A Walk in the Park

Q and I escaped to NYC for the Thanksgiving long weekend. The weather was gorgeous so we tried to spend as much time outside as possible. On Monday we went for a leisurely stroll in Central Park, our favourite place in the city! Here's Q checking out the lake.

Q in front of Bethesda Fountain. There were many musicians out, and some couples taking wedding photos.

Q pointing to the Mall! He was eager to laze under the giant elm trees. I love reading the personal inscriptions on the park benches. One day, I think I want to adopt a bench.

To our Quatch Watch fans...

...in Canada, Happy Thanksgiving!

...in the United States, Happy Columbus Day!

...and in Taiwan, Happy Double Ten National Day!

Better Late Than Never: HK

These photos are long overdue, and a wee bit underwhelming. But nonetheless, a few shots of our favourite sasquatch in Hong Kong!

Q taking the Airport Express to Hong Kong Island.

Watching A Symphony of Lights show from The Peak.

Habour view. We took the Star Ferry a few times.

We said goodbye to WW and Pinky at the Beijing airport, but were so happy to see them again when they came to HK for a surprise visit!

Late night eats in the hotel. Delicious! This restaurant was very close to our hotel in Causeway Bay. Apparently a lot of celebrities go there!

Baking Round 10: Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

1 2/3 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/3 teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature

1 1/4 cups sugar

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350F. In medium bowl, stir together flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. In large bowl, beat butter and sugar until creamy using an electric mixer. Add 1 egg and beat until blended. Add another egg and vanilla and beat some more. Add flour mixture and blend with mixer.

Scoop dough using a teaspoon. Roll dough into balls. Roll balls into confectioners' sugar until covered. Place balls on a prepared (greased) baking sheet about 2 inches apart from each other. Bake cookies for 10 to 12 minutes until they are crackled and puffed. Yields 2 dozen.

Source: Williams Sonoma

These cookies are unreal, and so easy! Q loves them because they are the perfect size for him! Thanks, JW, for recommending the Williams Sonoma website for baking recipes! It is a great resource!

To check out other cookie recipes we've tried this year, see here, here, here, here, and here.

Where's Quatchi?

Hanging with Haibao

JX was driving through town so he stopped by for a few hours. Q was so happy that he got to see Haibao again (they met on our China trip). Since the Mid-Autumn Festival is just around the corner, Haibao and Q digged into some delicious mooncake! Nom nom nom...

After mooncake, we walked by the lake. It was a little grey out, but the temperature was mild.

Someone, or more than one, built mini inukshuks by the water. This one was just the perfect size for Haibao and Q! Thanks for coming over, JX and Haibao! Q and I look forward to seeing you again soon!

Perfect Blueberry Muffins

Perfect Blueberry Muffins
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1 large egg

3/4 cup plain yogurt

1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup blueberries

Preheat oven to 375F. Line a muffin tin with 10 paper liners or spray each cup with a nonstick spray. Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add egg and beat well, then yogurt and zest. Put flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a sifter and sift half of dry ingredients over batter. Mix until combined. Sift remaining dry ingredients into batter and mix just until the flour disappears. Gently fold in the blueberries. The dough will be quite thick, like cookie dough, so use an ice cream scoop to fill your muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until tops are golden.

Q gives this recipe from Smitten Kitchen a big thumb up! We shared these muffins with friends at the cottage earlier this month. What should we bake in October?!?

We're on TV!

The whole reason why I was in China was to be a Canadian delegate for the China Synergy Programme for Outstanding Youth. We met political and business leaders in every city we were in. While in Beijing, we were invited to the Great Hall of the People to meet Jia Qinglin, who is the fourth ranking member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China, and the Chairman of the People's Political Consultative Conference.

I snuck a photo inside the hall! We weren't supposed to use cameras at this time. All the big wigs are standing in the background.

Q watching us on the 7 o'clock news!

Jia Qingling, telling us that economic growth remains China's top priority. To learn more about the speech, and CSP, check out the links below!

CSP on CCTV

News Segment - Article

CSP on Phoenix TV

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6

We made it to Beijing!

Q and I took another overnight train from Shanghai to Beijing, but this time it was only 9 hours, and we were in first class! The highlight of Beijing was definitely the Great Wall!

Q and I eventually made it up to the third peak in the distance.

Q loved the view! And it was nice and breezy, unlike the city centre, which was hot and hazy.

Here's Q in the Summer Palace. This is where the emperor would spend his summer holidays. The gardens here are the best in the city. The Summer Palace is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, just like the Great Wall.

Decorated paifang (Chinese archways) in the Summer Palace.

The Peking University campus was beautiful! We enjoyed a nice leisurely walk around the lake.

Q on the second floor of the Beijing Planning Exhibition Hall. This is a good place to visit if you want to learn about Beijing's past, present, and future economic development.

Q checking out a model of the city. It was massive!

While in Beijing, we stayed in the lovely Beijing Hotel. It was probably one of the nicer hotels I've ever been to (five stars). Q loved the comfy bed. He didn't want to leave on the last day!

During our stay, Q and I also visited Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. I wish we spent more time here!

Shanghai Expo

Q made some good friends on our China trip! See, I'm not the only one that brings a stuff animal with me on my travels! Here he is posing with Pinky (from Ocean Park) and Mac's tofus in front of Haibao, the official mascot of the Shanghai Expo. The literal translation of Haibao means treasure of the sea, and he's in the shape of the Chinese character, ren, which means person.

Here's Q checking out a scale model of Shanghai at the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center. Shanghai is a very modern city, and is always changing. They say, go to Xi'an if you want 3000 year old China, go to Beijing if you want 1000 year old China, and go to Shanghai if you want 100 year old China.
 

We made a quick visit to the Shanghai Auto Museum. Beep beep!

And finally, the Expo!!! We were very fortunate to get VIP access into the park, as well as the China Pavillion. Some people line up at 4 or 5 AM just to get into the park, and depending on the pavillion, the lines can be up to 8 hours long (yes, you heard me right)!

The China Pavillion in all it's glory! The inside was just as impressive! I took this picture at the top of the Nepal Pavillion.

Q leading the way to the Canada Pavillion! If you have Canadian ID, you can jump the line! I didn't have my passport on me but my health card worked!

A cool video inside the Canadian Pavillion.

The Expo was heaps of fun! However, it was insanely crowded! JX, my fellow Canuck, and I walked all over the place and went inside several pavillions, including China, Canada, Australia, France, and Finland. We spent two days at the Expo. Check it out before it ends in October!

Shanghai Arrival and Night View

The train ride went by surprisingly fast, even though it was 16 hours. Q slept the whole way. We arrived in Shanghai around noon.

Shanghai is famous for xiaolongbao (soup dumplings). The pork ones were my favourite!

The night view on the Bund was fantastic! As you can see from the crowds of people, it's one of the top tourist attractions in Shanghai. Overall, I think Shanghai was my favourite city in China. I would love to go back for a longer stay. More Shanghai photos with Q to come!