my maiden voyage

Laoshan

2009-04-11T07:50:00.000-07:00

On our last day in Qingdao, we adventured out to Laoshan (Mt. Lao) which is about 45 minutes outside of the city. We got up at about 5:30 and checked out of our hotel and found our way to the public bus stop by 6:30am in time for what was supposed to be the first bus. However, we waited for nearly an hour just to find a bus that would go all the way to the mountain. Then we stood. We stood for over an hour on a public bus that was packed full of sleepy asians and grumpy westerners. When we got to the mountain we found out that we were on the wrong side but had no choice but to go up it anyways. Luckily, the view was breathtaking and despite my complete and utter lack of wind and overall patheticness in the fitness category, we climbed up for about 2hrs plus before we had to turn around and head for the long bus home. Here are some pics of the view...

Qingdao

2009-04-10T03:55:00.001-07:00

Happy Easter weekend, everyone.

I've been dyeing easter eggs at school and still have one final batch to do in my art class on Monday. It's still rather humorous to me how the simplest things become incredibly difficult in Asia and dyeing eggs has been just this. Just getting the school to get WHITE eggs was a bit of an issue, let alone finding enough containers/bowls, drying mechanisms, etc, for 15 kids. My apartment looks like a recycling depot since I am saving anything and everything I can for use in art projects like empty water bottles and cardboard boxes.

In an attempt to get away from it all get out of my spring blues that I've been in, I went to Qingdao last weekend with a few friends from work. Qingdao is a port city across the water from Korea which meant that we just *had* to get Korean barbecue for dinner one night. We walked along the water and looked at the beach, checked out the german architecture including a church on what is called a "European style street," and went to food and barbecue streets for various meals. Oh, and we went to the Tsingtao brewery!
Overall the weekend was peaceful and lovely until a horrible train ride home with no dinner, an hour-long wait for a taxi in the underground parking lot of the train station in Beijing, the walk up 14 flights of stairs, and my discovery that my internet had been disconnected at 12:30 am when I got home...
Oh, but I drank beer out of a shopping bag on "pijiu jie" (beer street) across from the Tsingtao brewery. Ah, the sacrifices we make...

March, Michael, Mao, and Me...

2009-04-10T03:13:00.000-07:00

Greetings all,

much apologies for my disappearance this past month. A lot went on that has kept me quite busy and it's been a struggle to keep my head above water. My extra-curricular art class is moving along nicely. It stresses me out coming up with ideas for it and finding the time to prep for the activities but overall I really enjoy it. I've also started tutoring a little and have been using the money to get myself a proper set of M.A.C. make-up since some of my make-up dates back to about the 9th grade. I was sad to find that two of the eyeshadow colours that a friend recommended to me are not made in China so I'll be asking for some to be brought to China from Japan! On that note, if you happen to come upon *Smut* eyeshadow I'd gladly accept it if you mailed it my way! :P
My middle brother made it all the way to China for a whirlwind visit that he seemed to enjoy. We had only about 6 days together in Beijing and lots to see so we scooted around the city on the ONE day that I had off and went for various delicious dinners during the week when I finished work. Here are some pics of our adventures...sadly I have a cold and am too tired to properly blog about this (and I also forget some of what we did!). Skype me for details!

Culinary Compilations...

2009-02-24T04:02:00.000-08:00

Good Hump Day morning, Canada.

I've decided to upload a few pics that have been cluttering my iphoto and share some culinary delights that I've yet to discuss. I am waiting for one Michael Scott to land in Beijing on Sunday to really head out and try some new things so I will have many pictures to show in about two weeks' time! We will be going to DaDong for some roast duck (among other things!) Here are some pics of the ducks hanging from when I went the first time...

I'm not out at my usual Wednesday night dinner this week since I've come down with a bit of a cold and need to rest after taking yesterday off. I'm not too upset since people are going back to an Ethiopian restaurant that I went to a couple of weeks ago. It was an interesting experience sitting on a small stool, squished around what looked like a hollow, woven bongo drum that was our "table". After we navigated the slightly bewildering menu, we ended up with an order for an array of curries and vegetable mixes. What arrived at our table was a huge silver platter the size of the "drum" that had this paper-thin, spongey bread on it. The server spooned the curry in small mounds onto the bread and we then tore it up and scooped up the curry. They also brought us many smalls rolls of the same thin bread that we used instead of utensils! It was fun and interesting but overall the flavours were so-so for me, really nothing to write home about!

I was in my local grocery store yesterday buying some essentials and the usual insane amount of random impulse purchases like Hershey's chocolate that I was gambling on being mint but was green tea and grapefruit Hello-C drink, when I came across a mandolin for 12 kwai. It was orange which made me think: "Well, it's orange; it goes with my kitchen; it's only $2.50; it's fate!" I sliced my carrots for the penang curry that I made last night and was impressed with my new purchase. My family used to have two of these contraptions and I'm sorry to say that I took the mandolin for granted and we ended up getting rid of at least one of them. I'm sorry kitchen utensil, I will never underappreciate you again.

On Saturday I had a ten-hour training session for work which was not my idea of a partay, by any means. On Sunday Tia and I relaxed, made some eggs benedict with hash browns, and watched Gossip Girl. Par-tay.

On Sunday I also bought a ridiculous amount of beans and cornmeal and noodles to use for my first extra-curricular art class that I'll be teaching this term. I decided that the kids would make bean mosaic lions. Perhaps not my best idea ever. (More to come on this since I can't open up that can of worms right now!) Anyhoo, here's what the kids were *supposed* to make. They really just made brown blobs on paper. boo.

Tonight I made myself a Chinese dish of egg and tomato that is totally adding to my beer belly but sooo worth it. Basically it's egg, tomato, oil, sugar. It's so simple and yet in this preparation it tastes like no egg/tomato dish I've ever had. I also had some stir-fried bok choy and mushrooms which I am obsessed with. Apparently my tastes are turning more Chinese than I thought!

I've also tried to make my own version of hot pot. Well, I don't actually eat it hot pot-style using a rice cooker in the middle of my table but still, the taste and smell is very similar to that cumin/curry smell that one encounters so often in Beijing. And, even after a year away from Korea, I still make my own version of Korean Shabu Shabu that I adore way too much. I literally throw as many sauces into the pot as possible and add whatever greens I have and mushrooms and whatever meat I have to make this perfect, spicey dinner.

When Mike arrives in Beijing we'll go out for dinner before he flies to Hong Kong the next morning. Then, when he returns to Beijing with probably more knowledge of China than I have after 6 months we will rock the street stalls in Beijing for some strange, good eats such as these eggs that are in soy sauce that are everywhere,

meat on a stick and/or these candied apple sticks (they also have strawberries, kiwis, pineapple, and other fruits on sticks)

and various types of horrible, cheap Chinese alcohol like Great Wall wine and Baijiu (essentially rocket fuel). Many "howcher" meals to come!

How to lose your face in T-10 minutes...

2009-02-17T05:10:00.000-08:00

Nihao everyone,

I'm back from my weekend retreat to Harbin in Northern China. I flew there Friday night at about 9pm with two of my coworkers from other campuses and met two other friends from Beijing and two new friends from other schools in China. Turns out our hotel was down the street from the famous Russian shopping area as well as the Disney Ice World, the cable cars across the river, and the square where there is a monument for flood victims that was Stalin's last work in China--or something like that (our friend from Nanjing arrived earlier than us and went on a walk and found all of the sites and read the Lonely Planet about 10 times so he was elected tour guide and we just followed along for the ride!).

Anyhoo, on Saturday we got up and had good ol' McDonald's for breakfast and then took the cable car across the frozen river
where we got to watch horse-drawn carriages going across and people riding ice bikes and ice chairs on the river as well as sliding down a ramp on inner tubes. I am not a huge fan of cable cars and was definitely wondering how cold cables can get before they sNaP!! Then we found a driver to take us to this Tiger park that you can take a bus through and watch the tigers be fed live animals that you buy for them! We drove around watching the tigers in their natural habitat and then suddenly this SUV pulled up that has a metal cage all around it. The driver started doing doughnuts and driving erratically to keep the tigers moving and then with his one free hand he grabbed a chicken from the passenger seat, opens his door a little bit, and flings the chicken out while a tiger panted literally less than a foot away. The tigers would jump up onto the truck to get at the chickens and then fight off the other cats to enjoy their prize. It was bizarre to say the least. I really have no words to describe how insane it was--safety never comes into the equation in China but all I could think was that the driver was totally iNsAnE. Then later on another truck came by that only had cages over its tires. There was a man in the back seat who opened the door and basically just put this white little bleating lamb into one tiger's mouth. The tiger then started to run away and was chased by at least four tigers. It sounds horribly gruesome but really wasn't since it all happened so fast. Later on there were about 25 tigers all trying to get at the carcass so all I could see was a mass of orange and black backs. When the tigers finally parted all you could see was a little bit of a bloody carcass that one tiger was basically sitting and munching on to keep the other tigers away. Oh, and there were Ligers in other parts of the park---LIGERS!!! And there was a woman sitting in the gift shop area with an IV drip that was hanging from a window sill... very strange but really it takes a lot to shock me anymore!

After that we went to see some snow sculptures in one park. Most of them had been damaged from the hot spell last week but still they were fun to look at. I ended up not wearing enough layers on my legs and nearly got frost-bitten which made the rest of my afternoon uncomfortable and annoying. In the evening we ate a great Chinese restaurant beside our hotel and went to Disney Ice World. There was a little roller coaster and some other rides that were totally fun since the park was pretty much empty. There were also ice slides that were really fun to go on. The whole thing was glowing at night which was really pretty...treacherous in parts due to the ice, but pretty. We also went on the ferris wheel there to see what parts of the park we had missed which almost sent me into a panic attack since I hate heights and I especially hate being inside dangling capsules of metal in -30 weather! (I'm smiling here but thinking: "The cable's gonna break, the cable's gonna break, we're gonna die, we're gonna die!!!!")

The next day we went to see a temple and pagoda in the area.
It was really pretty inside and there was a huge gold Buddha that stood in an open courtyard area. The scene was very interesting since there was a huge ferris wheel off in the distance that looked odd but beautiful next to the temple rooftops.

Then we went to Polar World which is an indoor aquarium. We got to feed fish by hand and seals, too---I've never been that close to a seal before. You could almost touch them in these open tanks and we got to throw little fish at them and make them do tricks. If you tap on the side of your fish container with the metal tongs they will bark and slap their sides and if you make a circle with the fish in the air they will turn around. Too cute but sad that they were in such a small tank.

Then we went to the place that I had been waiting for which was the Snow and Ice World. The place was deserted since technically the festival was over by the time we got to Harbin. We got to walk around with almost no other tourists on the site through this GIGANTIC, sleepy ice town of HUGE ice sculptures. They had cranes that lifted the blocks of ice up to the tops of the structures which was impressive to see. I'm just gonna post the pictures since I am exhausted STILL and have no words to explain the magnitude of their iciness!

Chinese New Year on the Bund

2009-01-31T03:33:00.000-08:00

My trip to Shanghai went fairly smoothly for the most part. The Airport Express subway took longer than expected so I actually only arrived with a few minutes to spare for checking in and all that. I forgot how fantastic domestic travel is since I've only done it once before. I went through security one time and then just wandered in the airport waiting for my flight and was able to grab my bag and walk right out with no disturbances. I arrived about 15 minutes before my friends so I waited for them in the arrival hall and then we took a taxi to our hostel. We had no plans for the trip only that we had a few things that we wanted to see at some point. The first night was new year's eve so we walked around Nanjing road and got some Yoshinoya take-out and then went to see the fireworks and the Pudong skyline on the Bund.

One day we took the Bund Sightseeing Tunnel over to the Pudong side which was a totally cheesey experience but I loved it. There isn't much in Pudong but we went over to see the Jinmao building. We were there in the afternoon so the bar on the top floor (87th) wasn't open but there was a restaurant on the 86th floor in the Hyatt so we got some wonton soup and steamed buns.

One night we wandered around the French Concession area and then went to see an acrobatic show. I definitely liked it better than the one in Beijing since it wasn't nearly as cheesey. The costumes and the staging were much simpler which allowed the acrobatics to be the focus instead of the strange bird costumes and awkward poses in the Beijing show.

Another day we went to the YuYuan bazaar and garden. This was by far the best part of the trip and really the only thing that excited me in three days.

The bazaar was a labyrinth of small alleyways with food stalls (soup buns!) and other vendors that was so hard to navigate because it was completely packed with people.

The garden was really stunning with little ponds and fish and all kinds of interesting architecture and rock gardens.

Shanghai Noon!

2009-01-22T02:43:00.000-08:00

I just bought a $100 return flight from Beijing to Shanghai for Chinese New Year. When I ring in the year of the ox at midnight the night of the 25th (noon in North America) I will be in Shanghai trying not to be burnt by roman candles and ridiculously unsafe fireworks. I cannot wait to see children lighting fireworks with cigarettes in the middle of the streets and the Bund (the popular area in Shanghai) all aglow. I am meeting a girl who works at another campus at my school and her boyfriend at the hostel in Shanghai which means that I have to drag my ass there by myself. It's funny because I've flown internationally quite a few times for 13-14 hr flights and I am equally as nervous for a little two-hour journey. I also have my ticket in hand for Harbin on Valentine's weekend which I am totally excited about. It's in northern China by the border to Russia and is apparently ridiculously cold this time of year. I will be layering up and looking for the nearest ice bar once I get off of the plane! Happy year of the ox everyone! One more day of work and if I'm lucky and all my kids go home it will only be a half day!!!

Beijing Breakfast

2009-01-13T06:00:00.000-08:00

In Beijing it's very popular for locals to eat a breakfast crepe called "jian bing" in the morning (or really any time of the day for that matter). For example, there was a cart on the street Saturday night at about 1am selling jian bing for about 50 cents. It's a large, thin crepe with double egg, parsley, scallions, hot sauce and some other sauces painted on and then this crispy fried "thing" is wrapped up in the middle of it. I'm not sure what the fried thing is if it's just noodle dough or something like that. Overall they are pretty tasty. I got one at the bottom of mutianyu a couple months ago. I found it a little salty and a little too rich but it was "howcher" (delicious) nonetheless.
Look on youtube for a video of how they are made...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxmkgglG71I

A note on mandarins...

2009-01-08T03:15:00.001-08:00

I don't know about you, but part of what signals Christmas time in Canada beyond the crisp snow smell in the air and the gaudy light displays, is an abundance of mandarin oranges that flood grocery stores in December. Nothing says Xmas season to me like seeing those crates of oranges that are so sweet they seem sinful. Naturally, coming to China I was psyched to find these little orbs of wonder all over the place! Why, even in Korea I remember noting an influx of mandarin oranges around December, minus the wooden crates. While there are oranges here--many, many kinds of oranges, there aren't those little wooden boxes full of oranges. Yes, I know that the boxes facilitate trans-continental shipping but really, it just isn't the same without them. Also, there are either really large oranges, ones that are slightly larger than the mandarins I'm used to, or these little tiny ones that have leaves attached and roll off of all the grocery store shelves. The little ones taste exactly like mandarins but they are 1/2-2/3 the size and come with leaves! They are so small it takes more effort to peel them than to eat them! (They are probably the size of a ping-pong ball). I guess these will have to suffice in filling the void of the missing mandarins...

I Rock My Hot Pot...

2009-01-08T02:47:00.000-08:00

Last night I went for my weekly Wednesday night dinner to a hot point joint in my neighbourhood called "I Rock My Hot Pot." It was only the second time I've been for hot pot in China and it didn't disappoint. I have to admit, though, I still yearn for Korean shabu shabu which was far and away better than anything that I've had in Beijing.

Anyhoo, "I Rock My Hot Pot" has a condiment bar overflowing with oils and sauces and spices for diners to concoct their own dipping sauce which was really too overwhelming for me. I'm simple of mind and simple at heart sometimes and really I just longed for the wasabi/soy combo that we got in Korea. I made myself a garlic peanut sauce that had a variety of others sauces and herbs mixed in. I chose a mushroom broth that boiled rapidly in my own personal little hot pot. My friends and I split a mixed greens platter, shitake mushrooms, yam noodles, tofu paper,some root called Sukinyuku or something, and OSTRICH meat! Although it all sounds bizarre, it was delightfully normal and surprisingly palatable. I rocked that hot pot, that's for sure.

I've also been doing a little bit of cooking over the holidays which means that I have gained a dress size just in time for new year's resolutions! I had eggs benedict on New Years Day and I made a broccoli pasta bake with some leftover frozen broccoli and some chocolate chip cookies and banana bread to take into work.

For those of you curious, I'm planning on taking pictures (when I remember) of my lunches at work. The school gives us lunch that we pay 100kwai a month for (5 kwai a day which is about $1). Here's one pic of chicken drumsticks and a mushroom and bok choy stirfry over rice--that lunch was much tastier than some of the tofu concoctions that come my way!

Stay tuned...

Happy New Year, Happy New You...

2009-01-05T03:37:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year Everyone.

I'd like to say that I did something very exciting to rush in the new year in Beijing like sleeping outside at the Great Wall and watching the sun rise in 2009 before North Americans did. Sadly, I came down with a cold the day of my cooking course and was lame and outta commission for most of my holiday. Bummed out and mucousy, I spent the night reflecting on 2007-8, a very tumultuous and intense time in my life, while trying not to have a nervous breakdown about the prospects of 2009.

While everyone older than me can calmly state, "You're young, travel now," I am starting to feel that swift push towards middle age with every shrivelling egg and gray hair that I find. I fear I am on my way to becoming an old lady with cats, minus the cats thanks to an adoption attempt in the fall that didn't work out. Now all I need to do is take up knitting again, join Lavalife, and live in my parents' basement in the middle of nowhere. There is a short window of time after uni when quarter-life crises abound, yet being penniless and without a career path is acceptable. Then, in the blink of a hangover-induced crusty eye, you find yourself alone, with the prospect of cats, a mountain of debt and a bitter chip, nay block, upon your ever-fattening shoulder. Not only does the debt seem to increase, but so do the number of grays, wrinkles, exes, enemies, jean sizes, and false hopes. And to top it all off, you probably wake up to friends that are in pre-marital bliss, playing home in their new Toronto condo palaces or enjoying that wonderful period of engagement, toting rocks and glowing hearts. I now ask myself every day, "What the hell happened to me?!" and "Where the hell am I going besides a quick trip to the bitter farm?!"

One would think that the Fengshui in Asia would sort a girl out but sadly, this chick is too hard to crack. You can go around the world and still have to face your demons, only in translation. And while handling things that are ridiculously difficult overseas only helps to make things ridiculously easy when returning home, I'm starting to wonder what kind of damage all this does to one's nerves. They say one "trick" is to face your fears but how much fear is normal? And can you ever really change that much? We talk about it in terms of leopards and animals that don't change their spots, usually referring to my exes--uh, I mean men who cheat--but I can't help but think that I will never really change. Sure, I can leave the house without day-long pep talks like I required through most of my younger days, and I can eat bananas and hard-boiled eggs, but I'm still a fearful girl clinging to the leg of anyone that I can find, more than willing to let you talk for me.

I am now in month 5 of my 10-month contract in Beijing and am trying to decide what to do next. I am now strongly considering (about 70% decided) Japan as the next stop on my Glutton for Punishment fear tour. So now, I am frantically trying to "get shit done" and see China before I leave--I've still not left Beijing and barely seen any of the city for that matter. If I leave I plan on coming back with a backpack and camera full of memory. If you know me, you also know that I am as flighty as can be, a true carrier of my nickname "Cindy so Windy," and will probably change my mind with my underwear tomorrow. However, for the time being that is what I am pondering.
On my itinerary for things to see in China before I leave are:
-the rest of Beijing including Temple of Heaven, Tianamen (I know, silly that I haven't stood and taken pics yet), Forbidden City, see an opera in the Egg
-Datong and the Hanging Monastery, plus the grottoes nearby if time allows
-Terracotta Warriors in Xi'an (a weekend any time)
-Harbin Snow Fest (hopefully Feb. 13-15)
-Inner Mongolia desert trip and camel/jeep tour (hopefully May 1st-3rd)
-Guilin gum drop mountains
-all of Yunnan province (maybe during Chinese New Year)
-Shanghai
-etc, etc!!!
-I also want to go to Taipei. Not sure why, but I've wanted to go since Korea and would like to actually get to do it.

SIGH. Tough life, such hard decisions. What's a girl to do?!
I can order anything in Beijing and pretty much make whatever I want happen...now if I could only find Dial-a-mate...dial-a-raise...dial-a-beneficiary...

Mutianyu v. 2.0

2008-12-30T19:17:00.000-08:00

I went BACK to the great wall on Monday, back to the same section that I went to before. It's called Mutianyu and is not as touristy as the famous (and closer) Badaling section that most foreigners visit. However, I think Mutianyu is overall pretty touristy...but hey, I love touristy things, right down to the cheap tat that they sell on the way up the mountain. I went with Tia and Tyler (my friends from Korea. see xmas pics). They have been in China for about 9 months and had not seen the wall yet! I found a tour through the same centre that we did the cooking class at that went to the wall and the Ming Tombs for about $50 so I decided that it was worth going back to the wall in the winter when it isn't so hot.

It was definitely a much more comfortable trip, despite the freezing wind. I actually wore two layers of pants and socks which, as a Canadian, is kind of rare. Tia haggled to buy a giant "fox" hat at the bottom of the mountain before we walked the very steep hill to reach the cable car. Really, there's very little hiking involved and the steepest part is at the bottom of the mountain getting up to the cable car, not up on the wall itself. Thankfully, it was a very clear, blue day so the pictuers turned out great.
To get down from the mountain we took the toboggan run. It was truly one of the funnest and most bizarre things I have done in a long time. Imagine the concrete run of Collingwood (I think?!) only it's a long, winding, miniature bobsled run. You sit on a plastic sled that has a giant lever in the middle that you push down to move and pull back to brake. You wind your way all the way down the mountain, twisting and turning. Men that work there stand in the forest on the way down and shout at foreigners to slow down but most disregard their shouts and opt for a tear-inducing whizz down the mountain. I was going to take a video but didn't get my camera out and ready and figured it was probably not a great idea to try to fish it outta my pocket while zooming down the side of a mountain. You can kind of see the track in this picture. Maybe I'll go again sometime and get some better pics of that part. It was an exhilarating ride and for 40kwai (maybe $8) it was most definitely worth it. Plus, Tia's hat was just a scream so that made for many silly pictures on the wall and some good laughs that day.

After the mountain, we were taken to a nearby restaurant for lunch which featured a strange combination of dishes. Fried chicken tenders, whole trout, radish or something that was coated in what tasted like orange juice concentrate, a giant dish of scrambled eggs, cornbreads, flat corn pancakes, fried beans, broccoli with a very salty sauce, steamed rice, and other things that I am surely forgetting. I was a little shocked at first when they brought out the trout and didn't seem to bring out much else, wondering how much I would get sitting at a table of 8 people! But thankfully, there was lots of food, albeit strange food!

Next we went to Changping (in the North part of Beijing) to the Ming Tombs. Spoiler alert/ laowai warning: DO NOT GO HERE. It is truly, truly boring and there are many other sites that are much more beautiful than this. We went into the underground palace that was really just a couple rooms or hallways that looked like a glorified subway station. Dongyue temple has statues that are almost as nice and it costs only 10kwai to get in (about $1.5).

Jiaozi, Jiaozi, Jiaozi!!!

2008-12-28T05:46:00.000-08:00

So I finally got to go to the hand-pulled noodles and jiaozi cooking class at the cultural centre that I have been looking at for a long time. I convinced Tia to take the class with me despite the 200RMB fee (about $35) and we had super fantastic, embarrassing time!

Hand-pulled noodles are ridiculously hard to make for beginners. Our chef spent three months learning how to do it. You use a bouncing motion from the knees and the waist, not the arms. However, my shoulders and arms got very tired after only a few minutes. The dough is unbelievably sticky and elastic so it is very challenging releasing one hand to catch the dough after you've spun it around. None of us could really work the grain of the dough very well---my strand definitely fell on the floor once and broke at my hands multiple times. It was incredible watching the chef pull and twist the noodles into angel hair strands so delicate and uniform without using a knife or any kind of untensil!

I definitely broke the beautiful strand of dough and ended up with a mess of fettucini-shaped pasta lying sad and abused on the board. After the noodles we got to roll out dough for Jiaozi (dumplings--basically like perogies). I was pretty good at rolling out the dough but truly, truly awful at filling and crimping the dumplings. We were taught a squeezing/sealing method with your two thumbs and one index finger that left me bewildered with warped and sad looking Jiaozi. Oh well, the experience was awesome and I'll be looking for more classes in the future!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

2008-12-28T05:03:00.001-08:00

So I've been on vacation for some time now but have barely felt like it! Christmas Eve was fabulous. I went to a house party in the afternoon and ate homemade tourtiere and quiche and all kinds of fabulous foods and drinks. I left the party around 5 or 6pm with my coworker and her bf and went home to grab the dessert ingredients I prepared for dinner and headed to their apartment. We had an excellent diinner of crabs' legs and roasted vegetables and bread and wine and champagne. I brought Bailey's/vanilla mousse and chocolate mousse that I layered in martini glasses with these Asian custard pies from the convenience store (basically Twinkies in place of pound cake or something like that) with some chocolate condensed milk and a Ferrero Rocher and Oreo stick on top. It was DELICIOUS!

Xmas morning I woke up at about 7am and frantically cleaned and prepped my DISGUSTINGLY DIRTY apartment for company.

My friends from Korea arrived around 2pm and Tia and I started to cook while Tyler fixed my DVD player and watched Christmas movies.
We made a broccoli cheese bake, some roasted carrots, garlic mashed potatoes, rosemary/parmesan cornbread madeleines, corn with honey, peas, sweet broccoli salad, cranberry sauce, and packaged gravy. We drank and relaxed and watched movies while we waited for the tukery to arrive. That's right, the turkey came to my apartment in a cooler, wrapped in foil, warm and full of chestnut stuffing. The bird was juicy and tender and fantastic. I only have one dull santoku knife which I didn't realize would be such an issue so our bird got butchered in a most cro magnum manner but, hell, we got to eat the thing. It was really challenging getting everything warm, keeping it warm, and fitting it all on the table. Not an overall perfect meal, but very satisfying as I had great friends to share it with and more than enough Christmas spirit to go around.

We finished off the meal with coffee made in my Vietnamese single-perc with Bailey's and pumpkin pie with whipped cream that we scored from the house party the day before. I hope you all had a great Christmas, too. Christmas in Beijing was beautiful with blue skies and great Xmas displays. Maybe next year you can come and see it for yourselves!

On boxing day I tackled the carcass of the bird and was victorious in creating delicious soup--perhaps the best turkey soup I've ever had. It was a little disturbing dealing with the turkey head and neck and all that but after one swift blow to the neck that grossness was removed and disposed of! I also made myself a turkey pot pie (twice :P) with the leftovers and topped it off with parmesan cheese at the end. It was totally delicious and I'll be making another one as I still have a bit of meat and potatoes left!
For a 6kg bird I really didn't end up with that much food leftover once I split it with my friends so overall I am totally pleased and couldn't ask for anything more!

'Tis the Season...

2008-12-21T04:16:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone,

I have been busy making my classroom as festive as possible for the holiday season as well as documenting all of the materials that I have made over the past few months so that I will have a portfolio but also some security if anyone approaches me about not pulling my weight. I've made the bulletin board festive with papier mache holly berries and a cotton snowman , my lead teacher and I changed the curtain in our entrance from fall leaves to origami snowflakes with hand-strung beads, and we've been hanging garland from the ceiling for days! Did I mention that I made papier mache ornaments for my students (I only have four) and painted their names on with glue and then glittered the heck outta them so that they have something to take home for Xmas?! Phew, I am tired just thinking about it. My lead teacher and I came to blows because apparently I spend too much time on the crafts---we have four students, it gets boring, really, it shouldn't be an issue! I may not be able to paint and draw like my brothers but I can weild a glue gun like nobody!

We had a Christmas Activity and I decided that my class's activity should be to make edible marshmallow snowmen. They were kind of a nightmare but my principal was impressed and wants me to design an extra-curricular course of "Food Art" for next term...guess I'll be working on that during the break. If anyone has any ideas for fun, edible crafts for kids let me know!!

I have plans on Xmas eve (my first day off) to go to a house party with cookie decorating and probably mostly drinking in the afternoon (oh, it's 5 o'clock somewhere!). Then, I'll head to a friend's house to have dinner with her boyfriend and his coworker---no meat on xmas eve because he is Catholic *sigh* but I think there may be some meat pie during the afternoon! yay!

Then, I will frantically clean my apartment Xmas morning in preparation for Xmas dinner that I am hosting for myself and my friend and her boyfriend that I knew in Korea. I have ordered a 6KG COOKED TURKEY to be delivered to my house between 6 and 7pm. 6kg was the smallest one I could get---it's gonna cost us about $100 for the turkey alone but oh well! We could pay slightly less and go to a restaurant for a full dinner and not get leftovers or pay this much and at least get our money's worth!!! So I'm gonna be cooking for Xmas dinner this year again only really all I have to do is mash some potatoes and roast some carrots and onions. Easy, peasy!

It's possible that I'll hit up a cooking class at the Chinese Cultural Centre near me where I'll learn to make hand-pulled noodles and dumplings on the 27th if I can sucker someone into going with me! (These things are really only fun if you have someone to laugh at yourself with)

Other than that, no plans for my break. I've been buying myself all the things that I would get in my stocking anyways, treating myself to whatever I want so that I don't get any more depressed being without a loved one in Beijing!!! I bought myself some UGG boots for $20 and a silk robe (which is fabulous!!! and I have been looking at since I was in Korea!!!!) for $10, Law and Order the ORIGINAL first two seasons for about $25 yay! it's so hard to find, Bailey's for my coffee/tea on the big day (or now bc I'm impatient!), a heat-proof madeleine pan (been looking for one even in Canada---so excited to find it!) for ONLY $10!!!!!, I bought CANADIAN BACON ya!! from the foreign food store and have english muffins so will be making eggs benedict at some point probably with cheap bubbly (55 kwai-about $10!!!!) and OJ, and plan on getting a box of Froot Loops and some more perfume because I'm running low. Perhaps I'll splurge on some clothes for New Year's, I don't know. I have no plans for it yet so we'll see how that turns out. I'm getting a little stir-crazy in Beijing and wish that I had of splurged and made the trip to Kyoto like I almost did but I've got to save up so that I can make it home to Canada if I need to! You can leave the country but your debt still follows you! For now I'll stick to 100RMB ($15-20) brunches with CHAMPAGNE and good meals with friends.
Happy Holidays, everyone.

Oxen Xmas Tree...

2008-12-14T03:38:00.001-08:00

It's that time of year again. Beijing is going all out with some very festive outdoor displays for the Christmas season. I've been very unhappy professionally the past couple weeks and was nearing quitting but have decided to wait it out a little more. Every night I walk home through "The Place" because there is a GIANT tree and a skating rink and it's just so festive it makes me so happy.
I bought a tree for my apartment and decided todecorate it with the Year of the Ox Chinese New Year stuffed animals that are everywhere these days. My oxen xmas tree makes me happy. Get your computers ready for some skype time...xmas drinks and chat is a must and really, it's 5 o'clock in one of our countries!

Pearls, Roaches, and other small things...

2008-11-20T03:37:00.000-08:00

I went to the pearl market (Hongqiao) in Beijing the other day. My coworker is educated in the area and helped me purchase a brilliant single strand of round, lustrous pearls for less than $20. Do let me know if you want some pearls or a knock-off purse, these are essentials for all women really.

I also found a cockroach in my apartment the other day. It wasn't the large, black roach that I am scared to find but a small brown one that I quickly killed with a knock-off Puma shoe. However, I discovered the next day that squishing roaches leaves eggs and really doesn't help the problem at all. sigh.

I have also been to see the new Bond movie which wasn't entirely innovative or Bondesque but the opening fight sequence was entertaining and Daniel Craig, well, he's just delicious. I went to the underground (literally) Megabox theatre in the Village in Sanlitun (a major foreigner/tourist area/trap). I decided to sign up for a Megabox card which cost me only 20 kwai but saves me 35 KWAI every time I go to a movie (plus 35 kwai/friend if I take two people with me!!!). Now, I've never been known for my arithmetic skills but I'm pretty sure that the card pays for itself and then some on the first visit.

I'm going to the symphony at the Water Cube tomorrow. Am a little excited!! That is, if I can survive the lonely, cramped, and long subway ride there and figure out how to cross security, etc. As I keep saying, no matter how much I travel and no matter how far away from home I go, I'm still really spazzy about travel...and really any kind of life matter at all! ha.
More to come on this later...
Happy Thursday

Dongyue Temple

2008-11-09T04:57:00.000-08:00

Today I can actually say that I was productive for once. Let's see, I did the following:
-three loads of laundry
-cleaned my bathroom
-cleaned my kitchen (-the floors in my apartment ugh I hate doing the floors)
-went to a temple
-read some Kundera in a Starbucks for about an hour
-window-shopped
-bought some vegetables, a humidifier, and a rice cooker
-made myself delicious Tom Yum soup (spicy Thai soup) for dinner
-updated my classroom blog
-uploaded photos
-changed my sheets
sigh...I'm tired just thinking about it. My sleep patterns have been a little wacky lately. I fell asleep Friday night around 8pm and slept until 2am, missing the opportunity to go to the bar. Saturday night I fell asleep at 10pm and slept til 4am, then was awake til 6:30 and slept til 8:30am. I have also caught up on so much trashy TV it is ridiculous (no wonder my eyesight is failing!!). There's something about being away from home with no regular crappy TV that makes me crave pop TV (ex. Grey's, Gossip Girl, all of Desperate Housewives, 90210--my heart jumped a little when I heard the theme song again!, How I met your Mother, Bones, House, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, The Office, Big Love...)

Anyhoo, today I went to a Daoist temple that is literally a five-minute walk from my apartment. It is an oasis amongst the chaos of the city!! It only cost 10kwai to get in (about $1.50 and was WAYYYY worth it!). Hope you enjoy the pics. Being at temples alone is much better for me as I'm not wondering where my companion has wandered off to and am forced to shut my trap and just take it all in. This was a much-needed, calm and sunny Sunday. Now if only I could create a calm and sunny Cindy...

2008-11-08T03:16:00.000-08:00

No matter how much I try to tell myself that I'm evolving and growing, I still can't help but be flustered in Asian supermarkets. It took me until 3:30pm today to get up, shower, do some laundry, eat (twice :S), get dressed, and convince myself that I needed to go to the grocery store. Asian supermarkets (not even the markets) are filled with the standard five+-too-many employees seen everywhere in Asia who stare and shout and force their product on the many shoppers that breeze up the aisles. It seems that, as a meek and shy white girl, I only get bothered about 50% of the time, the other 50 reserved for embarrassed giggles and comments like "norangsec mori" (yellow hair)in Korea.

Yesterday I bought a toaster oven that has a rotisserie in it so I will hopefully be cooking, baking, and gaining weight for lack of something better to do. I still want to buy a rice cooker for about 10 bucks and a humidifier for prob 20 bucks. I may invest in a DVD player, too.

Tomorrow I might finally make it to the Daoist temple that is next to a fashion market, both of which are five minutes walking distance from my building. I need to go to the market to buy a black fall/winter coat since I left my black hoody and my black fall coat in a bar on Halloween. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I'm still just as classy as ever. Perhaps my time in Beijing will shake some of the chaviness outta me. Well, here's hoping at least.

RIP Dorothy McQuillan

2008-10-30T04:23:00.000-07:00

It is with a heavy heart that I write this letter from Beijing, China after receiving the phone call I had hoped I would never receive. One joke of our family was that Nanny would outlive us all. I’m not sure I ever believed that I would see the day that she passed on.

Every time I drink a rye and ginger, or see a box of Miltons, or pass a Red Lobster, I will be reminded of Nanny. I will serve my children Nanny eggs and I will tell them about the matriarch of our family that we lost. I will tell them about the woman who lay in the hospital bed, fiery as ever, telling jokes and making fun of the nurses. I will remember the ailing woman who, barely able to lift her arm, gestured to my brothers and me and said jokingly “and what’s wrong with you?!” because we had not yet married or added to the brood of great grandchildren that she has left behind. She was of the generation of children that walked uphill to school--both ways; a life-long care-giver and seemingly everyone’s grandmother.
She was a woman unable to understand my choice to live in Asia but sympathetic to my penchant for travel. She was a stubborn and strong woman who didn’t take lightly to being bed-ridden and helpless. The nurses soon learned what we all have known, that “Nobody puts Nanny in the corner!”

Now we must move on to new endeavours as she would want us to. Marcel Proust once wrote of mourning: “People do not die for us immediately, but remain bathed in a sort of aura of life which bears no relation to true immortality but through which they continue to occupy our thoughts in the same way as when they were alive. It is as though they were traveling abroad.” Although Nanny left her family to work out of the home, and left the country to travel countless times, she always came home. In the end I will choose to believe that Nanny is just traveling on another adventure, like myself, happy where she is, waiting to come home. And when she does, she will tell an exhausted family story like when she came to visit my family in Markham when I was very young, creeping into my bed in the middle of the night. In the morning I woke up and exclaimed, “I waked up and therrrrrreeeee was Nanny!” Perhaps, then, we are both traveling and one day we will meet again.

My New Digs...

2008-10-24T17:59:00.000-07:00

My apartment is finally almost done and I am getting very settled. I am still waiting on a microwave from my landlord and am looking for a cheap toaster oven/rotisserie. I will also make one more trip to Ikea and spend the rest of my wan but will have a fantastic studio to show for it. Here are a few pics. The futon rolls out into a double bed. It's a small apartment but you all have an open invitation.

The CBD

2008-10-24T17:47:00.000-07:00

I live and work in the CBD in Beijing (the Central Business District). It is very western, very posh, and (not surprisingly) very expensive. I work across from "The Place" which is a big mall with expensive stores inside like Ferrari and Zara and Swarovsky. There is also a GIANT LCD screen that they project nature scenes and other artistic visuals on at night. The Place is usually always busy and loud with music playing and the sound of glasses clinking on the outside tables. Naturally, I love it there.

Yonghe Temple

2008-10-24T17:25:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I took the subway from "The Place" to the Yonghe Temple (Lama Temple). I knew it wouldn't be too hard to find since there is a stop on the number 2 subway line called Yonghegong or Lama Temple. It takes two subways lines to get there, one being a sardine-can ride for (thankfully) only one stop. When you get off the train there are neighbourhood maps everywhere in the station, except they all say that they are neighbourhood maps in English but are completely written in Chinese. With no bearings, therefore, I guessed which exit to take, stupidly overlooking the fact that the majority of people seemed to be going to one exit (always follow the crowds when travelling!). I chose the farthest away exit so I had to walk around the complex to find the entrance to the temple but I enjoyed the walk along the street filled with tourists and incense shops. It cost only 25kwai (about 4 dollars) to get into the temple and it was well worth it.

Lama Temple was once a palace but now is known as one of the most important Tibetan monasteries in the world. I was awed by the late afternoon light cascading onto the golden roofs and the seemingly clean air within the temple grounds (so rare to have a nice, clean air day in Beijing!).

"I am....the WALLLLLLLL!!!"

2008-10-03T05:41:00.001-07:00

Location: Mutianyu Great Wall

Summer Palace

2008-10-03T05:16:00.000-07:00

I went to the Summer Palace in the northwest of Beijing with some Brits the other day. The LP describes the Palace as "a playground for the imperial court eluding the insufferable summer swelter of the Forbidden City." In the centre is a large man-mad lake (18th c.) called Kumning Lake, which foreigners and tourists can tour via dragon boats and row boats. One of our favourite parts was the "silk street" area with small shops and artisans lining a thin waterway. The pictures unfortunately are not ideal since it was so hazy but they are impressive nonetheless.

2008-09-26T21:37:00.000-07:00

Hey-o, everyone.

I am writing to you from a coffee shop next to my work as I drink a Bold Caramel Macchiato and listen to the inspiring tunes of Enrique Iglesias. Thank you, Enrique, I think your words will help me make it through this hell. I do love a little sarcasm on a Saturday morning. Much has transpired and I am risking forgetting it all since I still don't have internet in my house. It wouldn't be such a big deal but all the places with internet around here require that I buy a $3 coffee first. The boxes that I mailed to myself arrived. I have never seen packaged so mangled and destroyed but the contents were ok so I am pleased. I can now enjoy some Froot Loops and some Kraft Dinner while wearing one of two winter coats. Joy.

I am officially on holiday for a week. My friends from Korea have gone on a vacation to another city so I am in Beijing basically alone for a week with no internet but hopefully will be getting that sorted this week with the help of my Chinese coworker. I will hopefully also be doing some sight-seeing this week. All I have done so far is go on a trip that the school paid for to the Silver Fox Caves which was very lame except for the part where we got to ride in a little tiny mine train through a very small tunnel underground! I also saw Tianamen by accident when my taxi driver took me to the Walmart on the other side of town and drove right by it! Mao looks great, btw.

Right now I am waiting until 2pm when I can go back to Kinko's and pick up the pictures that I had blown up and printed for my apartment. I'm spending about $30 that I don't really have but am really in need of some serious nesting in my apartment and I have hundreds of amazing photos that are gagging to be on my walls. I'm also going to go to Ikea and blow massive amount of Renminbi on bedding and kitchen items. I have given myself 1000 renminbi for nesting things in my apt---unfortunately I've spent 225 on pictures but oh well! I know, I know, I have bills...but China is lonely and difficult and depressing at times and this is what I need. Don't judge me. ha.

I get my first pay cheque Oct. 10th which is exciting although it's not very big because I got an advance on it when I arrived. I am going to be struggling until about December but after that I should be ok for cash and will pay back everyone...yes everyone...that I owe. I can spend $5 on food that will last for 3-5 days so I should be ok!

I have still only seen a very, very tiny part of Beijing--basically only the walk to work. If you have any inclination to come visit I think you should. you don't have to sit on the floor to eat like in Korea and it's completely user-freindly if you know a laowai (foreigner) there (me). Besides, if the rest of the world can go to Beijing for the Olympics, you can too!

2008-09-15T18:09:00.000-07:00

Nee how,

I have been in Beijing for a couple of weeks now and am only just starting to settle in. Finally, I have an apartment! It was a long ordeal of multiple trips to bank machines (15 total I would imagine) just to get enough money for rent and security deposit, the whole deal. I've never even gotten an apartment in Canada, let alone in China, so this was a bit challenging. I'm paying more than I wanted to but everything that I found that was 100% within my budget was disgusting. My place is COMPLETELY new inside. It is very small but super cute and I love it so far. It has glossy yellow Ikea cupboards and a white Ikea table that folds out into a larger table if I want to have people over for dinner. The toilet, tiles, shower head, water heater, etc, are all new in the bathroom. The landlord has promised to buy me a loveseat, curtains, a microwave, and a TV which I am hoping to have in my apartment in a weeks time. I also am hoping to have internet in about three working days so that I can upload pics of where I work and my apartment. I live above a McDonald's and across the street from a Bruce Lee restaurant which is a fabulous combination I think. I'm also 20 minutes door-to-door walking from the school which is wonderful. There are a few drawbacks, however...
I have to walk back behind the building to get into it down a very scummy alleyway that I'm not impressed with. The building is very gross and institutional inside, too. Oh, and I live on the 14th floor but the elevator attendants are only on duty until 12am (or 10:30pm like last night!). Boo.

I have yet to do any sort of cultural activity in Beijing besides eating and drinking. I am going on a school trip on Saturday to some caves. At the end of the month I have a week off so I hope to hit at least one section of the wall, Lama Temple, the Ming Tombs, Tianamen, the Forbidden City, and maybe the summer palace. I'll update as soon as I get settled in my place with internet and a pillow!

CH-CH-CH-CHINA...

2008-09-03T22:27:00.000-07:00

Neehow,

I arrived in China in one piece and thankfully, so did my bags. A teacher from the school met me at the airport and took me to my friends' apartment with a driver from the school. He gave me an information package that had some city maps and a small grocery gift card, a bus card, and a phone card (which I haven't used yet oops!) and an envelope with 3000 kwai in it (about $400 advance on my pay). I was feeling OK (not too dead to the world) so we hung out for a bit and then went out for a Chinese meal and then to a bar in Sanliturn (one of the bar areas) to a place called "The Saddle" (a mexican restaurant/bar). The past few days have been easy in some ways and ridiculously hard in others. I am tired and stressed and overwhelmed and do not have the energy to be house-hunting but have to so it is a daily battle. I go to bed at about 9:30pm and get out of bed at about 5:30am ( I wake up continually in the night and usually wake up about 4 or 4:30 am). I work 8am to 4:30pm Monday to Friday. Right now I don't have a class which was a surprise. I have been observing and trying to make myself busy but it has been confusing and hard since I (and some of my bosses) don't really know what the deal is or when my class will be starting.

I'm hoping to start working officially on Monday and I also hope to have secured and apartment by then. It's possible that I will stay with my friends until October which I hope they are ok with. Beijing is ridiculously Western and swanky where I work. Sometimes I forget that I'm in China. I was hoping that the grocery stores would be more like the ones in Hong Kong but sadly they are more like Korea. Oh well. I went to the Walmart the other just for fun and found the Korean Pomegranate juice that I used to love and soju that was only $2 so at least I can have a drink this weekend despite being broke. I'll put up pics and whatnot when I get internet on my computer---my access is limited right now. I'll update soon when i can really tell you what it is like here. Right now I am in a daze, my right eye has been twitching for a day, and I don't really have anything to do at work!

2008-08-29T06:19:00.000-07:00

The bus ride to NYC started out relatively fine with a double seat to myself and a very kind driver that didn't pay attention to the 1 bag limit. The bus was fairly uncomfortable so I only slept a couple hours that night. We crossed into the US through Buffalo where we had to get off the bus with ALL of our baggage. It was a total comedy trying to pull my bags through customs. Then I was almost denied entry into the states because I didn't have my flight out of the US printed and couldn't remember the number off the top of my head. I bought the ticket earlier that day in a Starbucks in Toronto and figured I would just print it in Jersey when I got to Justin's. The more I travel, the more careless I get. I arrived in sleepy NYC at Penn Station at about 6:12 am, 8 minutes ahead of schedule. I waited for Justin to meet me at the dropoff and then we struggled to get my bags into Penn Station and down the stairs. Once we arrived in Jersey I waited on the side of the street with the bags while Justin went on a 20-minute adventure to get the car out of the parking garage. By the time I finally made it to his house I was wiped. We dropped off my bags and then went on a quick driving tour of Justin's neighbourhood. We went to Tastee Sub and split a sub and were home by 10 am. We both fell asleep from only sleeping three hours the night before and napped until about 3pm. Then I got to open some presents and get ready for dinner. We went to a Portugese rhodesia restaurant with his mom and her boyfriend. I had all-you-can eat bbq and buffet plus a slice of Tiramisu cake for dessert and some white sangria.

On Thursday we drove to Philly and did a driving tour of the city. We started with a Philly Cheesesteak "Whiz wit" (Cheez Whiz with onions). I started strong but couldn't finish the heart attack that I cradled in my hands. I saw Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell from the car as we drove around in circles and the campus of Temple University. We walked through the old Italian Market and bought some fancy-pants gouda and some salami (or something) that Mario Batali's dad makes in Seattle that has cardamom and citrus zest in it.

We got back to Jersey at about 3:15 and went to a place called Chicken Holiday for some cajun chicken fingers and jalapeno poppers. While waiting on our grease fest Justin got a msg that his friend had two tickets to the Giants game. Long story short, I had about 1 hr to run to his house, put in a load of laundry, pack up my bags (including an overnight bag) and then hop into the car to get to Jersey city. We ate in the car and started for Jersey city. We left the car parked on the street near Justin's friend's apartment and walked to the Path train to take us to the World Trade Center. Then we had to take the subway to Port Authority. Then we waited in line for about an hour for a shuttle bus to the stadium which is....in New Jersey. We arrived at half time and met up with his friend. We were sitting ROW 3 at the ten yard line. Needless to say, the seats were amazing. Then it was another wait for shuttle buses home (not as long this time) and then the subway downtown. We got a NYC slice and then walked to a bar called "Whisky Willies" that has Karaoke and beer pong all night. We had a couple drinks including a Jell-o shot (with whipped cream) and watched really competitive beer pong games. Justin's friend wanted to take a cab home instead of the subway, etc, so he paid for the bulk of the bill. I went to bed at about 4 am and woke up at 6:10 am to get ready for my flight. I had to pack up the last few things and shower and change and then get to another island to fly outta LaGuardia by 11:30 am.

We left Jersey City by 7am (on schedule) and drove through the Holland Tunnel into NYC. The city was pretty quiet and reminiscent of Vanilla Sky. I arrived at LaGuardia by about 8am this morning I think it was. Justin dropped my curb-side and started back in the traffic into the city. I managed to find a free cart for my bags but that was about the only stroke of luck that I've had so far. My bags were extremely overweight so I had to repack them according to the man's specifications and then pay $100 extra for my one overweight bag. I was sweating and struggling and freaking out in the airport trying to get my bags to close. I took my sandals off and slipped them into my bag and pulled my running shoes outta my big bag to wear through the airport. It took a lot of effort but I finally go the bags checked. Then I had massive issues at security with not putting things into the proper bins, blah blah blah. then they scanned my backpack and did tests on it bc I have so much electrical equipment in it (all of my computer cords and camera cords and webcam and camera, etc). I waited and waited and finally got cleared. I'm still about an hour early for my flight and am starving but I don't want to get up and give up my seat near the power outlet so that I can watch a movie or something. I fly to Toronto and then wait an hour and then finally get on the plane to China. I'm having nightmares about getting into China and am too tired to be thinking rationally. I'm going to watch a movie now and try to forget that any of this is happening!

Next Stop: Buffalo...NYC...NJ...NYC...Toronto..........China!!!!!

2008-08-26T18:07:00.000-07:00

Evening, everyone. I'm on a "Greyhound Neon" bus right now on my way to the US of A. If you haven't heard of the Neon you must edjumacate yourselves as it is a travellers' bargain, complete with plugs, movies, and free wifi. I'm watching (nay, ever so slightly listening to) "Seekers" but it strains my neck too much to crane and peer at the wee screen on the bus's roof. I'm also chatting on multiple IM programs and updating my address book. A+ for multi-tasking. I'm also inducing carpel-tunnel-like symptoms in my hands but this is the price we pay. I'm bound for Penn Station in the big apple but I'll be stopping in Buffalo, as well as some other gems like Pembroke along the way. I'll be in New Jersey for a couple days searching for Bon Jovi and tipping some Jersey cows. Maybe Jon will serenade me on my birthday. Maybe I'll win the lotto. Maybe man will walk on the moon. Then, it's a flight from Laguardia in NYC to Toronto with a connection to Beijing, China on Friday morning. When asked what I want to eat there upon arrival, I will no doubt blurt "DUCK, lots of duck." Classy. Hopefully I will socialize Saturday night in Beijing, try to stand up without passing out due to jet-lag on Sunday, and start training on Monday. I'm not sure if I'll be able to use Blogger in China so check my facebook if you've got it or send polite emails kicking my butt for updates and I'll respond with a quick wit and dazzling charm.

Great Scott!!

2008-07-07T17:17:00.000-07:00

Hello, everyone!

Great to be back in the motherland. I'm in Toronto for a couple of weeks full of sight-seeing and culinary adventures. Hope to see all of you soon.

The breaking news for me is that I am going to work in Beijing starting at the end of August. I will be teaching children English again, this time for only ten months! I'm not sure what the internet restrictions in Beijing will be. If Blogger is restricted then I'll be sure to send some semi-regular updates from atop the Great Wall!

me so sorry...

2008-04-07T00:58:00.000-07:00

Hello again,

Namaste (hello in Hindi) from Singapore! Much apologies for not updating this cyber-thingy! Apparently people have been reading this blog, so I'm very sorry for leaving you on the edge of your seats for so long.

We finished out our month in India with few problems and made it onto our budget flight to Singapore after much hassle! in the airport in Kolkata we had to wait in line for our bags (checked) to be scanned before we could check-in and then once we checked in there was no food or anything to buy!

We have been in Singapore for about a week blowing massive amounts of money compared to what we spent in India. I've spent in one week what I spent in the entire month in India! yikes! We should have moved on earlier but it would have cost $50 to change a $100 flight so we decided to just stay in Singapore. I am enjoying sleeping in and eating relatively cheap stall food ($3-5) and enjoying first world amenities. Our hostel is pretty good. It's called "The Inn-Crowd" and is in Little India. We get free breakfast, 30 mins of internet, pool table, fooz, cheap beer in-house, laundry service, etc, for $20/night for dorm beds!

I will be happy to be out of Singapore and back to cheap food and drinks. Next is Kuala Lumpur for about 3 nights and then a little more Malaysia. Then Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam! About one more month to go I think.

Yesterday we went to the Singapore Zoo. It is a fabulous zoo that I recommend everyone to visit. You walk around on rainforest-lined pathways and watch orangutans climb and walk over you on long vines, touch glass that tigers are sleeping against, stand within 10 metres of zebras in the open air, etc. Then, we went to the Night Safari next door. It's the same deal but it's dark outside and the nocturnal animals are out wandering around (and there are less animal exhibits of course). There was a bat pavilion that you walk through (similar to a free-flying butterfly building if you've ever been in one). You have to walk through two sets of doors with chains hanging down which are to stop bats from escaping. Then you walk through the building and look at bats munching on the pieces of fruit hung in the trees. Oh, and there are flying foxes there, too, which are basically REALLY LARGE F*&%#N BATS!!! I had my pashmina wrapped around my head (also to help with the rain) and walked through briskly, shivering for a spine-shattering minute after emerging through the chain-link door!!! The warning on the door "If you are afraid of bats you may not want to enter" should have been a deterrent for me but apparently I'm illiterate or at least ignorant. I'm much better with bats ever since we went into the pit of a basement of a castle in Gwalior and had literally hundreds of bats hanging overhead!

Anyways, so much has transpired since I last posted that I'll have to tell you all in person about each of the many cities that I have seen. If you are thinking of going to Asia but are not willing to rough it and not sure how much you are into Asian culture then Singapore would be for you because it is basically Disney Land for grown-ups. It is SO clean here! The city is so clean and perfect looking in many ways that it is seemingly unreal. You can still get a taste of Asia while having all of the comforts of back home, as well as a lot of posh pampering! Imagine all of the fancy, ritzy parts of Toronto combined and that is Singapore.

Working on some more pics now. Just bought more memory and burnable DVD's so hopefully you will get ot see some of India and at least some of Singapore!

Cleod Nine...

2008-03-15T05:32:00.000-07:00

Since updating this blog has been very difficult and I am days behind on typing up my journeys I thought I would give an up-to-the-moment blog of where I am right now. We are in McLeod Ganj, a small city I guess you would call it which is at an elevation of about 1700m. It's about a 30 min bus ride from Dharamsala and is the home of the Dalai Lama. Right now there are protests going on (which we were unaware of before coming here) regarding human rights issues in Tibet. There is a hunger strike so most restaurants and shops are closed (at least for most of the day). There is an organized march back to China scheduled to reach Beijing by the Olympics but the police have been intervening apparently. Check the news for riots in Lhasa, Tibet. Apparently, also, the US speaker will be in this city next Friday.

Other than that, the town is incredibly peaceful, comprised mostly of tibetans and hippy tourists. We decided to stay an extra day here instead of rushing to catch the 10 HOUR bus ride to Shimla for the next leg of our journey. This is the first time that I've really relaxed on this trip and since I don't know when in Korea. The air is wonderfully fresh up in the mountains and is a welcome change from the stench and silt of New Delhi. This is the first time that I've seen mountains of this scale and even though I won't be hiking into the himalayas they're still nice to wake up to in the morning. Our hotel has a view of the mountains from the terrace and cost us only 300 rupees (less than $10 for 2!!). I am very happy just milling about looking in shops, eating long meals, and going to the internet cafe. We have another full day here tomorrow and then we leave for Dharamsala at 8 and for Shimla at 9pm. We'll be in Shimla for a day and then we will catch a bus to Chandrigarh, spend a day or so there, then get a train to Delhi and hopefully connect to Agra (where the Taj Mahal is).

I will keep posting back-dated diaries of my days' travels and will upload photos once we get enough time to upload them from the camera on these slow computers!

Sickness looms...

2008-03-11T01:07:00.000-07:00

Started out the day with breakfast at another cafe on our street. I got french toast for a buck which filled a craving that I've been having and Justin got a veg burger. 55 INR for two people is amazing! Then we went across the road of death into New Delhi train station and finally found the foreigner rail reservation office. Easy, peasy up there! We got our train tickets to Amritsar for tomorrow morning (1st class!) and our tickets from Agra to Varanasi and from Varanasi to Kolkata (our last stop of the trip). Tomorrow we are going to Amritsar to see the Golden Temple ( a gold-plated Sikh temple in the middle of a body of water, surrounded by a complex of stores and rooms for pilgrims).

Then we took a prepaid taxi to Mehrauli to the Qutb Minar. I will post pictures of these ruins as my words can't adequately describe the intricate details on the giant structure. We tried to get the rikshaw to take us to the Jahal Mahal after that but it turned into a big process. He was determined to get us there so he stopped and asked everyone and literally did a once around the neighbourhood. Finally he got us to the back of it but we told him not to bother driving us around to the main entrance since it had been long enough of terrible little roads and the building didn't look overly impressive anyways. We got him to drop us off a little before the taxi stand and gave him 300 rupees (50 more than the agreed-upon price since we had him take us to the Jahal Mahal). He kept insisting that we give him 50 rupees on top of that which we refused to do and we walked away from him.

Then we walked to Jantar Mantar, a strange park near Connaught place. It cost 100 INR each to get in so we decided just to look from the fence. It has many very bizarre looking, red structures that were interesting to see but not mind-blowing. Then we walked to find some food because I was dying of hunger. We stopped at this corner snack/sandwich stand that we had seen the day before. There were TONS of Indians at it enjoying the food so we figured that it should be safe and have a good turn-over if so many people go there. I got a cheese bread pakora (a sandwich with potato curry in the middle and coated in cheese on the outside---delicious!) and Justin got a veg burger that I wouldn't have touched with a ten-foot pole because I'm picky and they never look appealing. Then we headed back to the hotel and were gonna do some laundry, internet, pack, eat dinner, and go to bed early so that we could wake up for our 7:20 train to Amritsar.

When we got into the room, Justin threw himself onto the bed saying that he was tired which was not uncommon. However, he didn't move or take his bag off which I knew was a bad sign. After 15 mins he said he thought he was sick. That night he got a pretty high fever and was passed out in bed. I did about an hour of internet and checked in on him and bought some water and juice but wasn't about to go out onto that horrible street after dark by myself for supper. I ended up eating a chocolate bar and drinking some water and heading to bed after packing up my things!!

Day 7 and Delhi on foot...

2008-03-10T00:28:00.000-07:00

We awoke early and stumbled out the door by 9am today. We went looking for a place to eat on our street and found a restaurant called Cafe Koshala that we had seen about 10 foreigners eating outside at last night (always a good sign). We sat on the side of the street under a tin roof with the flies and the street dogs and ate two fried eggs on toast for 25 INR (just over 50 cents!) and a veg sandwich as we shooed away beggar kids. Luckily for me, India overflows with tea so I get to enjoy my favourite beverage for about 10 cents everywhere! The only strange thing is that most places don't have mugs for tea and coffee so they serve hot beverages in juice glasses which are very hot and hard to manage!

From there we were hassled into a travel office down the street which went from a two minute ordeal to a five minute ordeal and led to us just walking out. Then we took the metro to Connaught Place (the swanky shopping area) to find the government tourism office to see about trains for the next leg of our journey. We finally found the office and talked with a man who had a very strained and funny voice. He couldn't issue us tickets and was of little help but quickly proceeded to pass us along to a "friend" of his at a travel agent who would help us out. Of course we knew we were in for a swindling good time but we decided to go, directions in hand, and see what garbage he would try to spit at us. First, we went to a coffee shop to really finalize our plans and then found our way to the office through a long line of glares and laughs from vulture street men. The travel agent kept ripping apart our plans and tried to sell us more than we wanted or needed, of course. I was willing to listen to what he had to say in case something amazing jumped out at me but not much did. He didn't have a computer so he had to call in the train tickets and told us to call him back at night. We walked out knowing that we would not be going through him and now needed to try to find the foreigner train reservation office...after some sightseeing first.

From there, we took a prepaid autorikshaw to Humayun's Tomb which was a very quiet and impressive site. Then we tried to get a cab to Lodi Gardens but all the cabs were charging too much. We got one to agree to a price that was still astronomical but more fair to us and everything should have been ok. After about 1km the rikshaw conveniently "stalled" and he pointed to me and slapped the seat next to him, implying that I was to ride up front. "Tsk, NO." Then he pointed to Justin and did the same saying something about the weight being an issue. We were not impressed to say the least. Justin was fuming and walked out, refusing to pay anything. I got pretty nervous because the guy followed us a little. I really don't know what any of these men are capable of so I get uncomfortable doing stuff like that but it really, really, has to be done in some cases or else you'll be swindled out of all your money eventually.

So, we walked about 600 or 700m to the Lodi Gardens. They are a magnificent set of gardens really in the middle of nowhere but extremely peaceful inside. However, we were so tired by then and annoyed that we decided to push on and try to see more since most of the day was spent haggling. Like usual, every time we want a cab there isn't one, so we walked to Safdarjang's Tomb. It was not very impressive at all but I can say that I was in the complex. I had to get an ice cream from a cart right outside because I hadn't eaten from breakfast and was starting to get faint. Their ice creams are great and are very, very affordable.

Then, we walked to Gandhi Smirti, a museum and the site of Gandhi's assassination. I forgot that it is Monday and most all sites are not open on Mondays so we could only walk around the grounds. We were able to see where Gandhi was shot and it was a very eerie experience. Since the site was technically closed, there were no children running around and no crowds to navigate through. When you circle the first building, you come to a walkway with a path of concrete footprints beside it. You amble down the path beside the last steps of the leader until you get to a monument at the spot where he fell. To literally see the footprints of him and walk, in a sense, in his shoes, was very moving.

It is extremely difficult to get a cab here any time after 4pm if you are not at a bus station or a train station because of the rush hour traffic. So, back to walking and a very long and dusty trek to the metro by the Central Secretariat (which we were at the other day). By the time we got there it was dark outside and we were going by the military area with men coming out of buses, etc, which was a bit of a nervous experience for me. Finally, we made it back to our hotel. Then we tried to find a Korean restaurant that we saw a poster for but it was down many alleyways that were dark and very sketchy...again very nervous for me. We decided to go to Gem and try their food and get a beer. We got their Thali (a mixed platter that comes with dal markhani (my safety dish!), rice, another two curry dishes, curd (I avoid this for digestive purposes), papadum, and naan for only 65 INR ($1.75 or so!)).

Delhi daze...

2008-03-09T06:48:00.000-07:00

Wake up. Run out the door. Hassled on the street. Passed the good restaurant. No breakfast for Cindy. Fight to get to the metro. Peace and calm in the tube...

Took the metro to Central Secretariat which is a massive complex of government buildings. The entire thing looks very imperial and pretty impressive. We tried to follow the walking tour from one of our guide books but got lost in the back streets in the estates behind and were not impressed so we took an autorikshaw to the India Gate. From there we walked to Purana Qila, a huge set of ruins with a serene garden in the middle. The calm within the monument walls is totally amazing compared to the hell of the city. Next to the Purana Quila is the zoo. We debated going in but then decided to. On the way, a beggar woman grabbed my shirt and tried to pin a paper Indian flag on me for "only one rupee, ma'am." She had my shirt pretty firmly so I grabbed her hand and pushed it away which ended up ripping her little flag. Simultaneously, a strange transvestite ran up in a sari and grabbed Justin asking for money. It was a whirlwind of activity and definitely a very strange experience. There were monkeys wandering around the zoo stealing ice cream cones and entertaining people. I wasn't about to get close since Indian monkeys have been known to be very dangerous. The elephants and tigers were very interesting because they were much more active in their natural habitat than we are used to seeing. After that we were very hot and tired and went back to our hotel for dinner. We went to Diamond, a place recommended by the Lonely Planet. It has a huge menu, cheap prices, and pretty good food. I got a falafel platter which satisfied the craving that I had had for awhile! I went to bed very happy!

Goodmorning, Delhi...

2008-03-08T06:05:00.000-08:00

We arrived in Delhi at Nizamuddin rail station and were attacked on the platform with prices for taxis that we were having no part of yet. When we pushed our way out to the queue we were bombarded by taxis and autorikshaws gauging us with ridiculous rates. We finally got a price that was still too high but one we could live with to New Dehli station. Once there is was sheer chaos. The second you get outta the cab they are shouting at you for a cab. If I wanted a cab I would ask. Oh, and they don't understand what NO means. All we had to do was cross the street of endless rikshaws, autorikshaws, and buses, walk up the busy bizaar without getting hit, and find our hotel. FINALLY we found it. It was called the Smyle Inn. It was pretty quaint inside with wicker curtains and lampshades and was great to me for the price. Turns out we couldn't get hot water so showering and washing clothes was taxing but had to be done. We left the room after that and found the metro to go to Chandni Chowk...a VERY busy street/bizarr area. From there we walked to the Red Fort, a massive complex of red stone right in the heart of Old Dehli. We also went to Jama Masjid, the largest mosque. We only had ten minutes there because it was almost sundown but it was still impressive. Then we tried to find our way around the city (or rather Justin tried to and I followed him as usual). We tried to find this restaurant from the Lonely Planet in the bizaar area called Karim's but we couldn't find it. I ended up having a bit of a panic attack in the small, crowded, noisy streets and needed to get out, STAT!

We continued to look for places to eat that didn't look like they would give us AIDS if we even sat down in them and finally I saw a sign for a fast-food place called Haldiram's. Turns out it's a fast-food place that serves the same sit-down Indian foods and is very cheap. I got Dal Markhani and rice which is black lentils and red kidney beans in a curry sauce with a bit of butter and cream mixed in. It was delicious and is my new safe dish! After dinner, we were hot, dirty, and in need of a stiff drink so we went back to Paraghanj (the foreigner area) and got a Kingfisher at Gem which is just up the street from our hotel.

Last moments in Mumbai...

2008-03-07T05:47:00.000-08:00

Today was our last day in Mumbai. We were out the door with bags packed by 9:20am. We walked around the city on our way to Victoria Terminus to take pictures of the outside. We saw Flora Fountain and Horniman Circle with a very peaceful park, St. Thomas' Cathedral, etc. After that, we tried to find Crawford Market but must have been on the wrong side of Victoria Terminus because we ended up walking down a large industrial looking street and into this extremely sketchy market that I was in a bit of a panic to exit immediately. So....like the rest of the trip...more walking. And, quelle surprise, when we emerged from the filth of the market, we had to walk to find a cab that would take us to Colaba and none would! On the way we walked alongside a shanty-town with really nice Indians in it who wanted us to take their picture and two little boys who ran after me like I was a celebrity just to get my empty plastic water bottle.

Then we walked to Colaba and went to the Prince of Wales Museum which was nice in some ways but we were too hot and exhausted to really enjoy it. We had to catch a 5:40 3 A/C train to Delhi at 5:40 so around 4:15 we left the internet cafe that we slipped into after lunch of curry at Food Inn, got our bags from the hotel, and took a cab to Mumbai station. Traffic was bad and I was starting to get nervous that we would miss our non-refundable train but we made it there and got on it with no hassles.

The third class compartment of the train is nothing special but also could have been A LOT worse. Thankfully most people speak English in this country and the men in our compartment were very helpful. We got lots of food and it was pretty good, too! It still doesn't compare to the curry that we had on Thai Air!!

I slept with all the bags behind my legs on the top bunk because I can fit up there no problem. The ride was relatively smooth except for one record-breaking snorer in the next compartment and one disagreement over alcohol that drew crowds and cops at one stop. Overall, train, piece of cake...

Holy Bollywood...

2008-03-06T03:48:00.000-08:00

We're on a set right now. It's 5 to 8 in the morning. We just ate something that I think might be called paratha. This morning we got up at the crack of dawn and left the hotel to meet at the McDonald's for the free bus to the site. When no one was there for a good ten minutes we realized that our watches were still wrong and were 30 mins fast so we walked around the area passing all the street vendors who were snuggled in their flea-infested blankets sleeping on or beside their stalls. The bus here was very old and it was a very bumpy ride. When we arrived we were given little to no instructions, just directed to a concrete wall with food on it. Turns out the shoot is outdoors and the only place to sit is on concrete bleachers or in the sun on the grass. Justin has just wandered off and left me sitting here. A group of Indian men have migrated my way which is disturbing but mostly annoying...

later...

Turned out the site was outdoors all day. They started picking people for "roles". Some guys were part of a Canadian soccer team, others were just fans in the stands with painted faces. Justin didn't have to change or have his face painted. A very odd white Indian guy came up to me and said, "You, pom poms, ok?" and made a little cheerleader gesture. Against my better judgment, I decided that there were worse things in life and that I would do it. Myself and four other girls were taken to a trailer out back and told to wait until our costumes arrived. Many moons later our black little numbers arrived. Little wrap skirts, spanx, and crop tops (with small tears) arrived. Oh goody. I've gained weight from many buffet trips and imbibing multus maekju (much beer) in my last week in Korea. That plus the sticky tape residue on my back from my back patches (*I'll note here that if you can find those hot cold back patches for pain you should buy then in mass quantities if you plan on travelling and ever suffer from back pain because they are a WONDER!!) made me oh so attractive for the Canadian team. All of a sudden they just pointed and drove us onto the field and said "cheer." And we were like, "uh....ok???" "Do some steps or something," the guy said. As if, dude. It was very hot on the field and very degrading. After many, many takes we were allowed to go relax and eat. By this point it was about 2pm and I had had it! The whole day was an awkward mess and I started to get one of my oh so common panic attacks. After 30 mins of working up the nerve to go and find my clothes in the trailer I changed and we ran away from the site. I know, I'm very mature. I say "dude" and teach small children "Englishee."

Turns out we were in some remote area with a giant petroleum station, many trucks, and many men. We walked along the side of the road for awhile looking for a cab. There were tons of autorikshaws but none would take us. It was a very sketchy area and I was not happy. Finally an autorikshaw agreed to take us to the border of where the autorikshaws can go which was close enough for us. Autorikshaws are insane little scooters with caps but are very fun at times. We had to walk again to try to find a cab after getting dropped off and it was very hard to avoid being hit by some kind of moving vehicle. Finally we got a cab to Haji Ali Mosque (a mosque on an island that you walk a long bridge or roadway to get to). From there, we walked to Malhalaxmi temple through winding, busy streets. We stopped at a gas station to buy a snack and bought some "Mint Mischief" Lays. I plan on buying lots of different chips while I'm here!

We went home at about 4pm hot and tired, took showers, went for some vegetarian curry ($4 for two!) and then went to a sports bar for two much-needed beers. We saw the bus with the movie people roll in at about 7:30pm!!! A couple walked into the bar and told us it was "Hell." So glad I bailed! We went to bed early to be ready for the next day...

The Day We Got Swindled...

2008-03-05T08:17:00.000-08:00

This morning we walked around Colaba (the foreigner area where we're staying). We realized that our hotel is RIGHT by the Gateway to India (a giant, impressive gate)and the Taj Hotel. We ate at the "Leopold Cafe" which is next to our hostel. It is quite expensive (for Indian food--still only 8 bucks for two people!) but has good food and lots of foreign things. Then, we went to Victoria Terminus (the train station) to see what the fuss is about. The architecture outside really is quite amazing. Inside...not so much. We tried to find the foreigner ticket booth but were confused and were confronted by a nice Indian lady who spoke amazing English. Her name was Sandy and she had great chat about how horrible India is and how she was trying to go back to North America. She and another man helped us to book tickets. The man left for a long time to get the tickets which should have been the first clue. It was...but I'm lazy and didn't really care! The prices they gave us seemed kinda confusing and didn't exactly add up but I honestly didn't care because of how uncomfortable I was feeling in the country. Then Sandy offered to take us around the city for the day. We knew it was probably a rip but I was fine with someone showing us around because I was totally clueless. The trip was OK but nothing spectacular. We went in a taxi to see the consulates, the Hanging Gardens (very uninspiring...but I don't think that's where we were really), Gandhi's home, the red light district (very very disturbing!), and more, including a stop at a long light where a boy with no right hand and a mangled left hand begged for money through the cab windows. So many things were sketchy about the tour but I was more than happy to give her the $20 or so for two people that she got from us. We didn't know until later that they took extra money for our train tickets, too, but overall a matter of maybe $50 for two people. Frankly, she needs the money more than I do. One "highlight" of the tour was a Jain temple that we stopped at. Outside was a blue sign with a list of things that we were to do which included: not turning our backs to the diety, removing our shoes, and not entering if I had my period. Rewind. What?! Yes. I took a pic. I'll post it soon...

We left Colaba after the tour and walked to Mumbai University to take pictures of the clock tower. It really is a striking building. The inside of the building looks like it's straight outta the 1950's but overall interesting. We also saw the High Court which was impressive outside, too.

When we got back to Colaba, we were stopped by a young Indian who asked us if we wanted to be extras in a Bollywood film. We said we would try to do this by going to Film City and waiting outside the buildings when we were in Korea so when the opportunity presented itself we kinda had to say yes. The guy said it would be 500INR each for 12 hours work and we would have to meet at 6:30 am. We agreed with hesitation saying, "fuck it, let's do it." I can't tell you how many times this saying has gotten me into trouble.

After hearing that we would have to get up at about 5:30am we decided to take it easy. We went to a local restaurant for curry. Justin got mutton something and I chicken biryani. That plus a lime soda cost us a whopping $2.50!!! On the menu were a series of items with brain. Yes, BRAIN. Unless it's some Indian word like "braheen" I'm pretty sure we'd be eating some animal's thinker and I'm really not sure I can bring myself to that. I wouldn't eat silkworm larvae or dog soup in Korea, I think brain is outta the question. After dinner we found an internet cafe thanks to the Lonely Planet,on the way to which I was stalked by a little flower-toting beggar girl. Indian children are much cuter than Korean children and they call me "ma'am" and "madam".

Leaving on a Jet Plane...

2008-03-04T20:05:00.000-08:00

Today we left for Mumbai, India. We caught an airport bus from Itaewon at about 6 in the morning. Turns out we were wrong about the flight time so we were about four hours early for our flight. We got the usual Subway sub from the airport. After smaller portions in Asia it really is startling when you look at a 12" sub! The bread was a tad stale but overall it was still glorious. Our flight was TG 629 to Bangkok via Hong Kong. Thai Air has excellent food and great service in business AND economy class it turns out! We were both sad to the see the lady at immigration take our Alien cards away from us before we boarded our flights. I liked being an official ALIEN.

We had to get off of our plane in Hong Kong for 30 mins while they cleaned it and then get back on for Bangkok. When we arrived in Bangkok we rushed through the security check thinking that we would relax at our gate and window shop, etc. Turns out that Bangkok airport is like a prison where you wait for your gate to open and show your pass to get in and once in you don't leave. No bathrooms were open before our gate was open except for ones at one gate that we finally allowed to walk down to. We watched some Grey's Anatomy on Justin's ipod to pass some time.

It definitely was an eye-opener landing in India. You know you're in a "developing" country (aka 3rd world) when there are flies in the airport and men in uniform when you step off the plane. There was TONS of construction so the airport was a total mess and was a little confusing. There were security checks EVERYWHERE! Outside it was dusty, dirty, hot, bug-infested, and filled with many shouting Indians. We walked down the ramp and saw a man with a sign for us so we knew that was our hotel. He and THREE other men drove us to the hotel. Two men sat in the back with our bags on their laps, two in the front, and us in the middle. They played American dance/hip hop songs for us which added to the air of absurdity. The long drive to the hotel was startling. I've never seen slums like that before in my life. No seat belts, tons of honking, lost of autorickshaws, and tons of men just hanging out on the sides of the street. We drove by tons of shanty towns, just pure poor squalor. "Dear God, what have I gotten myself into??!!"

Errand Day!

2008-03-03T07:51:00.000-08:00

or the day we thought we couldn't fly out of Korea!

We had lots and lots of running around to do today which was annoying but very satisfying in the end. Most importantly, we got our passports from the Indian Visa Application Centre so we can now fly to Mumbai tomorrow on schedule. Then, it was time to struggle with Korea Post trying to mail things home. Korean postal workers are crotchy old women and I am thoroughly not impressed! I managed to send home the airmail gifts and some surface odds and sodds that I was toting from Gwangju. All systems GO at this point.

Now for the drama. It was time to mail home my laptop. There are many FedEx Kinko's listed online but we weren't sure if they would handle our computers so we got the address for a place and walked that way. We walked all around the area and asked for help only to be told to continue walking. Then, we finally discovered that the one we were looking for was ON the US army base. Not cool. So, high-tail it to a PC bang (PC room) and then find another address, get in a cab, try for round two. On the way we saw a kinko's and got the nice cabbie to stop.

I was so flustered that I barely noticed Namdaemun all boarded up. Namdaemun is Korea's No.1 historical relic, an old gate that has stood in the midst of the bustling city. An old, disgruntled Korean man recently set fire to the monument which had most of the country in tears.

Back to Fed Ex...
It took a very long time to figure things out, especially since they said that our parents would have to go to the depots to sign for the computers so that they could clear customs. Total hassle all told. $110 later my computer got mailed in a small box with little padding. Fingers crossed, everyone.

I am STILL carrying around the painting that I brought back in my large backpack from Hong Kong because Korea doesn't seem to have poster tubes and no boxes are long enough for it. Language problems plus crotchy mail people make Cindy a sad girl.

Bye Bye Blues...

2008-03-02T07:40:00.000-08:00

Last night was our going away party in Gwangju. About 50 people or more from the community showed up to say goodbye to 7 teachers from my school who are leaving (Myself, Justin, Steve, his wife Aneta, Geoffrey, Adam, and Rose). There were tables all the way down the restaurant strewn with kimchi and lettuce and meat being cooked. I bought some Yellowtail "Bubbles" before the dinner (It was on sale for $15 instead of $19-FATE!) for the occasion. We went on a bit of a pub crawl-actually just to "Big Apple" (formerly known as "Big Fun" but was never big fun). We woke up today around 11am and finished the final bits of packing and cleaning. I had already moved all of my stuff to Justin's on Thursday so that the school could have another apartment for the new teachers. That dinner plus free shabu shabu from our boss the night before was amazing.

Early afternoon Paul (the guy from our work who helps us do things around the town) picked us up from Justin's apartment with a driver and a Brighton van to take us to the bus station. Pulling out of Pungam was very sad and the pair of us got misty-eyed.

We ate Lotteria one last time in the Gwangju bus terminal. Lotteria is like McDonald's but it's a Japanese company and it is amazing. I went all out on a disgusting feast consisting of all of my favourites: 2 chicken fillet strips, pomegranate juice, yogurt salad, 2 cheese sticks, and a paprika bacon beef cheeseburger (a double cheeseburger that has black olives and yellow pepper on it!). After the four hour bus ride to Seoul we met our old coworker Ryan and his two friends in Itaewon (the foreigner area) for dinner and drinks. Great night. Great goodbyes. Time for the panic...

The end is nigh...

2008-02-26T03:34:00.000-08:00

Hey-o everyone!

I am in my last week of teaching. Officially three more days to go including NO MORE KINDERGARTEN CLASSES!!! (Assah!--Korean "yay!"). I have to go to the Kindy graduation tomorrow but all I have to do is stand there and bow. Nothing like having to mc the Talent Show that they put on last weekend!

Many many things to get done in the next few days which includes moving so that new people can have my apartment. It's surreal right now and won't sink in until I find myself completely unprepared in the middle of India!!! Oh wells. I'm flying to Mumbai on March 4th and plan to be in India until I fly to Singapore on April 2nd. After that, who knows! I have a work dinner on Friday night and a big dinner/party on Saturday with most of the foreigner community in the city because about 6 teachers are leaving. Should be a good time. I still have to go to the doctor to get malaria pills,etc which is cutting it close! AND I don't have my Indian Visa yet! Deadlines have been merely a suggestion in the past few years...perhaps something I should work on!
I'll post again soon...one more time before I leave this country! See you on the flip side soon!

2008

2008-01-15T16:22:00.000-08:00

It's already the middle of January. I have a month and a half left of work in Korea and am in a bit of a panic. I went to Seoul for New Years and spent four days touring more of the city that I haven't seen yet. I saw Lotte World (a big mall with a theme park, skating rink, shooting range, bowling alley, etc inside), Insadong, and went to a fish market. At the market we pointed to a fish and then went into a restaurant and they brought us the fish sashimi-style to eat with the traditional korean lettuce and bean paste. Not my fav dish in the world but I tried it. I rang in 2008 at a Canadian bar called Rocky Mountain where they serve rye and coke (an anomaly in Korea) or whisky by the glass as well as lots of beer (mostly Korean beer though).

I am now trying to plan for the next year of my life. Always a daunting task I find. There is a publishing course in Toronto that I want to take but will not have enough money for it when I return to Canada. I also can't really write the required entry essay for here (not to mention the fact that I'm lazy) so I think I'm gonna put off the course for a year and just go home and readjust and work off some more debt.

Right now, I'm planning a two-month long trip that starts in March when I finish my contract. I plan to spend a month in India and then travel the South Pacific (maybe Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore....not really sure about these details yet). India is very expensive to fly to and I've spent all the money I saved paying off credit card debt so I'm in a bit of a panic that I won't have enough money but it should work out ok! Here's hoping, at least. Any tips on travel to this part of the world would be much appreciated!

I can't post any pictures right now because my computer cord is broken but I will update when I can!

"We're gonna have..."

2007-12-27T03:08:00.000-08:00

the hap-hap-happiest Christmas since Bing Crosby tap danced with Danny fucking Kaye!!"

Annyong everyone. Hope your Xmas was merry and bright. I managed to get into the spirit and have an excellent Christmas despite being stuck in the land of kimchi. I was all too happy to have four days off and no plans of leaving the city over the break. On Christmas Eve I cooked and cleaned and organized for about 9 hours and then went to the foreigner bar downtown to see some friends and have a few cocktails. The most Christmassy drink we could get really was a white russian which went down smooth but promised that we would all be that one drunken asshole at the Christmas celebration. I'm not complaining. Then I went home at about 2 am and opened my Christmas presents while drinking tea and Baileys (the Baileys was a Christmas present to myself!). I now have more chocolate than I know what to do with and tons of food to eat up in the next two months.

Then, I woke up slightly hungover on Christmas day and started preparing dinner for 11 COWORKERS! We had roasted chicken, stuffing, garlic mashed potatoes, squash with maple syrup, peas, carrots, broccoli, baguette, baked brie, cake, clootie dumpling (courtesy of our Scottish coworker Steve) and a lot of alcohol. It was an endeavour to cook so much in the TINY kitchen that I was using but I had two small ovens so we cooked two chickens at a time. A girl I work with helped me cook so I didn't stress out too much. I even decided to splurge on dollar store decorations and table favours since many people didn't have any presents to open. All told it was a total success. Most of my food was cold by the time I ate it but it was delicious and I had TONS of leftovers. We were in a very very small apartment with three computer tables set up and people sitting on the bed and couches to eat but we all got to sit at a table instead of eating on the floor like they do in Korea! No, Christmas wasn't the same, but it was pretty close to anything that I would get back home. I love the holidays and am used to doing hours and hours of work for them so being in Korea didn't affect that at all. I'm off to Seoul for New Year's and then have a whirlwind two months left here since I can't quite bring myself to sign onto teaching 5 year olds for 6 more months even though I love my life here and want the money! More updates to come soon. I'll try to post some New Years pics.

Hallelujah. Hooooly shit.

2007-11-27T05:02:00.000-08:00

Greetings all. I've still neglected my blog but will update soon I swear. Just pulled a Christmas tree out from under my bed and decided to spruce up my apartment a tad. Will deck the halls more over time but the initial stages have begun. No need to mail any trees my way since I am set in that department! hahaha. Just mailed half of my xmas presents and have one more EXPENSIVE box to mail on Thursday. I might as well start using my won as fuel for heating my apartment...

C'est L'Alloween

2007-11-04T22:07:00.000-08:00

Hello again. More pics are to come but I thought I would drop a quick line. Last Wednesday was Halloween and the school had a special day for the Kindergarten kids. I was co-organizing it with another teacher which meant that I was very busy for days before Halloween. The kids were really cute in their costumes and I have some pics of them. I wore a kimono that I bought in Tokyo (it's not actually a kimono because it's the summer version but you get the idea). To the pub I went as "the Boob Tube." My whole life people have made comments about my boobs and this place is not different. I decided to go with it and give people something to comment about. I made "dials" out of peanut butter lids that ACTUALLY TURNED!!!! and used a frame with a glow stick wedged in my underwire as the TV. Turned out alright! Too bad I was so drunk that I don't remember the night...

Tea for Two and Two for Tea...

2007-10-21T02:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went on a trip to a green tea farm with some co-workers. Our boss decided to be nice to us by offering one of the work buses and a driver to us for two trips of our choice around the area. I had wanted to go to the tea farm for a while so I jumped at the chance to go, despite having to get up at 9am on my day off. It takes about an hour and a half to get to Boseong from Gwangju but it was a pleasant trip as the massive bus only had about 10 of us in it. The farm was small but very picturesque. The tea grows on the mountainside in long rows of bushes that are a very rich green colour this season. We didn't need much time there to get the idea but still it was a good experience. The strange thing to me though was the burial mounds within the plantation. The thought of tea growing in close proximity to dead bodies seems odd to me, even though it is inevitable everywhere. We also went to the beach area as well which is dreadful this time of year, not to mention very cold. We also went for lunch at a Korean restaurant that serves green tea-fed pork. Everything in Boseong is made from green tea. Hope you enjoy the pics as much as I do.

Will Teach For Food...

2007-10-18T23:02:00.000-07:00

I was delighted to discover yesterday that the astronomical price of broccoli in South Korea has gone down. Hooray. It used to cost $4 for a head of broccoli half the size of one in Canada. Now, my favourite vegetable only costs about $2 for the same amount. I'm goin' to be green with energy while this wonder of a veg is in season. I hope you Canadians know how lucky you are. Koreans seem to consider mass quantities of vile radish, various indescribable grasses (probably snipped from the lawn out back) and bizarre looking "twigs" to be vegetables. It's a bleeding shame, I say.

I went to Mokpo yesterday on my "vacation" day from work. My school seems to consider a day off due to scheduling conflicts to be a "vacation" day for us...even though it's a Thursday. If you ask anyone about Mokpo they will tell you that there's nothing there and it's the place you go to when you want to catch the ferry to Jeju-do (Honeymooner Island). We went up a small mountain and saw many pagodas and "bauis" (rocks) along the way. It was scenic but very frustrating as our maps were second-rate and basically lied to us. Then we went to the "beach" which was literally (LITERALLY) 20 metres of sand in the middle of a wharf. It was so bad it's comical. I'll post the pics as soon as I get them. I still have to get a cable so that I an charge my new camera. sigh.

Gyeongju, South Korea

2007-10-16T03:37:00.000-07:00

In September I had one of the best weekends that I've had since being in Korea. I went to Gyeongju in the North East of South Korea. Gyeongju was the seat of the ancient Silla dynasty in Korea. The town is a haven for tourists who are both western and Korean. It was the first town that I've been to in Korea that really felt like a touist attraction and somewhere that had been planned or at least groomed in a thoughtful manner. Even the gas stations there have rooves that look like ancient temples. The town is quaint and wonderful for renting a bike or strolling down the boardwalk through the lilies. There are lots of ancient tombs that basically look like giant grassy hills and there is one that touists can walk right into. You can take a carriage ride around the area or decide to shop in the bustling downtown area. The town had the perfect mix of old and new to me and it was a lovely change of pace from the aesthetic monotony of Gwangju or Seoul.

Hong Kong Diaries Continued...

2007-10-16T02:41:00.000-07:00

For the sake of consistency I have kept my blogging to a bare minimum this month. Chuseok vacation was about three weeks ago and I still haven't properly uploaded pictures---although I have tried on a few occasions only to be slighted by the internet gods. Anyhoo, Hong Kong was quite the trip full of the usual highs and lows. The flight there was amazing with champagne and lamb and comfy seats. We decided to buy an "Airport Express" card for the subways which lets you take this brilliant subway from right in the airport all the way to the main area (Causeway Bay) round trip as well as three days unlimited use of the subways. We had a pretty hard time finding our hostel (as expected) and I personally had a bit of a fit when I finally saw it. It wasn't all that bad really but at first it was a total drop in luxury from the business class flight and I had a wee twinge of a freakout. Then the walking began but luckily I packed many back patches for this trip so that I could keep walking!

Hong Kong is an extremely busy city. Even the escalators and elevators move faster there! It is overflowing with ex-pats which means it is also full of amazing food and wonderful shopping. I ate tons of western food and basked in the glory of everything western that I could find. I also had a blast in the grocery stores---including a gourmet one in Kowloon (mainland China) where I got salami from a deli counter (unheard of in Korea) and ate it with fresh cheese and bread! (You have NO idea how amazing that is after living here for almost 8 months!).

We also went to Lantau Island to see the "Big Buddha" and went to a temple and a street of antiques on Hong Kong Island. We took a tram up to the top of Victoria Peak to look down over all of Hong Kong which was spectacular except that it POURED with rain and we couldn't really take pictures and had to stand in the downpour for at least an hour waiting to get back down!

I went shopping in Kownloon and bought some shoes and a Roots yoga sweater for 50% off! I was so happy to see the Canadian label and doubly happy to get a discount. (ga-ka juseyo as they say in Korean "give me a discount!"). The sad thing is that with age I am turning more and more into my brother Mike and left the sweater in the taxi when I got back to Gwangju at 4am before work at 7am. boo.

There was also a lantern festival going in which didn't turn out to be amazing to me. We had a hard time getting to see the major "fire dance" and only saw the remnants of the smoking incense. We also walked and looked at the "Avenue of Stars" and saw a statue for Bruce Lee. The lanterns around the Avenue were second-rate at best.

Overall, Hong Kong was a cool place to see---great if you're skiddish about heading to Asia from North America for the first time. A great experience but I never really have to go there again unless I'm really rich and want a shopping vacation! I'll try to post more pics to my flickr account soon.

Hong Kong Diaries...

2007-09-21T16:39:00.002-07:00

I am writing this from the Business Class lounge at South Korea's Incheon Airport. I paid an insane amount of money for a flight to Hong Kong for Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving)and business class on Thai Airlines was actually cheaper than economy on some other carriers. The bus ride here was less than four hours long but should have taken closer to five if the driver wasn't such a lead foot. Life Status: still alive. Hurricane Wipha has been hitting Asia and is supposed to be heading north to North Korea after rocking Shanghai so we could potentially be flying through some nasty weather. However, most people seem to think that the worst part of the storm is over.

The bar in the business class lounge is not open, sadly. However, I am completely sated after annihilating a foot-long Subway sub. You know you've been in Korea too long when you get SO excited over shitty fast food from back home. But good sandwiches that aren't bastardized by excess mayo or weird toppings are extremely hard to come by.

Anyhoo, I'm off to Hong Kong in about an hour. Hopefully it won't be too early for me to take advantage of the free alcohol on the flight (It's 5 o'clock somewhere, right?!). I will be posting pics soon as well as some of Gwangju, my kids, and also Gyeongju (the old seat of the Silla Dynasty in Korea---more on that later). For now kids: same bat time, same bat channel. Anyong haseyo.

Quarter century...

2007-08-27T06:32:00.000-07:00

Are people really like vintage wine? And, if so, is a quarter century a good year? Time shall tell. Birthdays overseas are weird. My kids in one class made me a booklet/card for my bday (prompted by my Korean partner teacher of course) and gave me a bar of soap (Korean parents give us beauty supplies for every occasion). The teachers on the fourth floor got me a cake which was nice. But still, it hasn't really felt like my bday. And the overwhelming feeling that I've gotten for the past 4, 5 years at least is that birthdays suck.

I did go for a small, impromptu dinner with some people that I work with. We went for Shabu Shabu which is my favourite meal in Korea. They bring a pot of boiling broth to your table and put it on a burner. Then you cook mushrooms and greens in the broth and add paper thin beef. You eat all this goodness and then put udon noodles into the broth. Then when that is done they dump the contents of the pot into a bowl for you to continue to eat and take the pot into the kitchen and fry rice (bokum bap as it is known here) in a ladle full of the broth. It's delic. They also give you various pastes and soy and wasabi for dipping. It's brilliant and only costs about $10 (which is expensive for Korea but still relatively inexpensive). If you can find Shabu Shabu I recommend you try it. Rather, I demand that you try it ASAP. I'll post some more pics once I get them offa my camera which is broken aGaIn). Thanks for the bday wishes. Maybe I'll be in Canada for it next year...

charrrrrrge it!

2007-08-25T23:46:00.000-07:00

It should come as no surprise that my spending ways are still going strong. I finally did something that I thought I would never be able to do.....I finally bought myself a dress (some of you will know the significance of this feat). I spent about $100 on a dress in an underground mall at the Shinjuku subway station in Tokyo but it's striking and I love it despite the fact that it makes me look preggers. On the plus side, it's a "one size" dress and therefore will make me a total MILF if I ever do decide to spawn a kidlet.

I'm now planning a trip to Hong Kong at the end of September and possibly Thailand and/or Shanghai over Christmas just to suck my bank account that much drier.

Adventures in Tokyo: Part 2

2007-08-24T00:07:00.000-07:00

Day 3:
The third day of the trip was the more touristy/commercial day. We went to Ginza (a relatively popular shopping area) first and walked around a little bit. We also went to Shibuya where the world's largest intersection is. There's a Tower Records that is about 7 floors high plus a variety of other department stores. There were people EVERYWHERE and yet I never really felt like I got pushed or anything like that.

We also went to HARAJUKU. For those of you who don't know, Harajuku is a world-renowed area that is teeming with crazy fashions and teenagers. Do some research on Gwen Stefani and her "Harajuku Girls" and you'll get the idea. Gwen knows. The area was really cool with a long street of really expensive stores (a rodeo drive if you will with stores like Louis Vuitton that had amazing window displays). Then there were a lot of great cafes plus a condom store (which all good cities should have. ha). Then there were all these small sidestreets that had amazing little boutiques with clothing that was actually affordable. The day was spent doing a lot of shopping and browsing and seeing other things that I've probably forgotten by now. Oh, and I ate at a Wolfgang Puck's because I couldn't really find much else open and wanted some good western food. It ended up costing about $50 for two people and wasn't that good. boo. But I did steal a disposable pair of chopsticks that said Wolfgang's just because I found it funny that they had them. Well not funny haha but whatever ;).

Day 4: The fourth day was basically just a day to catch up on things that we had missed. We went around and did some more shopping in a desperate attempt to find shoes in Asia for Justin that are over size 11. We had to take a train back to Fukuoka by 5pm so we didn't have much time. Then it was a very long journey back to Fukuoka by train during which I had a UTI flare up!!!! THEN when we got to Fukuoka we couldn't get into the hostel that we walked around (for a very long time) trying to find and had to spend a good chunk of money on a hotel because we were exhausted and dying for a shower. The ride home was alright and everything was fine after the whirlwind trip ended! It was hellish at times but it was a great experience. Now while I plan my trip to Hong Kong in September I'm going to leave OUT things to do so I don't collapse mid-trip!!!

Adventures in Tokyo: Part 1

2007-08-07T23:03:00.001-07:00

I arrived home in Gwangju safe but very tired after a whirlwind trip to Tokyo last week. The trip started out ok as myself and 5 other friends took a 3.5 hour bus to Busan. Upon arrival, we took two cabs to the South of Busan where the ferry terminal is. Each cab cost $20!!!!! Not only did we have to pay lots of money (for a cab in Korea), but we almost lost our lives in what was a high-paced and risky journey across the barren back roads of Busan. Then, we had trouble finding a motel to stay in in the area around the terminal which was mostly comprised of seedy back alleys. The motel that we found charged us $70 for a room with three beds which we easily fit six people into. I'd like to add that the room had red lights. Seriously. Four of my friends left on an early ferry. My ferry wasn't until noon so Justin and I took our time getting to the terminal and checking in. We ate some udon and ramen at the terminal and two bad coffees while we killed time. The ferry seemed exactly like an airplane inside which was really odd at first. The trip was comfortable and relaxing. The view was really not as great as one would hope. We made it to Hakata and onto a city bus to take us to the Hakata Station where we would validate our train passes and head to Tokyo. (On a side note, Japanese buses are different from Canadian and even Korean ones. You get on the bus at the back and take a ticket. When you leave, you go out the front doors and pay for how far you went. A little confusing but nice!). The Hakata Station was slightly confusing but we managed to find our train bound for Shin-Osaka. So far, no major issues and good spirits all around. When we got off our train in Shin-Osaka Justin realized that he did not have his passport or his rail pass. INSERT ALL KNOWN CURSE WORDS HERE. Sheer and total panic. We searched his bags through and through, searched the train, but did not think at the time to go through my things. We went to the lost and found and to many desks asking for help. We decided that the best option would be to go to Tokyo and then figure it out from there. We had to spend an extra $130 on a ticket for him to get to Tokyo and then RUN LIKE HELL to catch the train that we just spent the money on. The first night in Tokyo was pretty good overall. We walked around and looked at the lights and went into a big "everything" store. If you've watched the movie "Lost in Translation" it felt exactly like that movie. I felt like I was completely tripping out. Literally there is EVERYTHING you can imagine in the store---raunchy sex toys next to Pringles. Turn to your left there are pillows shaped like boobies, turn to your right there are kimonos. We spent A LOT of time in there that night and probably went back four times to buy souvenirs and cheap things that we can't get in Korea. I managed to find my razor cartridges so I bought four packages since Korea stopped selling mine!

Day 2: The second day was to be the historical day. We started by heading to the Imperial Palace (basically some gardens and what is left of the palace walls). For the most part it was very beautiful and interesting to see. I personally couldn't get over how North American the area felt....which was a great change from the feeling of Korea. However, any pleasure that I got from the sights was diminished by the fact that it was ridiculously hot and sticky out and there was no shade....so I was Miss Grumpy Pants as usual. We went to the Tskiji Fish Market which is the biggest market in Japan and probably one of the best in the world. Men drive these scooter/cart things at high speeds and almost run pedestrians over. There were no fish since it was late in the afternoon but it was still a sight to see. We ate at a sushi restaurant (one of many) at the market. It cost us about $30 for a platter (most of which I did not eat). I'm told it was excellent sushi and compared to what I've had it was good but I'm still on the fence about sushi in general. Then we headed to a nearby area with many different statues and a couple of museums. We went to some more popular areas at night just to see the sights and to check out the shopping. By the end of that day I could not bend over because my lower back hurt so badly. And so come the tears. End of Part 1!!

I Wish it Was a Joke...

2007-07-17T04:09:00.001-07:00

I forgot to mention something that I did about a month ago which I have been trying to forget. I went with a group of foreigners for live octopus at a local restaurant and will never do it again! It was like a scene from a horror movie when the "thing" starts to attack the humans. They take an octopus out of the tank and chop it up quickly and then put some sesame oil over it and bring the platter to your table. The pieces are STILL MOVING.....hand to God. You have to fight them off of the plate as the tentacles cling very tightly to the ceramic dish. Then, when you eat it you have to chew it very hard to kill it so that it doesn't kill you by suffocating you on the way down. One girl had a little bit of a scare that was pure comedy for all of us nearby. The woman who runs the restaurant decided to bring a bowl of two octopus(es/i??????) to our table which then decided to crawl out of the bowl and onto the floor! The tentacle on the right of the picture was headed directly for my leg but was too slow since I shot up and over to the corner of the room faster than anyone. I waited an extremely long time trying to work up the nerve to eat the octopus. Finally, I broke after about 30 mins and ate a barely-wriggling piece that was maybe only an inch long; an inch more than I needed, I say. The lady at the restaurant was amazing and actually reached into the tank and pulled out an arm and bit about 6 inches off and devoured it in front of us as we were leaving. Crazy lady. Crazy tradition. This nation is so absurd sometimes.

mmmmmmmmud!

2007-07-16T02:18:00.000-07:00

This weekend was the Mud Festival in Daecheon Beach (Boryeong), South Korea. The festival attracts thousands of foreigners every year and lasts for about a week. Basically it is an excuse to drink yourself silly and to paint yourself in mud. I didn't disappoint. Some pics are attached---it is what it sounds like. I have a few more that are stuck on my camera (these are stolen from other people). Despite our motel being 8 kilometers from the festival area, the day was a good time. And as my new FREE button says, "I Love Mud."

Holy banana, Batman!!

2007-07-10T04:36:00.000-07:00

This is a quick post to inform you of a major change in my life that I thought would never come.REally, you're not gonna believe it. I know you're all expecting major changes but this one is a doozie. Like, seriously, I'm not sure you'll be able to handle it. Really, I think you need to brace yourselves. Deep breaths, everyone.

REady???

I now eat (edit: LOVE) bananas!!! Why, I'm a regular banana FEIND!!! [FRIENDS: insert your lewd humor here, you sick b&*^%$es. FAMILY: ignore this comment altogether].

Yes, I now love bananas. The banana has been my nemesis since I was a wee babe but the kindy snack that I dole out every day has turned me to the dark side and I am now a banana-eater. Relax, mother, I'm now getting my potassium. Aren't you proud? Took me long enough, eh??!!!

My Bad...

2007-07-02T03:59:00.000-07:00

Hello, all! My apologies for being MIA for quite so long. I recently celebrated my four month anniversary in Korea which most definitely feels surreal. Happy belated Canada Day, Canada! I bought some fireworks and a $5 disposable bbq and a lot of cheap beer to have a little impromptu celebration with some coworkers Saturday night but we got rained out. I went to the foreigner bar that night and danced to some Bryan Adams with a bunch of Canucks in compensation. Perhaps we'll crack out the "fireworkers" for July 4th since there are so many flaming yanks here.

In other news, I finally got my pictures off of my camera so I have some shots of one of my classes as well as a ton of shots from Busan (a port city in the South East of Korea where you can take a ferry to Japan---which I will be doing next month). The pics will follow and I will eventually put more on my Flickr site, too.

I have recently lost a lot of hours (I think work was trying to make my schedule less chaotic) but now I am missing the overtime and am panicing that I am spending all of my cash and will save nothing for clearing my credit cards. It doesn't matter how much I'm making, money burns gaping holes in my pockets.

The "rainy season" has also begun here. Basically it's supposed to rain a lot for the next few weeks. It's not been really rainy so far but it is humid as f*&% and my usual "baby soft, lifeless hair" has turned into a nappy fro. At least I'm not sweating my boobies off.......yEt. I'm am dreading August. I am still trying to get over my second cold since in Korea but can't seem to shake the sore throat that keeps surprising me every other day.

July has a bunch of holidays for us teachers and a lot of time off from kindergarten (which I primarily teach) which means that it will be easy but I also will be spending more and making less. I'm going to Tokyo for five days in July with an American (well sorta two days travel and three FULL days in Tokyo). I am looking forward to trying some GOOD sushi (Koreans seem to take everything good from other countries and ruin it like in putting mayo in a sushi roll..."kimbap" as the koreans call it). I'm also jonesing for some edamame and some tempura so I will be extremely happy to have some of that. I'm taking a hydrofoil ferry over from Busan, South Korea. It's a about a three and a half hour journey which should be interesting. All-in-all I'm spending the same amount of money as a direct flight would cost but this way has more character. Plus I'm a sucker for ferry boats as McDreamy would say. I am hoping to take lots of pics there and will let you know how it goes.

Since the birth of baby Owen I've actually felt that I am missing out on major events back home. While I wish that I could be there, I wouldn't change my situation. Keep on keepin' on Canada and update me as regularly as you like. Oh, and I was uber-pleased to discover that I can get french onion soup at the TGI Fridays here which made me think of Canada. You would not believe how much I just miss a grilled chicken salad and TGIs is the only place that serves a whole chicken breast instead of gristly little bits of marinated chicken! I also went to Outback and devoured some ribs on Saturday...I've been treating myself far too much but it was a definite spirit-boost. What a glutton I am!

I blame genetics...

2007-04-16T06:27:00.000-07:00

Not only did I inherit Grandma Teddy's name, I think I may have inherited her love of "bling." After an eye-opening trip to the DMZ I reached an awesome height of shallowness by purchasing a dinky amethyst ring at this Amethyst museum place. Apparently the amethyst is the stone of Korea and I was excited by all the colours in the store and blew 50 bucks on a tiny ring. Well at least it's not a plastic pig or a buddha mug or something like that.

Cherry Blossoms...

2007-04-15T05:49:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I got to go out of town to see the cherry blossoms. One of the Korean guys that we work with drove us in one of the school's vans to an area where there are tons of trees as well as a Buddhist temple. It was a 3K walk to the temple which was a bit much by the 6th kilometer! The trees were gorgeous and the temple area was everything you would expect Asia to be.

rubber food rubs me the wrong way....

2007-04-14T21:56:00.000-07:00

One of the most bizarre features of restaurants in Korea is the display cases of plastic meals outside the restaurants. They have mock meals made out of plastic so that you can see what you will be eating and choose based on the look of the dish. It is really weird when you first see it, especially when it's for a burger joint. I don't know about you, but the picture on the board generally gives me a pretty good idea of what my hamburger and fries are gonna look like. They even have fake fruit drinks at Dunkin Donuts and fake scoops of ice cream sitting by the register in Baskin Robbins. Honestly, I find it kinda disturbing and it actually kills my appetite a little...only not as much as all the squid and octopus around--that's just edible plastic food.

I went for lunch to a fusion restaurant downtown yesterday. It was beautiful inside with a water wall and big comfy wicker chairs. The restaurant serves what they call "Omurice" which is an omelette with rice inside. You can get a chicken curry omurice, shrimp omurice, sweet and sour pork omurice, sauteed chicken and veggie omurice, etc... Basically it's the meat served over top of an omelette with lots of goopy sauce completely covering the plate. I got the Beijing Duck Omurice which was pretty good. AND it only cost 7900 won which is approximately $7.90 Canadian!!! In many ways it is cheaper to eat out than to cook at home in Korea which is really strange. I stupidly forgot to take a picture but I will snap one of some plastic food some time soon. My Omurice lunch made me realize how much I miss omelettes and breakfast food. I'm going to go to Seoul next weekend and have breakfast at this Canadian bar called "Rocky Mountain" that apparently serves a really good Canadian-style breakfast. Can't wait! I'm also going to go to the foreigner grocery store to buy some food that I can't get in Gwangju!

Skip to the loo my darling...

2007-04-12T03:33:00.000-07:00

And now for a short word on Korean loos. One of the most annoying "problems" for foreigners in Korea is the squatter-style toilet which is just wrong in my opinion. On my floor at work there is only one "regular" toilet in the bathroom that teachers have to share with students. I have yet to attempt to use a squatter toilet and don't really plan on it. Luckily, the toilet in my apartment is western-style. The other little gem that has happened to more than one person is the problem of getting sprayed by the toilets which have buttons on the side that are oh so conveniently labelled only in Korean. They are part beday, part seat warmer, the cadillac of public toilets, named "LooLoo" by a very smart company. But dare not test the buttons to see what they do as you will no doubt emerge from the loo with a soaked shirt only to be mocked by your peers who know that alcohol is not the excuse. I have to say that the heated seats are a wonderful addition to my public toilet-going experience.....or at least I thought so until I considered how many more germs linger on the hot bottom-warmers than the cold, wet, north american seats that we are used to. Another amusing thing that I saw was the "etiquette bell" on my DMZ tour. It's either a bell to get paper from the attendant or perhaps something to disguise the sound of you micturating from the girls nextdoor. Oh, how modest the Koreans are. I also laughed when I saw the jar of toothbrushes in the restroom of a soju bar. Koreans are very serious about the hygiene of their teeth and keep toothbrushes in sterilizers at work for a quick brush after lunch. Even my students have toothbrushes in the classroom that they use after lunch. Now if you can explain to me all the rotting teeth that I keep seeing I'd appreciate that. I was also a bit shocked by the fact that I don't have a separate shower in my apartment. Basically the bathroom is a wet room which is fine I guess but if you have to brush your teeth after you shower you are stuck walking on wet tiles or standing in your wet shower shoes. Although, the fact that you can sit on the loo and take a shower is quite great, especially when hungover, over-tired, or just too damn lazy to stand up.

The Yellow Sand Storms....

2007-04-02T05:39:00.000-07:00

Something called the yellow sand storms has begun in Korea. Dust from the Gobi desert blows all the way to Korea and covers everything that it lands on. Ok, "covers" is not the best word. Basically it just makes everything look sort of dirty and can be harmful if you inhale it. You can't *really* tell that anything is THAT different except that cars look like they are covered in silt and there is a strange smell in the air sort of like the smell of fresh sawdust. The cherry blossoms are also out on the trees now. I will take some pics when I get a chance. Our trip to go see them in the country was cancelled on Sunday due to rain but hopefully this weekend the guy I work with will be taking a few of us to see the blossoms before they fall off the trees for the season. In Pungam (the residential area that I live in) they are breathtaking in front of all the shops as it makes it look at a quick glance like the trees are covered in fluffy pink snow. I am dreading the hot season and the hard rains. I am also dreading the rain when the yellow dust is still around as I fear it could be extremely messy...

Photos!!!

2007-04-01T03:10:00.000-07:00

I have set up a Flickr account so that I can post all of my photos for everyone to see in a better format than blogger allows. Go to the following link to keep up to date on the news and I will slowly blog about the pics as I get around to all of them:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7596248@N07/

Rewind...

2007-03-18T06:10:00.000-07:00

Ok, so it has been a long time and still I haven't posted. Right now I will back up and explain a little bit about my last few days in Canada and my journey to South Korea.

My last week in Canada was a whirlwind of goodbyes in a number of cities including: Copper Cliff, Guelph, Markham, Kingston, Toronto, and of course, Wyevale. Thank you to Lin for a great Chinese New Year dinner; the rents and Auntie Wal for a Canadian last supper in Toronto; Jillie, Jode, Aunt Sharon, Sarah, Nansters, and all the rest in Copper Cliff for many laughs and much reminiscing; and the usual crew in Ktown for some great conversations and many revelations. Natalie and Sarah took me to Jack Asstor's in Markham for an illegal amount of dessert and the usual charm which I have always been so fond of (check out the pics of the desserts).

Packing was a challenging endeavour as a year is a lot longer than a week's vacation yet the airlines allow you only two bags...I will withhold my curses on airports and luggage...Sadly, I was unable to pack the kitten Rosie in my suitcase and am dying to get a pet here. The flight over was not too bad since I popped a pill 30mins after take-off and slept for about 8 hours. Upon arrival in Incheon airport I had to struggle with multiple bags, foreign currency, and phone cards that would not allow me to call Paul from the school to tell him when to meet me in Gwang Ju. *slight* panic in the airport but once I saw Amanda and Paul in the bus terminal in Gwang Ju all was well. Paul and Amanda took me to Kumho World, a VERY large electronics store with about 8 floors or some ridiculous number like that. We also went for galbi for lunch which is traditional korean barbecue that you wrap in lettuce leaves (pictures to follow at some point). I forgot about the Koreans' use of metal chopsticks instead of wooden ones and had an interesting lunch trying to use them...definitely *much* harder to use in some cases---Perhaps I will write about this little fact later...

My first day lasted for 24 hours since we went out to the bar that night. Surprisingly, I wasn't *too* tired and was really fine about it all. A million things have happened since then and it will take me a long time to catch you up on all of it, but I will slowly post random blogs about all things in Korea.

2007-02-09T14:58:00.000-08:00

I've been back in Ktown for a few days now as part of my goodbye tour which is intended as a therapeutic wrapping up of all of my baggage as well as a chance to drink my face off so I can take a new one away with me. All things considered, the experience has been positive; the negative aspects we'll deem "character-building" and leave it at that. It is incredibly surreal being here as I am now embracing the zen more than ever. That, or it is mortifying thinking of how discombobulated I was for a very large portion of my undergrad career. Little bit of A, little bit of B. Since I never seem to do well at anything the first time around I have been feeling the urge to go back to Queen's for another degree--a prime example of why impulse-control is imperative. Unfortunately, I seem to have missed that memo, just like I missed the lesson in grade 2 on how to interpret the hands of a clock. I know that we're supposed to learn from our mistakes and eventually we should figure out how to live in the moment without forgetting all the data that we've wiped from the drive...but my question really is if it will ever be possible to live fully in the moment? Where is the balance between knowledge gained and that which you have yet to discover? And what do you do when you can't see a way out, when looking forward is like lookin' out a snow-covered windshield? For now, I'm drinkin' a tea in Timmy's and eatin' a maple dip doughnut before I catch a flick on this mellow Fri night as part of my attempt to literally consume as much Canadiana as I can handle before losing my mind in a foreign land. Happy Friday, All...

Ain't she a beaut'!!

2007-02-04T14:32:00.000-08:00

Well here it is--after much debate and an awful load of guilt I chose the most expensive bag I found, in typical cin style. It's the 70L Eagle Creek Maiden Voyage and my new travel companion. Now if I could only learn to pack so that I don't topple over. Perhaps I'll take a cue from the Weebles since I'll be teaching Kindy (let's hope for the next few years that I just "weeble wobble" and "don't fall down"). And if I do go down in flames I hope I catch it on film...at which time I will share my embarassment and shame with the world via this little bloggety blog...you know you lovvvve it.