Home sweet home

I'm back! Got back on Monday night and so weird to be home after a month, never again will I leave for so long! On my last day in China, my friend and I went to see the Temple of Heaven and then got pampered one more time. I had a full back massage and more cupping...my lower back is all ugly again but hey, souvenior, right? The flight wasn't too shabby, watched two movied and slept most of the way. It's going to take a few days to readjust to the time and the environment, but definitely good to be home!

To reflect on my month in China, I've made a list of things I will and will not miss.

I will miss:
- the fresh fruit, especially pears, dates, and dragon fruit
- congee and dumplings
- the 5 minute walk from the hotel to the office
- speaking Chinese everyday
- the Silk Market
- the friendly hotel staff
- having a clean room after a day of work (in Beijing, that is)
- the 2.5 hour massage I had for $15 and the pedicure for $4
- the ability to withdraw 2,000 from the ATM like it ain't no thang!
- my new friend, Sylvia!

I will NOT miss:
- the lack of personal space, large crowds, 20 people in every elevator
- EVERYONE'S obnoxious cell phone ringtones and their loud conversations in public
- people cutting in line
- the people who stare
- the crass men who walk around shirtless, with one pant leg rolled up, blow snot rockets, blow cigarette smoke in your face, pick their teeth and spit, pick their nose, and disrespect women
- the public bathrooms that reek of poo and pee and the squatting toilets, oh and always lacking toilet paper
- cars charging at you even though you have the right of way
- oh yeah, the hotel in Chaoyang with mice and roaches
- the lack of office supplies in the Beijing office, its weird binders, and A4 paper

This was a month of up's and down's, but overall, it was a great experience! I miss China already but I guess I can't have it all! CLICK HERE for the photos.

Until next time!

Last night in China

It's hard to believe that I have been in China for a month! Yup, left DC on Aug. 28! The last couple of weeks have been insanely busy and I've gotten a real taste of what it's like to be a manager. I've had no time to update the blog; any non-work time was precious sleep time. I had one more week in Chaoyang since my last update, and this time there were roaches in my room. I guess that's better than mice? This past week was spent in Beijing, wrapping up and drafting the report. It felt very stressful. Now that it's over, I get to come home!!!

I had little free time this month but made the best of my time here. I went to the Silk Market a few times to bargain shop; had a mani and pedi; a couple of foot massages and a full body massage that involved the ancient Chinese techniques of cupping and scraping . If you're familiar with these treatments, you know my back looked pretty beat up for about a week. I took pictures but may only share with very close friends! Boy did the treatment work! I woke up the next day with none of the pains I usually have!

For my last night in Beijing, my friend and I went to Nanlouguxiang Street that is full of boutiques shops, restaurants, bars, etc. Had an amazing Yunnan meal, got a mani and foot massage. We were quite classy...each walked around drinking a big bottle of Tsingtao Beer...pretty hot. Hey, it's my last night here and it's been a stressful month! We also went to a bar and there was a sign on the bathroom door that read, "Please do not poop!!" I did not poop.

I'm better now...

or maybe I'm just getting used to being gross all the time.

I've been so miserable that I haven't given any credit to Chaoyang. It's the home of the 6,000-year-old Niuheliang Hongshan (Red Mountain) Cultural Ruins. The city is a great interest to the palaeontology world as new fossils were discovered during the 90s that have revolutionized ideas of dinosaurs. Outside of the city of cars, people, and pollution, nature is beautiful. As a matter of fact, a coworker and I are considering to stay over next week and do some hiking......if I weren't here to work, my attitude would be much different I think!

In the photo, I'm in my disgusting hotel room. Had to buy a jug of water because the water in the hotel is unsanitary, and drinking out of the jug because the cups are gross. Pretty hot, right?

Going back to Beijing on Saturday for the Mid-Autumn Festival weekend, to an actual hotel with a legitimate bed. Can't wait!!!

I'm going to throw up

Just tried to go to bed, lifted the cover and there's a big wad of hair. I was told to put the cover back and sleep on top it...I'm done.

At least I'm not alone...

So I've briefly mentioned how unhappy I am in northeast China. I'll get into a little detail since I am now miserable. We're staying at the "best international hotel" in the city, 4-Star as they say. Every room, including nonsmoking rooms is a smoking room. The 10-Watt light bulbs make it difficult to see, never mind do work. The bathroom reeks of a sewer. Everything in the room is filthy. It takes hours to get online, at least there is Internet I guess. The best part is probably the mouse in my room that ate my snacks in the middle of the night. Actually, given the amount of food consumed, I am convinced that there are multiple mice...I am fully disgusted. At least I'm not alone.

We have a huge team here, 17 people to be exact. It's been a logistical nightmare coordinating meetings with the client, since we all want to talk to the same people. Group lunches and dinners can be awkward since there are quite a few introverts. Accountants? NO! Actually, I can't decide between introvert or just unfriendly, but I digress. There are a few people that I do like very much. In attempt to make the best of the situation, we try to do nice things for ourselves. Take last night for example, a few of us took a walk around the city then went for a foot massage. Today, we went to a place to get our hair washed and it came with a head massage. It might sound a bit much but it was either that or wash my hair standing in the clogged bathtub. By the time I finish, the water level is above my ankles. Ack! Still surviving though!

要命！

My coworker and I left Beijing and our 5-Star hotel on Monday morning for a city in Northeast China. Without complaining, I'd just like to say that I'm ready to come home. Everything smells here, including this dim and musty hotel room. I won't even begin to talk about the bathrooms here. I don't mean to sound spoiled, I did live in these conditions, worse actually, for the first 11 years of my life. I guess I have higher living standards now and it's hard to do it again. It does give me perspective, that's for sure.

I'm thankful that there is Internet access at the hotel, even if it drops off every five minutes. Also, my business language skills are improving by the second. I love speaking Chinese all the time!

In the photo are residents who 扭秧歌 on the streets, it's a form of folk dancing and there are groups and groups of them all over the city shortly after dinner time.

Chrissy Li is missing!

I woke up to a rainy Sunday and decided to go for a loooong workout since I have been eating everything in sight for the last week. I did 30 minutes on the treadmill, 30 minutes of weights, 30 minutes in the pool, and about 10 minutes in the steam room. I felt great! Overall, I was away from my room for about two hours. Well, I made a mistake of not letting my very motherly coworker know where I was. After a few unanswered calls and unreturned emails, she thought I'd gone missing! She, hotel staff, and security searched everywhere for me, including coming into my room. She thought I'd been kidnapped since my room was a mess. I felt so bad but couldn't help but laugh because we're in the safest, most modern area of China! LOL! Love her!

I didn't do much else today, the weather really sucked. It was nice to relax and catch up on personal emails though. I met up with my college friend again and we walked around the city for a bit then had a drink at the hotel bar. Now I'm back in the room and prolonging the inevitable...packing.

The last few days have been kind of crazy, I'm losing track of what I've done. Wednesday and Thursday were fairly normal, still lots of eating. On Wednesday night, I went to the Silk Market to bargain shop and came out with a few good deals and a great headache. The sales people here are relentless and will fight to the death for a price, which is so useless because the customer always wins, unless it's an uninformed foreigner I guess. On Thursday night, I caught up with some Beijing relatives and ate more food, of course.

On Friday, I took the train from Beijing to my hometown of Taian to visit my grandmother. You can't book a roundtrip ticket for trains in China and must purchase the ticket in person. When I got to Taian, I stood in line, in the sweltering heat, for 40 minutes to be told that all ticket back to Beijing for the Saturday and Sunday are sold out. I panicked! Luckily, an old friend of my mom's was able to help. Long story short, I got a plane ticket back to Beijing departing from a city 1 1/2 hours from my hometown. It was a rough trek, but I made it back to Beijing on Saturday evening.

Taian is still very behind and has a shit ton of people! I went to the stores to get my grandmother some necessities on Saturday morning and didn't think I'd make it back alive! There was a sea of people everywhere with lots of pushing and shoving, and everyone is used to it. There is no AC inside the stores, which made it even more miserable. I found a grocery store and stood by the frozen food section for a while to cool off. Green lights for pedestrians are just a suggestion as cars charged at me even though I had the right of way.

A dear friend of mine from childhood and her husband visited me at the Jinan airport before I boarded the plane to Beijing. We only had about 40 minutes together but it was so nice to see them!

I'm back in Beijing for Sunday and will head out to Northeast China on Monday morning.`

Pigeon, not Peking duck

I've been working in the Beijing office for the last couple of days, a more modern place than the DC office, that's for sure. My coworker had done a secondment in Beijing for two years so she is familiar with the nice places to eat. We had Macao cuisine for dinner on Tuesday night and she was so excited to eat pigeon. I, of course, gave it a try. It's not awful but I probably wouldn't eat it again. I had the best pork ribs and shrimp wonton soup. I might need to find some drawstring pants if I keep this up!

After dinner, I reconnected with a college friend who also happened to be working in Beijing at the moment. We went to a rooftop bar in Sanlitun, an area where foreigners hang out, and caught up over a couple of pitchers of Singaporean beer. It had been six years since we saw each other, how time flies! The Chinese waiter complimented me on my English speaking skills. :)

Hugs and kisses to all, I miss everyone back home!

"She's a Monkey, what are you?"

When I was out and about with my aunt on Sunday, we ran into her friend and her friend's daughter. It was immediately necessary to determine which one of us is older. Instead of asking for my age, my aunt's friend said about her daughter, "She's a Monkey, what are you?" Hmmmm?! Duh, it quickly dawned on me that the Chinese zodiac signs are EVERYTHING in China! A Monkey was born in 1980 and the year before that was the Sheep. I responded, "Sheep," then the girl had to call me "elder sister."

The weather was BEEEAAUTIFUL today! The sun finally come out! I have never seen such clear, blue skies...am I really in China? I left my family after lunch and headed off to the business district of Beijing and checked into a fancy ass hotel. Along the way, I was blown away by how modern the city looked. There are a billion skyscrapers just near my hotel.

I got on a scale today and it read, "Error." Um yeah, eating much? There was obviously something wrong with the scale! Obviously! Still, as soon as I checked into the hotel, I went to the pool and swam for 45 minutes.

Monday wasn't too exciting - just worked in the Beijing office and met some of my colleagues. It's near 11pm and there's still more work to be done. I'm pooped.

Peking duck anyone?

What a lazy day today was! I ate, took a stroll around the neighborhood, went dancing with my aunt, ate, took a nap in the afternoon, and before I fully digested lunch, we went out for dinner. We had Peking duck, YUM, YUM, YUM! This is no imitation from places called Hunan Treasure or some China Garden, this is the real thing! What did I do after dinner, you ask? I fell asleep on the couch. I'm still having a hard time adjusting to the time difference. Thankfully it's the weekend and I don't have to work!

I'd hoped to visit the Olympic grounds today but, unfortunately, the entire area is restricted until the end of the Paralympics. Boo! Oh well, next time.

Everyone looks like me!

I managed to pack my life into the suitcase by Thursday morning and hopped into a funky smelling cab for Dulles airport. A blink of an eye later, I was in China.

Beijing welcomed me with monsoon-like weather, which is probably better than if it were blistering hot. The city has settled from the adrenaline of the Olympics and is now preparing for the Paralympics that will begin on Sept. 6. One of the first things I noticed about Beijing was the improved air quality; the city has planted trees and flowers all over and there are significantly fewer vehicles on the roads. For the duration of the Olympics and Paralympics, the city implemented even/odd number driving. If your license plate ends with an odd number, you can drive every other day starting the 1st of the month, and same goes for even numbers beginning the 2nd. This excludes government vehicles, taxis, and public buses. Approximately 3,300,000 vehicles are on the road in Beijing daily, this rule reduces that number by nearly 1,600,000...pretty smart.

In China, due to the large population, people in their 40s and 50s are forced to retire to make room in the workforce. So, a large percentage of the population is just "hanging out" and must find activities to occupy their time. It is common to see these "senior citizens" practice Tai Chi, exercise, congregate to gossip, and dance in the neighborhood. My aunt dances twice a day and loves it! There are approximately 400,000 people in the neighborhood where my family lives so the dancing community is pretty massive. As you know, China is 12 hours ahead of DC, and by 6pm local time, my body was desperate to sleep. In attempt to stay awake till actual bedtime, my aunt took me dancing. I stuck out like sore thumb in my tank top, jeans, and flip-flops, as the other women wore heels and long and flowing skirts. They take this dancing thing pretty seriously. I three-stepped with my aunt to a few Chinese folk songs, "Edelweiss," and "Where is Thumbkin." Yes, you read correctly...Where is Thumbkin. I did well; my flip flops only fell off once. I went home to catch some much needed Z's around 8:30 and my aunt stayed out till 10...what a wild party animal!

Are the Olympic Games over?

Once again, Uncle Coopers is shipping me off to China for work. It's too bad that the Olympics are over! After weeks of back and forth discussions on the timing of this trip, by 6:30pm Wednesday, it was confirmed that I'd be flying to China on Thursday morning...this picture is what my suitcase looked like less than 10 hours before leaving for the airport. I'm not quite sure how long I will be gone, 2 to 4 weeks, so packing was difficult.

I will try my best to maintain the blog. As always, travel along with me and enjoy!

Graduation day! (and photos)

After three years at USD, our girl has earned her Juris Doctorate degree in law. It was a nice ceremony that was not painfully long, although I wished that her surname started with something like C instead of S. One of the graduates proposed marriage to his girlfriend as he walked across the stage, that was kind of cool. Amy was really happy and we are all so proud of her!

So, me and my extra ass landed in DC around midnight on Saturday. Happy to see people in Nats hats and even happy to see a little bit of rain. It's good to be home.

What a fantastic time in laid back San Diego. I will miss wearing flip flops everyday and working the word "gnarly" into my vocabulary. It was great to meet such free-spirited people. Most of all, it meant the world to me to spend quality time with my best friend of 18 years. I will never forget this experience.

Here are the photos from the trip. Photos 1 of 2 and 2 of 2.

Until next time...

Back in San Diego

We spent part of Thursday cleaning up and packing Amy's apartment since she needs to move out almost immediately after graduation on Saturday. For dinner, I went to a sushi bar with Jade, one of the guys we met while in Mexico. The place is called Sushi Ota on Mission Bay Drive, strongly recommended if you find yourself in the area. We were lucky enough to be seated in front of the head chef who was really creative with the food. It was the best sushi I've had and I'm drooling just thinking about it.

On Friday, Jade gave me tour of the University of San Diego on his scooter, so cool, and my arms got so sunburned! Amy's parents came into to town so we all went to the graduation mass and toured the law school. In the afternoon, Jade took me to Point Loma, a hilly peninsula that separates San Diego Bay and the Pacific Ocean. The purpose was to surf but I chickened out and just watched him surf. We also caught the sunset, which was SO amazing!

I had dinner with Amy's family at a Mediterranean place in La Jolla. The last time I saw her parents was during Amy's undergraduate graduation and it was really good to spend quality time with them.

Ensenada/Tacate

We woke up to, guess again, a sunny day in Ensenada. After a small breakfast, we took a stroll along the harbor. Ensenada hasn't changed very much since I was there in 2001, still looking like it's under construction. However, there's a lot of partying. The main street of Paseo Calle Primera/Blvd. Lopez Mateos was vibrant during the day, much more compared to last night. The restaurants are filled with people drinking Margaritas and jamming to obnoxiously loud music. For lunch, we (I) had a beer with $1 fish tacos and then decided that life is perfect. :)

We drove about one hour north on scenic Rt. 3 toward Tecate. Along the way, we visited the L.A. Cetto vineyard. We took a tour and tasted wine. I bought two bottles of reds and a bottle of olive oil...how I plan to transport them to DC, I don't know.

Tecate is a quaint little town. As we walked around the city's park, we spotted some locals playing Domino. Surprise, surprise, I made friends with them and played Domino. I lost miserably but what a fun way to spend an afternoon!

Back in San Diego again. Amy and I have been reminiscing about Mexico nonstop, recalling every funny moment. It was very special to spend quality time with my friend of 18 years.

My family in China is fine

Thanks to everyone who called and sent text messages/emails. The earthquake in central China did not affect my family. I really appreciate your concern.

Please do your part to help those affected in China and Myanmar.

TAKE ACTION

Rosarito/Ensenada

We woke up to the sound of the ocean on Tuesday and probably could have stayed in bed and watched the ocean all day.

Most of our day was spent walking on the beaches of Rosarito, chatting with the locals, drinking cold beers while lounging in the warm sun, and even did a little horseback riding along the beach.

About 30 minutes south of Rosarito is Ensenada, which is where we headed off to after horseback riding. We arrived Ensenada around 7pm and pretty much crashed in the hotel room. We forced ourselves out of the room to look for dinner, but we're both tired of Mexican food and eating in general. So, in lieu of dinner, we walked around downtown Ensenada...and got hit on by a couple of 19-year-olds...ha!

Rosarito, Mexico

I woke up at 6:30am on Monday morning. Thanks to Jim, I didn't have to wait around until 11am for Amy to get out of bed. Jim and I went to breakfast in a nice restaurant in Pacific Beach...I ate so much food that I nearly threw up, but it was so yummy!

Amy and I headed to Mexico in the afternoon. We drove along the pacific ocean for about 20 miles to Rosarito and checked into an old missionary home turned hotel with an ocean view. Here is a photo from our balcony. After settling in, we went to Puerto Nuevo, a tiny town nearby for some bargain shopping. One of the vendors tried to charge Amy extra because she wanted to pay in Pesos instead of US Dollars. Right, what country are we in?

We had a divine Mexican meal at an oceanfront restaurant (I think I am growing an extra ass) and made friends with a group of fun and laid back Americans on a dirt bike tour. We hit the bars in Rosarito and felt like we owned the entire town since it wasn't very busy on a Monday night. We were treated like kings and queens by the friendly people of Rosarito.

Amy and I were very smart and stayed away from the Tequila!

Falling in love with San Diego...and its plants?

Sunday morning was sunny and warm, not that I expected any less of San Diego. I threw on a tank top, jeans, flip flops and took off for a day of adventure.

By the way, does anyone remember the last time they slept till 11am? I don't! I woke up at 7:45, a long wait before Amy and Tom got up at 11. College life.

We walked around Balboa Park, the country's largest urban cultural park, and had an outdoor lunch. San Diego's flowers have such intense colors. My newly identified favorite is the Red Bougainvillea, which is a radiant red flower bush, usually found alongside walls. Here's a photo of my cheesy self with a patch of them. We also visited the Botanical Building and I took a gazillion photos of different species of orchids, which I will spare you from. This sudden love of plants is overwhelming! :)

The highlight of our day was our kayak and snorkel tour to the 7 caves of La Jolla. It was cloudy in the afternoon so we couldn't see very much underwater, just a lot of bright orange Garibaldi fish, still fun though! We did swim within feet of sea lions!

We had dinner in La Jolla with my friend, Jim, and had a few local beers. I fell asleep within two seconds of getting home.

San Diego - Day 1

I left monsoon weather DC early Saturday morning and arrived San Diego around 2PM local time. The weather was absolute perfection! High 60's, blue skies, with a gentle breeze. Amy picked me up from the airport and we set off to her apartment where she spent the last three years of law school. Along the way, my breath was taken away by San Diego's amazing tropical palms, trees, and other plants. My favorite would have to be the passionate purple Jacaranda .

We walked around the San Diego Harbor in the afternoon and had a late lunch while we watched sailboats on the Bay. My first vacation meal was definitely an unhealthy one as we had chips and salsa, fried calamari, fried fish, and fried onion rings. Here is a picture of Amy's boyfriend, Tommy, with the biggest onion rings I've ever seen. I felt my arteries clog as we dined.

We had a very relaxed evening at home with a big salad and fruit cocktail, as if that would make up for the earlier grease intake.

I am so happy to be here! We're planning to do a lot of water activities, I cannot wait!

Tag

OK, so this is outside of the travel world but my friend, Maggie, tagged me and I thought this would be fun. The rules are as follows:

1. Write six weird and/or boring things about yourself. (See below)
2. Link the person who tagged you. (See above)
3. Mention the rules in your blog. (Doing it now)
4. Tag six other bloggers by linking them. Emily and Kim(I don't have six blogger friends)
5. Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger's blogs so that they know they've been tagged. (Done)

As for six facts about me,
1. I recently made a huge commitment to having bangs.
2. My left eye is a lazy eye.
3. I have never broken a bone and would love to keep it that way!
4. I can roll my tongue into three folds.
5. I am an ethnic minority of China, specifically, the Miao nationality.
6. My great, great, great, great something like that grandmother is Russian.

......And I'm leaving for the airport in less than eight hours and I've yet to pack! (It's more fun thinking of random facts about myself!)

CLi is back on the road...

...beginning Saturday, May 10th. This time, I will be going to San Diego where my friend of 18 years (holy cow) is graduating from law school. She has accepted a position with a New York based law firm in their Shanghai office, which means we won't see very much of each other for several years...unless Uncle Coopers ships me off to China again, which is likely. We are going to spend some quality time in San Diego with a couple of days in Mexico. I cannot wait!

I will try my best to maintain the blog. As always, travel along with me and enjoy!

Home sweet home

This is so typical of me...I had a layover in London on the way back, and of course, I stocked up on Cadbury chocolates (my way of buying my coworkers' love), and tea and jam from Harrods.

Since getting home on Wednesday afternoon, I've pretty much been working and sleeping during odd hours of the day, which is not much different from when I was on the trip. I have a feeling it might take a few days before I fully readjust.

Here's a link to the photos. Many of them were taken at night because I had to work during the day. What a fantastic trip! I had a blast and would do it all over again...maybe after a little break.

Enjoy the photos and see you on my next journey!

Photos from Taiwan and the UK

End of tour

I literally went around the world in the last 12 days, from North America to Asia to Europe, then back to North America tomorrow. I am ever so grateful to have had this opportunity through work, to be able to see new places, meet new people, and make new memories.

I just had fish and chips for my last meal here, only fitting I thought. I am packed and ready to head back to the good ol' US of A. I am E-X-H-A-U-S-T-E-D and ready to go home!

Check back in a few days for photos!

Signing off from Glasgow. Until next time...

BURRRRRRR!

It's cold, it's snowing, and it feels miserable. The project in Glasgow involves reviewing documents for a litigation...inside a large record storage facility. It isn't very glamorous work, and imagine doing this in a warehouse with no heat, in the winter, in Glasgow. The team of 10 worked in hats, scarves, coats, multiple layers of gloves, and we were still cold! It is so miserable that I could cry. There also isn't much to do around here so we don't exactly love Glasgow right now. We still make each other laugh, and that's all we need.

We cabbed to Glasgow West End for an Indian dinner (because no one was up for any haggis or black pudding or blood sausage). What's with food and blood on this trip?! After, we walked around to see whatever we could of Glasgow, since we're inside a warehouse during the day. We walked near the University of Glasgow (see picture) and the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.

It's time for some Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Farwell, London…hello, Glasgow

For every hello, there is a goodbye, and saying goodbye is one of the hardest things for me to do. I cried like a baby when I left James and later fought back tears with Xiuxiu. GRRRR…I hate goodbyes, but I love London, so I'll be back!

I landed in freezing cold Glasgow around 7:30PM…I can't understand what anyone is saying! I mean, is it really English? :)

Must sleep!

London continued

I woke up feeling refreshed on Saturday, after finally getting eight hours of quality sleep. Except it was from 4AM to noon! I don't know what time zone I'm in anymore.

James and I met up with a friend of mine, Anita, for a day out. We decided to make the most of a sunny day and took a boat ride on the Thames down to Greenwich. Seeing all the main attractions along the way reminded me of just how much I love this city. I, of course, took a million pictures of everything. We had lunch in Greenwich then had a quick look around the market.

In the evening, I went out to a couple of bars with James and his friends. We stay out very late and I, once again, had only 3 or 4 hours of sleep. I did have a great time!

London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down

I left Taiwan on Thursday for London to visit some friends for the weekend before trekking to Glasgow on Sunday for the next Uncle Coopers project. It was strange to transition to a country where the language is drastically different from Chinese; I actually had trouble understanding English! I was ecstatic when the plane landed and I hopped on the tube as quickly as I could, and yes, I did "mind the gap". I'm staying with my friend, James, whom I met in a hostel in Rome three years ago, near the Kilburn station in NW London. After catching up a bit, I was really hoping to get some rest, but nope, I was wide awake by 3:30AM. The jetlag continues…

After finishing up work on Friday, I met up with Xiuxiu, a primary school friend from China who currently lives in London. This was such a treat because we've only seen each other three times in the last 18 years. It's still like two 4th graders hanging out, except our conversations are more grownup now (sorta). After hours of catching up, we window-shopped around Covent Garden, which was very busy on a Friday night, then had dinner in Chinatown. Chinatown is still festively decorated for the Chinese New Year and being there helped me get through my Taiwan withdrawal.

I'm feeling homesick, but not quite ready to leave…such issues. I also wish I could get some quality sleep.

Last day in Taiwan

We left sunny Tainan and took the Taiwan High Speed Rail back to Taipei for more work. After, my Taiwanese coworker took me to a temple to pray. I had the bad spirits removed from my body, and the positive energies that I lost brought back...this sure doesn't happen everyday!

For dinner, I tried pizza with mashed potatoes as a topping. I imagined it to be very strange but it was actually quite tasty.

The hectic travels and the jetlag have taken a toll on my body, so I went for a massage. It was the most pain I've ever felt but it was well worth it.

I learned something neat today. 97 is the current year in Taiwan as the first year was 1911, the year Taiwan became the Republic of China. 2008 - 1911 = 97. This format is even used on official documents. Today's date would be Feb. 27, 97. How neat?

I had such a great time here, loved the work and experienced as much of the culture as I could. The Taiwanese are some of the friendliest people I have ever met, LOVE, LOVE them! I will miss the food, especially since I won't be able to afford any when I get to the UK tomorrow! For my last night, I'm going to get some much needed rest.

From Taipei, 再見, goodbye!

Tainan, continued

Tainan is known for its xiao chi, or snacks. It is an absolute food heaven. My coworkers and I went to one of the busiest night markets for dinner. There were snacks, jewelry, clothing, carnival games, you name it. By the way, in addition to tasty foods, snacks include all kinds of animal feet, head, eyes, tongue, ass and the list goes on. It was hard, but I had to turn down pig's head and rice cake with duck blood. Yes, I said duck blood.

At the night market, we played darts, caught goldfish with thin paper nets, and I played a round of shooters. In the photo, I'm three for three! My coworker joked that they'd better do as I say, because I seem to be pretty good with guns.

We also went to the Chikan Tower, a temple built during the Dutch colonial times.

My circadian rhythm is completely out of wack and my body is tired.

Tainan, Taiwan

I don't plan to write about work, but let me just say that working for Uncle Coopers in my line of work puts you in some pretty interesting situations! I would also like to add that, even though I don't plan to write about work, I am working very hard over here.

Today, we traveled via the Taiwan High Speed Rail to Tainan where more work awaits us. At 208 mph, this thing got us to 185 miles south of Taipei in less than two hours. The weather in Tainan is sunny and 70s, I cannot complain.

As we waited for a taxi after work, I heard the familiar music of an ice cream truck. As I looked in excitement, I found that it was actually a garbage truck. Then, one by one, people came out of their houses with bags and bags of trash...pretty interesting way to collect trash.

We had hot pot for dinner. Look at the size of this sucker! It's for one person! It took ages to eat since we pretty much had to wait for the food to cook, but it was a lot of fun getting to know my coworkers from Taiwan and Hong Kong. We're 中港台，all Chinese but very different people.

The hectic travel schedule, work, and the eating is making me TUUUUUUURD! I'm going to bed.

Taipei, Taiwan

What a long trip this was...after a 14-hour flight to Narita (and I'm NOT happy with the Japanese after watching a documentary on their 1937 massacre of Nanking), a 40-minute taxi ride with a meter that beeped every 15 seconds, I made it to the Taipei Westin at 10:30PM on Saturday...it took 25 hours door to door. I was wide awake since it was 9:30AM DC time, but this wasn't a problem a couple of Tylenol PM tablets couldn't solve.

I woke up on Sunday feeling refreshed, but to a gloomy day. Breakfast consisted of some western crap and congee and pickles (I might have had two servings), and really, that was all I needed to feel settled in.

After my meetings today, I decided to explore the city. I'd envisioned Taipei to be posh, but it isn't so. The buildings are old and some are very rundown, and the view from (my very fancy) hotel room isn't very scenic. There are about 23 million people in Taiwan, and possibly 100 billion cars and motorcyles on the roads. The people here are very friendly, especially those in customer service. Sometimes their courteousness is overwhelming and I almost want to say, "Dude, I'm really not that important!" I had dinner with the client at a popular dumpling place, a northern Chinese specialty, um, like, totally my cup of tea! After dinner, we went to Taipei 101, the tallest skyscraper in the world until it was overtaken by the Burj Dubai in 2007. Taipei 101 has 101 floors, hence the name, and it measures 1,670.60 ft. It has the world's fastest elevator, built by Toshiba, that goes up 89 floors in 37 seconds. We went up to the observatory on the 89th floor, and let me tell ya, Taipei looks a lot better at night!

My time in Taipei is very limited so I don't get to see much else. I was really hoping to see the National Palace Museum or the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall...hmmm, I wonder how the communists who raised me would feel about that.

2008 Travels

You know me, I blog when I leave the country. This time, I decided to create a blog for the whole year instead one blog for each location. I figure, it's still early in the year, who knows where I'll be in, say, April.

This blogs begins with Taiwan. Uncle Coopers has shipped me overseas for a project in Taipei and Tainan, and this time, with a whole week of notice! I, of course, gladly accepted the opportunity. After this project, I will be going to Glasgow, Scotland for another...I know, tough life I have...

Please travel along with me and I hope you will enjoy the blog.