I was out tonight drinking in various locals and despite the variety one constant remained the same: having my book to scribble thoughts in. I recognize that I am no author, years of editing and critiques have taught me this. However, this was a little something I came up with between Mojitos and beers. Please let me know what you think this is truely a transcribed first draft and if people want to hear more of the story I might tweek it and see where it can be taken to.
"The hardest word is the first, like the first kiss you steal from a girl, a good first one unleashes a torrent that makes you forget the first and release a torrent of followers and then when you look back wonder what the hell was I waiting for? When I write write I simple skip the terror of the first page and launch full formed onto the second, it increases the passion and the drive and skips the the sense of ceremony."
He paused as she nodded, the 'I am a writer line got a lot more play then the bullshit about acting. With acting girls knew that you weren't in movies they had seen and quickly they were moving on. However, writing wasn't like that. Virtually nobody, outside of a few anti-social professor types, could keep up-to-date with the various litearature scenes, the blogs, the print and the journals. The daily avalanche of consumable text that was seldom if ever consumed. Choice was everywhere and people were choosing the youtube videos of idiots doing stupid things. Words were everywhere but seldom read, an indictement of a society that constant commentators proclaimed ready to fall. Too many opions not enough listeners. A society in which 'C U @ 8 :)' was considered a perfectly reasonable and coherent sentence! He was starting to chase the idea further down the rabit hole as he took a long pull at his drink. But, he noticed the girl... what was her name?...
Looking about the room "Sorry," he continued "Sometimes something catchs my...me offguard. I get lost in etching a moment in my mind for a later tale."
"Really, am I going to turn up in one of your next works?" Claudia, Claire, Chloe, or Catherine giggled
"Well so far we've got little more than a hello. I'd need you tell me more about you, who you are, what makes you laugh, cry, and go to sleep with a smile on your face at night?" It was a blantant, but he thought by the way she was drinking her third or fourth pinkish drink play but worth dropping in now. If she laughed him or demured it was early enough that an adequate replacement could be found.
She took the bait and and she started to yammer about bullshit that no wanted to hear nearly as much as she wanted to say. He nodded encouragement and agreed at the painfully obvious pauses that searched for the approval to continue in her diatribe.
The whole time he was listening for a few key words: "god, kids, husband, boyfriend" or bullshit pronoun choices about exs. The last a certain flag of lesbianism because bi chicks, the gate keepers of the holy grail of threesomes, dropped that bomb early in conversations in a bar like this. Any of these flagged words were certain to lead to a no or complicated and therefore regretable sex. None of these came out and grinned his half cocked smile, he knew that if Claire, Cassandra, or Cat wasn't omitting any of these words it was intentional or actual. Both went down as good omnes for the night to come.
He laughed at some anedote about a time in her youth when she got her finger stuck in a seat belt on a childhood date. One of 'those' dates when mommy and daddy drove and chaperoned you to a movie. There was not much chance of that tonight, the only one keeping an eye on them was the bartender making sure neither glass went dry though they were getting close.
He leaned closer, pretending to need to be able to better hear, however, his only intention was to make sure that she and he were both comfortable face to face.
He knew that soon would come the moment famialir to all card players, and most acutely to poker players. He had seen the cards, and as he looked both at this girl and about the bar he knew it was time to bet. He had to choose. He could either bet and order another round for both and continue to feign interest in what her big brother liked to do for fun or he could fold and wish her a 'goodnight.' He considered his hand, she seems to have loved the idea of a writer and she was not an un-pretty girl however, she'd been less than pithy during the back and forth of the evening.
He checked.
He drained most of his mojito, rose and excused himself to the bathroom. He always hated using the facilities when the game was afoot. However, it was what was needed at this moment. After this needed relief and a thorugh self inspection in the mirror he returned. He took the long route back and so that he could approach her from behind and get the all important hand at the small of the back in.
In the overworked lights of the small bar on the corner of a busy downtown street he see a fresh mojito sitting on the bar in front of his stool.
His half cocked smile was replaced with the swagger of a plyer whose straight flush was met by an all in
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Quiet night in Hong Kong
Tonight is my 4th in Hong Kong and I am lazying about the hotel I am. I haven''t had tv for almost 18 months now and it's temptation to simply chanel surf is quite impressive, in spite of the fact that I've only got 9 channels and of those 1 or sometimes are in English. But there is a remote control, so that adds a degree of comfort to the flipping.
So since Xian and the Terracotta Warriors, what's been up?
I returned to Shenzhen for a night with Chris to show him around the city I spent the last year teaching in. We were joined by some of my colleagues for a nice dinner and a late night of drinking. We turned into bed about 2am and were up early the next morning for a trip to the Zhuhai hotsprings.
The Hotsprings were wonderful and it was fun to add a third party to our trip, a fellow teacher named Michael. We spent 24 hours and about 60 Canadian dollars getting massaged, soaking in hot springs and eating pretty tasty food.
However, what's a little relaxation without some action after, right?
So the lot of us headed over to Macau, the Las Vegas of the East, for a night out of more drinks and some gambling. Chris got busted out pretty early, Michael held in. And I did okay for myself. The first Casino we went to was the famous landmark of the former Portugese colony The Grand Lisboa it was a rather sterile and boring affair although, I was getting a long well with the pit boss and the dealer. However, wtith the boys down in the count they were anxious to push away from the tables.
We headed next to the Wynn Casino, it was bigger and and fancier but no Casino Royale. However, I did get to fulfill a little gambling fantasy, unfortunately it was not "Rollin' Freddo" style, but instead it was getting to have a cigar and a proper free drink at the table. Double Vodka and ice, not a martini, but also a lot less pertensious then being *that* guy.
Lady luck was again on my shoulder and unfortunately not my friends'. I was up about 200$ Canadian, tipping dealers/cocktail waitresses and having a laugh in my extremly limited Chinese with my fellow players. However, after ordering a round properly tipping to make sure it was actually a double VODKA, not double water I was told that the Casino had cut me off! It was only my third drink and I had already tipped the dealer. I was pretty unimpressed, so I pointedly asked the pit boss for the directions to Venetian took my winnings and walked out with the fellas in tow.
Unfortunately I'd left Fortuna behind in Wynn and playing at the 30$ table I was soon down almost 300$. I pushed away at the shock of it and took my Grey Goose and new cigar to watch how Michael was fairing. He was up but the action at his table was slow. My gamblers ego started to whisper in my ear. I slipped away to the ATM, and bought back into the game with a further 300$ it was a silly decision, one should never buy back in when theyve busted out with the amount they wanted to spend. However, the goddess heard my faint whispers and returned to my side. I was hitting doubles and splits regularly and soon recovered my 'donation' to the casino. I eventually left the Venetian even at their casino and still up 300$ on the night. I got lucky with the buy back in, but the playing, smoking, drinking and late hour combined to make me desperately tired. We returned to the room where I am pretty sure I was asleep before head hit pillow.
The next day was a late afternoon in Shenzhen to sort out some travel logistics and get one more night out drinking with Chris in the city.
The next morning we were up early to meet Graham, a different teacher, for Dim Sum and then the three of us departed for Hong Kong. We spent the afternoon walking about seeing the basic sights of the city. The Star Ferry across, for my money, the most beautiful harbour in the world, the Peak to enjoy the amazing vista of the city, checking out the Temple night market and it's many unusual goods. (An aside, who in their right mind would by sex toys at an open air market) That night were out Lang Kui Fook (spelled that wrong I suspect) and drank until 2 in the morning.
The next day was Chris' last in China and we spent the morning and early afternoon at The Hong Kong Heritage muesum, where the had a wonderful display from Ancient Greece, including the world famous Discuss Thrower. It was beautiful and fascinating. However, I was a little worn out as for the last 3 or 4 days I was going throw many tourist sites I'd seen before, so afterwards when Chris wanted to go see the giant Buddha I decided to take a pass and go see the new Bond with Graham (great movie!)
After the show Graham headed back to mainland China and I returned to the hostel to find Chris. We decided to head once more to the harbour to enjoy that view of the city an the Walk of Stars, an interesting little Hollywood-esque area where famous Hong Kong stars did the dipping hands in wet Cement thing with Hong Kong Island as a backdrop. It is a very fun place to be. Afterwards we went shopping through a different night market with Chris working hard to try to find those last minute souveneirs for his bird and various friends back home.
The next morning Chris was up early and off to the airport, I however, had an exceptionally lazy day doing a lot of walking and reading and bloody much else.
I am rather looking forward to returning to the mainland tomorrow and starting travelling again. Hanging out in Hong Kong for 4 nights is some what akin to somewhat from Victoria spendning 4 nights in Vancouver, at a certain point you've seen all the sites.
Alright, back to Chinese Channel Surfing
So since Xian and the Terracotta Warriors, what's been up?
I returned to Shenzhen for a night with Chris to show him around the city I spent the last year teaching in. We were joined by some of my colleagues for a nice dinner and a late night of drinking. We turned into bed about 2am and were up early the next morning for a trip to the Zhuhai hotsprings.
The Hotsprings were wonderful and it was fun to add a third party to our trip, a fellow teacher named Michael. We spent 24 hours and about 60 Canadian dollars getting massaged, soaking in hot springs and eating pretty tasty food.
However, what's a little relaxation without some action after, right?
So the lot of us headed over to Macau, the Las Vegas of the East, for a night out of more drinks and some gambling. Chris got busted out pretty early, Michael held in. And I did okay for myself. The first Casino we went to was the famous landmark of the former Portugese colony The Grand Lisboa it was a rather sterile and boring affair although, I was getting a long well with the pit boss and the dealer. However, wtith the boys down in the count they were anxious to push away from the tables.
We headed next to the Wynn Casino, it was bigger and and fancier but no Casino Royale. However, I did get to fulfill a little gambling fantasy, unfortunately it was not "Rollin' Freddo" style, but instead it was getting to have a cigar and a proper free drink at the table. Double Vodka and ice, not a martini, but also a lot less pertensious then being *that* guy.
Lady luck was again on my shoulder and unfortunately not my friends'. I was up about 200$ Canadian, tipping dealers/cocktail waitresses and having a laugh in my extremly limited Chinese with my fellow players. However, after ordering a round properly tipping to make sure it was actually a double VODKA, not double water I was told that the Casino had cut me off! It was only my third drink and I had already tipped the dealer. I was pretty unimpressed, so I pointedly asked the pit boss for the directions to Venetian took my winnings and walked out with the fellas in tow.
Unfortunately I'd left Fortuna behind in Wynn and playing at the 30$ table I was soon down almost 300$. I pushed away at the shock of it and took my Grey Goose and new cigar to watch how Michael was fairing. He was up but the action at his table was slow. My gamblers ego started to whisper in my ear. I slipped away to the ATM, and bought back into the game with a further 300$ it was a silly decision, one should never buy back in when theyve busted out with the amount they wanted to spend. However, the goddess heard my faint whispers and returned to my side. I was hitting doubles and splits regularly and soon recovered my 'donation' to the casino. I eventually left the Venetian even at their casino and still up 300$ on the night. I got lucky with the buy back in, but the playing, smoking, drinking and late hour combined to make me desperately tired. We returned to the room where I am pretty sure I was asleep before head hit pillow.
The next day was a late afternoon in Shenzhen to sort out some travel logistics and get one more night out drinking with Chris in the city.
The next morning we were up early to meet Graham, a different teacher, for Dim Sum and then the three of us departed for Hong Kong. We spent the afternoon walking about seeing the basic sights of the city. The Star Ferry across, for my money, the most beautiful harbour in the world, the Peak to enjoy the amazing vista of the city, checking out the Temple night market and it's many unusual goods. (An aside, who in their right mind would by sex toys at an open air market) That night were out Lang Kui Fook (spelled that wrong I suspect) and drank until 2 in the morning.
The next day was Chris' last in China and we spent the morning and early afternoon at The Hong Kong Heritage muesum, where the had a wonderful display from Ancient Greece, including the world famous Discuss Thrower. It was beautiful and fascinating. However, I was a little worn out as for the last 3 or 4 days I was going throw many tourist sites I'd seen before, so afterwards when Chris wanted to go see the giant Buddha I decided to take a pass and go see the new Bond with Graham (great movie!)
After the show Graham headed back to mainland China and I returned to the hostel to find Chris. We decided to head once more to the harbour to enjoy that view of the city an the Walk of Stars, an interesting little Hollywood-esque area where famous Hong Kong stars did the dipping hands in wet Cement thing with Hong Kong Island as a backdrop. It is a very fun place to be. Afterwards we went shopping through a different night market with Chris working hard to try to find those last minute souveneirs for his bird and various friends back home.
The next morning Chris was up early and off to the airport, I however, had an exceptionally lazy day doing a lot of walking and reading and bloody much else.
I am rather looking forward to returning to the mainland tomorrow and starting travelling again. Hanging out in Hong Kong for 4 nights is some what akin to somewhat from Victoria spendning 4 nights in Vancouver, at a certain point you've seen all the sites.
Alright, back to Chinese Channel Surfing
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Barak Obama
Alright, good one America. You kind of bombed on the last two elections, but you came through this time. Not sure the rest of us are ready to let you slide for Bush, however, we will start inviting you to the cool parties again.
It was interesting being here in China for the election, normally I'd be glued to the internet and tv keen to get any sort of update I could. However, this time I was out exploring the Summer Palace in China. I remember clearly the older Scotsman who told us the news that McCain had conceded we were all pleasantly surprised that it was official.
However, I think then and now think that the real news is the Senate race, it's been pretty clear for 6+ weeks that we were headed to and Obama win, even if we were reluctant to actually say the words. The real race was in the end for the Seante where the Democrats picked up 6 seats to give them 55 with a few still(!?) left to be decided. I think this is where the Obama agenda could be held up and if the party was able to reach 60 seats it would've been a lot stronger because it would have been filibuster proof, close but not quite.
It's interesting Chris and I've been casually keeping an ear out ever since he pointed out that he'd heard the name Obama a number of times in Chinese conversations. While neither of us no what they are saying it is clear that people are very aware of this election and for the most part I suppose this is a good thing.
I've had a lot of time to think about this election and I've been left with a few ideas that are incomplete but I'd welcome feedback about
1. Does an American election of a charismatic leader increase the bottom up pressure on the Chinese government for further democratization? The fact that everybody is talking about a leader they are impressed by that who was elected must have some members of the party worried. While many Chinese have pointed out to me in conversations that China is simply too big to be adequately administered by a democracy it must also strike them the contrast in personality by the President-elect and President Hu
2. When he becomes President, Barak Obama is not going to be god! I've heard and read some much utter rubbish about what he will and will not on blogs/facebook/hostel cafes that I feel this fact needs to be pointed out. Most of his first terms agenda/political capital will be spent on trying to address the short term probelms of the economic crisis while hopefully getting ahead of the curve in the long term. All troops will not magically redeploy from Iraq to return home to start doing socialized medicine in the streets.
Please do try to temper expectations.
3. I read his book and I am pretty into the hype. It is interesting, the power of an election. Americans went from being "Canadians" while the traveled back to AMERICANS! and while I can not gauge this I bet a lot of peoples' first words to them while travelling will change from "Bush bad!" to "Obama good!" This is part of the power of democracy it can cleanse alot of the negative associations. An insanely long campaign that occured almost exclusively on American soil is able to suddenly and effectively make people excited about the country again. Like I joked in the opening paragraph, welcome back to the cool parties America
4. Canada, please care as much about our elections as you do about the American ones. The next ass who goes off about how great and important Obama is without being able to name some Cabinet Ministers, there MP and the last...5+ Prime Ministers is getting a punch
5. If election fatigue hasn't crushed you, and it really isn't that hard go vote in upcoming Civic Elections. I spent 5 hours to vote in the Federal Election, surely you can take the time to pick up a newspaper and pop down to a polling station
It was interesting being here in China for the election, normally I'd be glued to the internet and tv keen to get any sort of update I could. However, this time I was out exploring the Summer Palace in China. I remember clearly the older Scotsman who told us the news that McCain had conceded we were all pleasantly surprised that it was official.
However, I think then and now think that the real news is the Senate race, it's been pretty clear for 6+ weeks that we were headed to and Obama win, even if we were reluctant to actually say the words. The real race was in the end for the Seante where the Democrats picked up 6 seats to give them 55 with a few still(!?) left to be decided. I think this is where the Obama agenda could be held up and if the party was able to reach 60 seats it would've been a lot stronger because it would have been filibuster proof, close but not quite.
It's interesting Chris and I've been casually keeping an ear out ever since he pointed out that he'd heard the name Obama a number of times in Chinese conversations. While neither of us no what they are saying it is clear that people are very aware of this election and for the most part I suppose this is a good thing.
I've had a lot of time to think about this election and I've been left with a few ideas that are incomplete but I'd welcome feedback about
1. Does an American election of a charismatic leader increase the bottom up pressure on the Chinese government for further democratization? The fact that everybody is talking about a leader they are impressed by that who was elected must have some members of the party worried. While many Chinese have pointed out to me in conversations that China is simply too big to be adequately administered by a democracy it must also strike them the contrast in personality by the President-elect and President Hu
2. When he becomes President, Barak Obama is not going to be god! I've heard and read some much utter rubbish about what he will and will not on blogs/facebook/hostel cafes that I feel this fact needs to be pointed out. Most of his first terms agenda/political capital will be spent on trying to address the short term probelms of the economic crisis while hopefully getting ahead of the curve in the long term. All troops will not magically redeploy from Iraq to return home to start doing socialized medicine in the streets.
Please do try to temper expectations.
3. I read his book and I am pretty into the hype. It is interesting, the power of an election. Americans went from being "Canadians" while the traveled back to AMERICANS! and while I can not gauge this I bet a lot of peoples' first words to them while travelling will change from "Bush bad!" to "Obama good!" This is part of the power of democracy it can cleanse alot of the negative associations. An insanely long campaign that occured almost exclusively on American soil is able to suddenly and effectively make people excited about the country again. Like I joked in the opening paragraph, welcome back to the cool parties America
4. Canada, please care as much about our elections as you do about the American ones. The next ass who goes off about how great and important Obama is without being able to name some Cabinet Ministers, there MP and the last...5+ Prime Ministers is getting a punch
5. If election fatigue hasn't crushed you, and it really isn't that hard go vote in upcoming Civic Elections. I spent 5 hours to vote in the Federal Election, surely you can take the time to pick up a newspaper and pop down to a polling station
Night Train and Terracotta Warriors
As promised the story continues
Yesterday I lazied out on covering the night train...
At about 6 pm Chris and I hopped aboard our coach to Xian, a 12 hour night train that would pass over 1200 kilometers of dark China. We took a soft sleeper with Chris in the middle bunk and me up top. Around 10 it was lights out but I was feeling a little antsy and claustrophobic on the top bunk with only about two thirds of a meter above me to move about in. Chris was asleep in minutes and I decided to watch a movie on my PSP. 2001: A space Odyssey. Stanley Kubrick? WHAT THE FUCK?! In the first 30 minutes of the movie there is not a single word of dialogue not one!
This did however, help me fall asleep. Unfortunately I was woken up by a Pakistan fellow from further down the train crawling into the empty top bunk opposite of mine. After his various grumbles woke me up it was his pleasure to keep me awake by snoring loud enough to drown on out the train. I've never wanted so badly and so irrationally to pummel somone, feelings that increased exponentially as 2 turned to 3 to 4 to 5 and finally 6 when I gave up any hope of getting any sleep on the night train that was about to end.
We arrived early into Xian, were greeted by a friendly fellow and showed to a nice hostel. We dropped off our bags, showered up and sussed out the local bus to the Terractoa Warriors. While were limited in how close we could get to the artificats the views we did see of them were spectacular, the pure scale of the site was amazing. Our guide told us that it was 56 square kilometers! Much of them had been damaged by the intervening years since 210BCE. However, the detail work on the faces, bodies and horses was truly impressive. We spent a few hours and many photographs at the park before returning on a bus to the City.
Tired from the night train I grabbed and an hours shuteye while Chris explored a little. Later that night we set off to try to find a fun bar and explore the city a little further. We found some very tasty street food in the muslim quarter of the city which was abuzz with activity. However, the hunt for the bar proved to be a bit of a waste as everywhere we went was limited to dice playing isolated tables. Apparently the economic slow down + chilly night + tourist low season resulted in a very quiet night out.
Today we wandered around town without much of a purpose. We looked in on Pagodas and antique markets, however, we were simply cultured out. In a couple of hours we are going to head back out and try to find a place to catch a movie.
Tomorrow morning it is an early flight down to Shenzhen to explore the old stomping grounds.
Yesterday I lazied out on covering the night train...
At about 6 pm Chris and I hopped aboard our coach to Xian, a 12 hour night train that would pass over 1200 kilometers of dark China. We took a soft sleeper with Chris in the middle bunk and me up top. Around 10 it was lights out but I was feeling a little antsy and claustrophobic on the top bunk with only about two thirds of a meter above me to move about in. Chris was asleep in minutes and I decided to watch a movie on my PSP. 2001: A space Odyssey. Stanley Kubrick? WHAT THE FUCK?! In the first 30 minutes of the movie there is not a single word of dialogue not one!
This did however, help me fall asleep. Unfortunately I was woken up by a Pakistan fellow from further down the train crawling into the empty top bunk opposite of mine. After his various grumbles woke me up it was his pleasure to keep me awake by snoring loud enough to drown on out the train. I've never wanted so badly and so irrationally to pummel somone, feelings that increased exponentially as 2 turned to 3 to 4 to 5 and finally 6 when I gave up any hope of getting any sleep on the night train that was about to end.
We arrived early into Xian, were greeted by a friendly fellow and showed to a nice hostel. We dropped off our bags, showered up and sussed out the local bus to the Terractoa Warriors. While were limited in how close we could get to the artificats the views we did see of them were spectacular, the pure scale of the site was amazing. Our guide told us that it was 56 square kilometers! Much of them had been damaged by the intervening years since 210BCE. However, the detail work on the faces, bodies and horses was truly impressive. We spent a few hours and many photographs at the park before returning on a bus to the City.
Tired from the night train I grabbed and an hours shuteye while Chris explored a little. Later that night we set off to try to find a fun bar and explore the city a little further. We found some very tasty street food in the muslim quarter of the city which was abuzz with activity. However, the hunt for the bar proved to be a bit of a waste as everywhere we went was limited to dice playing isolated tables. Apparently the economic slow down + chilly night + tourist low season resulted in a very quiet night out.
Today we wandered around town without much of a purpose. We looked in on Pagodas and antique markets, however, we were simply cultured out. In a couple of hours we are going to head back out and try to find a place to catch a movie.
Tomorrow morning it is an early flight down to Shenzhen to explore the old stomping grounds.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Back in the saddle
Alright for the last few days I've been promising myself that I'd sit down and blog again. Today's will be brief as I don't want to drown my new readers with an overload.\
Sunday I left Shenzhen, checking out of my very first apartment. Packing, re-packing and then packing again my backpack for the next 6 weeks and the luggage I am going to send home with my good friend Chris.
And then it was time to go. I hadn't been sleeping well all week I was worried about leaving a job a liked, wonderful co-workers and a pretty enjoyable life for the unknown. But as I my taxi pulled up to the airport after understanding my rudimentary hand gestures for airport (a few wooshing sound effects may have been added.) The fear that I was doing the wrong thing melted away as I got very excited to go catch up with one of my closest friends in Beijing.
The flight was totally uneventful and complete with the usual disposable friend conversations with my seatmate (How did the manage to put the 2 people who spoke English together?) I arrived to the hostel and Chris had headed out with some Austrians about 20 minutes before I arrived. I took myself out for a stroll exploring the little Hutons in the neighbourhood of the hotel.
Hutons are wonderful little alley like streets that are teeming with activity in Beijing. They are from some of the oldest parts of the city and they are clearly not designed for cars as they are too small and are generally populated with fragrant food vendors, old people walking with fresh produce from the market and bicycles. Many many bicycles.
Chris and I finally caught up after he found his way back to the hostel around 1230 and we drank until the wee small hours.
The next morning we were up for 10ish and set out on a day of epic walking. We walked through a park to the North of the Forbidden City, and around the walls of said city before deciding we were too hungry to do it then. So we went out in pursuit of lunch, the first meal I've ordered entirely in Chinese! However, when we got back on track to go see the palace we discovered it had closed already as had the Mao Muesum.
We did however salvage the day by getting to see the Bird's Nest and Watercube, both of which were fantastically interesting pieces of architecture and fun to see in person. Thoroughly walked out we turned in for the night.
The next morning we were up at half five for a trek on the Great Wall. The views from and of the Wall were unbelievable. Considering that the section we were on was over 500 years old it was a truly impressive feat! I will sort out posting some photos this weekend.
At some point Chris and I lost sight of the group we were with, thinking it was because we had fallen very far behind while taking pictures and chatting with various hawkers we started to press our pace a little up and down over countless steps and hills. This wasn't an easy task as we had selected this section of the wall to visit because it was particularly hilly. We pressed hard though constantly trying to catch up with groups in front of us. None of them were from our group and so we continued to step it up just a little each time. Finally we came to where we were due to meet our driver. He was waiting at the gate and chuckled impressed that we were finished already.
We were almost 30 minutes ahead of the next closest group! Apparently at some point they had gotten off the wall to avoid a particularly difficult section and we'd passed them by pressing through. With legs like jello we stumbled our way to the waiting tasty lunch.
After sleeping like babies on the bus coming back we didn't really have much in the tank for heading out that night and instead spent some time reading before falling asleep around 9.
The next morning were up with a purpose! No more missing sights we added a Kiwi girl to our merry band and set out for the Summer Palace. It was beautiful, if repeptitive. Red EVERYWHERE, however, the company was good and the 3 of spent the day cracking jokes and walking countless kilometers. We spent about 8 hours that day at the Summer Palace before heading back to our hostel for a few beers and the official card game of backpackers everywhere: Shithead.
On day four, our last in Beijing we had 2 goals clearly in mind: The Forbidden City and seeing the preserved body of Chairman Mao. We arrived early with this mission in mind, however about a 90 minute line up had already formed to see Mao. I passed on my dreams of seeing a thawing revolutionary/dictator and we moved on to the Imperial City.
Four thoughts on the Forbidden City. First, please ANY other colour but red! Second, it is too big to maintain interest throughout, the sparse displays are too poorly maintained to capture the imagination. Three, the scale of this splendor has to be seen to be believed it is enermous. Four, if there is ever a zombie apocalypse this is the place to be! Giant doors abound!
Alright, next post I'll catch you up on my thoughts on the election and today's trip to the terracotta warriors in Xian and night train misery!
Sunday I left Shenzhen, checking out of my very first apartment. Packing, re-packing and then packing again my backpack for the next 6 weeks and the luggage I am going to send home with my good friend Chris.
And then it was time to go. I hadn't been sleeping well all week I was worried about leaving a job a liked, wonderful co-workers and a pretty enjoyable life for the unknown. But as I my taxi pulled up to the airport after understanding my rudimentary hand gestures for airport (a few wooshing sound effects may have been added.) The fear that I was doing the wrong thing melted away as I got very excited to go catch up with one of my closest friends in Beijing.
The flight was totally uneventful and complete with the usual disposable friend conversations with my seatmate (How did the manage to put the 2 people who spoke English together?) I arrived to the hostel and Chris had headed out with some Austrians about 20 minutes before I arrived. I took myself out for a stroll exploring the little Hutons in the neighbourhood of the hotel.
Hutons are wonderful little alley like streets that are teeming with activity in Beijing. They are from some of the oldest parts of the city and they are clearly not designed for cars as they are too small and are generally populated with fragrant food vendors, old people walking with fresh produce from the market and bicycles. Many many bicycles.
Chris and I finally caught up after he found his way back to the hostel around 1230 and we drank until the wee small hours.
The next morning we were up for 10ish and set out on a day of epic walking. We walked through a park to the North of the Forbidden City, and around the walls of said city before deciding we were too hungry to do it then. So we went out in pursuit of lunch, the first meal I've ordered entirely in Chinese! However, when we got back on track to go see the palace we discovered it had closed already as had the Mao Muesum.
We did however salvage the day by getting to see the Bird's Nest and Watercube, both of which were fantastically interesting pieces of architecture and fun to see in person. Thoroughly walked out we turned in for the night.
The next morning we were up at half five for a trek on the Great Wall. The views from and of the Wall were unbelievable. Considering that the section we were on was over 500 years old it was a truly impressive feat! I will sort out posting some photos this weekend.
At some point Chris and I lost sight of the group we were with, thinking it was because we had fallen very far behind while taking pictures and chatting with various hawkers we started to press our pace a little up and down over countless steps and hills. This wasn't an easy task as we had selected this section of the wall to visit because it was particularly hilly. We pressed hard though constantly trying to catch up with groups in front of us. None of them were from our group and so we continued to step it up just a little each time. Finally we came to where we were due to meet our driver. He was waiting at the gate and chuckled impressed that we were finished already.
We were almost 30 minutes ahead of the next closest group! Apparently at some point they had gotten off the wall to avoid a particularly difficult section and we'd passed them by pressing through. With legs like jello we stumbled our way to the waiting tasty lunch.
After sleeping like babies on the bus coming back we didn't really have much in the tank for heading out that night and instead spent some time reading before falling asleep around 9.
The next morning were up with a purpose! No more missing sights we added a Kiwi girl to our merry band and set out for the Summer Palace. It was beautiful, if repeptitive. Red EVERYWHERE, however, the company was good and the 3 of spent the day cracking jokes and walking countless kilometers. We spent about 8 hours that day at the Summer Palace before heading back to our hostel for a few beers and the official card game of backpackers everywhere: Shithead.
On day four, our last in Beijing we had 2 goals clearly in mind: The Forbidden City and seeing the preserved body of Chairman Mao. We arrived early with this mission in mind, however about a 90 minute line up had already formed to see Mao. I passed on my dreams of seeing a thawing revolutionary/dictator and we moved on to the Imperial City.
Four thoughts on the Forbidden City. First, please ANY other colour but red! Second, it is too big to maintain interest throughout, the sparse displays are too poorly maintained to capture the imagination. Three, the scale of this splendor has to be seen to be believed it is enermous. Four, if there is ever a zombie apocalypse this is the place to be! Giant doors abound!
Alright, next post I'll catch you up on my thoughts on the election and today's trip to the terracotta warriors in Xian and night train misery!
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Hungover the day after Halloween in Shanghai
Having spent a few hours poking about around the neighbourhood of my friend Becky's place I came back to settle into watch a horror movie as I felt like I owed at least a little something to the evening and Halloween just isn't a big deal here. A quiet night in it was not meant to be...
Becky called me about an hour into Black Sheep (see it, very good zombie-sheep movie) to annouce that there was a big staff party that night for EF (the company we both teach for) here in Shanghai. However, before we got anywhere near the orgnized staff party we got word that the event was a bust and that everybody had headed to a bar called Windows Scoreboard.
We arrived to a packed out Chinesse Sportsbar filled with about 1/2 westerners and 1/2 locals at around11. An odd sight to lay eyes on. However, the beer was cheap (about 1.20 Canadian) and the music was good. And so the drinking began... Beer after beer until it was suddenly 4am and Becky and I were drinking with the bar staff. She had to work this afternoon so she wisely took the empty bar as an omen that it was time to retire for the night. Me, never one to call it a night early had pallied up with a Philopena waitress and we decided that we should carry on later into the night. Thankfully Becky wrote her address on my arm and on a piece of paper so that I could get a taxi to take me back.
The waitress, whose name totally escapes me, and I headed off to another Windows bar and drank full on until the sun chased the night away. Fortunately the dawn was enough to force a little sense into me and I stumbled into a taxi. Handed the driver my piece of paper and promptly passed out.
When he dropped me off in Becky's neigbhourhood it was on the opposite side of the street to where I was used to and because of that and the countless beers I was totally lost. I did however, find a hotel, I went in and asked how much a room was. They quoted me a price in the 50$ range so I decided to move on. I phoned Becky pleading for her help. She had a wee chuckle at my expense and told me the hotel was just across the street from her building complex...
The beauty of China is that at 7 in the morning their are a bevy of street vendors selling all matter of breakfasts and so I sat down on the curb to a meal of 1.25 Liters of Gatorade and two freshly made beautiful crepes. Before stumbling my way to up to Becky's flat.
Turns out even with that grub and Gatorade the beer won. Hangover 1 Clinton 0.
Becky called me about an hour into Black Sheep (see it, very good zombie-sheep movie) to annouce that there was a big staff party that night for EF (the company we both teach for) here in Shanghai. However, before we got anywhere near the orgnized staff party we got word that the event was a bust and that everybody had headed to a bar called Windows Scoreboard.
We arrived to a packed out Chinesse Sportsbar filled with about 1/2 westerners and 1/2 locals at around11. An odd sight to lay eyes on. However, the beer was cheap (about 1.20 Canadian) and the music was good. And so the drinking began... Beer after beer until it was suddenly 4am and Becky and I were drinking with the bar staff. She had to work this afternoon so she wisely took the empty bar as an omen that it was time to retire for the night. Me, never one to call it a night early had pallied up with a Philopena waitress and we decided that we should carry on later into the night. Thankfully Becky wrote her address on my arm and on a piece of paper so that I could get a taxi to take me back.
The waitress, whose name totally escapes me, and I headed off to another Windows bar and drank full on until the sun chased the night away. Fortunately the dawn was enough to force a little sense into me and I stumbled into a taxi. Handed the driver my piece of paper and promptly passed out.
When he dropped me off in Becky's neigbhourhood it was on the opposite side of the street to where I was used to and because of that and the countless beers I was totally lost. I did however, find a hotel, I went in and asked how much a room was. They quoted me a price in the 50$ range so I decided to move on. I phoned Becky pleading for her help. She had a wee chuckle at my expense and told me the hotel was just across the street from her building complex...
The beauty of China is that at 7 in the morning their are a bevy of street vendors selling all matter of breakfasts and so I sat down on the curb to a meal of 1.25 Liters of Gatorade and two freshly made beautiful crepes. Before stumbling my way to up to Becky's flat.
Turns out even with that grub and Gatorade the beer won. Hangover 1 Clinton 0.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Back in the Saddle
So for a longtime the blog has sat silent. It is time to fire it up again. Sorry about the wait, but until just yesterday I was unable to access my blogging account. The Great Firewall of China had shut me out, however, yesterday talking to another backpacker they pointed out that you can access blogger to post blogs, you simply cannot view them. Looks like I am back in business.
To bring those up to speed who I did not see over my 1 month vacation in Victoria, I've moved to China with my good friend Emily-Anne. We are living in the south of China in a city called Shenzhen, about 45 minutes and one quick border away from downtown Hong Kong.
We are both going to be teaching English for a company called English First, however, because of visa complications for me I have had to wait about a month before I can start teaching. Emily-Anne on the other hand was able to start straight away. I look forward to starting next week when the final bits of requisite paperwork will arrive.
We have found a lovely 2 bedroom apartment on the 21st floor of a brand new building. The views are amazing and it is about a 10 minute walk into work.
I am sorry this blog doesn't have more stories of adventure but I do promise to start adding those soon as I am now capable of uploading
Will have more for you soon.
To bring those up to speed who I did not see over my 1 month vacation in Victoria, I've moved to China with my good friend Emily-Anne. We are living in the south of China in a city called Shenzhen, about 45 minutes and one quick border away from downtown Hong Kong.
We are both going to be teaching English for a company called English First, however, because of visa complications for me I have had to wait about a month before I can start teaching. Emily-Anne on the other hand was able to start straight away. I look forward to starting next week when the final bits of requisite paperwork will arrive.
We have found a lovely 2 bedroom apartment on the 21st floor of a brand new building. The views are amazing and it is about a 10 minute walk into work.
I am sorry this blog doesn't have more stories of adventure but I do promise to start adding those soon as I am now capable of uploading
Will have more for you soon.
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