Pudong dinner club

Tonight, we subbed in for a couple in the Pudong Dinner Club's Harvest Dinner. The location is at a unit in Vizcaya Villa. It was a gated compound. Everyone couple had to make a dish according to the 2008 club dinner menu. I had to provide Pumpkin soup, greens and bread. The Pumpkin soup and greens, the club dinner menu provided recipes. Good thing veggie stuff; otherwise, I would have to get a whole new set of cooking utensils. Cannot mix with iron-wife's veggie cooking equipment.

It was a good evening. 6 couples. Mostly Americans except two couples, one from Japan and one from Brazil. The one from Japan is current working for GM. He is being groomed. For the last four years, he was in the States; now in Shanghai. Who knows where he will next with GM. Then the Brazilian couple. He worked for Borche, overseeing car parts productions. He and his wife had been in Xian for the 7 years or so. He said that was one of the most difficult place to live. All the couples worked in the manufacturing field - mechanical or chemical. According to one couple, the chemical order has all dried up since this Summer. Very difficult time now.

This Vizcaya place looked nice on the outside; but according to the owner, she said someone did the floor plan wrong. Every single unit had the bathrooms door open on the wrong side. That is, if you want to use the one bathroom, you need to go thru the other bathroom in order to get to it! Can you imagine every single unit? This place is only 4 years old, but I could tell the quality is not that great. Exterior wall already starting to crumple. Yikes.

We are thinking of joining this dinner club; just to get a wide range of people. Well, we are in Shanghai now. Have to have people on either side - Chinese and Foreigner.