Our bags are packed and we are ready to go

Well tomorrow we are officially on holidays. So this will probably be the last entry for several days until I find some internet cafes on our journey. First Deanna and I are heading of to Chengdu were we will be getting the necessary paperwork and documents in order to to head of to Tibet. We will be spending two weeks traveling around Tibet. We plan on taking the scenic train into the region. From there we will spend a couple of days in Lhasa, the capital before takinga trekking tour over to Mt. Everest Base Camp. After Deanna leaves to return back to Canada on July 16, I will spend some days relaxing in Guilin and Yangshou before meeting my dad in Beijing. I well then be traveling with my Dad from Beijing to Xian, famous for the Terra-cotta warriors, and to Shanghai. Lots of sightseeing + lots of adventures = lots of fun + photos.

Canada’s Next Top Traditional Chinese Model

How’s that for a catchy title. Just over a month ago I had a photo shoot in Traditional Chinese style clothing. It was a neat experience. At 9:30 Jane, a teacher from the school, and I arrived at the studio. First we had to choose our two favorite dresses that we would be using for the shoot. It took some time, as there were over a fifty to choose from. Finally, we narrowed our selection down and made our way to the dressing room. Next, came the make-up, hair and nails. They thought of every detail down to the fake decorated pink nails with rhine stones, black hair pieces, black hair spray, for those who do not have natural black hair (like me), earrings, and a million jeweled hair pins. After being primped and pampered for nearly an hour we were turning into ancient Chinese beauties. The photo studio itself was in a large warehouse type room that was divided up into different scenes. It was quite dark and hard to see, but I guess that works better with the lighting and camera flash. While one of us was having our photos taken the other one was getting ready for the next outfit. It was a little difficult listening to the instruction of the photographer has he only knew some simple phrases such as “a little smile” and “Oh yes baby”. Unfortunately I had to redo one of my photo shoots because the had some problems retrieving the pictures from the camera. Luckily, they realized right away so I did not have to come back at a later date. 7 hours later, hungry and tired we finally fished our photo shoot. Well what do you think? Could I pass as being a Traditional Chinese beauty?

See you...

The English Club students hosted a farewell party for me yesterday. They put together a slide show presentation of pictures, preformed a skit, taught me a Chinese tongue twister and then I had to teach them a tongue twister, they demonstrated the art of bamboo painting, played a game were the loser had to eat wasabi and hot sauce cracker sandwiches, and a fruit cake to top it all off at the end.




I am going to miss all these hard working students...so long, aideu, au revoir, sayonara...

Thanks for the comments. I will have to read them later when the blog is working on the internet. For the past week I have been trying to visit different websites and friends blogs but they have all been restricted. Something that is not uncommon here in China. Right now I can only add to my blog but I cannot view it. Happy reading.

Chinese Paper Cut

...and not the wound that happens on your hands from paper made in China but the handicraft art form. This past weekend I visited the historical museum, for the second time ( it was free and I realized I missed the entire second floor) and was again drawn to the Chinese paper cut exhibit. This ancient art from uses cutting tools to cut thin paper into a decorative design. They are especially popular to decorate ones windows and entrance ways during festivals. Several women were demonstrating this technique. They sure do have lots of patience to sit there and carefully make thousands small incisions. At least they had about 20 stapled tother and were not doing them one at a time.

Hair wash and massage for 10 RMB

You can’t find a cheaper way to relax and ease the tension in China then to stop at one of the billion hair salons for a hair wash which usually includes a a neck and shoulder massage and if you are lucky a back, arms, and leg massage as well. I have been several times and will not refuse any chance that i may have to go. Like today for example, during school hours Christine invited me to join her for a trip to the hair salon. We spent over two hours at the place enjoying a hair wash, massage and a hair conditioner treatment.

Several days ago I ventured to the flower, fish, and bird market, which Christine had showed me once before. I didn’t end up bringing any pets home, besides who would look after them when I leave in a week. Yup that’s right, I only have one more week left of teaching before summer holidays. I have some travels plans in the works but will save those for another entry.

Dragon Boat Festival

The 5th day of the 5th month of the lunar calendar marks the Dragon Boat Festival. A celebration that began with a legend two thousand years ago and includes rice dumplings, boat races, drums and gongs. The story goes like this. “A famous poet drowned himself after his state was captures by opposing forces. The local villagers attempted to save his life by beating the water with their oars and sounding drums and gongs to scare of the fish trying to eat him. Rice dumplings were thrown into the river to lure hungry fish away from his body.” Today the festival is celebrated with annual dragon boat races up and down the rivers. Rice dumplings are also eaten during this time, I had two mini dumplings for breakfast. Flavored sticky rice first thing in the morning would certainly take some getting use to.

To celebrate, several of the young teachers went to a restaurant for Hot Pot, very similar to fondue. One large pot is sunken into the middle of the table over a gas powered element. The pot is divided into three sections, the middle is for the beef broth soup, and the two outer portions contain cooking oil, one super super spicy, and other one is just plain. An assortment of vegetables and meats await on a tray beside the table until we are ready to cook them. We had many things that I was unable to identify. Some tasted good while others really didn’t have much flavor. I later found out the stuff that looked like tofu was actually ducks blood in tofu form, I steered clear of it for the rest of the meal. We also cooked leaf lettuce, baby greens, and cilantro in the Hot Pot, they tasted the best even though I would never have thought to boil lettuce. It was a nice evening even if we did have to consult the portable electronic translator every 5 minutes.


Answers from previous blog pictures
Photo #1 The lock to my apartment door
Photo #2 An upside down clay pot for a plant (those are drainage holes)
Photo #3 Incense, they are located outside everyones door except for mine
Photo #4 Rice Dumplings
Photo #5 A basket used to catch fish

Can you guess what are in these photos?

As I was organizing my photos I came across some of these photos that I hadn't shared with you yet. All of these photos made me think of that game or puzzel that they often had in childrens magazines where you had to guess what was in the image. So here are 5 photos take a guess at what is in the image. Some are easy and some may be more difficult.
Photo #1
Photo #2
Photo #3
Photo #4
Photo #5

Cultural Kaleidoscope

Honk Kong has such a diverse mix of the old in the new. One day you could be enjoying the shopping and theme park and the next day you could be be touring around in a ancient fishing village. And that is just what we did. After 2 hours of traveling on the metro, train, and bus we finally reached our destination. Tai O, literal translation means Big Bay, is a 200 year old fishing village with wooden stilt houses the line the waterfront. There are also tiny shops, ancient temples and numerous fishing boats, or junks as they are more commonly known. The village is also home to a unique saltwater mangrove. We participated in a 2 hour tour of the village and saw a whole other side of Hong Kong.
Yum, dried fish snacks
Anyone hungry for lunch?
The hard wood holding up the houses is extremely strong and becomes stronger with age. It also does not rot.
The air bladder of the fish is apparently good for stomach aches.

It's raining, it's pouring, the old man is snoring...

The rain must have followed us from Hong Kong. I am going to need a raft to get to work pretty soon if all this rain continues. The mornings are cloudy but by lunch time the sky is a dark grey and the streets are full of puddles. We had a huge thunder storm today with continues thunder for at least two hours. There wasn’t even time to count in-between the lightening and thunder to see how far away it is. It would be a good day to curl up by the fireplace with a good book, a cozy quilt, and a mug of hot chocolate. Too bad they do not have fireplaces here.

Back to Hong Kong. The best view of the city is from Victoria Peak. The 20 min tram ride that climbs the hill feels like the old wooden roller coaster at Playland. On the other hand, the bus ride down from the Peak was like the Wild Mouse ride at Playland. There were so many twists and turn on a very narrow street and we were riding in a double decker bus.
The observation deck would be a great place to sit back relax, enjoy a lunch and the view if it wasn’t raining. I braved the rain in 5 minute increments so I could have a few token pictures. Notice the dark rain cloud hanging about the buildings and the large raindrops on my shirt.
Hong Kong is divided into several parts, Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, New Territories, Lantau Island, Lamma Island, and Cheung Chau. We spent most of our time between Kowloon and Hong Kong Island the busiest part of Hong Kong.
I also found this road at the top of the Peak. Our family has a street named after them and it is located at one of the busiest and touristy places in Hong Kong.

Mesmerized by the Jellyfish

One cannot visit Hong Kong without visiting Ocean Park, a theme park and aquarium in one. My favorite was the jellyfish exhibit it was so peaceful to just watch them sway in the current. The lighting in each of the tanks also gave the jellyfish and really neat glow.
Ocean Park is divided into two parts and you have to take a 20 minute cable car across the side of the hill to travel between to two areas. The park has several different theaters or stages with many performances throughout the day. I watched the Amazing Birds and the Dolphin and Sea Lion shows.I also went on a couple of the rides but it is not the same when you are riding them by yourself.
The one ride that is my all-time favorite at any theme park was under construction. I will just have to ride the flying swings twice next time I visit a theme park, which I don’t think will happen anytime in the near future. The Panda Habitat was also under Construction, another exhibit I really wanted to see, oh well.


Lots more stories and of course pictures to come later.

The votes have been tallied and...

...Hong Kong is the winner. Deanna and I are catching the 6:00 bus tonight to Hong Kong. Hopefully the hostel experience is better this time. We have four full days and we plan to fill every moment sightseeing and shopping. We have plans to ride the Peak Tram, see the light show at night, take part in Chinese Cake baking, practice our Tai Chi moves with a free class, and I want to also see Ocean Park, the largest aquarium in the world. So I will be taking a break from blogging and enjoying the big city. I will have lots to report once I return and probably hundreds of pictures.

Recipe for sucess in eating a leeche

First of all is a leeche a nut or a fruit because I am highly confused. It looks like a fruit but I remember it being called a nut. If someone could clear this up it would greatly be appreciated. Leeche nuts/fruits are officially in season. Vendors are selling them from their bikes on every street corner and ally way. They cost anywhere from 2-4 RMB for 1 kilogram. Everywhere you turn there are leeches. A box of leeche nuts/fruit even arrived at the office today as a gift from a former teacher. They taste best once they have spent a sufficient amount of time in the fridge. They are really refreshing on a hot day.
Here's a recipe for success in eating a leeche:
1. hold the nut/fruit up to your nose and take a big whiff, it should smell sweet and like a leeche fruit, (sorry that is quite vague but I am not going to even attempt to describe the smell as I am sure it would not even come across accurately)
2. place the leeche in the palm of your hand
3. with your dominant hand, it allows for more strength this way, dig your thumb nail into the nut.fruit adjacent to the stem and pluck out the stem.
4. peel the skin off, careful they can be slippery suckers
5. plop the white fleshy portion into your mouth and enjoy.

Note: there is a pit hiding inside so don’t break a tooth or start choking and don’t say I didn’t warn you.


mmmm ... this is making my mouth water... I am heading to the fridge right now to ...

This Weekend

This past weekend flew by. Actually, time in general has gone by incredible fast and before I know it I will be finished teaching and traveling to the northern part of China. On Saturday we boarded a bus to Zhaoqing. We headed straight for the back of the bus where there are five seats in a row perfect for lounging on during the ride. We arrived 2 hours later. After brunch in a very nice but cheap restaurant, we headed towards Star Lake to see the main attraction, the Seven Star Crags Park. In the center of the lake is an island with seven crags, limestone mountains with caves and grottos The seven crags are said to look like the Big Dipper from an aerial vantage point. Street vendors here are really persistent. One lady followed us for 10 minutes as we walked along the pedestrian path next to the edge of the lake. She was trying to sell tickets for a boat ride across the lake to the Island. Not wanting to give into this very pushy and obnoxious lady we found a water taxi company, with an attendant that spoke English and bought a return ticket for 15 RMB to the Seven Star Crags Park. Once on the Island there is of course the park entrance fee, plus additional fees to enter the caves and cross the metal suspension bridge. We decided to fork out the extra money since this is what we came to see. Some highlights from the park include climbing one of the crags to the lookout point, watching the greedy fish with their huge fish lips, seeing the Chinese poetry carved onto the walls of the caves, and walking over the many bridges.

Christine and I went to the plant and animal market. The market had mainly birds and fish and not the kind you eat but the ones you keep as pets. They also had some beautiful fish tanks on display. they also had a wider assortment of plants from silk flowers to potted cacti, water plants and bamboo toporary/pyramids (the same type we have back home). Unfortunately I was too busy enjoying walking through the market and talking with Christine that I didn’t take any pictures. Not sure how the vendors would have reacted anyways since they didn’t care for me taking pictures at the produce and meat market.