Exercise Fanatics January 27, 2009

People exercise a lot more over in China and Taiwan.  They go to parks.  They have little exercise classes at the beginning and end of each airplane ride.  If that isn’t enough for you, they also have a little brochure of exercises in the pocket in front of each seat, so you can do them whenever you want.

Almost anywhere you would want to go is within walking distance.  If you go to the market, you have to walk around.

You can’t even escape if you happen to be the variety of person who likes to sit and watch the telly.  They will find you there.  They will sneak into that bit of time between your Hamtaro with their perky voices and instruct you on how you should be exercising right now.  I guess if they did that often enough, people might get annoyed enough to just go outside.  Or maybe people are fond of theses kind folks who encourage them to exercise, and watch TV just to see them.

Ride a Bike January 21, 2009

In Taiwan, people ride scooters.  In China, they ride bikes.  Over here they’re always telling us to ride bikes to save the environment.  If so many people are riding bikes over there, and we still have problems with global warming, then we are in serious trouble.  Also, we only have bike racks for two or three bicycles per building.  Can you imagine seeing the scene in the picture at your work?  How could you find your bike afterwards, let alone get to it?

The Birds January 19, 2009

We saw a lot of different birds in China.  We also ate lots of birds in China.  But that’s a different story.  Anyway, most of the live birds we saw were usually hanging around in the many parks and zoos.  The crane-type one at the top (yes, crane-type, I am not an ornithologist, my apologies) decided to break free from the crowd and hang out by a museum.  I believe these other birds (clockwise, not counting the crane) a Black Necked Swan, a male Mandarin Duck and Flamingos and a female Mandarin Duck, another male Mandarin Duck, another female Mandarin Duck, and another Black Necked Swan.  Hopefully I got that right. =)

Another Temple January 19, 2009

This is a mosque I actually got to go to in China.  It was built with a garden around it.  It had lots of small buildings like  the one shown.  All of these buildings had interesting religious and historic meaning, but I forgot what those meanings were.  It’s been a few years.  They were great stories, though, illustrated throughout the buildings.  I do remember that this garden was very peaceful and calming to walk through.  I also love the old Chinese style of buildings.   Oh yeah.  There was also a well in this garden that was very important for some reason.  I feel like I am disgracing this place with my forgetfullness of the value of it.

Edit: I went and found my ticket to this place instead of being lazy.  It is the Great Mosque of Xi’an.  If you want to learn what I forgot, you can check out the link.

Celebrity Hunt January 6, 2009

Here is a beautiful view from Hong Kong island.  But  it’s more then that.  Yes, ladies and gentlemen, on this hillside is the very home of Jackie Chan.  Of course, you can’t see it from here, but I did.  I also saw his hand-print in Hong Kong’s version of the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  My brother and I were so excited about this because we had no clue who the other people whose hand-prints were there were.

Supposedly a Light Show December 30, 2008

This was the view from the roof of the motel we stayed in (I think it was the YMCA) when we were in Hong Kong for a few days.

We were told the light show was spectacular and we had to see it.    So we navigated the narrow stairways of our motel to find the roof.  We got there with plenty of extra time so we wouldn’t miss anything.  Of course it was cancelled.  The next night we were there, we were eating dinner in an underground food court when it happened.  The final night, we journeyed up to the top of the building again.  The show began to start.  But apparently, that was some sort of sick joke, because it stopped.  The show was cancelled because of the typhoon.  It was nice to stand on top of the motel and see the view of the harbor, though. =)

terracotta warriors December 18, 2008

The classic terracotta warriors shot

Another tourist spot we had to visit was the mausouleum of Qin Shi Huang.  I guess this guy deserved such a great tomb, since he was the first emporer of a united China. 

A not so classic shot

He had his people build him an army of clay warriors to protect him after his death.  Each warrior is unique.  Each has a different face.

We watched a short documentary-type video on this in a theatre that projected the video onto all the walls around you in a circular room.  It was pretty awesome. =)  All it needed was some 4D action.

The remains

During a revolution, the tomb was broken into, and the real weapons that the soldiers held were stolen.  Also, those poor chaps were broke to bits.  They’ve suffered more abuse and lost their brilliant color, because they were excavated incorrectly. 

This was a cool place to visit, but it can get boring staring at an expanse of dirt.  That’s why they have informational plaques.   It was also interesting to see the strangely shaped hills in the fields on the way there.  They are other tombs like Qin’s. 

Anyway, if you want more information you can check out Wikipedia, as usual.

Wait a minute November 14, 2008

One of the restaurants we went to in China was this nice, little Italian restaurant.  So, the most genuine Italian food I’ve eaten was in China.  The owner was even truly Italian.  He had (I think it was) his cousin ship ingredients fresh from Italy to him every week.  That picture up there is down from our personal eating room down to the courtyard.  That’s how most restaurants in China are built.  Almost none of them have a communal eating area, and some even have a large garden with a pond in the courtyard.

Some people won’t be happy about this. November 14, 2008

 

Near a market

See this guy in the lower-right corner?  In China, there are merchants that use dog pelts to synthesize all kinds of furs and coats.  It’s amazing how many different animals the furs can look like.  Also, the merchants will custom make you an article of clothing using their furs.  Imagine the ruckus if this were happening in America.

Crazy Taxi Ride October 28, 2008

It is not a happy feeling to be in a strange country, with people who don’t speak the same language as you, in a taxi with a driver who doesn’t know where to take you, when you don’t know where you’re going.

Once while we were in Taiwan, we had to take a taxi ride to a friend’s house.  Our taxi was a van with all the seats taken out, and a door that wouldn’t stay shut very well.  It was a very rickety ride.  Also, there wasn’t enough room in it for everyone in our group.  We had to be separated from the people who really knew where we were going.  I forget if we even had anyone who spoke Chinese in our group.

Our driver assured us that he knew were he was taking us.  That was a lie.  We ended up driving around in circles for about half an hour, none of able to communicate with the driver.  He had to stop and ask someone else where it was that he was trying to go, but we did eventually get there!