China diaries, pt. 3...FINALLY

Okay, so I got a little sidetracked with life and haven't gotten around to the last installment of my vacation in China. I barely remember what happened in those two weeks so I'm sure you've already forgotten I was even in China. Remind yourself here and here.

Ok, so here we go...

Day 9: Shanghai

Um, so in my notes taken on my iPhone all I have is "Really losing my patience for the Chinese." Apparently everyone pushes their way in front of everyone else...and there are lines just about everywhere you looking in China. So all the pushing and shoving and elbowing that the old Chinese ladies do on the 30 Stockton bus to Chinatown? Yup, they brought that skill from China...it's not just an act for courteous Americans that wait their turn.

I think this was also the day I went to the Shanghai Museum...a museum about Shanghai. It's located inside the Oriental Pearl, the third tallest tower building in the world. The view from the observation deck was pretty cool, but the best thing about it was the museum. The wax figures were the best I've ever seen. My favorite was the opium den with the crackheads (opium heads?). I also dug the miniature city scenes depicting Shanghai through its history


View from the observation deck...so much smog


Wax woman


Opium junkies

Days 10-12: Shanghai/Xiamen

Nothing really spectacular happened the last couple days. I was kind of over it and was really exhausted from walking around everyday. We did get a chance to go knock-off shopping, which turned out to be pretty disappointing for me. After reading about the Chinese government shutting down the knock-off operations because of complaints from the designers about intellectual property and whatnot, I was worried there was only be cheap non-designer things to buy. Leave it to the capitalists to proof me wrong! Only a could minutes on the street and a lady comes up to us with a printout with photos of bags from Louis Vuitton, Prada, Gucci, etc. We were lead down an alley, then through a maze of side streets, and then into a showroom full of fakes. Some were pretty damned good. Our tour guide was able to talk them into selling a 4,000 yuan bag to my sister for less than 400. Lesson: don't pay the given price...ever. I dreamt of going home with an authentic looking Gucci wallet but left empty-handed. At least my sister scored.

Since not much happened, here are some more random pictures from Shanghai. Chay chen!!!


Knock-off Lane


More wax statues


Most enjoy Least annoy


Miniature Shanghai


Miniature theatre

China diaries, pt. 2

The adventure continues...

Day 5: Xian
It smelled like there was a fire going on somewhere in Xian and it was close enough to smell. I was pretty damned sure of this and even Googled "xian fire"...but I was wrong, I think. Maybe the Chinese government was just covering it up? I don't know why they'd do that, but then I also don't understand why they felt the need to superimpose FAKE fireworks into the Olympics opening ceremony coverage. Anyway, it smells like a fire for the next couple days.

The first place we visited was "The Tomb Mound of the Qin Mausoleum" according to the sign. It was pretty much a tomb in the shape of pyramid with lots of trees to make it look like a natural mountain. There were some picturesque views from the top. Also at the top were lots of poor locals trying to sell whatever they had: fake jade bracelets, fake ancient coins, and Chinese combination locks. They are aggressive once you've shown interest in anything they're selling. One woman followed us half way down the pyramid/tomb/mountain until we bought here 15 yuan something or other.

We later went to see the terra cotta warriors made for the emperor of China, which I've always wanted to see first-hand since my first art history class in college. There weren't as many as I had thought/hoped there would be. The ones that were there, however, were pretty fucking cool. The detail that went into everyone sculpture was amazing.

Last stop of the day was the bathhouse made from hot springs that housed some emperor's favorite concubine. This was a former residence of Cheng Kai Shek.


Walking up the Qin mausoleum


Terra cotta army


Soldiers posing in front of the statue of a concubine

Day 6: Xian/Luoyang

Day 6 and still smoggy. I hadn't seen the sun in two days. We took a five-hour train ride from Xian to Luoyang, home of the peony festival. In Luoyang we drove to Shaolin Temple, where young monks are taught martial arts and also the setting of a favorite movie when I was a kid.

We also visited the Giant Goose Pagoda, but that might have been in Xian. I'm not sure; I think the smog is getting to my memory at this point.


Giant Goose Pagoda


Prayer cards


Some lucky German got a "player" card

Day 7: Luoyang

Ugh, the day of the runs!! I went to the bathroom 6 times in the morning. I think it was the weird fruits that my grandma bought at the dirty train station in Xian.

We went to the Longmen Grottoes where individuals and royalty alike carved shrines with buddhas into the limestone along the Yi River. While we were there, a group of women were performing a fish release ritual. They were chanting for a while and the fish they brought were in plastic grocery bags flopping around. Not surprisingly when they finally released them into the river, a good amount of the fish went belly up. :(



Grottoes


Fish in bags


More grottoes

Day 8: Luoyang/Zhengzhou

OMG! The sun came out!! I was so excited to see actual blue skies. It was still pretty cold, though. That morning I found some Imodium AD I always pack when I travel but had somehow forgotten about the day before. Thank god for that because my grandma had some stuff that warned about blurry vision and drowsiness. That's no way to enjoy a site-seeing vacation. I think those saved my life. Also, I found out that Anh Cua, our tour guide, had 11 cars and a few homes. That's when I stopped feeling bad that he was paying for so much of our trip and even considered asking for loans.

I forgot where we went that day, or if we actually did anything, so here are a few random pictures.


Pagoda Forest at the Shaolin Temple


All of us in front of the Shaolin Temple


Lots of buddhas

China diaries, pt. 1

It's almost kinda maybe a homecoming since, you know, I've never set foot in China, but my forefathers/mothers have. Initially I hadn't planned to go, but decided to make the trip to China after all. Luckily, Lark travels all the time and suggested I sublet my place while I'm away. Subletting was definitely a sound financial decision as it helped pay for most of the airfare.

To make a long story short, China has breathtaking natural and man-made sites to see, the food was disappointing, greasy and sometimes unidentifiable, and the air is smoggy. I took daily pictures and brief notes daily on my beloved iPhone and this is what I ended up with:

Day 1 - Fujian Province/Xiamen

SFO to Hong Kong to Xiamen. Flying into Xiamen, I could only see the peaks of the tallest mountain tops—everything else was hazy at best. From the airport my sister and I were picked up by my aunt and grandma who had arrived a week earlier. With them were a van-load of distant relatives. The first stop we made was to a restaurant in a small town where my grandma grew up. We ended up eating shellfish I'd never seen before and I swear I ate tubeworms.



Touching down in Xiamen


Family grave site


Neighbor's cow

Day 2: Beijing

Flew into Beijing hoping that the air would be clearer and was disappointed. It was also nutshrinkingly cold. Thank god for thermal underwear. Our tour guide, or Anh Cua ("uncle") took us for a walk around Tiananmen Square area for a bit. The Forbidden City was closed so we kept wandering. Street vendors sold starfish, scorpions, pupas on stick. As tempting as that was, we ended up eating at palatial restaurant where we had a Peking duck with its own serial number.


Crikets and scorpions


Peking duck restaurant where the servers just stood around waiting for patrons


Balconies of the hotel we stayed at; the colors were constantly changing and must have been real fun at night for the building across the street

Day 3: Beijing

We went to the Great Wall where the memory card in my camera stopped working. I was completely bummed out and gave up climbing the extremely steep wall. I had to start using my aunt's horrible Panasonic point-and-shoot which was better than my iPhone (or nothing at all). There were lots of vendors at the Great Wall, all of whom were extremely aggressive and tried to sell me things in Chinese which I didn't understand. Our driver made me nervous so I couldn't watch the road while we were in the car. I learned that lane markings were to be used as a rough guide and by no means mandatory. After the Great Wall we drove to the nearby tombs of the emperors of the Ming Dynasty. The tombs were deep, deep underground and there were LOTS of stairs.

Late in the afternoon we made it to the Bird's Nest, which was pretty crowded. Huge screen TVs played bits of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics.


Shot of the Great Wall of China


Posing at the Bird's Nest


We also made a stop at the Summer Palace

Day 4: Beijing and Xian

For some reason it went from really cold to pretty warm in Beijing the next day. It might have been because we hiked the Forbidden City from beginning to end. It was a massive walled city which housed Mao's mausoleum. MASSIVE. The architecture was definitely beautiful, but it got repetitive after the third or fourth building.


Tiananmen Square


One of the buildings in the Forbidden City


Dragony turtle

In other shopping news...

...Audrey will no longer be the lucky recipient of these mittens:

Old school Barcelona and fishes

More walking around and taking pictures today. I ate in the Barri Gotic quarter last night and thought it was worth coming back during the day for some pictures. Not only are the buildings unbelievably beautiful, the alleys are equally awesome. The only thing is that the alleys are hard as hell to navigate. I had to consult my guide book after every turn. I think I heard school children laughing at me (every school in Barcelona decided to take a field trip to the Barri Gotic today).





After a couple hours I got tired of getting lost and decided to head over to the aquarium. I love, love, love geeky science excursions, so it was kind of perfect. I met an octopus that kept staring at me and followed me back and forth. Creepy! I also picked up Raymundo, my only friend in Barcelona. Raymundo, I love you.







Finally, I took the metro to see Gaudí's unfinished La Sagrada Familia. Thought I had enough yesterday? Think again. It was monstrously huge. The outside looked it like was melting stone with blockhead statues attached. The statues all looked extrememly sad, which added creepiness and awe to the whole experience. I only stayed at ground level and went to the museum. The line for the elevator to go up to the upper level was way too long.

It's been a Gaudí kinda day

Today was my first full day in Barcelona and I did a lot of sightseeing. When you travel by yourself, you get things done pretty damned quickly. I ate breakfast, took the Metro to the end of La Rambla and visited the waterfront. I walked La Rambla up towards L'Exiample, where I did the recommended neighborhood walk. After that, I went to Parc Güell where Gaudí's old home is located.

After walking around for what seemed like forever (and taking pictures), I visited the museum, which also used to be Gaudí's home. I really could have done without it and saved myself four euros. I was pretty exhausted, but when I checked the time, it was barely 2:30. After much deliberation, I decided to suck it up and keep sightseeing. The only thing in my book that interested me enough to pull me out of my slump was Casa Batlló...designed by Gaudí. From the outside, the windows look like Tim Burtonesque skulls. It's pretty amazing to see it first hand. I had no intention of going inside, but it was still too early to quit. The hefty seventeen euro entry fee didn't help, but it was worth it. I think it's even more awesome inside than out. (Photos to come!) After that I started to walk around again, but my feet hurt and the Metro station beckoned.


Beautiful mosaics scattered throughout the overhang.


Balconies constructed from stones.


Gaudí home and museum.


The truly awesome Casa Batlló.


There were lots of arches inside the house.


Looks much more impressive in person.


Huge, low hanging chandelier in the drawing room.

I love New York, but I still love SF more

Every time I make a visit to NY, I love it a little more. It's the city that doesn't know how to be boring (though I can't say that for myself when I'm there). The 4am bar closing time kicks my ass every time.

The best part about New York is hangin' with my main bitch, Uyen. She was nice enough to let me stay with her the whole week I was there. "Ban, ma," she would say. Thanks to her I now know how to make eggrolls (why didn't I take pictures of them??!).

Thanks, also, to my other friends who were nice enough to meet up with me while I was there: Ryan, Caitlin and Jeff, Alicia, Jarron and Ben, Joey, and Ellie, who showed me around Philly.

Though my time in NY was well spent, the heat and humidity got to me. I was so glad to be home and walk out into crisp, cold, dry air. Hello, San Francisco!


When When on the rooftop.


Fun building across from Uyen's apartment in Brooklyn.


Stairway to a hot, sweaty hell.


Young City Fish Balls


Alleyway that looks like other NY alleyways I've been down.


Guilty! (In Philadelphia)


Hangin' by the Delaware River.


FroYo and Andrew's ass (I think).


Lookin' good, feelin' good.