It’s past midnight in Zhangjiajie, Hunan, China. Temperature at 26 degrees and snowing. Really snowing. Burrrrr! It is the worst winter storm in China within the last 50 years. Power, water and food outage throughout the country. People trying to get home for the Lunar New Year but are stuck in the bad weather. The number of people affected is astounding. It is really scary and worrisome. 
I was supposed to hear from Angela earlier this week to continue our conversation. Not getting a call and hearing the news coming out of China made me really worried. I sent her an email last night to see if she got back to Taiwan safely. Oh yes, she went over to Zhangjiajie last week despite of the weather. Luckily, I got a reply this morning. She made it back. She also described what a horrible situation that a lot of people are in. It really broke her heart.
As can be expected, the hotel construction is on hold. At this point it is unrealistic to expect it to be done before the Olympics start. That maybe a blessing. At least it is for me. I’d rather it be built well then having to rush it. The goal now is to have a grand opening in Jan. 2009.
Angela will be calling me within a day. I will have to discuss details of relocating, and to bring CB into the picture. I wonder how we will be getting the legal status to stay in Taiwan for a few years. How do we store our stuff here in the States. Getting a bank account that will enable us to deal with foreign currency easily. Lots to think about. We had bad news coming out of the main office of the company CB and I work for now. But it maybe a blessing in disguise. I won’t go into details. Let’s just say that it is a change that will benefit us even if we quit and move to Taiwan, or China. (I’d rather be in Taipei, Taiwan, though.)
Change of subject. I cooked again! It is another recipe from The Best 30-minute Recipe. And this one is the tastiest so far.
Spanish Style Chicken & Rice. Yummy! And so easy to make. Yes, it looks a little mushy. I used a Dutch Oven instead of a 12″ Sauce Pan. According to America’s Most Trusted Test Kitchen, it makes a difference in reducing the liquid when cooking. If you are making a pasta sauce, Dutch Oven will leave you a more watery sauce than what results from using a 12″ Sauce Pan. Oh, but my rice turned out so delicious anyway. I couldn’t believe how easy it was. There’s a nice spicy kick with Chorizo in the rice. Our butcher gave us Portuguese sausages that they made in-store. He said that they were the same. Is that true?
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