Links, a Wedding, and Long Tou Zhou Park.

I was busy over the weekend and had no chance to do any writing-blogging -- I and the K crew went to wedding on Saturday night.  Sunday, we then went to Long Tou Zhou Park on Lake Taihu on a school trip.

 

Links

• Kaulins Family Studio Portrait # 11
• Kaulins Family Studio Portrait # 12
• Tony in the Studio # 11
• Tony in the Studio # 12
• Tony and an acrobat.
• A Clown and Tony
• Tony at a Church Service.
• Jenny and the bride, and Andis and the groom.
• Jenny and Zhang Ying.
• Andis and Niels.

 

The Wedding

 

The wedding of Niels and Zhang Ying was the swankiest wedding I ever went to. 

 

How swanky was it?  The ceremony was in a church -- not something that happens often in Wuxi.  The reception was at the Millennium Hotel on ChangJiang Road in the Wuxi New District -- a fancy hotel with fountains in the courtyard.  The entertainment featured acrobats, a midget (or dwarf), a face changer, and a dragon dance.  The food was a mixture of Western and Chinese food served buffet style.  A table was set aside for the children with crayons, colouring books, and a clown.  After the reception, the guests could carry on to an open bar at the Havana Club -- currently one of Wuxi's leading Expat watering holes.

 

The clown and children's table was very much appreciated by the parents.  I can say it made it a lot easier for Jenny and me, with Tony having something to do.

 

For me, the wedding was a good time to catch up with some Wuxi Expats I haven't seen in a while, and meet some new ones.    I should get back into the Expat scene, but I have a feeling, it ain't gonna happen.  The drinking just doesn't do me any good.

 

The collection of children at the wedding was amazing -- all sorts of nationalities were there.  For once, Tony wasn't a minority of one.  He ran around with the children

 

Long Tou Zhou Park

 

Don't ever go to Long Tou Zhou Park on a Sunday.  It will be too crowded and too dirty.  The K family went to the Park this Sunday on a school field trip.

 

The washrooms at the Park were just disgusting.  I haven't seen such dirty restrooms since I went into one at a bus station. 

 

The walk from the parking lot to the park lets a visitor experience the Taihu of the Taihu Water Crisis.  The water was green, stinky, and fly-infested.

 

The crowd was of a kind that depresses a Westerner -- it was loud and trash-throwing.

 

Still, I made the best of it, or at least the best I can with Tony.  Tony got to run around.  Tony got to feed some giant carp (a stranger gave Tony cake to throw at the fish -- it was mighty nice.  The little charitable act made the day.)  Tony got to play with a soccer ball.  Tony got to ride in a kayak (with his father), and in a motorized boat of sorts (with his mother).  Tony got to ride on his father's shoulders all day, as well.