If you don't like baiting hooks....

A good expat friend/colleague got to witness a unique style of fishing during the Chinese New Year festival. He traveled to the hometown of one of his coworkers. His experiences were vast and adventurous. One such adventure is illustrated in the video below. And, if you look closely, you'll notice that the guy's cigarette is a key component to this style of fishing.

For the record, this style of fishing is forbidden in China just as it is in the US. And I'm sure you could find some guys in the Michigan U.P. that do the same stuff.

Happy Belated V-day

Via Noel's site, I laughed out loud at this one. You can click the image for a larger view.

Happy Chinese New Year.

As you probably know, the BIG, HUGE, GIGANTIC holiday in China is the lunar new year (not the calendar new year).

This year, I went bicycle riding into a nearby water village (canals run throughout) with a couple of friends. In China, it's appropriate to give "hong baos" or cash gifts to unmarried people, especially young children. We took the opportunity to hand out "hong baos" on our ride in the village. These children are some of the poorest in Shanghai. Their "homes" are barely heated, if at all and running water is a rare luxury. Many moms just wash their vegetables in the water canal.

I wish I had gotten pictures of the mob of children we met in the narrow alleys. Kids were coming from everywhere. Unfortunately, the small amounts of money will not be enough to raise their quality of life. But we pray that the scripture we also included in the traditional red with gold envelopes will bring the eternal life that supercedes any quality of life here on earth.
Here are some pictures from Sunday morning's ride into the water village.

Many kids who were shy at the sight of foreigners stopping to interact with them on the street. However, the nerves quickly melted when they saw the familiar red/gold envelope. Tim's chinese language skills also helped put them at ease.
These 2 girls were downright giddy after our stop. The older woman strongly encouraged them to come out for a photo.
This mother and small baby caught the excitement and actually tracked us down despite the cold weather.
Chinese mothers really layer the kids. We compare them to little Michelin men.
I grabbed this photo as we rode away. It illustrates some of the buildings that constitute the homes in this village. However, some of the homes are worse than this. Some are slightly better.

We went on an adventure to find this cool bridge. After a couple of wrong turns and some input from the locals, we found it.

You've probably seen and heard about all the snow in China. Well, that snow eventually melted in Shanghai and left lots of mud. We found some of it as we trekked through the countryside.

Catch you later.

Bode Miller look-alike spotted in Shanghai

Yo,

Yesterday, I joined a few guys from our church small group at an indoor snow ski park. It was about what we expected - a bunny hill on steroids. But, fortunately, the bunny hill had some jumps. I typically chose a 3 point landing over the more traditional (and boring) 2 point landing.
I think the pundits are going to name my trademark style, the "3 point stance". So, at the next winter X games, expect to hear...

"Check this, the dude just ripped a SICK, helicopter, whirly-bird twist, followed by an RB 3-pt stance. Unbelievable."

Here are some pictures and video.


From the bottom, looking up.
From the top, looking down.

Happy Birthday Elijah

Elijah Bruce turned 3 on Saturday, February 2. Before we get to those pictures, here are some older vintage ones of the boy we call 'Lijah.

Here are the birthday pictures below:
Double layer cake at small group party.
Elijah's favorite gift was a set of characters from his alltime (3 years now) favorite movie, CARS.
He doesn't look this happy when Anna or Rachel are within 5 feet of his new cars........Actually, we are excited that he does a good job of sharing with his sisters.
Mommy made birthday brownies on Friday. I think it took 6 gale-force blows to extinguish all the flames.
Even birthday breakfast included chocolate and more fire.

We are so blessed to have Elijah as part of our family. We are excited to see the little boy he has become and continues to be. Would you take a minute to pray for Elijah? Pray that God would draw him closer to Himself in the coming year. Also pray for Elijah's future, that he would find and follow God's plan.

Thanks.

Phil, you can find your next stunt work here.