Pandas…in a Submarine

Our daughter came up with the headline for this post, and it perfectly captures the highlights of our recent trip to China and Hawaii.

We started off in Beijing for a day or so, but, really, the focus of this trip was Chengdu and the Panda Breeding and Research Center. And the focus of the visit to the Panda Breeding and Research Center was to hold a real-live baby panda!

As you can see from the photos, the panda cub was about 10 months old and roughly 50 pounds. (Any bigger and the experience would be problematic, as pandas play rough.) The panda cub is eating bamboo coated with honey, which is in large part responsible for its mellow and beatific behavior. All of us wore booties over our shoes and giant blue smocks. The Center was great about time spent with the panda cub, with plenty of time to pet the panda (although we were instructed not to pet the face or ears) and the ability to take plenty of photos.

the family with a baby panda!

the family with a baby panda!

Jim with a baby panda

Jim with a baby panda

May with a baby panda

May with a baby panda

Marcus with a baby panda

Marcus with a baby panda

Our daughter had the highlight of the visit, as the panda cub put his paw on her in apparent solidarity. The rest of us saw the resemblance between the two (fluffy, likes to eat and sleep, solitary) and understood why there was such a bond between them. 🙂

Jade with a baby panda

Jade with a baby panda

Meeting the panda cub was such a highlight that our stay in the Aman Hotel, with its secret door to the Summer Palace (my favorite place in Beijing) that allows you to visit the Summer Palace before opening hours was a distant second in trip highlights (a distant third if you count the Hawaii portion).

But, despite that, here’s the Long Corridor in the Summer Palace with NO people (unheard of in a city of 15 million people).

an empty Summer Palace

an empty Summer Palace

With respect to the Hawaii portion of our trip, thanks to a friend of ours who is a naval officer, we were able to tour the USS Olympia, a Los Angeles-class fast attack nuclear-powered submarine. We weren’t able to take photos due to security concerns, but to be able to tour the sub was awesomely cool. We were obviously not allowed near the nuclear reactor or the engine room, but we toured the control room and the rest of the sub. For those who are wondering, there are five (!) bathrooms for the approximately 120 folks aboard the sub. The torpedoes are 4,000 pounds each and are transported to the torpedo tubes using a hydraulic system. It is an incredible feat of design and engineering. And submariners have to be a bit crazy—you certainly can’t mind small enclosed spaces, and you certainly have to be comfortable always being surrounded by people (introverts need not apply).

Added to that was an admiral boat’s tour of Pearl Harbor, surfing lessons every day for the kids, and shave ice at Uncle Clay’s House of Pure Aloha (and meals at Town, Chef Mavro, and Alan Wong’s). Honolulu was pretty perfect.

All in all, a great addition to the family vacation memory book!

Book review: State of the Union by Brad Thor

State of the Union (Scot Harvath, #3)State of the Union by Brad Thor

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the third in a series of books revolving around Scot Harvath, former Secret Service agent and now focusing on counterterrorism. You learn a few more details about Scot’s personal life and his upbringing in this book, but the motivations and desires of the main characters are secondary to the plot. Once again, Brad Thor has produced a fast-paced and gripping novel with rogue Russians as the primary threat. There is plenty of violence and action in the book, and the plot is realistic and well-written.
Those interested in the thriller genre (and an easy beach read) could do much worse than reach for this book.

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Book review: Mr. Churchill’s Secretary by Susan Elia MacNeal

Mr. Churchill's SecretaryMr. Churchill’s Secretary by Susan Elia MacNeal

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Having finished a trilogy of Winston Churchill’s life not too long ago, I was interested in seeing how a historical mystery set in World War II Britain would hold up in comparison. The historical details in “Mr. Churchill’s Secretary” are accurate, although I’m not sure the author did Churchill justice. (Although to be fair, I’m not sure that anyone can capture such a complex man with any accuracy.) The plot was interesting and well-paced, and the main characters were well developed, although the secondary characters could have been further fleshed out. I loved the main character’s strength and personality (and the fact that she was a mathematician). The tone was generally light and frothy.
Overall, the book was not necessarily written with the quality and depth of other historical mystery authors such as Sharon Penman, Priscilla Royal, or Sharan Newman. But for the first book in a series, it was well done, and I am certainly interested enough in the main character and the setting to try the second book in the series.

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Restaurant review: Passage to India (the restaurant not the book)

I am generally pretty dismissive of the restaurant scene in Bethesda, particularly downtown Bethesda. I find the food mostly uninspired and often mediocre (with a few exceptions). So when some friends suggested we go to Passage to India, an (obviously) Indian restaurant in downtown Bethesda, we agreed but were skeptical.

We were pleasantly surprised with what we discovered. The restaurant itself was quiet and decorated with pictures of various Indian rulers on the walls. The menu was divided into the different regional cuisines. (I loved that touch—normally, you have no idea what part of India your dishes are from.)

Our friends are pescatarian, so we started with the Samosa Chaat, vegetarian samosas on a bed of chickpeas drizzled with yogurt and the Fritter Platter, an assortment of vegetable fritters. Both dishes were adequate but hardly worth mentioning.

The restaurant’s strength is clearly its main dishes. We picked two East Indian dishes: Shorshe Bata Maach, fish in freshly ground mustard sauce and the Aloo Phoolkopir Dalna (cauliflower and potatoes with freshly ground cumin and ginger). We also had a West Indian dish, the Fish Konkan Curry, fish fillets in a sauce flavored with kokum, curry leaf, and coconut milk. And from South India, we had the Baingan Mirchi Ka Salan, baby eggplants and jalapenos simmered in sesame-peanut gravy. We also had assorted flavors of Nan, mango chutney (which the menu states is a “British contributed condiment”—love that!) and the pickle platter, with house made pickles.

All the dishes were excellent! The Shorshe Bata Maach was perhaps the most unique dish we’ve tried, but they were all delicious. All the side dishes were wonderful as well, even the one contributed by the British.

We will definitely return and try some of the meat dishes next time. Passage to India is located at 4931 Cordell Avenue, Bethesda, MD (www.passagetoindia.info).

Book review: The Deception by Joan Wolf

The DeceptionThe Deception by Joan Wolf

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really love Joan Wolf Regency romances (her historical fiction is good, too). I compare her Regency romances to champagne. They are light, fizzy, and enjoyable. The plots are well-crafted. The time period is drawn accurately and is well described. The hero and heroine both are three dimensional characters, complete with flaws. And if the heroine is often a little forward-thinking for the time period, well, that works for me.
“The Deception” is no exception. Kate is an appealing (and modern) heroine. Adrian is an almost (but not quite) perfect hero. There are some plot twists that are readily foreseeable but enjoyable all the same. And, of course, as with all good romances, the book ends happily ever after.
If you are looking for a light, easy summer read, Joan Wolf romances fit that description perfectly.

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