自我出生以来，爸爸和兄弟们从没有一起旅游过。叔叔伯伯们为国家，也为自己的小家在祖国的各个角落忙奉献，忙事业，今年在西安，明年在深圳，后年又跑到武汉。每年也就中秋和春节在爷爷奶奶家聚餐，聊家常。这些年，大家陆陆续续退休了，儿女也自立了，不用拼老命做事情了，于是哥儿四个规划了下江南，在上海附近旅游的十天行程。四十年过去，终于能一起享乐一番。

Eight o'clock on Sunday night, the phone rang, "Hi this is Sammie, I have a Yamaha piano. The B has been stuck since last week. It is very urgent. Can you come to fix it?"

Picture randomly found online from:
https://pixels.com/featured/marino-cane-corso-james-bateman.html

Barry was our customer's doggie, the size of a baby bear. She was my tuning maid once every 6 months, very patient listener, piano technician's tool inspector, and baby wipe muncher. 

The first time I came to the house, Barry greeted me with a very loud and powerful first floor run around. It took him quite a while to calm down. I was worried that he would howl during the piano tuning like lots of doggies. Nope, he was a gentleman, very well-mannered, only to try to fall asleep under the piano, right under the soundboard where it was the loudest. When the tuning went to the bass section, it could be too loud that he would silently walk himself to his doggie bed or just behind the piano bench and keep sleeping right there, spread all out like a puddle. 

Families in China are generally huge. Relationship between family members are close. There is an unconditional love connecting us however far we are, physically, away from each other. 

Xinfadi Food Wholesale Market is one of the biggest in Northeast, China. It provides ingredients to restaurants, smaller markets, stores, retailers, etc. The website in Chinese Mandarin is here, you can check food price on this website. Each type of food, i.e. vegetable, meat, seafood/freshwater food, spice, etc. has its own hall at a size of a basketball stadium. 

Years ago, I adopted my first cat in life from Cape Ann Animal Aid. Her name was Lily, a strong willed stray who didn't like being around any feline. She taught me how to catch a mouse, how not to give up our own personality, how to be resilient,  how to deal with any unwanted surprises, how to..., and how to live. Because of her, I started volunteer at Cape Ann Animal Aid. 

The original recipe is from Lori at My Quiet Kitchen. She uses oatmeal to thicken the batter. What a discovery! We don't have any grinder nor ice cream maker at home. Elbow grease is applied during this first time ice cream adventure.