I'm not superstitious, but in statistics there is a concept known as conditional probability, the probability of event B happening given that A has occurred.
* So what does it mean when your duffel bag rips while you are trying to pack it? In my case I just went to REI and bought another one. Good sign or bad?
* I got picked up by Super Shuttle from Minh's at 5am, guy took us around town and to National (DCA) and my flight was out of Dulles (IAD). Driver tells me my reservation is from DC to Reagon (which it is, I just checked, I must've selected the wrong airport). He says I'm in luck because he's headed out there anyway. At this point he's ambivalent on whether he can get me there on time, it's 0600 and I have a 0850 flight. We pick up two more people and head over to Dulles, whole time I'm worried about lines, closing of check-in and missing my first flight. He gets me there at 0650, I pay him the extra fee for Dulles and run into the airport. I find the Air Canada line empty and try to check in my bags. I get an error, saying something about itinerary change... I hand the agent my passport and he goes over some info and hands me back my ticket. I got put on another flight, I had got bumped to an earlier flight of 0830. Either the other one was cancelled/recheduled or something else happened. I had checked the status of my flight the night before and it showed no changes. The whole check-in and security thing took less than 20 minutes. Was at the gate with time to spare. Does this mean I'm to expect close calls but spectacular finishes? A lot of worrying for nothing?
* I was on my laptop at the gate and this girl beside me asked if they had wireless in the airport. I told her they had, she was worried cause she had limited batteries and didn't want to waste it checking for wireless if there wasn't any. I pointed out to her that there are random outlets around the terminal and she tells me she forgot her power plug. Earlier I had noticed she had an Macbook, so I offered her my power plug. She thanked me and took off looking for a power outlet, leaving her bags in her seat. I waited for a bit and then they started calling for boarding for my flight. I had assumed she was going to be on my flight because she had this cute French accent, so figured she'd be back before my flight left for Montreal. After a bit of fretting on my part, she comes running back and hands me my power plug and I board my plane as the last passenger (no she wasn't on my flight, wish we had more time to talk...). I guess another sign of close calls?
So ripped bags, wrong airports, changed flights and last minute power plugs, what does it all mean?
PS: I over heard an United employee at Dulles excitedly telling another one it was Aloha Friday, anyone know what that means? Do they all fly jump seat to Hawaii and party on Aloha Friday?
Friday, April 25, 2008
Thursday, March 6, 2008
I Resigned My Job
Really crazy! But I did it today, handed in my resignation, last day will be April 23rd, 2008. I'm really nervous and in an unfamiliar situation. The closest thing I can equate it to is cliff diving. Before I quit it was like standing on the edge of the cliff looking down 30 ft to the water. Quitting is like jumping off... Now I'm mid-air falling towards the water. The joke around here is 30 ft is just long enough for you to change your mind. I know in the back of my mind that once I hit the water I'll feel ALIVE.
I guess right now, I'm waiting for the water. :)
Friday, August 3, 2007
Last Night in China (in Beijing)
Hey,
Arrived in Beijing from Lhasa tonight. So to finish off some thoughts...
* I had mentioned the dichotomy of China; I got another image (of which I don't have a picture..). An old lady in ragged wool clothes hunched over a cane while spinning a Tibetan prayer wheel, whose face is so wrinkled and sunburned that it can tell a thousand tales, standing in front of a designer store with a featureless mannequin in a perfectly pressed designer polo shirt and pants.
* I purchased some trinkets for people, come and get'em! Really funny was we were negotiating over 10c to 1 USD most of the time. We had walked into a store and the guy offered 10 Yuan and we didn't argue. Walked into another store and the guy asking price was 8 Yuan for the exact same thing. The owner even said he price was cheaper then the guy up the street, sorta felt bad in getting ripped off of 25 cents...
* So my last email was about the politics of Tibet.... This one is about the tourism in Tibet. WAY OVER CROWDED. Which is sorta our fault because we took the route most traveled and it was filled with Chinese, Korean, European and American tourists. I think next time I'm get a backpack and wonder.
* The tourism hasn't been a boon to everyone. We've seen beggars everywhere. Even had one occasion where a child (no more then 5 years old) grab my mom's leg and refused to let go until he got paid; our driver had to shoo him off. So instead of giving away money, we gave away food that we couldn't finish. This included stale fries one day old. These were fries from a fast food restaurant that our guide had picked up from Lhasa for the road because he didn't know what the conditions of the restaurants were gonna be. These were the same fries that I refused to eat because they were stale 4 hours later (and most of you know I'm not a very picky eater...). These same fries were given to a bunch of kids 'guarding' a toilet on the side of the road. They tore into it like manna from heaven.
* Bathrooms, which brings me to a very disgusting subject. On average a Tibetan toilet is worse then the dirtiest (including Nelson Rocks) pit toilet you've ever seen. Our guide joked that you don't need a GPS to find the toilet, just use your nose. It got to the point that the women in our party would rather 'sing a mountain song' ('chang san ge', take a leak in the wild) then use a proper toilet. This was the case all along the highway, we'd see cars and buses stopped for breaks; jokingly we called this Tibet's other natural wonder.
* First couple of days in Lhasa was over cast and rainy. Before we left it cleared up and boy was it beautiful. The stars shown so bright you could almost grab them. A full moon in the early morning was easily visible. Awesome, awesome place.
* So the flight from Lhasa to Beijing was interesting. There was a bunch of French Buddhists sitting front of us. I had heard them speaking French so I asked one of them if they were French (in French 'Vous etes Francais?'). This turned into a three way translation brawl for me. One of them spoke a bit of Chinese and some English, one spoke some English and the rest just French. My parents obviously spoke English and Chinese. The Chinese people around us only spoke Chinese. So I had to translate between English to French (my Parents), French to Chinese (with odd words in English, because I didn't know the Chinese word, which then had to be re-translated into Chinese), Chinese to French.. a very interesting 3-way brawl is what I would call it. I think we managed to understand each other. I also ended up on some one's home video cause one of the Frenchmen took out his camcorder and taped the whole exchanged, must have been interesting to watch.
* My last musing is the blinds in our hotel room. There is a rather large window between the bathroom and rest of the room. There are blinds on the window and it's not on the bathroom side, it's on the hotel room side... not sure about the thinking behind it, but who ever thought of it had either a very sick mind or a interesting sense of humor.
That's it for now... (probably for a while unless something interesting happens tomorrow...) cya!
jz
Arrived in Beijing from Lhasa tonight. So to finish off some thoughts...
* I had mentioned the dichotomy of China; I got another image (of which I don't have a picture..). An old lady in ragged wool clothes hunched over a cane while spinning a Tibetan prayer wheel, whose face is so wrinkled and sunburned that it can tell a thousand tales, standing in front of a designer store with a featureless mannequin in a perfectly pressed designer polo shirt and pants.
* I purchased some trinkets for people, come and get'em! Really funny was we were negotiating over 10c to 1 USD most of the time. We had walked into a store and the guy offered 10 Yuan and we didn't argue. Walked into another store and the guy asking price was 8 Yuan for the exact same thing. The owner even said he price was cheaper then the guy up the street, sorta felt bad in getting ripped off of 25 cents...
* So my last email was about the politics of Tibet.... This one is about the tourism in Tibet. WAY OVER CROWDED. Which is sorta our fault because we took the route most traveled and it was filled with Chinese, Korean, European and American tourists. I think next time I'm get a backpack and wonder.
* The tourism hasn't been a boon to everyone. We've seen beggars everywhere. Even had one occasion where a child (no more then 5 years old) grab my mom's leg and refused to let go until he got paid; our driver had to shoo him off. So instead of giving away money, we gave away food that we couldn't finish. This included stale fries one day old. These were fries from a fast food restaurant that our guide had picked up from Lhasa for the road because he didn't know what the conditions of the restaurants were gonna be. These were the same fries that I refused to eat because they were stale 4 hours later (and most of you know I'm not a very picky eater...). These same fries were given to a bunch of kids 'guarding' a toilet on the side of the road. They tore into it like manna from heaven.
* Bathrooms, which brings me to a very disgusting subject. On average a Tibetan toilet is worse then the dirtiest (including Nelson Rocks) pit toilet you've ever seen. Our guide joked that you don't need a GPS to find the toilet, just use your nose. It got to the point that the women in our party would rather 'sing a mountain song' ('chang san ge', take a leak in the wild) then use a proper toilet. This was the case all along the highway, we'd see cars and buses stopped for breaks; jokingly we called this Tibet's other natural wonder.
* First couple of days in Lhasa was over cast and rainy. Before we left it cleared up and boy was it beautiful. The stars shown so bright you could almost grab them. A full moon in the early morning was easily visible. Awesome, awesome place.
* So the flight from Lhasa to Beijing was interesting. There was a bunch of French Buddhists sitting front of us. I had heard them speaking French so I asked one of them if they were French (in French 'Vous etes Francais?'). This turned into a three way translation brawl for me. One of them spoke a bit of Chinese and some English, one spoke some English and the rest just French. My parents obviously spoke English and Chinese. The Chinese people around us only spoke Chinese. So I had to translate between English to French (my Parents), French to Chinese (with odd words in English, because I didn't know the Chinese word, which then had to be re-translated into Chinese), Chinese to French.. a very interesting 3-way brawl is what I would call it. I think we managed to understand each other. I also ended up on some one's home video cause one of the Frenchmen took out his camcorder and taped the whole exchanged, must have been interesting to watch.
* My last musing is the blinds in our hotel room. There is a rather large window between the bathroom and rest of the room. There are blinds on the window and it's not on the bathroom side, it's on the hotel room side... not sure about the thinking behind it, but who ever thought of it had either a very sick mind or a interesting sense of humor.
That's it for now... (probably for a while unless something interesting happens tomorrow...) cya!
jz
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Last Night in Lhasa
Hey All Y'All,
Been an awesome trip so far. They say that when you see the Potala Palace for the first time it's not something you forget easily and that is true for me. We had just arrived from Xining on the train and I caught sight of this majestic white and red building, all lit up floating above the city. Certainly a sight to remember.
Let see...
* We've had some interesting incidents. One was a tourist spot, we were getting off to take pictures at 4950 meters at some important junction of some important Asian river (you see how important it was...) What has happened is the locals have put up signs and brought their Yaks to take pictures with the tourist there. So if you happen to accidentally take a picture of their Yak or their sign they make you pay this ridiculous amount before they let you go. Our guide has had fights up here before... So he warned us about the situation and we were very careful not to do anything 'improper'. Yet somehow my dad got pushed around when we were about to leave, we had done nothing (which what pissed them off, in that they didn't get any money from us.). Our guide and driver had to get out of the bus to stop that crowd that was forming...
* Another one was they were doing bridge constructions and we had to get through . It was a really weird spot that we had to get our bus through. We managed to get it through without incident (in my opinion), but the local workman claimed that we had clipped their concrete and broke a piece off with the bus. I had already noticed it was broken AND there was not a single scratch mark they could point at on the bus that can be claimed to have come from the alleged 'clipping'. In the end we had to pay 50 Yuan ($6 USD) to get by.
* So this tourist spot is right beside the road and a genius of a bureaucrat didn't build any parking spaces for this tourist trap. So what buses do is park on half the road and shoulder leaving 1.5 lanes for two way traffic. At one point we are getting ready to leave, two buses meet in the middle of the parking space and neither had space to move and traffic starts building up behind each bus, not allowing either to back up. The only way out is for the line of parked cars to start moving. After much honking the parked drivers in front of us realize something is up and slowly work their way back to their cars. At this point some genius of a driver decides to cut the line and move up until he's blocking the line of parked cars. Now we have a real Chinese stand-off, two-way 1 lane road and there is traffic on both sides facing the wrong way... After much shouting, honking and screaming, they manage to get the driver to back up a little (and only a little) until he can get off the road and onto the grass on the wrong side. Our bus had about .5 ft of clearance between him and the other side of cars...
* The first couple of days in Tibet were sort of a disappointment. I had expected nomads on grassy plains tending their sheep and yaks with picturesque snow capped mountains in the background. Instead I found fields of greenhouses and farm land with grassy mountains. However this disappointment was short lived. I've seen some really breath taking sights, better then I could've imagined. This is truly the 'Roof of the World', the 'Last Natural Wonder', the 'Undiscovered Country'.
* We saw a Sky Burial. It's Tibetan tradition to 'bury' their dead by allowing the eagles and vultures (but in reality dogs) devour their dead. The thinking behind this is your soul has either moved onto nirvana or your next reincarnation and you don't need your corporeal body anymore (similar to "Dust to Dust, Ashes to Ashes"), so why let it go to waste. So we saw a Sky Burial from afar, mostly we saw a bunch of people standing around and Eagles/Vultures descending and circling...
* Sadly you can't talk about Tibet without talking about politics and the Chinese presence/occupation. I'll let the experts debate whether historically Tibet belongs to China or not. The reality on the ground is they (we) are here. That could be a good or bad thing. China is no benevolent occupier/ruler, but I can't say it's all bad. Historically Tibet is a feudal society where instead of lords in castles you have monasteries who controlled the land and the peasants were no different from European serfs. Monasteries would even wage wars/raids against other monasteries because of theological differences. As much as we like to think the Dalai Lama as the ruler of Tibet, he is no more then a weak king who needs the support of the monasteries (or local lords) to rule. As much as I would like to believe that the current Dalai Lama could've changed this feudal system, I don't think that have been possible. (BTW, the Potala Palace, where the Dalai Lamas ruled from, is like a fortress on a hill, no different from any European castle I've seen...) The only enlightened dictatorship I know of in Asia is in Bhutan and how many people even know where that is? In that sense the Chinese did liberate Tibet. BTW, that is the politically correct term here, even our Tibetan guide uses it, the Chinese is 'Jie Fan', 'to liberate'. On the other hand, Chinese liberation bought along the Cultural Revolution, and Tibet was not spared the destruction of history. They say China lost more history in those short years of Maoist fanaticism then it did it's 4000 years of history. China also bought modernization and I would argue that would have been inevitable unless again if you were Bhutan. I would let history judge whether modernization is a good thing or not. I would also let history judge where the Chinese presence/occupation is a good thing or not.
Anyway, I have a few more anecdotes to pass along but it's really getting late. Be in Beijing tomorrow and will write more...
jz
PS: No, I didn't proof read this note and I'm sure there are tons of typos and stuff...
Been an awesome trip so far. They say that when you see the Potala Palace for the first time it's not something you forget easily and that is true for me. We had just arrived from Xining on the train and I caught sight of this majestic white and red building, all lit up floating above the city. Certainly a sight to remember.
Let see...
* We've had some interesting incidents. One was a tourist spot, we were getting off to take pictures at 4950 meters at some important junction of some important Asian river (you see how important it was...) What has happened is the locals have put up signs and brought their Yaks to take pictures with the tourist there. So if you happen to accidentally take a picture of their Yak or their sign they make you pay this ridiculous amount before they let you go. Our guide has had fights up here before... So he warned us about the situation and we were very careful not to do anything 'improper'. Yet somehow my dad got pushed around when we were about to leave, we had done nothing (which what pissed them off, in that they didn't get any money from us.). Our guide and driver had to get out of the bus to stop that crowd that was forming...
* Another one was they were doing bridge constructions and we had to get through . It was a really weird spot that we had to get our bus through. We managed to get it through without incident (in my opinion), but the local workman claimed that we had clipped their concrete and broke a piece off with the bus. I had already noticed it was broken AND there was not a single scratch mark they could point at on the bus that can be claimed to have come from the alleged 'clipping'. In the end we had to pay 50 Yuan ($6 USD) to get by.
* So this tourist spot is right beside the road and a genius of a bureaucrat didn't build any parking spaces for this tourist trap. So what buses do is park on half the road and shoulder leaving 1.5 lanes for two way traffic. At one point we are getting ready to leave, two buses meet in the middle of the parking space and neither had space to move and traffic starts building up behind each bus, not allowing either to back up. The only way out is for the line of parked cars to start moving. After much honking the parked drivers in front of us realize something is up and slowly work their way back to their cars. At this point some genius of a driver decides to cut the line and move up until he's blocking the line of parked cars. Now we have a real Chinese stand-off, two-way 1 lane road and there is traffic on both sides facing the wrong way... After much shouting, honking and screaming, they manage to get the driver to back up a little (and only a little) until he can get off the road and onto the grass on the wrong side. Our bus had about .5 ft of clearance between him and the other side of cars...
* The first couple of days in Tibet were sort of a disappointment. I had expected nomads on grassy plains tending their sheep and yaks with picturesque snow capped mountains in the background. Instead I found fields of greenhouses and farm land with grassy mountains. However this disappointment was short lived. I've seen some really breath taking sights, better then I could've imagined. This is truly the 'Roof of the World', the 'Last Natural Wonder', the 'Undiscovered Country'.
* We saw a Sky Burial. It's Tibetan tradition to 'bury' their dead by allowing the eagles and vultures (but in reality dogs) devour their dead. The thinking behind this is your soul has either moved onto nirvana or your next reincarnation and you don't need your corporeal body anymore (similar to "Dust to Dust, Ashes to Ashes"), so why let it go to waste. So we saw a Sky Burial from afar, mostly we saw a bunch of people standing around and Eagles/Vultures descending and circling...
* Sadly you can't talk about Tibet without talking about politics and the Chinese presence/occupation. I'll let the experts debate whether historically Tibet belongs to China or not. The reality on the ground is they (we) are here. That could be a good or bad thing. China is no benevolent occupier/ruler, but I can't say it's all bad. Historically Tibet is a feudal society where instead of lords in castles you have monasteries who controlled the land and the peasants were no different from European serfs. Monasteries would even wage wars/raids against other monasteries because of theological differences. As much as we like to think the Dalai Lama as the ruler of Tibet, he is no more then a weak king who needs the support of the monasteries (or local lords) to rule. As much as I would like to believe that the current Dalai Lama could've changed this feudal system, I don't think that have been possible. (BTW, the Potala Palace, where the Dalai Lamas ruled from, is like a fortress on a hill, no different from any European castle I've seen...) The only enlightened dictatorship I know of in Asia is in Bhutan and how many people even know where that is? In that sense the Chinese did liberate Tibet. BTW, that is the politically correct term here, even our Tibetan guide uses it, the Chinese is 'Jie Fan', 'to liberate'. On the other hand, Chinese liberation bought along the Cultural Revolution, and Tibet was not spared the destruction of history. They say China lost more history in those short years of Maoist fanaticism then it did it's 4000 years of history. China also bought modernization and I would argue that would have been inevitable unless again if you were Bhutan. I would let history judge whether modernization is a good thing or not. I would also let history judge where the Chinese presence/occupation is a good thing or not.
Anyway, I have a few more anecdotes to pass along but it's really getting late. Be in Beijing tomorrow and will write more...
jz
PS: No, I didn't proof read this note and I'm sure there are tons of typos and stuff...
Friday, July 27, 2007
In Lhasa
Hey Folks,
Just arrived in Lhasa, Tibet, China writing from 3600m about 12,000 ft (Denver is 1,609m or 5,280ft). The train ride here was interesting. We have a group of six (me, my parents, uncle and aunt and aunt's relative). We got a 'hard berth' which is 3 bunk beds facing each other in a 'room', perfect for 6 people. However we got 4 tickets in the same car and room (room 13/14 in car 13) and 2 tickets in car 5. So we had to get the two people in our room to exchange. Reminded me of Kim/Minh story of trying to exchange tickets in Vietnam not knowing that the rooms were segregated male/female. At least China doesn't have that rule, :P, and we were successful.
More musings:
* Tourist attractions in Xining,
Qing Hai: China's Great Salt Lake, as pretty as Lake Tahoe....
First Atomic test site: a bit disappointed, a few rusted pieces of equipment, a fake Sputnik like bomb and a bunker. What confused the hell out of me was the bunker was like 30ft away from the fake bomb on a tower... I mean if I was standing on Ground Zero, that bunker wouldn't exist....
Local Ethnic Meal and show: To explain this better, the majority of people in China are ethnically and culturally Han. However China has many minority ethnic groups, at least 80 or more. In this area there are Mongols, Tibetans, two Muslim minorities and one or two more that I don't remember. So our guide took us to one of these guest houses where they serve you a traditional meal and then they do a show for you. Towards the end of the show they always get a few male participants to get on stage. From past experience (and I've been volunteered by unnamed people SEVERAL times, you know who you are!), I know they are going to embarrass the hell out of you and then perform a marriage ceremony or courtship dance with you and a 'bride'. So my uncle got chosen and he got embarrassed and then married with my Aunt in the audience (she and my mom volunteered him...). She teased him all day about it (and I'm I'll hear more about it during this trip...). After marriage, the guy is supposed to stay there for 3 days, so I have picture of my uncle being caught in a tug of war... Also they were joking about exchanging the old wife for the new one...
* During the train ride we got as high as 5000m (16 404 ft), which is like sucking air through a very thin straw. We spent almost all of it above 4000m, about 10 hours between 4500m to 5000m (ie more then 14,000 ft). I got a light headache from the combination of being cooped up in the train, sucking air through a straw and smokers.
* Smokers, which brings me to another thought (or two). The train had a no smoking policy (with designated areas). However people still smoked in the non-smoking areas. What are you thinking??? You can't get enough oxygen already, you got a supplemental oxygen hose and you are STILL smoking?? No one obeys the rules here (my 2nd thought...), the temples have a no picture policy (which I admit I broke... stealthily tho...) but people were standing and obviously posing to have their pictures taken... A few got escorted out by the monks.. Yes, it's a hypocritically gripe, but still...I think the temptation to take a wayward picture would've been less...
* Alcohol and Cigarettes are the glue that keeps the world connected. Won't elaborate more then to say that I witnessed some pretty important (institutional...) commitments and arm twisting being made while the involved parties were all drinking and smoking...
* A lot of stuff in China is new, but the workmanship is just CRAPPY! We stayed at a four star hotel which on the surface can compare to a Marriott. However if you look closer you'll notice that the facades were poorly put together, you can see where the seams and glue are. A simple industrial sander and filling would've fixed most of this. Another example is a beautifully decorated dining room, a bunch of very nice leather chairs around the table AND one cloth covered chair!?!?! All little small things that tell you a lot about everything else...
* Was walking around Xining at night (10ish..) and I stumbled onto a huge square, about 2 football fields in length and width; filled with people. You have kids running around playing hide and seek, people roller blading, young lovers in secluded places under trees (and a few old lovers too...), an area filled with traditional Chinese music and people dancing, another area with moon bounce and a fake climbing wall, another area with a choir, or if you wanted hot and sweaty dancing you could find an area packed with young people dancing to club music... A sight to behold...
* China has 1.2 billion people and they haven't surpassed the US in electricity use, and I think I figured out why. They conserve! Our hotel rooms have this slot for your room key, the second you take it out all the electricity in your room shuts off. So when you leave, you CAN'T leave a light on (which means you can't charge anything while you are out...) but on the other hand it saves tons of electricity. Also these hotels turn most of their lights off at night, so I've walked through some unlit corridors because they want to save electricity. The flip side is Chinese packaging, it's like a matryoshka doll; layers and layers of useless packaging...
* Pilgrims. You thought Catholics were bad with their weekly mass, confession and some devotees walking a step and saying a prayer. Or Muslims with prayers 5 times a day and a Hajj. Tibetan Buddhists have them all beat hands down. Some of these pilgrims will start from where ever they are and prostrate themselves all the way to Lhasa. This is basically kneel down, prostrate, slide body forward until you are laying down, get back up, walk your body length and repeat. According to our guide they average about 3km a day and can take anywhere from 3-5 years to complete their pilgrimage. I have a picture of a guy doing the prostate/lay down thing twice, one for him and one for his wife. 3-5 YEARS!! Makes the Appalachian trail look like a afternoon stroll at 6 months.
* I know I've done this in the past, but still something to get used to again here. Children between the ages of 1 and 3 wear pants here that have an opening from the front to the back of the pants. This is so that if they need to go to the bathroom, their parents simply walk them to the side of the road, nearby tree or grassy area, pick them up, spread their legs and let them rip! Again something I'm sure I've done (or more correctly, been put in the position of doing) a long, long time ago.
* The old vs the new. It's a dichotomy in China. You have brand new state of the art glass high rises right beside brick houses and soulless concrete buildings.
* You know you haven't been climbing enough when a pillar outside your hotel looks VERY tempting and the only thing stopping you is that on closer examination you realize it's a poorly constructed facade that may break under body weight.
That's it for now, going to tour Lhasa today!
Just arrived in Lhasa, Tibet, China writing from 3600m about 12,000 ft (Denver is 1,609m or 5,280ft). The train ride here was interesting. We have a group of six (me, my parents, uncle and aunt and aunt's relative). We got a 'hard berth' which is 3 bunk beds facing each other in a 'room', perfect for 6 people. However we got 4 tickets in the same car and room (room 13/14 in car 13) and 2 tickets in car 5. So we had to get the two people in our room to exchange. Reminded me of Kim/Minh story of trying to exchange tickets in Vietnam not knowing that the rooms were segregated male/female. At least China doesn't have that rule, :P, and we were successful.
More musings:
* Tourist attractions in Xining,
Qing Hai: China's Great Salt Lake, as pretty as Lake Tahoe....
First Atomic test site: a bit disappointed, a few rusted pieces of equipment, a fake Sputnik like bomb and a bunker. What confused the hell out of me was the bunker was like 30ft away from the fake bomb on a tower... I mean if I was standing on Ground Zero, that bunker wouldn't exist....
Local Ethnic Meal and show: To explain this better, the majority of people in China are ethnically and culturally Han. However China has many minority ethnic groups, at least 80 or more. In this area there are Mongols, Tibetans, two Muslim minorities and one or two more that I don't remember. So our guide took us to one of these guest houses where they serve you a traditional meal and then they do a show for you. Towards the end of the show they always get a few male participants to get on stage. From past experience (and I've been volunteered by unnamed people SEVERAL times, you know who you are!), I know they are going to embarrass the hell out of you and then perform a marriage ceremony or courtship dance with you and a 'bride'. So my uncle got chosen and he got embarrassed and then married with my Aunt in the audience (she and my mom volunteered him...). She teased him all day about it (and I'm I'll hear more about it during this trip...). After marriage, the guy is supposed to stay there for 3 days, so I have picture of my uncle being caught in a tug of war... Also they were joking about exchanging the old wife for the new one...
* During the train ride we got as high as 5000m (16 404 ft), which is like sucking air through a very thin straw. We spent almost all of it above 4000m, about 10 hours between 4500m to 5000m (ie more then 14,000 ft). I got a light headache from the combination of being cooped up in the train, sucking air through a straw and smokers.
* Smokers, which brings me to another thought (or two). The train had a no smoking policy (with designated areas). However people still smoked in the non-smoking areas. What are you thinking??? You can't get enough oxygen already, you got a supplemental oxygen hose and you are STILL smoking?? No one obeys the rules here (my 2nd thought...), the temples have a no picture policy (which I admit I broke... stealthily tho...) but people were standing and obviously posing to have their pictures taken... A few got escorted out by the monks.. Yes, it's a hypocritically gripe, but still...I think the temptation to take a wayward picture would've been less...
* Alcohol and Cigarettes are the glue that keeps the world connected. Won't elaborate more then to say that I witnessed some pretty important (institutional...) commitments and arm twisting being made while the involved parties were all drinking and smoking...
* A lot of stuff in China is new, but the workmanship is just CRAPPY! We stayed at a four star hotel which on the surface can compare to a Marriott. However if you look closer you'll notice that the facades were poorly put together, you can see where the seams and glue are. A simple industrial sander and filling would've fixed most of this. Another example is a beautifully decorated dining room, a bunch of very nice leather chairs around the table AND one cloth covered chair!?!?! All little small things that tell you a lot about everything else...
* Was walking around Xining at night (10ish..) and I stumbled onto a huge square, about 2 football fields in length and width; filled with people. You have kids running around playing hide and seek, people roller blading, young lovers in secluded places under trees (and a few old lovers too...), an area filled with traditional Chinese music and people dancing, another area with moon bounce and a fake climbing wall, another area with a choir, or if you wanted hot and sweaty dancing you could find an area packed with young people dancing to club music... A sight to behold...
* China has 1.2 billion people and they haven't surpassed the US in electricity use, and I think I figured out why. They conserve! Our hotel rooms have this slot for your room key, the second you take it out all the electricity in your room shuts off. So when you leave, you CAN'T leave a light on (which means you can't charge anything while you are out...) but on the other hand it saves tons of electricity. Also these hotels turn most of their lights off at night, so I've walked through some unlit corridors because they want to save electricity. The flip side is Chinese packaging, it's like a matryoshka doll; layers and layers of useless packaging...
* Pilgrims. You thought Catholics were bad with their weekly mass, confession and some devotees walking a step and saying a prayer. Or Muslims with prayers 5 times a day and a Hajj. Tibetan Buddhists have them all beat hands down. Some of these pilgrims will start from where ever they are and prostrate themselves all the way to Lhasa. This is basically kneel down, prostrate, slide body forward until you are laying down, get back up, walk your body length and repeat. According to our guide they average about 3km a day and can take anywhere from 3-5 years to complete their pilgrimage. I have a picture of a guy doing the prostate/lay down thing twice, one for him and one for his wife. 3-5 YEARS!! Makes the Appalachian trail look like a afternoon stroll at 6 months.
* I know I've done this in the past, but still something to get used to again here. Children between the ages of 1 and 3 wear pants here that have an opening from the front to the back of the pants. This is so that if they need to go to the bathroom, their parents simply walk them to the side of the road, nearby tree or grassy area, pick them up, spread their legs and let them rip! Again something I'm sure I've done (or more correctly, been put in the position of doing) a long, long time ago.
* The old vs the new. It's a dichotomy in China. You have brand new state of the art glass high rises right beside brick houses and soulless concrete buildings.
* You know you haven't been climbing enough when a pillar outside your hotel looks VERY tempting and the only thing stopping you is that on closer examination you realize it's a poorly constructed facade that may break under body weight.
That's it for now, going to tour Lhasa today!
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
In XiNing
Hey Folks,
It's another round of Jay's inane ramblings. Been in China for about 72 hours, still trying to get used to it. Initially getting off the flight from Dulles in Beijing was a bit of a shock. Between the 12 hour flight, sleep deprivation and all, I was for some reason, surprised to see an airport run by Chinese people. Then I realized, wait, I'm in Beijing. Duh!
A few amusing events/observations (Yes, I'm easily amused...)
* Flight from Dulles was delayed for 1 hour. First someone checked-in but never got onto the plane, so they had to remove their luggage. Then we taxied, made a u-turn and arrived back at the terminal. Turns out our cargo hold was overheating so we needed to get it fixed. During this time I noticed that the English/Chinese explanation was different and this continued throughout the flight; similar but different... The lucky family who 'missed' the flight was able to get on... but because we were late, they missed their connection.
* on the flight, saw an elderly woman carefully wiping down the air vents and reading lights above her seat and then remarking to her husband about needing cleaning. The plane was old, but, not THAT bad. How was she going to deal with China? All the smog, dust, car exhaust, etc...
* Going through customs and immigration was interesting. The 'Wait before yellow line' rarely applied. Cell phones were allowed in the pre-immigration area. There were trash cans around before going through customs. If I wanted to smuggle something, I'd throw it away and get my trash collecting buddies to retrieve for me, but that's just me... The health form had a question of "Have you recently been near poultry or birds" - dead or alive I ask? The customs form had a question about carrying radio receivers or transmitters. I was trying to decide whether to declare my GPS (which I just lost... :(), then I realized that a cell phone sent/received radio signals. I wonder who declared their cell phones...
* We flew over the North Pole and they displayed this on the flight map. The whole flight got up with their cameras to take pictures; so I have pictures of people taking pictures of us over the North Pole.
* Everyone on the flght had the new Harry Potter book. I was expecting that after take-off the WHOLE flight would take out their copy and start reading it noisily, talking to their neighbors about it; like a Disney musical and I would be the ONLY person on the flight without a Harry Potter book- the black sheep.
* Arriving in China I got my first glance of 'Chinglish' by the way of mis-quoted Andy Warhol, the one about not caring what they write about you, just measure it in inches. The quote was printed on a t-shirt with each character being a different size then the one before and after, with no spaces and a random word dropped every now and then. Or "Watch your heed" and "Please do not smoke to take picture".
* Was getting luggage from my flight and the whole carousel was crowded, so I stood back and waited for my bag. This old man saw his and tried to get his bag off the carousel and couldn't get it off. He got dragged along the carousel for a bit, people didn't even help him, in fact one guy just stood there while the old man got dragged into him. I had to finally walk up and grab his bag. Sad, sad, especially in a Confucius society where you are supposed to respect and honor your elders.
* The food here is as awesome as I expected! The service great, about 1 waiter/waitress per table. I arrived in Xining around 11pm and was hungry, so my mom took me down to the hotel restaurant which had just closed. However the manager got the kitchen to re-open up and serve me this enormous bowl of soup noodles for 8 yuan ($1.05 USD). Pretty much every where we went there were more servers then customers, be it a store or restaurant. They weren't kidding when they say labor is cheap here.
* Personal space. I still can't get used to it. Violating your personal space here isn't being so close you can smell their breath, or feel their hairy arms. No, violating personal space here means you are squeezing yourself between two sweaty people to get through. Or if they are interested in seeing whatever spectacle, putting their faces right by yours; so close you can count their eyelashes.
* Lines, simple don't exist here. You can tell from the second you got off the plane, it's a completely foreign concept. I thought people were bad in the states trying to rush onto a plane with assigned seats. Man, if Southwest operated in China, there'd be a riot every time they loaded their planes. People push and shove, old and young. A lot of streets in Xining have no lights. So you simply walk across and pray the cars don't hit you. If you are in a car and need to make a left, just start inching into the intersection until you meet someone who isn't crazy enough to get in front of you and let you pass.
* Money. Money makes the world go around, that statement is absolutely true here. People hound you for money, to either buy something from them, to take a picture with them (locals in local dress), or simple begging. Beggars and vendors range from 4-5 year kids to old ladies holding a fake baby to get your sympathy. On the other end of things, our guide arranged to get us a dish of local fish which was on the endangered list and it was illegal to fish for it...
Anyway, that's my musings so far. Great food, good fun!
It's another round of Jay's inane ramblings. Been in China for about 72 hours, still trying to get used to it. Initially getting off the flight from Dulles in Beijing was a bit of a shock. Between the 12 hour flight, sleep deprivation and all, I was for some reason, surprised to see an airport run by Chinese people. Then I realized, wait, I'm in Beijing. Duh!
A few amusing events/observations (Yes, I'm easily amused...)
* Flight from Dulles was delayed for 1 hour. First someone checked-in but never got onto the plane, so they had to remove their luggage. Then we taxied, made a u-turn and arrived back at the terminal. Turns out our cargo hold was overheating so we needed to get it fixed. During this time I noticed that the English/Chinese explanation was different and this continued throughout the flight; similar but different... The lucky family who 'missed' the flight was able to get on... but because we were late, they missed their connection.
* on the flight, saw an elderly woman carefully wiping down the air vents and reading lights above her seat and then remarking to her husband about needing cleaning. The plane was old, but, not THAT bad. How was she going to deal with China? All the smog, dust, car exhaust, etc...
* Going through customs and immigration was interesting. The 'Wait before yellow line' rarely applied. Cell phones were allowed in the pre-immigration area. There were trash cans around before going through customs. If I wanted to smuggle something, I'd throw it away and get my trash collecting buddies to retrieve for me, but that's just me... The health form had a question of "Have you recently been near poultry or birds" - dead or alive I ask? The customs form had a question about carrying radio receivers or transmitters. I was trying to decide whether to declare my GPS (which I just lost... :(), then I realized that a cell phone sent/received radio signals. I wonder who declared their cell phones...
* We flew over the North Pole and they displayed this on the flight map. The whole flight got up with their cameras to take pictures; so I have pictures of people taking pictures of us over the North Pole.
* Everyone on the flght had the new Harry Potter book. I was expecting that after take-off the WHOLE flight would take out their copy and start reading it noisily, talking to their neighbors about it; like a Disney musical and I would be the ONLY person on the flight without a Harry Potter book- the black sheep.
* Arriving in China I got my first glance of 'Chinglish' by the way of mis-quoted Andy Warhol, the one about not caring what they write about you, just measure it in inches. The quote was printed on a t-shirt with each character being a different size then the one before and after, with no spaces and a random word dropped every now and then. Or "Watch your heed" and "Please do not smoke to take picture".
* Was getting luggage from my flight and the whole carousel was crowded, so I stood back and waited for my bag. This old man saw his and tried to get his bag off the carousel and couldn't get it off. He got dragged along the carousel for a bit, people didn't even help him, in fact one guy just stood there while the old man got dragged into him. I had to finally walk up and grab his bag. Sad, sad, especially in a Confucius society where you are supposed to respect and honor your elders.
* The food here is as awesome as I expected! The service great, about 1 waiter/waitress per table. I arrived in Xining around 11pm and was hungry, so my mom took me down to the hotel restaurant which had just closed. However the manager got the kitchen to re-open up and serve me this enormous bowl of soup noodles for 8 yuan ($1.05 USD). Pretty much every where we went there were more servers then customers, be it a store or restaurant. They weren't kidding when they say labor is cheap here.
* Personal space. I still can't get used to it. Violating your personal space here isn't being so close you can smell their breath, or feel their hairy arms. No, violating personal space here means you are squeezing yourself between two sweaty people to get through. Or if they are interested in seeing whatever spectacle, putting their faces right by yours; so close you can count their eyelashes.
* Lines, simple don't exist here. You can tell from the second you got off the plane, it's a completely foreign concept. I thought people were bad in the states trying to rush onto a plane with assigned seats. Man, if Southwest operated in China, there'd be a riot every time they loaded their planes. People push and shove, old and young. A lot of streets in Xining have no lights. So you simply walk across and pray the cars don't hit you. If you are in a car and need to make a left, just start inching into the intersection until you meet someone who isn't crazy enough to get in front of you and let you pass.
* Money. Money makes the world go around, that statement is absolutely true here. People hound you for money, to either buy something from them, to take a picture with them (locals in local dress), or simple begging. Beggars and vendors range from 4-5 year kids to old ladies holding a fake baby to get your sympathy. On the other end of things, our guide arranged to get us a dish of local fish which was on the endangered list and it was illegal to fish for it...
Anyway, that's my musings so far. Great food, good fun!
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
First Trip!
Well, sorta. This is really the first post in preparation for my trip to China. I've decided to start up a blog and write down my thoughts. Which, right now is picturing me standing on a cliff with a large blow horn shouting in the void of cyberspace. "Anyone there???"
Anyway, flight is Saturday July 21st, direct from IAD to PEK.
Anyway, flight is Saturday July 21st, direct from IAD to PEK.
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