KOH CHANG, THAILAND
after traveling 11 hours by car+bus+ferry+songthau (thailand's taxi, sitting in the back of a pick-up truck), we finally arrived on the island of koh chang- elephant island. it's a hippi jungle out there. we found a bamboo bungalow, upgraded with cockroaches and mosquitos and no running water. all 4 of us squeezed on a double bed under a mosquito net... and found a new bungalow first thing the next morning, which wasn't much better. we roughed it!
the island is an untouched paradise (for now at least, as the primitive bunaglows are being torn down and turned into five-star resorts), with jungle next to tropical beaches. we bronzed and explored- kayaked against the current to another island, had massages on the beach at sunset, hiked to the little fishing village of Bang Bao for a fresh seafood dinner and ate and drank at the little restaurants on bamboo stilts over the shore to bob marley and fire shows. we're thankful that we came back with only a few mosquito bites, and not a venomous snake bite like matt last month...
CAMBODIA
we're on a tour through cambodia right now with 12 other people from around the world... Australia, NZ, Norway, Sweden and England. it's a fun group, but it's been a rough trip... with not knowing if/when we'll be able to come home and traveling through a third world country, one with the most infrastructure and poverty we've experienced. Cambodia is coming out of their genocide and are desperate to rebuild themselves and their country. they send their malnourished children and elderly to hassle us everywhere until we give them money or buy something. so, since we don't give in, they don't leave our side and grab onto us. it's sometimes hard to show love when we should. the smells and sanitation are below beijing standards and it's difficult to deal with... like not even showering or entering the bathroom in our hotel room because it smells so foul.
on a positive note... we have seen some amazing things too! one in particular- Angkor Wat, the 8th world wonder in Siem Reap. the miles of buddhist temples of delapitated sandstone architecture from the 12th century was a sight to see. it was left uncared for and nature took over with huge trees and vines growing through all parts of the temples, still there today. we saw "Angelina Jolie's Temple" where Tomb Raider where she filmed Tomb Raider- yes, she's part of their world wonder. for Thanksgiving, we ate at a local's home on the bamboo floor. it was a smorgasboard just like you'd have at home... except for with tarantualas in place of turkey! interesting. we got to experience the everyday life at a homestay in the mountains... and since we woke up to rats crawling around every few minutes, we decided to get up at 5am and hike up up to the waterfall for sunrise. it was worth it.
today we went to the killing fields and s-21 prison in Phnom Penh from the Khmer Rouge genocide during the 70's. up until today, we've had nightly storytime with First They Killed My Father, memiors from a woman who lived through the genocide at age 5. it gave us history, real accounts and tears from the events and wondered why we never learned about it before. the "reasonings"and torture are too similar to the Holocaust, with the difference that it was done to their own people, and has left us uneasy. at the same time, we now have more of an understanding of the current state of life in Cambodia, since it was only 30 years ago. our tour guide was a child during the time and told stories of his own starvation and accounts from others who he's met and are still alive today.
ONE LAST WEEK
tomorrow we're traveling 10 hours to ho chi minh city. we'll end our tour there and have it be just us 4 again for our last week in asia before we fly out of ho chi minh city on december 10 and skipping bangkok altogether, if all goes to plan. we're gonna get a nice hotel room (to make up for cambodia), visit the beaches and mekong river and do some christmas shopping. we're excited about vietnam, but SO excited to come home! thanks for your prayers, it's all working out. we'll post pictures soon.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Sunday, November 30, 2008
bangkok shmangkok
we're behind in our updates, as usual... but...
as for now, we're stuck in asia! because of the violent protests and demonstrations that began last week in bangkok, the airport has been taken over and shut down for the last week and possibly more. we're in cambodia right now on a tour and are supposed to fly back into bangkok and then home a few days later- now anymore. we're trying to figure out flights from ho chi minh city in vietnam now back to LA. no last pad thai and massage- darn. we sent a message to ellen asking her to help us poor american girls get home for christmas. we'll see what she says...
WE'RE SAFE, just trying to figure out a way to get home. please be praying for our travel plans. we'll update more when we're able to.
as for now, we're stuck in asia! because of the violent protests and demonstrations that began last week in bangkok, the airport has been taken over and shut down for the last week and possibly more. we're in cambodia right now on a tour and are supposed to fly back into bangkok and then home a few days later- now anymore. we're trying to figure out flights from ho chi minh city in vietnam now back to LA. no last pad thai and massage- darn. we sent a message to ellen asking her to help us poor american girls get home for christmas. we'll see what she says...
WE'RE SAFE, just trying to figure out a way to get home. please be praying for our travel plans. we'll update more when we're able to.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
bless your hearts
our twosome became a fivesome! matt callahan met up with us and rosalie and cristiana arrived safely in chiang mai! we never gave the girls a chance to recover from their jet lag, diving right into a full days of playing with baby tigers at tiger kingdom, chatting with monks, riding elephants and oxen carts, floating down rivers on bamboo rafts, walking around the city for 10 hours straight, becoming certified master thai chefs at a cooking school, renting motorbikes and riding up into the mountains to coffee plantations and the jungle, and the standard-massages and pad thai. but there was one reason that we decided to be in chiang mai for this particular week- for loy krathong, the full moon festival. it's the 4th of july of thailand, except for an entire week long. the country (predominantly Buddhist) celebrates by sending intricate flower-bamboo creations down the river and lighting huge lanterns into the sky, believing their sins to be wiped clean for the new year. it was the most amazing festival we've seen, aside from dodging the locals aiming firecrackers at us farangs (white people). it was the city that never slept, with loud explosions of fireworks, parades and concerts at every corner. the entire city was a huge party.
we took a 10 hour overnight bus to bangkok, being woken up every hour to the "bus attendants" offering us tea and coffee. "no, it's 2 in the morning". we then got attacked by every taxi driver on our exit. welcome to bangkok. we finally made our way to the johnsons, a missionary family from alabama who took matt in after his snakebite and now took all of us girls in too. they were wonderful and hilarious, with their southern accents (bless your hearts) and hospitality. homemade pizza, sweet tea and brownies- american food again. their two high school daughters sacrificed their room for us and introduced us to a book that we all became obsessed over and each got our own copies. we'll keep the title confiential. we spent our days in bangkok trying to not get lost in the 8 megamalls- the nicest malls we've ever seen- and taking longtail boats down the river by the palace of the king they LOVE. that's bangkok.
we took a 10 hour overnight bus to bangkok, being woken up every hour to the "bus attendants" offering us tea and coffee. "no, it's 2 in the morning". we then got attacked by every taxi driver on our exit. welcome to bangkok. we finally made our way to the johnsons, a missionary family from alabama who took matt in after his snakebite and now took all of us girls in too. they were wonderful and hilarious, with their southern accents (bless your hearts) and hospitality. homemade pizza, sweet tea and brownies- american food again. their two high school daughters sacrificed their room for us and introduced us to a book that we all became obsessed over and each got our own copies. we'll keep the title confiential. we spent our days in bangkok trying to not get lost in the 8 megamalls- the nicest malls we've ever seen- and taking longtail boats down the river by the palace of the king they LOVE. that's bangkok.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
joon and jane
PHUKET, THAILAND
the night flight from KL to phuket was quite the experience... with turbulance, lights flickering and severe lightning storms outside our window. and surprisingly no puking. but it was all worth it once we arrived at the villanueva's timeshare with our suite and balcony overlooking the tropical beach and islands. we celebrated our honeymoon with crepes, a glass of wine and "sex and the city". our week in phuket flew by. most days we rode around in tuk-tuks, drank coconuts on the beach, ate our way through the streets and got caught in the tourist trap of vendors asking "you beautiful- you hungry? want tuk-tuk? massage?". nicole got harrassed with "are you thai people? you sexy."- while brittany with "you know who you are? angelina jolie!". we grew to love the harmless sweet-talking thai men, who in the end only wanted us to buy their cheap knock-offs. we found a favorite street eats lady the first day and returned to her throughout the week. thai food is by far the best food we've had in asia so far, and it's definitely keeping us regular. we'll return home putting chili peppers on our bland American food. other days, we took day trips to the islands. on our day trips, we got pelted with rain in our bathing suits as we took a high-speed boat across the ocean to the phi phi islands, played with monkeys on monkey island, visited James Bond on his island that Tomorrow Never Dies was filmed, canoed through bat caves and around islands, made friends with the fun crew on board and even experienced a mock ladyboy show. the crew dressed up as ladyboys and danced with all of the men (and us) to "barbie girl" and the vengaboys... they were almost too good. we laughed so hard our stomachs hurt. we had a Thai halloween at the "FantaSea" show with elephants, acrobats and thai performances... followed by Singha on the beach.
phuket marked our halfway point, where we reminisced and also anticipated the second half of our trip. we expect it to be a different experience than the first half, traveling around third-world countries with a hopefully more authentic and less-touristy feel. we also got to skype friends and family, which was wonderful and needed. we had a great honeymoon on the island.
MAETANG, THAILAND
while laying out on beaches and island hopping was great, we were ready to do something a little more worthwhile. so why not hang out with Thai kids and teach English? after a long night of two flights and sleeping on the metal chairs at the Bangkok airport, we arrived in northern Thailand to be taken in by Belinda (she hosted a Loveworks team this summer at Maetang Tribal Children's Home), Peter and Leanne (an American couple volunteering for a year) and P'Nit (a sweet Thai lady who looks after the girls at the dorm). we went right from tourists to locals. while some children spoke great English and others not a word, they were all full of so much love that they made us feel like family the very first day. they were all just so happy to be with us and us with them, hugging us and holding our hands every second. they are all tribal children from northern Thailand who are sponsored from people around the world, giving them the opportunities of housing, a community and a good education. we taught English at the primary school one day and at the high school 3 days. when our teaching skills failed, we played hangman and pictionary... and all was good. we even picked up on some Thai enough to have basic conversations with kids, although we butchered the tones probably more times than we thought. on our breaks we hung out with the teachers, ate in the cafeteria, tried out a Thai dancing class and visited some of the kids we knew in their classrooms. back at the home, we played volleyball, jump rope, practiced Christmas carols for their caroling next month, had photoshoots and hung out with everyone at Belinda's house. we even got nicknames from our friend who we nicknamed joey- joon and jane. we celebrated Leanne's birthday with the Thai kids singing Happy Birthday (which made us laugh) and eating REAL american cake with frosting. we devoured that Betty Crocker.
on friday, the kids piled into the bed of a pickup truck and hung off the sides with their luggage as we cruised down the highway at 90mph... when in thailand. we were off to church camp- yes, all in Thai and without a translater. it was a great and exhausting weekend. two childrens homes and a YWAM team of people our age from all over the world came together at a camp in the middle of the quiet green mountains. we're still amazed by how much patience and diligence Thai children have. they wake up at 5:30am every morning and do activities for hours at a time without ceasing in enthusiasm for it. it was us Americans who found any excuse to take breaks... multiple ones. a respectable cultural difference. in just 3 days, we gained relationships with some campers and learned and experienced a lot about their cultural beliefs and spiritual warfare. a specific instance that occured on the last night is still challenging and stretching us- which is so unexpected and awesome. we ended it with an adults night out in Chiang Mai, cruising down the Sunday night walking street in anticipation for the upcoming Loy Krathong festivities... and the arrival of Rosalie and Cristiana in the morning!
MALAYSIA PICTURES
PHUKET,THAILAND PICTURES
the night flight from KL to phuket was quite the experience... with turbulance, lights flickering and severe lightning storms outside our window. and surprisingly no puking. but it was all worth it once we arrived at the villanueva's timeshare with our suite and balcony overlooking the tropical beach and islands. we celebrated our honeymoon with crepes, a glass of wine and "sex and the city". our week in phuket flew by. most days we rode around in tuk-tuks, drank coconuts on the beach, ate our way through the streets and got caught in the tourist trap of vendors asking "you beautiful- you hungry? want tuk-tuk? massage?". nicole got harrassed with "are you thai people? you sexy."- while brittany with "you know who you are? angelina jolie!". we grew to love the harmless sweet-talking thai men, who in the end only wanted us to buy their cheap knock-offs. we found a favorite street eats lady the first day and returned to her throughout the week. thai food is by far the best food we've had in asia so far, and it's definitely keeping us regular. we'll return home putting chili peppers on our bland American food. other days, we took day trips to the islands. on our day trips, we got pelted with rain in our bathing suits as we took a high-speed boat across the ocean to the phi phi islands, played with monkeys on monkey island, visited James Bond on his island that Tomorrow Never Dies was filmed, canoed through bat caves and around islands, made friends with the fun crew on board and even experienced a mock ladyboy show. the crew dressed up as ladyboys and danced with all of the men (and us) to "barbie girl" and the vengaboys... they were almost too good. we laughed so hard our stomachs hurt. we had a Thai halloween at the "FantaSea" show with elephants, acrobats and thai performances... followed by Singha on the beach.
phuket marked our halfway point, where we reminisced and also anticipated the second half of our trip. we expect it to be a different experience than the first half, traveling around third-world countries with a hopefully more authentic and less-touristy feel. we also got to skype friends and family, which was wonderful and needed. we had a great honeymoon on the island.
MAETANG, THAILAND
while laying out on beaches and island hopping was great, we were ready to do something a little more worthwhile. so why not hang out with Thai kids and teach English? after a long night of two flights and sleeping on the metal chairs at the Bangkok airport, we arrived in northern Thailand to be taken in by Belinda (she hosted a Loveworks team this summer at Maetang Tribal Children's Home), Peter and Leanne (an American couple volunteering for a year) and P'Nit (a sweet Thai lady who looks after the girls at the dorm). we went right from tourists to locals. while some children spoke great English and others not a word, they were all full of so much love that they made us feel like family the very first day. they were all just so happy to be with us and us with them, hugging us and holding our hands every second. they are all tribal children from northern Thailand who are sponsored from people around the world, giving them the opportunities of housing, a community and a good education. we taught English at the primary school one day and at the high school 3 days. when our teaching skills failed, we played hangman and pictionary... and all was good. we even picked up on some Thai enough to have basic conversations with kids, although we butchered the tones probably more times than we thought. on our breaks we hung out with the teachers, ate in the cafeteria, tried out a Thai dancing class and visited some of the kids we knew in their classrooms. back at the home, we played volleyball, jump rope, practiced Christmas carols for their caroling next month, had photoshoots and hung out with everyone at Belinda's house. we even got nicknames from our friend who we nicknamed joey- joon and jane. we celebrated Leanne's birthday with the Thai kids singing Happy Birthday (which made us laugh) and eating REAL american cake with frosting. we devoured that Betty Crocker.
on friday, the kids piled into the bed of a pickup truck and hung off the sides with their luggage as we cruised down the highway at 90mph... when in thailand. we were off to church camp- yes, all in Thai and without a translater. it was a great and exhausting weekend. two childrens homes and a YWAM team of people our age from all over the world came together at a camp in the middle of the quiet green mountains. we're still amazed by how much patience and diligence Thai children have. they wake up at 5:30am every morning and do activities for hours at a time without ceasing in enthusiasm for it. it was us Americans who found any excuse to take breaks... multiple ones. a respectable cultural difference. in just 3 days, we gained relationships with some campers and learned and experienced a lot about their cultural beliefs and spiritual warfare. a specific instance that occured on the last night is still challenging and stretching us- which is so unexpected and awesome. we ended it with an adults night out in Chiang Mai, cruising down the Sunday night walking street in anticipation for the upcoming Loy Krathong festivities... and the arrival of Rosalie and Cristiana in the morning!
MALAYSIA PICTURES
PHUKET,THAILAND PICTURES
Monday, November 3, 2008
jigga
jigga= our favorite chinese word.
SHENZHEN, CHINA:
as if we haven't been shown enough love on this trip, we were taken in once more by the andersons in shenzhen. james, bridget and hayley spoiled us with foot massages, homemade meals and REAL chocolate chip cookies.
nicole had a memorable 22nd birthday in china. following massages, hayley took us out to dinner at "the duck" for some kung pao chicken, tsing tao beer and toffee-coated sweet potatoes-- a chinese delicacy-- all with a wonderful view of dog legs and hooves hanging in the window. only in china. after getting our hair done, we hit the streets for some chinese nightlife of darts and dancing... and finished the night pounding fries at mcdonalds.
HONG KONG, CHINA:
hong kong. china meets san francisco, a melting pot of all cultures and religions in an exotic tropical setting. it's an island off the southeast coast of china and was apparently its own country under the UK until 10 years ago, which explains its diversity and how, besides Cantonese, English is the main language. it was refreshing to find clean streets that didn't smell and a clear sky. we took a ride on the longest escalator in the world throughout the city to find main streets of endless amounts of cafes and designer megastores-- and tiny alleyways filled with fresh markets and chinese street eats-- and gardens overlooking downtown. it only got better- we had a romantic dinner for two at an italian restaurant with a candleobera and a stunning view of the famous hong kong skyline.
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA:
welcome to the tropics. flying over what seemed to be a huge landscape of never-ending green we made our first stop in southeast asia. mano maniam an actor/poet/management professor introduced us the culture of little india- homemade roti (flat bread), indian pop music, and henna stands. since the petronas twin towers were the only "tourist attraction", the 6 story megamall became our home away from home (unfortunately). the friendly and helpful people were a pleasant change. and never have we seen a more diverse country. on the same street you can find a buddist temple across from a islamic mosque next to an orthodox church. with this, many of the women wore either a head wrap, a black full body wrap to only reveal their eyes, or basically nothing at all. and the random combination of nasi lamak (translation: rice fat) - coconut milk rice, peanuts, sliced cucumbers, dried anchovies, and spiced chicken - strangely was very tasty. from the looks of things, southeast asia was already a different culture that we were ready to discover.
CHINA PHOTO ALBUM LINK: CHINA
SHENZHEN, CHINA:
as if we haven't been shown enough love on this trip, we were taken in once more by the andersons in shenzhen. james, bridget and hayley spoiled us with foot massages, homemade meals and REAL chocolate chip cookies.
nicole had a memorable 22nd birthday in china. following massages, hayley took us out to dinner at "the duck" for some kung pao chicken, tsing tao beer and toffee-coated sweet potatoes-- a chinese delicacy-- all with a wonderful view of dog legs and hooves hanging in the window. only in china. after getting our hair done, we hit the streets for some chinese nightlife of darts and dancing... and finished the night pounding fries at mcdonalds.
HONG KONG, CHINA:
hong kong. china meets san francisco, a melting pot of all cultures and religions in an exotic tropical setting. it's an island off the southeast coast of china and was apparently its own country under the UK until 10 years ago, which explains its diversity and how, besides Cantonese, English is the main language. it was refreshing to find clean streets that didn't smell and a clear sky. we took a ride on the longest escalator in the world throughout the city to find main streets of endless amounts of cafes and designer megastores-- and tiny alleyways filled with fresh markets and chinese street eats-- and gardens overlooking downtown. it only got better- we had a romantic dinner for two at an italian restaurant with a candleobera and a stunning view of the famous hong kong skyline.
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA:
welcome to the tropics. flying over what seemed to be a huge landscape of never-ending green we made our first stop in southeast asia. mano maniam an actor/poet/management professor introduced us the culture of little india- homemade roti (flat bread), indian pop music, and henna stands. since the petronas twin towers were the only "tourist attraction", the 6 story megamall became our home away from home (unfortunately). the friendly and helpful people were a pleasant change. and never have we seen a more diverse country. on the same street you can find a buddist temple across from a islamic mosque next to an orthodox church. with this, many of the women wore either a head wrap, a black full body wrap to only reveal their eyes, or basically nothing at all. and the random combination of nasi lamak (translation: rice fat) - coconut milk rice, peanuts, sliced cucumbers, dried anchovies, and spiced chicken - strangely was very tasty. from the looks of things, southeast asia was already a different culture that we were ready to discover.
CHINA PHOTO ALBUM LINK: CHINA
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
made in china
china has come and gone, and now malaysia has too. our blog is suffering. promise we'll be up to date by the end of the week!
XI'AN
who would have thought that a little city surrounded by walls would hold the most spectacular thing either of us have ever seen, the terracotta warriors (or as our tour guide pronounced them, "orriors"). a farmer stumbled upon them in 1974, come to find that they date back to 210BC! over 9,000 life-like and life-size soldiers, chariots and horses are believed to be buried in the pits- all to guard the soul of the first Qin emperor of China. everyone involved in the project was buried alive to keep the secret. it worked! pretty amazing. we finished the trip by riding bikes along the city walls with tunes blasting from the ipod. americans.
CHENGDU
we survived a 16 hour train ride in our hard sleeper (translation: squished like sardines in used sheets with the entire chinese population... of men) and arrived in chengdu! we were taken in by the dallas family, an american family who we met in tokyo. as if being spoiled with a real house, laundry machines, a chinese hair salon, a driver, maid and cook... we were part of a family! little gemma and angus stole our hearts and became our chinese translators, at ages 3 and 6. angus renamed nicole, and somehow "abella" stuck. we said hi to the pandas, visited beautiful temples and met some friends over sangria at The Bookworm. on our last day, we took a 2 hour ride with our new family to a little village affected by the Sichuan 7.9 earthquake from this past may. aswe got closer to the faultline, we were devastated by the damage and make-shift tents built upon the rubble that the families have been living in for the past 5 months, and for possibly 5 more years. we visited a small school and played with the local children, and slowly the entire community poured in, even the old women with deformed bodies and scoliosis from working the rice paddies their entire lives. it was quite an experience.
just as jenny sent us off with homemade apple pie in austria, kim sent us off with homemade pumpkin bread in china... and it lasted a whole 2 days.
HANGZHOU
when in hangzhou, spend the day biking around the picturesque lakes on cobblestone paths and bridges surrounded by willow trees- for a grand total of 12 cents. while you're at it, do as the locals do at the street eats strip and try everything from baked crab on a stick to beggar's chicken (make sure the head and claws are still attached) to fried rice inside a pineapple, finishing it off right with dragon's mustache, the local pastry. hangzhou was a peaceful haven very much needed, the most beautiful place to get lost at and enjoy some tea at a pavillion on the lake surrounded by lillypads.
SHANGHAI
we were met in metropolitan shanghai by a familiar face- nicole's good friend hamson. he took us to the top of building for wine and out for street eats with his friends, showed us where to find ridiculously cheap DVDs, and introduced us the most amazing food we've had on our trip so far- Yang's Dumplings (yes, we ate them for lunch AND dinner our last day). we snuck up to the top of the Radisson for an amazing 360degree view of the city (note to self: you get away with so much more when you speak Spanish in Asia) and got a 2 hour massage at midnight, for 5 bucks. and when the day was said and done, we couldn't wait to get back to our pepto-bismol colored room with golden drapes and a snoopy stuffed animal dressed in chanel boxers. welcome to china.
XI'AN
who would have thought that a little city surrounded by walls would hold the most spectacular thing either of us have ever seen, the terracotta warriors (or as our tour guide pronounced them, "orriors"). a farmer stumbled upon them in 1974, come to find that they date back to 210BC! over 9,000 life-like and life-size soldiers, chariots and horses are believed to be buried in the pits- all to guard the soul of the first Qin emperor of China. everyone involved in the project was buried alive to keep the secret. it worked! pretty amazing. we finished the trip by riding bikes along the city walls with tunes blasting from the ipod. americans.
CHENGDU
we survived a 16 hour train ride in our hard sleeper (translation: squished like sardines in used sheets with the entire chinese population... of men) and arrived in chengdu! we were taken in by the dallas family, an american family who we met in tokyo. as if being spoiled with a real house, laundry machines, a chinese hair salon, a driver, maid and cook... we were part of a family! little gemma and angus stole our hearts and became our chinese translators, at ages 3 and 6. angus renamed nicole, and somehow "abella" stuck. we said hi to the pandas, visited beautiful temples and met some friends over sangria at The Bookworm. on our last day, we took a 2 hour ride with our new family to a little village affected by the Sichuan 7.9 earthquake from this past may. aswe got closer to the faultline, we were devastated by the damage and make-shift tents built upon the rubble that the families have been living in for the past 5 months, and for possibly 5 more years. we visited a small school and played with the local children, and slowly the entire community poured in, even the old women with deformed bodies and scoliosis from working the rice paddies their entire lives. it was quite an experience.
just as jenny sent us off with homemade apple pie in austria, kim sent us off with homemade pumpkin bread in china... and it lasted a whole 2 days.
HANGZHOU
when in hangzhou, spend the day biking around the picturesque lakes on cobblestone paths and bridges surrounded by willow trees- for a grand total of 12 cents. while you're at it, do as the locals do at the street eats strip and try everything from baked crab on a stick to beggar's chicken (make sure the head and claws are still attached) to fried rice inside a pineapple, finishing it off right with dragon's mustache, the local pastry. hangzhou was a peaceful haven very much needed, the most beautiful place to get lost at and enjoy some tea at a pavillion on the lake surrounded by lillypads.
SHANGHAI
we were met in metropolitan shanghai by a familiar face- nicole's good friend hamson. he took us to the top of building for wine and out for street eats with his friends, showed us where to find ridiculously cheap DVDs, and introduced us the most amazing food we've had on our trip so far- Yang's Dumplings (yes, we ate them for lunch AND dinner our last day). we snuck up to the top of the Radisson for an amazing 360degree view of the city (note to self: you get away with so much more when you speak Spanish in Asia) and got a 2 hour massage at midnight, for 5 bucks. and when the day was said and done, we couldn't wait to get back to our pepto-bismol colored room with golden drapes and a snoopy stuffed animal dressed in chanel boxers. welcome to china.
Monday, October 6, 2008
mulan
culture shock hit day one in beijing. no longer were we surrounded by clean and safe streets, helpful and smiley faces and a more westernized culture. instead we were being slammed into subways, hoping that the dumplings weren't stuffed with poodle, praying to not get run over by buses, taxis, bikes and even people, and overwhelmed by the smog and smells. it didn't help that it was the national holiday when apparently all of china flocks to beijing. as rough as the people appeared, the community and love was so evident- children out for a stroll with their grandparents, groups of old men squatting around tables playing cards on the streets, and community classes of tai chi, hackey sack and ballroom dancing late at night in the parks. from the Forbidden City dating back to 1406 to the current Bird's Nest at the Olympic Stadium, the history continues to blow our minds. our pride was crushed in thinking we could hike a good portion of the Great Wall. to our surprise, the steps were as high as our knees and some grandmas were more in shape than we were. it's amazing to think of all the thousands of workers who dedicated their lives to building the wall and imagining the soldiers running from post to post with smoke to warn the city of the enemy attacks. our intitial attitude toward Beijing changed when sweet Yangque let us crash with her and showed us some hidden treasures of her city.
just like the mother and daughter in Chocolat, we've left a city we've grown to love- off to new adventures in Xi'an and Chengdu...
just like the mother and daughter in Chocolat, we've left a city we've grown to love- off to new adventures in Xi'an and Chengdu...
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