CHINA:
We made our way to the tiny international Laoag airport where they processed us through in a flash. We tend to arrive early at airports and had time for coffee. I noticed an area where chair massages were taking place by the blind. They charge different rates for different parts of the body (no. …..not that that part of the body) and I started with my back, then a scalp massage and finally a foot massage. The price was so ridiculously low that I felt a little guilty but then I realized that it was a way for the visually impaired to earn monies and tips and I felt much better.
Friday evening, we arrived and took a taxi to the hotel but had to call the receptionist 3 times to get directions for the driver. We spent 30 extra minutes going thru a maze of one-way streets to eventually find this out of the way but cheap place. We got checked in and ate dinner and since our flight to Manila was not till early Sunday morning, we got to spend a full day there on Saturday.
After breakfast was served in our room the next morning Saturday, we arranged for the hotel services to do a rush on our laundry and called a cab to take us out to the Mall of Asia located nearby.
The nice thing about this mall was that not only was it large but the stores and boutiques were tiny like the size of a small bedrooms, which meant that there were 3-4 times the amount of places to window-shop. Before leaving the mall, we took advantage of the massive food court and also bought four different kinds of French breads and pastry to bring to the airport the next day.
I worked on our blog and then later that day our clean laundry was delivered to our room. They washed 3-4 days worth of clothing and did a rush order all for an unbelievable price of $2.25. We arrange for a wakeup call at 4 AM and the hotel shuttle to take us to the airport.
The next morning, we settle the hotel charges and headed out at 5 AM Sunday, only to run into heavy traffic just before getting to terminal 2. It was a breeze through all of the internal airport checks and we were allowed to even bring our 2 bottles of H2O through all inspection stations.
Our gate was not like normal gates because the passengers were required to take the stairs or elevator to the ground after checking in and then take a bus to the tarmac where the plane is parked. While waiting at the gate we noticed 2 long lines with of about 15 wheelchairs in each line waiting to board. Never have I seen that many wheelchairs at the same gate. With all those folks that needed assistance via the elevator and tarmac and up the old style boarding stairs, we departed late!
20th Sunday: Arrive in Beijing and Michelle was not there yet because she had a class and we were to wait at Starbucks for her.
We got Chinese RMB money at ATM…it was easy had coffee at Starbucks.
Beijing Airport terminal
The Renminbi (RMB,) is the official currency of China (People's Republic of China). Renminbi is legal tender in mainland China, but not in Hong Kong, or Macau. It is issued by the People's Bank of China, the monetary authority of China which means "people's currency". The primary unit of Renminbi is the Yuan.
We took a subway to get close to the hotel and found an eating place.
Subway map. Remarkable system.
Subway>>>>>>
Inside the Subway
Rooms have to use key swipe card to keep A/C on or cheat and use a business card. There was a sign in our shower that needed to be photographed.
A couple of hours later, Daniel arrived and we went to the market square and ate Italian Naples style pizza. The Pizzeria had a real Italian chef to oversee the authentic Naples style pizza and it was great. Nearby I bought 4 toy helicopter slings shots that have a light and look very cool when launched straight up in the air. It must have been all those years spent working at White Sands Missile Range to get so excited about the toys. We then go to the Forbidden City
We saw and photographed minority peoples who are permitted travel anywhere within China while normal citizens must get permission to travel to Hong Kong and other remote places for instance.
21st Monday: The girls and I go for coffee and Daniel left early to meet his mom and brother at the Airport. Michelle bought us a Chinese SIM card (Subscriber Identity Module) which is a type of data storage for mobile devices (phone) with load (she was so thoughtful).The three of us talk and catch up on our lives and later we meet up at the subway exit with Daniel and his family.
Maddalena and Gulio shower at the Hotel, then we check out and the Hotel allowed us to put all 10 pieces of luggage in storage while we visit The Emperors Summer Palace. This place was so huge that you actually needed a map to find your way.
There were numerous paths throughout the gardens
and to take and many venders
to see their wares
and very odd camouflage trees.
It was very beautiful and we were foolish to try to walk instead of taking the eclectic tour carts that were offered.
We gather our bags and go by subway and bullet train to Tianjin.
This bullet train gets up to 295 Kilometers per hour (very fast).
Inside the station.
From the train station in Tianjin we got into the taxi line
and find out that my and Nori’s luggage won’t fit in their trunk (small cars) so two taxis are needed. Michelle and Maddalena plus luggage and Nori and I plus luggage are traveling in separate taxis. Daniel and his brother go to get his motor scooter left at subway parking overnight and were concerned about it being stolen. Our driver is given our destination and of course we got separated in traffic and we can’t communicate to each other. Michelle calls to find out where we are and I handed the cell phone to driver to communicate. Thank goodness Michelle fitted our phone with a SIM card and programmed hers and Daniels cell number or it could have been disastrous. The driver gets lost but we finally arrive before the ladies in the very heavy traffic.
After being dropped off on the wrong side of the campus we get help from a professor passing by to get to the on campus hotel check-in. We get in the lobby and everybody arrives at the same time…all is well.
Daniel had to put his scooter in a taxi because his batteries were taken, it could have been worse.
Our room is on 13th floor, but labeled 15 because 13 is unlucky for Americans and 14 is unlucky for the Chinese, so our room number is 1517. We have a great view overlooking the city
and campus (we can see tennis courts from window).
There are two full beds, flat screen TV, 2 desks, 2 built in closets, 2 wood dorm style closet, a hot water maker for instant coffee (no coffee provided) (we buy Nescafe 1+2 instant packs for 16 cents each) and bathroom w/shower and room has A/C.
We cheat and stick a business card in the slot to have electricity or A/C. It’s designed to put room key (credit card type) in slot by entrance, only to be removed when you leave so your room powers down. Using a business card is very handy to have a cool room upon return. There is also a laundry room next to us. We unpack and set up our computer with free internet and cable. We go to a Chinese restaurant on campus for diner before we turn in for the night.
22nd Tuesday: We were invited to M&D room for Italian espresso to start the day. Due to jet lag, we just walked to nearby places and toured the campus. There are three dorms for Chinese females and one dorm for males. The dorms do not have showers, so there are separate buildings for showers which are also separated for men and women. Chinese dorms have lights out by timer at 11PM and front doors locked…no going in or out. No visitors what so ever in any of the Chinese dorms.
The International dorm has few restrictions with apartments and is a hotel as well with bar, lounge and small grocery store. There is a library, gymnasium with badminton and pool, restaurants, cafeterias, soccer field, 3 different tennis court locations, with one on the roof, post office, vegetable/fruit store, café, optical shop, basketball court, garden, courtyard where tie chi takes place all on campus.
23rd Wednesday: We went to a big outdoor flea market shopping but because there was so much to see that we only made our way down one row of too many rows to count. There were lots of bargains and you haggle for cheaper price of course. We then went to an old market place of traditional Chinese products for shopping.
All the buildings were in a traditional style of architecture that we are all familiar with. This was also enjoyable and we got to see most of it. From the marketplace we went back to the campus café place that had a small one man band singing, while eating pizza. Daniel and Gulio both played guitars and the regular guy sang.
I was impressed with the talent that the two Italians had. Later that evening we went out to get full body massages for five us while Michelle had to prepare for her class the next day. Two ladies were in one room and three men in other. The cost was $15 for 90 minutes. It was like pleasure and pain all rolled into one….Fantastic! When I get back to the Philippines, I’ll have to have the same for research comparison to add to the blog. It’s a tough job…so I’ll do it for the team.
24th: Thursday. Michelle had introduced us to Allie the day before, who was the president of the student tennis association and since she was going to be away for a week, loaned us 2 rackets. We went to the tennis courts that we could see from our window early and met Tian (head of Library room 320).
He spoke English and he welcomed us to play with the faculty. Play is every weekday from 7-9 AM for free for faculty and foreign guest. We play 5 games with the first team to win 3 gets to stay on the court as others rotate in. We played with folks mostly senior to us but we held our own. They did not stand a chance with my slice and drop shots.
After tennis, the young ones took all of us to a flower, plant, fish and pet market. They had a wide variety but nothing bigger than a big Siamese cat.
We had lunch at barbeque grill place just next door to the pet market (just kidding…and checking to see if you’re on the ball). We really took a taxi across town to the barbeque place which had everything grilled from corn, bread, squid, chicken, pork and other kinds of stuff one could grill if you were into those kinds of foods. For dinner we go to a Korean restaurant. Note to self… napkins are small and there is never enough. Again Michelle comes to the rescue because she carries napkins and small moist hand wipes with her at all times. We go back to our room for a movie and needed sleep.
25th: Friday. We were on the tennis courts at 7:00 AM for another round since USA leads 2 to 1. They broke up the US team and now Nori was the leader in games won. After play we returned the borrowed rackets to Allie. We went to a big shopping Mall (modern) and ate lunch at a French pastry shop and had Macaroons, French pastry and sandwiches that were in a slide out glass case…serve yourself.
I got 4 nice pullover shirts for $22.66 and found 2 cool and unique condom packages and a pack motion sickness devises. This high rise mall had at least 6 floors and shopping was endless.
It was also laundry day. You could buy a special electronic key for 10 loads of washes; it was so simple that even a man could work it. Put your cloths and soap in, close lid, power on button, and swipe special key.
The washer then tells you how many loads remaining after each swipe. We did 3 loads because the washer is tiny. The dryer is free but is all in Chinese and there are too many combo choices to get it right.
We had to hang all the clothing throughout the bathroom and window railing and chairs to complete the drying process. Housekeeping came to change bedding and clean bathroom and sweep. Our used towels are changed out daily and they replace shampoo and body wash too. In the states, hotels/motels usually have shampoo, conditioner and skin lotion yet in China; they have shampoo, body wash, comb, tooth brush, razor with tiny, tiny shaving cream, cotton balls, Q tips, shower caps, bar soap and slippers but no conditioner and no refrigerator. The toilet paper rolls are about 1/3 of the normal size we are used to so we also get 1-2 new rolls a day as well. The strangest thing about the toilet paper is that it has elasticity…in other words, it’s stretchy. It is a challenge to tear it from the roll.
After laundry and rested, we went out for a foot and back massage (clothing on) for $9, and then ate at a clean and cheap chicken dinner place. Later we went to 2 different night clubs that had live music. I think that my ears are still ringing. There is NO age limit for drinking alcohol in China. It was very loud, and crowded. Folks dress sooo differently here…there is no style, anything goes. There are vending machines on some street corners for condoms and dildos….that’s odd!
Girls wear very short shorts or dresses with short shorts underneath. Plaid for the guys is in and colors are all over the scale. Not too much subdued or earth tone colors here.
26th Saturday: Have not quite got the dryer figured out yet…had to put socks and shorts back in 5 times before we left at 11:30 to the wholesale market….so big, 4 city blocks.
We bought tennis rackets and balls, shuttle cocks for badminton and a mahjong set for Nori. The market closes at 4PM and only had street venders selling food and so we decided to wait to eat. We then went to new large 5 story mall 2 blocks long to eat.
They are still putting in a skating rink.
After we rested we went out for a late diner at a Hot Pot restaurant which has been one of the highlights of places to eat so far in China. This is a high end place that Chinese folks celebrate special occasions. Each table (even round ones) has a square burner in the center fueled by a gas tank from underneath like a gas barbeque. The double square pot is filled with a pork broth, garlic, onions and ginger. On one side you request a liquid spicy sauce and the amount you put in determines the heat of your cooked food. The other side gets no spicy liquid for those folks that prefer not to have their food spicy. From the vast menu, you chose the types of meats, seafood and, vegetables to be place in the pots. Each person is given a warm/hot cloth to wash your hands and face if needed. You then go to a condiment table in another room and each person gets a small bowl and places ingredients to mix up such as peanut sauce, sesame oil, hot pepper, garlic, celery, green onions, cilantro, soy sauce, ground dried pork, roasted beans and others that easily totaled 20 choices to place in your bowl to mix up for your personal dipping sauce. Sugar, salt and MSG was also available to add in. A side table had small plates that you could fill with rice noodles, tofu strips, Asian pears, baby cucumbers, baby tomatoes, and sautéed veggies to have as an appetizer. A small broth soup with green onions was waiting at your table when you came back from making your own dipping sauce. These cook by boiling. The meats and shrimp are cut very thin to make cooking fast and complete. The server brings out the sliced meats and veggies that you ordered and places them in the boiling broth. Everyone is given an apron to put on so your clothing does not get soiled from eating. After eating, another warm cloth is brought out for you to wipe your hands with. There is a napkin holder with toothpicks on the table as well. At the end you are given the bill and mints. There were 6 of us feasting and it came to $15 for Nori’s and my share together that included soda for drinks. I forgot the camera and sorry to say that no photos are available from the hot pot place. Nori and I like the idea so much that we are planning to come up with our own hot pot get together using electric cooking appliances to do something similar when we get back. Only our Blog readers will be aware of our plans.
Observations:
Traffic: Signal lights are either vertical or horizontal rectangles lights that can be centered or on the right side of street and left turn lights are large arrows indicating colored red (no go) or green (go) on the left or right side on intersection.
There are very large blue signs with white lettering in Chinese and drawings to indicate what not to do or cautions such as drunk driving, pedestrian crossing (we will talk about that one later), throwing trash out of window, and other clever signs.
Major city streets have a bicycle and motorcycle/scooter lane on the right-hand side on the road.
When vehicles come to a red light, the bicycle and motor cycles do not have to stop because they are not considered cars and have no rules. Imagine pedestrians crossing a very wide street and still have to dodge the numerous different means of transportation that can hit you.
What I did not tell you is that the majorities of these cycled means of transportation are electric and they seldom use their lights at night. These silent things are what to watch out for. Most city intersections are not like the four corners back home or a roundabout in Europe, but may have 6 different streets that merge into what looks like an intersection.
Money: The rate of exchange is about 6 to 1 in our favor. I’m told that you must have a bank account with i.e. Bank of America to be able to change money; otherwise you go to an ATM and withdraw from your checking or savings account in RMB currency. We have been using ATM machines….same rules apply for your safety here too. It’s very easy. The 100 RMB bill has a wide width that when placed in a man’s wallet, it protrudes out by ½ inch. Most merchants have a bill machine to run bills through to verify if they are real or not, so apparently counterfeit money is a problem in every country.
Places to eat/drink: Whatever you do….do not drink the water or have any drink (even alcohol) with ice, even if you have to drink it warm, not just in China but any country unless you get it in an sealed bottle. If you boil your own water…then that’s OK too. Nori and I follow these simple rules to the letter and have yet to experience any problems. Chain restaurants, modern malls and local knowledge of clean and safe (nowhere is really safe anymore) food places are ok to eat at.
We saw a sushi place in a shopping mall that had this conveyer belt following the counter seating in a zigzag manor with different plates of food or deserts for you to remove and eat.
It’s different but effective…I’m just not sure how the establishment knows who gets what?
There are lots of small moms and pop food venders that we could not afford to take a chance to eat from.
We do not want to get sick while traveling
Some names of places or products are odd and funny and that’s fun to find
The same goes for small stores in either strip malls or big malls, the names are cute and simple.
Shopping: The places range from huge 6 story, 2 city blocks long malls that has everything under the sun (you could probably buy sunshine in a bottle too) if you looked long enough. There are enormous open air markets that even university students visit to study business marketing in raw form. Available to the public is also the wholesale warehouse district that is so big and encompasses at least 4 big city blocks.
Generally they are divided up by category of goods instead of helter-skelter. I saw a clothing building and we went to the sports building.
It would be impossible to see it all. There is only small mystery meat on a stick, kinds of places to eat there too. Oddly enough, I found the stationary store in the sports section simply fascinating. This is a shopaholic’s paradise, hands down and we are not even in Beijing. Bargains galore!
Safety: We never felt unsafe at any time, even when we went down dark streets late at night. Some areas of the city close up by 9 PM and other parts are open past midnight. We did use precaution and common sense when carrying valuables and wallets. I found people honest and friendly. The language barrier is so big….you must have translator to get a taxi, eat out other than fast foods or at a mall, take subway or train. Daniel, who speaks, reads and writes Chinese on occasion must use an electronic translator to fully explain in detail to locals when ordering food.
City Sights:
Nori is often mistaken for Chinese and when out shopping, she is the one they speak to.
27: Sunday: The young ones had gone out till 3 AM and so they slept in and we wrote on our blog until lunch at 3PM at Helens. Helens is a hangout for foreigners because they have an international menu.
We returned to campus and Nori go to small mall on across the street for some shopping while the young ones rest. The escalator there was flat so a person could take baby stroller or shopping cart easily.
We saw very small washing machines
and other interesting items for sale as well. I bought 3 cold cans of German beers at an international store and brought them back for later that evening.
We were taken to a Chinese noodle soup place and had diner, followed by a trip to the Italian Style Town.
The architecture is very European and modern in the whole area. Just beautiful! We had a nice walk and stopped for coffee before going home.
28: Monday: Played tennis again and met up with Tian again and stopped by the campus track field where it was sports day for the foreign students to compete against each other. They were divided into 4 teams of 25 or so and competed in soccer, sprint races and tug of war. Nori and I visited Tian at his office and had a nice conversation. He invited Nori and I to their apartment on campus for a 5 PM diner and we accepted.
Nori, Maddalena and I went for a quick light lunch and a rest up before getting gift for our host.
We find out that bringing alcohol, candy/chocolate, flowers or fruit is very common to bring to a host. One has to be prepared to drink the booze if that’s what you bring and it is believed that it’s too hot for chocolate so we set out to find either flower shop or fruit place. We look at several fruit stands and some look better that others and find a small clean store that has lots of fruits and dry goods and spot 3 red baskets on top of some boxes in the back area. Nori and I are completely on our own without a translator to get the basket and fill it with a variety of fruit to bring as a gift. I summon a clerk and point to the baskets and he retrieves one. While I’m holding the basket and Nori is picking out fruit in her arms, the guy that climbed the boxes to get the basket for us takes it from me and starts picking the finest fruit that they have to offer. He is very selective and starts to arrange them in the basket. We realize that they know that we are going to give this as a gift and take complete charge with our blessing. The fruit is all removed and weighed and rang up on the register and then replaced in the basket, arranged, sealed with cellophane and a bow added.
We go back to our room and prepare for our outing at Tian residence building 3, room 802. We arrive at the building only to find out that the elevator does not have an 8th floor button. We go back outside to find a man oiling his bicycle chain and we show him the business card with home address. He takes us back to the same elevator and pushes floor 7 and floor 9 and we go up to 7 get out and he points to stairs to the 8th floor and we find room 802. This is a cost effective way to save money when the elevator stops at odd number floors. Tian wife who also plays tennis invites us in and we take our shoes off as we enter and slippers are provided for us to wear. We had homemade dumplings along with stuffed lotuses, shrimp, cherry tomatoes, sliced beef, boiled peanuts and beans and broccoli in brown gravy. We toasted wine and beer and later had green tea with Chinese cookies with a special cheese flavored candy from Mongolia.
We felt quite honored to have been invited to Tian’s home and served a traditional meal with a little extra flare. This is not that common for westerners to get such an invitation.
29 Tuesday: Met Lisa, Chinese friend of Michelle and the 4 of us went shopping back to the wholesale warehouse district and we had much more time.
We got mostly clothing such as shirts, shoes, blazers and bracelets.
Lisa took us to a very nice Korean barbeque place where you take your shoes off and sit on cushions at a very low table. The table has an electric grill built in the center and this is where all the food is cooked.
We ordered a sampler plate that feeds 4 and they brought lots of different appetizers and tea before the meal. We were assigned a personal chef to cook everything before our eyes.
The place was clean and the food was delicious. This was even better than the hot pot place that we went to just days before. Food is not expensive in China and vegetables are very fresh. I picked up the tab at a cost of $21.50 for the 4 of us.
We returned to the campus and Lisa asked if I could help her since Michelle was busy with an application for employment with the British Embassy for a summer position that would be available. She retrieved her notes and memory stick with all the forms and we began to construct a resume. We worked on it in our room till 11 PM and planed to continue the next day.
30th Wednesday: We met in the lobby at 8 AM with Lisa and she wanted to take us out for a traditional Chinese breakfast at the Chinese cafeteria on campus. We had warm sweet porridge and a type of crepe with a sweet crunchy thing in the middle. Both were good but the crepe was my favorite.
This time we go to the lobby to work on her resume and Nori stayed in the room. We are close to finishing but she must see one of her professors at noon. I asked Lisa to give me the memory stick so I can clean up the grammar and review it in its entirety while she is gone. We then meet up again around 3 PM in the lobby to complete the papers and Nori joins us but sits at another table. Nori happens to meet a young Chinese student who is studying English and they enjoy each other’s company. Lisa and I sit with two girls at a booth because we need an electrical outlet for the laptop. Michelle had to work and so I was only filling in for her. Michelle joined us when she finished work and did the final review and completed the application. We went back to our rooms to get ready for diner and so I had dinner with 4 ladies including Maddalena at the Café shop while Daniel was working on his translation project and Gulio was playing guitar at the Café shop.
31 Thursday: We had planned to go to the Great Wall and instead of going to Beijing and go to the touristy one, our host had not been to the one close to Tianjin, so, we went there. Daniel arranged for a taxi to take Michelle, Nori and I there and back for a flat fee.
This was great because the driver would stop anywhere along the way for us and it made the trip pleasant because we did not have to transfer from taxis and buses and walking to get to this remote location.
We brought food and had a picnic on the wall and not one person walked by us during the entire time we ate. It was like having the whole wall to ourselves and the sun was behind non threatening clouds, making to nice and cool. On the tough climb you have to pass a Buddhist temple where two monks insist that you light incense for good luck and then request that you make a donation.
I went first and lit the incense and then I was to put it in an ash filled brass bowl to continue burning. Well, I try not to play with fire and did not know any better and placed the incense upside-down and put it out. We all had a laugh and the monks had me repeat the process and I guess that erased the bad luck I had by putting it in the ashes the wrong way. We took lots of photos and enjoyed the day. I even had young Chinese visitors wanting to take a photo with me…that’s only because Daniel was not there.
He’s Italian and has a pretty face for a guy. Look for yourself at his photo with Michelle.
Friday 01 June: Day of departure to Manila. We were supposed to meet Michelle in the lobby at 6:30 and she would take us to the bus station to take a bus directly to the airport. Due to rain and fog it was possible that the road to Beijing could shut down so we went to plan “B”. We now had to take a taxi to the bullet train station and then take a taxi to terminal 2 at the international departure. When we got off the train, Nori noticed a sign that pointed to an airport shuttle, so Michelle made some inquiries as to times and cost. We decided on the shuttle and went outside across the street to catch it and there were taxis parked there too.
We had a 30 minute wait for departure and the cost was only 16 RMB each and the taxi wanted 250 RMB for all three and after walking away, the price dropped to 200 RMB. We took the cheaper way. I ran back inside the airport to grab some breakfast (Chinese ham and egg sandwich at Mickey D’s). Our shuttle took an hour to get to our terminal and we checked in our luggage, got our boarding passes and then went on the first floor to Starbucks for coffee (same place when we arrived). After coffee Americana for Nori and I and espresso for Michelle with muffins we checked the departure board. In our haste, I saw the flight to Manila departing at 11:55 instead of 12:55 and we quickly said our goodbyes with hugs and kisses and rushed to get through customs and then to the gate. After practically running down the long corridors and get to the gate we then realize that there are 2 flights by Philippines Airlines only an hour apart. I think that it’s odd but maybe lots of folks from China want to go to Manila …who knew?
Four and a half hours later we arrive in Manila.
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