Quaffer Dinner night in Shanghai!

Our last Quaffer's dinner at The Whampoa Club in Shanghai required the guests to dress up in traditional Chinese outifts, so off we went to the markets to order tailor made Chinese traditional dress and jacket! And it wasn't so bad, loved the feeling of the nice smooth silk and Magnus looked rather hot (!) in his Mandarin jacket!!

We had lots of fun with good food and great company with new and old friends!

Click here to see the pics from the night's fun.

Family fun in Shanghai!

Here we are - the family gathered at dinner during their first night in Shanghai - tired but happy! We've had a super time so far, with the first day hanging out enjoying the amazing weather Shanghai had to offer - perfect temperature, 25 C, blue skies, a nice breeze and "fresh" air!

Today we've visited the clothing market and everyone has ordered custom tailored robes, pants, suits and shorts among many things - let's hope it all fits perfectly when we pick up in 48 hours! We then visited the Tiffany store (uh, the copy store that is....) and looked at the great pieces made by the beautiful blue master but no investments from there thus far...

Tomorrow we're off for some nice golf, playground visits and handbag market in the afternoon - wow, watch out! They Janssons' & Carlssson's are taking Shanghai by storm!

Click here for more pictures from their first two days!

La Familia is coming to Shanghai!!

Finally this Saturday we'll have Magnus family coming to visit us here in Shanghai for 2 weeks! It's going to be so much fun showing them around our new city and we're also planning 3 perfect days in Beijing which we all look forward to very much too!

Day 1) will be the Forbidden City, Day 2) The Great wall of China and Day 3) The Olympic City and the Summer Palace - we'll be busy!

There so many great things to do in Shanghai too and we'll take Karin, Bjorn, Ulla & Uffe to the following sightseeing spots while here:

* The Bund

* French Concession

* the many parks of Shanghai (Fuxing park, Century Park, People's square)

* The markets of course (clothing, lamps, bags, tailors, etc. etc)

* Nanjing Road shopping street

* Mag Lev train ride (world's fastest train)

* flower markets

* Architecture and tallest building in the world at the moment (will soon be surpasses again...)

* Wining and dining out in the hot Shanghai spots

* Acrobat shows

* Chinese cooking

and so many other things I can't think of right now...!

We can't wait for them to get here so we can start all the fun, more updates soon!

Delicious foods from Sweden!!

Magnus just got back from 2 weeks in the US & Europe and after the recent milk scandal here in China I had asked him to load up on food from Sweden and bring back here!! I loved unpacking his bag earlier today to find all the goodies which we normally never bring back; oatmeal, hazelnuts, pine nuts, musli, yeast etc. etc. - I feel like it's time to start playing it safe and try to use little to none Chinese foods and since the imports here are soooo expensive, it'll be common practise for Magnus to leave town with emtpy bags and bring 'em back full from now on! Like he doesn't have enough to think of... ha!

Swedish Crayfish party in Shanghai!

Last Saturday the Gunnestrands threw a smashing crayfish party (aka KRAFTSKIVA!) at their Shanghai home - many Swedes joined but the Dutch people were in for a treat learning all the crazy behaviors of Swedes during a traditional crayfish party and after toooo many schnapps :-)!

Here are the fun pics from the night and d o n o t miss the "innanlar orkestern" by Kristoffer who made the brave move of taking off his pants to sing his renowned german schlager!

CRAYFISH PICTURES

Enjoy!

MILK SCANDAL IN CHINA!

With a certain unknown risk of having this blog shut down by the Chinese government, I'm still going to express my complete anger and disappointment with this horrible milk scandal which has hit China by storm! I am terrified of what's going on right now and I have just started to realized that nothing we buy may be safe over here - my orange juice, coffee, cheese, soda from reputable companies... who knows!?

You NEVER know what the Chinese manufacturing companies add to it to be able to reduce the actual ingredients in order to dilute with water to save on cost... It's just a spiderweb of information one must know in order to start feel safe again when consuming foods in this country. Needless to say, we almost only eat imported foods while living in China (I feel like I'm 200% over my monthly Whole Foods budget over here in the country of cheap!) but it's still very difficult to know if the food is first imported and then repackaged by Chinese manufacturing, especially "fresh" food. Then what happens to it?? Although we cook almost all of our own food from fresh produce there will always be some food you consume which is prepackaged, i.e snacks, juices, sauces etc. etc. I just pray that it's somewhat safe and that someone with a conscience is involved in manufacturing the products we use...

So, luckily Max & Emmy don't drink milk but Max likes this Yogurt made from B r i g h t Dairy (notice how I space out the name to try to avoid getting caught in the gov'ts filter...!) which had one of the highest levels of M e l a m i n e among fresh milk, 8.6 mg of every liter - and the same yogurt and milk is served almost exclusively at international schools in Shanghai. The panic level among many international (and of course local) families is beyond words. And the communication is virtually none by the authorities who report only the necessary information they believe one should know... scary stuff and I'm starting to realize how Chinese people have been living before China "opened up"!

I also realize we are visitors in this country and they are our host - we respect this country and want to live as part of the Chinese culture too. But this I have no words for - killing innocent babies and children so companies can make more money by fortifying the content of its product. They should be jailed for life and have to drink their own milk (the one with 2000 mg of m e l a m i n e!) daily with no treatment to the kidney stones they'll quickly develop!

arghhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!

Max & Emmy going fun wild....

Today we had one of those awesome play days when we all wake up in a happy mood and start off the day playing from early morning (in our house that's 6.30 AM) to the minutes before bedtime!

After all the fun, Max & Emmy rounded off the day with building a big pillow castle in the living room having a blast throwing themselves among all the pillows. There's nothing more beautiful than hearing the roaring sounds of a kid's laughter and today was one of those days when it never ended... simply music to my ears!

Here they are, my little buggers tearing up my living room :-)

Furniture show in Shanghai

Today we attended one of the world's largest furniture Expos held in Shanghai and about 20 minutes from our home. It was fantastic to see all the amazing furniture shown in the different booths and many many copies of the original master pieces (LeCorbusier, Staark, Jacobsen etc etc) and every time I asked for the price of a piece I was amazed at the cost - a fraction of the cost you would pay for it in the stores... We got plenty of inspiration for our new Gotland home which we're in the process of designing.

Love this mirror for example, this will be one we'll put into the guest house bathroom...

Or how about this chair, perfect for the master bedroom right... uhhhm, maybe not!!

Never forget today's date...

I normally don't post things about political or religious view, but I have lived in the US for many years and today is always a very sad day for me as I experienced the tragic day of 9/11 in 2001.

To many Americans, today is just the fourth day of their work week. 40% of Americans do not know the significance of this day. Once given a reminder of the day’s significance, 65% cannot remember the year in which September 11th became a national day of remembrance in the US.

For 3,000 families, today is a day that will never be forgotten. 6years ago a group of men claiming to be commanded by Allah, decided to fly two planes into the World Trade Center towers and erase the lives of so many. This is a day that should never be forgotten or allowed to lose its importance.

Use this day to start a tradition of never forgetting the meaning of September 11th every year, and take a moment to reflect on the events of 9/11/2001. Everyone has a story to tell of how they were/are effected by the events on that fateful day.

If you live in the US, take time to say thank you to a military service member, airline security personnel, fireman, policeman, etc. It is the actions of these individualsthat keep peace in America and ensure every day that there will never be another 9/11 on United States soil.

I urge you to remember that what counts most hasn't changed at all since September 11. Truth is still truth. Love still endures and ultimately wins over hatred.

Thank you Gabe for always making us remember!

Bali - here we come!

We just booked our two week vacation over Xmas/New Year this year in Bali which we can't wait to experience!

We will be there together with Magnus dad Rolf, Maria and Alexander and have a chance to celebrate Rolf's belated 60-th birthday which so much fun! I have to pinch myself to beleive that we're going to be wasting away in Paradise in this huge villa right on the ocean on the 13th hole on one of Asia's best golf courses (designed by Greg Norman) - pleeease, I will be so happy!!!

My idea of he perfect Bali vacation: lay at the pool, play with the kids, cook great dinners (or let the 2 maids that come with the house spoil us...) and explor Bali's amazing nature and area!! Hmmm.... i can do that!

Villa Nirwana is located in the city of Tabanan on the Le Royal Meridien golf resort about 45 minutes from the airport and 20 minutes from the shopping/restaurant district of Seminyak. Our first trip to Bali will most likely be a memorable one...

Weddingbliss - the happy couple!

Everyone who knows me know I'm a little silly crazy about weddings so I feel like sharing a beautiful wedding card which I recently received from our dear friends Philip & Johanna from their New York wedding earlier this year! It was one to remember...!

Congrats again guys - I know the newlywed feeling hasn't worn off yet!

The Royal treatment - Queen Silvia on Thai Air....!

When Magnus flew from Shanghai to Sweden last he was caught in some very bad weather and stuck in traffic for some 5 hours missing his flight to Beijing and Sweden! He was later put on a Thai Air flight from Shanghai via Bangkok to Sweden and in front of him in Seat 1A & C was the beautiful Queen Silvia and Prince Karl-Philip of Sweden. I guess Thai Airlines pulled out the red carpet and gave Queen Silvia the royal treatment when serving her dinner - they kneeled down on the floor and served her meal from their knees which is done for royalty in Thailand... according to Magnus it looked quite interesting!

Otherwise, they seemed very nice and normal :-)

There's your royal update for the day!
Cheers!

my little busy bee - Emmy at work!

Max, Emmy & XiaXia came to visit me the SAS office the other day and the staff was head over heels to meet the kiddos!! Chinese people truly love children and both Emmy & Max enjoyed the attention for sure. I love this pic of Emmy sitting in my chair typing away on the computer, she knows exactly what to do and how to master this "toy"...!

Afterwards we went to the market to buy a Superman suit and umbrellas for everyone and we rounded off the afternoon with icecream at Haagendaz for everyone - a great fun end of the day!

more money for Kamprad...!

Every day when I take the train to work, they hand out free Chinese newspapers which all people on the train seem to read, it's quite humorous to watch 100s of people head down deeply focused... Today IKEA had a small mini magazine insert in the paper and I couldn't help but smile when i looked over the huge crowds of people all reading about Billy and Karlanda and thinking about the $$ millions more that Ingvar will fork in this weekend.... I'm staying away from the big house for sure, lingonberries will have to wait until next week!

Karin's breakfast buns!

Magnus mom Karin is a really good cook and can easily blow you away with her homemade dishes - it's a real treat to be a guest at her house and you know you're in for some gourmet food when visiting!

She gave me a great and easy receipe for her breakfast bread buns which she always serves in the morning when we visit in the summer time.

Here's the delicous bread receipe you must try:




1 package yeast (dry)
1 tablespoon honey
5 dl lukewarm water
1-2 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon salt
1 dl oatmeal
10 dl flour (you can mix white or wholewheat)

Mix together honey, water, oil, salt and oatmeal in a big bowl. Mix the yeast with the flour and mix in the flour/yeast with the rest of the ingredients and work the dough for approx. 5 min (either by hand or by machine). Let is rise for 45 minutes (double its size). Cut up the dough (no kneeding) with a doughknife in palm size pieces and put directly onto the baking try (use parchment paper or PAM on the baking tray). Bake in the oven 250 degrees C approx. 15 minutes until they are slightly brown ontop.

Enjoy with butter and marmelade!!

Another GREAT receipe...Yummy!!

We were blessed again with quite a delicious receipe last Sunday while spending a nice Brunch afternoon with Shanghai newbies Annika & Niclas and their 3 adorable children.

Here's a winner receipe for an easy dinner or brunch dish:

Thick Bacon Pancake for 4 people:

3 eggs
4 dl flour
8 dl whole milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-2 packs of bacon

Cook the bacon bites light crispy and let them dry up on some papertowel. Whisk the eggs lightly. Pour half of the milk (4dl), salt and flour together to a smooth batter. Pour the rest of the milk in (4dl) and whisk again. Pour the batter into the greaced up lasagna type pan and distribute the bacon evenly over the batter. Bake in the middle of the oven at 250 degrees C approx. 30 minutes.

Serve with lingonberries and a green cucumber and tomatoe salad.

Bon Appetite!

BEIJING 2008 OLYMPICS!

Magnus and I attended the 2008 Beijing Olympics on Aug. 20th and I only have one word for the event - Magical!! We saw so many amazing athletes; Holm from Sweden in high jump, 200 m. semifinals for men where Usain Bolt just breezed through the last few meters...insanly fast! The Birds Nest is one heck of a place and it was breathtaking to see it live, I was overly happy once I was outside it, the trip to get there was not an easy one....

....4 days before going, Max got sick and after too many runny-nose-kisses-feel-better-soon I got sick 2 days before leaving and I started a serious case of juice-vitamins-horsepills-herbs-younameit treatment to get better fast as I was NOT going to lie in bed sick when I was supposed to be sitting in the Birds Nest! The day before leaving Emmy got a feever and a cold but since she's the toughest cookie around I kind of knew she would feel better soon! The night before leaving we were up ALL night taking care of feeverish Emmy whenever she was awake or I was wondering what kind of speed they put in cold medecin nowadays as my brain was spinning about 100 mph... Then around 4 AM Max decided to womit in our bed (no big deal, right!) but after wiping it up and kissing good night he was sound asleep again. When the alarm rang that morning, I swear I wasn't sure which universe I was in, but got out bed and felt funny right away... After another 30 minutes and a few bathroom visits I was pretty sure I knew what was was so "funny"....food poisining! After almost a year in China without any problems, I couldn't believe it was finally going to hit me the day I was going to the most amazing Olympic games in the history of the Olympics! I looked so pale and fraile, Magnus asked me about 100 times if I was really going to get on that plane.. i couldn't even stand up straight! I told him if he so had to carry me up to that g*d damn birds nest I was going to stand outside having my picture taken in front of it....We made it to the airport and at one point as I was crawling (no joke) through security I was very very ready to turn around and go back home to get better in bed.

But after 2 cups of very sweet tea on the flight and some yogurt I was starting to feel a little human again. I told Magnus if I could walk off the plane by myself I was going to manage this day OK. And so I did, and i actually felt much better after a few hours and even worked an event for SAS in Beijing as we arrived. When I put my pounding head on the pillow at midnight that night, after 40 hours of no sleep, I didn't know if I should cry or laugh, I was so tired but oh, so happy to have done it and pulled it off. "Nothing is impossible" is the last thing I thought before my eyes shut!!

Here are the pictures of our amazing day in Beijing - enjoy!