Alyssa in France

So it was a normal Friday night, except I live in China and my landlord, his wife, and daughter came over to teach us how to cook dumplings, or as they are called here, jiao zi.

This magical thing happens when you move somewhere that operates in a language you don’t know: You figure out that people are really similar all over the world. For example, most dads are going to be proud of their five year old daughters. Most moms are going to tell you about a recipe their grandma told them, and most kids will draw a picture and give it to you. So, these people who we have only met once when they fixed our bathroom came over to show us that even though their english was broken, they were willing to go the extra mile to make us feel welcome.

Our landlord has owned our apartment for years and used to live their himself. I don’t understand the way china does real estate. He said his English name is Michael because he liked Michael Jackson/Jordan. He, his wife Harriet and daughter Carol came over to help us make a traditional meal. We bought flour, and they brought every thing else.

When they showed up they had gifts which made my heart feel like it could spill over. Two drawings from Carol, a hair catcher for our bathroom drain (something I tried to order online but just couldn’t figure out), and a silk fan from The Forbidden City. All these things, and they were helping us make dinner?! Amazing.

First, they showed us how to make the dough which was just flour and water. You get a bowl of flour and add water little by little while gently kneading it. After you get a dough, let it rest for thirty minutes. While it was resting we talked about places to visit in the city, how Harriet and Michael had met, and how amazing Carol is at five years old. They honestly seemed so curious as to how comfortable we were in the apartment, did we like china, what were the differences from America. I mean we were curious too! They told us about how the streets and bus stops were named and we live right off of Safe World bus stop, so that is comforting.

After the dough came the filling which they had prepared. Harriet and Carol were busting out these jiao zi, it was amazing. Johnny and I struggled to keep up with their pace but eventually I made some nice looking ones. They were very kind, it made me feel comfortable with making mistakes. Our living room floor is covered with flour, but it didn’t matter to me.

After a while the jiao zi were made, and it was time to boil them and eat! We set out plates, vinegar, and bowls. The delicious jiao zi were gone in seconds, but Harriet kept making more for us to keep in our freezer. She said we can freeze them and keep them for month, or we can cook them the next morning. This meal is typically a family event where everyone takes part in making the food. You could tell which ones Johnny and I made, but that didn’t mean they were any less delicious.

I feel so much more comfortable in my own kitchen now after seeing someone else use it effectively. I have looked up recipes for sweet potato pancakes, how to make street food at home, and now know how to make my own fresh noodles. Like how cool is it to know I can just MAKE noodles? This is 100% a night I won’t forget, when where we were shown incredible kindness in our Chinese home. It makes me feel even better about out choice to come here.

Hey when I come back to the states, jiao zi party anyone?

I’m currently writing at a desk in my fancy hotel room in Tianjin. It’s so strange that I never find time to write about my trips until I’m on another one. It’s been almost three weeks since my long weekend in Seoul, but I loved it so much I have thought about it almost every day since. I’m going to use my April photo dump to gush about Seoul and how beautiful it was and then write a small travel guide from my trip in another one.

We had a flight at around 10 am, and a week before the trip the weather was beautiful, 70’s, sunny, tee shirt and shorts weather. The weekend of the trip however: rainy, cold, near 40’s. Seriously, April? We packed for the weather, even though I stubbornly choose to pack a sweater and rain coat instead of a winter coat. This mainly just lead to me purchasing a much needed jean jacket (because who doesn’t need a jean jacket?) and taking photos where I was actually pretty cold but acting like I was not.

After we landed in Incheon, we took a train/subway to our Airbnb (I loved our Airbnb, to see where we stayed click HERE). After we dropped off our bags, it was around 3 or 4 pm so we went right out to the Daelim museum, there was an exhibit where everything was made out of paper. It was pretty interesting, by the end you kind of forget you that everything is paper. After that we walked around and wandered to Bear Cafe. This adorable place will be beautiful in sunny weather. It was peaceful in the rain as well. I felt happy to just stare at the leaves reacting to the weight of the rain on them.

After Bear cafe we stopped for some wine, went home, got ready for dinner, then headed out again. I had picked a place for dinner in Itaewon, which is the area we stayed in, but we couldn’t find it. So instead we found a Thai place that I swear is not on any map, but it was so good. I wrote a little bit about it in my quick update blog, the owner was so nice, gave us wine on the house because it paired well, a small appetizer and a small dessert. This all took me by surprise because we hadn’t found any of those small customer service moments in China.

The next day we woke up at 8m which I guess was too early for Seoul. We had coffee at the only coffee shop we found that was open (to see all the closed ones, view the previous post), but I loved the design of it. In the middle, a big table with tons of magazines and books about travel, fashion, and mindfullness. On the walls prints from a featured artist made me feel appreciate of my appear and all women’s, I even bought stickers of her work and took a card so I could remember to buy prints later. The owner had fresh cookies being baked, a few regular customers came in with dogs, children, or just a few kind words. It’s nice to be around people who care about coffee and people.

After this cafe, we headed to BIM BOP for breakfast, I had read a few reviews of this place since it was near our airbnb and it lived up to the hype for sure. All the food we had was amazing, there was a clean decor, a featured Egg, and a great menu. I took a couple photos of food there and I am not ashamed. Like LOOK at that egg, bacon, crepe situation?? There was a smoothie bowl place near BIM BOP and we didn’t get a chance to visit it, but it looked super good. If you go, take pictures and send them to me. 

The thing about Seoul. It’s not just one pretty thing, it’s like several. It’s layers, there is a foreground, a mid-ground, and a background. All wrapped up in one beautiful scene. I was mainly walking around the winding roads of Itaewon, and I know that’s some parts are touristy or clubby areas, but it felt nice. And then there was this random bear in a park?

We wondered parks, neighborhoods, bought face masks, walked up giant hills that made me nervous to fall down. I know that I like to plan ahead of a trip to find the coolest places with the best coffee. I felt like I didn’t need to do that with Seoul and when I return I won’t. It was so wonderful just to wander around.

The last night we went to a place called MOW MOW and it was really great. It had an awesome view of the city, the food was amazing, I am running out of adjectives. This place makes their own Makgeolli, which is a milky, sparkling rice wine? This place apparently makes some of the best. We actually asked about it and got confused because of the language barrier, so we didn’t try it. Next time though! We have to get it, and so do you!

After that dinner we wandered more, found a dessert cafe called big step? I think it was big step? The front of the cafe had three big steps up to the counter, with comfy looking bean bag chairs for the patrons to lounge on. There they had extremely gorgeous looking desserts, we took two, read a magazine article about Nicki Minaj and watched the cute couples passing by the big windows.

I really liked how Seoul made me feel. I was excited by everything I saw. Moving to Beijing has been interesting because I so desperately want to feel settled and to be in a routine. I don’t want to think of it as a vacation all the time. But it kind of is? I’m in this massive city where I need to explore. If I lived in New York City, would I just want to cook dinner all the time at home, or would I want t go out for drinks at a new place? Also there is the conversation of what is the REAL Beijing. Am I living in the Western Beijing? The Historic Beijing? I don’t know!

Even though I want to keep exploring Eastern Asia outside of Beijing, it will be important for me to try and force myself to explore this city as well. If you have any Beijing or Seoul recommendations, please leave them below!

Every time I think I understand China or Beijing, I get surprised. I want to be clear, this isn’t like a complaining post. This is a wow culture shock! post. But even so, I love learning these things and adapting them to my worldview. Being in a different country and culture, you have to expect some things to surprise you.

So with that positivity in mind, some examples of things that have taken me by surprise are..

THE PARKING. People talked about the driving, but HONESTLY it’s the parking that really confuses me. Cars will park anywhere. Anywhere. Sometimes I have no idea if I am in a parking lot or not. I’m include pictures of an area near where I live, but it’s insane. I have no idea how they even move, cars are so blocked in. And then they park on the street, on the side walk, in the turn lane, in the bus lane. Any road is fair parking game. There are also the people on scooters and the people driving weird little metal carts. They look like metal rickshaws? They don’t have any rules.

In Beijing, when you see a way you go. This applies to crossing the street too. Sometimes that means I’ll be standing on a street corner waiting for the street walk sign to turn green, and there will be several people just standing in the middle on the road. Like nothing is bothering them, not the twenty plus cars racing past them on both sides. If it’s clear, why not go? Sometimes when the light is green there are so many people turning you can’t go without being honked at or dodging cars. It’s wild.

So that was like way too long just about parking, so let’s move on.

There is a ton of street food here, and almost anything can be found on a stick. Also, basically all the food here is good. The vegetables and the fruit are amazing. Super flavorful, I see people selling everything from full pineapple to baby strawberries on the street. There is a small grocery seller at the entrance to my apartment. They have a lot of options, like watermelons, lettuce, cabbage, lemons, and mangos. If I am ever craving something I can just grab it on my way home. It’s a lot more conviennent than junk food.

Speaking of junk food, the flavors are interesting. Some lays chips flavors I’ve noticed are yogurt, cucumber, matcha, and spicy chicken. I tried the matcha ones, have tried the others. Not sure if I will. But the kids here love these flavors.

The public transportation all stops by 10:30 so after that you either have to walk or take a didi, which is like Uber or Lyft. But the bars don’t shut down at 10:30? It just seems like Beijing doesn’t want to become a party city, so they do what they can to have people come home by 10:30, but in some areas it doesn’t really work. If I’m in Sanlitun, which is a fun area with a lot of bars, I will probably be there until the wee morning hours.

There are more surprising things, like the fact that all the brooms seem to be either sized for children or made out of branches with absolutely no in between. But this is a good first installment of surprising things.

Have you ever seen a post from me about hiking? No. Will you? Maybe? Does this mean I don’t like nature? NO. I love nature and plants and trees and being outside. I just find myself liking to be inside a lot too. So here in Beijing, we have this incredible chain called MAAN coffee. It could be in all of China, it could be in all of Asia! I have no idea, what I do know though is that it has the perfect atmosphere for when I want to be in a cafe that feels like I’m in a woodland fairies house.

I’m sure we have all had that feeling right, like if only we knew what fairies lived like. I feel like I know now. This coffee shop is only a five minute walk from my apartment and is so cozy. The two story cafe has several trees inside it, giant chandeliers, hanging lanterns, and huge book shelves. Add in many wooden tables and chairs, a few secluded nooks, and giant windows letting the natural light in, and you have yourself a woodland fairy house. MAAN cafe has many locations, at this time I have only been to one, so I don’t know if they are all this grand. It has quite a large selection of coffee and non-coffee drinks, along with delicious looking foods.

Johnny and I started out with a latte and vanilla latte. The vanilla some how blew my mind, mainly because it wasn’t the same vanilla flavor that Starbucks uses I guess? It was almost marshmallowy? The plain later was okay, but it didn’t have great espresso. It almost tasted like maybe it had a flavor in it? There are still a lot of questions here. In our next round of drinks we went for a matcha latte, Johnny’s new favorite thing to order, and a cloud coffee. The cloud coffee is their specialty coffee, it seems like maybe it’s a nitro cold brew? I really like it, it’s pretty smooth.

The cloud coffee gives me a perfect chance to brag on the kindness of the Chinese people I have interacted with. I ordered the matcha latte in Chinese fine, but I didn’t know how to say cloud coffee, so the guys helping me gave me his phone to rake a photo of the menu item. Like how NICE, he gave me his phone to do that! I just have been blown away by the kindness of everyone here. We had received help like that a lot, people just doing everything they can to help us. It’s amazing.

Anyway, MAAN coffee is definitely worth the visit if only for the amazing atmosphere. The location on the edge of Beixiaohe Park in Wangjing is the one Johnny and I go to. If you have any more coffee recs PLEASE drop them by us. Also, I know its been two coffee shop reviews, with no other info. I understand! It’s just a busy month here. I have a few other posts planned, and then a trip to Seoul and Tianjin planned for the next two weekends. So expect a lot of fun content on those too!