Shanghai Aquarium

I'll miss you, May!

I don’t really get to spend much time with my good friend May anymore; however, I wanted the chance to hang out before going back to the States.  On Thursday, May was sweet enough to take a day of work so we could hang out.  We talked about doing a day trip somewhere, but decided instead to stay in Shanghai and check out the Shanghai Aquarium.  (This ended up being the perfect plan, because sandwiched between a blue sky, beautiful Wednesday and a warm & dry Friday, we had a rainy miserable Thursday – being inside was a good thing.)

Dark, cloudy and rainy!

The Shanghai Aquarium is right next to the Oriental Pearl Tower in Pudong. As we were walking by the tower, I realized in my time in Shanghai, I have only been over to the area near the tower about four times.  Every time, it happened to be wet, cloudy and miserable.  So this is how the tower has always looked to me when ever I have seen it up close and personal.  (I have yet to actually bother going inside.)

We arrived at the aquarium, bought our tickets (160 rmb/adult) and noticed that we were just in time for the shark feeding on the feeding schedule! Yippee!  We asked where the shark tank was and learned about the one downfall of the aquarium – one way traffic.  You start out on the third floor of the aquarium and work your way down and through the three levels of exhibits – once you pass through you can’t go back.  The shark tank, of course, was at the end.  So we weren’t able to watch them feed the sharks but it was still a great trip to the aquarium.

This is a sea apple.

There was a special exhibit of dangerous sea animals, lots of funky looking poisonous fish, electric eels, sea urchins and little shell fish that you would never imagine had venom in them capable of killing hundreds of humans.

No offense, but you are sort of ugly....

Funny lookin' poisonous fish

There was an alligator (or crocodile, I don’t really know the difference) that was laying there SO still, I swore he was dead.  He had obviously been laying there for awhile because someone had thrown a coin on him and it was laying on his back.  May said he was definitely alive… I had my doubts.

Can you see the silver coin on his back?

One of my favorite parts was the jellyfish section, huge tanks full of beautiful jellyfish of all different sizes and colors.  They are such fascinating looking creatures, floating about, gliding effortlessly through the water.  One of the huge tanks of hundreds of clear/white colored jellyfish was illuminated by lights that changed colors, making the entire tank and jellyfish look like they were changing colors.

Gorgeous and colorful!

May gazing at the jellyfish.

jellyfish

In the SOS (save our sharks) exhibit, there were graphic images of the brutalities sharks face as they are hunted for shark fin soup, a delicacy in Asian countries.  There was also one of the most fascinating things I have ever seen, live fertilized, developing shark eggs.  Okay, so maybe eggs aren’t the most fascinating thing ever… but this certain type of shark actually develops and hatches from an egg.  The aquarium had eggs at their different developmental stages on display with light shining through them so you could actually SEE what was going on inside the egg.  In the first several stages, there was still a yolk inside the egg with the little teeny shark embryo.  The eggs from 41-50 days old were the best I thought, because you could see the yolk, and then around the yolk you could see a little teeny baby shark swimming around inside the egg.  I was fascinated!  In the later stages of development, you could see the little shark (and if definitely looked like the body of a little shark) just cramped up inside the egg ready to be freed into the world.  Awesome.

That is a shark swimming around a yolk in an egg. Fascinating.

My other favorite section was the “World Longest Underwater Viewing Tunnel at 155m” as the sign said.  The tunnel is broken up into sections and different sections feature different types of fish and sea life.  An area with huge schools of fish swimming super fast in circles around you, an area with a coral reef and lots of small colorful fish, and of course the best part, the huge sharks, giant sea turtles and graceful stingrays.  Have you ever been in a glass tunnel with a shark swimming above your head, so close you could touch it, or with a huge sea turtle (that probably weighed way more than me) swimming straight at you?  It is pretty amazing.  Unfortunately, with my fussy, broken camera and the fast swimming animals, my attempts to photograph the experience didn’t work so well.

Schools of fish swimming all around me!

So it isn't the best picture... but he is lookin' straight at me. If it weren't for the glass above my head, I may have been lunch!

I did spend a long time in that tunnel, just in awe of the beautiful, stunning, creatures of the sea.  I had heard good things about the Shanghai Aquarium and I am really glad I took the opportunity to check it out.  It is well laid out, everything is in English as well as Chinese, the displays and amount of animals you get to see are quite impressive.  I would absolutely recommend it if you are hanging out in Shanghai on a rainy day and need a good indoor activity.

What a cute little lizard!

After the aquarium, May and I headed to the Super Brand Mall where we feasted on delicious dim sum at Bi Feng Tang for lunch.

India: Animals

India is a different world.  I was told that before I left, and after being there I certainly believe it.  One of the characteristics of India that makes it unlike any other place I have ever visited, the animals. Yes, you are correct, there are animals everywhere; and none of the animals I saw in India are specific to or unique of India.  However, in most of my experiences, animals don’t just wander the streets in the middle of cities, or towns.  There are dogs on the streets in Thailand, Mexico and many other places, we have street cats in China, and I’m sure in villages in much of the third world farm animals are more prevalent than I am accustom.  But I was blown away by the abundance of animals roaming around India.

In India, walk down any street and there are animals, all sorts of animals, and they are everywhere.  Hinduism – which is prevalent in India – says that cows are sacred which means they aren’t killed, they aren’t eaten for beef and they pretty much are free to roam and live as they please.  Walking down the street nearby our hotel we ran in to many cows.  I will never forget how odd it was to be approached by a calf in the middle of the street.

No fear in this cow, as she walked right up to me!

Yet, cows aren’t the only ones roaming around.  There are goats and sheep in front yards, store fronts filled with cages upon cages of chickens, water buffalo pulling loads down the street, and even a horse pulling a cart in the middle of the city of Bangalore – right down the middle of a busy, popular shopping street.

Nothing out of the ordinary here, for India...

I watched a women using her entire weight, pulling on a calf trying to get it to move.  I watched a man walking a goat on a rope down the road.  While sitting in house church services in villages, the sounds of sheep and goats outside the door were common.  In fact, one evening, someone had to get up and shoo away the couple of sheep that were attempting to walk in the wide open front door and join our service.  Just another day in the life when you are living in India, I guess.

Boy and goat

While the orphanage and the church both owned dogs, most dogs seemed to be strays, eating trash and looking pretty grungy.  I used my foot move a teeny, filthy puppy out of the middle of the road one day.  It was just laying there half asleep, and I watched it almost get run over twice in about a two minute time frame.

Scroungin' for lunch

This guy's not roaming far....

I even, by a stroke of luck, managed to spot a bright green parrot-looking bird chilling in a palm tree one day.  Unfortunately, it was too far away to get a good shot of on my camera.  I heard it’s cry, turned and looked in the precise direction, at exactly the right moment to spot it’s bright green feathers amongst the darker green palm leaves while we were walking down the street.

India: Faces

I have been home from India for four days and I have yet to post.  Honestly, I’m a bit overwhelmed by thinking about what to even say about India.  It was an amazing trip, it was spiritual, moving, uplifting, eye-opening, and, surprisingly, even relaxing.  I have been really stressed and confused in life the past couple months, but after a minor break down at the beginning of the trip, I was given this peace, a stillness in my mind, in my heart that allowed me to just BE.  It allowed me to be present in India, to relax and take in the moments.

Taking in the beauty! On the road leaving the orphanage. Not a bad shot considering it was taken while reaching my camera around someone else to take a snap out the window of a moving vehicle!

There was a bit of a cultural adjustment while we were there, the eight American adults all with a love and a drive to go-go-go were not always keen on the relaxed, we will get there when we get there, I know we said 4pm, but it will probably be more like 6pm or maybe 7pm culture.  There was a lot of waiting, a lot of sitting around being served tea and coffee when we wanted to go DO SOMETHING.  But through it all, I was relaxed, I was less impatient than I think I have ever been in my life (okay, with one or two exceptions).  I was soaking up being there!  And soaking up a bit of the sunshine.  I was enjoying the company I was in, conversations, laughs, and just getting to know the group I was traveling with.

India is full of color.

From the first day, one of the things I loved about India was the people.  Not only are they amazingly friendly, hospitable and kind, but they are beautiful.  The dark skin, dark big eyes and brightly colored clothing make them incredibly photogenic.  But it goes deeper, their lives are written on their faces.  The hard lives they live, their stories, their struggles and their burdens.  They appear older than they are, even the children sometimes look like they have so much history, so much experience and maturity but they are stuck in a child’s frame.  They are full of character, of life, of stories and of beauty.  I was in awe of the radiance I saw in each face, I longed to take a picture of every person just to capture the unique features, wrinkles, colors, and emotions distinctive to each individual.

I would love to hear all the stories behind their faces.

It wasn’t always appropriate to take a picture and sometimes I didn’t when I wished I could have.  But luckily the children were always more than willing to have their photo’s taken, at the orphanage they would beg and beg, pleading with me to take just one more shot!  With a lot of my people pictures I made a quick video to share. I have uploaded this video to Facebook, but you can access it from the link below. Please check it out to see some of the beautiful people I met in India.

http://www.facebook.com/v/2633274466538

Boys at the orphanage

A typical scene: sheep, a child and mom in front of their house.

Top 11 in 2011

2011 was a crazy and adventurous year for me.  11 days into 2011, I embarked on a journey which not only inspired this blog, but has changed my life.  On January 11, 2011, I said good-bye to family and friends and left for a year (or more) in Shanghai.  As my first year in China and 2011 come to an end, I want to reflect on some of the memories I have from the last year of my life (in China).

Of course, I will include links to my blogs which originally recorded these memories in case you missed them.

1. Hong Kong-

Hong Kong

After taking off from the States, before arriving at my destination for the year, I spent five days in beautiful Hong Kong.  Traveling alone is never easy, but I had a couple motives for being there.  First, to get my visa for China.  I left on a plane to Asia before actually having my Chinese visa needed to enter the country.  Secondly,  I managed to time my trip and my move to China to coincide with my friend Irene’s wedding in Hong Kong.

Sightseeing on my own!

When I walked off the plane in Hong Kong, alone, in a city and country I didn’t know, where they spoke a language I didn’t know, with two huge suitcases full of everything I thought I needed for a year abroad, I remember having this thought, “What the expletive did I just get myself into?”

The LONG cable car ride!

2. Chinese New Year (another post) -

Shortly after arriving in China and starting my job teaching at Kid Castle, I had 11 days off of work for the Chinese New Year holiday.  It was a difficult time as the few people I had met in Shanghai had left town, and I was in a strange place by myself with nothing to do.  But it gave me the chance to explore my new home, write lots of blogs and experience what Shanghai had to offer.  And, naturally, gaze in wonder and delight at the millions, or billions of fireworks lit off around Shanghai for the occasion.  The most remarkable fireworks I have ever seen, and they went on for hours and hours, and days and days…

Fireworks below my bedroom window!

3. Day trips & Exploring -

Whether exploring Shanghai on my own, going to Suzhou with friends or Hangzhou with my mom & Matt, I’ve had a lot of fun seeing China through little day trips and outings to explore my city and the surrounding areas.

Suzhou

Sitting on a bus with my friend Roger, counting the minutes until our train leaves, wondering if the bus driver will ever pull into the Suzhou train station he is circling, then running as fast as we can through the station only to miss our train was one of the most hilarious moments I can remember this year.  The hilarity was only magnified  as Roger captured the whole event on video on his iphone.

Finding greenery, nature and the cherry blossoms of spring in a park in Shanghai, outside the hustle and bustle of the center of the city with Adam, Yumi and friends from their school.

Zhujiajiao

Wandering around the beautiful, ancient water town of Zhujiajiao with my mom and Matt, negotiating with a rickshaw driver to get us into the center of town, finding amazing hole in the wall restaurants, taking loads of pictures, buying souvenirs and people watching.

4. Food and Beer -

I once heard that there are over 45,000 restaurants in Shanghai.  I believe it.  And there are probably two new ones opening, and one closing down just about every day.  You can get a meal for under a dollar in Shanghai, or you can pay over $100 (USD) per person.  I have eaten street food (which doesn’t even count as a restaurant) for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  I bought breakfast for three for under $2. I have paid about $8 for a cup of coffee, not espresso, nothing fancy just a boring cup of bad coffee.  I have paid over $12 for a glass of wine and $10 for a beer.

Coffee

Shanghai has amazing cuisine from all over China.  If, right now, you are sitting in the US thinking to yourself “I don’t like Chinese food”, you have never been to China.  Chinese food could be anything!  There are so many different amazing, delectable, weird and perhaps disgusting foods that originate from all over China.  I love Chinese food, there is so much variety in Chinese food.  The girl who never could tolerate spicy food in the first 28 years of her life picked a Sichuan restaurant for her 29th birthday dinner, and ordered bullfrog!

Pomegranate flowers

Craving something different?  Shanghai is an international city, the choices of cuisine are endless.  I have eaten French, German, Greek, Korean, Jamaican, Mexican, American, Nepali, Italian, Indonesian, Japanese, Thai, Taiwanese and Turkish food in Shanghai.

I love to eat, I love good food and I love good drinks.  So many great memories are formed over delicious food and beverages.

Cheers!

I have my favorites, I have my go-to comfort food locations, I have the locations that are convenient for quick meals while I’m working, but there are so many more places to explore and try!

5. Qingdao -

For the Dragon Boat Festival in June, I was able to get out of the big city of Shanghai for a couple days and visit  the little town of Qingdao (population 8.7 million) with a couple of my friends and co-workers.  It was a great time, despite dreary wet weather, to see another part of this huge country, hang out with friends, and enjoy the beer capital of China.

Yes, this is China - Not Europe. Qingdao!

We explored the town of Qingdao, got a ride from a stranger in a downpour and thunderstorm when there were no taxis to be found, ate Shandong cuisine, drank beer from a plastic bag, explored the famous Laoshan (Lao Mountain or 崂山) and did some shopping.

Fun on the beach in Qingdao

6. Familiar Faces -

Moving halfway across the world by yourself is nerve-wracking, even for the bravest and most adventurous souls. While I have met many people in Shanghai and made many friends, it was a great pleasure to have some familiar faces in Shanghai with me for most of my first year in China.

Adam and Yumi Bray were here the longest.  Adam and Yumi both graduated from Portland State’s Master’s of International Management program with me in 2010.   They actually met in the program and afterwards got married and moved to Shanghai to study Chinese.  While we were never close during the MIM program we became great friends while living in Shanghai.  I loved going shopping and getting massages with Yumi, and when Adam was around there was always beer to drink and trouble to cause.  Unfortunately, (for me) Adam and Yumi moved back to the States just before Christmas, but they will always be a part of my 2011 memories.

Salman was also in the MIM program with us.  He came over on the same program as Adam and Yumi to learn Chinese. After about 5 months in Shanghai, Salman moved to Beijing to pursue employment opportunities there.  I miss the laughter that always comes with hanging out with Salman, but I know he isn’t too far away.  I will always remember seeing him walking towards me on Wangfujing in the middle of Beijing and telling my mom, amidst thousands of Asian faces, “He is the one right there, with the dark hair!” when my mom, May and I met up with him in September for some delicious hot pot.

Junyi is originally from Beijing, and moved back to Beijing this past year (also after graduating from the MIM with Adam, Yumi, Salman and me).  Being in a different part of the country didn’t keep him for coming down and visiting us in Shanghai, from calling me at 2am or from being a familiar face for me in China.  He showed us around Beijing, and always provides fun, excitement and laughter.

The 5 MIMers eating Sichuan food and drinking beer for my birthday in Shanghai!

I was so happy to have my early birthday dinner in Shanghai with four of my friends from grad school!

7. My Sister’s Wedding -

The biggest event of the year! And it wasn’t in China.  The end of June, I flew back to Portland, Oregon to spend two rushed, busy, crazy weeks with family and friends.  Birthdays, the fourth of July, a bachelorette party and the most amazing wedding I have ever attended.  On July 9th, 2011, my big sister married the man of her dreams.

A happy bride and groom

Gorgeous girls!

Not only was the setting beautiful, the decorations beautiful, the bride beautiful and the wedding party looking pretty hot, but it was an awesome time with spent with family and new extended family, friends and loved ones.

8. Mommy!

Another highlight of my year, was having my mom and her husband Matt come visit me in China for about 12 days.  It was really a dream come true for all of us.  My mom and Matt had both long dreamed of someday visiting China, my mom of course also has always wanted to come visit me in the places I have gone.  It was my dream to have family come see my life here, show them around and introduce them to the things and places which are part of my everyday life that I have grown to love.

Nothing was as exciting as the moment my mom and Matt appeared in the subway station by my house, me waiting anxiously to greet them! (Excuse my blurry cell phone pic)

It was an action-packed vacation!  No rest for the jet-lagged! On their first day of travel they journeyed by private car, plane, high speed train, subway, public bus, taxi and foot.

On their first full day in China, I had them out of bed and on the road before 7am, I don’t think I stopped going until after they were back in the States!  Hangzhou, Shanghai, Zhujiajiao, a bullet train to Beijing and the Great Wall.  Villages, cities, temples, gardens, historical sites, modern China, food, beer, coffee and probably a zillion photographs between the three of us shutterbugs.

My mom and me at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing

Two of my greatest weeks in China were spent with my mom, showing her around and discovering new places with her.  Now, she just needs to come back so we can do it again!

Climbing the Great Wall

9. Taiwan -

Another National holiday, another week off work, another chance to see the world!  In October, I escaped the millions of Chinese traveling for National Day and landed in Taiwan.  Whether or not Taiwan is in fact the same country as China, I will let you debate on your own.  But I happen to know they do not celebrate or recognize October 1st, the date of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. Therefore, I found it the perfect opportunity to go visit friends and be shown around the beautiful island of Taiwan.

Sun Moon Lake

Five days in not enough to see all Taiwan has to offer, and it certainly isn’t enough to eat all the food they have to offer (although I tried…) Despite being a quick trip, I was able to enjoy a relaxing vacation in Taiwan.  I saw bits of Taipei (even though the weather tried to keep me from it), I had dinner with more MIM alumni living in Taiwan, I visited Taichung (the home town of my friend May who I was traveling with), I explored the village and surrounding area of Houli by bike, I saw my co-worker and friend Osteen’s home town of Caotun, the beautiful Sun Moon Lake and the town of Jiji, famous for being rocked by a horrific earthquake in 1999.

10. New Friends -

I have met so many wonderful people in Shanghai.  Chinese and foreigners like me.  Some grew up here, some came for a short time, some came for a long time, some have come and gone in the year that I have been here.  I have gotten to know amazing co-workers at Kid Castle, like my Chinese colleagues who always make me laugh, and the other foreign teachers who are each on their own adventure in a place so different from their homes.

Some co-workers and me at Qiandao Lake

May and me on the Bund

I have created amazing friendships and a church family through both of the churches I have attended in Shanghai, Shanghai Community Fellowship and Abundant Grace International Fellowship.  They have been my support and my lifeline in 2011 and I know I have found some lifelong friends in them.

I stumbled upon the perfect apartment on smartshanghai.com and in doing so found a great friend and roommate who I have lived with for the past 11 months.

All my new friends in Shanghai have given me wonderful memories of 2011!

11. My Kids -

I came to China with a job, a job to teach Chinese kids English.  I had never taught before in my life, I had been around kids, worked with kids, dealt with kids, but never had to control a classroom of 20 children that didn’t understand my language.  My students have been a huge part of my life for the past year.  They have made me smile and laugh, they have made me angry and frustrated, they have made me cry and they have made my day.

How can you not love this face? He is also about the sweetest most loving boy in the world.

There are students who I only taught for a short time, subbing for another teacher, there are students who I have taught all year.  There are students I will greatly miss when I’m not longer teaching them, and students that I honestly probably won’t remember.

Brian, Howard, Gland, James, Jerry, Henry, Judie, Amy, Alina, Maxine and Lisa!

I have students who run across the school screaming my name to give me a hug every time they see me.  They can be delightful, they can be little spoiled brats, they can test my patience like nothing else, they can cause me to lose my voice.  Some of them I don’t think have ever retained or learned a word I told them, others are so smart they blow me away each day.

My year was full of memories at work with all my little Chinese students and my fantastic co-workers who made my job worthwhile.

I hope 2012 brings more memories and fantastic adventures in China and where ever life may take me.  Happy New Year!  I wish the best for you and your families this year as well!

1999 Taiwan

At 1:47am on September 21st 1999, a 7.6 magnitude earthquake hit Taiwan.  It killed over 2,400 people, injured over 11,000 and caused over US $10 billion in damages.

Why am I telling you about something that happened in Taiwan over 10 years ago when there are so many natural disasters striking other parts of the world on a regular basis (for instance the huge earthquake that just hit Turkey a couple days ago)?  When I was in Taiwan, I visited Jiji, a small town in Nantou province which was the epicenter of the earthquake.  Twelve years later of course, you don’t see the destruction the earthquake caused.  However, Jiji still has one reminder of the powerful earthquake.

The town has left one building, a temple, in the condition that it was in after the quake.  If you have never seen the power of mother nature it is quite the sight to see.

The town is building a new temple which is not yet completed, in a site right next to the old temple.  This is the new temple – and apparently the old temple was just as tall (about 3 stories).

May and me in front of the new temple

Behind it is the old temple.

The three stories of the old temple basically just collapsed onto the first floor.

The temple crushed by the earthquake.

You can walk all the way around the temple, see how the building fell and also the cables and ropes that have been added to keep the temple from continuing to fall apart.

Notice the concrete columns essentially broken in half

When you walk around the back of the temple, it is amazing to see up close the destruction from the strong force of the earthquake.  The concrete columns between the first and second floor of the temple have completely bent in half, as the top of the temple moved forward and collapsed down.

The concrete column between the first and second floor, crushed and the reinforcing (steel?) rods bent in half.

Another view - the second story - laying flat on top of the first story.

The statue in front of the temple

This is just one building that was affected by a 7.6 magnitude earthquake that struck 8 kilometers underground.  I can’t fathom the original destruction caused by this quake, or the destruction caused by many of the recent quakes of an even larger scale.  This temple serves as a reminder that the destruction, loss and terror caused by mother nature doesn’t just go away with the news reports or when there is another story that hits the front page.  The disasters caused by mother nature can be indescribable, the healing and recovery can last for years.

My friend, Doug, who is living in Japan, wrote about this in his blog (http://www.dougbonham.com/) after he had the life changing opportunity to go volunteer with clean-up in Japan – six months after the tsunami.

One Fine Day in Taiwan

My Wednesday in Taiwan started out slowly, as did most of the days on my relaxed vacation.  We had wandered around the night market in Taichung (台中) until about midnight, so we slept late and weren’t in a huge rush to get moving.  We grabbed a quick breakfast near May’s house, then waited around for about 20 minutes for a bus before we decided to go looking for a taxi to get us into the city.  Apparently there aren’t many city buses going out near May’s family’s house – and taxi’s weren’t easy to find either.

Burning paper money in the street - stacks and stacks of it.

But I did get to snap a few shots of a couple burning paper money (a sacrifice to whichever god they were wanting a blessing from).  Apparently, the gods of Taoism enjoy when you burn paper money, cars, boats and other material goods for them. (Not actual items but paper representations of them.)

Round trip train tickets: $1.90

We made our way into the Taichung train station where we caught a slow-local train to Houli (后里) a small town in Taichung province.  It was a perfect, beautiful day.  Probably about 27-28 degrees Celsius or around 80 degrees Fahrenheit, blue skies and sunny.  As soon as we got to Houli, we were greeted by a woman eager to show us to her bicycle rental shop just about half a block from the station which is precisely what we were there to do.

Bike path this way...

Houli has a great cycling path on which you can explore the area, if you want to do the entire path it is around 35 kilometers I believe.

I wanted a picture with the bikes before we left the rental place. This is the better of the two and actually shows more of the bikes than the first one the woman at the shop took. I realized the first one perfectly framed the name and phone number of her store though... don't think that was on accident.

We followed her to her shop, tested out a couple bikes – including a tandem which we decided against, paid the daily rate to rent the bikes (200 New Taiwanese Dollars per bike for the day or about $6.50 US) and got directions to find coffee for the road (7-11) and a map.

That is what I call coffee to go!

Once we grabbed coffee for the road, we quickly were off the streets and onto the path where only bicycles were allowed.  Quickly we came to the large tunnel through a hill, an old railroad tunnel – at about a kilometer in length it was pretty impressive to ride through.  Out the other side was more impressive as the tunnel opened up to a large bridge over a creek, beautiful blue skies, and countryside.

May riding ahead of me in the LONG tunnel.

The end of the tunnel, opening to the bridge.

The bridge over the creek...

Or was it over a Greek?

Just off the bridge was the first tourist trap, most places were pretty dead as it was a Wednesday afternoon during a typical work week for the Taiwanese, but there was still someone standing out on the bike path to usher us in for free wine tasting at the Railway Valley Winery.  Several tastes of different wines, almost all of which were far to sweet for me, and we were back on the bikes.  (I didn’t try the Onion Red Wine, I’m just not sure what to think of onion wine.)  I believe all the fruit was local though, as we cycled along many grape vineyards, rice patties and other crops growing.

Railroad Valley Winery

Lots of tasting!

The bike path was a beautiful tree lined path which they have named the green tunnel as the trees completely envelope you, bringing you through the outskirts of a small Taiwanese town.

Green tunnel

Sorry, only bikes allowed on this path! (Signs of a small town)

Past a sugar refinery, the water treatment plant, the small businesses set up for tourists like restaurants, an ice cream stand and go-karts, along the creek until you reach the large dam.

The dam

Beautiful weather - standing on the dam.

Afternoon snack, meat sausage, rice sausage and ginger!

The path continues on to another bridge and more sights, but even after a quick snack of sausage and rice sausage, (and a pit stop at the squatter porta-potty) we decided to head back towards town.  School was getting out, and as we neared town the bike path was busy with high school students riding home.  We grabbed ice cream at 7-11 (the ice cream shop was closed) and I was the attraction of the day for all the elementary school students who stopped by the shop for a snack before heading home.

My very first squatter porta-potty! I had to get a picture.

After returning our bicycles, we hoped back on the train for our 20 minute ride back to Taichung.  From the station we walked through Taichung Park to May’s family’s business, a stationary store in downtown Taichung.  We grabbed a scooter (and unlike in China also grabbed helmets) and made our way to GB’s for a western dinner and cold beer.  (See my Taiwan = Food post.)

Taichung Park

Riding around 台中 behind May on the scooter.

A walk around the park like setting of the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, where many others were relaxing, practicing Tai chi or getting their excercise dancing, completed our lovely day exploring beautiful Taiwan.  It might well have been my favorite day in Taiwan.

台湾 = Food!

Taiwan = Food!

October 1st is National Day in China, a celebration of the formation of the People Republic of China.  The whole county has (at least) three days off of work, but I hear the custom is to not return home to be with family for this holiday – as they do on Chinese New Year – but to go on vacation.  Either way, the 1.3 billion residences of China are on the move, ticket prices are high and everything is crowded.  I decided to spend this holiday away from the crowds and took a nice little trip to Taiwan.  (No, they do not celebrate the founding of the People’s Republic in Taiwan, they have their own national holiday on October 10th to celebrate the Republic of China.)

My dear friend May was in Taiwan for the holiday and I traveled mostly with her, but also spent time with some other Taiwanese Kid Castle co-workers and met up with several fellow MIM alum from Taiwan for dinner one night.  My theme for my 6 days in Taiwan – FOOD!  As my status message said on Facebook:

What did you do in Taiwan, Julia? Oh, you know… I ate, then ate some more, then we went and got some food and ate a little more. Oh, wait… then got a drink and decided we needed something to eat with it!

That was on my second day in Taiwan.  May and I had gone to Danshui (淡水), a section far north in Taipei that is right on the mouth of the Danshui river, normally a touristy place and very beautiful but it was raining the entire day. (We also learned that all of the tourist attractions closed the first Monday of every month, which happened to be when we were there.)

Soaking wet and nothing to see, so we continued to eat!

However, that didn’t stop us from trying all the famous local cuisines. My third day, I was a little nausea – but I only let it keep me away from all the delicious delicacies for sale from vendors lining the streets for a couple hours.

Here are some of the lovely foods I tried in Taiwan!  (With the MIMers I had the best hot pot ever at 無老養生鍋 – Elixir Healthy Pot, but didn’t get pics of the food.)

阿給 or A-Gei, tofu stuffed with rice noodles and deep fried

A-Gei served cut up and with a sweet/spicy sauce - I wasn't terribly impressed with it.

Possibly the best pork baozi I've ever had

One of Danshui's specialties. Iron Eggs - dark in color and hard (or chewy)

I was a bit hesitant to eat black eggs, but they weren't bad!

Also delicious pork wrapped in carbs - these were juicy and delicious. Here they are being made.

They are then stuck to the walls on the inside of these ovens and scraped off when done!

I’m so glad May and I got to this little shop when we did because after we bought two the man told the next customers it would be 30 minutes before the next batch was ready!  Oooohh… they were juicy goodness!

Had to check out the local beer! Nothing exciting - but more flavor than Tsingdao (which doesn't say much).

Samples of many types of little cakes, flakey and crisp on the outside with a multitude of fillings.

After a wet afternoon in Danshui, we went to the Shilin （士林）night market.  Another Taiwanese specialty – night markets, sometimes even multiple night markets, in every town.  Where you can buy just about anything you want and where there is always tons of delicious food!

Cooking on and eating off of the counter - at the night market

Fried oysters and eggs (didn't eat this one)

A few other things I opted out of ordering - pig liver, brain, stomach and heart

I did eat this! Which is way tastier than it looks. Just a fried egg with veggies and special sauce.

Huge sausages!

Cut up and served with fresh garlic! Yummy!!

Whew… I feel fat just looking at all the pictures of foods I ate – and that was just the first DAY!  While in Taipei, we were staying at May’s aunt’s house in the Yonghe district.  Yonghe is famous for their soybean milk, so of course we had to start out with breakfast one day at the Yonghe Soybean Milk Magnate!  Where we had a traditional Taiwanese breakfast.

Two types of soy milk, sweet and salty (the salty had some bread like stuff in it as well) and fried dumplings.

We then left Taipei, where it was still rainy and traveled to Taichung (May’s home town) where it was sunny and warm!  That afternoon I didn’t feel so well, perhaps from all the new foods I had tried the day before.

My nausea kept me from trying the pork blood and rice dish May bought here, suprisingly the thought wasn't what made me sick!

By night fall I was ready to sample foods at the night market again!

Like my super tall ice cream cone!

The following day, after cycling around Houli, we decided to go western for dinner.  May learned from a friend that the “good burger place” she knew of in town also brewed their own beer.  So we decided to go for dinner!  Turns out it is an American chain brewery restaurant – but not one we have in Portland.

Beer! At Gorden Biersch in Taichung.

hm!

BBQ sauce, bacon and cheddar cheese on a burger and garlic fries! Oh yes, Taiwan has GOOD food.

The last stop on my trip was Nantou county – the only county in Taiwan which does not boarder the sea. We stayed with my friend Osteen’s family in Caotun and visited the town of Jiji.

Meat balls in Caotun - pork and some sort of starchy substance served in pink sauce

Jiji is famous for bananas!

Banana egg rolls - not the egg rolls you are thinking of, but more waffle cone like dough cooked and rolled - these were banana flavored. (We also had delicious local banana ice cream!)

I finally tried a tea egg! (Hard boiled eggs cooked and soaked in tea)

A Taiwanese classic - beef noodles

Food – that is what I saw in Taiwan!  Okay, there was a bit more than that, but I will save it for another time.  All in all, with enough walking and cycling, I only gained about one kilo in my week of eating my way through Taiwan!

Beijing – A love/hate

Beijing and Shanghai are different worlds.  When I first came to China, just to visit, with the MIM program in 2010, I enjoyed the history, historical sites and tourist attractions in Beijing.  But when we got to Shanghai, I was blown away.  Shanghai is an awesome city.  Even at that time, after spending only about 5 days in each city, I said, “If I were to even live in Beijing or Shanghai, I would live in Shanghai.  Beijing is great to visit, but I would rather live in Shanghai.”

The Temple of Heaven! A rare shot without a million other tourists.

Well, fast forward 18 months, I’m living in Shanghai and when M&M (mom and Matt) are in town, I take my second ever trip to Beijing.  Another 4 days in Beijing and I draw the same conclusion.  I much rather be in Shanghai.

The air was awful in Beijing, not that I can hold that against them – chances are if you pick four random days out of the year to visit Shanghai you won’t be blessed with blue skies either.  Foreigners aren’t as plentiful, which isn’t a bad thing while living in a city – but I think Beijing gets enough foreign visitors who don’t know anything, that everyone assumes you can just screw over and rip off every foreigner you see.  In Shanghai, there is such a large expat community, with people from all over the world that LIVE here.  There are plenty of laowai (foreigners) in Shanghai that have been here for 3, 5, 10 years, who speak Chinese, who know what they are doing.  I don’t think Beijing is as used to that large of a community of foreign residents.  So taking a taxi, for example, becomes a major headache unless you look and speak like them.

I hated taxis in Beijing.  The worst cab riding experiences ever!  And if you think you can top me, just tell me this: Have you ever had a cabbie stop to get gas (when their tank was half full) AND go take a leak while you were on the meter?  Plus, he was coughing like crazy and spitting constantly, he told May he had been sick for the past few days but was back at work because he needed the money.  I love taking cabs in Shanghai.  I hate taking cabs in Beijing.  Even if you can manage to flag one down (empty cabs drive by and just ignore you constantly), it doesn’t mean they will be willing to take you to your destination, or they don’t want to rip you off by bargaining a price and not using their meter.

Do I need to say where this is? It is at 慕田峪 actually.

This being said, everyone – if given the chance – should visit Beijing (and eat the roast duck).  The Forbidden City, Tiananmen, the Temple of Heaven, Summer Palace and the access to many locations on the Great Wall are fantastic, beautiful and historic sight seeing opportunities.  Even with hazy skies, you can get stunning pictures.  The culture runs deep and history surrounds you – unlike the westernized, modern, metropolitan Shanghai.

Obligitory Forbidden City photo

My favorite part of Beijing though – was not at the historic wall to keep out the mongols, it was not in the palaces and forbidden gardens of past emperors which survived the many dynasties. My favorite part of Beijing – the part of Beijing that I loved, that I wish Shanghai had – were the huotongs.   Hutong (胡同 – translation alley or lane) are small, old alleys, passageways of historic homes and buildings that make up large areas in Beijing and have been protected by the government so they are not torn down and replaced by skyscrapers and tall apartment complexes. I thought it was just one area of town when I first went to Beijing, but I quickly learned there are hutong all over Beijing – each a huge network of these small alleys, waiting to be explored and full of treasures to discover.

Wandering thru a 胡同

I loved walking around in, getting lost in, finding new places in the hutong.  May and I went to a bar one night to meet a friend of hers from the UK – he gave us instructions on how to get there.  As we turned off the main road into this teeny, dark alleyway, about the width of a car, we wondered if there was actually anything down there.  It was about a ten minute walk down this alleyway to the bar.  At one point we saw some neon lights and signs of restaurants, but the bar (Yes Bar or 好吧) was not there.  A few more minutes of dark houses and no sign of anything that looked like a place of business we found it – a little teeny bar, stuck in the middle of an seemingly abandoned hutong – with a selection of beers from all over the world.  We went back again the next night.  In the two nights we were there, we were the only customers  and we just hung out and talked with the bartender from Xinjiang, China (the far northwest province in China).

Way back tucked away in another hutong – in a nearby part of town – is another killer find for any beer loving American tourist. Thanks to MJ, brewmaster at my all time favorite, Boxing Cat Brewery, I knew of this little treasure in Beijing.  A microbrewery run by a bunch of Americans that has been brewing and selling beer out of a location in a Beijing hutong for less than a year.  Great Leap Brewery was one of the top things on our to do list in Beijing.  It took some time to find – both times we went – but it was well worth it.  With 9 freshly brewed, local mircobrews on tap, a killer garden setting to sit and relax in, and the owners there to chat with you can’t complain!  Oh, yea – and the beers were FANTASTIC too.  If you are ever looking for beer in Beijing, I highly, highly, recommend checking them out!  (see link here – they are also on Facebook.)

We found it! The door to the best beer in Beijing!

The view from the door of Great Leap Brewing - this isn't on some big, busy street!

The menu - 9 delicious beers on tap! (Actually, I think I only tasted 6 of the 9)

BEER! I believe this was the Danshan Wheat, a wheat beer brewed with tea leaves for a very unique but refreshing flavor.

The hutongs are old houses, communities. Not big fancy houses but little small rooms (which now can be extremely expensive to rent or buy) where Chinese families grew up and many still live.  Things are simpler in the hutongs and things like, well, your own bathroom, aren’t necessarily available.  My mom was shocked with the number of public toilets everywhere in China – but especially in the hutong.  After I witnessed an older woman coming and dumping a bucket with her days “waste” in one of the public toilets, we inquired about it.  My friend (and fellow MIM alum) Junyi, who grew up in a hutong near the Yes Bar, confirmed our suspicions.  Most homes within the hutong don’t have their own bathroom.  They use the public toilets and probably bathe in a sponge bath manner.  Some of the nicer residences, with the help of a larger income and lots of official paperwork, may have added bathrooms to their homes.  The majority, however, even the businesses and restaurants, rely on the public toilets.

Life in Beijing takes place in the hutong.  I would go back to Beijing, despite my many frustrations with the city, just to explore hutongs.  And of course, take more pictures.  Below are a bunch of the shots I got of life in a Beijing hutong.

Cleaning

A front door

We wandered into this little area - several families probably live here.

Front gates left open allow you to see into people's lives.

Sitting on the roof, watching the birds

Playing in the street

Selling a variety of eggs

Veggies on the street

Along a touristy/popular hutong

Shanghai Ink

Everyday is an adventure in Shanghai, but yesterday a few girls decided to go on an adventure I had yet to experience in a foreign country.  I believe the idea started with Cat, another American teaching at Kid Castle in Shanghai.  She wanted to get some ink for her birthday which is coming up soon.  Lindsay, a Canadian teaching at Kid Castle who also happens to have a birthday in the next couple weeks, decided to join her.

A friend of Lindsay had a large tattoo done in Shanghai, and the work was fantastic.  He recommended the place to Lindsay and Cat with only one warning – they don’t speak any English.  Small details, when you want to discuss artwork that will permanently be placed on your body, right?

So Lindsay recruited Mandy, a Taiwanese co-worker, to help with the translation and scheduling. My co-worker and friend from Taiwan, May and I heard about the girls plan and decided to join.  As did two other friends, one more American and another Taiwanese.

So yesterday was tattoo day.  I met Lindsay at the subway and we made our way over to meet May, Penny and Mandy around 3pm at the tattoo parlor.  Cat and Tara joined shortly thereafter.  On the way, Lindsay still was undecided as to exactly what she wanted but had some ideas – and with the help of a computer would be able to show her best idea to the artist.

It was slow going when we first got there, us girls all sitting around in the smoke filled lobby area of the tattoo parlor, looking through books of pictures, discussing ideas, and trying to get a grasp on price range.  There were 2 Chinese men there when we got there, but when Lindsay started talking specifically about the tattoo she wanted we were informed she would have to wait for the “tattoo master” because of the level of detail in her tattoo.  The artist who was there would not be doing hers, and the other man there at the time was an “intern” and doesn’t do any of the work.  (I referred to him as the air freshener - as he sat around chain smoking for a good portion of the time we were downstairs.)  Lindsay inquired as to when the tattoo master would be back, another day?  Another week?  Oh no, he will be here in 10 minutes!  Wonderful!

Once the ideas were formed, the price negotiations began.  They were a bit steeper than we imagined at first, but with 3 girls there all wanting tattoos the Chinese speakers managed to negotiate the prices down a bit.  Once Cat came and let them know she wanted to get 2 tattoos, the prices were dropped a bit again.

Probably an hour and a half after Lindsay and I arrived at the tattoo parlor, the designs were decided on, the prices were dropped one final time, and the 4 girls were ready to get their tattoos.  Cat was getting INI tattooed on the inside of her finger and a Chinese symbol 凰 (huáng or phoenix) tattooed on her back – the price 600 rmb ($93) for two small tattoos.  May decided to get a blue and black star tattooed behind her ear – the price 500 rmb ($78).  Mandy, who was the only one who had never gotten a tattoo before, decided on a small angel (fairy?) on her back with BTS2010 written under it for 700 rmb ($110).  Lindsay’s was the biggest, most detailed and was the only one done by the tattoo master, it is a picture from the cover of her favorite book (which apparently I need to read) A Fine Balance.  It actually took just about as long to prepare and do Lindsay’s tattoo as it did for the other artist to do the 4 small tattoos on the other 3 girls.  The final price for Lindsay – 2300 rmb ($360).

The smoke filled lobby was bothering a couple of us and we were craving coffee, so Cat, Tara and I set off to grab some coffee for everyone while the artists got started on Lindsay and May. We had been at the tattoo parlor for probably a good two hours, and we were finally going to move upstairs and get the show on the road!

It was a nice place, clean and respectable, the guys were obviously very talented and it had come recommended.  Although there was some discussion and debate; all of the girls were ready to have their tattoos done at this place.  The language barrier was tough, and Lindsay, especially, spent a lot of time discussing via Mandy as translator the specifics and details of her tattoo.  The colors, the size, the precise location and position, the price, the details of the shading… When we first walked in she was wary as to whether or not she would be able to clearly illustrate what she wanted, but I think we were all confident with the artist’s ability when he started and only more so when he finished his work.

As for me, I watched and took pictures.  It was definitely a fun time – even if I didn’t get any ink of my own.  Around 8pm we were finished, paid and hungry so 6 out of the 7 of us went out for dinner and drinks to celebrate our freshly tattooed friends!

Here are just some of the shots I took:

Price, designs and waiting.... the long process before the ink!

Discussions we don't understand

Browsing for ideas

The peanut gallery! Anxious to watch and photograph the start of Lindsay's tattoo.

Does she look excited?

Apparently behind the ear hurts...

May is the first one finished! I left the sepia theme to show the beautiful blue!

The first-timer is a bit nervous!

Here she goes! First ink.

Mandy is the second one done!

An artist capturing his work

Lindsay watches intently as her process begins

Coffee & Tattoos

She is done and happy!

A perfect replica

It was Cat's idea - but she is the last to begin

Tattoo #1 - done!

On to number two...

Who smiles while getting a tattoo? Our dear Cat does!

The last of the five tattoos is done!

My freshly inked girls and the non-English speaking hard working artists

If you are in Shanghai and in need of some tattoos, I would recommend checking this place out.  Their website is www.sh-tk.com, they are located at 654 Yan’an Xi Lu near Jiangsu Lu (延安西路654号near 江苏路).

Day-cation!

As it is summertime, I’m not taking Chinese classes at the moment and I’m always up for getting out and having a little adventure, I decided to take an afternoon and go to Suzhou (苏州）.  I have been to Suzhou twice before, once a couple months ago with my friend Roger when we met up with Katherine from the MIM program, and once over a year ago when I was in China with the MIM program.  But it is a neat city with lots of things to do, plus it is only about 30 minutes away by high speed train so I decided to go back.

I invited my friend, Heather, to go with me, who I learned had never been to Suzhou in her 3 years in Shanghai, and we headed off for a Monday day-cation!  I didn’t really know my way around town, or what exactly to go see, but I jotted down a few notes on places to check out before I took off and decided to just figure it out when we got there.

One of the places I wrote down was the Lingering Garden or Liu Yuan (留园).  Suzhou is famous for their gardens. I had previously been to the Humble Administrator’s Garden with the MIM program and Roger and I went to Tiger Hill to see the leaning tower of Suzhou, as I like to call it.  Therefore, I picked a new one.  After two failed attempts of getting on buses I thought went to the Lingering Garden, we finally found a bus from the train station to take us there.

It really leans!

The 40rmb peak season entry fee we figured was justifiable because of the extensive upkeep that must be done on such a large beautiful garden.  And a beautiful garden it was!  I think it is much smaller than the Humble Administrator’s Garden, and unlike the last two times I visited tourist attractions in Suzhou, we didn’t have a tour guide to stop and explain to us the history, meaning and significance of each plant, stone, sculpture and building.  Instead, Heather and I just lingered around the Lingering Garden.

The very green lingering garden

It was pleasant, even though the rain decided to come as soon as we walked in.  Thankfully there were plenty of covered passages and walkways with greenery draped over them to keep us dry.

What I would recommend the most, if you ever decide to linger around this garden – is to make sure to read the signs.  Because there is some delightful Chinglish to see on the signs!  I got pictures of a few good ones, but there were many more.

Be warned! In case you are tempted to take a dip...

I'm not sure how to omnivorously do something...

Ahh... the bright scenery of civilized human beings!

Feeling ill? Try being a bit more civilized.

After the gardens, I some how managed to find the little area of canals lined with old buildings, and trendy little shops and cafe’s Roger had taken me to before.  We wandered around town for a few hours, had some ice cream at DQ and then headed back to Shanghai!

Woman selling fruit

What does this say to you?

Classic Suzhou