A Birthday Expedition

Monday, October 5th, 2009 | All Posts by Quinn Wharton, Perpetual Motion: SFB on Tour | No Comments

We arrived in Beijing on Sunday. It was a painless flight: two hours from wheels up to touch down. The air in Beijing was some of the strangest I have ever been in. It was around 4pm when we got in, so it was heading towards dusk, but there was no sunset. It seemed as if there was just cloud cover but there were no clouds: just a dense, smoggy murk that went from white, through shades of gray, to black. You could look directly at the sun and not hurt your eyes. Luckily the next morning proved that it wasn’t a constant state. The sun has been out quite a bit now. The gloom seems to set in just by the time dusk hits.

We took class and rehearsed a bit that Monday, and ran through most of the mixed-rep program in Beijing Ballet’s studio. When we got back to our hotel, it was time to head out for a big birthday party dinner. It was both Hansuke Yamamoto’s and Frances Chung’s birthdays that day, so it was time to celebrate. Personally, I am not a big fan of large parties. If they aren’t organized by a trained professional, things can quickly become disastrous. (Even trying to order dinner with five people is difficult, let alone figuring out the check.) So I was feeling particularly fearful when I stepped out of the elevator and saw roughly 30 people waiting in the lobby. This was going to be a nightmare, I thought.

I asked Dana [Genshaft] where we were going, since she and Liz [Miner] seemed to be in charge of organizing the outing. I found out we were headed to a tiny restaurant which, according to the concierge, was located in a maze of alleyways and impossible to find. Then there was the added obstacle of, not having a reservation. How do you show up at a restaurant with no reservation, 30 people, and expect to eat? It’s just not done! So with serious dread, we embarked: a 30-something group of cross-cultural dancers, hungry and noisy.

The group about to get on the subway

We took the subway, which was in itself quite an adventure. It was a simple process, but we still had to make sure everyone had a ticket and got on the right train.

Diego Cruz (surrounded by lots of other dancers) in the Beijing subway station

We got off the train in a dark, quiet area. Down each small alley we saw locals eating dinner together. Everyone stared at us as we passed, probably not used to seeing so many foreigners at once. We walked for about 15 minutes. I was losing hope (and growing hungrier) second by second. We stopped to get directions from some cooks hanging out at a fast food pick-up window.

Here are the guys that pointed us in the right direction!

Just a few minutes later, we were headed down a small broken-down alley. Looking at the entrance to the restaurant, my fears were confirmed: it was trashed, just a ramshackle of roofing, brick, and wood.

But once I stepped inside, I was shocked; the outside was just a facade. They had taken a small house, built around a courtyard, and redone the interior to make it a beautiful modern restaurant, akin to something you would see in San Francisco, like Beretta, or The Ramp.

The interior of the restaurant

Our good fortune continued when we met the owner. It turned out that they were having a slow night, so after some careful negotiation, we agreed to each pay 120 RMB (about $20 USD), and he would start bringing out food. So not only did we find a beautiful setting, but we got a chef-prepared banquet for everyone. It was easy and simple, so everyone settled in comfortably. I guess it was one of those fluke things where the universe comes together to support what you’re doing.

The girls pose for a picture in the restaurant

I honestly have no idea what we ate, but all of it was good and there was plenty of it! Apparently it was all Malaysian food. We finished off the evening at the restaurant’s sister bar, called BED, and taking that over as well. I was lucky enough to get a chance to commandeer their sound system for a while and DJ’d for the group for about an hour.

Walking to BED

Frances and I ended up being the last patrons there, since we got stuck talking to the production crew of Cats that was just leaving town the next day. It was late by the time we left; lucky for us cabs were still plentiful and we were able to make our way home. It turned out to be one of the best birthday parties I’ve been to in a long time. And it taught me not to doubt a situation so much; it just creates a lot of groundless worry that taints the air.

Tags: China Tour, Dana Genshaft, Diego Cruz, Frances Chung, Liz Miner, Quinn Wharton

A Culinary Adventure

Sunday, September 27th, 2009 | All Posts by Quinn Wharton, Perpetual Motion: SFB on Tour | No Comments

I may not know what everything is, but it looks amazing!

I have learned on this trip that food is not just about eating, but also about comfort and familiarity. We become very accustomed as a culture to eating specific things, so the act of eating those things becomes like a ritual, not just a simple act of refueling. I have found that abroad, when I’m faced with a number of dishes I don’t recognize, my body loses half of the eating experience.  No matter how good the food is, it can’t completely satisfy me because my body is craving comfort, as well as nourishment.

A pork bun.

I figured this out by eating with two of our resident Asians and culinary adventurers, Frances Chung and Ashley Muangmaithong.  I have visited numerous Chinese restaurants on this trip and have had varying degrees of success. Inevitably when it’s me and a table full of Caucasian people, we order things we are comfortable with: a bunch of noodles with veggies, some form of fried rice, some dumplings. It always ends up being something we enjoy, even if the wait staff speaks no English and the menus are completely indecipherable. This is because we order things that comfort us.

Fried taro cakes. Something I probably wouldn't have ordered if Frances or Ashley hadn't suggested it.

Eating with Ashley and Frances is another matter. They both have been raised in different cultures: Frances in a Hong Kong Chinese-Canadian setting, and Ashley in a Thai community in Walnut Creek. They are both more adventurous than I am; eating with them is a trip into unknown regions. For example, we’ve ordered whole deep-fried fish in sweet and sour sauce, barbecued chicken feet, fried taro cakes, and all kinds of other foods I can’t remember the names of.  So even though everything tastes fantastic, (honestly it’s all delicious), my body still doesn’t feel settled after a meal. The extreme foreignness of everything I’m eating throws me off, especially the chicken feet.

Chicken Feet! A little boney, but tasty.

They taste like BBQ ribs, but they look like chicken feet covered in sauce and they have tons of small bones that you have to spit out.  But since it is delicious (and I’m hungry), I will bravely proceed. I’ll put on my shining armor, climb upon my steed, and (tums in hand) stride into the local restaurant to order some fried scorpions and spicy bullfrog.

Tags: Ashley Muangmaithong, China Tour, Frances Chung

Pic of the Week

Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009 | Pic of the Week | No Comments

Tags: Brett Bauer, Frances Chung, Naked, Program 2, Stanton Welch

Rebuilding New Orleans

Monday, August 4th, 2008 | All Posts by Frances Chung, SFB Scene | 2 Comments

After a long and thrilling season with SFB and a small tour to Europe, where I danced some more, it was time for a break. I headed to the blazing hot state of Louisiana with a group from my church, Cornerstone, to work with Mercy Response in the effort to rebuild areas of New Orleans damaged by Hurricane Katrina.

I was part of a team helping Wally, a life-long New Orleans resident, whose house was destroyed during the hurricane. We spent our time there building him a new house.

I'm second from the left in the front row

Here I am riding in “Betsy” the boom lift.

Cutting panels of soffit (facia), the ceiling-like area that connects the siding of a house to the roofline, was one of the skills I developed in NOLA.

Working on scaffolding! Yikes!

Shortly before we left, we took this snapshot with Wally (blue overalls) in front of his new home. When I arrived in New Orleans I did not know what to expect but I left feeling grateful for the experience.

Tags: Frances Chung, summer vacation