Fancy eatin'

I took the Canadians I met at the 4th of July party and a couple of my other friends out to one of the best places to eat in Tianjin-the back alley of Bar Street. Here, you will find a funnily-dressed guy selling grilled kabobs off the back of his bike. As you can see in the photo, you can pass time by playing pool on the outdoor pool table in the background. The amenities are the best, though...foot stools to sit on and tables which look they belong in a kindergarten classroom positioned on the side of the street. I will have to capture that on film to share later, but this IS one of my favourite places to eat thus far, seriously!

Tianjin Museum

The Tianjin Museum houses some interesting historical artifacts which were sourced from the area. Behind the museum is Tianjin City Tower and Sommerset Serviced Apartments which I have discussed earlier. Half of the top floor of the museum is dedicated to the atrocities the Japanese inflicted on the Tianjin people which remains a constant reminder to hate Japan. By the way, the museum (which from above looks like a swan) was designed by Shin Takamatsu, a Japanese architecture firm.

This image is not Photoshopped!

For those of you who didn't know...Photoshop is no longer just a noun, it is also a verb. Last Sunday was an absolutely fabulous day in that I could see clouds and blue sky! I relish this opportunity mainly because I saw more sunshine in Seattle in the middle of winter than the past month. So what did I do on such a beautiful day? That's right, I went to a museum.

More Fireworks

Any celebration is not complete without copious amounts of fireworks. AmCham did a fabulous job on the fireworks display and that's what everyone was talking about for days after.

More 4th of July

I forgot to mention Ezikiel, a Mexican expat who is a Tequila distributor. Actually, I couldn't figure out how to put two photos on one blog post.

4th of July

Of course we celebrate American independence in China...what were you thinking? Pictured on the left is the American Chamber of Commerce 4th of July Celebration. Let's count how many people in the photo look like they may have originated in the US...don't count the guy standing in the middle of the photo with a grey shirt on. He's Scottish. By the way, the MCs were Canadian. The band was Filipino and the Venue was called Chateaus Margaux. How much more American can you get than that? I did get the band to play "Sweet Home Alabama" and they did a damn good job. I think I was the only one holding my lighter up with the flame on high, though.

Sky View

Last Friday was relatively clear, so I took some shots of the city from out office. We are located on the 35th Floor of the Exchange, so we get a good view of the city. The road which runs up the middle of the photo was the dividing line in between the French and Japanese Concession back in the day. If you follow that road up, you will see the white building with columns across the Hai River. That is the new Tianjin Train Station which will boast a super high-speed train from Tianjin to Beijing in August of this year.