Birthtown, baby!

i saw my grandmother for the first time in two years -- since then she's had a couple strokes, lost the ability to walk, then speak, and is completely different from when i last saw her. i was quite moved when her nurse told me this was the first time she had smiled in days.

that's my grandfather on the left, my mom, my grandmother, and of course myself.


my uncle's (my mom's older brother) a big spender. he bought this soup consisting of leg bones, i dont even know which meat. you get a plastic glove and a straw and you're supposed to drink the "juice" from the bones. he enjoyed it. i did not.
this is the 150 yuan plate of snails he bought, mainly for the shells. no one ate the snails.