Bali is Amazing

Here’s my video of my few days in Bali with friends in June 2010. It was amazing.

Bali from Adrienne Peirce on Vimeo.

Today was sponsored by the Letter R

When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro. -Hunter S. Thompson

Today I was shopping in Macy’s downtown with my sister and noticed a 6 (or was it a 9?) on the ground.  A few minutes later there was a green R stuck to a rug near a Starbucks.  I got home and found an O and an R on the floor.  I haven’t made any sense of it yet.

Starting Minnesota Summer in Style

Progress always involves risks. You can’t steal second base and keep your foot on first. -Frederick B. Wilcox

I’ve been back in the Us for over 3 weeks now and Minnesota for 2, so I feel lucky that I got a chance to see the Twins play (and win!) on June 30.  Checking out the new stadium with old friends in town from Denver, plus unbelievably good weather, made it an amazing day.  One of my favorite parts of the Twins new home is that they went with Kramarczuk’s, the legendary local sausage maker, as a featured vendor.

Final Days in Beijing

Objects we ardently pursue bring little happiness when gained; most of our pleasures come from unexpected sources. -Herbert Spencer

Here are some things we squeezed into our final days in Beijing (in no particular order):

1. BBQ fish
2. Ladies Night at Vics
3. FUBAR- a bar you get to through a secret door in a hot dog stand (secret door was broken)
4. lunch for 6 people (dumplings and baozi) for a grand total of $9
5. public bus ride
6. purchase of CDs of Chinese rock ‘n roll musicians
7. Peking/ Beijing duck at DaDong
8. Sichuan food with my classmates
9. one last trip to the Silk Market
10. one last jian bing (delicious egg pancake street food that’s probably really bad for you)

I will also miss that insane-looking cat on my dishwashing soap.

Great Wall Great Weekend

Back in early May I spent a weekend in Mutianyu to see the Great Wall. Everything was amazing, including our accommodations at The Schoolhouse at Mutianyu, which includes great food and even glassblowing.

Great Wall from Adrienne Peirce on Vimeo.

Piles of Pets

One great thing I’ve seen a lot this spring in Beijing is people selling pets on the sidewalk. First, I saw tiny rabbits being sold outside of McDonalds. Then I saw more tiny rabbits being sold on a bar street in Sanlitun on a Friday night. Then one day I’m heading into the subway after class and a lady is selling 3 adorable little kittens in a bowl in the subway entrance. That same day I saw someone selling puppies out of a cart on the sidewalk. In TianJin last weekend, I saw this pile of pets on the sidewalk, followed by a large bowel of turtles. I’m sure one could find some problems with this style of pet-selling, but it sure makes my day when I get to see it.

People Mountain People Sea

I spent a weekend in Qingdao recently with some great friends.  Here’s a video of the non-brewery part of the vacation, which still involved drinking a lot of Tsingtao.  Stray cats, amazing seafood, fresh beer, great city views, cool European-inspired architecture, hilly streets with hidden staircases- I highly recommend the city if you ever get a chance.

Qingdao from Adrienne Peirce on Vimeo.

Doing It Our Way

He was a wise man who invented beer. -Plato

I couldn’t find the Laverne and Shirley theme song for my brewery tour video, so I went in a totally different direction (Minneapolis hip-hop, WARNING: some explicit lyrics).  The Tsingtao Brewery in Qingdao, China, was started by the Germans, run for a while by the Japanese, and now is a state-owned enterprise.  While in the town we had access to beers I’ve never seen in Beijing, including a green beer that was apparently fermented with seaweed.  All over town the beer was served in tiny glasses, so even though we started drinking every day around noon, we never really got past tipsy.

Tsingtao Brewery Tour from Adrienne Peirce on Vimeo.

Delicious Starfish

Anticipate the difficult by managing the easy -Lao Tzu, founder of Taoism

China is full of all sorts of delicious local treats which are lots of fun to try.  Of course, Western food is always available at a hefty price (we had $10 burgers last night that were absolutely mediocre), but it is more affordable and adventuresome to expand my Chinese food knowledge.

Timelapse Noodles from Adrienne Peirce on Vimeo.

Tiny Cabs

I take a fair amount of regular cabs, which are almost entirely Volkswagon Jettas or Hyundai Elantras, but since I’ve started taking the subway more, I see more of these tiny metal boxes that are also cabs.  They are like an autorikshaw with a different outfit on; they are basically motorized three-wheelers.  In most of them you sit facing backward, with your back to the driver.  You negotiate the price up front and for local people it’s usually around $0.25 – $0.50 for a short 4-5 block ride, but for a foreigner like me it’s more like $1.25.  Here’s a short video of my rides in them:

Beijing from a Tiny Cab from Adrienne Peirce on Vimeo.