Moth

We saw this little critter outside our apartment. If we had not been afraid of scaring the moth, we would have put an item next to it for comparison. The moth was a good 6 inches across.

Temple Hike and City Skyline

On Sunday afternoon, the sky showed some promise of blue, so we set out on a hike to the temple across from the school. Last time we hiked up to the temple, we got there too late to explore the entire area. The guard motioned to us that the place closed at 5 pm and we did not relish the idea of being locked into a Taoist temple for the night, so we shortened our trip. This Sunday, we began earlier and had a chance to look around the entire area - there are several temples and many altars nestled into the mountain side. The view of Chongqing is magnificent, and although we never saw a blue sky, the smog and fog were noticeably absent, and we could enjoy the city from upon high. Just on the temple grounds we ascended and descended over 1,000 steps! Chongqing is good for our physical endurance.

The contrast between the ancient and the brand new - still under construction

Judging from the number of pictures we took, we enjoyed the scenery and the city scape!

Homemade Pizza

Chinese food is delicious. Chinese food is fun to eat. Chinese food is inexpensive. But, after a few weeks, there is a craving for pizza that just cannot be ignored.  Lukas mixed a large batch of dough, and Noah set out the toppings. We invited another American family as well as a student that Lukas and Noah have befriended. He took a picture of his pizza before eating it to commemorate the occasion.

Please note the 'fancy' napkins :-)

Self Serve Food

Google Translate and an adventurous spirit guide us to new and unusual dining experiences. This restaurant is self-serve, the first one we have encountered. Pick up a colored coded tray of food, cook it in a clear broth or spicy oil, and then if you want, let it crisp up on the grill.  Using our eyes to select the food can be helpful; however, we did end up with chicken kidneys - we only cooked one. The rest of our choices were delicious - we now have a new way of cooking eggs, inside an onion ring.

Metro Finds

Every two weeks, we are offered a ride to the big box import store to pick up items that we cannot find in the local grocery stores - like cheese and butter.
We have our list of necessities down to a science by now. It doe not take us long to pick up those items. So there is plenty of time to explore and be tempted with new things.  Some land in our cart, others do not...

Flowers

It is not as warm as we expected, but the flowers more than make up for any cold fingers.

Yes, This Qualifies as a Bad Day

As we crossed the river on the bridge to head home after a fun night in town, we caught this unfortunate circumstance... As we passed by, we saw the poor bloke who was trying to change the tire on this slightly overloaded truck. It only has one wheel in the front.