Lunch at the Liu's home

Normally we are traveling during holidays and out of Shanghai. This year, because of the uncertainty with the economy, we decided to not travel during this vacation period to save money. Our driver, Mr. Liu asked us over to his house for dinner on Chinese New Year day.

He lives in Puxi, near the Yangpu Bridge. He shares a penthouse apartment with his wife, his daughter Candy, and his wife's parents. They were very gracious hosts and had all of Kirk's and the kid's favorites to drink - diet coke and soy milk boxes.

Liu and his mother in law are the chef's in the house. I think they must have spent most of the morning cooking because when we arrived, there was already a ton of food on the table.

Sharing a meal together is very important in the Chinese culture. This was our first time at a local Chinese person's house for a meal. For Liu to invite us, was a big deal for all of us collectively. Our children didn't surprise us, they barely ate anything. I wish I knew what genes they inherited as both Kirk and I truly enjoy food and the act of eating it. I really hope that Liu's family didn't think too poorly of us because our children didn't eat well.

Kirk and I did a pretty good job chipping away at the food. There were at least 20 different dishes on the table. Maybe 6 cold meat dishes, 2 soups, 3 vegetables, 2 different types of Jiaozi (dumplings), and 7 different meat dishes - pork and beef.

Liu's wife is expecting a baby in March. I'm sure they are hoping it is a boy since they already have a daughter. We will go back to his house then to take presents and meet the new baby.