a Tasmanian brew:

"Incident on South Dowling", by Paul Kelly: