The holiday season has begun. From Shanghai, the shopping hit a massive high on 11-11-12 which in Asia is singles day, and the biggest online retailer "taobao" did billions in sales that day. 

As an antidote to some of the consumerism we are constantly bombarded with I am giving you the link to my friend Anna's website for cooking healthy Chinese food. She, as many, are aware, that there is a lot of oil used in common Chinese fried wok foods and she is working hard to help people learn better, more healthful ways of cooking. When dad was fighting his cancer I turned to her site for inspiration. It turns out we live in the same district of Shanghai so we got together a few weeks back and ate with some friends at a vegetarian restaurant.  

On a personal note, I was fortunate to enjoy some roast turkey in my school's cafeteria as well as at a friend's home during the evening. The dinner party was fun, with 3 Germans, 2 Dutch and I; it was the Dutch's first such "American Thanksgiving" so we talked about things we are thankful for. Another friend is organizing a potluck for tonight - more good fun with friends and food. Am currently working on Dvorak Piano Quintet op. 81 and will rehearse it today. We are aiming for a January performance. 

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