Out along the ridge. Goats, donkeys and horses all greeted. A white breasted owl sitting on a telephone pole is barked at. With an annoyed screech it flies off. Sophie looks mightily pleased with her village guarding skills. We pause at the storm drain and wave at the young garagiste, two white farmers vans ( one of the farmers has bought a new VW with a side sliding door to replace a two decade and a half old Peugeot ) and the farmer in his green Toyota Land Cruiser with the permanently irate Westie. The school bus goes by - little noses pressed against the window. This morning we discuss Nancy Pelosi's views on impeachment and last nights Brexit vote. We move on to an article in this mornings paper about Colton's fence climbing behaviour but Sophie is not interested.
To the supermarket for rice cakes. This week shoppers are greeted by a Polynesian theme. A must for every garden. Easter Island meets deepest France profonde.
After talking to 'The Font' about dinner reservations the hotel concierge sends an e-mail which may, or may not, augur well for next weeks travels. 'Regarding the Chinese food, we would like to recommend the “Hua’s restaurant”(花家怡园) for local food, “Family Li”(厉家菜) for imperial food, “King’s joy”(京兆尹) for vegetarian meats, all of them are very worth to taste. Reserve the table in both restaurant is a quite difficult thing because it is always fully booked. All above restaurant information collect by myself experience, if you want others restaurant or food, please let me know, I will try my best to figure the relevant information out to you.'
13 comments:
Perhaps the nearby village you just visited could use some Easter Island heads to go with the garden gnomes.
As others have pointed out, our Miss Nancy is a master strategist. She doesn't have the votes needed, yet, and I suspect she's playing this thing in multiple dimensions. And there's still the NY attorney general.
The intention to be helpful augurs well, I think, for the hotel experience in China.
Here in the UK I'm thinking that a year in Outer Mongolia without access to internet, newspapers or the World Service would be quite appealing just now...
Cheers! Gail.
Seems there are a fair number of MP's who don't understand that without a Withdrawal agreement or a good reason to call for an extension then hard brexit is the only option. This is a very dispassionate take on things : https://politicalquarterly.blog/2019/03/11/what-brexit-means-for-the-future-of-uk-capitalism/
If I sleep at night, it's because Nancy Pelosi is speaker.
Though the Brexit crowd is doing its best to ruin things. There is a sudden absence of British accents in town. I would have thought people would want to vacation while they can.
Your hotel concierge sounds adorable.
This podcast is good on the subtleties over impeachment of let the people decide in 2020 constitutional debate :https://www.lawfareblog.com/lawfare-podcast-andrew-coan-prosecuting-president
The best place I've eaten in China would not have required a reservation. A food court underneath a Beijing shopping centre. You bought a 'credit card' at the entrance then went around choosing what you wanted from the various vendors, using your credit to pay. At the end, if it was a one off visit, the reception would refund unused credit, but lots of people dined here every day, so topped up periodically.
I think Nancy Pelosi is smart in saying what she did about impeachment. And ending it by saying "he's not worth it," I'm sure is all the president heard. As I've said before, the Dems need to play this right and smart. Timing will be key, and Nancy Pelosi knows that. Thankfully.
You'll be happy to know that Colton's fence jumping behavior got him BACK the girl he jumped the fence for. The 2 night 4 hour drama of the whole season finale had me looking a bit like an Easter Island garden statues.
Did you see the report about the FBI college admissions scandal rigged by their wealthy parents? Finally a US news story that's not about politics.
Sophie you look like you are on a mission to meet the donkeys, but they always seem to stay right away from you.
That is kind of the concierge at the hotel to be organised in advanced. I wonder if it is designed to keep you spending your dollars at the hotel. Still at least you will have options available to you.
I'm glad to say Coltons antics passed us by but came up on my ' what's trending ' screen - repeatedly !
Hari OM
..."vegetarian MEATS???" This is the stuff I dread when travelling. Chicken and fish are NOT vegetarian foods. This, I know, is not a concern for Angus and The Font, so yes, I guess it augurs well. If not, there's always bread and peanut butter. YAM xx
As a watcher because of my co-workers,I can day with total certainty you have missed nothing.
Lawfare blog and Ben Wittes are excellent sources of information. Even my lawyer friends attest to that.
Re eating in China: Way far back in the day, when Western tourists were still required to travel in preapproved groups with official minders, the NY Times's man in then-Peking wrote a piece about how clumps of out-of-shape, overweight people were herded into restaurants for "elegant" meals of items like Peking duck.
Most of those restaurants were up at least one flight of stairs, and the fat content of Peking duck being what it is, there were some coronary and other problems reported over time. Hence the title of the article: Death by Duck.
One of the best stories about food in China is by Jim McGregor, the kind of guy who seems to chuckle at everything. Brilliant guy. I cut out the story and hung it on my fridge door for whenever I needed a laugh. If the link doesn't work, search for China rat restaurant mcgregor
https://books.google.fr/books?id=9QtNrKGwmzoC&pg=PA104&lpg=PA104&dq=china+wsj+rat+restaurant&source=bl&ots=qRGdg2GcCq&sig=ACfU3U0Z8ukUeHP5cI1w7emHdEB3KhOm9A&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiL59b3m4HhAhUIEBQKHY9IAGgQ6AEwDXoECAAQAQ#v=onepage&q=china%20wsj%20rat%20restaurant&f=false
When I was in Beijing, in 1988, I ate something else, quite unintended.
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