Road trip!

Got on a bus yesterday with about 60 colleagues, spouses and kids and went to a city called Kaiping, which is about three hours southwest-ish from here.

It’s a UNESCO site and really fascinating. The architecture not what I think of when I think of Chinese, but what do I know?

The buildings were concrete, a lot like Morocco. They also use their flat roofs for socializing, but unlike Morocco, the buildings were pretty tall. They had multiple stories and we went up into one that was six.

It had been owned by a guy who had emigrated to the US and owned restaurants in Chicago. It was really interesting – he had a bust of himself on one floor -- but at the same time dank.

They had kitchens on each floor, and we were told that was because the village was in a low area and when it flooded, the families would move upstairs and having a kitchen on each floor allowed them to still cook.

There were no bathrooms. I guess they used chamber pots. Zippy would never have survived.

The weather was a tad chilly, but not too bad. We had two buses pretty much full. It was a nice little road trip. I look forward to doing more around the area and in China in general.

I’ve asked off for two days and March and three in April to try to go places, but right now the flights to destinations in China are outrageous, like $600 to Beijing.

In March, I decided to go to Bangladesh and meet a friend who started at work the same time I did. I’m looking forward to it. It’s a long shot, but I could wind up in that position in two years, so this is sort of a scouting trip, too.

Honestly, I have no idea where I will wind up in two years and that makes vacation planning awkward, especially when flight prices are so high. I could shell out $850 to fly to Burma, but it’s entirely plausible that I could wind up there four, six or eight years from now. Sigh.

Anyway, right now, the Philippines are in the lead for April, but I don’t know for sure yet. Like when you go to Greece, there’s a lot of pressure to pick an island without having a lot of information on the options and not having enough time to research.

The past two weeks have just been so busy. I had to work in a different office last week after the week before had been brutal. Next week, hopefully, is a reprieve before another busy one. But soon after that is my trip to Dhaka, so my eyes are on that for now.

My Motown presentation was this past week. When I signed up many moons ago, I had no idea it would happen to fall during the week I was in a different office and staying late every night. In the end, I got about 11 hours of OT.

The presentation went really well, although I had the expected bumps since I had to downgrade from PowerPoint 2010 to 2003. Some of my animations didn’t work right. I had, for example, “Let the Good Times Roll” set to play as little blurbs about the blues popped up during the song. Since I didn’t have the video or the lyrics, it gave people more to do to than just listen. But the animations had to run through before I could play the song, which was really weird since I’d timed them sporadically. Essentially, the slide lasted about two minutes longer than it should have, but it worked. Anytime you close with “Billie Jean” it works.

I was really proud of myself that I got the crowd to play along with the “call and response.” I had been told they’d be really reserved and not want to do anything demonstrative. They were reserved, but with some coaxing, I did get them to do the response in one song, and then I discussed how we still use “call and response” here and there, like when a pastor calls out “can I get an amen?”

I got them to do that, too, and made them shout it. It was really impressive, especially since, at random times during the presentation, I did it and again and they played along.

Amen!

Flip flops in February

The overcast weather continues, but who cares? I had a little spate earlier this week (meaning last week; I know it’s Monday now but I was out of town and it’s still my weekend so there) when it was chilly and necessitated socks, but for the most part, the weather here is fabulous. At least temperature-wise, I mean. Yes, I can’t see the top of my tower, but I can wear flip flops in February. That is so much a bonus.

I skipped town again this weekend to go to Hong Kong. The onus, like last time, was an appointment with the podiatrist to pick up my insoles, which, BTW, Blue Cross Blue Shield did NOT consider important enough to cover. Grr.

Last time, the getting there was harder than it should have been, so this time I just got up and did my thing on Saturday, which included doing my taxes, and then took the subway up to the train station. I didn’t buy my ticket in advance because I didn’t want to pay the service charge and corner myself into a particular time and fortunately, had no problems getting on an earlier train than I’d done last time. And since, once there, I already knew the drill, I got to the hostel – same as before – a bit earlier.

My original plan had been to do Disney, but based on the overcast weather and slight chill, I drew up a Plan B, which involved movies. I obsessed over the times and strategized to figure out how many I could see on Sunday, thinking I could knock down my Netflix list.

Neflix does deliver here, but it takes a single movie six weeks to get from there to here and back. I’m only paying $5 a month, so it’s worth it, I guess, but I will not see the movies in my queue for many moons. So any attempts to see current films are welcome.

We have theaters here, but reading the listings is a problem. I think some of them are in English with subtitles, but I can’t figure out what’s showing where and when. That’s a problem.

Anyway, after deciding on three, figuring it out and being me, I totally changed my mind again. When I’d ruled out Disney, I had pondered going to Macau and forget why the movies moved up in the lineup, but somehow they did.

But when I realized “Frozen” was only offered in 3D (“Bring your own glasses or buy a pair!”) and I didn’t think I wanted to sit for a three-hour movie, I decided to just see “American Hustle” and then hope the ferry to Macau, which is what I did.

Honestly, I’d heard Macau was a Vegas, and it is but I spent very little time in that part. I went to the older city and could have sworn I was in Lisbon. It was so cool. I really thought an afternoon in Macau would suit me for the two years I’m here, but nope. That was too cool, and I will be back.

I will post photos of Macau, but since that was my second trip to Hong Kong, I’m posting those pictures first.

It’s a lot of malls. It’s a lot more than that, but so far that’s what I’ve seen.

I got a kick out of the “I Should’ve Been a Cowboy” sign in the store and wondered if there’s a little copyright infringement going on there.

Macau is only an hour by ferry from Hong Kong. I can take a train there, too, but I figured it was right there and I might as well. Again, I’ll be here two years so I figure I’ll have ample opportunity to do them both again.

The next time I go to either, I really hope it’s just a straight weekend off and not in conjunction with a doctor’s appointment.

And now it’s back to work tomorrow. Last week was pretty rough and this week is going to be fairly intense, too. My Motown presentation is Thursday evening and I’m really freaked out over it. The PowerPoint is totally kick-butt – I’ve spent over 20 hours on it – but I do have to speak in front of about 20 people so I am just freaked.

If I can make it through Thursday – and the thing won’t end until about 10 p.m., so when I say Thursday, I mean all of Thursday – I’m fine.

And we have an office field trip on Saturday. It’s not really a field trip but a road trip we were invited to. I don’t know the name of the city, but it’s a UNESCO site about three hours southwest-ish from me.

I’m really excited about going. First, if I make it there, it means I got through the week, which is no small thing. Second, I really, really want to explore China. I have ZERO language skills and am a little intimidated to travel to smaller towns – real China – alone and unable to communicate.

So this trip, which small and close to home, is a cool opportunity and I am looking forward to it.

I guess this is winter

It’s been a bleak weekend weather-wise in Guangzhou, but if this is the brunt of winter I’ll take it. It’s a little chilly, but I’ve been wearing flip flops for the greater part of February, so that’s just awesome

Canton Tower in today's fog

There is a big rainy season here and I’m not sure when it starts, but Saturday and Sunday have been drizzly. It’s sweatshirt weather, but really, nothing more.

The fog was the big thing. My view out of the bathroom window was a bit obscured this morning. The top of the 100-story Canton Tower was obscured by fog and clouds!

Been a nice weekend to just hunker down and stay home, but I’ve been out more this weekend than usual.

Saturday morning we had a visiting Marine chaplain and held a Bible study with a potluck breakfast. I went all out and made a casserole with eggs, ground pork, potatoes with onion and peppers and sliced cheese on top.

The sliced cheese, a small package of 10 pieces, cost THREE TIMES as much as the pork, which, unlike Morocco, seems to grow here on trees. Well, maybe not, but it’s not hashuma and everyone eats it. I probably had a half a pound in the egg bake thing.

Canton Tower at night. View from my toilet.

No leftovers, either, but I need to manage my morning time a little better. For some reason, I thought if I woke up at the same time as usual, started my hour and a half gym routine at 6:30, I’d be done at 8 and would have time to throw together the already-sautéed potatoes and pork with just-scrambled eggs, top them with the cheese and stick them in the oven for a good 30 minutes before walking out the door at 8:50 for the 9 a.m. service.

Wrong. Somehow, the hour and a half didn’t end until 8:20 and I was totally pushing it to get the rest done, which also included taking a shower while the stuff baked. And I was really baffled by my oven, which I hadn’t used before. I had to guess on the Celsius to Fahrenheit conversion.

As it was, I think I only heated it up for about 15 minutes, but it was warm enough. Marines eat anything.

View from my front. Lower left is my office.

Saturday night, in the drizzle, I walked over to another one of the apartment buildings and went to an Olympic-watching party. There was nothing on live at the start of it (I think we’re about five hours ahead of Sochi, maybe) and we had a rough time finding the opening ceremonies on some place we could stream, but we did OK.

Once the real games started, we watched the women’s mogul and the men’s biathlon. I’d never really paid much attention to either. To me, winter Olympics = hockey.

Anyway, I’m not sure how long I watched the biathlon, but I never saw a US competitor. The Norwegian guy was awesome and one of the Czech guys spooked me because he never even blinked taking his five shots, but how come the U.S. doesn’t rule in this? We have guns. Heck, snow and guns are what North Dakota is all about.

Also, the U.S. ice dancer guy, Charlie, needs a haircut. Oh, my. He looked like a bad imitation of Colin Firth. I watched this today without sound (might have been a tape delay) and all I could think of was they must be skating to the sounds of “Beauty and the Beast.” Between the locks and the little tux, that’s what he reminded me of.

Same view at night.

Anyway, I got home Saturday late, then talked to Leanne until 1:30 a.m. and therefore slept late on Sunday. Since the weather is the same as it was yesterday, I haven’t really been motivated to do much. My Internet has also been wonky – I tried Skyping this morning and got cut off, then couldn’t get connected again – and basically all attempts to go online have been slower than normal, which is already pretty slow.

This week is going to be brutal and if I get through it, I’m good. If I get through next week, I’m gold. The Motown presentation is the 20^th and after that I should be all right. That weekend we have a road trip planned, too. Once in a while the office offers a trip and this one is three hours away somewhere, so I’m going.

Next weekend I am off to Hong Kong again so that I can pick up my new orthodics. I hope they work for me; my feet have really hurt on the elliptical. I’m doing pretty much the same thing I did last time: going Saturday afternoon and coming back on Monday. I’m not, however, getting my train ticket in advance. The service charge is about half the cost of the ticket and there seem to be enough available when you walk up, so I’ll just do that.

Seould Out

Happy Chinese New Year! It's the Year of the Horse.

 

I’m just back from Seoul, which put me as one of the millions of travelers during the Chinese New Year.

When I bought the ticket, I pretty much just tried to go anywhere I could get nonstop. I wound up in Seoul, which, as it turns out, also celebrates the Lunar New Year, so lots of stuff was closed.

But no matter. I mostly just wander on vacation, and this was no different. I had a good time, and thankfully, someone loaned me a heavy coat before I left. I needed it.

 

Really, I was only there two days. My flight went fine, and I even got to the airport fine. I wound up doing option No. 2, the metro, because I am directionally inept and couldn’t find the ticket sales counter for this express bus that goes pretty much from my front door to the airport. But the metro was fine and not too crowded. Less than a buck for a 40-minute ride.

Once in Seoul, it went better than expected. Found the bus into town, got money and got off at the right stop. My flight had been about half an hour late, but that’s usually not a really big deal.

Well, the instructions to the hostel were something like “Get off at this stop, go two blocks and cross the street. It’s in the same building as X restaurant.”

I got off, wondered which street to cross but saw X restaurant a ways away, so I went directly to it. And couldn’t for the life of me figure anything else out. I walked up, down and around trying to figure it out and discovered nothing. Tried to ask the guy at the gate but he spoke no English and waved me off.

There was a 24-hour Krispy Kreme nearby and seriously, I thought I was going to wind up in there for the night. Then I asked some other guy and he’d never heard of it, either, and even looked on his phone and came up empty before asking a street cleaner if he had any idea where it was. That man pointed me across a different street and sure enough, about 10 minutes later, I was there.

Except in that 10 minutes, the host had left. It was then after 11, and closing time for check in is 11. There was a note stuck on the door for me to connect to Wifi and send an email, which would have worked if I had, you know, a laptop or smartphone. I had neither, but fortunately the only other guest in the hostel that night was there and let me in. I was so relieved!

My big walking day was the next day, and even though it was cold the weather was beautiful. I went up to the palace and the historical museum. It was educational but as an English speaker I think I got ripped off. There would be this display of a beautiful traditional garment and the display, in Korean lettering, would be maybe 6-8 lines of text. The English translation following would say something like “Prince’s costume.” I think I might have missed much there.

Still, it was fun to wander. I popped into some restaurant and ate around 4 p.m., recharged, and went again. Probably around 7 p.m. I just was done. Fortunately their subway system is awesome and I really didn’t have to walk all the way back.

By some scheduling quirk, I was the only guest in the hostel that night, but the owner guy was there. I told him I’d wanted to do the DMZ tour but it had been canceled. He looked puzzled, made a call and reported that it was on and could pick me up at 7:30 the next morning. Done.

So, on a very drizzly and foggy day, I did that. It was really interesting. I never realized how close Seoul was to North Korea.

The guide person kept telling us all these awful stories about North Korea, like how they’d put up buildings to pretend there were people living near the border, all happy, but that really the buildings were abandoned or how technically, North Korea was still at war with South Korea and could nuke them at any time. (Spookily, she was very chipper when she said this.) We could see the North Korean border, and she pointed out that you could tell the landscape was different because there were no trees – they had been cut down for fuel.

We didn’t go into the DMZ itself, but to the border and looked over. You couldn’t take photos there, or at least you had to stand back behind this yellow line that blocked any decent shots. It was also fairly foggy at that point, so viewing was lost on me. 

After signing the Panmunjom treaty, North Korea didn’t play nice like they’d promised and started building tunnels – four of them found so far – to Seoul, in an attempt to at some point invade the city.

It didn’t work, and now tourists can visit (but not photograph) the third tunnel that was discovered.

It was really creepy. You walk down this steep slope for about five minutes and then walk through rock, essentially, for another five before you reach a wall. The tunnel goes farther, but that’s all tourists can get to. It’s really short – you have to wear a helmet and I smacked my head several times – and I would totally get claustrophobic in there if I thought too much about it.

Oddly, it was a lot easier to walk up the steep slope than down. Down I kept feeling like I was going to lose my balance and just roll. That would have been painful.

We also visited a railway station, but there weren’t any trains. It’s the last stop in South Korea and the goal was to get North Korea to meet it, which would then have a consecutive rail service from South Korea all the way to Britain. But North Koreans don’t play nice.

Anyway, that was fun. I also ate Krispy Kreme, which was also fun.

Seoul has, just so you know, more coffee shops and more cosmetics/face stories than any place I’ve ever seen. There was a Starbucks at least every three blocks and then the cosmetic stores were just everywhere. I had forgotten my Chapstick (or maybe I lost it; I’m back now and I still haven’t found it) but didn’t have to worry because I could just try a tester every time I needed something.

I had a lousy breakfast the last day. I really wanted something like scrambled eggs or something like that, but no dice. All the coffee shops are just patisseries and things like that. I didn’t want bread.

Finally, I went into the French Baguette place and found the world’s worst ham and egg sandwich. It turned out to be a boiled egg, not scrambled. I’ve maintained this whole time I don’t like hard-boiled eggs and boy, was I right. I could barely choke it down.

But it was a weird experience overall. When I went in, I realized the song playing was pure country. Blake Shelton, to be exact.

There is something inordinately odd about being in Korea, at what’s purported to be a French restaurant and hear the words “chew tobacco, chew tobacco, chew tobacco, spit” coming over the speaker. It reminded me of when I was having the Christmas dinner in Indonesia and heard Toby Keith’s voice. At least that was Christmas music. This was just bizarre.

Anyway I’m back, and of course the back part is always the most stressful.

The absolute BEST perk I’ve experienced is the diplomatic immigration line, but back in China, it’s sort of diluted and called a “special lane.” This means that all kinds of random people wind up there.

Yesterday, it was dumb Australian tourists. I got behind four of them, all in their 20s or so and pretty stupid. Beyond congregating the area (hello, see the sign that says one at a time, stand behind the yellow line?) they didn’t fill out or filled out incorrectly their landing cards, didn’t have the right boarding pass, etc.

I was almost to the front and someone wheeled up a perfectly healthy man who happened to be a in wheelchair. Why he got moved to the front I don’t know. No problem with him using the “special lane,” but the front? Hmm…

Before he’d even been shuffled through, two MORE Australian tourists jumped in front, too. I was ready to scream. Fortunately, another “special lane” opened and I finally made it through and onto the metro.

So next up is hopefully Bangladesh. I actually had the ticket on my screen yesterday and was ready to pull the trigger until I realized I haven’t formally asked for the time off. I think I should do that first.