Steph's Photos

I put my photos on Shutterfly. You can see them by clicking here.

Warning: There are 479 of them. :) 

If you need narration, you'll have to wait till we can get together in person!

Longest Saturday Ever

Today is 39 hours long, I think. On any other Saturday, that would be fantastic. But today, well, I'd just like to move on to Sunday. 

We've arrived back in the US safely and uneventfully. We flew from Hong Kong to Seoul, had a few hours there, then flew to Los Angeles. Luckily my Advil PM kicked in pretty quickly and I slept for most of the ten and a half hours. 

Holly had a flight back to Seattle right away, so she was hurrying to make it while I was sauntering in anticipation of my 6+ hour layover. I headed over to the AirTran counter, and found out it didn't open till 6:45. And there is absolutely nothing before security in Terminal 3. So I went back over to the international terminal where I got some food and tried to catch up on our group project for school that's due tomorrow.

Now I'm all checked in and just waiting... and waiting... to finally get back to Indiana. I'm going to need a vacation after this! :)

We do plan to upload our photos and post the link here, so check back in a few days for that. (Or a few weeks. I'm not sure.)

Also, several of you have asked how I'm feeling. I don't feel bad, but I do still have a semi-nasty, though not as bad as before, cough. Thanks a lot, China.

Thanks for coming along on our trip with us. We are already planning for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, although I'm not sure a trip to Canada will make for as many fun stories. (No offense, Canada.) 2012... London; 2014... Sochi, Russia? We'll see!

Hong Kong Photos

We took the world's steepest funicular... and this is what we saw.

Random street. Note the fake PacMan on the "Game and Fun" sign.

Hong Kong is also an Olympic venue (equestrian), and they had a fun little Olympic area setup, too.

At night, before the light show.

Us on our last night in Asia...

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Yesterday was a long traveling day - we spent 3+ hours on a plane, an hour in a taxi, and two hours on a train. But we're in Hong Kong now - and really liking it here. We got in about 11 last night, then headed to a little Irish Pub for dinner.

This morning, we took the world's steepest funicular up to the peak for a great view. They have a galleria up there, and lots of shopping and restaurants.

We don't have wireless in our room, so I don't know if we'll be posting anymore before we leave tomorrow. We are at a tea museum now and they actually have a couple of computers to check email. :)

Tomorrow around one, we'll be heading back toward the US.

My day was not like Holly's.

As Holly mentioned below, we went our separate ways today. I had the pleasure of spending the day with a friend from college. First, we watched the women's gymnastics team finals. We may have been cheering against China... the tv coverage of the Olympics is definitely different here. Plenty of China team coverage!

After that, we headed to a noodle place for lunch, then to a Tibetan market. This afternoon, we had facials that lasted almost two hours and cost the equivalent of about $5. We laid on beds while ladies rubbed all kinds of creams on our faces, gave us masks, scalp massages, and shoulder/neck/back massages. It was heavenly. Except when it hurt a little. They are rather rough at times, but I didn't want to say anything because I wanted the true Chinese experience!

We walked around a couple of different parks - at one of them they were showing the Olympics on a large screen. It was fun to see people spontaneously gathering to cheer on their team. You see that a lot around town - random television sets, sometimes on the sidewalks, with a crowd of people gathered around to watch the Olympics.

We had hot pot for dinner - kind of the Chinese equivalent of the Melting Pot. Next time you're at the Melting Pot, try using chopsticks!

All in all, a great day, and great times catching up with friends!

Qing Hai Lake and Nomads

Steph and I split paths for the day. I went with our hosts on a road trip and saw some amazingly beautiful countryside. We drove to Qing Hai (ching hi) Lake which is the largest lake in China. What do you think of it?

Our first stop (besides lookout points) was at the home of a gentleman from Norway who has built a school for Tibetan students where he teaches English and has a team of other teachers that he works with. He was preparing to leave for Xining, but graciously spent time explaining what he does, giving us a tour and making us coffee. I was able to touch one of the yaks that I had been seeing from the car during our trip. So soft!

We continued on our scenic drive past the pasture lands of nomadic peoples. There were mud huts with or without solar panels and tents with or without smoke stacks. Many of the tents were made from the abundant yak wool produced by the people. We also saw many high places where prayer flags had been hung in the practice of Tibetan Buddhism. Most the nomads are of this persuasion though their Buddhism has found a blend with the historic animist, polytheistic beliefs of the people.

The next home to welcome us was that of a Tibetan family. It was quite an immaculate and nice space where they greeted us with such hospitality. Friends of my hosts have helped this family to raise pigs and spin wool. The connection made us very welcome. They served us tea with butter, Tibetan bread (tasted similar to sourdough), apples and a paste made from roasted barley flour, dried yogurt, sugar, butter and hot water. I was stuffed by the time we left. What a warm people!

Both on the way out and on the way back from our countryside experience I was able to find lovely culverts where I could relieve myself. Some may have heard of the squat toilets that are common in China. I was priveleged to use more than one in Beijing, so I was in good practice for the culverts. Chinese people must have killer quads.

Fae Chang Hao

This morning we rose early to catch a taxi to the airport and a plane to our next destination: Xining (pronounced "she ning") After a week of smog we saw blue sky and yellow sun again. It was beautiful. We arrived to 55 degree weather. What a welcome change. It did warm up as the day went on.

My friends met us at the airport. How wonderful to have friendly faces and knowledgeable guides! We went immediately to their BEAUTIFUL apartment. After our adequate lodgings in Beijing, we feel very VIP in their home. They had a homecooked meal for us and we've spent some great relaxing time just catching up.

Later we visited a cafe run by some friends of theirs that offers Tibetan hand-made crafts as well as some great lattes. The people that started the cafe have helped the Tibetans use resources they have in plenty (wool) to create unique merchandise that in turn earns them money and the ability to develop things they want like schools. I love this concept for community development that has the potential of being self-sustaining as they teach the people to create items that are marketable.

For dinner we met family friends and enjoyed mutton served at a night market. Everyone digs into a pot of mutton, peppers and potatoes. It's great to have some Chinese food that I really like after lots of experiments. I'm getting better with chopsticks I think. After dinner we walked down the market and saw many food items we could have prepared for us if we wanted: snails, crawdads, crabs, grubs, etc. We passed. I mean, we had just eaten, so we really couldn't eat anymore as good as the grubs--that were still wiggling--looked.

On the walk back, we saw this man who was making popped corn, barley and rice on the street. His popping contraption made such a loud noise when he put it to work.

Back at our hosts' home we were able to meet their language teacher. She was so sweet and it was great to get to practice my Chinese some more. I learned the phrase that I've listed as the title of this post. It means "fantastic." And that is how I feel about Xining so far. So much more relaxing and a beautiful place with hills and country surrounding the city. We will go explore outside of town tomorrow...

Holly's Favorite Song

Click here for a song that Holly really loves. 

We've seen this video a LOT. Luckily, through the magic of YouTube, you can see it too!

Monday Photos

I think these are pretty self-explanatory.

Beach Volleyball... and last day in Beijing

Today we saw some good beach volleyball. The highlight was the men's match with Georgia and Brazil. Brazil won the gold at the last Olympics, and this is Georgia's first time here for beach volleyball. Brazil won, but Georgia held their own and gave the Brazilians a run for their money!

We also saw the women's Sweden/Norway match, as well as Cuba/another team I can't remember. :) We were in the front row. How funny is that? If any of these matches were on tv, you could probably see us.

After volleyball, we headed to a large market that has clothes, purses, jewelry, and about anything else you could think of. 

My favorite part:

Annoying saleslady: LADY! Buy shirt for your husband.

Me: [gave her "the look"]

Annoying saleslady: Do you have husband?

Me: No.

Annoying saleslady: Sorry.

We had dinner outside at a cute little place that wasn't so much Chinese. More European. We had paninis. We headed back to the hostel early - we are both pretty beat, and we have an early flight tomorrow. It's time for part two of our trip: visiting friends! 

Sunday Photos

Germany and Angola tip-off

Running with the torch at the Coke Experience. :)

In front of the Bird's Nest.

Ladies gymnastics. (Dad, glad we went with the 7x zoom!)

Basketball and Gymnastics

Yesterday we headed to the basketball arena to see a couple of men's games. Well, neither was much of a game - more like a couple of blowouts - but fun times anyway. Game one was Iran and Russia, and game two was Germany and Angola.

We then went to a touristy shopping area where we picked up a few more souvenirs, and to a fun little place to eat. I had French toast. Very Chinese, I know. :)

Around 6, we went back to the Olympic Green. We went through the Coke experience, then over to the Today Show, where we figured out they were not, in fact, broadcasting on Sunday. We had tickets for women's gymnastics qualifiers at 8, where we saw Brazil, Russia, and two mixed groups. It seemed like most of them fell off the balance beam. From what we could see on the scoreboard, it looked like the US had done well earlier in the day.

The sky is falling; the bed is wet

It rained most of yesterday, which wasn't too bad, since we attended two indoor events. But when we got back to the room... water had leaked down the side of the wall and my bed was wet. You could see before that it had leaked in the past - a little chunk of the paint on the ceiling was missing, and you could tell where the water had run down the wall. I got some dry bedding and moved the bed away from the wall. When I woke up this morning, I noticed that a bigger chunk of ceiling paint was gone. Nice. At least it didn't wake me up.

Great Wall, Gymnastics, and Shopping

To be honest, I really would rather go to sleep right now than tell you what we've been doing, so this may not be my best work. :) I know all you blog-stalkers out there are wondering... so here goes.

First, I'm kind of sick. Thursday was sore throat, Friday we added a cough, and today was even better with stuffy nose and sneezing. I miss clean(er) air. :( Trying to not let it slow me down though...

Here's the run-down:

Friday

• We went on a tour to the Great Wall, Ming Tombs, and two shopping places. (Because what's a guided tour without a stop at some kind of factory where they tell you how something is made and guarantee the quality?) The tour was about 8 am - 5 pm. There were nine of us - all English-speaking. It was nice to be able to talk to people who understood us.
• First stop was the Great Wall. Holly climbed it, along with the guys in the group. I took the wussy way out and went with the cable car. I'm not sure I would've made it. The only downside to this was that we don't have a photo together on the Wall, because we didn't see each other up there. Hmm... photoshop?
• Then we went to the jade factory, where we also had lunch. They put all the food on a lazy susan in the middle of the table, and everyone shares. It's kind of nice. We were trying to figure out the proper etiquette for turning it. Do you need to ask the people across the table if it's ok? Also, you have to make sure your tea is far enough away that none of the plates/utensils hit your tea and knock it over. Holly learned this the hard way.
• Then we went to the Ming Tombs. This was a cool place, but kind of looked the same to me as the Forbidden City. Just lots smaller.
• Our final stop was the silk factory. They had some good stuff, but nothing I thought would fit well in my luggage. :)
• Our tour guide said that Tiananmen Square was the place to be to watch the Opening Ceremonies if you didn't have a ticket. So we headed there around 7. Turns out it was quite the crazy mob of people, and we don't think they ever really opened the Square - people were all around it though, and packed in very tightly. We decided to get out of there, and ended up in a bar/coffee shop to watch it on tv. We went outside and we could see the fireworks at the end.

Saturday

• Today was our first Olympic event! Yay! We had tickets for men's gymnastics at noon. Everything I'd seen/heard said to arrive early. You have to go through security, then get on a subway line that takes you to the area where the area is. So we got to security around 9:30am. No lines at all. And really nice people. 
• Once we got to the main Olympic area, we walked around a bit. This is the area where the National Stadium, Water Cube, National Indoor Stadium, Broadcast Center, and sponsor 'experiences' are. You can't get in unless you have a ticket to an event at one of those venues.
• We got to our seats around 10:15, and we were practically the only ones there. It didn't really start filling up till around 11:30. There were lots of empty seats, even though it was sold out. 
• We watched the men's prelims - and saw the US, Spain, Italy, and a few mixed groups. Gymnastics is hard to watch since there are 6 things going on at once. I found that I was generally watching the Americans.
• After the event, we went in search of the Olympic store. On our way, we saw the Today Show's setup - and TOM BROKAW!! He was just sitting there at the desk. I wanted to yell his name and see if he would come pose for a photo, but I abstained.
• The store is huge - but I think there are more employees than people. They follow you around. It's so annoying. I picked up some souvenirs, then we headed to McDonald's. It's the official restaurant of the Olympics... and the only one inside the Olympic Green area.
• We went to another part of town after that and did some shopping. I'm pretty sure I bought more than 7 lbs of souvenirs today, and my bag weighed 43 lbs on the way here. Hmm.
• Had dinner at a Thai and Indian restaurant. Random, I know. But good.

The days are long and exhausting, but we're getting to experience lots of cool things. Tomorrow we are headed to basketball in the morning, and women's gymnastics in the evening.

And a quick shout out to Abby... thanks for figuring out what wikipedia is (are?). Good job!

A Few Friday/Saturday Photos

These aren't in order, because blogger isn't friendly when it comes to arranging photos. The first two should be last.

The "Bird's Nest" - there really is a flame there...

TOM BROKAW!! (We realized that Sunday is the only day we can go to the Today Show, and I'm not sure if they are doing it here on the weekends, but we'll give it a shot.)

Here it is, kids. The Great Wall. Notice the lovely sky. I miss blue.

Holly and me at the Ming Tombs.

US Men's Gymnastics Team

US on the pommel horse.

Feeling a little like the Griswolds... and Happy Valentine's Day!

We are quickly learning that things around here aren't done in a way that makes sense to us. Yesterday we scheduled a tour through our hostel to the Great Wall. Late last night we found out it had been canceled. They said that particular section of the Wall was closed, but that didn't make sense, so we decided to try on our own today to get a bus. Well, turns out it really is closed. Because it really makes sense to close the largest tourist attraction here at the time when the most people are visiting.

But no problem - we decided we'd go to another section of the wall. Until we found out that we would have to take two or three different buses to get there and may never make it back to Beijing. So now we have scheduled a trip through our hostel to the open section for tomorrow. We'll see if we really get to go.

Then we decided we'd head to the Olympic Green area just to check it out since we haven't seen the stadiums yet... but that was a no-go as well. We couldn't get on the subway line that goes there because we didn't have Olympic credentials.

After regrouping, we decided to head to the zoo. The subway station closest to the zoo is connected to a mall... with a Pizza Hut. (You all probably think I am incredibly boring with my food choices, and you are pretty much right. But I did eat tofu yesterday, so maybe I just had to have the Starbucks and Pizza Hut to cancel that out.) It was the fanciest Pizza Hut I've ever seen... plus, since today is Chinese Valentine's Day, they had a special menu - for those on dates, I guess.

We did make it to the zoo, where we saw the pandas (mom, tell Emma I saw them!), as well as all your other typical zoo creatures. It was terribly humid, so we were pretty beat after a couple hours. We headed back to the hostel, and decided we'd go to an acrobat show this evening. The hostel arranged tickets and transportation. When we got there, they took us up to the third row. Then about 2 minutes later, they asked us to move... to the front row. We were the only ones in that row, and we were afraid we were going to end up taking part in the show. But luckily, that was not the case. The show was pretty incredible. Some of the kids were really young.

Here are some photo highlights:

Loving the pandas! Can't come to China without seeing them.

Although you can't really tell, we were front and center for the acrobat show.

Brenda, can Michael and I learn to do this at yoga?

Answers to your questions...

How hot is hot?

I'm not sure, really, but Alison/Josh/Julie/Kate, think Turkey hot. Think sweat-dripping hot. And humid. But most restaurants and some stores seems to be air conditioned.

What were those men doing?

They roll up their shirts to cool off. Seems like they might as well just take them off. The ladies have no such luxury. We just drink lots of water and eat ice cream.

Have we gotten the digits of any Olympic athletes?

No, unfortunately not. We did get interviewed by some kind of Chinese media. They wanted to know our favorite Chinese food, then they taught us to say it in Chinese and made us say it for the camera. I said "I like spicy chicken." At least I hope that's what I said... it may be on YouTube somewhere...

Did we feel the earthquake?

Nope, we did hear there was another aftershock, but I think it was pretty far from Beijing.

Coke and Ice Cream

I've traveled around Europe, to Turkey and the Mediterranean, and now to China, and have found there are two constants in our world... Coke and ice cream.

When we couldn't figure out how to order water at a restaurant the other day, all we had to say was "Coca Cola" and we were able to have a cold, familiar drink. Not only that, but one of the subway stations we were in was all decked out in Coke signage. I think it may be the most recognized brand worldwide.

And ice cream... it's on every corner, everywhere. Yesterday I had a drumstick. Yum. While I haven't seen any dreamcicles here, they do have Magnums. I think one of the ice cream bars may be pea-flavored, too. The wrapper has a bunch of peas on it, at least.

Wednesday Highlights

The internet wasn't working in our room last night, but things seem to be back on track now. :)

First things first - a shout out to the birthday boy. Happy Birthday, Josh! Welcome to the late twenties. Know that I was thinking of you as I was sweating through my shirt...

Yesterday was a long, hot, exhausting day. But also a great day. Here are some highlights:

• We started by taking the subway to Tiananmen Square. It was pretty crowded there, and they had some neat Olympic-related stuff set up there.
• After that, we headed across the street to The Forbidden City. It's one enormous place! We got the audio guide tours so we could learn a little more about what we were seeing. Unfortunately, a lot of it went in one ear and out the other. Except for one story about a concubine. She was not the emperor's favorite, but then one day he heard her reciting a poem about a maple leaf, and he apparently found that to be pretty sexy. Maybe I will try that in the US? We spent a few hours in the Forbidden City, exploring the Temple of the Greatest Most High Very Glorious Harmony, or something like that. Ok, so that's not quite the name of it, but most of the temples have names a little like that.
• Then we went across the street to Jing Shan park, and climbed up to the top where there is a Buddhist Temple with quite a view. Well, it would be a better view were it not so smoggy here - but still a good view. 
• We walked through that park to another one - Bei Hai park, and through it. We are loving the parks here. We decided to find a place for dinner, so we were walking around, and as we turned a corner, it appeared as if out of nowhere... a Starbucks! Yay! That may have been the best caramel frappuccino ever. While most things are much cheaper here (a bottle of water is about 30-40 cents), Starbucks is more expensive. I think my drink was five-something. But worth every penny!
• We found a great area along a lake with tons of restaurants. We ate at one called Silk Road South. I think what I had was the Chinese equivalent to fried chicken. The spring rolls were very yummy. The menu, which rivaled that of the Cheesecake Factory in size, had photos of some of the things, and English. There was one thing we couldn't figure out, though, even in English... lots of things were served with "Wikipedia." Hmm. Any ideas?
• We were pretty beat after dinner, so we headed back to the hostel, where our air conditioning awaited. We both woke up at 5am today, and we're not sure why.

We're planning to head to The Great Wall today.

Man-Style

It's hot here. And it didn't take us long to realize that this is what men do to try to stay cool. We saw lots of this yesterday as we were out and about:

We had a nice, loooong night of sleep and are going to head to the Forbidden City today. 

The on/off on/off on/off method of showering

Let me tell you about our shower. This is a photo of the bathroom. I'm pretty sure the shower was an afterthought. It is a tiny bathroom, with toilet and sink. Then that thing you see on the top left of the photo is the hot water heater. There is a handheld shower. 

The thing it, there really isn't a place to stand other than kind of in front of the toilet. We have adopted this method of showering:

On: Wet hair and body

Off: Lather and shampoo

On: Rinse 

Off: Condition

On: Rinse

Off.

It takes a little getting used to, but ultimately, I am thankful that we even have one as part of our room... and of course, for the hot water!

How to Post a Comment

More than one of you have asked how to post a comment... and I realized it was set so only registered users could leave comments. But I changed that.

Click on "comment(s)" at the bottom of the post

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We look forward to hearing from you!

Looks Like We Made It!

(Think Barry Manilow. Or Christopher singing Barry Manilow...)

Yes, we have arrived! And it really does seem more like 1:30 pm than 1:30 am, so that's a good thing. Thought I'd share a few photos from our journey:

We arrived in Seoul about 4:30 am (3:30 pm Eastern). This was my unhappy face when we found that Caribou Coffee didn't open till 6. Luckily, the airport was basically deserted, so we just sacked out on some seats there and napped. Also, I think I paid 5,300-somethings for some coffee. I have no idea how much that is in dollars.

Much happier a couple hours later with the coffee and an asiago cheese bagel from Au Bon Pain. Yes, we really did leave the US...

This was one of the many Olympics-related things that greeted us at the airport in Beijing. There were volunteers everywhere, information centers set up, and tons of signage. Also, we rode the train to baggage with the cycling team from Great Britain and some canoers from Australia. It's fun to see people from everywhere, all in one place!

P.S. Yes, we have a room, and it is private with a bathroom. It has wireless and air conditioning. And not much else. More on that later. :)

Flights and Food

The flight from LA to Seoul wasn't bad at all. I spent the first couple of hours watching Prince Caspian (which Josh will be happy to know is darker than The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe), and at least six hours sleeping. Plus they served two meals. You could have western style or Korean and I went for Korean of course. The first meal was steamed sweet pumpkin (served cold), fresh fruit, some seafood-tasting broth soup and bi-bim-bab (see above). Bi-bim-bab is steamed rice, assorted vegetables and kimchi that you mix together with sesame oil and korean chili paste. I enjoyed it. For breakfast they offered spicy octopus with steamed rice, yogurt and fresh fruit. On our flight from Korea to Beijing which was only 1 1/2 hour they offered another meal. Some beef dish with rice, fresh fruit and orange juice. All the meals were served with tea or coffee and real silverware!

The only good thing about packing

...is that it means vacation is really soon.