I'm not sure I'm going to be able to stay up much longer. Just....need....to....
ZZzzzzzZZzzzzzZZZzzzzz
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Jetlag sucks.
It's 8:35pm CT and I'm still up, I can't believe it. Technically I've been up since 3:30am ET but Terri and I officially sat up and turned the lights on a little bit before 5am ET. Jetlag is taking over though and I'm fading, fading very quickly, fading faster that I ever would have imagined. No amount of caffeine, light, television, Internet surfing, food, etc. can stop me from falling asleep right now. If it weren't for the fact that American Airlines LOST MY LUGGAGE on my way back from Toronto today I'm not sure I would still be awake and not in my bed, let alone alive to the world around me. Still waiting for their call, which should have come over an hour ago. UGH! I want my bags!!!!
Saturday, July 11, 2009
My Farewell Beijing
Well I can't believe it's over. Terri and I are sitting in the first class lounge of the Beijing Airport about to pack up and go. We board in about 15 minutes so I need to keep this quick. Today was another full day but one I will never forget. Climbing THE Great Wall of China was simply, well words will not do it justice. I've had so much fun here and already I'm in Andy withdrawl. He was a magnificent guide and one I will never forget. This part of the trip would not have been possible without him. As I cuddle up to my new fat panda, kindly named Andy the Pandy, I will think of him and all he taught us early.
And with that I must hit send. Time to shut down and buckle up. In 13 hours we will be safe and sound on Canadian ground.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Our last day.
Today Terri and I begin our day in Beijing and end it somewhere over, well, I'm not quite sure. Today will actually 48 hours for Terri and I as we leave Beijing at 6pm Friday and arrive in Toronto at 6:30pm Friday. Yikes.
Anywhoo, just wanted to post a quick message to let everyone know that I will not be able to blog tonight about the Great Wall. Andy is taking us directly from the wall (or Ming's Tomb if we have time) to the airport so between now and the time I arrive in Canada I won't have internet access. Depending on how early we get into the Toronto I may or may not purchase an hours' worth of time at the hotel to post a few messages before we go to bed.
And with that I must say farewell. Until next time....
The Forbidden Summer T-Square Quickie
Anyways, since I don't have the time to tell you everything I thought I would throw up a few photos (thanks to Andy's skillz with my camera) of what we did today. This isn't everything, of course, but a quick sample of the highlights. These include...
1. Our visit to Tiananmen Square
2. Our visit to both the outside and inside of the Forbidden City
3. A quick photo op in front of the 9 dragons (also inside the Forbidden City)
4. Our visit to the Summer Palace.
There were many other things on our stop, some to which I managed to grab some photos of and others I did not. The last part of our afternoon/evening was spent shopping, if that gives you any idea. :) My favorite!
I can't believe tomorrow is my last day here already. My how time flies...by this time tomorrow evening I'll be sleeping in my first class seat on an airplane some where between here and Canada. Okay, time for bed. Night everyone!
PS. Thanks to everyone responding to the blog. I would love to write back to you but the great firewall still has blogger, Facebook and Twitter down. Glad you all enjoy it!
Finally free WiFi!
Amazing!!! So while playing around to see which of my iPhone apps
actually work I found this bar using AroundMe. How cool is that?
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Goodbye Tianjin...Hello Beijing!
I am no where near awake enough to get everything in my head down into this blog but I'm going to try to post a short update before I forget everything. Today was non-stop. Non-stop. I think the longest, quiet moment Terri and I had today was the 25 minutes on the bullet train from Tianjin to Beijing and even that wasn't really a rest.
So quick recap, details will come when I have a minute...hopefully.
Today started with another breakfast of noodles and tea in the hotel, a walk to campus and Terri's class. Professor Sun, a law professor at Nankai, did a short guest lecture for the students and then Terri finished covering everything that they needed to know. I sat in the back of the classroom per usual but did have a good conversation with one of the Nankai student ambassadors, Yaun (Terri and I are guessing on the spelling...). After class we walked back to the hotel with 2 of Terri's students, finished packing our bags and grabbed a quick lunch at the pizza place next door to our hotel that we just discovered. Mmmm, my mouth is watering again just thinking about that potato and sweet potato pizza. Yummy.
After lunch we grabbed our bags, said goodbye to Ming and caught a cab with Yaun who Ming had tasked with getting us to and on the bullet train to Beijing. I have to say without Yaun I don't believe Terri and I ever would have been able to navigate that train station. He was an enormous help. He directed the cabbie, carried our bags (that one I couldn't believe), helped us buy our first class tickets for the train, got us thru security, up the elevator and to our departure gate. The boy was simply a blessing. He probably would have gone all the way to the train door with us and helped us into our seats if they'd let him. But alas without a ticket the gate was as far as he could go. He did, however, send us off with very detailed instructions and watched us go down the escalator with one last "I'll miss you." It was cute.
The bullet train was something else. Other than subways and the El I had never (to my knowledge) been on a train before and the bullet train was an great way to start it. Despite what everyone said I did not get sick when looking out the window. This train was amazing. It took the 2 1/2 hour bus ride we had our first night here from Beijing to Tianjin and cut it down to 25 minutes flat. 25 minutes! The fastest speed Terri and I saw the train hit was 335km/hr. I took some video to share (man I love my little camera) but again will have to post that once I get back to the states since YouTube is a no-go here. Different city, same firewall.
Getting off the train and up off the platform to the exit was an adventure in itself. I've never really felt like a fish caught in a current before. We really had no choice but to just go with the flow. Very difficult when you're trying to carry a laptop bag and 2 small suitcases. We managed to make it though and at the top of the escalator, right thru the exit gate, there was our guide Andy with a sign, in English, that read "Terri". Not that he would have a hard time finding 2 Caucasian girls in a sea of Asians though, lol, but the sign was good for us to identify him, that and the fact that he is a very tall Chinese guy.
After quick introductions Andy walked us to our car for the weekend where we met our driver, loaded our luggage and headed straight for the Acrobatics show. We had arrived a little later than Andy had hoped so we had to delay checking in to the hotel until we were finished for the evening. Not really a problem for us since the car had a nice big trunk to store all our luggage in and the fact that the driver stays with the car even when we're out and about. Andy got us our tickets to the show, helped us to our seats and then said he's meet us in the lobby afterwards. This show was really, for lack of a better phrase, off the hook. These people were bending and twisting, jumping and soaring, it was CRAZY! Terri at times said they almost gave her a heart attack from some of the things they were doing on bikes or in the air. If I had only a 1/4 of the upper body strength these people had, well, I could kick some serious butt. Now I know they said no photography or video taking, but my little camera is small so I managed (with sounds and flash off) to sneak a few quick photos from between the seats and a couple really cool videos since Andy got us seats in the 2nd row.
Once the show ended and we were able to get our stunned little bodies out of the seats and into the lobby we found Andy's smiling face in the crowd. He led us down the street to our car where we proceeded over to dinner. Tonight I had my first hot pot dinner and boy was it delicious. Lamb, beef, veggies, mushroom soup and noodles (that came with a show, also video taped). So much better than fondue and I have to say I think I'm getting pretty good with chopsticks, finally. I was able to fish meat and vegetables out of bubbling vats of soup and broths with no problems tonight. Go me! Not sure my skillz were enough to impress Andy but I am proud to say that I have only used a fork once since arriving in China. Once, during breakfast at the hotel. How's that for being a silly American? I even turned down a fork/knife when offered the other night at dinner. Go me!!!
Dinner was followed with a trip to the Olympic venues here at sunset. Andy had it timed perfectly. The bird's nest, the water cube, national stadium...it's just so much to take in. Right now I can't put into words really just how amazing, how breathtaking, they really are in person. TV last summer did not do them justice. No, not at all. Since a photo is supposed to be worth a 1000 words I'll let them do the speaking for what we saw tonight. Just know this, I don't think my camera, any camera, would be able to capture their beauty in the way they're meant to be seen....
The sun set fast and soon it was too dark to really take photos anymore. That was our clue it was time to leave. Andy lead us back to the car and then to the hotel where, since we were checking in late, he managed to get us an upgrade for the weekend. Can we say YAY! This hotel is swank. A true 5 star in every way, well, maybe minus the fact that we don't have WiFi in the room. But AC and a wired connection, OH and a soft comfortable bed are good by me. I'll have to post pictures of our room with tomorrow's posts for everyone to see.
Still trying to take everything in I sit here in the dark typing this entry (Terri is already asleep) and resizing pictures. So much happened today and this was really only a small snippet. There are so many more details, little stories, jokes and adventures that if this hadn't already taken me over an hour to type I would get into. Hopefully in posts to follow. Tomorrow is a busy day. Terri and I are meeting Andy at 830 for breakfast (it's almost 12 right now) which will begin our non-stop day. Andy said it will be go-go-go and hot, but it will be exciting and fun. I can't wait! So with that I'm off to get some beauty sleep peeps....peace out!
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Rain, Rain, Go Away...
The theme for Wed, rain...rain...and more rain.
Today was a rainy day from sun up to sun down. Actually looking out our hotel window it's still coming down at a nice pace so forget the sun down part. Maybe more like sun up to sun up even though Ming said we still might have some rain tomorrow morning. Oh well, at least the bad weather is on it's way out and will already be through Beijing by the time we arrive tomorrow afternoon.
With the rain falling the way it was I decided to skip class this morning and stay in our hotel room in an attempt to get some work done. I caught up on emails (both personal and work) and did some much needed SIGGRAPH planning as well. After sending off my s2010 homework assignment that was requested and finished playing catch up on all my blog posts. As of this evening you should all be up to date, thank goodness. Sorry that things have been lengthy but so much is going on that I want to share. I wish you could all be here with me but this is the best I can do.
But I digress.
Once Terri returned from classes we both changed for the day and decided to venture out. I'm glad she reminded me to pack my umbrella since having a small one that fits in my purse really came in handy today. Since it was pouring just yet we decided to walk back up towards the shopping district we discovered yesterday to grab some lunch and then use that as a starting point to navigate our way to the Tianjin Department Store that our guidebook suggested. We felt like pros walking around today. Not only do we have a renewed sense of confidence now in reading our map, but we're really starting to recognize the different areas, shops and street names which makes the walking time seem so much shorter. It seemed like with a blink of an eye we were passing the mosque we saw yesterday, the big cathedral and then there we were, shopping mecca. I still cannot get over how many shops and malls this place has. Yes I realize there are 10 million people in Tianjin (according to Ming) but come on! How many Nike stores, seriously do you need in a 5 block radius? I think we've counted as many as 5. And the McDonalds....McDonalds in China seem to be the Starbucks of the States. There seems to be 1 on every corner and sometimes you can even stand in the doorway of one and see the other right down the street. So in true American spirit Terri and I decided to see if the rumor of egg rolls being on the menu was true and ventured in. The menu for the most part was identical to that which we have at home. I only noticed 2 differences and no egg rolls are not on the menu. Instead of chicken strips (not nuggets but those fancy strips they sell) they had chicken wings and in perhaps instead of the breakfast burrito they had something that looked like the traditional McD's apple pie but filled with egg? It was on a sign next to a McCafe so it had to be something breakfast related. Probably should have taken a picture but we looked like tourists enough, and there is already something very cliche about 2 Americans in a McDonalds in China. :)
After feasting on Big Macs and french fries (which both tasted the same as at home) we headed back out into the rain and over to the Tianjin Department store. I have to say, for all that the guide book said about it I was slightly disappointed. But it's probably one of the older if not first "malls" in the area so the new stuff we had already seen in the shopping district out shone this one. That didn't matter to us though, we had to go in and experience it for ourselves. One thing Terri and I have learned about department stores here though is that the Chinese organize goods by type and then by floor. For example when you enter in a store it seems to be all jewelry, watches, cosmetics and perfumes. Go down one floor and it's all shoes. Mens' shoes, womens' shoes, teen shoes, all shoes shoes shoes (or as I like to call it, heaven, lol). Go up a couple floors and it's all womens clothes, then the floor above that is all mens. Another floor or 2 up is all housewares, then a whole athletic floor, so on and so forth. The Tianjin Dept. Store had in total 8 floors, but only 7 of those were currently open. The 8th was closed off. The other difference we noticed is that unlike, say, Macy's where you can wonder from department to department and see various brands, the sets up here are almost like each vendor has it's own space on the floor, with its own 2 employees and its own cashier. They all dress differently and seem not to work for the entire store, but for that specific brand. A little different than we're used to but a system I guess that works for them.
Once we were done shopping, and yes we did buy something (Terri purchased a really beautiful umbrella - embellished ones are all the rage here and you could really see that today with the rain) we decided to walk back to our hotel. Even though cab rides here are cheap, and we're talking maybe 13 yuan which is like $2.50 USD, walking lets us see more of the city and burn off some of the calories we're taking in due to the lack of availability of things like Diet Coke. We got to our room with just enough time to relax a little, use the hair dryer to help speed the laundry drying process along (yes, we've both done laundry in the sink a couple times now) and change for dinner. We met Ming in the lobby and attempted to catch a cab over to the Muslim area of town. The rain made it very difficult to find a free cab since most people who would walk during rush hour were now taking cabs. Eventually we did catch one though and made it to the restaurant in good time.
Dinner tonight was fantastic!!! Terri and I were both curious as to what Muslim food with a Chinese spin would be like, and yummy would be the answer. We had a cumin covered lamb, lamb kabobs with chili powder, a yogurt soup and a very yummy (and spicy) chicken noodle vegetable dish. This was probably the first night not only were we full, but we were stuffed. Dinner was also accompanied by a show. As our first course came the front of the restaurant became almost like a karaoke bar. The atmosphere was one of fun and excitement with music filling the room and people getting up and dancing. We found out, thanks to Ming, that there was a group having a reunion dinner of sorts, the group gathering was celebrating their journey to the Muslim part of China (the west) in 1965. I took some video of the festivities but unfortunately since YouTube and Facebook are blocked here in China, and I really don't have access to my blog, you'll have to wait until I get back to see it. As we were trying to leave we were noticed by a few members of the party who instantly started to say "hello" as best they could to us. Yup, there is no doubt in my mind that Terri and I totally stand out in a group. You can tell we're not from around here. Ming was able to talk to who seemed to be the ringleader who was very excited to meet us and so happy to learn that Terri was a teacher. He told us to go ahead and take pictures, tried to get us to dance with them and then made me shake almost everyone's hands. He was so happy to meet us and wanted everyone too. I tried to say hello in Chinese to everyone which thankfully came off as a cute attempt and not an insult. They all smiled, laughed and returned my gesture with an actual "hello". After about 10 minutes we were finally able to make our way out the door where Ming told us that they don't get many foreigners around these parts, especially in restaurants like these, so they were happy to have us. Couldn't have guessed. :)
Leaving the restaurant we walked across the street to Food Street, a giant indoor, well, place to eat. The name pretty much says it all. There are shops, cafes, bars and restaurants all up and down the 2 stories of the building. It's a really cool site, neon and all. Inside Terri and I were able to purchase a few local treats that will be making it back to the States with us to share so I'm not going to spoil the surprise and tell you what we bought. I will tell you though that it's taking some restraint NOT to open the packages and dive in as I sit here and type this. Mmmm, goodies. Being that it was later in the evening Food Street was a little empty but it was the last of the things Terri and I had on our list of things to do here in Tianjin so we're happy we got to see it. Ming then helped us catch a cab back to the hotel where we retired to our room for the evening.
It was a fun day, even if the rain made it kind of blah at times. A good way to end our time here in Tianjin. Tomorrow after Terri finishes her class we'll return to the hotel, check out and then head with one of the student ambassadors to the bullet train station where we'll board a train for Beijing. It's hard to believe our time here is already over. The week has flown by. Tomorrow is already Thursday. Wow. I can't wait to see what Beijing has in store for us. If we thought this week was fun already, I bet we're in for a big surprise.
And with that I'm signing off for the evening. The next time you'll hear from me, from us, we'll be in Beijing. Night everyone!
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