Great Steaks in Dongguan
Fabulous steak! Delicious potatoes. Fabulous setting. We were at the Copper Grill steakhouse in the Hyatt Regency in Dongguan. We had been meaning to come visit here for months, and I finally cornered five couples together to go partake of the new food service at our friend, Carl’s, new restaurant.
Located on beautiful Songshan Lake, the Hyatt Regency is not the easiest place to get to from Dongguan City. Traveling through the new industrial and educational area, the hotel is situated prominently on the lake providing astonishing views from most rooms.
But on this night, it was steak we all craved. And we were pleased! My large tenderloin was divine. The cooks had prepared it delicately in the open kitchen with wood burning fireplace, exactly to my desire. It was by far and away, the best steak I have had in China. The potatoes were a little late in arriving, but were spiced for extra pleasure.
My friends were similarly pleased, with most of us trying the steak. It was even fun watching the cooks prepare the steaks in the open kitchen right near our table. Only the salad was a disappointing. It just didn’t have the flavor and seasoning to have expected at these prices.
Through the whole meal, we had the pleasure of the views of the wonderful contemporary room and the lake out the windows. Even the adjoining Lychee Bar offered great relaxation and pleasure before the meal. And the cashews offered with all drinks are the best!
Carl, my friend, you have a great restaurant, The Copper Grill!!
Labels: Chinese Food, Dongguan, Restaurant
Scene from out my apartment last night, with one of the fireworks shows (the orange ball to the right) observed
in the distance.
Labels: Chinese New Year, Dongguan, Fireworks, Life in China
Fireworks Into the Night
Amazing! Late into the night last night, there were fireworks exploding regularly. It was one of the special days of the Chinese New Year, and I could see at least three fireworks shows from my apartments at one time. They are never long and well-defined here, but they are more than neighbors enjoying themselves. They are at least the work of developers in different complexes celebrating the holiday.
I always enjoy the fireworks!
Labels: Chinese New Year, Dongguan, Fireworks, Life in China
Festive decorations in front of the town hall of Dahlingshan in Dongguan, China, celebrating the Year of the Rat. (Not the prettiest cartoon character.)
Labels: Chinese New Year, Dongguan, Life in China
Streets of Dahlingshan with new acres of flowers recently planted for the Chinese New Year.
Scene of the square in Dahlingshan with decorations for the Chinese New Year. However, the Minnie Mouse statue is always present.
Labels: Chinese New Year, Dongguan, Life in China
China & Warmer
Well, I’m back in China and yes, it’s finally getting a little warmer. Of course, that is after I purchased an additional space heater to try to warm my apartment. It has done nicely. Only I almost wish it didn’t have a fancy digital register on it. It tells the actual temperature, something I really didn’t need to know. Even when I plugged it in, after temperatures had risen in Dongguan, I was rather surprised to find the temperature at 16°C. Heck that’s only 60°F!! No wonder I’ve been cold!
Getting back to China was not so easy, as all things seem to be here sometimes. I had changed flights from Bangkok to Guangzhou from Sunday to Thursday. Not being sure of the seats, I had to go to the airport early last Thursday. That part was okay. But of course, little China Southern made me run from one end of the biggest single airport terminal in the world to the other and back to get my ticket. It seems they can’t accept payment and made me go to Thai Airways service center a mile away for the transaction, before I had to return to claim my ticket.
And of course, wouldn’t ya know it, I got to Guangzhou on time only to receive a call from my company people, that my driver couldn’t get to the city! No, they had closed the highway to Guangzhou. It was open to Dongguan, but a section of the elevated highway had collapsed slightly and was now closed.
So I had to take a bus!
And then cabs were again the joke of Dongguan. They had a taxi stand near the bus terminal, but of course, taxi after taxi would pull in and announce they only wanted to go to Houjie for a big fare. They didn’t want to take any of the many passengers mulling around looking for a ride across the city. No they had to make us wait for other taxis for another 30 minutes.
Labels: China roads, China Weather, Dongguan, Life in China
Chinese New Year in Thailand
Thailand….. HOT! And I love it! Yes! I’m finally warm!
Okay I was surprised to find rain on arrival in Bangkok, but that didn’t last too long. In fact, it has cleared off and gotten extremely hot. And that is the usual conditions here this time of year. This is typically too early for the rainy season, and that is okay by me.
Meanwhile, China continues to suffer from the worst blizzard in 50 years. Just, when the country was all primed for this being the year of China with the Olympics in Beijing, instead the coverage it is getting is all about the travails of the migrant workers caught trying to get to their homes.
I even had the chance to catch both sides of the news on the subject too. In Hong Kong, the newspapers were freely reporting the unrest and dissatisfaction of so many workers in their difficulties in going home. While the newspapers in China and releases from the government sanctioned news agency, Xinhua, was reporting how things were coming together and that migrant workers were happily not going home. That is the way news often gets reported. It is probably a little of both sides of the issue, and neither is wholly accurate.
And believe me I’m sure a lot of workers definitely want to get home. They often do not have a factory home any longer to go back to, particularly in Dongguan. Recent actions by the government have increased costs substantially, and reportedly as many as 1000 shoe factories alone in Dongguan have closed and moved to other regions or countries.
Couple that with the fact that many workers use the Chinese holiday break to change jobs, and you have a lot of workers that have quit their jobs and no longer have anything to stay for in their home away from home. A newscast reported that as many as 38% of white collar workers alone use the break to change jobs! I knew that every year I have gone back to the factory only to find several of the office staff had not come back. I didn’t know the numbers were quite as high as reported, but that’s what they said on a CCTV newscast.
Labels: Bangkok, China, China Weather, Chinese New Year, Guangdong News, Newscast, Thailand
It's TOO COLD!!........I'm Getting Outa Here!!
Brrrrrrr!!! I’m getting out of here! This is far too cold! Okay, yes, I lived in Michigan and it was colder! But never was it this cold and wet. And I could always walk into a heated room! Again there is NO HEAT! Not anywhere here!
Okay, I have found heat in our finishing oven. And yes, I have been seen frequenting the ovens, not to smell the fumes, but to get some heat!! Otherwise, I enjoy going to the washroom to use the hot hand warmer! It’s that bad!
I could have it worse. Many of you have probably seen the plight of the workers here in Guangdong area. The Lunar New Year starts next week, and already millions of workers are trying to get home for extended leave. But the snows are hampering travel. They just want to get home. They only go once a year. And they go all year planning for this one trip to see family. It is often the only time they see their small children, who have been left with grandparents while they have come to this manufacturing region to work.
Me, I want out of this cold too. So I’m going to Thailand! Yes! Thailand. Warm and beautiful Thailand! I can’t wait. I’ll be working at our new factory all next week, but working with temperatures in the 90’s will be a great change!
Labels: China Weather, Dongguan, Life in China, Lunar New Year, Thailand
