Beginning of Bali: 3/8/2012
The flight from to Bali was nice, indeed. They fed us well and I read all about Bali. Once at the airport though, it was a whole different story. It was hot and we had to wait in line to get a Visa, then wait in another slow line for Customs. That took forever and it was crowded and hot. The airport was decorated with lots of Hindu statues and part of the terminal looked like a temple.
When I got outside, I was greeted with humidity, more heat, and dozens of men coming up to me screaming “Taxi! Taxi!” That’s when I realized I had no idea what I was doing. The Bepo bus was nowhere to be found and Amed, where I thought I was staying, was 3.5 hours away. I found a café with WiFi and found a few hotels to call up but then every pay phone I found was broken. The information desks wanted to help but couldn’t call long distance numbers. I found one girl at an info desk and she could see that I was frustrated. I told her I needed a taxi but didn’t feel comfortable with all the men offering taxis. Her eyes opened wide and she said not to go with them…you can’t trust them and they are more expensive. She told me to go to the Taxi/transportation counter because they are reliable. Thank goodness! I went, spoke to a guy who was clearly looking forward to taking advantage. He quoted me 400,000 Rupiah for a trip to Padang Bai which is where I had decided to stay b/c it was a closer dive spot, only about 1.5 hours away. I’m not sure why I insisted on staying in a good dive spot since I was pretty sure I wouldn’t be diving, but I did know that I wanted to be away from the tourist area which was nearby Kuta. I believe Kuta is where the Bali bombing happened a few years ago. I offered 300,000 Rupiah and he said “Not possible,” so we agreed on 350,000. I probably could have gotten him a little lower.
Anyway, it was getting dark, I was sweaty and had walked the length of the terminal a few times looking for a help desk, then a working phone, then a help desk, etc. I hopped in the taxi and we sat in traffic for a while in Denpasar. At one point when we were stopped in traffic, a little girl approached my window and pretty much squashed her face and both hands against my window. I think she was asking for money. The cab driver locked the doors. When we got moving, I zonked out in the taxi. I was thinking it was crazy to sleep in a taxi not knowing the area but I just couldn’t keep my eyes open. He drove to the general Padang Bai area and dropped me off in the middle of what looked like a crowded parking lot surrounded by shacks. I saw one American-looking person in a “bar” and got so hopeful, wanting to cling to them! The taxi driver said he couldn’t get me any closer to the “hotels” on the beach b/c it was a Hindu holiday and the beach front “street” was closed. I could not believe where he was dropping me off! It was crowded, dark, starting to rain, and cars were honking at him to keep moving. He took my bags out of the car, pointed in the direction I was to walk and took off. I dragged my bag down the sandy road and just could not believe what was going on, not that I had any idea what to do. So, I walked down to that little road that ran right along the beach. There were a lot of Hindu people dressed in all white, the women were carrying gifts on their heads and they were walking to a nearby temple to make their offerings.
Mom had told me to look out for gifts along the sidewalk and be careful not to step on them. Sure enough, there were little baskets made of palm leaves holding flowers and fruits insides. I think that was a way of asking gods to look out for businesses.
Anyway, I came to one “hotel” that I had read about, Kerti. I spoke with the manager who, in broken English, offered me a room with “air-con and hot water” for 200,000 Rupiah. My Lonely Planet book had said rooms ranged from 30,000 to 50,000 so I was alarmed and assumed she was taking advantage. There was a girl sitting on the porch of her room and she looked American. She could see I was concerned about leaving my bag at the outdoor front desk while going upstairs to look at the room and she said she’d keep an eye on it. She ended up being a little angel in disguise. She told me she and her husband were traveling for a year and they and been all over the place already. They were on a tight budget, also ran into the same thing with Lonely Planet, and said she had checked out most of the other hotels and this one was just fine. So, trusting her, I negotiated the room down to 150,000 Rupiah and got in. I was so happy to have a clean room, with a bathroom and shower! It’s the little things that matter so much sometimes.
I changed, went out walking, took some pictures, checked out a dive shop and they figured if I started diving at 8am and was done with the second tank dive by noon and didn’t go too deep, I’d be OK to fly 18 hours later. This was music to my ears! The guy there also offered to take me on a bicycle tour the next morning. It sounded nice until it was clear that it would only be the two of us because he had one extra bike. Yikes! No thanks.
Clearly, I have fallen off the blog wagon so now it is 3/15/12, 11:04 am and I am on the AirChina flight from Singapore to Beijing. I’ll pick up where I left off.
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So, after visiting the dive shop I walked that little street some more, found a restaurant that was sort of happening, ordered some guacamole and a fruit shake and just took it all in, wondering how I had ended up there. There were two couples from Poland sitting at a table nearby and I had seen one of the guys at the dive shop. He invited me to sit with them and I did. We spoke a little but I think his girlfriend was giving me dirty looks, I couldn’t tell, so I ate my guacamole, chips, fruit shake, prayed that I wouldn’t get sick from whatever made the guacamole unusually creamy or the water used in the fruit shake. I went to my room, turned on the ceiling fan, listened to the people and scooters passing by outside of my bungalow, hoped I was safe, thought about blogging but passed out instead.
I woke up early and had slept like a baby under that ceiling fan. I showered, went outside to see about breakfast and found a form had been left on my patio. I filled it out (ordering an omelet, papaya and ginger tea, then found a girl to give it to. She said it would be ready by 10 am and I told her I needed it quickly because I was going diving. That made me see the American-I-need-it-now-ness in me. I was totally disrupting their taking-life-slow, go with the flow lifestyle. Oh well, they made the breakfast right away, I scarfed it down sitting on my porch, packed up my bags and left them by the front desk (scary!) so I wouldn’t have to pay for an extra day and was at the dive shop by 7:30 am.
The instructor took me around to the back and we picked out all of my gear. The wet suit was a little too big but he assured me the water wasn’t cold. We picked out my booties, BC, fins, regulator and went out front.
After a little while, the instructor led me to the boat which was a tiny little outrigger with a motor. I’ve always been on bigger dive boats and again had a what-am-I-getting-myself-into feeling! We went out there, threw my stuff on the boat and went out to the first dive site. I was told to sit on the edge and fall back into the water which I don’t think I’ve ever done so I was nervous and it took a few minutes for me to work up the guts but then I did it. At first, my breathing was crazy and I was sucking in air like crazy. It took a few minutes to calm the breathing and get back into the diving mentality. We adjusted my lead weights and went under. Once we were under, everything was calm again and once we got to the coral, it was awesome. We saw lots of sting rays with light blue spots all over, lots of colorful fish, anemone, little Nemos, etc. I took a few pictures with my underwater camera but as soon as I got to #9, the camera stopped working. After being under about 40 minutes, we went up, went back to land and rested for about an hour and a half. I didn’t really need to rest and don’t remember resting on other dive trips but the instructor said it was to let some Nitrogen out and another instructor took a diver out on the same boat. I was offered food but declined out of fear of having it make an appearance on the next dive. I rinsed off, emailed mom, dad and Mark, swapped out the roll of film in the camera and then just…rested.
Once they came back, we went out and I heard the other diver (a girl from Holland) couldn’t equalize so her ears were hurting and they had to abort the dive. That’s too bad. We went out again, this time to Blue Lagoon and it was awesome. I was so giddy for being able to dive. This time, I was very comfortable with falling backwards off the boat, we went down and saw tons of fish, a few stingrays and a white tip shark! The coral was awesome and again, my camera stopped working at picture #9. I was bummed but tried extra hard to remember everything I saw.
When we came back up, I was again so, so happy to have been able to dive. We went back to shore, I rinsed off, had some delicious Thai-style chicken fried rice and a fruit shake, spoke to the girl from Holland who couldn’t equalize, we took a picture together and then she went out for another dive attempt. She was nice, her English wasn’t so good but it was nice to see another girl of a similar age out there diving on her own, too.
I gave my instructor and the boat driver a tip, got my things together and went back to my hotel. They said they would call a cab to drive me to the rice terraces, monkey forest and then to Kuta. They allowed me to shower in an outdoor shower and I was so thankful! I shampooed, soaped up and then got my things together. The cab driver carried my lighter luggage and took off pretty quickly to the cab which was parked about 3 blocks away. I lost sight of him a couple of times which made me nervous and made me wonder why he was in such a hurry without his passenger. Along the way, I saw a western-looking 30-something year old girl and said Hi. She was from Australia and was surprised I was traveling alone because Americans rarely travel alone. I thought it was funny, though true, since I always seem to travel alone. I wished I had met her the day before because it would have a buddy.
I scurried off and found my driver. We communicated using a little bit of English but mostly by pointing at a map that he had. We decided he’d take me to the rice terrace, then to monkey forest, then to Kuta for 350,000 Rp.
The way to the rice terrace was interesting. Some parts were really poor, some parts were really artsy, lined with galleries. We stopped once and I bought a few souvenirs, nothing big though. It was mostly women working in the souvenir shops and they would all sit in the corner making little bowls out of palm leaves to put their offerings in along the sidewalk. There was a ton of traffic when we got closer to the terraces so I hopped out and walked up. They were pretty and it was very green there. I didn’t see any rice though. I spoke with a few other foreigners, we took pictures of each other and I went back. On the way back, I saw an old man chopping wood and making some of the sculptures they sell in the gift stores (he was a carpenter). Then I saw a couple of young local girls playing in a little grassy area between two buildings and was blown away by how different their lives are from two little girls on the other side of the globe, Madison and Megan. After them, I came across a mom and her son, and probably her mom sitting in a doorway. I waved hello to the little boy and everyone smiled and waved excitedly. I took a picture of them and they looked so happy. It was awesome.
After there, we went to the monkey forest. They charged admission so I stayed outside and took pictures of all the monkeys that were near the entrance or even outside of the gates. Then I walked up the street, bought a souvenir and went back to the cab. The cab driver was sleeping the driver seat and I thought it was pretty nice to have a chauffeur; even if the car didn’t have A/C.
We started on our way to Kuta and I asked the driver if we could stop for coconut water along the way. About 20 minutes later, he slammed on the brakes and pointed at a stand with coconuts. We went in, I had a coconut, he had some snacks, I got a bottle of water and then we left. I enjoyed drinking from the coconut but was so out of my element. First, they tried to overcharge me for the coconut and when I suggested we leave, they dropped their price. Then sitting there, we watched scooters buzz by, really poor people walk by, some of them asking for money, etc. I ate the white coconut meat, then we left to Kuta. We sat in traffic for a while when we got close and I dozed a little bit. Once in Kuta, I realized it was a total tourist/resort town! There were some beauuutiful, fancy hotels and nice restaurants, lots of tourists walking around, etc. I thought life would have probably been easier if I had just stayed there but I decided I was happy I ventured out and went diving.
We stopped at one nice looking hotel and I went in to check on the rates. It was way too pricey so they recommended another hotel right around the corner for 450,000 Rp (US$50). The driver wouldn’t listen to my instructions and we ended up driving around and around and around. We were both getting frustrated! When we finally found it, he took my bags out of the car, I paid him and he took off. I think he felt that maybe the pay wasn’t worth the job. Whoops!
I checked into the hotel and sure enough, it was US$50. It was nice and the service was excellent. They brought me a welcome drink and I don’t know what it was but I chugged it. I saw a group of hotel guests sitting around what looked like a dance floor. The main lady said they were going to have a local dance/music performance starting in about a half hour and as great as it sounded, I laid down when I got to the room and wanted to pass out but I was getting a headache. I fell asleep for a little bit and woke up feeling like I had a knife in my head. It was a little scary how bad the pain was. I wondered if it was from diving or just being out all day in the heat. I took two Advil, ate a FiberOne bar, drank a bottle of water and fell asleep for the night. Later on, I could hear the music outside and felt bad missing the show but just couldn’t get myself together. I’m over it now. I think on this trip I haven’t pushed myself as much as I normally would have. I’m trying to take care of my health a little.
3/9/2012
I woke up at 3am, showered and was so, so grateful the knife in my head was gone. I packed up and right at 4am there was a knock at the door; transport had arrived. They took my bags to the desk, I paid the $50 for the night and 50,000 Rp for transport (about $5.50) and hopped in the cab. He dropped me off at the airport and I started talking to an Australian dude who was in Bali for vacation for a week. He was like 5 hours early for his flight but said he couldn’t sleep so he went to the airport. Really? Weird. He said he was so uncomfortable in the heat and he didn’t like flying and I don’t know what else. For being Australian, he sure sounded like a party pooper. Then he asked if I was seeing someone and I said Yes. He responded with “So I don’t have a chance?” What?!? Double weird.
I went to the check in counter and, while trying to dodge a roach on the floor by my feet, was told my bags were over the weight limit. I had to go to another counter, pay for the overweight bag, then go back to the counter. I did so, got everything sorted, then went to Immigrations, paid like US$4, went to a little convenience shop because I was starving, got a foreign version of Vitamin water, a slice of banana cake and waited for my flight to Jakarta.
Sitting next to me was an American looking guy that looked like he just walked out of a Ralph Lauren magazine, and a pretty Indonesian girl in a tiny little black dress. I’m not sure what their deal was because he didn’t get on the plane but he seemed so, so into her, it was cute. He played with her hair, laughed at a couple things she said, etc. He seemed head over heels for her.
When it was time to board, we walked outside and then climbed up some stairs to the plane. I ended up sitting next to an American lady from Maryland, going to Jakarta because she works for a nonprofit helping set up women’s health clinics in developing countries. She was interesting to talk to and was fascinated by what I do for a living. On the plane, I slept, read a little started to type, they gave us breakfast and then we landed.
The Jakarta airport was more modern than I expected. I wandered a little, bought some little gifts in a gift shop (coffee, tea), bought a phone charger in an electronics store (I think I left mine in Taipei), then went to my gate. Security is done differently there. There are security stations at the gates so a little group of gates will have their own scanners. I hung out there for a bit, then boarded the plane to Singapore. On that plane I had a bulkhead seat, no one next to me and a guy from Jakarta in the next seat. He was friendly but spoke little English. He saw me taking pictures of Archie eating breakfast and laughed.
Flying into Singapore was pretty exciting. There were tons of cargo ships right off shore and the city looked developed. Thank goodness! I was so ready to be in a clean, well-organized city. We landed and the airport was really pretty, clean, and spacious. The bathroom was so pretty and modern, and there was even a touch screen at the exit asking about your experience in the bathroom!
I hopped on a train, got my luggage, went through immigration and got in a cab. The cab driver was really friendly and informative. He told me that all cab drivers in Singapore are natives which makes it really safe to take a cab anytime. He said crime is minimal because it is illegal to have a gun and shooting a gun is punishable by death.
More Singapore update in progress
Friday 3/16/12
Today I woke up after sleeping close to 11 hours. Every bone and muscle ached and I was tempted to skip the company visits but my roommate, Roann, talked me out of it. I dragged myself into the shower, got ready and we watched CCTV news. CCTC is so interesting; they present news from all over the world and there doesn’t seem to be any sensationalism.
After breakfast, we met our tour leader and went to a Business Center building for the corporate visits. First was Robert Poole, a guy from the US China Business Council and he was really interesting. He spoke about helping US companies do business in China and helping US Congress understand what’s going on in China. He is from Maine and had a great sense of humor but at the same time looked like he could be pretty stern and serious when needed. One thing that he pointed out that was interesting was that a lot of Americans feel it is unfair that US companies are investing so much in China. However, a lot of Chinese people/government officials complain that a lot of the exports leaving China are made by US companies, not local companies. It’s interesting to see that the Chinese are not so happy about all of this outsourcing like we would think they are.
During the presentation, Dina, who was sitting next to me, could hear my stomach gurgling! I felt OK but the stomach was definitely being vocal. She offered me a pill that she had gotten in Singapore for upset stomach. It was embarrassing but I guess it happens!
After him, a lady from Godiva spoke to us about introducing a luxury brand of chocolate into the US. With a growing middle class, she said the Chinese are increasingly buying more luxury brands. She Chinese won’t ever doubt the safety of the product. she said that they are inventing the supply chain and delivery systems and all of product is imported to ensure that quality is always good and the Chinese won’t ever question the safety of the product. I missed the beginning of her presentation because I was in the bathroom wondering if I would ever make it out alive (stomach bug struck again!).
After that, we went to have lunch at an authentic Chinese restaurant. I went and died a little in the bathroom at first and then ate. The food was pretty good, I’ve been eating all vegetarian mostly to know what I’m eating and not get some weird animal meat. Anyway, I ate and noticed my stomach wasn’t doing its normal gurgling. We had a guy from Amazon talk to us for a bit and I noticed my stomach was feeling better! Frida pointed out that maybe it was the rice that helped! Genius. She said that when your stomach is upset, you should eat rice and white bread, etc. Why didn’t I think of that before?! I’ve taken a few pills and nothing helped nearly as well as just eating rice.
Anyway, he talked about the challenges of setting up Amazon out here in China. Since there is not an established delivery/transportation network throughout China, they have people making deliveries either by bike or scooter. They show up at the person’s house and then have to collect the cash since most Chinese don’t use credit. Amazon then has to make sure the cash makes it back safely and therefore the delivery guy has to make it back safely. And the customer has to be home to accept the item and give the money. Who would have thought!
Now we are arriving at Amazon/Joyo Fulfillment Center (FC). They’re not called warehouses because that implies where merchandise goes to die. The FC was interesting. The employee lounge and personal areas (bathrooms) are so dark and Soviet-Union looking. The warehouse itself was huge and there was a lot of empty space. All of the Chinese workers were young (some looked too young) and they were all very busy worker bees. There was a very efficient and organized assembly line in place. We were told that the FCs are very manual to maintain flexibility but the software that tells them where everything else and what to pick is very sophisticated.
Security was extremely tight at the FC. No cameras or even purses were allowed and we were led by a guide and followed by two guards. We even saw the UPS delivery guy being patted down on his way out.
After the FC, we went back to the hotel and everyone gathered in the lobby to decide where they were going. I dashed off to the lobby bathroom and when I came out, everyone was gone. I went up to my room and heard a few people were going walking to Back Lake. I stayed in the room for a bit relaxing, then walked to CitiBank, took out some money and hung out in the hotel lobby catching up on email. I had some spring rolls for dinner, then when up to the room when my battery started dying and fell asleep. That was probably around 8pm or 9pm and I slept until 6am which was great! I woke up this morning feeling so much better.
3/17/2012
Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! Roann and I got up, got ready and went down for breakfast. My cold is pretty much gone but the stomach is still upset, just not growling nearly as much. I ate lots of fruit to finish off the cold, egg for protein and then had a lot of white rice to calm the stomach. I also had orange juice for the cold and tea for the stomach. We had been told not to drink much because there wouldn’t be bathrooms where we were going.
While in the lobby waiting for Jack, I saw another American-looking person and asked where he was from. He was with a business school in Virginia sand everyone had arrived early that morning. We’ve seen several groups of b-school students which is cool. We even saw a bus carrying Kellogg B-school students at the Great Wall today. I digress.
We got on our way and stopped at a farmers market that only runs Saturday mornings. That was incredibly authentic. There were farmers selling everything from nuts and beans to fruits to live fish in buckets, to pig heads to underwear. There were even two guys wearing white coats performing dentistry. Dan Turner tried to take a picture and one of them yelled at him. Jack said it’s because they are not real dentists. I got a picture though. J
We walked a bit and I took a ton of pictures. It was pretty crowded and one lady yelled at me in Chinese to be careful with my camera because it could be grabbed and stolen. Some people looked at me with a funny look, as if I were an alien. I think a lot of the people there had never seen a white person. Really. Some smiled back at me, some didn’t. Some kids waved back at me and some didn’t. I doubt tourists go there ever.
After there, we started on the way to the Great Wall. It is incredibly foggy today. The guy from the US-China Business Council said that the fog prevents the smog from lifting but today it seems just foggy which is nice. Maybe that’s not the case but the air seems easier to breathe today. So, we had lunch at a place that seemed really authentic. I had all vegetarian food: tofu, white rice, cabbage, egg drop soup and it was tasty. Jack said that was a typical farmers lunch. It was served family style as every meal we’ve had here in China has been. Even our meals in Singapore I think were family style.
Once we got to the Great Wall, there were tons of vendors selling souvenirs and I bought two mugs there. There were two camels with a sign that said pictures are not free but I got pictures anyway. We took a cable car (gondola) to the top of the wall and we were convinced we wouldn’t be able to see anything at all because of how thick the fog was. We got to the top, walked a little and there it was, incredible! This wall was thousands of years old and who knows how many Chinese people spent their entire lives working on this wall. The steps were very irregular; in some spots the steps were long and flat, in other spots they were super steep. They must have been laid by different people, who knows why. It was pretty crazy to be on THE Great Wall. The Great Wall that the entire world knows about. The Great Wall that astronauts can see from space. You get the idea.
Frida, Sumheda, Xiaoyuan and I walked for a bit, climbed plenty of steps and took lots of pictures. After a while, we started heading back and what a work out that was! Whew! I saw a Spanish speaking family helping along an older man using a walker. He was taking tiny little steps and one of his family members, probably a daughter, had him by an arm. Others were walking next to him making sure he didn’t fall. I thought that was so, so sweet: that they would go through all the trouble of climbing the hill to the gondola, helping him in, then holding him as they walked the Great Wall. That’s how family should be.
On the way back to the bus, I bought several souvenirs and got some pretty great deals. Xiaoyuan stayed behind with me to translate and as we were leaving, he said I’m a really good negotiator. I thought so J The trick is to always act like you don’t care either way about buying something and walking away. They almost always agree to whatever you’re asking for, as long as it’s reasonable.
We got back to the bus and it rained on the way back. Most people fell asleep on the bus. I guess they were worn out from climbing the wall. When we got on the highway, the traffic was insane. It’s like people had no idea what to do in the rain! They were cutting each other off, driving in the emergency lane, honking like it was going out of style, etc.
On the way to the hotel, we stopped to see the Birds Nest stadium and the Water Cube which I think is where the water sports were. We took some good pictures, then got back on the road. When we got to the hotel, I planned to go get a massage with a group that was going but ended up going to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with Dina, Kevin, Kathleen, Stephanie, Susan and Tom. We took two cabs to Union Bar and Grill and had dinner. It was raining and the cabs dropped us off a couple of blocks away but we made it OK. Dripping wet but ok. Actually, we first went into The Den and it was packed with St. Patrick’s Day celebrations and lots of happy and jolly ex pats and visitors. I wanted to stay there but we had to meet the rest of the group at Union. Everyone had beer and I had a long island. Dinner was decent; I had a BBQ chicken salad despite being vegetarian this entire trip. We talked and laughed, etc. We all had a second round and then walked out and down the street in the rain again, hopped in cabs and went to Molly’s. There we all talked, laughed, I watched the other groups of people (probably other Business Schools), one group started singing “You’ve lost that love and feeling” from Top Gun. That was fun. I spoke with one guy, Eric, who is from New York and spends 70% of his time in China. I don’t remember what he did but it was kind of interesting at the time. I also spoke to another two business-looking guys who were sitting next to me. They were from Vancouver and there visiting a company they might acquire. I don’t really remember what kind of work they did either but they were with two Asian girls that they had just met on their way into Molly’s. Yep, the two women were working and were apparently experienced. One spoke good English and was pretty good at taking control of the situation. Yuck! I mean, they were all nice but yuck; two business people getting picked up like that. I hope they weren’t married or dating someone back home. A little while after that, we walked back to the hotel and I went straight to bed. It was fun going out to celebrate St. Pattie’s Day.
Sunday 18 March 2012: Today I woke up feeling pretty OK. I got ready, had breakfast downstairs, then we went to Tiananmen Square which was pretty close to the hotel. That was cool but it would probably be even cooler knowing the history. We took a few pictures there, then crossed the street to the Forbidden City. The Forbidden City was pretty incredible. It just kept going and going and going, and the architecture and paintings were beautiful. There were stories about dozens of concubines and some sections not having trees so the people who were brought in to be punished couldn’t hide, and the bricks were laid 15 layers deep b/c the emperor was paranoid about someone killing him and being able to bury him in one of the courtyards. This place was incredibly huge, really. My camera battery died in the middle of it which was a total bummer because the best part was at the end, the gardens. We stopped at the hotel for a few minutes, just long enough for me to change out of my heeled (Kenneth Cole) boots and dress pants. What was I thinking?!
I charged up the battery a bit, we got everyone on the bus and went for lunch. Lunch was pretty OK except they brought out a fish that still had its head on! Every time it came by, I lost my appetite. All the meals are family style in Asia so there’s a “lazy susan” with about a dozen kinds of food in the middle of the table. Being a vegetarian in Asia, I’d definitely lose weight fast! The vegetarian options are pretty bland and straightforward.
After lunch, we went to the Back Lake area for some rickshaw fun. We hopped on, two people per bike/driver. They peddled us around stopping every few minutes for us to hop off, listen to Jack for a bit and then take a picture. We walked around the hutongs and toured a lady’s hutong home. I guess it was interesting but I wouldn’t want to live there, that’s for sure. So, hutongs are neighborhoods where a wall surrounds about 3-4 little houses that surround a shared courtyard. The kids that live there are pretty much raised by everyone who lives there. This lady had a black shaggy dog named Tiger who was very well trained to sit and shake hands, etc. There were also racing pigeons in a big cage and racing crickets!! The crickets were loud and each one had its own little cage. What a hobby.
On the bus ride back, Jack tells us about how Japanese women and girls would bound their feet to try to keep them 3 inches long. Ouch!! For some reason, having small feet was attractive to men. He told us about his mom who had done it and as she got older, her feet became so deformed and she limped like crazy. He said whenever they went anywhere she was the first one to start walking and the last one to get there. Poor thing. I wonder if there’s anything that we do nowadays that is that crazy but we consider it normal.
After there, we went to a tea ceremony which was interesting. A girl showed us how to make different kinds of tea and explained the benefits of each kind. There was one kind, Jasmine, that starts off rolled into a little ball and when you put it in hot water, it explodes into a beautiful flower. We tasted each kind and I kept thinking dad would love to go to something like that. After the tea demonstration, we dropped some people off at the hotel and the rest of us went to a market to buy souvenirs. We only had about 45 minutes there and I could have easily spent a couple hours. They had some beautiful things, especially bowls, glasses, tea sets, silk, etc.
After I did some damage and had my hands full of souvenirs, we all went back to the hotel for the bus to pick up the people going to an acrobat show. I didn’t care to go, especially because I doubt they could top Cirque ‘du Soleil. Instead, Adarsh, ben and I went to Molly’s for dinner (I had a chicken caesar and iced tea), Ben picked up the tab which was nice, and then we took a cab to the Silk Market.
That Silk Market was incredible!! Five floors of stuff to buy! One floor was all clothes, one was all jewelry, another was all silk and knick-knacks, etc. The vendors were aggressive and would never let you just walk by without practically making some “best price” offer. I had a list of things to buy and Ben needed a luggage. I was waiting for him outside of a luggage section when I looked in and he was gone! How in the world did he get by me without me seeing him?! I walked away puzzled. I went to look for the things I needed but always had a little knot in my stomach about having to go back alone. I knew it’d be fine but still, I kept thinking we should have set a meeting place in case anyone got lost.
So, I bought the things I needed and then the market started closing at 9pm. I mean really closing! The vendors were tearing their stalls apart and moving them out. So, on my way out I found one stall selling what looked like Polo and Tommy clothes and they had exactly the blue and white striped shirt I’ve been looking for forever! They started asking for close to $100 for each which was insane. I negotiated down to 2 for $20 which was probably still steeper than necessary but then Ben and Adarsh showed up!! Yay!! They said they wouldn’t have left without me which was awesome. I bought the two shirts, we spent some time getting a cab that wouldn’t charge us triple, and went back. We had a beverage in the hotel lobby – I had iced coffee and the other two had beer. We talked for a bit, said Hi to everyone from our group who was walking in and out, and then went up to our rooms probably by 11 or so. I was up until 2:30am the next morning! I could not for the life of me go to sleep, so weird. I caught u on some emails and started looking for a Tokyo hotel but I should have booked it then. I keep learning this lesson over and over again!
Monday 19 March 2012: Today we had breakfast at 6am (too early!) and then hopped on the bus to go to the train station to Tianjin. The bullet train was pretty awesome. We were seated in first class and the chairs reclined so much! The ride was super-duper smooth, I could have stayed on the train all day and napped. We passed through countryside and some apartment building construction sites. It’s so weird, I think there are groups of buildings being built but not filled! Some buildings look like the project was abandoned just before being finished and some looked finished but empty. Once we got into Tianjin, it was a different story. It was completely developed and sections of it had different European influences. One area used to be owned by the French, one area was owned by the Italians, etc. The traffic was horribly, painfully slow though so we were late to our company visit. Jack said that Mondays are the worst traffic days because that is when all company meetings are held so even people who normally work from home go into the office. We went to DEMCO for our first presentation, in the middle of Tianjin. They are partners with Maersk and the videos they showed were definitely heart-warming, showing a famer picking fruits thousands of miles away, those fruits making it onto a Maersk ship, crossing the ocean and then ending up in our hands at the grocery store. After that presentation, we had lunch at a Chinese restaurant and I’m getting to the point where I’ve had enough Chinese food! They did serve yogurt with honey on the side though, that was nice. After lunch, we hopped back on the bus for a long ride to TEDA, a technology and business development/recruitment agency in China. That was OK but I was a little creeped out by how these guys were talking about bringing in all this business and development and having schools in the area for business people to bring their families, etc. Yet, it is state run and Ben thought that might be why there are so many apartment buildings being built and not filled, b/c the government is planning (or at least hoping for) companies to move the area. The guy who spoke to us, he might have been the director (I was so sleepy and having trouble following) looked just like an Asian version of my friend, Jay, in New York. Too funny!
After TEDA, we drove to the port and took a group picture under a big sign that said “Welcome University of Washington PMBA delegates.” We all thought it was so cute that they’d have a welcome sign out but funny that it said PMBA instead of TMMBA. Anyway, we listened to a quick monotone presentation, skipped the tour of the port because we had to get back to the train station to catch our ride back. While at the port though, I had to use the ladies room pretty badly so I went to the washroom and there weren’t any toilets, just the traditional (Chinese) hole in the floor! Ugh!! I had survived this long without having to use one of these and now I was stuck. Why is it that toilets are such a luxury there!?! And toilet paper, too?! Craziness. On the bus ride back, Tracy asked if I was a little grumpy. I was surprised she asked but when I thought about it, I realized I was! I was a little grumpy b/c the day was basically wasted and there were some other things I would have rather done. She said everyone was starting to get that way because everyone was ready to she says everyone is ready to go home. She is good at picking up on vibes, I’ll give her that.
We drove about one hour to bullet train station and I was hungry so I went into the little convenience store and almost everything that lists its ingredients has either MSG or some crazy preservative ingredients. Then Frida pointed out a package of chicken feet, claws and all! Gross! I ended up getting some crackers and “fruit milk.” On the ride back to Beijing, I kept thinking about going home. I can’t wait to be home!
We got to the hotel, had about 15 minutes to change for the farewell dinner and then went to a Peking duck place. I wore my black and white (new) dress and got a several compliments. Everyone else was in jeans. The dinner place was nice but again, I ended up eating potato, kale, broccoli and white rice. Poor Ananth couldn’t eat anything because the “vegetarian mushrooms” they brought out had bacon, the “vegetarian soup” they brought out had turtle in it(?!) We got through it but I think it was more painful than celebratory. When we got back to the hotel, Mikala, Tracy and Ben and I hung out for a bit in the lobby and I had some sort of fancy chocolate milk, they had drinks. As I was about to go upstairs to pack, a group said they were going to Molly’s for drinks. I went with them and had some coffee and spoke about all sorts of things. This was our last night in China together! We talked about Seattle and it just felt like such a world away. Pretty soon after they finished their first round and I finished my coffee Ben, Xiaoyuan and I went back to the hotel. I was so sleepy; I just went to sleep in my dress.
Tuesday 20 March 2012
I had a hard time waking up but I got up, packed (what a mission!), scarfed down some breakfast and hopped on the bus to go to Motorola. The speaker was very interesting. He spoke about the cultural differences between the Chinese and US, how we are always trying to get the government to give the people what we think they should have while they are happy having what they do have. That was the biggest thing I learned from him. He is from San Francisco, lived in Singapore for 7 years, married a Singaporean, loves living in working in Asia and now has a four year old.
After the visit, Xiaoyuan and I took a cab to the airport. We hung out and had some sort of fast-Asian-food noodle soup but it was tasty and probably healthier than any American fast food anywhere. I huge bowl of noodle soup and plum juice came out to $3.29. I’m going to miss how cheap everything is there!
When the JAL counter opened, I checked in and of course one bag was way overweight, so I had to repack. Finally got the two bags in, then Xiaoyuan wanted me to accompany him to his terminal. That was like a 10 minute bus ride away! We got him checked in, he bought me a bag of Chinese pistachio candies that were delicious, and then I went back to my terminal. I went through Immigration, bought Riza and Susan a little something, went to my gate and just sat there. The WiFi didn’t seem to be working so I read a little about Japan. It sounds really interesting and like there is a ton to see.
When boarding, I asked the gate agent if I could upgrade. He asked if I have miles and I said I do on Alaska but I could pay for the upgrade. He looked like he didn’t want to help and then said it was too late to change my meal so that was that. Something tells me that was just an excuse and goes along with what someone told me before the trip, that the Chinese won’t say No, they just beat around the bush like crazy.
On the flight, I sat next to a guy who’s English was about 30% but he was so, so helpful telling me where to stay, which neighborhoods to stay out of, what to do (take a tour bus instead of Subways), visit Mount Fuji, etc. He was so helpful and the flight attendant was incredibly sweet. She seemed excited that I was visiting Tokyo for the first time and checked on me a few times. The meal was tasty: chicken curry (or something like it), white rice, vegetables, a little salad, green noodles and Haagen Daaz ice cream for dessert! At the end of the flight, she came by again to wish me a great time.
I got my bags from baggage, went through Customs and the guy seemed suspicious of why I had two stuffed bags for three days in Tokyo. He searched one of them and was friendly. Out in the lobby, I hopped online to find a hotel. At one point, I went to use the bathroom and took everything with me. When I got back, I realized my Lonely Planet book was missing! Ahhh!! I had just landed in Japan and was already without my Japan guide. I was so, so bummed and wondering where to find a bookstore that would have the English version. I emailed and called mom, dad & Mark and by the end of everything the last train had left (at midnight) and I was stuck until 5:30am. I made myself comfortable on some chairs and went to sleep using my backpack as a pillow and a blanket I “borrowed” from Air China.
I woke up at 5am and noticed there were at least a dozen people doing the same thing I was doing. I went to the Subway station which is attached to the airport (very nice), stared at the ticket machine for a while trying to make sense of it and an information lady came over to help. What a godsend! I lugged my two bags down to the subway, went a few stops, made my transfer, went a few more stops and there I was, an hour later! Rompongi Station. With the help of two non-English speakers, I found the hotel. Traveling is great and taking Subways is fine but with two heavy bags…not fun!
Walking in around 7am, I was told Check-in is at 3pm so I’m in the lobby now and just paid for some hotel breakfast (cream of corn soup, fried rice, scrambled egg and yogurt). All of the Japanese women here are so skinny! Watching them eat, I bet it’s because they use chopsticks and eat two grains of rice at a time.
I'm so sleepy. It is now 11am and sunny outside. I'm going to pay for an early check in (rediculous), take a nap and then get out and explore.
