Sea Turtles 911....too cool!

Jonny and Rachel went on a trip to a Chinese island called Hai Nan in June. There they learned how to conserve and rescue sea turtles. The hospital that the sea turtles were stationed at was on a floating hut. The hatchlings and post-hatchlings were stored underneath the dock which can be seen in the picture below. In the picture Jonny is holding one of the post-hatchlings that were stored underneath the dock.
Everyday the group, including Jonny and Rachel, performed a basic routine of cleaning and feeding the sea turtles. Before the sea turtles are rescued from poachers the turtles are stored in small nets with many other fish and turtles with terrible conditions. The sea turtles can receive stress related diseases that need to be taken care of due to the poor conditions they were living in. Everyday the group had to clean the turtle's shells and check whether the stress related diseases spread to other parts of their shell. In the picture below Rachel is holding one of the larger sea turtles to examine whether the turtle's shell is alright.

One night the group went out to the beach to absorb the beauty of the beach and to think about why we need to help conserve the endangered species of the ocean. While the group was out at the beach there were some friends that tagged along. Below is a picture of one of the friends that came along with them.
As mentioned earlier part of the group's daily routine was to help feed the sea turtles. At the hospital there were three species of sea turtles that were being taken care of. The three species were Green Sea Turtles, Hawksbills, and Olive Ridley's. The turtle below is a Green Sea turtle. One way to tell the difference between the sea turtles is to look at their shell. Green sea turtles have a brown or more earthy pigment to their skin. The foods that Green sea turtles eat are leafy greens. Everyday the group had to go down to the market and buy leafy greens for the sea turtles.
While we were at the hospital there were other necessities that needed to be taken care of. One of the most important things that needed to be done was cleaning out the sea turtle's nets. Since the hospital was a part of a floating fishing village in the ocean, many of the villagers threw their trash into the ocean. One of the main causes of death towards sea turtles is eating trash. Turtles have the amazing ability of being able to eat jellyfish, but sometimes plastic bags that float in the ocean can be mistaken for jellyfish. The sea turtles may eat the plastic bags, thinking its a jellyfish and become constipated and die. So it was important to rid the turtle's nets of trash such as plastic bags, straws, rice bags, and Styrofoam.


One day the group was taken to a local beach to clean up the trash that was washed ashore by the villagers from the fishing villages. Another reason why turtles are becoming endangered is because of the lack of clean and open spaces for turtles to lay their eggs. It is important to clean the beaches to help turtles find places to lay their eggs. So the group along with helpful police officers and local Chinese college students started picking up the trash along the beach. The main piece of trash that were found on the beach was Styrofoam. This day really opened up the group's eyes, especially Rachel's eyes, about the amount of trash that is being thrown into the ocean everyday. The trash that was picked up that day was sent to an Incinerator where it would be far away from harming the endangered ocean species.


While at the beach picking up trash another friend of nature's tagged along to see how the progress was going. A jellyfish decided to pay the group a visit. Luckily Frank Galicia was able to catch a beautiful shot of the jellyfish with his underwater camera.



Since Rachel and her friend Gabriella were the only blondes that went on this trip the local Chinese students were excited to take pictures with them. This is one of the many pictures that Rachel had to pose in while living in China.
For Jonny's eagle project he decided to raise awareness to the local Chinese people about the importance of conserving sea turtles. Jonny made flyers that were passed out throughout the village explaining why sea turtles are being poached and how we can stop the poaching from occurring. One of the main reasons why turtles are becoming endangered is because of the value in their shells and their meat. Green sea turtles are caught and killed for their expensive meat. Hawksbill sea turtles are caught and killed for their beautiful shells that can be used to make jewelry such as barrettes, bracelets, and necklaces. The local Chinese people were informed about this situation in Jonny's flyers that were passed out.


The local Chinese college students helped the group speak Chinese to the locals and explain to them what was on the flyer.
One day the group had the opportunity of going to visit whale sharks. Whale sharks are the world's largest fish and they are also becoming an endangered species as well.
These fish only eat plankton. They have a giant mouth with thousands of minuscule teeth. Their mouths act like a vacuum sucking in anything that is in front of them. A main reason why sharks in general are becoming endangered is because of their value in shark fin soup. Most of the sharks are killed only for their fins and not for the rest of their body. Some poachers even cut off their fins while the sharks are still alive. Without their fins sharks can not float and move around the water, therefore they sink to the bottom of the ocean where they drown. It is important to help conserve sharks in the ocean for they are an important part of the ocean's ecosystem.
These fish have evolved to obtain white spots on their skin in order to camouflage easier with the water.

Below is a picture of how they fed the whale sharks.

The students had the chance to swim with the whale sharks as well.


On the group's last day in Hai Nan they had the beautiful opportunity of being able to release one of the sea turtles from the hospital. The turtle's name is Ham and he is a Hawksbill post-hatchling. He was strong and big enough to be released on the groups' final day. May Ham be safe and be a part of the many sea turtles that are trying to repopulate their species.
Ham is on his way to the ocean where he will have the opportunity to travel around the world.
Ham is being taken by the waves into the ocean.
The group had the opportunity to write Ham a letter in their home language that would be taken by the waves to him.

Each night the group had a little break before they would learn more about the sea turtles. Right down the street from the market there was a little ice cream stand. The Hai Nan ice cream wasn't made the same way as regular ice cream. On the stand there were baskets full of fresh fruit. Someone from the group could pick as many fruits as they wanted which were blended together in a blender. After the fruit was blended together into a sort of smoothie, it was put onto a little pan.
The smoothie was put into this pan which instead of being cooked it would be frozen. This guy had two spoons which he would spread the smoothie around the pan until it became like ice cream. Afterwards you would have a wonderful smoothie/ice cream filled with fresh fruits and sweet condensed coconut milk.

It's almost over!!!!!

Yes, that's two of the hottest men in China. We went out to dinner with our friends to a local mall and they still had Christmas lights up in May. It's freakin' sweltering outside and they were trying to keep the Christmas spirit alive. These two hot men (and I mean literally hot in case you were wondering) wanted to pose like some of the local Chinese men. When it's hot, you will see some of the men walk around with their shirts pulled up.
Somebody needs to tell them what scat really means. Frank was laughing because this is supposed to be a very hip store for teenage girls and it's called "Scats". If your not sure what the definition is...it's a scientific term for poop.
Vika had her last modeling gig a few weeks ago. We've estimated that she has done probably close to 25 modeling jobs over the three years we have been here. That's $150 per job. Let's just say she has a good start on her college fund.

These clothes were actually quite cute.
She has become quite the pro at posing.

Yes, we actually have a Dairy Queen here. It was quite the treat for us to actually have good old American ice cream.
They have your traditional chocolate dipped cone, banana split, parfaits, and of course the blizzard. They always have to add their Chinese versions but we stuck to the traditional blizzards.
Rachel, Jonny, and Mahika enjoying their ice cream.


We went to dinner with Rachel's friend Mahika and her parents. Mahika has been one of Rachel's best friends the entire three years we have been here. We went to Spaghetti House which was really good. Who would have known we could find good Italian food in China.
After three years here, we finally found a fun cool place to hang out and eat. We used to just stay here in Shekou and go to Seaworld but Coastal City Mall is now the happening place since Seaworld is all under construction. This was just being finished when we first got here and was finally all completed about a year ago. They have two movie theaters, tons of eating (Western food even), ice skating rink, and lots of shopping. The cool part is this open plaza. This is so much better than around our house and is only about 20 minutes away.
What's up with the crazy eyes Rachel? Just shows how much fun we all were having.

Last Chinese Beach Adventure

We had a four day weekend because of the Chinese May Day holiday. We weren't planning on going anywhere but decided at the last minute to go out to Lantau Island in Hong Kong for one last beach adventure. Lantau is one of the outer islands in Hong Kong. The airport and Disneyland are on Lantau along with the Big Buddha that we have been to but we never made it to the beach side. Several people had talked about it being nice so we thought we would go check it out. Of course like anything else here, it isn't an easy task to get to.

We left the house at 7:00 in the morning and after a taxi ride, hour wait to cross the border, 45 minute bus ride, 10 minutes on the MTR, walking several blocks, and a 40 minute ferry ride we made it to Lantau 4 hours later. Since this was a last minute idea we didn't have a reservation for a hotel but thought we could find one to stay over night. We searched and since it was a holiday the prices were high or the places were full. We did find a place that had a VERY small room that barely fit a double bed in it for $80 US a night. We decided it just wasn't worth it so we stayed and played at the beach for a few hours.
We had a quick lunch of fried rice on the beach and after swimming and playing in the sand decided to take a little walk around the beach. Lantau has lots of trails to hike but we were short on time and just took a little walk along a path before we had to start our 3 hour trek home.

The day was cloudy and a bit hazy so the view wasn't as nice as it could have been.
Rachel stayed home to study for her IB tests which start this week and Jonny was in Hong Kong at Youth Conference for the weekend so it was just Nicole and Vika with us, along with the Galicia's, for the day.
This is the front of a dragon boat that was up on shore.

We took the 4:00 ferry back to Central Hong Kong where we could catch the 6:00 ferry to Shekou.
On the ferry to Central we passed this Junk boat. It isn't an original but a tourist boat that you can pay to go out in the bay on. It still was pretty cool to see.

A very long day full of travel for just a few hours at the beach. Just a typical Chinese adventure where it is a huge hassle, expensive, and just not worth it. We enjoy the beach but here they just don't cut it. They usually are dirty with no waves at all. I'd much rather just stay home and if I want to go swimming, I'll go to a swimming pool here. I'll save the beach adventures for California and cool places, not China.

A few weeks ago it was Nicole's birthday. She is not 11. I can't believe she is growing up so fast. For her birthday she wanted to play basketball and have a hair wash.

Nicole is our girly girl who wants to be a tom boy. She loves to play basketball and will mostly wear basketball shorts and shoes so that she is already to play but occasionally she pulls the girly stuff out. She got some very girly earrings and of course, basketball clothes.

Now she's a real superstar!!!!

Yesterday I was talking to a friend of mine about Vika and the modeling jobs she has done here in China. Each time she has done a modeling job for a catalog, she has received a copy so we have several catalogs with her modeling. She has quite the portfolio now. Several kids we have known to model have ended up with pictures on billboards, busses, in malls, etc. I made the comment that Vika could be on a billboard somewhere in China and we probably would have no idea because the companies can do whatever they want with the pictures.

This morning we were on our way to a commercial shoot in Dongguan and the car stopped at an intersection. I noticed there were several large billboards advertising clothing. I just glanced around at a few and was completely surprised to find my own cute little Vika staring down at me from the side of a building. The other boy in the car with us is also in the picture on the far left. They were so excited to see their faces so large up on a building. They both started saying how famous they are now.

I would never have known about this picture and now wonder how many more are there that we have no clue about.

The commercial today was for one of the few clothing lines that I actually like for kids here. It always helps when Vika actually likes the clothes because if she doesn't the true Diva starts to show.
Not sure I would dress her in this outfit but she LOVED it. Can you guess why? Maybe the pink and sparkles all over it?
I don't know if this is a trend back home but for some reason the bunny ear looking head band is a big hit here. It is actually a metal wire inside so you can shape it however you want.

Our Life Savers

Apples. Who knew they would be so valuable in our family. Apples first began as a healthy snack that we especially love with peanut butter and chocolate, to now a means of showing frustration and actually providing peace. Gavin has been very adamant about eating an apple a day. He strongly believes in the quote from Benjamin Franklin, “an apple a day, keeps the doctor away.” For years he has insisted that everyone of us eat an apple a day. Whenever someone begins to get a cold he says “it is because they haven’t been eating apples“. Apples cure just about everything in our family. We have seen the results of a healthy family with very few cases of the flu or common colds. But who knew that apples would also become a means of getting people’s attention and stopping a whole construction site to complete silence. As many of you know, we are living right smack in the middle of a construction zone which has been operating non stop. This has become quite irritating in that we rarely have a moment of peace around our house. Sleep has become a rarity which is having a huge affect on my happiness. Apples have become our way of sending a message of our annoyance of the noise and inconsiderate people who continue to feel it is necessary to keep us awake night after night. Last night the large trucks were at work again being loading by noisy machinery dumping concrete and debris into the trucks to haul away. This was going on all night again along with the constant sound of the drill or some other noisy machinery. At 3:00 in the morning as the trucks were driving out of the site, one honked. That was the turning point. People honk all the time here for no good reason. It really is annoying and then to have the trucks start to honk as they drove away on top of all the other noise for no apparent reason but to annoy us, sent Gavin over the edge. Out came the bowl of apples. He went up on the roof and starting throwing them at the trucks. Of course, they stopped and got out which started a yelling match with neither party understanding the other because they were yelling in Chinese and Gavin in English. He had enough of this lack of consideration for others. We have a family trying to sleep and they feel it necessary to continue working all night long keeping us up and then the honking. Really? Is that necessary? Well, Gavin grabbed his bike and took off to finally confront them. I was really nervous because he was all alone and there were quite a few of them out there. Who knew what would happen but what happens next is just too funny. The guys in the truck just stood there for a few minutes after Gavin stopped yelling and jumped on his bike. They were looking around like what do we do? Where did he go? They finally got in their truck and drove a few meters down the dirt road towards the main road and stopped. The passenger got out of his truck to fill out some paperwork. The driver was apparently in the truck looking in his mirrors because when he saw Gavin racing towards them from behind on his bike, he quickly started to drive off. The other guy not knowing what was going on ran “like a bunny” as Gavin explains it and jumped back in the truck while it was driving away. They literally were afraid of a guy on a bike and wanted to get the heck out of there. They couldn’t go very fast because of the dirt road so Gavin was able to keep up with them. When they got on the main road, they sped up; but Gavin kept going because he figured they would have to slow down to turn eventually. The main road only lasted about a ½ a mile until it veered sharply to the right so Gavin kept them in site but they didn’t slow down enough for Gavin to catch up but he was still in visual site. He kept going because he knew that there was a stop light a few hundred yards ahead after they turned where they would have to either turn right or left but that didn’t stop them either. The light was red and they just swerved around the other trucks and turned from the other lane. Remember it is 3:00 a.m. so there wasn’t much traffic but driving in the other lane here is a typical thing. Gavin knew that there was another light only a short distance away so again he kept going on his bike. The light was red which didn’t stop them. They barreled right on through the light. The chase continued for a few more minutes through town until Gavin finally just turned around and came back when he realized that they were not going to let him catch up. Quite the funny picture. A huge truck with two men trying to run away from a foreigner on a bike pedaling as fast as he could. Crazy. The crazy thing is, they completely shut down the construction after that for the night. We had a few hours of peace and quiet during the night but we were so wound up, we couldn’t enjoy it and actually sleep. Would you have ever thought that apples could stop an entire construction site? They truly are our life savers. Not only physically but now mentally by providing both an outlet of frustration by throwing them and then actually stopping the noise, even if it was for just a few hours. Of course the noise continues. It is almost 9:30 at night and we are again being serenaded by the squeaky drill, the jack hammers, the trucks, the bull dozers, and whatever else it is that is making noise out there. Good thing we have a huge stash of apples ready and on call if someone dares to honk there horn tonight.

Progress YES!!!! Inconvenience NO!!!!

Here it is 5:00 in the morning and I've not being able to sleep due to all the construction noise behind us. I've been laying in bed for hours hoping to fall asleep but with the constant sound of a large drill squeaking and pounding the earth, that's not going to happen. On top of the noise, I've also been brewing about an anonymous comment made on my post about the construction here in Shekou. I was pretty pissed off because this person made a comment about how in this country all the construction is called progress and that the foreigners here don't want to see the Chinese people progress. They stated that the foreigners all want the Chinese people to continue being poor and living in their poor houses. THAT IS ABSURD!!!!! Are you serious? You think we are so racist that we would want to see a society not progress and continue living in a poor state? That really pissed me off!

The purpose of my post was to inform our family and friends what our life has become here in China. We have lived here for three years and have seen quite a lot of change which is great, but the annoying part is the lack of consideration for others and how their actions effect others. When we first lived here we had to endure the subway construction and constant blasting behind our first home. We moved after that first year to what we thought was a quieter place and it was until a few months ago when all the construction started. We literally live right in the middle of all the construction in Seaworld. What used to be a pleasant quiet view of the ship and driving range out our bedroom and living room windows, has been replaced with a warzone. Every night we are "serenaded" with the sounds of heavy machinery (like the drill that is keeping me awake tonight), trucks driving in and out being loaded with all the debris, and just noise. It all is within meters of our home. This goes on all night long and I mean ALL NIGHT. The other night along with the trucks and drill, they started destroying a small guard shack right out our window with a jack hammer at midnight. It wasn't just a small hand jack hammer, it was a large jack hammer attached to a caterpillar bull dozer. No consideration for the people trying to sleep only meters away. Like I said this was only meters away from our bedroom balcony. They were so close that we were able to yell at them to where they could hear. Gavin, Jonny, Rachel, and Saren went up on our roof and starting throwing apples at them to get their attention to let them know that there are people trying to sleep here. It was midnight and they felt it was ok to wake everyone up so that they could tear down a small building. That couldn't wait until the next morning? That's the type of inconsideration of others that is really annoying. They are so focused on getting their job done that they don't think of others. I don't mind the working seven days a week for long hours but not at 4:00 in the morning.

Yes I want to see progress but not at the expense of safety for others. Unlike many foreigners here, we don't have a personal driver at our beckon call to drive us where we want to go or a car, so we have to walk everywhere. The pictures I posted were to show what I have had to walk through with my six year old daughter to get to school that is only a few blocks away from our home. It is extremely unsafe and again, no consideration of others. No safety precautions taken to ensure the safety of people who have to get around it. The open trenches, piles of bricks, dirt, machinery was not a safe environment for anyone let alone children. Instead of thinking of others and providing an alternative route, they expect us to either just walk over the open trenches and debris or out into a busy street with traffic. We have had several kids at school who have been hurt just walking along the sidewalk trying to get to school. I personally have fallen several feet through a thin piece of plywood placed over an open hole. My entire leg fell into the hole up to my thigh. I was very lucky that I only walked away with a bruise and scratch. No consideration for the safety of others, that's my complaint.

I probably wouldn't be so upset if I lived in the plush Jing Shen houses, Coastal Rose, or Peninsula apartments, but we don't. Our school won't pay for those places so I'm stuck right in the middle of construction with inconsiderate people and have to walk and live in an unsafe environment.

Progress is great. Of course I want to see this society excel and yes it will look nicer when completed but it doesn't have to be at the expense of people's safety and health (such as the lack of sleep).

He also said that the foreigners want everything perfect with their maids and easy living. Obviously this person does not know me at all. I would happily give up my Ayi if I had another option for daycare for my daughter. My husband and I both work long hours and need someone to pick up our six year old daughter from school everyday. If I didn't need that service, I would probably not have a maid at all. She is a very nice reliable person but I could easily do without poor laundry and cleaning skills. No matter how many times I have tried to explain not to soak our socks in bleach, she continues to do so to the point that the elastic is ruined and my socks are now twice the original size. She once used so much bleach on a pair of my white pants that they literally fell apart and disintegrated while I was wearing them at work. Fortunately it was only at my knees. That would have been rather embarrassing to have my pants fall apart in other areas. She insists on using tons of bleach in our laundry and has ruined numerous items of clothing but won't use bleach to clean the mold out of our showers. The numerous complaints from my husband about his basketball shirts smelling like poo because our Ayi doesn't use enough soap in the laundry are easily things I could give up, but like I said she does provide a service of caring for our daughter which is the main reason we have kept her around.

and the easy living? Where is that? My life here is way more difficult than back in the states. Maybe some foreigners enjoy the easy life but not us. I have to shop everyday to keep just a small amount of food in our house for my family and without a driver or car, I have to physically carry it home. This has totally messed up my shoulder again by having to carry large bags of groceries home everyday. And the hassle to get anything done here can make a normal person crazy. Just the simple task of trying to buy decent shampoo and conditioner becomes a two hour ordeal with either riding a public bus or taking a taxi to Walmart. The other day Gavin and I were trying to purchase Ipads for prizes for the school science fair. What would have been maybe an hour task back home, if even that because we could have ordered them online and had them delivered to our house, was a whole day of endless hassles here. We left our home at 10:30 in the morning to go to Hong Kong. Three hours later after having to take a taxi and wait in lines to cross the border for an hour and half then sitting on a bus for another hour, we finally made it to an electronics store in the mall to only find out that they were sold out of the ones we wanted. We checked several other places, and they were all sold out. Eight hours later we returned home empty handed. Everything here is a hassle. Easy living? NOT!!!!!!

I blog to inform my family and friends about our life here in China and I don't appreciate ignorant anonymous comments, so please unless you really know me and our situation and have something positive and kind to say, keep your comments to yourself.

It is now 6:00 in the morning and I have to start another day with little or no sleep due to the lack of consideration of others. I have every right to be pissed off and upset. No sleep makes a very bitter and angry me. Look out world because this seems to be my life for the next few months and I'm not going to be happy about it.

Flesh eating fish

Would you be brave enough to put your legs into a pool of little fish that eat your flesh? Yesterday we had a day off and Gavin took the kids to a spa here in Shenzhen with all types of different pools. From super hot to freezing cold. This pool has little fish that would eat the dead skin off your legs and feet. Gavin said it was the most stressful thing he has ever experienced in his life.
Just look at their faces...extreme discomfort

I guess Gavin had a lot of skin to eat because these little fish were chowing down.
The minute your feet get near the water they are ready.

Just stuff....

We may not have Trader Joe's but we have something even better...Trader Zhou's. This is so typical of China. They hear about something that is cool in other parts of the world and slap the name on a business here. This is nothing like Trader Joe's but somebody thought the name was cool.

Our little Niki is playing basketball on the Middle School team as a ten year old. She is the only 10 year old and played the most out of all the other girls in their first game. She was quite the point guard and I'm not saying that because I'm her mother, but she really was awesome. She definitely takes after her father.
Vika had a modeling job in a commercial last week and the only thing she wanted with her money were these two wigs. We had to go to Hong Kong today for another doctor's appointment about the wart on her foot and right next to the building is a street full of costume vendors so we got these two wigs. It's quite the fun place to walk through with all the costumes. As soon as we got home they had to put them on and actually went out to dinner with them on. It was Taco Tuesday at the Mexican restaurant in Sea World so Niki and Vika really made it a fiesta in their colorful wigs.

The red wig is to go with Vika's Little Mermaid costume she got a few weeks ago from the costume alley. She is all set for next Halloween. I have to say the wigs are kind of fun.