plug

Halloween 2006, dressed as Domino Harvey.  It is ok if you didn’t get it, nobody else did either!

Yesterday was Halloween here in Beijing, but since the date on my blog is still set to PST time I feel it is ok to post something in honor of the holiday.  Actually that is just a lame excuse and what I’m really doing is asking for your help.

My boyfriend and some of his coworkers have entered a 1min short contest for AMC TV called “Greatest Fear Video” and if they get a lot of votes their short will make it into the finals and from those the winner is to be decided by Rob Zombie, possibly getting to be aired on AMC.  Most of the time it doesn’t require anything to vote, no registering, no work, just a simple mouse click.  Even if you don’t have 55 seconds to watch their short, you can still vote.  But if you REALLY like me (or him) you can also register with your email address and vote again.  And if you have more than one (seriously, who only has one these days) then you can register all of them and vote from each.  I did, and the only email I have received is a confirmation of registration, so no worries about lots of junk mail or anything like that.

Anyway, they are only about 30 votes away from making it to the top ten, so your vote(s) can make a real difference!  Please help and feel free to pass this plea on to people in your address book and/or post the link on your own blog.  Here is the link, just click and vote!

Tim Tuchrello’s Greatest Fear

Sorry for the plug, but hey… you got to see a pic of me in a Halloween costume because of it!

UPDATE: First round of voting is now closed, so the above link is now dead.  But they made it into the finals, so read this post to find out more!

my personal hell

I didn’t take this pic, I found it via google images, so hopefully the real photographer doesn’t get mad at me!

So sorry for the long absence, but my two-month old computer crashed on me.  All is better now though and thanks to everyone who helped make that happen!  For some reason still unknown (probably a virus) my hard drive stopped working so I had to buy a new one.  The only place we knew of to do so was the electronics market in the Zhonguancun area of Beijing.  This place is also known as my personal hell.  It is floor after floor of pushy sales people following you around, bringing you to one stall or another, the place is crowded and cluttered both with people and merchandise, it is all about bargaining and striking a deal, products are generally legit but not always… basically all the things that make me uncomfortable.  And with all this we weren’t even able to find what we were looking for, but we went down the street to a smilar building only a little down-scaled and found it there.  The particular seller we bought it from was not one for bargaining and he didn’t budge on his original asking price, but the product works so I probably would have been willing to pay twice as much if it came down to it.  It really is sad how dependent I am on having a computer.

In opposite news, I did also find my own personal heaven in the form of a little cake at the bakery I walk by every day.  I don’t know what the bakery is called, but I do see them all around Beijing.  I also don’t know what the cake is actually called so I just call it “Heaven Cake”.  Perhaps I will dedicate a specific post to it later, but I haven’t gotten around to taking pictures of it yet.

Anyway, I will try to catch up on two weeks of blogging throughout the weekend, so stay tuned.

getting around on my own

Chinglish in the bus.

During language class on Friday we finally learned words for useful things like bus station, subway station, airport, etc.  Feeling confident in my new vocab, I decided it was time I try to take a taxi by myself.  I still don’t know how to say the name of the mall I live by, but luckily I have a business card with the address on it.  So first solo trip in a taxi was easy b/c I just pulled out the card and pointed to the address.  The driver asked me a few questions but I just stared at him blankly and all was ok.  Later I needed to go from the mall back to the subway station so I got in a cab and declared “Bagou zhan” (Bagou being the name of the station and “zhan” meaning station).  The driver looked confused as he repeatedly mumbled to himself what I had said.  Confidence now diminished, I pulled out my Starbucks map and pointed out the station.  That worked and he got me where I needed to go.

For the record, I have added one more word to the list of things I will say in Chinese outside of the classroom.  When ordering a drink at Starbucks the other day the barista asked what size (in perfect English) and I responded by saying “xiao” which means small.  Not sure if he understood what I said or if he was paying more attention to my hand gestures, but either way I got what I asked for.  So now the list includes “hello” “goodbye” “thank you” and “small”.  Languages aren’t my greatest strength.

Anyway, back to transportation.  At about 9:30pm I arrived back at Bagou Station and was not in the mood to blunder through another taxi ride, even if all I had to do was hand over a business card.  So I walked around the corner to the bus stop, not knowing whether they were still running or not.  Some were and some were not, and unfortunately the number that I had taken before was one that was not.  Unlike the subway system, the bus system has no English translations on the maps and schedules.  I knew that more than one bus could get me from that stop back to the mall, so I looked for the characters I thought were my stop.  As I was doing so, a bus approached so I ran to that number, quickly looked for the characters, thought I saw them and jumped on the bus.  Luckily, it all worked out and it appeared as though I actually knew what I was doing.

Best part of this story was during the bus ride.  We stopped at what I figured was just a red light (I was seated right behind the driver so couldn’t see out the front window) until passengers started getting up from their seats to look at something in front of the bus.  I too stood up to look and saw five 20-something Chinese kids in a heated argument.  Two guys were being held back by their friends, one eventually let go and the newly released guy took a few steps closer to the guy still being held.  The guy being held starting throwing pointless kicks but failing to make any contact.  There was a lot of yelling, then the one girl jumped in and led the vocals, swinging her purse angrily.  Through all this the traffic light about 20 yards in front of us was green, but the driver did nothing and just watched the scene unfold along with the passengers.  Finally the guy landed a kick, and even though there was zero power behind it, it still escalated things.  In an effort to hold him back, his friend accidentally knocked him to the ground but went with it and then had to cover his mouth.  Obviously I have no idea what was being said, but it must have been pretty bad.  At this point the traffic light had gone from red back to green again and the bus driver finally started honking.  The kids ignored it for a minute, but eventually relented and three of them went back to their car which was stopped in the lane next to us.  (This was only a two lane road, so with both the car and the bus stopped, traffic was completely blocked off.)  As we drove off the two kids that remained on the street were now on the ground in the bushes, one still not willing to let go of the other, probably for fear he would run after the car.

I found this extra funny since just a few days earlier one of my classmates had commented on how street fights in China were probably much better than anywhere else since a large percentage of kids study martial arts from an early age.  From this one example I would have to say that is a false statement.  Street fights are street fights, martial arts training or no martial arts training.

weekends are for eating

Yesterday we were invited out to lunch by the “tall Russian” we met at the Sanda tournament in Taigu a few weeks ago.  I don’t know the name of the place he took us, but I will def. have to try and find it again.  It was a good sign when we walked in and the place was packed with a sea of Chinese faces.  Fish tanks made up the back wall, and I am sure we could have picked out a specific creature to eat had we wanted to.  But we aren’t that picky, so after glancing through the menu (which included pictures of everything along with English translations) we let our host order whatever.  We had planned on making this a light meal since it was one o’clock and we had dinner plans at seven, but I don’t think there really is such a thing in this country.  So we had lamb and beef and soup and rice and shrimp and… yeah, you get it.  They did bring the shrimp to our table alive in a basket for our approval before cooking them.  They were on the opposite side of me though, so I didn’t get a chance to see them.  The only not so good thing was the fried milk.  It was the shape, size, and color of a twinkie, but by no means was it a twinkie.  You are supposed to dip the fried milk in the condensed milk, and the first bite actually wasn’t that terrible, tasted a bit like a fresh donut.  But as you work your way to the middle it is less crispy outside and more gelatin-like inside.  And I guess that didn’t classify as dessert, because then out came individual mountains of pudding for each of us.  That was actually quite good, not too sweet and included a little sliver of chocolate and some fruit.  All together, this qualifies as one of the better meals in China thus far.

By the time I made it back to the apartment, I had 1.5hrs before I had to leave for dinner.  We were all meeting at a seafood hot pot restaurant that a local Beijinger had recommended.  Despite none of us being very hungry, we ordered as if we hadn’t eaten in days.  That’s what happens when half the table was raised by Cantonese parents. 

side note: If you’re wondering why I eat out so much and spend so much money on food, it is because 50% of my social group here are foodies.  Coincidentally (or perhaps not so coincidentally) they were also all raised on Cantonese food, despite being from three different countries (US, Germany, and Australia).  I have to say, this kinda makes me want to plan a long trip to the south of China where the sole purpose is just to eat as much as I can.

I am actually surprised at how much I enjoyed this place, because even though I really like hot pot and I do like seafood, I usually don’t like weird (by American standards) seafood.  I ate as much as I could, but was not even able to fit one of everything into my stomache.  Not that it mattered, because I ordered the spicy soup so much of the things you throw in there end up tasting the same anyway.  Scallops and veggies and fish and meat and… yeah, you get it.  And yes, I even ate one of the fish tails pictured above.

I don’t plan on going back to this place unless I am showing off to someone who really likes seafood.  But if you are such a person and are in Beijing, I do recommend it.  I can’t tell you the name, but I can tell you how to get there.

David Beckham, representative white guy

I know to a lot of Westerners (though we usually don’t like to admit it) most Asians look the same.  Well, it works both ways as many Asian people say all Westerners look alike.  And to them, apparently all white guys look like David Beckham.

The other day I had mentioned something about my boyfriend to one of the female staff members at WLE.  Of course, she immediately asked if I had pictures.  We spent the next hour looking through online photo albums.  I keep forgetting to tell him this next part, but at one point she said that he looked like David Beckham.  I found this hysterical because, one… other than being hot and blonde there is not much of a resemblance.  And two…

After graduating HS in 2002 a small group of classmates and I went with our teacher to Japan.  There were three guys in the group, one tall guy with dark hair, one chubby guy with blonde hair, and one average height/build blonde guy.  During the whole trip the latter had people pointing at him shouting “Beckham!  Beckham!”  He was asked for autographs more than once, and the kids wouldn’t leave him alone when we visited an elementary school.  Granted, Japan and Korea did host the World Cup that year so everybody was in a soccer craze, but again… very little resemblance other than white skin and blonde hair.

So I guess in the eyes of Asians all white guys look like underwear models.  No wonder I see so many old and unattractive white guys here hand in hand with cute Chinese girls.

new “kids” in class

On Monday we got two new additions in our martial arts class.  One is a woman (not pictured) from Sweden, possibly in her 40s, who is studying TaiChi and has been to China through WorldLink before.  The other is a 20 year old girl from Wyoming, USA.  Interesting how all of a sudden the guy/girl ratio has now switched.  Before it was 2-1 and now it is 2-3.  It is a bit surprising for a martial arts program, but I think its cool.

The American girl has fit into our little group quite well already.  After talking to her about the accomodations on campus (which are not the best) I said she could move into the apartment with me if she wanted.  She accepted the offer but has to go through administrative stuff in order to make it happen.  So… I may have a roommate soon.  There are pros and cons to this, I’m not sure which outnumbers which, but I spoke before I really thought about it and I am not about to back out on the offer.

Right now, she is signed up for a ten week program.  And the poor girl is in a language class all by herself (the Swede is doing martial arts only).  Not sure if this would be an advantage or disadvantage, all I know is that if it were me, I would have a terrible headache after every class.  I already do anyway, and I only have to answer 1/3 of the questions the teacher asks!

learning the chain whip

On Tuesday our martial arts elective changed to a new weapon… the chain whip.  This is a big improvement from the other weapon we were learning and I am rather enjoying it.  Thought you all would enjoy watching me try to use it!  The above video is me showing off the first skill we learned.  When I laugh and shake my head at the end it is because our teacher told me to do the next skill which is swinging under the leg.  I have done it, but not on a consistent basis and am sure I look foolish even when I succeed.  If people are interested, I can continue to post videos as I progress.  Today he tried to teach us how to swing it under ourselves while sitting on the ground.  (There are plenty of videos of this skill on YouTube.)  I actually managed to swing it under twice when we were sitting on our side and allowed to use our hand.  When he told us sit on our butts and lean back and do it by just using our abs to get us off the ground… yeah, that isn’t going to happen anytime soon!

playing with needles

Using the doll to point out where the needle is sticking out of me.

The past two weeks I have been attending a cultural elective about Traditional Chinese Medicine.  Since the very first class we were all asking about acupuncture, during the second class the instructor promised to bring needles the next time, so for the third class I made sure to sit in front.  I have always wanted to try acupuncture, but the opportunity had never come up.  So when the instructor asked for volunteers I shot my hand in the air and stood up as soon as she acknowledged me. 

She chose a spot below the knee because she said there were no side effects from that point.  Now, I could have made this up, but I always thought people said you didn’t even feel acupuncture.  Not true.  I felt the needle inserted just as if I was getting a shot (with a small syringe).  Luckily I am fine with shots and getting blood drawn and all that stuff so this wasn’t a big deal.  After the needle was 1-2 inches in, she stopped and asked if I felt anything other than pain.  I told her that everything below the point of the needle felt numb.  Apparently that was an appropriate feeling because she smiled and nodded and said “Yeah!”  And then she started to play with the needle while it was still stuck in my leg.  There were two different “manipulations” she showed us, the first was rolling and the second was tugging.  This caused sensations to shoot down to my foot.  Not painful exactly, but noticeable.  As she asked for other volunteers I thought I was supposed to give up my seat so I stood up and only managed one step before both the instructors reached for me and shouted “No!”  Oops, not supposed to move the muscle when the needle is stuck in there.  That makes sense.  After that there was def. an increase in the pain shooting down my leg to my foot, but I had nobody to blame but myself.  So after this experience I am still interested in doing the real deal, as only doing one needle doesn’t have much as a point and it was just to show us how it is done.  But… it may have dropped a few nothces on the lifetime to-do list.

At the end of the class I asked about cupping and so today (the last class) they brought in the supplies for it.  Since it was my suggestion all my classmates looked at me to be the volunteer, but as I stood up she said it had to be a boy because they needed to take their shirt off.  Can’t say I’m not disappointed.  Guess that one stays on the China to-do list!

first peking duck experience

The Forbidden City was not the only touristy event of the weekend.  A group of us also had reservations at a restaurant in the Grand Hyatt Hotel called “Made In China”.  I know, the name is kinda silly, but supposedly it is one of the top five places to get Peking Duck in Beijing.  And since Beijing is the home of Peking Duck (also referred to as Beijing Duck now), then I guess it is safe to assume one of the top places in the world as well.  Never having tried it before, not in China nor anywhere else, I didn’t know what to expect and had nothing to comapre it to.  While many people rave about it, I’ve also heard it is quite tasteless.  With one bird now under my belt, I’d have to agree with tasteless.  The proper way to eat it, however, is to spread plum sauce on a thin pancake, put in a few slices of duck and some veggies and wrap it up like a little burrito.  While I wasn’t sure how I would feel about plum sauce, it is actually quite good and I did enjoy the many little burritos I prepared for myself.  They also give you the back fat with skin and when you bite into it oil spills into your mouth.  Some dip these pieces in sugar first to get the full artery clogging feel.  I tried that as well… not bad but I could only handle one.

We ordered the restaurant’s other specialty too, called Beggar’s Chicken, as well as a handful of other dishes.  While I didn’t dislike a single thing I ate, I have to admit the best part of the meal was a bottle of red wine from France that I shared with a guy from Belgium.   After this post and an earlier one about a dim sum restaurant we went to, I know it sounds like I don’t really like Chinese food.  Believe me this isn’t the case!  I have liked just about everything I’ve eaten here and know I will be craving a lot of it when I go home.  So far though, I have been disappointed in the upscale expensive meals.  You think I’d learn my lesson and stick to the cheap stuff, but I probably won’t.  The Peking Duck was at least good enough for me to be willing to eat it again.  I may even make it a goal to try all of the top five places and review them on this blog.  Stay tuned!

UPDATE: second peking duck experience

imperial palace aka forbidden city

inside the palace

One month in Beijing and I finally visited (what I would consider) the number one tourist destination in the city.  And touristy it was.  The crowd outside the entrance was intense, and the experience of being pushed and shoved through “line” was a memorable one.  Luckily the palace grounds are enormous, and once inside we all regained our personal space. 

I decided to go on the WLE organized tour rather than on my own for the first time because I thought it would be more interesting to have a guide, and it was.  Our guide was great, knew his stuff and also had a sense of humor.  I feel that I learned a lot in the few hours we spent there, and I am now really intrigued to learn more!  Despite my 15+ year interest in Asian culture, I know shockingly little about Chinese history.

Biggest surprise of the trip was that I didn’t find it to be a tourist “trap” at all.  Not one person tried to sell us anything once we were inside.  In fact, we were desperately looking for food but couldn’t find any.  That isn’t to say there is none of that to be found, however.  Like I said, the place is huge, an outdoor and indoor museum, and people say it could take a year to see it all (an exaggeration in my opinion).  We only spent about three hours there.  Another trip is definitely in order, but perhaps I’ll wait until the weather gets a bit cooler and hopefully the crowds will have died down a bit.