suzhou

A few weeks ago, Joe's friend from school named Eugene invited me to accompany him and his friends Angel and Jade to Suzhou to visit I.M. Pei's new museum. I met them in the morning at Angel's apartment, met her family and her adorable son Aiden, who according to his mother speaks Aidenese, his own dialect of English, Mandarin and maybe a little Shanghaihua thrown in there too. I was really impressed and wanted him to tutor me/steal his flash cards so that I could learn my fruits and veggies...but I didn't because he was 3 and it's not nice to steal from babies, even in China. We drove to Suzhou...went to the IM Pei museum first. The street lamps in Suzhou are amazing by the way. The museum was incredible. A look at what I think may be a foundation of Chinese aesthetic, in its most pure form. Stripped down to its core, with nothing to embelish or distract. The space captures a feeling. A very refreshing sentiment compared to an overwhelming Shanghai. Then we went accross the street for noodles. They laughed at me because I ate very slowly. Then we went to a Humble Administrator's garden and according to Eugene he must not have been very humble.