CLICK IMAGE TO GO TO SALVADORS COFFEE HOUSE IN KUNMING CHINA

(This post did not go out to the emailing list yesterday so am resending to make sure  my blog is working correctly for the trip.  Let me know in the comments below if you already got this midday on Wednesday …yesterday …..thanks my friends!!)

I must have been a lab rat in a previous life,….. or better yet, one of PAVLOV’S DOGS. This morning when I woke up, I wandered into my kitchen as I always do to make my coffee and check my email. As I was getting the French Press ready and waiting for the computer to wake up, I heard Chinese dialect on my TV and out of the blue, began to smell all the foods of a typical morning market in China!!.

TYPICAL CHINESE BREAKFAST OR “SNACK”…TOPPED WITH VARIOUS GOODIES

I sat here wondering why I am drooling over something I can’t really even smell or see. The Chinese laughing and talking on TV (yeah I listen to an Asian channel hoping some Mandarin will rub off) triggered an instant FEAST in my brain including my favorite morning beverage YUNNAN COFFEE

I am so stoked to finally bring home some Yunnan Coffee from China on this upcoming trip….. only a little over one week away!!. There is nothing in the world quite like it!! Yunnan Coffee has a natural sweet /nutty flavor and could wake up an elephant the way the Chinese brew it. YUM

ABOVE: THE PRISTINE COFFEE PLANTATIONS OF YUNNAN PROVINCE IN SOUTHERN CHINA

“Yunnan, China is the most southern part of China, and also the richest in biodiversity and ethnicity. There are a multitude of different ethnic minorities and species living together. Yunnan province is said to be the ‘real’ China, the last frontier of land in China with pristine nature, not over developed with industrialization.”

KUNMING CHINA 2006….CITY OF ETERNAL SPRING

My son spent some time in Yunnan Province in the city of Kunming studying Mandarin following his graduation a few years ago. We talk about going back often and will sometime soon!!!

MY SON AND I IN KUNMING 2006

A VERY BLURRY PHOTO OF WHAT I THINK WAS SALVADORS COFFEE SHOP

…BRY HELP ME OUT ON THIS

These were some of the other students studying Mandarin with Bryan in Kunming

Roasted corn …another Chinese staple street food

Heres another unusual crispy corn dish we had in Chengdu 08….topped with sugar!

And classic Sichuan heat!!! over some sort of custardy ricey thingie

I am getting hungry just writing this and will go grab a rice cake to stave off the hunger…but somehow it just wont’ be the same until I have a steaming cup of my Yunnan coffee to go with it!!

CLICK PHOTO TO LEARN MORE ABOUT YUNNAN COFFEE IN ZHUKULA

You all may remember this photo from February of last year when Diana and I visited Chengdu China and the Shu Embroidery factory.  Well today I woke up to a pleasant surprise when a wonderful person left a note on my Flickr photostream that this image above had been posted on their own store blog called CHINA TRADITION SHOP.   The author is from Chengdu so I was tickled to say the least that they found my image to be representative of this stunning artform.

On my last visit I had every intention to have a custom embroidery done of my Vincent, but it all became overwhelming when Diana and I got caught up in the beauty and mastery of the artform.  For my upcoming trip in February I am better prepared and know more of what I want not.  I can’t wait to  see what they can do with Vinnie and the roses.  These embroideries are TWO SIDED and all silk.

And two of the bindi birds in the previous post are complete and ready to fly to their new homes.  They are available on the website

CLICK ON THE IMAGES TO FIND THESE TWO ADORABLE PENDANTS AT THE WEBSITE

THE TURQUOISE BINDI BIRD HAS MATCHING EARRINGS!!!!

MY SON MODELING ONE OF THE BINDI BIRDS FOR ME…HE WORKS FOR BIRDSEED….CHEEP LABOR!!!

CLICK PHOTO TO READ ASSOCIATED PRESS ARTICLE

I thought you all might like to read the article about the 8 pandas who arrived safely at the Beijing Zoo from Wolong. Amid all of this crisis caused by the earthquake in China they managed to get the Olympic pandas to their final destination safely. One of the youngsters chosen was adopted recently by Metal Tribe member Chet Chin!

Thank you all for getting your checks out to me so quickly. You will find lots of red asterisks popping up on the TRIBAL TALK page as your payments come rolling in!!

On another topic, yesterday we visited a couple of our favoite wineries in the stunning Willamette Valley. My personal favorite being Cristom. Not only for the wines but the incredible gardens on the property. Check out the flowers in bloom and a few other winery images by clicking the thumbnails below. Have a safe and happy Memorial Day Weekend!!

Happy New Year everyone!! I’m sure you can tell by now what I did on my time off the past week. Yep..the panda albums are finally done, with only the last day in Chengdu and all of Kunming left to go. What a job but I so enjoy going through all my pix…one by one.

So many times what I think I am taking a photo of turns out to be a huge surprise when I get the photos up on the big monitor. This panda photo you are looking at is a prime example. I didn’t see that her mouth was open until I loaded it today. It’s one of my favorite pix now!!

Here are albums One and TWO to click on . You can access them both from the top of any page you are at too.

CLICK HERE FOR PANDA ALBUM ONE

CLICK HERE FOR PANDA ALBUM TWO

Also a reminder that a beautiful panda is up on Ebay and closes in the morning. The price is still super low so come by and take a peek..More Ebay items will be posted this week as well.