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I cannot see my blog...

This is a situation that Blogger and Google have no control over. The
Chinese government has decided to control its citizens view of the
Internet. It's their country, their people, and their ISPs. Google
isn't part of the process.


F'ing China!!!!

3 to 2

We left the very next morning for our three day trek. I was a little scared to say the very least as the trek is labeled 'tough'... I haven't exercised in nearly 6 months! But I thought if Stella, the Chinese girl with us, could do it, so could I!

We had to take a couple of buses en route to our starting point. It was interesting to see some of the culture on the bus. There was a lot of smoking and food sharing. Stella was quite generous and past a lot of her snacks around... me and Wade on the other hand, were hording ours for the trek! She past out Mongolian cheese. It was packaged and wrapped in little bite sized pieces. I now know I do not like Mongolian cheese- it is a little sweet and dry. I think this is the only cheese I don't like, though I didn't try Yak cheese and I have heard that it is a must skip in the cheese world.

This trek was over huge mountains covered in jungle. Wait till you guys see the pictures. We walked 18k's the first day. We past through some minority villages which was cool, a lot of hemp fields and lots of lots of tea plants.

Some stand outs:

1) The bathrooms. Oh my God and Oh my God again. We used some public bathrooms that they have in the most obscure places. I walked in- no stalls just hip high barriers between the holes in the ground and they are all filled with poop. I failed. I cannot poop over someone elses poop that is just sitting there, stinking up the bathroom and covered in flies. Nope it scared it right back up in side me!

There was also the cleanest bathroom I had seen- it was in one of the villages (more to come) we stayed in. It was a wooden shack on a hill. The shack was on stilts so there was nothing beneath it. This allowed lots of big pigs to go underneath it waiting for the steamy deposits. Yep, I pooped while staring at pigs fight for my droppings! BUT again, it was the cleanest- but will I ever be able to eat pork again? I did that night in the very same village!

Then there was the no toilet available situation... I took my very first poop while squatting in the forest. Stella stood guard and complimented me on my speed. She was also impressed with my ability to use chopsticks... strange girl.

I think that is enough poop talk... back to the standouts.

2) We saw the most beautiful sunset that evening. It lit the sky up pink. To walk 18 k's and then see that over a mountain top was breathtaking.

3) We went to a temple in the middle of no where. It wasn't that spectacular but it was quite peaceful. It was decorated very oddly inside... with cut out paper animal streamers on the walls and there were a lot of fake flowers and fake gold. Not very pretty if you ask me, but interesting just the same!

4) The food. We stayed with two different families that made us delicious food. My favorite was the eggs and tomatoes... can't wait to make it. They also served Pour tea which I really enjoyed.

I fell an incredible amount on day 1. It wasn't when we were hiking uphill for an hour and a half straight... it was when we were going down hill. I was the source of entertainment for Andrew especially, but the others too. I was on my bum more than my feet... this caused a problem later!

Day 1 we stayed with our tour guides family. He is of the Bulong minority (PS this is all in the Yunnan province). The architecture is very simple. They live in wooden houses on stilts. Underneath the house are pigs, maybe a donkey or two and perhaps a car if the family has some money. The house is one room. Everyone sleeps in the same room on a very thin matt (as did we, but I can't lie I took an ambian the second day). There is also a stone floored area where they burn a fire for both heat and cooking, but there is no ventilation above it, so the place gets very smokey. I can't believe that the kids live like this, they must have the worst lungs. My chest hurt from staying there. But it was cool to see them cook in cast iron pots and pans. Unfortunately our water supply came from there for the following days- after being boiled... as our tour guide called it, we had bbq'ed water.

The houses also have a deck area where there is a sink to do the washing and that's about it. There is no shower and I am still not clear on where they shower- although I did see a woman showering on her deck she was covered by a short piece of wood on two sides. She got out and we all saw her saggy boobies. (why do I feel like an 8 year old is writing this entry?!).

The Bulong people look more Thai to me than Chinese- it was interesting. They also speak there own language... but it all makes no sense to me.

The second night we stayed in a different Bulong village which we found to be more interesting. Apparently they are known for their singing and we had the privilege of going to a neighbors house to hear her sing. She was in traditional clothing, as most women are and was accompanied by her two friends. One made beats by pouring beans from one metal bowl to the next- mind you she looked totally disinterested and was off beat and the other played something else... I can't remember. But the singing was unlike anything I have ever heard. Mom... you would have hated it. It was quite high pitched and nasaly... but beautiful in its own right. Her voice was very controlled and it was clear that it took great skill. She sang about welcoming us foreigners into her home and how happy she was to share her culture with us... or that we are dumb Americans... how are we really to know?! She asked us to sing and thank God Andrew was there as he was the only polite one out of us to sing.

That night we also went to a teenage girls house. We had asked our guide about how the teenagers date and he explained that at first a group of the teenage guys will visit different girls homes together for an hour or so at night time. Eventually one guy might be invited to visit alone... mind you with her whole family there. So we awkwardly sat in on one of these visits. It was uncomfortable for all and we called it a night! At our house that night the cat so thoughtfully paraded around with a mouse in its mouth... I have a great photo of it... but mind you I was sleeping on the floor in this place.

Earlier that night we went to talk with an old man, with our guide being the translator of course. Jeremy was interested in getting one of their traditional tattoos which they hit the ink into your skin with bamboo. Our guide looked at him as if he were crazy the many times he asked about it and told him it was unsanitary... if a Chinese tells you it's unsanitary you best believe them! But he still wanted one... I will say his persistence led us to talking with this man about them which was cool. He got his first when he was 8 and kids still get them today. P.S. they told Jeremy everyone who could do them died (after we saw some fresh ones). Jeremy wanted one because he felt like they were losing the culture and he wanted to keep it alive- I shit you not, he said that. I am so glad they lied to him!

Oh yeah..these houses have no bathrooms, there are a couple per town... so you have to walk quite a ways to use the restroom / hole in the ground. The funny thing is that each of these houses have satellite dishes for their TV's. But they just got electricity about 10 years ago and phone lines about 5 years ago. Still, no bathrooms.

Even earlier on the second night we got to learn about the tea process, how it was dried and almost steamed or heated. They have tea trees that are over 100 years old and it is quite pricey. Stella was explaining that the tea is matted into a disk or cake shape and often saved or used as stock (as in money not soup) that is how valuable it can be.

The second day was an easy trek- only 16 K and a lot of flat terrain. Though the last hour was all uphill and the worst part is that there was fresh cow patties all over- so as you are gasping for air you are inhaling cow stink.

I woke up the third day with a terribly swollen ankle. I sprained it the first day on one of my many falls... but I took a bunch of ibuprofen the second day so I could continue... but I knew I couldn't finish out the trek. I was disappointed, but when we met up with the gang back in Jinghong, it didn't sound like we missed anything other than each of them having Leeches on them and Stella having been bit by one... thank you ankle! Wade was a doll and went back with me, we spent the afternoon at our beloved pool.

Jinhong and on

We met a couple of Americans, Jeremy and Andrew. We went out drinking with them that night. As we were trying to find club yes, we asked some drunk Chinese where it was. They were really friendly, as I have found all Chinese people to be, and invited us to go with them to a club. We were definitely not dressed for the place but we figured it would be an adventure.

They got us all a table and a case of Budweiser, warm, Brazilians would gasp at the temperature that they drink their beer at. They were really nice to treat us to drinks. We had a great time with them drinking and dancing and posing for many pictures!

****Must interrupt! In the park, not only was everyone staring at me, but some Chinese guys asked to take their picture with Wade and I. We felt like one of the attractions! We were definitely the only westerners there and boy did we stand out!

back to the night out... they were playing this game with these girls. It was about 10 of us and we played paper, rock, scissors... elimination so the last (loser) had to go up on the platform and dance. It was pretty entertaining! A lot of the girls giggled over Wade, if they only knew they didn't stand a chance (gay); he made me pretend I was his girlfriend... it was pretty funny especially as he tried to flirt with some of the guys. They were all clueless. Chinese men are actually very affectionate with each other, they hugged a lot!

We got some street meat after the bar... mmmm... they had chicken hearts! The potato skewers are also a note worthy mention!

The next day was painful- headache galore! Wade and I found a pool to go to- one that we almost got kicked out of. We went to a really nice hotel and just walked to their pool and set up shop. Someone came over and asked us if we stayed there. Wade pretended not to speak Chinese and played dumb. The guard had him write our room number in a book- Wade glanced at the other entries and thought he wrote an actual one down. It turns out they didn't have that room number as the employee pointed out after making a phone call. Wade then proceeded to change the number, again pretending not to speak Chinese. As the employee picked up the phone again, Wade came back to me and frantically had me pick up my stuff to flee the scene!

We made it downstairs and decided to just ask the front desk if we could use their pool. It was that easy- we could for 15 yuan each. We felt pretty stupid especially when Wade had to explain the scenario and the big lie we told to the manager bringing us up there. Thankfully she had a great sense of humor about it. We could not stop laughing. The employee was so confused!

That night we met up with Andrew and Jeremy for dinner. We met a Chinese woman, from the north at the Mekong Cafe. She asked us if she could trek with us as we were planning on doing. It was great to have her as she connected us with a great tour guide, offered a lot of insight on the tea industry and drove our cost down for our three day trek!

National Park Reserve

I met up with Wade and checked out of his hotel. We (he, as I make no plans and just go along with whatever) decided to spend the night at the National Park reserves, just outside of Jinghong. We took a taxi about an hour out of the city and made it to the entrance at about 4 ish.

The taxi ride was crazy. The driver was this fat kid with a pony tail and had a side kick him who looked about 12. The seats had plastic wrap over them- thankfully Wade had the foresight to buy us towels when we stopped for gas. The humidity and plastic were not a great mix. He drove incredibly slowly and played ballads on the radio. Wade and I did however sing along to "I can show you the world" from the Alladin soundtrak.

At the entrance, we paid for our tickets and were told that our accommodations were a 4k walk- which we already knew about. They provided a security guard of sorts to walk us. At first we thought this odd, but the trail did have some off shoots and some wild elephant warning signs so it was a good thing they did. The walk was not that hard, though at times going up hill I defo was out of breath. The guard was in full on polyester uniform and dress shoes- I don't think a bead of sweat came out of him. The trail was on a platform made from weaved bamboo, it was really cool.

There were two options for accommodations. One was at the base of the park on a pond, we later saw that they were really nice. We instead opted to stay in the jungle in a tree house. We finally got to the path that lead us to our tree house. I was expecting a wooden shack in a tree where we had to climb a ladder to get into it, but instead it was an elevated concrete path that led us to the door of our concrete shack with a sheet metal roof. It was a bit of a let down, but the tree house was on a fake tree trunk that was a good 150 feet off the ground. I think we were the only people staying up there and we got to walk the trail with out any tours around which was really nice and peaceful.

The restaurant was closed when we got there as we were told it would be. There were however like 10 employees there smoking a bong and playing a game. We still don't really understand there purpose there.

Wade and I decided to take a walk as it was growing dark. We stayed on the concrete path and when we reached the end we walked a bit further until it looked a bit sketchy and decided to turn back. When we got back the guard that took us there explained to Wade not to go off the track as the wild elephants are dangerous. I love how they saw us leave the track and didn't come after us then, only upon our return did they warn us!

The nights sky was bright as could be. It almost seemed like daylight. It was the brightest full moon I have ever seen- though most of the sky was not visible as the jungle's canopy blocked most of it. You could also hear the craziest insect. I have never heard one like this or one this loud. It sounded mechanical and completely man made.

The bungalow was rundown. We had a light that dimmed and brightened as it pleased and no seat on the toilet- but it was a western toilet! That night it pissed rain! It was a huge storm that woke me up as it hit our tin roof! I saw some very strong lightning from the window. The next morning we were also woken up by obnoxious mega phones. Chinese tourism is the worst! here we were in a nature reserve and the herds of Chinese tourists was immense! It wasn't the quantity of them that spoiled the serenity but the noise generated by them! The tour guides (all saying different things but no more that 20 ft. apart from each other) all had mega phones and their words echoed in the park and clashed with each other. The Chinese tourists paid them no mind and would yell, not talk at each other.

We didn't close our curtains that night... so we also woke up to Chinese people peering in at the whitey's as we woke up and got ready. I felt like an animal in a zoo.

We ventured out, had some fruit and rice bombs for brekky and found the cable car. Well the cable car just took us to the base of the park. The ride was very pretty- being over the canopy was cool. Though the Chinese have no regard for nature or their environment. There was an upsetting amount of litter. We also saw a snake on a tree top which was very cool! We were hoping to see some of the wild elephants (about 40 live in the park) unfortunately we didn't see any. Once again the Chinese tourists were so loud! They were screaming, singing and making goofy noises as we rode the cable car. I am sure they scared the elephants away!

From the base we visited the butterfly sanctuary. There were some really beautifully colored butterflies and two were having sex... very educational. We also went to the bird area. There was a ridiculous bird act. The trainers put roller skates on one, had one shoot hoops and other silly acts. We grabbed a bite to eat while watching a dance performance. Teenagers danced in minority clothing (not sure which minority). But the dancing was not very good- they completely lacked enthusiasm. They also danced to Chinese music which is completely insulting to the minority they were supposed to represent (hmmm, kind of like me insulting them by not remembering which minority culture). After that we went to an elephant show which was equally ridiculous.

There were however some incredible monkey's roaming freely. I am not sure what kind they were, but I have never seen any swing so swiftly and at great distances. A ranger was holding hands with one. We stayed quite a while watching them, but as I would get close to the monkey that the ranger had- he would start to make the craziest noises, he didn't like me.

We trekked around a bit more but it was not as nice. It was much better when we had the park to ourselves.

The parks bathroom was one of the most disgusting I have seen yet. Not only were there no stalls, just barriers between the holes, but there was massive amounts of poop in each and one had bloody toilet paper by it. I couldn't go there.

We took a bus back to Jinghong and checked into a really cheap but nice guest house.

Correction...

I realized in a previous Thai blog entry I wrote that the ferry from Phi Phi to Phuket was uneventful. I mislead you. I simply forgot about it. The ride was awful. There were huge waves again that crashed over the front of the boat. The 'captain' who not only looked ill trained but drunk as well, would turn and sit up from his cabin to look through the window at all of our reactions when the boat took air and water came over- I have never seen anyone laugh so hard at people's discomfort.

Randoms...

There are a lot of large apartment buildings in the Chinese cities that I have been to. People have a pole that extends outwards from the top of their windows- they hang clothing out there to dry. It is crazy to see.

Chinese people don't really smile in pictures. I noticed this in Hong Kong all of the tourists looked very serious in all of the pictures. On the flip side, Japanese tourists have a huge smile, they all lean into each other and make a peace sign- every time without fail!

There is no toilet paper anywhere! It is bad enough that they don't have western toilets, just a hole in the ground... but they don't even provide toilet paper. It is a must that you carry your own. Some nicer restaurants will have some or will have some at the bar for you to take a few squares, but for the most part you have to have your own. You also can't deposit the used toilet paper into the toilet or hole... you have to put it in the waste bin- even if you did #2! I getting used to squatting though... this made me think of my brother though (read on before you think anything weird)... he likes to read on the toilet... you can't do that here. I believe in accepting people's culture and adapting to their ways of life when visiting... but I have to say, western toilets just make so much more sense! I know the argument of it being healthier to squat than to sit... but I think when going to the bathroom you can think of comfort first!

Up, up and away

I headed to Kunming for the night before heading to Jinghong to meet Wade. Being that I was travelling from another country (Hong Kong) to China, I had to go through customs. The agent asked many questions- much like New Zealand. The difference is how nice the customs agent was. She actually apologized before asking them. She was really calm in asking me the questions and didn't make me feel nervous or like I was doing something wrong.

I exited the airport and there were a whole slew of people trying to get you to use their services. I needed to get a flight ticket for the next day and needed to convert some cash. A woman with an 'official' tourist badge offered to help. After speaking with her she explained that she worked for the government and was there to help. I decided to take her up on the offer, no one else spoke English- but I was sure she was going to rip me off. She definitely made some dough off of me... but it was a really smooth transition into a country where I don't speak the language.. it was well worth the $50 US she probably made off of me.

I walked about town a bit. I was not staying in the major part of the city, not the downtown area. I stayed in a hostel that was attached to a nice hotel. The hostel room was one of the nicest I have seen. It was spotless with wooden bunkbeds- you could actually sit up in them! Each one had a lamp and a little shelf. I was startled however when I saw the mattress... though I was warned about mattresses in China. It was about 3 inches thick and very stiff. I will say this though, to my surprise it was quite comfortable!

Kunming is extremely safe, but barely anyone speaks English- at least in the area that I was in. There were a lot of sporting good stores where I was, which is what I needed- I had to pick up some hiking boots and shorts for the hike Wade and I planned on doing. It was the strangest experience. It looked like I entered a store- but within the store were different areas that looked like it's own store. Nike, Adidas, Puma, Columbia and others all had their own sections- but you pay at a main counter and you pay before you get the goods. It was very difficult shopping and trying to communicate with the sales help. I had to play charades and it is then that I realized Chinese people really don't have much common sense. I know this is a gross generalization- but its true. When I tried a pair of shoes on that were too small I pointed to the shoe and did a no gesture with my hands and then placed a hand on each end of the shoe and extended my hand at the top, to show I needed it bigger. She didn't get it. It took about 5 minutes for her to finally understand. There are other examples of their inability to think quickly - but I think my point is made.

I decided to get a massage. Are you tired of reading about them? Well.. I am not tired of getting them! My accommodations had a 'spa' (please read that loosely this is dirty China we are talking about) that advertised foot massages. A man brought me to a room and spoke maybe 2 words of English. We soaked my feet and then he convinced me, in Chinese and one word of English, to get a pedicure as well. Actually he called it a manicure... but given the circumstances I understood what he meant- see? Common sense!

Anyhow, the manicure for my feet consisted of him trimming my nails with a long metal tool. It looked like something a dentist would use. He scrubbed my feet and that is about all the pedicure was... what a waste of 20 yuan (3 dollars- roughly). From there he then convinced me to get a full body massage and from that it turned into an oil massage. This was my first male masseuse outside of the states- it really didn't change anything. I have to say sometimes the haggling and forceful sales pitches are too annoying to deal with, as in this case... Massages are supposed to be stress releasing... so I just went with it.

It was the most spastic massage I have ever received. He actually jumped up on the table I was laying on and squatted. From there is hands moved about 100 miles an hour. He huffed and puffed though and seemed to complain... ummm... it was his idea I get the full body! It was a great massage though- very entertaining; he burped really loudly in the middle of it. At the end he also turned into a tip grubber. All in all my 35 yuan foot massage turned into an entertaining experience totaling 120 yuan... which is about 13.35 USD... well worth it. I love how cheap China is. My hostel room was 30 yuan... less than 4 USD!

I grabbed dinner that night at a local noodle joint... they were too oily though. My totally dinner: a huge bowl of noodles and a pot of tea cost less that 1 USD... wow.

Finally on my own

I woke up ready to explore by myself. I was thrilled to have had the time with BJ and Charlie but I was ready for some 'me' time- especially after the bore of a night I had.

I decided to go to the largest aquarium in the WORLD! We all know how much I love them! What I didn't realize was that Ocean Park, as it was called, was not only an aquarium but a theme park. The place is massive- it is on two mountains connected by a gondola or a free shuttle bus.

I was only interested in the aquarium. I started out in the shark tanks. It was pretty standard nothing stood out to me yet. They did have zebra shark which were really cool looking. I also saw a sting ray and a shark sleeping next to each other, touching. I never thought that the two species would do that. I wonder if that happens in the wild too. I learned that there are over 344 species of sharks- wow, who knew?!

A couple of other things that stood out... the Jelly fish exhibit. By far the coolest I have ever seen in any aquarium. It was most impressive. They had some really big guys, which reminded me of the ones I saw in Brazil as well as having deadly box jelly fish that kept us out of the water in the northeast of Oz. The jelly fish area was pitch black with a lot of mirrors and changing glowing lights to show the jelly fish... it almost seemed like a fun house... sometimes I walked into the mirror!

They also had the biggest sting ray I have ever seen. It was massive probably like 5 feet wide (okay maybe 4). Remember the toy light bright? Well they had a food chain map that was basically made out of light bright pegs, it was hard to read but looked cool.

The Aquarium was huge. I now realize that the largest aquarium claim refers to the actual aquarium where the fish are housed- not the entire offering as a whole... because Baltimore is still way better. BUT... the aquarium tank was enormous and seemed like so much fun for the fish. The coral was amazingly bright and I would have thought it fake if I hadn't seen similar stuff in Thailand.

I was pretty much ready to go when a huge storm hit! They closed the gondola as the lightning storm was right above us... I got soaking wet trying to find shelter. I was getting annoyed, but didn't let myself and you just have to go with it. I made it to their crappy Chinese restaurant and got some soup and waited out the storm. I left when it was drizzling. The gondola was still shut down but I had to make it back to my bus which I thought was at the other end of the park. I therefore had to take like 6 escalators to the exit of the top portion to catch the bus to the main entrance. I made it practically to the top exit when I saw a tent with a sign for an ice skating show. This place is wacky- an aquarium, ice skating show, hot air balloon rides, carnival games and rides. I guess it is perfect to bring the family to- but all I really wanted was the aquarium and what a hassle it was to get around! The place is to big!

It was raining a bit harder so I figured might as well check out the skaters. I took a seat in the back, one of the last left and was stuck in front of this guy that was sucking his teeth... ahhhh. It drove me crazy! I have to say the Chinese really do spit, pick their nose, burp and suck their teeth whenever and wherever. The skaters were all westerners and this was cheesy as could be expected. It was a great laugh! It was silent, just to music, but had a demented magical story line. The magic was actually really cool and fooled me.. I just still don't get the disappearing act- how do they do it?! I was ooing an ahhing to a lot of the tricks... just fascinating to me! One other cool act was an acrobat with two long strips of fabric he did all kinds of twirls an lifts with them, showing off his very fit body! He also sailed across the audience holding onto the fabric and came back and pretended to run over them as he swung... it must take unbelievable strength to do what he did and it was so graceful! I enjoyed the show much more than expected.

I exited the top of the park and realized that another bus was going to take me back to Hong Kong Island from there... it was an easy commute back. I even found a travel agency and booked a ticket for Kunming for the next day. I decided to get the most of my time and see China. My brothers co-worker happens to be in China, so we decided to do some travelling together!

So long BJ and Charlie

It was their last days in town. I was so thankful to have met them. We had a great run together... two very productive days of sight seeing and lots of laughs. We did still have one last adventure.

We met up with Charlie's friend from Hong Kong. We wanted to go for Dim Sum as both BJ and Charlie never have before. We once again met in Tsi Sha Tsui and were deciding where to go. I had my lonely planet with me that suggested a few fun places to experience real Dim Sum... but they were a bit of a commute (I later realized in the direction we all needed to go in). His friend suggested we just find a place around there... and as a local (but against both mine and BJ's better judgement) we figured he must know better. We followed him and found a place but it wasn't a cart place. He just ordered for us, the food was average and well, it wasn't much of an experience. I felt more badly for BJ and Charlie because that was there last opportunity to go. I've had it in China town... pretty authentic if you ask me. What pissed me off though is that we explained ot his friend what we wanted and he understood. After we ate he explained that real dim sum was carted around and it was more of an experience... arg!

Charlie went to play rugby with his friend- BJ and I went back to Lantau island. We took the number 6 bus, one of Eileen's recommendations. It was cheap and fun! The buses are double decker. We got the front top seat and off we went on a curvy mountain road! They drive like mad here, so it really was a cheap thrill. We got off at Stanley market and as Jenn Czark warned, it was pretty dull.

The boys left which left me puzzled about my next move. I wasn't sure if I should stick around for another week and a half as some really good friends, Lamarca and Julia W-B were going ot be in town, or to move on and see all that China had to offer. Before I made my decision, which was not easy as I really wanted to see them and could easily have spent months in Hong Kong, I met a new guy named Jeff. He too was American. He was older, 34 and really nice. We made plans to go out that evening.

We went back to that same area of bars and he complained the entire time about how expensive this area was and how it wasn't his scene. He turned out to be an obnoxious CHEAP backpacker... so snobby it hurt to talk to him! We went to dance and well, yikes! I could tell he was into me... but err, nope! Thankfully he was staying on a different floor than I... so I jetted out of the elevator when my floor came.

Actually, before we left the area I found a bar playing a Yankee game live! There was also a man there who was a met fan from NY. We talked a lot of crap to each other... but as Mike Matro has been keeping me updated, nothing to brag about on our part this season. A crazy coincidence though, the man grew up on 189th and St. Nick.... though he didn't really want to talk about that... he wasn't shocked by the random encounter... oh, I grew up one block west from there. I thought that was funny- we were in China and used to lie a block away from each other. Jeff was terribly bored... so we left. How could he not like baseball, it's the all American sport?!

Oh PS... this blog entry in not an open forum for Red Sox talk or Yankee hate messages... all will be deleted... you got that lil Leger and all of the Leger / Jelloe family for that matter?!

An early start

BJ, Charlie and I headed out at 9:30 am after a strong night out. We once again went to Tsi Shu Tsui- at that point it was like second nature getting there... I felt like a local commuter. Charlie had plans with a friend which left BJ and I to explore until we were to meet up again.

BJ and I walked for what seemed like forever! We saw a bazaar like mall which was filled with stands. It was massive, but pretty grimy, hot and completely unappealing to shop in! We also found a very unimpressive Chinese garden. There were no flowers and pretty lame greenery. There was also a maze made out of shrubs that was less than impressive- perhaps it is geared towards kids.

We met up with Charlie and visited a Mosque. It was nice- but I wasn't wowed.

I would also like to mention that like Thailand it is next to impossible to walk down the street. Vendors hassle you to go into their stores and it gets quite tedious ignoring them all the time. Their favorite phrases are "hello, my friend" and "Ozzie, Ozzie"... I think that is all the English they know. Most of these vendors aren't Chinese though- I think that they are Indian or from Burma.

We headed back to the island and had a very busy afternoon! We took the MTR to Lantau island (which by the way has an incredible outlet mall... but I didn't buy anything). We took a very long gondola ride (think skiing not Venice) to the top of a mountain to visit the Big Buddha statue. After walking up tons of stairs.. we made it. It is absolutely massive and very impressive.

From there we went to the other side of town- finally, to Victoria's peak. It took us about 2 hours to get there from Lantau. We had to take a trolley up the mountain to reach the peak- no walking up for me this time! There was a massive line for the trolley. Unfortunately The peak has totally sold out and it completely commercialized. There is a Madam Trousseau's at the top and the trolley lets you out in a shopping mall.

Side note... about 99% of the time, when you exit an MTR station you are in a shopping mall.

The peak was a bit of a let down. I was more impressed with the Kowloon view and light show. We made it in time to see the light show from the peak, but there was no music so it was less than spectacular. After a 45 minute wait and ride, we made it back down- starving. We found a cheap noodle joint my our hostel and dined on some grub. We were all absolutely knackered from the day. We had been out over 12 hours in the hot and humid day... only one solution... massages.

We found a massage place. It was in a little building that seemed like it could be in the LES of NY. We went through the tiny stairway and up the stairs. The place was tiny, but really cute and well decorated in a industrial/ shabby chic way, if thats possible. The lady had to call some of the girls to come and put on a DVD for us to watch in the mean time. I got an incredible and cheap massage! It was on of the strongest I have ever had though!

Bed.

The real start to Hong Kong

I woke up feeling much better and received a call from a friend, Eileen- from my previous job at Wathne. She is head of production and was in town dealing with handbags. I met up with her in Kowloon and this was actually my first venture on the MTR, subway system. I have to say it again... it is so easy and clean! I love their public transport! I am not sure I would have been brave enough to try it alone on my first day out if it hadn't been for these plans... I am so glad I had a little kick in the ass/ motivation to try it. I felt so silly for being nervous about getting around HKG.

Eileen was staying at the intercontinental. I haven't seen accommodations that nice since I was in the states! I was very tempted to take a bath in her huge tub, or a nap in her comfy bed... but a lunch invitation to a very prestigious Japanese restaurant was more appealing! We had a great laugh over a few cocktails (oops, antibiotics) and a delicious meal. Sadly Eileen had to head back to the states right after lunch... but she did have a look at my map and gave me all the must sees and hot spots of Hong Kong. This really kicked things off for me.

I left Eileen and wandered around Kowloon. The view was amazing- that great HKG skyline! I tried to find a travel agency to book a tour but it was very difficult. I realized that Hong Kong and China are two very separate entities and coordinating anything but a flight ticket from Hong Kong to somewhere in China is impossible.

It was super hot and a humid day. I was exhausted and feeling hungover in the early evening. I headed back to the hostel and met someone new. A fellow American- but from the other side of the world... Texas. His name was BJ...super nice kid. We made plans for the evening. As we were about to go we met someone new, Charlie... a bloke from London. The three of us decided to go back to Tsi Sha Tsui, Kowloon to watch the light show, which I believe I have already written about. It was very cool though because there was live classical music playing and seemed to be synchronized to the music. It reminded me of 4th of July on my moms roof!

We walked around a bit and decided to try and go into to the Peninsula Hotel. They have a bar on the top floor with once again a spectacular view. Now here was the catch: I was wearing a dress but was in flip flops, Charlie was wearing a button down shirt but with boardies and BJ was in a Polo shirt but in shorts and flip flops. We figured we were probably under dressed but figured if we walked in like we belonged they would let us in... or we could pretend our parents were staying there... apparently everyone thinks I look very young (that may be pushing it though!).

As we approached the hotel we noted the boutiques it also housed- LV, Hermes and others of the like. It didn't look good.. but two cocky Americans were set out to pay for an overpriced drink just to see the same view we had just been admiring from the promenade. Three business men were also heading up to the bar. My strategy was to make friends with them in hopes that the staff would think we were with them. Well, upon arrival to the bar... the hostess didn't look happy to see us and the three guys sold us out! They got in and as I am sure you have guessed, we did not.

The boys however did get to use the facilities as the men's room was specially designed. When you wee, you face the floor to ceiling windows and get to see the panoramic view of the sky line. I just waited by the elevators feeling defeated.

We took the ferry back to HKG island, which was all of 25 cents (USD). It was very slow and we soon realized why it was so cheap! We went to Central area and basically got lost trying to find a restaurant. We just wanted a hole in the wall cheap place and ended up stumbling on the hot part of town (I forget the street name)and ended up going to a very touristy and pricey place- though it was very good.

We hit up the very western bars afterward and had a late night! We first started at a pub and ordered a vat of beer. It was a large tube filled with beer, an insulated ice strip and a tap... it was great! Of course we had some catching up to do as it was late... so we drank it in about 20 minutes...

We next wandered to a couple of more bars until we went to our final one. My luck it was free vodka drinks for girls... of course I shared with the boys! We met some cool Ozzies and hung out and danced with them. The boys were in heaven because there were a lot of cute local girls in there showering them with attention. We all danced a lot, took a lot of photos and once again the boys were loving the attention... until... we turned around and saw a fuggly older guy dancing with a beautiful young local. This seemed a little fishy. Charlie went to the bartender who confirmed that all of these ladies were prostitutes. Once again I was surrounded by hookers and dancing with them at that! We had such a laugh! It was pretty late at this point- the three of us were standing at the bar when Charlie dared me to ask the girls how much for a night.

Well at 2 am, after some drinks who turns a dare like that down?! So here is how it went down:

Gi: "Hey my friends over there want to have a good time tonight."
Hooker 1: smiled and spoke in broken English
"Oh you have good time, dance a lot."
Gi: "A lot of fun but my friends want to have a good time with YOU tonight."
Hooker 1: "Good time with me?"
Hooker 2: "Two boys or one?"
Gi: "They both do."
Hooker 2: "1500 each."

And it was that easy. They had no intention of going with these girls, nor did they. It was simply a dare that I can't even believe I went through with!

Once again and adventurous night.

finally felt better...

After spending two days in my room I finally ventured out. I met this kid from England in the computer room and he invited me to go to Victoria's peak with him. I was really in no shape to go, but I needed to get out. We left, me in my pajamas and flip flops looking horrid and he,in all black.

I was so out of it I don't remember much of this day. I do remember that he really had no idea how to get there. We ended up wandering around and walking up a huge hill. Victoria's peak is a look out at the top of a small tree covered mountain that looks over the sky line.

HKG- I will admit it, has a much better skyline than NYC. The building architecture is way cooler than anything we have, aside from the Chrystler building. Not only do they have great building, but at 8pm every evening they have a light show... the main big buildings flash lights, change colors and waste a lot of electricity, but it looks really cool! Behind these buildings are green mountains. I didn't realize HKG had so much natural beauty around it.

Victoria's peak is therefore a really great place to see the skyline. I forget this kids name, though he was really nice, really wanted to go to the tram and make it to the top. As I said before he got us lost on the most humid day I have experienced. I was still sick, sweating up a storm. I wasn't sure if it was going to make me feel better or much worse. But my friend Chris was right- a little sweat never hurts!

We walked for quite sometime up this mountain until we finally gave up! We clearly went the wrong way and the day turned very foggy so the view would not have been that great. I felt bad for this kid as it was his last day, but what are you going to do?! By the way he was totally a lord of the rings/ sci-fi type of character... it was an interesting day!

Somethings I noticed along the way though... HKG has some of the best fashion I have ever seen, I would love to drop some serious cash there! It is an extremely safe city. The subway system is AMAZING!!! It is super clean, super fast and clearly labeled... you can't get lost. Internet cafes are very hard to find! There is a 7-11 and at least to watch stores on every block. People walk very slowly; while it annoyed me at first I realized because of the humidity it is impossible to walk any faster! I also realized I would love to move to Hong Kong... I absolutely love it.

I HATE blogger...

Blogger has not been working the last week that I have tried to update. Even now I can't look at my blog or your comments... but atleast I can write, I suppose... it's just not as much fun this way! But I'll write on... so you can read on...