Our last stop in Beijing was to The Temple of Heaven. It was here where the emperors prayed to God and made their connection with heaven. Interestingly, back then, the Chinese believed that earth was square and heaven was round. So as a compromise, the area surrounding the Temple of Heaven is rectangular in shape.
It was so bitterly cold that day that we decided to make it a quick tour. But Ben and Jeremy got caught up in a game of Chinese hacky sack with 3 locals.
The temple grounds are used today as a community park. We watched a group practicing Tai Chi, saw a Tibetan dance, old men playing checkers and the hacky sack group. All out in the freezing cold like it was a beautiful spring day!
So while admiring all the activity, we lost our group and felt frozen to the bone. We got ourselves to the temple, snapped a few pix and found shelter in the souvenir shop to spend the last of our Chinese Yuen.
A short ride to the airport and 3 hour plane ride, we found ourselves in Hong Kong. Forget a "day"...What a difference 4 HOURS makes! Hong Kong is very westernized. Probably influenced while they were a British colony. Again, it is another shopping mecca being a port city. Differences that were immediately noticeable included things found right in the nearest public restroom.
First of all, most of China does not seem to understand the word "restroom" so you have to ask for the "toilet". In mainland China, where Beijing is located, you will find more often than not, the eastern toilets, "squatting" toilets. In Hong Kong...nothing but western toilets like we have at home. Also, in Beijing, there is no toilet paper in the stalls. You have to be prepared and bring your own. In Hong Kong...TP heaven! ; ) Ironically, as polluted as Beijing is, they seem to be trying their hand at being "green" and do not provide paper towels for drying your hands. And you are lucky to find a hand drier that blows anything but cold air. This also seemed to be true in Japan as well as not providing napkins at meals. Very odd to see my kids looking for a napkin while eating. They never use them at home!
The most welcomed difference is that we went from 19 degrees in Beijing to balmy 75 degrees in Hong Kong! ; )
We got to the MVExplorer around 5:00 and decided to sit at the terminal (shopping mall) for a few drinks while waiting for the line to get on the ship to die down. Just outside the restaurant and in the center of the mall is a half court basketball court. Jeremy and Ben couldn't wait to get out there but it seems like the court is only used for exhibitions. They stood out on the court anyway. It was something familiar, the wooden floor beneath their feet. Then the "Jeremy Freak Show" started up again...he got swarmed by about a dozen preschoolers wanting to talk to him, shake his hand and pose for a picture with him. It's really cute watching Jeremy eat up the attention. ; )
We ended up at KFC for dinner. After using the port's spectacular wifi for a couple of hours, we hit the hay just after midnight.
Friday, February 8, 2013
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Beijing - Part 2
Gray and gloomy today. Just a typical day in Beijing. We got down to breakfast and were slapped in the face with a Chinese buffet feast! Won Ton station, congi, breads filled with meat, fried egg rolls, fresh fruit, eggs, pastries...a flat out feast!
The bus ride to Tien An Men Square was easy and just as we stepped off the bus, it began to snow. To give you an idea, Tien An Men Square is the largest city square in the word with an area equal to 90 football fields. It can easily fit 1,000,000 people!
We slid across the vast marble and slate ground covering and felt awfully insignificant. The expanse is so overwhelming. In the center is a memorial of the students who were slain during that tumultuous time. In the foreground stands a traditional double tiered roofed building which contains the tomb of Mao Tse Tung. Also on these grounds is a massive conference center donated by the Russian government. But the greatest structure of all, is the main gate to The Forbidden City.
The ship has been running the movie "The Last Emperor" since we left Kobe. It was largely filmed inside The Forbidden City and I was so impressed by the scenic shots that I could not wait to see it for myself. If "A picture is worth a thousand words", then actually being present among such grandeur is worth all the stars in the sky.
The Forbidden City was the residence and office of 24 Chinese Emperors from the Ming Dynasty to the Ching Dynasty. It dates back more than 600 years. By the time we reached the main gate, the snow had been falling fast for about an hour and had blanketed much of the ground. We entered the gigantic red double doors adorned with rows of gold knobs and followed a marble tunnel. As I stepped out of the tunnel it truly felt as if I entered an entirely different world. Its vastness is equivalent to 160 football fields and feels like so much more! Red, gold green, drums, dragons, pagodas, marble stairs and hand rails, slate covered grounds...I'm trying but I can't find the words to describe is beauty and sheer awesomeness. It is, hands down the grandest man-made place that I have ever seen. Everything is larger than life and seemingly infinite. The government placed great restrictions on development outside the city so that when you are inside, there are no other buildings, structures or other eyesores visible even beyond the walls of the city. The view of Beijing from inside The Forbidden City is the same as when the emperors were in residence making this the highlight of the trip for me so far.
Continuing on with the tourist attractions, we were taken to a local silk factory and actually saw silk threads being extracted from silk worms. Crazy! Who was it that decided to use worm goo to make linens?!!
Then we were thrown into the lion's den...China's Black Market. The boys loved it and haggled their own deals. Both got a pair of Beats and Jeremy even got a pair of Air Jordan's. All counterfeit, of course but for what we paid, it's all still worth it if they only last a couple of weeks!
At dinner, we were treated to Beijing's very own Peking Duck. (Beijing was first called Peking) The food so far has been fantastic and this was no different. We sat with 4 girls and I complimented them all on their healthy portions. One girl had never eaten sea food before taking this trip and the other had never eaten pork! Both aimed to be picky eaters at home but this experience has changed them.
Just as we were concluding our meal, a waiter tapped Jeremy on the shoulder, "Hey boy, this girl would like to take a picture with you. Ok?" Jeremy blushed but happily obliged ; ) He got the same request from a group of teenage girls while we were at The Forbidden City. "Click!" and they all ran off giggling ; ) the girls seated at our dinner table curious of all the commotion asked, "Who are you!!" My guess is that he is an Asian oddity. But a handsome oddity, of course! Ben received similar attention from Mr. Cu and several Chinese ladies at the Black Market. They asked, "This boy yours? He is so beautiful! Other son very tall!"
The Great Wall tomorrow!
The bus ride to Tien An Men Square was easy and just as we stepped off the bus, it began to snow. To give you an idea, Tien An Men Square is the largest city square in the word with an area equal to 90 football fields. It can easily fit 1,000,000 people!
We slid across the vast marble and slate ground covering and felt awfully insignificant. The expanse is so overwhelming. In the center is a memorial of the students who were slain during that tumultuous time. In the foreground stands a traditional double tiered roofed building which contains the tomb of Mao Tse Tung. Also on these grounds is a massive conference center donated by the Russian government. But the greatest structure of all, is the main gate to The Forbidden City.
The ship has been running the movie "The Last Emperor" since we left Kobe. It was largely filmed inside The Forbidden City and I was so impressed by the scenic shots that I could not wait to see it for myself. If "A picture is worth a thousand words", then actually being present among such grandeur is worth all the stars in the sky.
The Forbidden City was the residence and office of 24 Chinese Emperors from the Ming Dynasty to the Ching Dynasty. It dates back more than 600 years. By the time we reached the main gate, the snow had been falling fast for about an hour and had blanketed much of the ground. We entered the gigantic red double doors adorned with rows of gold knobs and followed a marble tunnel. As I stepped out of the tunnel it truly felt as if I entered an entirely different world. Its vastness is equivalent to 160 football fields and feels like so much more! Red, gold green, drums, dragons, pagodas, marble stairs and hand rails, slate covered grounds...I'm trying but I can't find the words to describe is beauty and sheer awesomeness. It is, hands down the grandest man-made place that I have ever seen. Everything is larger than life and seemingly infinite. The government placed great restrictions on development outside the city so that when you are inside, there are no other buildings, structures or other eyesores visible even beyond the walls of the city. The view of Beijing from inside The Forbidden City is the same as when the emperors were in residence making this the highlight of the trip for me so far.
Continuing on with the tourist attractions, we were taken to a local silk factory and actually saw silk threads being extracted from silk worms. Crazy! Who was it that decided to use worm goo to make linens?!!
Then we were thrown into the lion's den...China's Black Market. The boys loved it and haggled their own deals. Both got a pair of Beats and Jeremy even got a pair of Air Jordan's. All counterfeit, of course but for what we paid, it's all still worth it if they only last a couple of weeks!
At dinner, we were treated to Beijing's very own Peking Duck. (Beijing was first called Peking) The food so far has been fantastic and this was no different. We sat with 4 girls and I complimented them all on their healthy portions. One girl had never eaten sea food before taking this trip and the other had never eaten pork! Both aimed to be picky eaters at home but this experience has changed them.
Just as we were concluding our meal, a waiter tapped Jeremy on the shoulder, "Hey boy, this girl would like to take a picture with you. Ok?" Jeremy blushed but happily obliged ; ) He got the same request from a group of teenage girls while we were at The Forbidden City. "Click!" and they all ran off giggling ; ) the girls seated at our dinner table curious of all the commotion asked, "Who are you!!" My guess is that he is an Asian oddity. But a handsome oddity, of course! Ben received similar attention from Mr. Cu and several Chinese ladies at the Black Market. They asked, "This boy yours? He is so beautiful! Other son very tall!"
The Great Wall tomorrow!
Beijing Part 1
We flew to Beijing yesterday morning on our first SAS field trip. We've been touring as a group of 4 so far but this time we had 146 others!
It was a 2 hour flight which got us to the capital city just after 2:00pm. We got on 1 of the 4 tour buses needed to accommodate our crew and were given some very bad news. One of the professors, while on a city tour of Shanghai, died of a massive heart attack. He and his wife team taught 2 courses on the ship. I had not met the couple but as small as our community is, I even felt the shock. He has a daughter who lives in Atlanta and it was decided to lay him to rest there.
Our first news of Beijing was about 5 days ago while we were still at sea. The forecasted temperature was in the 30's with no precipitation. On top of that, we heard that the air quality was very poor due to heavy pollution. Even our tour guide was surprised that we were welcomed with sun and blue skies. The day before, it had snowed, the 9th snowfall of the season. Also very rare for Beijing which has averaged 1 snowfall a year for the past 10 years.
Our first stop was to the Olympic Village. It's so strange that it has already been over 4 years since Beijing hosted the games. But seeing the very familiar "Birds Nest" which they used for the opening and closing ceremonies put it back into perspective. We learned that China bid for the 2000 games as hard as they could but did not get selected. You would think that they would try even harder for the 2004 games, but the Chinese are very superstitious. They like round even numbers. Not to mention that "2004" has their bad luck number "4" in it. So they held our for the 2008 games. Our guide said that it was a tremendously proud day for all of China when they were awarded the games. To make things extra lucky for themselves, they scheduled the opening ceremonies for:
Aug. 8, 2008 @ 8:08 pm
Somehow, they even take credit for Michael Phelps' 8 medals! ; )
We were warned on the bus of a few things very common in Beijing, pick pockets, con men and bad drivers. In China, the automobile has the right of way. If you are in front of them at a crosswalk, they will lunge at you with their car to get you out of the way. Well, one of our Lifelong Learners failed to get out of the way. 83 year old, Donna, who I told you completed the Appalachian trail was hit by a car. Fortunately, hitting a pedestrian at a crosswalk is still considered illegal here and our SAS leaders quickly called the police. Donna is such a trooper that with her ankle wrapped and taking the maximum dose of Motrin, she is still keeping up with the tour which requires a lot of walking!
Next stop on the tour was an acrobat show. I was not sure how the boys would feel about watching really flexible people but they really enjoyed it and were extremely impressed. The finale was right up there alley, though. A metal cage sphere with about a 30 foot radius...8 men...eight motorcycles! Unbelievable! All of them spinning around together in perfect unison! Scary but AWSOME!
At the end of the day, we sat down for dinner at a great restaurant. I'll have to admit, I like Chinese food more than Japanese food. I know they are different, but I just became aware of how different going from one cuisine so quickly into the next. We sat and enjoyed a great meal with Donna and Jim and 3 new friends who joined our table of ten. It is so nice to see our boys engaging in conversation with strangers and actually enjoy their company. Ben went around the table and introduced himself like he was running for office. By the end of dinner, I think he'd won their votes ; )
Arrived at our beautiful Holiday Inn around 9:30 and hit the hay for a 6:15 wake up call.
It was a 2 hour flight which got us to the capital city just after 2:00pm. We got on 1 of the 4 tour buses needed to accommodate our crew and were given some very bad news. One of the professors, while on a city tour of Shanghai, died of a massive heart attack. He and his wife team taught 2 courses on the ship. I had not met the couple but as small as our community is, I even felt the shock. He has a daughter who lives in Atlanta and it was decided to lay him to rest there.
Our first news of Beijing was about 5 days ago while we were still at sea. The forecasted temperature was in the 30's with no precipitation. On top of that, we heard that the air quality was very poor due to heavy pollution. Even our tour guide was surprised that we were welcomed with sun and blue skies. The day before, it had snowed, the 9th snowfall of the season. Also very rare for Beijing which has averaged 1 snowfall a year for the past 10 years.
Our first stop was to the Olympic Village. It's so strange that it has already been over 4 years since Beijing hosted the games. But seeing the very familiar "Birds Nest" which they used for the opening and closing ceremonies put it back into perspective. We learned that China bid for the 2000 games as hard as they could but did not get selected. You would think that they would try even harder for the 2004 games, but the Chinese are very superstitious. They like round even numbers. Not to mention that "2004" has their bad luck number "4" in it. So they held our for the 2008 games. Our guide said that it was a tremendously proud day for all of China when they were awarded the games. To make things extra lucky for themselves, they scheduled the opening ceremonies for:
Aug. 8, 2008 @ 8:08 pm
Somehow, they even take credit for Michael Phelps' 8 medals! ; )
We were warned on the bus of a few things very common in Beijing, pick pockets, con men and bad drivers. In China, the automobile has the right of way. If you are in front of them at a crosswalk, they will lunge at you with their car to get you out of the way. Well, one of our Lifelong Learners failed to get out of the way. 83 year old, Donna, who I told you completed the Appalachian trail was hit by a car. Fortunately, hitting a pedestrian at a crosswalk is still considered illegal here and our SAS leaders quickly called the police. Donna is such a trooper that with her ankle wrapped and taking the maximum dose of Motrin, she is still keeping up with the tour which requires a lot of walking!
Next stop on the tour was an acrobat show. I was not sure how the boys would feel about watching really flexible people but they really enjoyed it and were extremely impressed. The finale was right up there alley, though. A metal cage sphere with about a 30 foot radius...8 men...eight motorcycles! Unbelievable! All of them spinning around together in perfect unison! Scary but AWSOME!
At the end of the day, we sat down for dinner at a great restaurant. I'll have to admit, I like Chinese food more than Japanese food. I know they are different, but I just became aware of how different going from one cuisine so quickly into the next. We sat and enjoyed a great meal with Donna and Jim and 3 new friends who joined our table of ten. It is so nice to see our boys engaging in conversation with strangers and actually enjoy their company. Ben went around the table and introduced himself like he was running for office. By the end of dinner, I think he'd won their votes ; )
Arrived at our beautiful Holiday Inn around 9:30 and hit the hay for a 6:15 wake up call.
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Shanghai
In the middle of the night I woke up to stillness. There was no sound of waves or the motion of the boat rocking which I have come to enjoy thoroughly during my REM stages. It was still dark so I didn't dare get up to look out the window because I usually have a difficult time getting back to sleep.
About 3 hours later, a fog of daylight shined through our porthole. I peered outside and saw huge shipping vessels floating by. We had turned off the pacific sometime during the night and were now on the
Huang Pu River that lines the banks of Shanghai.
We docked on the Bund side of the river giving us a breathtaking view of the financial district skyline on the opposite side of the river. Skyscrapers galore! And architecture I've never seen in my life. Chrome, glass, metal, concrete in all shapes and configurations.
The Bund, is the old world side of Shanghai. Very British in look and feel but also very Chinese. A keenly sharp contrast to the newer financial district.
Like our port cities in Japan, Shanghai is a major shopping area. Know as "The Paris of the Far East".
In 1929, Victor Sasoon of Great Britain built the Sasoon Building in Shanghai which housed The Cathay Hotel (Now known as the Peace Hotel). It was the most luxurious hotel in the Far East during its hey day in the 30's. In 2010, after a 3 year renovation, The Peace Hotel was reopened in all it's Art Deco glory. We went upstairs to the small museum and met the curator who has been with the hotel for over 40 years. He takes care to show off the remaining furniture from the original hotel and is understandably proud of its role in the history of Shanghai.
Our guide book directed us to a "top choice" restaurant called "Southern Memory". It specializes in traditional dry pot entrees, meaning, you get your very own little mini wok and sterno. Awesome! The only thing that took away from the experience was that the restaurant was located on the top level of a shopping mall!
Nanjing Road is a very popular tourist place, but again, the main draw is shopping. However, we did have some items on our list including a ping pong paddle that Ben wanted. They've been playing a lot of ping pong on the ship and Ben thought it was time to have his very own paddle and where better to buy one? China, of course! So the hunt was on.
Well it turns out, ping pong paddles are hard to find. Everyone we asked could not even suggest a place for us to look. And our Chinese translator that we down loaded seemed to be more helpful in asking for things like the bathroom.
Chris read about a ping pong club and stopped our waitress at the coffee shop to ask if she happened to know about it. She spoke just enough English to convey to us that she had no idea what we were talking about. But a kind and very energetic Chinese man sitting at the next table overheard us and asked, waving an imaginary paddle, "You like play table tennis?" Then he invited to take us!
We hesitated. He insisted. The waitress translated and he just kept insisting. "His company has table tennis. He take you." I looked at her and laughed nervously. She motioned for us to go, "You can trust him." Really?! Who the heck is he? So, like the tourists we are, we followed.
Across the street and to the 5th floor, all 5 of us squeezed into a 3-man elevator. He pointed to the sign on the wall as the doors opened, "Shanghai Real Estate". From his hand gestures and rapid fire Mandarine, it appeared that he was the owner of this company.
We walked about halfway down a long dark corridor and he opened a door. Inside the dingy room were a couple of swivel chairs, a bank of cabinets and...the most beautiful ping pong table in the whole wide world! The he handed Ben a paddle.
I would not have believed it if I didn't see with my own eyes. Ben, who has been struggling to win even a few points from his brother during their shipboard matches, was all of a sudden a contender! A stranger, who speaks no English but clearly loves table tennis, was able to change Ben's game completely in about 5 minutes! Ben was so thrilled at how long his rallies now were that he would break out into laughter just from pure amazement of his new found skill ; )
Mr. Cu, spent a little over an hour showing the boys the solid basics of a table tennis master. Afterward, he brought us to his office and gave the boys some souvenirs. It turns out that he is an art distributor as well and gave Jeremy an original print from one of the artists he represents.
It was dark now and time we headed back to the ship. On our way, Mr. Cu walked us to a sporting goods store and there, he presented the boys with their very own, brand new, Butterfly paddles. A gift from a stranger and an experience they will never forget.
We fly to Beijing in the morning.
About 3 hours later, a fog of daylight shined through our porthole. I peered outside and saw huge shipping vessels floating by. We had turned off the pacific sometime during the night and were now on the
Huang Pu River that lines the banks of Shanghai.
We docked on the Bund side of the river giving us a breathtaking view of the financial district skyline on the opposite side of the river. Skyscrapers galore! And architecture I've never seen in my life. Chrome, glass, metal, concrete in all shapes and configurations.
The Bund, is the old world side of Shanghai. Very British in look and feel but also very Chinese. A keenly sharp contrast to the newer financial district.
Like our port cities in Japan, Shanghai is a major shopping area. Know as "The Paris of the Far East".
In 1929, Victor Sasoon of Great Britain built the Sasoon Building in Shanghai which housed The Cathay Hotel (Now known as the Peace Hotel). It was the most luxurious hotel in the Far East during its hey day in the 30's. In 2010, after a 3 year renovation, The Peace Hotel was reopened in all it's Art Deco glory. We went upstairs to the small museum and met the curator who has been with the hotel for over 40 years. He takes care to show off the remaining furniture from the original hotel and is understandably proud of its role in the history of Shanghai.
Our guide book directed us to a "top choice" restaurant called "Southern Memory". It specializes in traditional dry pot entrees, meaning, you get your very own little mini wok and sterno. Awesome! The only thing that took away from the experience was that the restaurant was located on the top level of a shopping mall!
Nanjing Road is a very popular tourist place, but again, the main draw is shopping. However, we did have some items on our list including a ping pong paddle that Ben wanted. They've been playing a lot of ping pong on the ship and Ben thought it was time to have his very own paddle and where better to buy one? China, of course! So the hunt was on.
Well it turns out, ping pong paddles are hard to find. Everyone we asked could not even suggest a place for us to look. And our Chinese translator that we down loaded seemed to be more helpful in asking for things like the bathroom.
Chris read about a ping pong club and stopped our waitress at the coffee shop to ask if she happened to know about it. She spoke just enough English to convey to us that she had no idea what we were talking about. But a kind and very energetic Chinese man sitting at the next table overheard us and asked, waving an imaginary paddle, "You like play table tennis?" Then he invited to take us!
We hesitated. He insisted. The waitress translated and he just kept insisting. "His company has table tennis. He take you." I looked at her and laughed nervously. She motioned for us to go, "You can trust him." Really?! Who the heck is he? So, like the tourists we are, we followed.
Across the street and to the 5th floor, all 5 of us squeezed into a 3-man elevator. He pointed to the sign on the wall as the doors opened, "Shanghai Real Estate". From his hand gestures and rapid fire Mandarine, it appeared that he was the owner of this company.
We walked about halfway down a long dark corridor and he opened a door. Inside the dingy room were a couple of swivel chairs, a bank of cabinets and...the most beautiful ping pong table in the whole wide world! The he handed Ben a paddle.
I would not have believed it if I didn't see with my own eyes. Ben, who has been struggling to win even a few points from his brother during their shipboard matches, was all of a sudden a contender! A stranger, who speaks no English but clearly loves table tennis, was able to change Ben's game completely in about 5 minutes! Ben was so thrilled at how long his rallies now were that he would break out into laughter just from pure amazement of his new found skill ; )
Mr. Cu, spent a little over an hour showing the boys the solid basics of a table tennis master. Afterward, he brought us to his office and gave the boys some souvenirs. It turns out that he is an art distributor as well and gave Jeremy an original print from one of the artists he represents.
It was dark now and time we headed back to the ship. On our way, Mr. Cu walked us to a sporting goods store and there, he presented the boys with their very own, brand new, Butterfly paddles. A gift from a stranger and an experience they will never forget.
We fly to Beijing in the morning.
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Kobe
We left Kyoto and met our ship on the morning of the 30th at the Port of Kobe
As we moved down the highway, the tour guide explained to us that the sword fight lesson was actually a lesson in “movie combat”! We were going to Japan ’s major motion picture studio in…Kyoto Kyoto
The studio is similar to those in Hollywood
We were all equipped with wooden swords to learn the various samurai techniques. Jeremy and Ben had a slight edge over the rest of us in the group having previous knowledge of tae kwon do. Yes, they are two different types of martial arts but some of the basics seemed to be the same. To prove our screen worthiness after the lesson, we were asked to perform a sword battle on stage using all the techniques we were taught. Suffice it to say, Ben was victorious in the end with Jeremy, Chris and I lying slain at his feet.
Yesterday we had a few hours before the ship was leaving port so we stayed close. Jeremy and Chris went to a local 2 story driving range to hit golf balls (supposedly where Tom Cruise practiced while filming “The Last Samurai”…in Kyoto , of course, and Ben and I went souvenir shopping. Kobe is another bustling city, the 5th largest in Japan , and has such high-end shopping that my head was spinning! And I’m sure the Kobe beef is spectacular but we just couldn’t find the time to fit it in. We took the Ropeway (gondola) to the top of Mount Maya where we saw spectacular views of the Nunobiki Falls and scenic views of Kobe, Osaka and Osaka Bay where our ship was in port. The view from this vantage point is refered to as, Kikuseidai, “where one can scoop up a handful of stars”.
As we left port, the captain asked that we all go outside to enjoy the gracious send off from the Port of Kobe. A full band, playing “Anchors Away” and all the employees of the port came outside to wish us bon voyage. We pulled away from the dock waving and saying our “arigatos” and “sayonaras” to Japan. We hope to see you again soon!
After 2 days at sea, we arrive in Shanghai, China tomorrow!
(Pix coming soon...Internet connection has been POOR for the past few days. Promises of better wifi in China! We shall see!)
(Pix coming soon...Internet connection has been POOR for the past few days. Promises of better wifi in China! We shall see!)
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