Whenever we get the chance to post photos we can. . . so here are a few from Emily and Kim's visit. We searched out the Jesuit church, St. Ignatius in Shanghai. After seeing so many temples we were excited to see a church! Scroll all the way down. Enjoy!
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Shanghai!
This is the BUND area, look at all the tall buildings. The Grand Hyatt is the highest hotel in the world, just next to the Pearl Tower. We went to the top for drinks at "Cloud 9", wow, it was really high up!
Let the Countdown Begin
All over Beijing you see these countdown signs for the Olympics which will begin on August 8th, 2008 (8.8.2008). This is so appropriate for China as the number 8 is a very lucky number in Chinese culture.
My Birthday Dinner
This was my birthday dinner at a great Thai restaurant (my new favorite kind of food!) called "Serve the People" it was a great meal with even better company!
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Bye Bye Beijing. . .
We have so much to post, sorry for the delay but we were having a hard time accessing our blog, it is hit or miss here. Emily and Kim Dasher arrived on my birthday (Saturday) we were so excited to see them, show them our apartment, and play tour guides. We celebrated my birthday with a Thai dinner with Kim, Emily, Ryan (of course), Jimmy and Cecelia. It was a great way to celebrate, thanks for all the birthday wishes!!! The next day we had a marathon of a day but it was great. We started out at the Summer Palace, it was Sunday so it was filled with locals which was so wonderful to see. We kept telling Kim and Emily that they brought the good weather as all of a sudden it became Spring in Beijing. The flowers were blooming (Cherry Blossoms all over), the sky was blue and the sun was out! Amazing!!! Then we went to Tienanmen Square and the Forbidden City. We walked all over and even took a rick shaw tour through the Hutongs of Beijing. The Hutongs are the old neighborhoods that are now being torn down to build high rise apartment buildings for the locals. The Hutongs that still exist have become a tourist attraction as it seems very authentic to get lost in these alley ways where Chinese life seems to be standing still among all the change outside the walls of the Hutong. Our tour guide spoke very little English, I mean very little and he tended to get very animated when attempting to describe something to us. We enjoyed a snack and adult beverage at Ho Hai, a great area in the back lakes of the Forbidden City. Then we took Kim and Emily to the Peninsula for Peking Duck dinner! It was a full day! We sent them on a Great Wall tour the next day which they truly enjoyed and then met up to go to the silk market (insert Ryan's comment: Let's just say the vendors were happy to see us arrive...it seems this was payback for my buddies' visit, since all talk of sports and beer were off the table and it was PRADA and GUCCI that was being thrown around!]. They left for Xian the next day and Ryan and I enjoyed two more days in Beijing. We had one last dinner with Jimmy and Cecelia and gave them a San Francisco coffee table book to entice them to come visit us so Ryan and I can play host to them as they so generously did for us in Beijing. [insert Ryan's comment: at Julie's suggestion, we visited the school I boarded at 3 years ago. It was fun to see and it looked as if nothing had changed. I suggested to Julie that we eat at the local restaurant outside the front gate and she looked at me, incredulously, and replied, "you mean the same place you told me you would eat at and immediately come down with a strain of food poisoning?" Needless to say, we decided to eat elsewhere.]
Ryan and I arrived this morning in Shanghai via the night train from Beijing. We enjoyed our time in Beijing as it gave us the time to reflect on our trip thus far, to feel like locals (mastering the subway and the supermarket!) and to better understand the past, present and future development of Beijing. We are excited to meet up with Emily and Kim today (they fly in from Xian today!)we are off to explore Shanghai!
Ryan and I arrived this morning in Shanghai via the night train from Beijing. We enjoyed our time in Beijing as it gave us the time to reflect on our trip thus far, to feel like locals (mastering the subway and the supermarket!) and to better understand the past, present and future development of Beijing. We are excited to meet up with Emily and Kim today (they fly in from Xian today!)we are off to explore Shanghai!
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Top of the Great Wall
Ok, we know we've been behind in posting photos so scroll down and enjoy some pics of our time thus far in China. . . here we are at the Great Wall, Badaling section about an hour outside of Beijing. It was a long steep walk up but so worth it. Enjoy the pics!!!
Friday, March 16, 2007
Peking Duck
Happy St. Patrick's Day! We headed to the only Irish Pub in Beijing, Durty Nellie's (no misspelling there, that's the way they spell it!) and enjoyed some pints of beer and some traditional pub grub. We met a few other Americans there, 1 who works construction for the new American Embassy (the new Embassy will be 10 acres, the largest in the world) and a couple from Kentucky who are here for 5 months teaching English. We enjoyed talking with other travelers and had a good night, Ryan even got a t-shirt!
Friday, we took a tour to the Great Wall. Julie and I had both seen the Great Wall separately on our last trip to China, so we sort of new what we would see...a really long wall. As with everything on this trip of ours, nothing ceases to amaze and the Great Wall is no exception. We had forgotten the feeling of seeing the Great Wall extending over hills and mountains for as far as the eye can see...it is a truly amazing sight. We climbed two towers of the Great Wall, as our tour guide waited at the bottom of the stairs for us, and you come to have a greater appreciation for those that built this monstrosity. It is exhausting to climb a few hundred yards of the Great Wall in the 21st century, let alone build the Great Wall extending about 6200 miles, centuries ago without the marvels of modern construction (yes, some for the Great Wall was built in pieces or connected already existing portions of walls in each province, but even so, it is truly amazing!)
After our Great Wall trip, our guide, Rose, took us to a lunch spot - typical tour lunch, with our expectations quite low; however we were pleasantly surprised when we tasted our meal. Our tour included one other traveler who was from Mexico City, he was here on business (parking equipment supplier) but had been to China 21 years ago. We really enjoyed talking with him about his business, Mexico and what China was like 21 years ago compared to present day. By the way, we thought Beijing was a huge city with 14+ million people but he told us that Mexico City has 21 million people!!! After the tour was over, we headed to the Hyatt for afternoon coffee and people-watching. (although one cup of coffee at the Hyatt is more than our 3 taxicab rides put together!)
We later met with our friends Jimmy and Cecelia for dinner at the Peninsula Hotel. We enjoy their company as Ryan and Jimmy tend to talk about the differences in Chinese v. American law and Cecilia and I enjoy talking about the hospitality industry. Beijing is certainly changing in order to prepare for the Olympics (that's another blog entry in itself!) as confirmed by Cecelia. It was a Peking Duck dinner (I even tried it, so much for being a devout vegetarian!), one of the best we've had in China. . . everything we ate was absolutely delicious!
We're off to explore today, heading to Xian tomorrow!
Friday, we took a tour to the Great Wall. Julie and I had both seen the Great Wall separately on our last trip to China, so we sort of new what we would see...a really long wall. As with everything on this trip of ours, nothing ceases to amaze and the Great Wall is no exception. We had forgotten the feeling of seeing the Great Wall extending over hills and mountains for as far as the eye can see...it is a truly amazing sight. We climbed two towers of the Great Wall, as our tour guide waited at the bottom of the stairs for us, and you come to have a greater appreciation for those that built this monstrosity. It is exhausting to climb a few hundred yards of the Great Wall in the 21st century, let alone build the Great Wall extending about 6200 miles, centuries ago without the marvels of modern construction (yes, some for the Great Wall was built in pieces or connected already existing portions of walls in each province, but even so, it is truly amazing!)
After our Great Wall trip, our guide, Rose, took us to a lunch spot - typical tour lunch, with our expectations quite low; however we were pleasantly surprised when we tasted our meal. Our tour included one other traveler who was from Mexico City, he was here on business (parking equipment supplier) but had been to China 21 years ago. We really enjoyed talking with him about his business, Mexico and what China was like 21 years ago compared to present day. By the way, we thought Beijing was a huge city with 14+ million people but he told us that Mexico City has 21 million people!!! After the tour was over, we headed to the Hyatt for afternoon coffee and people-watching. (although one cup of coffee at the Hyatt is more than our 3 taxicab rides put together!)
We later met with our friends Jimmy and Cecelia for dinner at the Peninsula Hotel. We enjoy their company as Ryan and Jimmy tend to talk about the differences in Chinese v. American law and Cecilia and I enjoy talking about the hospitality industry. Beijing is certainly changing in order to prepare for the Olympics (that's another blog entry in itself!) as confirmed by Cecelia. It was a Peking Duck dinner (I even tried it, so much for being a devout vegetarian!), one of the best we've had in China. . . everything we ate was absolutely delicious!
We're off to explore today, heading to Xian tomorrow!
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
A Walled City
Well, we are both feeling better. . . yes, that's right both of us. We seem to do everything together on this trip so, I guess that means getting sick too! Ryan got the flu the day after I had fully recovered so we were down and out for a few days but we've turned it around and are doing much better (thanks for all the emails!). No more "American Choppers" for me (ok that was a weak moment!) I've actually become more of a News junkie. Yes that's right!(I can hear my sisters giggling now!) with CNN and BBC, as 2 of the 5 English Channels we have, we watch a lot of news. [insert Ryan's comment: we also have ESPN! But how disheartening to find out that it was ESPN ASIA which features soccer, and only soccer, 24 hours a day].
Exploring Beijing, we've notice more and more that there is constant construction. The street blocks in Beijing are about twice or maybe three times as wide as those in San Francisco. There is no such thing as, "just a few blocks walk", every block is about 1/2 a mile in length. I feel that we have comfortably mastered the Beijing Subway and enjoy using it, especially around rush hour, when going 1.5 miles can take about 45 minutes in a car, i.e., one day we took a long walk around the Back Lakes of the Forbidden City and then decided to take a taxi home, the taxi was $3 but it took 45 minutes because the traffic was so bad.
We have both been reading books about China. I am reading "China Wakes" and Ryan is reading "The Writing on the Wall", which allows us to learn more about China's past and it's future potential. These books have also helped opened our eyes to see things differently. For instance, when we're in the taxi on our way to any destination we see these huge walls on the roadside. It's almost as if they don't want you to see what is behind it. Every now and then, we catch a glimpse and it's an old run down neighborhood. We read that often times instead of fixing the problem, they put a wall or just paint over it. Unfortunately, we feel that this makes it difficult to SEE so much of the authentic Beijing neighborhoods and it's difficult to find your destination. We see Western companies, hotels, and buildings and then right next door you see an ancient ruin or the Forbidden City. . . it's an amazing juxtaposition of architecture and history.
Today, we had our second Mandarin language class with our teacher "Jade". She is very kind and is a great teacher. Our friend, Cecelia who works at the Peninsula Hotel referred her to us, she teaches many of their guests. She comes over to our apartment for 1 hour sessions. We did 2 this week and we'll probably do at least 2 more next week. I can count to 10!!! Genius, however, has had more Mandarin and has a fantastic ear for the four tones. He is very good and loves to learn more. .. we are having fun with the language classes. Ryan take every opportunity to practice, including trying to talk to every taxi driver, I enjoy sitting in the back seat and just listening to the communication!
Tomorrow we are off on a day tour to see the Great Wall. . . together!
Exploring Beijing, we've notice more and more that there is constant construction. The street blocks in Beijing are about twice or maybe three times as wide as those in San Francisco. There is no such thing as, "just a few blocks walk", every block is about 1/2 a mile in length. I feel that we have comfortably mastered the Beijing Subway and enjoy using it, especially around rush hour, when going 1.5 miles can take about 45 minutes in a car, i.e., one day we took a long walk around the Back Lakes of the Forbidden City and then decided to take a taxi home, the taxi was $3 but it took 45 minutes because the traffic was so bad.
We have both been reading books about China. I am reading "China Wakes" and Ryan is reading "The Writing on the Wall", which allows us to learn more about China's past and it's future potential. These books have also helped opened our eyes to see things differently. For instance, when we're in the taxi on our way to any destination we see these huge walls on the roadside. It's almost as if they don't want you to see what is behind it. Every now and then, we catch a glimpse and it's an old run down neighborhood. We read that often times instead of fixing the problem, they put a wall or just paint over it. Unfortunately, we feel that this makes it difficult to SEE so much of the authentic Beijing neighborhoods and it's difficult to find your destination. We see Western companies, hotels, and buildings and then right next door you see an ancient ruin or the Forbidden City. . . it's an amazing juxtaposition of architecture and history.
Today, we had our second Mandarin language class with our teacher "Jade". She is very kind and is a great teacher. Our friend, Cecelia who works at the Peninsula Hotel referred her to us, she teaches many of their guests. She comes over to our apartment for 1 hour sessions. We did 2 this week and we'll probably do at least 2 more next week. I can count to 10!!! Genius, however, has had more Mandarin and has a fantastic ear for the four tones. He is very good and loves to learn more. .. we are having fun with the language classes. Ryan take every opportunity to practice, including trying to talk to every taxi driver, I enjoy sitting in the back seat and just listening to the communication!
Tomorrow we are off on a day tour to see the Great Wall. . . together!
Thursday, March 8, 2007
China Speaks
We have been enjoying the comforts of our apartment the last few days as Julie is recovering from a bout of food poisoning and male nurse Ryan is making sure she gets enough sleep, food and drink.
Therefore, it seemed like a great time to check out the new DVD Player management provided us. I ran down to the store and bought a couple of DVDs...for 3 dollars. I bought CRASH and PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN. We both thought the movie was great and provided a lot of food for thought. The following day, with Julie still feeling a bit ill, I turned on PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN. The first half of the movie looked promising, although I never got to the second half because the DVD Player broke down. So, I did the prudent thing (or what I thought was the prudent thing) and called management to see if I could get some help. After speaking with management in broken English/Chinese, essentially yelling "DVD BROKEN" into the telephone, the repairman, SONG, came knocking on our door. SONG is a very nice, middle-aged, repairman, who speaks ZERO English. I tried and tried to communicate to him that the DVD was skipping and was not working properly (although it had worked hours earlier). He realized the obvious language barrier and called for assistance. I thought to myself, "Great, now he is calling for someone who speaks English and with whom I can communicate." The doorbell rings 2 minutes later and in walks "VINEY" (I believe his name was VINNEY, but his name tag said VINEY). Anyway, VINEY did not speak English either and he was just called in to help SONG with the DVD Player...about this time I noticed that SONG had been using the TV Remote and not been fixing the DVD Player, but trying to figure out if something was wrong with the TV. It was clear I had not effectively communicated my problem, so I said "Not TV, but DVD is broken", thinking to myself that statement would solve the problem! SONG and VINEY then radioed in for further assistance and moments later ERIKA walked in the door. Her English was limited, but she knew more than VINEY and SONG. So I explained that the DVD Player was broken and inquired as to whether I could get another one. After which, all was sorted out. So, about 60 minutes, 3 workers and 1 DVD Player later, we had worked out that we would get a new DVD Player. Very funny indeed, but simple interactions such as these, are a constant reminder to Julie and I that we are in a country of 1 billion+ people and (unlike other countries we have visited) English is not a major concern or priority, since tourism is not a number one business in this country. Certainly, business folk have a better understanding of the English language and are interested in learning, but coming from a place like Thailand or Cambodia, where it seemed everyone spoke some English, it takes some time to get accustomed to it.
Oh, another first for us...I come home from the gym yesterday (no, that isn't the first) and Julie is sitting on the couch watching 'AMERICAN CHOPPERS.' Yes, this is the show where father and son build Harley-Davidson motorcycles and it overflows with testosterone...I asked Julie if she had ever seen this show and she said, "No, but it looked interesting." I immediately took Julie's temperature as I thought perhaps she had relapsed and her fever returned because this was certainly out of the ordinary. Fortunately, she was fine and it seems she has found a new show...move over Oprah! Anyway, Julie is much better today and we will go to dinner with Jimmy and Cecilia tonight. Jimmy told us to meet him at 'bao li da sha' - we have no idea what that means, so we are crossing our fingers our taxi driver understands!
Therefore, it seemed like a great time to check out the new DVD Player management provided us. I ran down to the store and bought a couple of DVDs...for 3 dollars. I bought CRASH and PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN. We both thought the movie was great and provided a lot of food for thought. The following day, with Julie still feeling a bit ill, I turned on PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN. The first half of the movie looked promising, although I never got to the second half because the DVD Player broke down. So, I did the prudent thing (or what I thought was the prudent thing) and called management to see if I could get some help. After speaking with management in broken English/Chinese, essentially yelling "DVD BROKEN" into the telephone, the repairman, SONG, came knocking on our door. SONG is a very nice, middle-aged, repairman, who speaks ZERO English. I tried and tried to communicate to him that the DVD was skipping and was not working properly (although it had worked hours earlier). He realized the obvious language barrier and called for assistance. I thought to myself, "Great, now he is calling for someone who speaks English and with whom I can communicate." The doorbell rings 2 minutes later and in walks "VINEY" (I believe his name was VINNEY, but his name tag said VINEY). Anyway, VINEY did not speak English either and he was just called in to help SONG with the DVD Player...about this time I noticed that SONG had been using the TV Remote and not been fixing the DVD Player, but trying to figure out if something was wrong with the TV. It was clear I had not effectively communicated my problem, so I said "Not TV, but DVD is broken", thinking to myself that statement would solve the problem! SONG and VINEY then radioed in for further assistance and moments later ERIKA walked in the door. Her English was limited, but she knew more than VINEY and SONG. So I explained that the DVD Player was broken and inquired as to whether I could get another one. After which, all was sorted out. So, about 60 minutes, 3 workers and 1 DVD Player later, we had worked out that we would get a new DVD Player. Very funny indeed, but simple interactions such as these, are a constant reminder to Julie and I that we are in a country of 1 billion+ people and (unlike other countries we have visited) English is not a major concern or priority, since tourism is not a number one business in this country. Certainly, business folk have a better understanding of the English language and are interested in learning, but coming from a place like Thailand or Cambodia, where it seemed everyone spoke some English, it takes some time to get accustomed to it.
Oh, another first for us...I come home from the gym yesterday (no, that isn't the first) and Julie is sitting on the couch watching 'AMERICAN CHOPPERS.' Yes, this is the show where father and son build Harley-Davidson motorcycles and it overflows with testosterone...I asked Julie if she had ever seen this show and she said, "No, but it looked interesting." I immediately took Julie's temperature as I thought perhaps she had relapsed and her fever returned because this was certainly out of the ordinary. Fortunately, she was fine and it seems she has found a new show...move over Oprah! Anyway, Julie is much better today and we will go to dinner with Jimmy and Cecilia tonight. Jimmy told us to meet him at 'bao li da sha' - we have no idea what that means, so we are crossing our fingers our taxi driver understands!
Monday, March 5, 2007
Chilly China
We arrived on Friday night to Beijing, we were excited and nervous to see the 'apartment' that we had rented prior to our arrival. We found this apartment through one of Ryan's colleagues that he met at the Law firm he worked at during his time in Beijing two years ago. However, we really didn't know what it looked like, where it was, or if we would like it. The taxi cab promptly dropped us off at an apartment, the doorman took our bags and then Ryan showed him the Chinese name of our apartment. . . he quickly frowned and shook his head "no". I thought, oh no, we've been dropped off at the wrong place, it's 9:00 at night and no one speaks English, how are we going to get to the right apartment? Well, the good news is that we were just around the corner so the doorman helped us with our bags and walked us to the correct apartment building. We thanked him and walked into the lobby. We got the key and found our way to the 10th floor and walked into our apartment. It's perfect, it has a small kitchen, a nice size living room and bedroom, a bathroom with great water pressure and hot water (after a couple of months of traveling we've learned to check these simple things!) and a washing machine!!! We were very surprised and excited. We were not in the apartment more than 10 minutes when the phone rang, sure enough it was Ryan's colleague, Jimmy, and his girlfriend, Cecelia who were downstairs. We welcomed them up to our apartment and enjoyed talking to them for a couple of hours. They filled us in on the 'happenings' of Beijing and all that we should do and see in China (Jimmy is a former tour guide and Cecelia works at the Pennisula Hotel). They were so helpful and welcoming that we went to bed with a great feeling that night.
The next day, we awoke to snow on the ground, in absolute shock, I said "Ry I think that's snow!", as I looked out the window. What a stark contrast from the heat and humidity of Bangkok! We bundled up with whatever long sleeves and long pants we could find, retired the flip flops we've been in for 2 months, and set out to explore. It didn't take long before we were in the next department store buying puffy long coats to keep warm.
Today we attempted to go to the Forbidden City but after about 10 minutes outside we were so cold we couldn't even walk. We found a noodle shop for lunch to warm up. We had to buy a few more things to keep us warm. . . gloves, scarves and hats should do the trick. Ryan's mandarin has come back to him remarkably well and he helps get us around. . . now if I could only learn a little then we will be in good shape! We are working on our travel plans for China as there is so much to see and do here. . . we'll keep you posted!
The next day, we awoke to snow on the ground, in absolute shock, I said "Ry I think that's snow!", as I looked out the window. What a stark contrast from the heat and humidity of Bangkok! We bundled up with whatever long sleeves and long pants we could find, retired the flip flops we've been in for 2 months, and set out to explore. It didn't take long before we were in the next department store buying puffy long coats to keep warm.
Today we attempted to go to the Forbidden City but after about 10 minutes outside we were so cold we couldn't even walk. We found a noodle shop for lunch to warm up. We had to buy a few more things to keep us warm. . . gloves, scarves and hats should do the trick. Ryan's mandarin has come back to him remarkably well and he helps get us around. . . now if I could only learn a little then we will be in good shape! We are working on our travel plans for China as there is so much to see and do here. . . we'll keep you posted!
Saturday, March 3, 2007
Bustling Bangkok
Can you tell how hot we are??? It's about 90 degrees with 80% humidity. . . Ryan had to 'borrow' long pants to go into the Grand Palace hence his blue pajama bottoms! We arrived in Bangkok, found our guest house ($10 a night) and then set out to see the city. We took a water taxi down the river and saw many of the high end hotels, then we took the metro to a shopping center and got lost in a good book store. It was quite a relief to walk into the air conditioned mall that we spent some good time walking around, they even had a movie theatre with movies in English, tempting, but we decided to check out the night market instead. We went to the night market which was huge, it had a beer garden, live band, and every kind of Thai food imaginable. . . plus your usual trinkets, silks, fake purses etc. The next day we set out early to see the Grand Palace and the Wat Po. After two people stopped us on the street to tell us we couldn't go into the Grand Palace with shorts we were close to aborting the mission but then realized that Ryan could just 'rent pants' to see the Grand Palace, so we pressed on in the heat! The Grand Palace was amazing, so beautiful and full of so much history. This is a photo of us just outside the gates. We did the audio tour which always gives you more information than they have printed anywhere. After the Grand Palace we walked to the Wat Po to see the reclining Buddha. . . it was amazing. We took some great photos and stood in awe for awhile. We also put coins (20 baht) into the 180 pots that surround the reclining Buddha for "good luck".
We returned to our guesthouse in hopes of meeting up with our friends from Travel to Teach who were passing through Bangkok. We found them there and enjoying hearing all that went on in Nong Khai after we left. . . The Belgiums (Lotte and Katrijin) are off to Bali and Joyce and Prig (Joyce is from the Netherlands and works for Travel to Teach and Prig is a University student in Nong Khai) are off to Cambodia so we shared travel stories over a few Tiger beers and enjoyed each other's company.
Thailand is a wonderful country, so welcoming and warm to travelers. We truly enjoyed our experience and our travels through out this country. We loved seeing so much of it, from Udon Thani, Nong Khai, Chiang Mai, Surat Thani, Ko Samui, Ko Phangnan to Bangkok it is really an amazing country and one worth visiting!
We're off to Beijing!
We returned to our guesthouse in hopes of meeting up with our friends from Travel to Teach who were passing through Bangkok. We found them there and enjoying hearing all that went on in Nong Khai after we left. . . The Belgiums (Lotte and Katrijin) are off to Bali and Joyce and Prig (Joyce is from the Netherlands and works for Travel to Teach and Prig is a University student in Nong Khai) are off to Cambodia so we shared travel stories over a few Tiger beers and enjoyed each other's company.
Thailand is a wonderful country, so welcoming and warm to travelers. We truly enjoyed our experience and our travels through out this country. We loved seeing so much of it, from Udon Thani, Nong Khai, Chiang Mai, Surat Thani, Ko Samui, Ko Phangnan to Bangkok it is really an amazing country and one worth visiting!
We're off to Beijing!
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