I'm not even going to try and pretend that I kept up with this log during the trip by putting it in reverse order. Makes it harder to read that way anyway! I did some of it as we went and the rest after we got home from notes and by using Erins work out of her blog "inerinswords" to jog my memory. I'll try to post some of the photos as we get this move over with.
Day 0: 23-Jan-06 – Monday, Vancouver, Portland, Tokyo, Shanghai & Suzhou.
Erin & Daniel’s flight was delayed leaving Portland due to a snow storm in Tokyo that caused their incoming flight to be late. They finally took off about two hours late and managed to arrive in Tokyo one-minute AFTER their flight for Shanghai left. So much for what I was told when I called that they were holding the flight. Northwest put them on a China Airlines flight that I was told would be leaving Tokyo at 7:00PM and would arrive Pudong at 2:30AM. I emailed Mona with the information, and almost immediately got a call from her asking why it was going to take 7-1/2 hours to fly the 1100-miles from Tokyo to Shanghai? That would mean that the plane was only making 146-MPH, which really wouldn’t keep a Airbus A340 in the air. She called and found out that it was going to be in at 11:15PM. So they arrived only 2-hours & 45-minutes late and minus one bag. Daniel blamed the cheese that they had packed at our request for the problem. They were told that when/if it arrives, that it would be delivered to our apartment in Suzhou. She gave them our address, and phone numbers and then we headed out to the van. Finally got home at 3:00AM and had a mini-Christmas with the gifts that we had for them and some of the things that they had brought from the USA. Crashed sometime after 4:00AM.
Day 1: 24-Jan-06 – Tuesday, Suzhou
I went to work and they went: to a tai tai (wives) luncheon, shopping, down to CITS to get with Mi for booking and paying for the first part of the trip, Starbucks for coffee, then home in time to head out to the Banana Leaf Curry House for dinner with Jerry & Sally. The put us in our own private dining room and managed to get the right type & the right amount of food this time. Even got serenaded.
Day 2: 25-Jan-06 – Wednesday, Suzhou & Shanghai
I went to work and they went to Shanghai with some of the other expats on a shopping/sightseeing tour. Airline called and said that they had Erin’s bag, but there was a customs problem and that she would have to go to the airport to deal with it. I called and let them know, but they didn’t have time that day with all of the other people, so they just came home. They got back to Suzhou late that day, so we just did the Papa John’s dial a dinner trick.
Day 3: 26-Jan-06 – Thursday, Suzhou & Shanghai
I went to work and they went to Shanghai with Jerry and Sally, who are demobilizing from China back to the USA, to get her bag. When she got there, there were no customs issue with the bag nor had there ever been. The airline just refused to deliver it as they had said they would. What this amounted to was that they were just too lazy or it would have cost then an RMB or two to have it delivered. This is a typical Chinese reaction where they would make up some weak ass lie to tell you so that they can “save face”. Telling the truth seems to be a major problem here them whenever it involves anything that requires having to do actual work or spend their own money. Much easier to make up some unbelievable governmental rule or flimsy excuse, then to do what said you should do. I’m sure that if you were able to check, the money that was “spent” on the driver to deliver the bag is in some leaders pocket. Not the first time we’ve encountered this issue. Went down to Yang Yang’s on Bar Street for dinner with Paul & Sarah.
Day 4: 27-Jan-06 – Friday, Suzhou
I went to work and they went to the police station to get their visas extended (See Erin’s blog “inerinswords” for details. On my way home today, we went downtown to the CITS office so that Tommy could pick up his tickets for home. As Mr. Ni turned the corner, some gal walked her bike into the side of his van and we heard this scrape/crunch/rumble/popping sound. Mr. Ni got out and by the time we got turned around to see what was going on, a cop had arrived. There was some minor yelling, and finger pointing then the cop fined Mr. Ni 5RMB and handed it to the gal on the bike. Sixty-two cents to settle an accident! There was no real damage done except for minor scratches on the van and a bent pedal on the bike. Dinner that night was at the Indian Kitchen, which is always great, and as usual, I ate too much.
Day 5: 28-Jan-06 – Saturday, Suzhou
Didn’t really do squat today. Tried to go down to Jack’s Place for lunch, but it seems like almost everything down on Bar Street was closed for Spring Festival. Finally found a place called Pizza TMT that was open. I have no idea what TMT stands for, but it probably not anything we could come up with – Too Many Tomatoes; Tickle My Tummy; This Means That; and some that can’t be printed on a public blog. Had been by it by it dozens of times, but never stopped in, so since it was the only place open we decided that it was time to try it. Turned out to be the second best pizza in Suzhou – after Papa John’s. Since the taxi population was somewhat depleted we decided to walk on down bar street to see was open. Found the camping store was, which was a good thing since we had intended picking up a couple more camping air mattresses (Thermoses wannabe’s) for the upcoming trip. With those captured we did the DVD store and found a couple of things that we could not do without. Managed to flag down a taxi so that we could get back home to get ready for Chinese New Year. Plans were for a kind of potluck, snacking type of fireworks watching party over at Bruce & Sari’s (pronounced Shar-ree) apartment. Heidi stopped by to pick up her Christmas gifts and then the five of us headed for Bailing Apartments with our two suitcases, backpacks, sacks & other assorted things. Got about halfway to the gate when an empty taxi came up behind us. Hijacked it, put all of the stuff in the trunk, Mona, Erin & Daniel in the front, which if you were keeping track, left Heidi & I out in the cold to catch the next cab. As it turns out the next cab wasn’t something that was going to happen for us. So we walked the eight very long blocks through what seemed like a war zone. Fireworks and firecrackers everywhere, so much so that Heidi & I could hardly talk. Finally got to Bailing and the others, but when we tried to get in, the guards stopped us. This was really unusual, as they never stop expats, especially Europeans. He kept saying he needed to take our photo. Finally figured out that he wanted to take a photo of us with him. That done, we headed up to the 26th floor with our stuff. Bruce & Sari live in the apartment that was prepared for the Mayor of Suzhou during the SARS problem a couple of years ago. Quite a nice, cozy little two story, five-bedroom place with six (I think) balconies. Actually though it was quite large, it had a nice welcoming feel to it. Got to talk to a lot of people, and for some reason geocaching came up. If you’re not familiar with geocaching you can check it out at http://www.geocaching.com/. Turns out that Bruce & Sari were geocachers too, and have over 1,100 caches to their credit! Made Pezhead’s 150 & our (ToMonaInc’s) 230 look kind of weak. We had a white elephant gift exchange, which was fun, and then it was getting close to midnight. The Chinese did not disappoint. They did another good job of lighting up the sky and making a lot of noise. Well maybe not the restaurant across the way. Seems that their big aerial fireworks were duds or more correctly half a dud. The aerial part didn’t get aerial before it went off. Think that having a couple of big fireworks explode sending showers of green and red sparks in every direction right at ground level. Seemed to shake them as they all ran back into the restaurant in a hurry. Finally decided to head back home, so we loaded up our little rolling suitcases and headed downstairs expecting to walk home. However, the unimaginable happened. Just as we walked out of the gate, there was a taxi that had just dropped off someone and was available for us. Got to bed before 4:00AM!
Day 6: 29-Jan-06 – Sunday, Suzhou
Slept in until after 10AM and never got much beyond that all day. Did manage to watch about eight or a dozen episodes of “Scrubs” and a daylong round of more fireworks. Think everyone was asleep on the couch or in bed before 10PM.
Day 7: 30-Jan-06 – Monday, Suzhou
Up this morning early – well everyone but me. I was still in bed when Fong came to clean. Went over to Auchan to pick up some supplies for this evening when Audrie, Mariska & Jamie were coming over for supper and to watch Pulp Fiction. Erin & Daniel got to watch some mother hold her kid over a trashcan to pee. At least she didn’t let him pee in the aisle. Didn’t do much good to do the shopping as no one felt like cooking, so we ordered Papa Johns.
Day 8: 31-Jan-06 – Tuesday, Suzhou to Beijing
Up this morning and started the day off by doing nothing. Did finally have to get out and ride over to the bank so that I could pay the rent for next month. I went to the Industrial & Commercial Bank planning to get a cash advance on the corporate credit card and then deposit it in the landlords account. Nothing doing. They don’t do that kind of transaction at their bank and told me to go to the China Bank, which does do cash advances. I did, and they did, so then it was back over to the Industrial & Commercial Bank to deposit my envelope full of 100RMB notes in the landlords account. On the way home I stopped down at the local store to load up on munchies for the trip. Finally got packed and headed out to the train station about 6:30PM. Managed to flag down a cab right away, and so we were plenty early. The boarding call came, so we headed out and down the two flights of stairs, over to track #5, back up two flights of stairs and then to the end of the train. We came up at car 15 and since we were in car #2, it was literally the end of the train. Found out cabin and got settled in for the ride to Beijing. The train left at exactly 8:00PM, right on schedule. Mona & I broke out the camping air mattresses that Erin & Daniel brought with them as the last overnight train ride to Beijing was slightly less than a comfortable experience. Also found out that there was an electrical outlet in the train cabin that would run my CPAP machine, so that helped no only me sleep better, but since I don’t snore, it helped everyone else sleep a little better.
Day 9: 01-Feb-06 – Wednesday, Beijing
Woke up at (depends upon who you talk to) and had enough time for a couple of snacks before the train arrived in Beijing right on time at 7:15AM. We were met at the station by Kai, our guide, who led us over to the van for the short ride to the Capital Hotel. This is the same one that we stayed in last time we were in Beijing with Jim & Jane. Checked in, but as the rooms were not ready, we decided to head out to visit the Summer Palace instead of waiting for the Forbidden City to open up. With it being Spring Festival, it was pretty much without all of the traffic that we are used to seeing. The ride out to the Summer Palace seemed much shorter. This was our third visit and for the second time we’ve seen the lake frozen solid enough that people were walking all over it. Cold but having sunshine and no wind made it a good visit. Kai seemed to be a little more flexible in allowing us to wander and was able to give us some information that we had not received last time. At our request, we visited the old Summer Palace at Yuanmingyuan Park. This was an earlier summer palace, but was not part of the Summer Palace that everyone visits. The British & French destroyed it during the Opium Wars around 1900, and was never rebuilt, but was left as a reminder. Our request to visit here was both to see something new, off the beaten path and because there was a geocache in a maze at the European villa ruins. Found it, took some more photos and then it was off to lunch. Tried two restaurants before finding one that had room, and as usual, there was way too much food, but it for the most part it was good food. Then we went in the back gate of the Forbidden City and did manage to do a little more walking off the straight through run we did last time. Found a geocache there in the concubine’s courtyard, and then wandered on out through the Heavenly Gate into Tiananmen Square. There was a geocache on the far side of the square, but everyone was too tired so decided to skip it for now and walked back to the hotel. Rested, took a bath and/or shower before heading out to the Outback Steakhouse for dinner. You may ask why it seems that we eat so much western food. We all like Chinese food, but the Chinese food that you get back in the US is not like the Chinese food you get in China. Not that the Chinese food it is bad in China, because most it is quite good, most of it. Some is really nasty tasting or is things that westerners aren’t used to putting in their mouths, chewing and swallowing. It’s just that back home, we like to go out for Chinese occasionally as a treat. Having to eat it three times a day, seven days a week is not a treat for us. Back to the original thought train. Got our Bloomin’ Onion, salads, rib eye or center cut sirloin or Alice Springs chicken – hold the bacon – with garlic mashed potatoes and real iced tea. Everything was excellent! Really enjoyed the dinner, but when we left the restaurant, it had gone from cold to colder than hell! But we that we would be brave and started walking down towards the walking section. Spotted a shop that was still open that sold gloves, so Erin & Mona each bought a pair. Then came the ordeal of standing on the corner fighting all the other people to catch one of the cabs that seem to be in short supply during Spring Festival. Finally managed to snag one and went back to our warm hotel rooms – Erin & Daniel’s much warmer than ours – couldn’t adjust it and the front desk never did come to fix it, even though they were called twice. Even with the cab trouble, the dinner was worth it! Lots of large sounding fireworks over in Tiananmen Square tonight (at least I hope they are fireworks!)
Day 10: 02-Feb-06 – Thursday, Beijing
Sunny outside and the forecast high was for 4°C or (39°F). Down for breakfast, and I got castigated for getting upset when we were told that we couldn’t sit at a table that was being set up. In typical fashion, they had singles and doubles sitting at tables for six, so I guess that me wanting to have four people at a table for four was against some obscure Chinese rule of etiquette or symmetry. OK, got the red ass over with early and the rest of the day is going to go much better. Met the driver right at 9:00AM as planned and headed for a visit to the Great Wall at Badaling. Choose to take Dan to this section of the wall for several reasons; one was that it had a tram that takes you up to the wall; two, it has a really good view of the wall in all directions for photos; and the third reason was there was a geocache there. We got there and the mercury had fallen out of the bottom of the thermometer and the wind was blowing 50kph! The lines just to get tickets to get on the tram were ridiculous. We took a quick vote and it was four to zip in favor of not standing in line to go up out of the semi-protected valley and up onto the very exposed wall. I worked with the driver trying to explain that we wanted to go back down to the lower section of the wall at Juyongguan. I knew the Chinese characters for lower and for entrance and with Erin’s Chinese and Mi’s help, on the cell phone; we managed to make him understand. Down there, the wind was not nearly as bad, and neither were the crowds. We all walked up to the first tower, and my leg was not doing as well as I wanted, so I waited there for them to go up to the third tower and back. I got to take a lot of photos for several Chinese people/couples with the Great Wall in the background. Erin kept taking her glove off with her teeth to take photos and the tip of here glove froze solid from just that little bit of moisture. Returned to the hotel to warm up a rest before heading back out to Wangfujing shopping area for lunch and some shopping. Lunch turned out to be at McDonald’s but that was fine as we planned to do something a bit better that evening. After walking around, having a cup of coffee/hot chocolate at Starbucks and heading down a shopping alley that Erin promised would be warmer (she lied, it was a wind tunnel). We stopped in at a bookstore to see if we could find some books to help Netta with Tai. Insert flashback here: Netta is Mona’s niece who is adopting here third child from China. Tai is a 3-year old boy that has a cleft palette. He has had an operation to repair his lip, but the palette has not been repaired yet. She is flying into Beijing tonight and then we all fly to Changsha on Sunday where Tai is. Back to the future: Taxi’s were in good supply, so we waved one down and when we tried to get in, he tried to drive away. Second cab, stopped and we all got in. I gave him the hotel card and he told us to get out, he not go there. Six blocks and he couldn’t take us there. Okay, they are long blocks, but still six blocks? Third cab was no problem, except for the fact that he tried to shoot past the entrance. Not quite as planned, we stayed in, ordered room service of chef salads, soups, a sandwich and watched a couple of bad movies on HBO.
Day 11: 03-Feb-06 – Friday, Beijing
Slept in a bit this morning didn’t get down to breakfast until a little after 9:00AM. Netta called and let us know that she was in town, so she, Xueling, a friend that she knows here in Beijing and her two kids (Iran (named after her fathers country) & Reyan), came over here to start their shopping run. Daniel & I decided to stay in and rest our feet, read a book, etc. Didn’t last too long before Daniel rang the door bell and told me that he was told that we needed to come down to the pearl market to look at some of the electronics. Pearl market - - - electronics??? Makes sense to somebody, but who am I to not go protect my money from four women in a market. Little did I realize that the real reason for the call was because I had all of the money? Pretty sneaky if you ask me, but I guess it is my bad for not realizing that I had the money, not her, and that I was being had. We did find a couple of larger memory cards for our cameras. A 2GB Compact Flash & a 1GB Sony Memory Stick, both Scandisk II’s, for a total of 700RMB or 87.50USD. Found a combination DVD/TV/MP3/MPEG4/JPEG/CD/CD-R/W & TV that was a real decent price. Bargained on one, but she wouldn’t come down the last 100RMB & we wouldn’t pay any more, so we had to walk away. Then we found another one that was a larger screen and had a card slot in addition to all of the other stuff. Decided to make it a TGI Friday’s late lunch. I was able to use Guanxi to get the address and convert it to Chinese to show the cab driver. He drove for awhile and finally stopped, but we didn’t see Friday’s. We called Xueling and handed the phone to the driver, who promptly drove another 50-meters forward and there we were. Duh! Had an excellent lunch, but did eat too much before we realized that it was already 2:30PM and we had dinner reservations for 7:30 at A Fun Ti, a Muslim restaurant with a floorshow. Back at the hotel, Mona made arrangements for a tour to another, lesser-visited part of the Great Wall that has not been completely restored. Didn’t feel that Daniel got to see the Great Wall as it should be seen at Juyongguan and we didn’t want to go back to Badaling as it has gotten a little too commercial. Later, we met Xueling, her husband Samid and their two kids at the restaurant. Were given a good table right up beside the stage. The food was excellent, the quantity was excessive and the entertainment was entertaining, dancers and audience participation dancing & games. They pulled Erin & Daniel to a group circle dance where everyone held hand and “danced” around until the hostess called out a number. Then you had to get in groups of people that matched the number she called out. Those that didn’t match were out. Erin & Daniel made it through all of the group gropes and were in the last three when the hostess called out “one”! They started to jump together and realized that they were not supposed to be in a group. Everyone got a good laugh. Then they kept Daniel on the stage, blindfolded in a chair. The belly dancer came out and danced around him with a snake, but being blindfolded he didn’t know the snake was there. The host removed the blindfold and to his credit, he didn’t jump at all. She put the snake around his neck and then they both danced. Daniel thought that getting to handle a large, 6-foot boa was neat. They ask for a bunch of people to come up on the stage so Netta, Daniel & Erin jumped up. Netta jumped back just as quick when she realized that she might get to be picked up and spun around by one of the Chinese guys. All I can say is that it is a good thing that Chinese girls are skinny, cause the guys weren’t all that big. Later, Netta forced me to put my business card in for a drawing & I won a bottle of wine that we gave to Samid & Xueling. When we got out, there were a bunch of people waiting at the taxi stand but they gave up and headed out to look for another location. Just then an empty taxi came along, so we grabbed it and didn’t feel a bit bad doing it. Back at the hotel, Mona was trying to get a double room so that Netta could stay with us tomorrow night and we could get to the airport the following day. A Norwegian gal was trying to ask the hotel desk clerks if they knew where a place called “Maggie’s Bar” was. We tried to get them to look it up in the phone book and to call information, but neither was any help at all. When I walked back over to Erin & Daniel, when it struck me that maybe Guangxi, the Chinese phone networking service might be able to help. Sure enough, Maggie’s came up, so I got it in Chinese and then had the desk clerk write it down. Took it over to her and her friends. Also gave them the phone number and how to use Guangxi. Hopefully it will work on Norwegian phones. Know that they won’t be able to get the Chinese characters, but maybe they can get the addresses in English at least. Downloaded the photos from today and discovered that the new photo cards weren’t what they were supposed to be. The 2GB was really 1GB and the 1GB was only 256KB – still cheaper than what they would be in the USA, but not what we wanted. Crap! Finally got to bed about 1:00AM.
Day 12: 04-Feb-06 – Saturday, Beijing
Netta checked out of her hotel and came over for breakfast this morning. She is going to spend the night here so we could all ride to the airport together. But the tickets turned out to be four hours apart, so it’s not going to work. We had a tour scheduled to a lesser-visited section of the Great Wall at Simatai, which is about two & a-half hours northeast of Beijing. We had your typical, typical Chinese farm lunch that the farmers typically eat for lunch. Same food – different plates. This is the only section that has a reservoir and is also a section that is built on some real steep mountain ridges. It was really cold. The ice on the lower reservoir was a least a foot thick. As we got up to the second reservoir, the temperature seemed to go up considerably and there was no ice on it. Mostly because of some springs keep the water in the upper from freezing. It’s a 1365-meter walk (no I did not pace it off, it was written on one of the signs) up to the #2 East tower and then go up from there. Some of the wall has been rebuilt and some hasn’t. Some places are just the flat top of the wall without the parapets and some the parapets are head high. The steps range from steep & tall to short & narrow to flat-ish rocks & dirt path. The last tower that Daniel went to had a ladder from the steps up to the doorway. Some of the sections are so steep and narrow that the wall isn’t the type of wall that you normally think of, but just a single wall without a walkway on the top. Took about two hours to make it from the entrance up to tower #7 which was the highest that most of us went, but Daniel went on up halfway past tower #9. All the way up, these ladies kept following us, and when we got to our stopping point, they started trying to sell us everything imaginable with a Great Wall something on it. Daniel finally bought a book that like he and Erin collect from everyplace they visit. Only took an hour to get back down. Could have cut at least fifteen minutes off of that if we had taken the zip line back down from tower #2, down the length of and across the upper reservoir. When you slide off of the landing and clear the rocks, you are about 200-feet over the water. I would guess that it was probably a thousand feet long total. There was some talk about doing it, but they wanted me to go first to prove it would hold the weight, but then they claimed that they would be worried that I might use up the entire safety factor. Then there was the discussion about the fact that they were using Chinese carabineers and harnesses. Watched two guys ride it down. The second one lost something; we think it was his hat because it floated. It looked like it would be fun, but… Trip home didn’t seem to be as long as the trip there. Dinner tonight was the Outback again. Know that we are headed into the non-to westernized city of Changsha, so needed a final fix.
Day 13: 05-Feb-06 – Sunday, Beijing & Changsha
Up just in time to go through the ritual Easter egg hunt trying to find the breakfast tickets, but failed miserably. Finally got Erin & Daniel’s as they said that they didn’t want to eat. So it was just Mona and I for breakfast and all I got was three glasses of orange juice. Then it was back to the room to pack our blivits. We cannot buy anything else for the rest of the trip without first buying another suitcase of some type. Took everything down and stored it at the front desk before heading out to the Hard Rock Cafe for lunch. I guess that we needed one more final western food fix. From there we went to the New World shopping center to pick up some more body lotion because when you bought one can you got a second can for only 1-Yuan more! Then it was off to the Pearl Market, which was where we bought the undersized memory cards, to try to get them exchanged or our money back. I thought that our chances were going to be slightly less than a snowballs chance in hell, but the girl we had dealt with had the transaction recorded, checked the cards and replaced the 1GB Memory Stick with one she had to go buy from another store. But she did not have a 2GB Compact Flash card in stock. She gave us money back on that one and we felt that we came out of it okay. Then back to the hotel to pickup the luggage and grab a cab for the airport. With all of our luggage, each of us ended up with something in our laps. Fare and toll came to 102RMB. Got our luggage checked, went through security and I parked myself with all of the carry-on’s while the rest went on a recon mission. Only came back with a couple of small items. The flight left right on time and was in on an Boeing 75oven. I have never been on a plane that was as hot as this one was, and there were no vents of any kind. Got a full meal of rice, beef chunks with mushrooms, veggies with a fake ham something or other and a roll. Mona thought that the meat was gross, but I didn’t find anything horribly wrong with it. Then she tried the veggies and they came out quicker than they went in. She looked so Chinese spitting things out onto the tray accompanied by all of the requisite sounds. Finally landed and as soon as the pilot turned the reversing thrusters off, people started to jump up and open the overhead bins. The flight attendant came on the intercom and apparently told them to sit back down, which they did – at least until the plane got close to the gate and then they jumped up again. The woman that was sitting next to and talking to Mona during the flight grabbed her hand and sprayed perfume on her wrist; cheap perfume; four squirts of STRONG, cheap perfume. Went to get the luggage while Mona went to wash off some of her fragrance. The baggage claim was shaped like U‾‾‾U. Every person on the three flights that arrived at the sametime was crowded around the left U, so we stood over by the right hand U and waited for our luggage to come around. Didn’t have to push or fight a single person and we had our luggage before half of the other people did. One time, the conveyor stopped and people started moving around upstream to find their luggage; one woman even climbed over the conveyer back rail, into the middle to get her bag on the other side, but when it started again before could climb back over which meant she was trapped in the middle. Daniel & I just laughed. Outside we found a taxi right away and this one had a trunk large enough to hold all of the luggage. After a 150.5RMB cab ride, plus a 10RMB toll, we got to the hotel and checked in; or at least we tried. Mona had made reservations on the Internet and had the numbers and rates. They couldn’t find the reservations. After three time of telling us that we did not have reservations, they finally found them under Daniels name. Makes sense. Mona makes reservations on here credit card and they put the rooms in Daniels name. Mona told them the room that Netta was in and ask that we get rooms near hers, which were told, was not a problem. We got rooms 616 & 618 – Daniel & I were in 616 and Mona & Erin were in 618 – Netta was in room 62119. Wasn’t too sure about the proximity of the rooms given the extreme difference in the numbers. When we got up to the room, we discovered that they were two twin beds and were nowhere near room 62119. Not the same floor, not even the same building. Mona called and tried to explain, but it wasn’t working. So we all, including the bellhop with the luggage cart, head back down to reception. Mona finally got them to understand that we wanted rooms with a single large bed, with our spouses, in the same wing, on the same floor, close to Netta’s room. They gave us rooms 62222 & 62223, which are on the 22nd floor, which I suppose can be considered close to 62119 which is on the 21st floor. About then Mona noticed that Netta was on a smoking floor. Netta ask why if she was on a smoking floor, her room had a no smoking sign in it. The desk clerk said that the sign actually said “No smoking in bed”. Needless to say, Netta moved out of room 62119 and up to room 62221. Once we got that done, we ordered up pizza and cheese hamburgers. The pizzas were cheese melted over tomatoes on a pizza crust and the burgers were burgers. Tried to hook up the DVD player to the TV but didn’t have much luck. Finally put the disks in my computer and watched a couple of episodes of “Scrubs” before hitting the brick.
Day 14: 06-Feb-06 – Monday, Changsha
Today is the day the Netta gets Tai. She started this process over a year ago and it all comes to fruition at 10:00AM. Had a decent breakfast buffet with your typical breakfast buffet food. Did have a couple extra juice choices, strawberry and peach. Guy cooking the omelets may smile and nod when you give him your order, but apparently he can look at you and determine what kind of omelet fixin’s you want. Erin got hers, I got something close & Daniel didn’t get one. If you bat .333 in the big leagues, you are a star. But if you are talking about a star in the sky, his was only a magnitude 13.7 or so! Finally got our stuff together and went downstairs (why do you call it going downstairs when you are actually going down in an elevator?) to meet Jason. The ride over to the government building was only about 15-minutes and we passed a KFC only about 5 blocks from the hotel. There were two more couples in the waiting room getting their new children. One little boy was playing, eating his Cheerios (when you got to China to adopt a baby, Cheerios are absolutely essential) and everything was right with the world. When it came time to leave, the new dad picked him up and the screaming started. I know that it must be a frightening & very traumatic experience when people who look nothing like what you have been surrounded with for your entire life, take you from all that is familiar. But you have to be comforted by the fact that they are going to a home where they are wanted. When you adopt a younger child, the language skills are minimal, but with a 3-year old, they have already developed both speech and comprehension at a higher level than the adoptive parents will most likely have in the child’s native tongue. Then they brought Tai in, he was a bit shy and upset, but Netta went right to him and held him until he finally leaned on her and settled down. Tai’s lip is healed and the operation looks to have done a fairly good job. Netta ask questions to help him make the transition – favorite foods (soft rice), is he potty trained (yes), does he still take a bottle (yes), what does he drink (formula), what kind of toys does he like (bright things that make noise), does he have any allergies to food (no), etc. When it came time to leave, he made a little fuss, but then settled down quickly. We stopped on the way back to the hotel to pick up a bottle, some formula and a couple of other things, including a rattle that he seemed to like and it wasn’t a real loud rattle, so the rest of us liked it too. Back in the room, they fixed him a bottle with formula, and he looked at it like it was from another planet. He drank some water straight from the bottle, but didn’t want anything to do with a baby bottle. So much for asking questions to get answers to help you help Tai make the transition. About 1:00PM we decided to go down and get something to eat. Met downstairs and decided to walk the 5-blocks to the KFC. I decided to give my toe some additional rest and stayed behind. I walked into the elevator, pressed the button with the 22 on it, the doors started to close and the power to the entire building went off. Totally without thinking, I jumped out through the doors. Not claustrophobic, but no sense being stuck in an elevator if you don’t have to. But then, if the power was off, the elevator was on the ground floor and the doors had only closed about 6-inches, I wouldn’t have been trapped anyway. Guess it was just that primal “fight or flight” reflex kicking in. They were good enough to bring be back a couple of chicken-nugget-burritos & a coke. Tai has given me a low five twice now and didn’t scream while doing it, so maybe he isn’t going to be as hard a Tia was to get to know. Had dinner with Jason & his girlfriend tonight at a restaurant across the street from the hotel. Tai definitely knows how to use a spoon as he was shoveling egg custard, corn and rice in as fast as he could. Then he topped it off with a slice or three of watermelon. Then it was back to the room for a movie before heading to the brick.
Day 15: 07-Feb-06 – Tuesday, Changsha
Up for breakfast then Mona & Netta went out to get a couple of things. Finally showed back up at the hotel around 1:30PM. We decided to head out to visit the local Wal-Mart or as it is called in China, Wo-Ma. Being as there were now 6 of us, it requires two taxis. We told the doorman where we wanted to go and Erin, Daniel & I hopped in one cab and Mona & Netta headed for the second. We got to Wal-Mart and waited around for Mona & Netta to get there. Decided to head across the street to McDonalds for lunch. Talked to Mona & told her where we were at and then ordered. We finished eating and they still had not shown up. Called again, and they were in McDonalds wondering where we were at. Who would have thought that there would have been two Wal-Marts in Changsha, China? We walked around, looking at how different it was from the ones that we are used to in the USA. I mean there are still the same general layouts with the exception that this is a two-story store. They have a health & beauty section, clothing, household goods, and electronics – mostly Chinese brands, with a few brands that you would recognize mixed in for good measure. The big difference is in the food department. You just don't normally find dried/smoked ducks, rabbits, chickens, fish and pigs hanging on racks or piled on counters in the meat section. Also you don't have a large selection of live fish, eels, craps, prawns and other hard to identify critters in rows of tanks. The vegetable selection is also a little different, but most of the stuff resembles stuff that you might see at a home. Back to the hotel to rest up before heading down to what was billed as a Latin buffet restaurant. I was hoping for something less Chinese than what was in the serving dishes, but at least they some grilled meat on a swords.
Day 16: 08-Feb-06 – Wednesday, Changsha
Did not get out of the hotel today. Waited until nearly 9:30AM before heading down for breakfast. Did a little reading and then a little napping before heading down to the coffee shop for either a very late lunch or a slightly early dinner. Planned to go bowling so Daniel & I headed down to find it and check it out. Finally followed the signs and found the elevator that should take us up to the third floor and the bowling alley. Only trouble was that the button with the number 3 on it did not do anything, not in either elevator. So, being either very smart or very lazy, we took the elevator up to the fourth floor and then walked down to the third floor. Got there and behind the glass doors was a stainless steel sheet bolted over the entrance. Bowling alley was being renovated. Being guys, we took it in stride and headed down to the bar to console ourselves. The girls came down later and we had a couple of drinks. Tai was in a real good mood and was playing with his new cars and the bag that they came in.
Day 17: 09-Feb-06 – Thursday, Changsha
Today was a lazy day for most of us. Breakfast then back to the room. Netta got the rest of the paperwork from Jason this morning. Finally got out about 12:30 for lunch and decided that we weren’t up for Chinese today, so we started walking towards KFC. Rain was a little harder than it looked from the 22nd floor, so we flagged down the cab for, short but dry ride. Figured it was worth 3RMB (0.37USD) to keep out of the rain, but when you add in the 29RMB umbrella that Mona left in the cab, maybe it wasn’t such a bargain after all. While we were eating, it started to snow big, fluffy flakes. It wasn’t a real wet snow, so we walked back to the hotel. After some computer work, reservation making, reading and a nap or two, we decided to head out to Wal-Mart to pick up some blank CD’s to make sure that we had copies of all of the photos to date. Got a cab and managed to make it understood which Wally World we wanted to go to. Should have gone to the other one. Walking down to the entrance was to run a nose gauntlet! The smells coming from the cooking stalls were about three points beyond what I imagine dead whale blubber left lying on a tropical beach for six-weeks would smell like. Mona and Erin both turned green and Erin kept swallowing to keep the stomach stuff in the stomach. Got inside and it was better, but only by a bit until we got upstairs. Found the CD’s and then wandered around taking some photos of things that you don’t normally see at a US Wal-Mart. Picked up a couple of other things then went to the McDonalds to continue the not wanting Chinese today. Wandered around in the mall looking at all of the sporting clothes until we noticed a China Mobile store. Both Mona & my phones had been drained by all of the calls that we have been making. Because my phone is a Suzhou/International number, it turned out that the only place that we could recharge my phone was at the main China Mobile office. Luckily, it was only two blocks away. Unfortunately, they were real long blocks and the rain had returned. Finally got it done and caught a cab back to the hotel where we made the backup CD’s and caught up on the daily log.
Day 18: 10-Feb-06 – Friday, Changsha – Sanya
Breakfast and packing was the morning, and then it was off to the airport. Cab driver didn’t put down the flag and when ask about it, I think that he wanted two-hundred so I said we would pay 150 which was what the meter said when we arrived. He agreed, so everyone was happy. Got to the airport, had a little bit of a problem with getting the tickets, but Mona had a piece of paper with all of the info on it, so we managed. Just as we were getting ready to hand our boarding passes to the attendant, Mona ask where the piece of paper was. No one had it. No time to go back for it. Had to be the strangest seating arrangement that I have ever seen on a commercial airliner. It was a 737 with 3&3 seating. They packed everyone in six across over the wings and left the rest of the plane empty. I mean that we were in row 9, and there was not a single sole in the seats ahead of us. The back few rows were also empty. Not what I would call even weight distribution, but then again quite a few things I’ve seen don’t always make sense. Different synaptic connection paths I guess. Arrived in Sanya and the temperature was up in around 25°C [75°F], which was a nice change from the –5°C [23°F]. Now, you need to think back about ten sentences ago. Remember that piece of paper I mentioned? No only did it have the airline information, but it had all of the information for the hotels and rest of the travel plans on it. So while taxi & van drivers were accosting us, we’re trying to figure out how to get to our hotel. Mona remembered the name of the place and so I tried using the trusty old Guanxi to get the phone number of the Universal Resort. Message came back and said that they were sorry, but nothing matched my request. While looking for the message, I found one in my inbox that said Universal on it. Opened it up and it was the text message that Mona had received confirming our reservations with contact information for the hotel. One of the taxi drivers dialed the number and handed the phone to Mona. She tried to talk to them to verify our reservations, and wasn’t having much luck. Finally got it across that we were at the airport and they said that they would send a van for us. We thanked the cab driver and tried to tip him, but he would not have any of it. Went back inside for a Coke and an ice cream bar. One of the airport guys was very worried about us just sitting around and standing outside. He was there when the driver called to say that he was going to be 10-minutes later that we were told and translated for us. At about the appointed time the phone rang again and it was the driver. He was looking for us, he spoke no English and so to help him out, it I told him “Sa Mi Gook” which means “Four Americans.” Only problem was that I was 1500-miles too far southwest for it to do me any good. Most Chinese don’t understand Korean. Anyway, we made the connection and headed for Yulong Bay, which is only about a 30-minute drive from the airport. We started paralleling the shore and saw quite a few nice looking hotels. There was this one with this huge dome and elephants out front. Then the driver turned in to the driveway. It was our hotel. The entryways were huge crossed fake elephant tusks, and the whole lobby was in an African style. The rooms are also African style with Zebra skin designed rugs, chairs and headboard. Each of our rooms has both an ocean view to the south (left) and mountains to the north. Mona did good! Had a quick walk down to the beach, nice sand beach and from the looks of it, quite a few water sports available. Back to the hotel where we found out that they have a poolside barbeque every evening. Went a bit overboard, OK, we attacked it, but it was some real good food. Some of the best rolls that we have had in a long time and everyone kind of pigged out on them. Back to the room and watched Broke Back Mountain. Not a real rip-roaring action adventure film, actually kind of slow throughout. Don’t know if all the hoopla is about the acting (which was good), the cinematography (also good) or simply the subject matter. Looking forward to relaxing here for a few days.
Day 19: 11-Feb-06 – Saturday, Sanya
Nobody got up early today. Entirely missed breakfast, hell, we even missed brunch. Had lunch then headed down to the beach. Walked along the shore until we got to the boardwalk where we decided to see what we could go do/see. Looking over the menu, we could go snorkeling or on a bottom walk. We could go parasailing; ride the banana boat or flying fish. All of these activities entailed getting wet. Water was not all that cold, but it wasn’t all that warm either. Then when you add in trying to find wetsuit with my size then imagine how I would look in a form-fitting piece of foam rubber, you begin to see why we decided to go underwater sightseeing in a semi-submersible boat. We bought our tickets got our two copies and headed out on the pier. Halfway out a guy took one of our tickets and we continued on to the next guy who took the other part in trade for a hard foam life jacket. The first one he put on me he couldn’t get the ties around me. OK, lets get something straight. I am overweight, but I’m not a walrus. Some people do hide behind me when the wind is especially cold and blustery and I can provide a small bit of relief from the heat on sunny days. He finally found a size 5-extra huge that was plenty big enough. We sat down to wait for the boat with the rest of the people who were going on our tour. We finally got on the boat, which took us out to the semi-submersible. It is really just a boat with a very deep, narrow hull with window and seats along the outside. There were a lot of small colorful fish, coral and anemones, but no large fish. Still it was an interesting 15-20 minutes. Back on shore, we got some ice cream and enjoyed the sport of people watching. I would venture to guess that 95% of Chinese women, both young and old go for a one-piece swimming suit that is reminiscent of the 1960’s. The men however, seemed to prefer Speedo’s! The majority other non-Asian people were Russians and there women seem to prefer the two piece models. Doesn’t matter what size or shape you come in; you come to the beach or spa in your two-piece. I have to say that I secretly admire their spirit and wish I felt comfortable enough to wear a Speedo in public. I don’t think that I could wear one in my own hot tub if there are other people present. Back to the hotel to rest – this sun & sea stuff is very tiring. Looked over some tours for the next couple of days then when down to the buffet for dinner. Didn’t over do it as bad this time, but still did not stop soon enough. Walked over to the hotel behind ours, the Cactus Hotel, which has the largest swimming pool in China. Watched the dancing fountains and then headed back for a DVD then to bed.
Day 20: 12-Feb-06 – Sunday, Sanya
Another late start to another lazy day. Had lunch then I napped while the Erin & Dan went down to the pool to go swimming. Went down and joined them, well not actually joined them, just sat in the pool chairs and napped. By that time is was almost time to go clean up before heading down for dinner. Afterwards, Mona got on line and arranged for our tours. Watched some of the local fireworks, then to bed.
Day 21: 13-Feb-06 – Monday, Sanya
Up early and down for breakfast by 8:30AM and then met our guide Caddie at 9:30. First visit was to Monkey Island (Nanwan Monkey Isletin Xincun). Took the cable car over and could see some monkeys in the trees and on the ground below us. Think they are Macaques. When we got off of the lift, Caddie warned us about getting things out of our bags or sticking our hands in our pockets as that is a sign to the monkeys that we had some food. She also said that if one jumped on our back, to just remain calm and when the monkey figures out that you don’t have food, they would leave. I seemed to remember from some Discovery Channel or National Geographic that Macaques are aggressive and highly territorial. This was soon proved out when we heard a huge amount of screaming, then a adult monkey came running through our group with a baby in it’s mouth, with an entire band of monkeys chasing it. When they caught up to it, it dropped the baby and the fur started to fly. The lone monkey finally got away and took off, but the group postured and screamed until they were sure that he was gone. Erin was not really afraid of the monkeys, just rather uncomfortable. This display did nothing to put her at ease. We wandered around the area, visited the monkey jail and watched a monkey comedy show. I am always impressed by how smart a primate is. Back to the mainland via small open ferry through a large number of boats. These are the type of boats that people live on their entire lives. They were arranged or tied together to form passageways for smaller boats to travel. Back into Sanya for a traditional Chinese lunch. Tried to tell Caddie that we didn’t want any shellfish or tofu since Erin is allergic to the former and Mona the latter. Didn’t really do much good, but they managed to pick around what was there and didn’t starve. Went for a walk around town before Caddie’s husband picked us up to take us out to the Nantian Hot Springs. We got into our spa outfits and headed out to the pools. There are probably over 30 different pools of mineral water, some still and some that have water jets. We tried a still one for a while, then moved on to one with a large jet in the middle. There was a sign at each pool telling you the name and the temperature. You usually had two choices 32 to 38 & 39 to 43 degrees C. That makes them 90 to 100 & 103 to 109 degrees F. Most were clear, but one was called Coconut Milk Pool and the water was the color of very thin coconut milk. For some reason, this one felt really good on the knees, which were pretty sore from all of the walking we have been doing. Right next to this pool was another one called the Coffee Pool. It was a dark mineral colored pool that was reminiscent of the water in the river we swam in when we visited Auyan Tepui & Angel Falls in Venezuela. Tried a couple more pools, had a drink, wandered around before heading back to get changed and meet our guide at 6:00PM. Decided that we didn’t want the buffet at the hotel, so we walked over to the Holiday Inn and had their dinner instead.
Day 22: 14-Feb-06 – Tuesday, Sanya
We were supposed to meet Caddie at 9:30AM for today’s tour. About ten minutes before the appointed time, we got a text message telling us to wear shorts, bring a change of clothing and spare shoes. Talking to her, we found out that she had a trek through the local version of jungle and it was going to be hiking through water and mud. We didn’t have the clothes to spare and no one had spare shoes so we opted out of this tour. Since we had slept in a little to long, we went back and had breakfast before walking over to the beach again. Had lunch at the Holiday Inn on the way back and then Mona & Erin went to work getting our hotels and transportation to Hong Kong. The plan was to take a bus up to the north end of the island, where we would board a train that would then board a ferry for the trip to the mainland. The train then exits the ferry and would continue on to Guangzhou and Hong Kong. It was sold out for tomorrow. New plan, we would fly to Hong Kong. That done, we walked to the Horizon Resort for dinner with McDonalds. Not at, with. They were having a company meeting there so we sat and watched all of the party games that the Asians are so fond of, while having a good dinner with the best waitress we have had since we came to China. She was there when you needed something, when you glass was not full, removed your plates as soon as you were done, but just never seemed to be around. She was kind of like those cabin stewards that must hide in your closet on cruise ships. Walked the 1.6-km (1-mile) back to the hotel then basically fell into bed.
Day 23: 15-Feb-06 – Wednesday, Sanya – Hong Kong
Today is travel day between Sanya & Hong Kong. Up at 7:15AM, down for breakfast, up to finish final packing and then down to checkout. We had put both rooms on one credit card, and the hotel was very concerned that we were trying to pay before Daniel & Erin had come down so that the Chinese hanger police could go in and verify that we did not have the television or rug in our luggage. – When we were in Nanchang a few years ago, the hotel was very upset with us when we when to check out and there was one hanger missing from our room. It took nearly 15-minutes to get them to understand that there was an extra hanger in the room next door that we had taken over there to hang clothes on. If they simply took the extra hanger from that room and put it in our room their hanger count would come out right. They did not understand this concept and were insistent that there was a hanger missing. “Yes, there are only five hangers in our room, but there are seven hangers in the adjoining room. Take one hanger from room ‘B’ and put it in room ‘A’, then do your hanger count again”. I thought that there next step was going to be for them to search our luggage, but someone finally put two & two together (more correctly seven minus one followed by five plus one) and came up with the sixth hanger for our closet. – Caddie was waiting outside to take us to the Marriott Hotel so that we could use our credit card to pay for the tickets. Not something that can just be done anywhere. That done, we headed for town, but part way there, Caddie pulled over, stopped the car, got out and her husband got in and finished the drive to the airport. At the airport, we had to ask where to go to check in as it was not real apparent, and were told to go to the left. To the left was a sort of glass walled room with doors that were closed but not locked, so we went right in. Looked like a normal departure lounge, complete with the departure and customs forms. Filled all of them out, then headed up to the first counter to wait for someone to show up to them. Finally, a crew of people came out of the background and started to settle into their appointed locations. First order of business was to tell all of us to move back behind the line. No, not that line, the line way back by the door where there was another little booth now manned by someone that wanted another little form filled out that we had not seen earlier. Back to the wall, get the form, fill it out and back to the person to whom we testified that we had not been playing with chickens nor did we have a fever. We had to show our passports I believe four times before we were on board the plane. Don’t think that they want any mainland Chinese trying to escape to Hong Kong. Flight was not all long, and we arrived at the Hong Kong airport without any problems. The problem came when we tried to get cash. You need Hong Kong dollars. Hong Kong is part of China. They are very explicit about this fact that it was only ‘leased’ by the British for 99-years back in 1898. However, the Chinese RMB is not accepted in Hong Kong and the mainland Chinese need a special visa to visit there. The ATM would not accept our cards, so we went called the hotel to arrange for a shuttle, which we put on our hotel bill. OK, we are finally out of the airport and on our way to the hotel when Mona told us (admitted) that she had booked us into the Metropole Hotel. If this rings a bell with anyone, it is because that is where the first case of SARS was reported. She tried to make up for it by booking us on the Executive Floor. Hotel was a little ways out from downtown Kowloon and a bit of a walk to the subway, but they did have a downtown shuttle that left on the hour from 7:00AM until 10:00PM, returning on the half hours. That evening we met up with Connie, whom Erin knew through some friends who work for Nike. She took us to this Thai restaurant that we would have never found on our own. Food was great and we all had a good time. Finally back home for a shower and some sleep.
Day 24: 16-Feb-06 – Thursday, Hong Kong – Macau – Hong Kong
Decided that since today was going to be the only day that rain wasn’t forecast for, we would take the ferry over to Macau for the day. Not that we really knew what we were going to do, but it seemed like the thing to do at the time. The ferry was pretty quick, traveling about 45mph, making the trip from Hong Kong in just over a hour. Going through customs both Daniel and I had different security guards examine our passports with a magnifying glass before putting in the entry stamp. Finally got though and decided that we were hungry. That meant that we first needed to get some Hong Kong dollars changed over to Macau Patacas, then find someplace to eat. Started walking until we found an ATM and then headed out in search of the food. Found a store that said that it had a food court, which sounded like just the thing. Not quite the real thing. It’s not that I don’t like Chinese food, but it really didn’t appeal to any of us at the time. Heading out, we ran across something that looked like a sandwich shop on the ground floor. Turned out to be a really nice placed. The menu just gave the types of breads, meats, cheeses, dressings and condiments available; then you picked one from column A, one from column B, etc.. There was rye bread, corned beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut & spicy mustard and I had been real hungry for a Ruben sandwich. Next words our of her mouth were ‘mei you’ – not have. They can be such teases. I settled for ham and pastrami minus the kraut. Sandwiches were really good, but huge so I decided to save half for later. Didn’t work; I ate it all. Only Mona was strong enough not to eat the whole thing. Had looked up to see if there were any caches in Macau before we left and had a couple that we thought we might try. The first was only 500 meters away but across a street and on top of the highest hill in Macau. Not an obvious way up from this side, but there was a cable car on the opposite side that looked like the thing to do. Not that the hill was that high, but I’m a sucker for cable cars. Finally managed to locate the entrance and once on top, the cache was not that hard to find. Did our thing and took photos of ourselves with the camera in the cache. Walked down the path that took us back down into town. Just did a bit of walking around town just being tourists. Decided to walk out to the Macau Tower, which is the real highest point in Macau at 233-meters (765-feet) to the observation deck. It was not your normal tower in that they have excursions on the outside of the tower at observation level, not the usual outside observation deck, but a walk around the outside of the tower on a narrow walkway with you tethered to an overhead rail – no handrails just a 1.5-meter wide platform. You can also do a controlled jump from the 233-meter level, do a walk on the maintenance platforms under the tower, climb to the top of the mast on top of the tower – another 118-meters (that would put you 1151.57-feet above the concrete below). Down at the base of the tower they have a bungee trampoline, zip lines and have made the base of the tower itself into a climbing wall. Just didn’t have the time to take advantage of all these opportunities! Back to the ferry terminal and caught a earlier boat back to Hong Kong. Went over to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner and listened to another good Filipino cover band for awhile before heading back to the hotel.
Day 25: 17-Feb-06 – Friday, Hong Kong
Today we went to Disneyland Hong Kong! Threat of rain today, but who cares! We’re going to Disneyland! Walked down to the MRT, took the subway to a second subway and transferred to the Mickey Mouse line. No kidding, the windows were shaped like Mickey Mouse, the rings on the hand straps were in the shape of Mickey Mouse, there were statues of all of the Disney characters on display in their little shrines all around the cars and the Mickey Mouse Club theme was playing on the intercom. Arrived at the Disneyland terminal it was a short 200-meter walk up to wide path to the fountain with Mickey surfing on the spout of a whale with the rest of the gang statueing around the edges. Then you turn left and walk another 100-meters or so to the front gate. You pass through the gates, through the tunnel under the railway and there you are on Main Mtreet USA. Looks pretty much like you are Disneyland at home, but with mono-colored heads of hair everywhere. Lots of shops selling everything and anything with a Disneyland logo on it. They have Tomorrow Land with Space Mountain, a Buzz Lightyear ride where two of you sit in a car that you can spin 360° and shoot you laser at targets to save the universe and Orbitron, a flying saucer ride that you make go up and down while pushing the little buttons to make sounds. Still building the U-drive-em cars. Fantasyland had the requisite castle, a merry-go-round, a Dumbo the flying elephant ride (same as the Orbitron but with elephants). Adventure Land had a jungle boat ride that when you approached the entrance, you were divided into three lines; Mandarin, Cantonese and English. Then you started through the maze and ended up with a guide who spoke the language of your line of choice. Whoa be it if you speak French or Russian or Botswanaese! Tarzan’s tree house was not quite like Skull Island at Six Flags. This one was more of everyone was in a line, then you got herded into a cattle pen, then you were herded onto a raft. When the raft got to the island, everyone scrambled off and started up the one-way path to visit the tree house. You pretty much had to move along with the flow of people, with only a few places to pull over to rest or let faster traffic pass. Then it was back in a line to get back on the raft and back over to the mainland. We did a couple of shows to sit down and get out feet up. Mickey’s Philharmagic was a 3D film during which you got to experience the wind, water and smells that were occurring on the screen through ports on the back of the seats in front of you. Interesting experience as it was all in English. Didn’t quite understand that unless it was simply the cost of changing it over to Mandarin or Cantonese or they just left is because so many people in Hong Kong speak some English. We also did the Lion King show, which was also in English, but with a couple of monkeys translating most of it into Chinese. Certainly made it nice for us. Another nice thing was that we went on a Friday just after the end of the Chinese New Years Golden week and the festival of the lanterns, so it wasn’t crowded which made the lives really short and most of the people there were young adults and us old folks. Sat on the curb on Main Street and watched the Disneyland on Parade parade. Cinderella, Snow White and Ariel (the Little Mermaid) were the only non-Asians of all the cast members. Not that it makes a bit of difference as to who plays Cinderella, Snow White or Ariel, just found it interesting. Mona had been looking for a small Steamboat Willie stuffed toy, but they only had the large side. She decided not to buy it as it was too big to carry all the way back home so she settled for some Steamboat Willie breath mints. Actually they were regular breath mints but in a tin with Steamboat Willie on the lid. Erin & Daniel had gone back to purchased him and surprised her with it as we were taking our final photos at the fountains. OK, it is not but about 1/6th the size of Disneyland back in the US, costs HK$295 weekdays / HK$350 weekends ($42/$50US), most of the rides are aimed at a slightly lower age group then the four of us, every ride, show or restaurant exits through a shop of some kind and there is only one western food restaurant (it’s in Tomorrow Land), but it was still a very enjoyable day.
Day 26: 18-Feb-06 – Saturday, Hong Kong
Slept in and didn’t make it out of the hotel in time to get breakfast, so we make it a Pizza Hut brunch to get fueled up for the day on Hong Kong island. Took the hotel shuttle downtown, walked over to the ferry terminal, paid our $0.28US ferry passage and were in downtown Hong Kong. Walked over to the tram, looking for a couple of geocaches on the way – no luck, too many people; to little signal. Took the cable car up to the top of the peak, but the restaurant that we had eaten at last time was being renovated. Luckily, there is a new shopping mall right next to it! Wandered through it a bit, found a few things that we could not live without, saw a Hard Rock store without a Hard Rock Cafe, had a McDonalds coke, took lots of photos and decided that the geocache up there was on the wrong side of the tracks and was down the hill a bit too far for our sore feet. Back downtown so that we could catch a bus out to Stanley Market. Erin discovered that she did not like sitting in the front seat on a double-decker bus traveling along a coastal road. Arrived a bit too late in the day to get the full effect, but did spot the coolie hats that Erin had been wanting. Back to the terminal, paid another 28¢ to get back to the Kowloon side and there we were at the Harbour City shopping area. Did a bit of shopping – saw a Portland State T-shirt for sale in one of the sporting goods stores – and hit the mother lode of Pez’s at Toys-‘Я’-Us. Daniel & Erin collect Pez (hence their Geocaching name, Pezheads). Glad that this was at the end trip as trying to keep 24 Pez from getting bend or damaged while packing them in suitcases can be a trick. Either we are going to have to enlarge the Pez Shrine at home or they are going to have to stop collecting Pez’s. Did a quick KFC run and hit Starbucks before heading off to the Temple Street Night Market – so called because it is open from 4PM to midnight. After walking up and down through the crowds and avoiding as many shopkeepers as possible, all we bought was a carryon size suitcase & a couple of small items that caught our fancy. Seems that we were running out of room for everything we brought/bought.
Day 27: 19-Feb-06 – Sunday, Hong Kong – Shanghai – Suzhou
Last day in Hong Kong and we were up relatively early, for us. Went out to McD’s for an Egg McMuffin before doing some last minute shopping. Found a couple of electronic Suduko games – nine squares of nine squares that you have to fill in with the numbers 1 through 9 so that they are used only once in the squares, but also have 1 through 9 used only once on any of the lines vertically and horizontally. Not really as hard as it sounds after the first 20 or so games, but can still be a challenge at the more advanced levels. Back to the hotel to pickup our bags and head for the airport. Got checked in and didn’t see much of anyplace to eat except for Popeye’s fried chicken. Not the tastiest I have had, but what made it worse was seeing the Burger King sign after we got our order and sat down to eat. Getting through security was an experience. Not really any trouble, just not a smooth process. I handed the first guard both boarding passes and passports. He flipped through both of them, handed them back to me and motioned me on. Then he stopped Mona and wanted her passport and boarding pass. I had to go back, hand it to her and then he looked at then again. Got the gate, sat down and a gate attendant came over and ask for our tickets. I handed her both tickets, she looked at them, checked them both off and handed them back to me. Then she went over to Erin & Daniel, ask them for theirs, checked and marked the off, then came back and ask Mona for hers. You know, I wouldn’t have gave it a second thought if Mona had not been sitting between Erin & I. Flight back to Shanghai was uneventful if you don’t count being in a exit row, being told to put your items under the seat in front of you, then being chastised for having your items under the seat in front of you. Erin’s bag went to the front of the plane, but Daniel refused to give up his camera bag, which had a lot of expensive equipment in it. They finally gave up and he kept his bag. I decided to skip the meal as the exit row seats have the trays in the arms and mine did not have enough room to clear my belly. Didn’t want to balance the tray and try to eat, and besides, if my belly was too big to get the tray down, I could probably stand to miss a meal or two, especially Chinese airline food. As we were walking down the stairs from the plane to the bus, a gentleman told us that Mona had dropped her red bag in the plane. She went back in and found her camera still sitting in her chair. Mr. Ni was right there waiting for us to take us back to Suzhou. Everyone was tired but feeling that we had been able to unwind a little bit.
Day 28: 20-Feb-06 – Monday, Suzhou
Up early and off to work for me. I found just over 400 emails awaiting my attention. I didn’t make it through a third of them while trying to catch up with what was done or not done while I was gone. They stayed at home getting the mass of laundry run through the 5-item at a time combination washer/doesn’t dry with a darn machine. Fong, Mona’s ayi came today and did her trice weekly thing. The kids found it kind of odd to continue to do whatever they were doing and having her flit around doing little or nothing. They did discover after she left that she did not understand that you have to turn shirts with decals inside out before you iron them. Also, folded it before it got cool, so when it was unfolded the decal had transferred to the opposing cloth. The shirt itself isn’t ruined, but bits of the decal are sure located in new places. Got home a little after 5PM and decided that it was a Jacks night. Jacks Place is down on bar street and is the best Italian that we have found anywhere in Asia. They make their own Italian sausage that runs from just the warm side of mild to just the mild side of hot, depending upon who makes it I guess. Got a call from another TA friend of mine and he ask if I was going to the TA conference in Bangkok next week. Hadn’t heard anything about it, but will have to check the rest of the emails tomorrow. Stopped by Yumway on the way back home to pickup some lunch stuff and then snuck next door to checkout the new DVD’s.
Day 29: 21-Feb-06 – Tuesday, Suzhou
Up early for me and off to work. Had to at least get a look at the rest of the emails and get the most pressing ones responded to. That took all day but I made it through them. Did find the invitation to the TA conference, so I responded and told Mona that she needed to get tickets. Erin is not too happy that they are leaving and then we go to Bangkok. They were also up early as they had a trip to Yixing Pottery town scheduled for today. They walked around and waiting, as Erin said, waiting for something to jump out at them. They both had noticed a white tea set with black writing. The process was a black clay base with wax for the figures then a white glaze. The firing process sets the glaze and melts out the wax leaving the black base exposed. Very pretty set. After they got back to Suzhou, then went over to Starbucks where they met up with some of the other expats. We ask Sarah & Louis to go to dinner with us, but Louis had other plans. Decided that we would try Zen’s for dinner tonight. Candie had raved about it, so we decided we’d go see what all the fuss was about. It is upscale Chinese food and by carefully looking at the pictures, Erin’s Chinese, consulting the translator and making a couple of good guesses, we managed to get some excellent food. When we got done eating we noticed that it was raining hard so we decided to sit it out and just talk. It finally got down to a moderate Portland drizzle so we made our break for the taxis and headed home.
Day 30: 22-Feb-06 – Wednesday, Suzhou
Up early and back to work again, damn! Daniel wasn’t feeling entirely well, but they had to go down to Mei Mei’s to get silk for his mom, but she didn’t have what they thought his mother wanted. A call confirmed that what she wanted is not what they thought she wanted, and that what she did want Mei Mei didn’t have. They decided that they would get cashmere & silk bedspread along with four pillow covers made for themselves. Mi called to let us know that she had the tickets for Bangkok and a driver scheduled to take the kids to Shanghai at 5:00AM tomorrow. Dinner tonight was Papa John’s delivery; the activity was blogging & DVD’s. Hope Daniel feels better tomorrow and does not have a fever or they will be staying longer than they planned.
Day 31: 23-Feb-06 – Thursday
Four AM came way too soon. Everyone got up and started scurrying around getting the last minutes done. Daniels fever was down, but Mona was going to go over with them, just in case. I really think it was to spend absolutely as much time a possible with them. After 31-days, it is going to be lonesome without them around. Granted, we should be back home in 4-weeks, but still going to miss them. We functioned pretty well as two adult couples. Didn’t have but a couple of rough spots that blew over quickly and everyone was pretty easy going when it came to deciding what to do. There were some things that some of us may have wanted to see or do, but over all, we, Mona & I thought that things went well. I guess I should read Erin’s blog & see what their version is. They left for the airport and I went back to bed for another hour & a half before it was time for me to get up again and go to work. Not having much fun there and I’m sure that Mona is going to be down when she gets back from Shanghai without the kids. We are going to have to start cooking at home to eat up all of the expensive western food that we have acquired. Finally got an exit date of March 17th so we can now start packing and getting things ready to head back home. Don’t know what, where, when or how long the next assignment will be. Do need to take care of some personal as well as some family business. So, if there isn’t a job on the immediate horizon, we plan to take off some vacation and some of the overtime that I have deferred during this project and make it worth loosing the tax break for this year. |
