West Salon

20 minute shampoo and head massage

10 minute blow dry

30 minute haircut

 = a heavenly hour spent at West Salon in Shanghai China

Wow... I just got home from my second hair cut in China and I want to go back already!  I arrived at West Salon, a 3 minute bike ride from our apartment, on a Sunday morning at 10:40 with no appointment.  I was taken up stairs within minutes to get a shampoo and head massage.  At West there are four to five people attending to each client at all times.  They each have a role in the haircut as well getting drinks, magazines and just watching you get your haircut.

First a lady "dry shampooed" and massaged my head as I sat up in front of the mirror and read a magazine for 10 minutes.  Then she took me to a hair washing station and continued to wash and massage my head, ears and neck.  After a 20 minute washing we headed back to the mirror where three men began to blow dry my hair.  Just as my hair was mostly dry a woman moved in with a round brush for each of the men.  After handing over the brushes she began to hold sections of hair for them as they continued to blow dry.  Yes, four people were working on my hair at this time, it is truly an art form.  Next another man moved in to do the cutting. The four others moved back and went into their "watching mode." It was a heavenly hour and I definitely need to go in more often then every 4 months.  There are many things that we will continue to do in the US, like visiting the dentist, but a haircut is something I will be sure continue to get here.
Sybil :)

Boracay Philippines- Chinese New Year 2013

We were part of the worlds largest human migration during Chinese New Year this year.  While most Chinese people were heading home to see family, we headed out of China to Boracay, Philippines.  We had a great time basking in the sun on the beach, snorkeling, dining on international foods and spending time with friends.

Celebrating Bryson's 5th Birthday!

Yesterday, Friday, February 1, 2013, Lilly Ayi arrived at our house at her normal time, 6:45.  But she arrived with a some presents for Bryson.  We were already at the breakfast table enjoying one of our two meals as a family when she presented him with a box of chocolate Twinkie type of sweets.  Then she handed him a wrapped gift.  It was a very fun remote control car.  We were not sure if she thought that the first was his birthday or she just brought gifts because it was the first of his birthday month.  Either way, it was so sweet!

Today we had Bryson's friends over to celebrate as we will be gone to the Philippines over the next two weekends!  Bryson wants to be a science teacher so we decided to have a science themed bday party.  Science birthday parties are how Brian's career or teaching science began too.  The kids and parents loved it!  Brian did a fantastic job!  It was also pretty amazing to have Lilly help us every step of the way.  She cleaned the house before the party, made sure the pizza was here and paid for and had the house cleaned and put back together within a half and hour after the party too!  Can you say spoiled?  While we had a ton of fun, we missed the cousins, grandparents and friends that would have been there had we been in the states!

Today we are also celebrating the first anniversary of the day that we got hired to work here in China at SAS.  It was a very special day to say the least!

A Trip to Ningbo- The Furniture Capital of China

A few ladies and I adventured to Ningbo last Saturday with our favorite driver Leo.  It was about a two hour drive south of Shanghai.  Shortly after crossing the Sea on China's longest bridge, 34KM we arrived at our first destination.  We went to two stores (warehouses) and ate lunch in the car.  We were gone from 7:30 AM to 6:00 PM.  There were aisles and aisles of furniture to browse through.  And mind you, the browsing happened with no idea of prices until you had picked out a piece and found the main lobby again.  Things were beautiful, broken, immaculate, dusty, piled,  and pushed.  But it was a wonderful Chinese experience.  I already want to go back!  The prices ended up being amazingly low as we had been told, so it all paid off.  Enjoy the photos below.

 I might just have to go back and get the trunk below!!!

 

 Below is one of the armoires I ended up buying!  I love it!!!

 I bought this fish stool too. :)

 The lovely gals I went with, Tara, Amy and Kim!

 These beds (really bedrooms) were amazing.  I wonder how much they run?

 Do you like my new yellow stool?  It was only 180RMB!  They run three times that in Shanghai.  Too bad they one had one.... :)

 They started packing our things immediately.  I bought the red armoir below too.  Okay, I miss my red furniture from the states. :)  Everything I purchase was under $600 US dollars!  Amazing and one of a kind.  The below armoir is "old."  That's all I know!

Below is my favorite purchase in our house.  The delivery men only brought it to the elevator and then refused to carry it up the stairs for us once they realized that it would not fit IN the elevator.  We live on the 3rd floor, 2nd floor by American standards.  Luckily we live amongst friends and our friend Larry helped Brian carry it upstairs!!!