Chinese New Year "Flower" Market

Victoria Park has a massive market set up every Chinese New Year that consists of everything from tangerine trees to inflatable condom cushions. I still don't see the connection.

This year we decided to go on the weekend, again. A bad decision, again. It wasn't as busy as last time we went, it was MORE busy. The huge crowd made it virtually impossible to see anything the vendors were trying to sell. I think I saw a couple flowers wedged in somewhere.

The only thing I could really get a glimpse of were all the various types of balloons floating around. This year lacked inflatable rats, I was dissapointed. Last year's Pig creations were much more entertaining.

"Beijing"

This is what Beijing used to look like for anyone who can not get there before the Olympics. All the old villages or 'slums' are being torn down or covered up in order to make the city look nicer. You wouldn't know it, but this particular village was only about 5 minutes away from where the Emperor used to live in the Forbidden City. Some of the old villages are hundreds of years old. All the people being forced out of these small 'enclosures' are being relocated sometimes hundreds of kilometers away to the outskirts of the city, or 'suburbs.' Many are happy about moving to a newer home, but not a new location. Instead of the people taking a few minutes to walk downtown, it will now take them a couple hours. Many of the poor people are being kicked out of Beijing altogether. Where are they going? That's a good question. Many are being moved temporarily because of the Olympics, but will they be allowed back in? I think the IOC is a total sham for letting this go on, and I hope at least one country boycots the Olympics because of it.

Walking on The Great Wall of China!

We made it! After a rather interesting morning we finally had a chance to see the Great Wall of China! The section we went to was the Badaling leg. Rumour has it parts of it are somewhat "fake" or slightly over-renovated, but it's still impressive. The two hours we had to walk it were once-in-a-lifetime steps - it's still hard to believe we were actually on it.

Beijingphotostaketoooomuchtimemyeyeshurrrrrrt!

Hooraa! I've almost completed looking at and editing down the few hundred photos I'd taken from Beijing! Everything is starting to look the same so I should post a little about our trip before it's all a blur. I will elaborate more in future posts, but the trip was very very fast paced, we didn't stop to sit for more than a couple minutes. Our "tour-guides" were morons employed only with the task of taking our money at every turn. "Cash Grab" anyone? Beijing is an amazing city, but you cannot go anywhere without someone trying to rip you off, no matter how you look or how you talk to them. It's a way of life I guess. I didn't mind so much having lived in Hong Kong for awhile, but my parents seemed to not like the bargaining and bartering for everything as much.

One tip for travellers to Beijing, do not swear at your tour guide, they don't like it. Naughty words are worse than complete idiocy to tour guides...

We spent a total of 4 days in Beijing, which wasn't near enough. I'd love to go back but not in the winter. It wasn't really that cold, but it felt like it being a Konger now. I think it went down to -3 while we there. Up on the Great Wall was chilly with the wind. BTW I'm going to post photos and stories along the way trying to keep in order with what we accomplished in our 4 day sprint.
The airport was dirty, crowded, cold, and smokey. Good first impression Beijing, make a note to Olympic organizers. The taxi ride into the city took about 10 hours, but it only cost 10 cents. Cheap taxi considering the thrill ride you get. I think we hit at least 10 cyclists. Mai's parents had met us at the airport so it was very nice and easy to get to our hotel. We were staying in the centre of the city, which didn't mean much as it takes 1 hour to go 4 blocks during rush hour. Walking is the best way around without question. Our hotel was decent enough and had hot water, so I was happy.

The first night we went to a really famous Beijing restaurant for Emperor's Duck. It was awesome! Best bird I've ever had. The skin was amazing, I usually don't like skin but it was pretty tasty. Apparantly George W has eaten there before. Mai's dad had to book a month in advance so thanks to him! After dinner we went back to the hotel(s) and had an early evening as the next day was the Great Wall and Ming Tombs!


I checked later, and yes! prancing and brisk walks are allowed.

Damn I wanted to doodle all over the fake hats.

First impression, Ming Tombs is probably better explored on your own, without a tour in a rush, as we didn't see much of the actual tomb area. It's really quite huge, spread around the mountains. Next time, next time.... You'll probably here me mutter those words a few times in the next few posts.

Mom and Dad in Hong Kong!

They made it! After a very long flight my parents landed in HK. They looked in good spirits after their journey across the Pacific. I can't believe how much they have done in the first 10 days. We even flew to Beijing for a weekend.

Mr Lazy Hong Kong / China

I have been crowned the new king of lazyness. With all my spare time and the amount of hours spent on the Internet you might think I could blog slightly more often.

First and foremost I should update on the trip to China with my co-workers this last weekend. We went to Zhuhai - it's only about an hour by ferry from Central, HK. Holidays to me mean sleeping in at least later than you get up to go to work. This was not the case. We were to arrive at the ferry pier by 7:40am to catch a 8:40am boat. I was actually on time, unlike the Japanese Sports Day which I was 1.5 hours late for (didn't even matter in the end btw). The boat ride over was the best example of pollution I've seen yet in this country. You could see maybe 50m outside the boat the smog was so thick. Everyone tends to blame the pollution on factories in China, but a lot of it actually comes from unregulated ship and ferry traffic which there is a huge amount of.

Due to the awesome view and the early departure, the ferry ride was for sleeping. No one dared come near to the 2 "Big White Guys." That was the nickname given to me and my other male co-worker Mark. We stuck out very obviously (for various reasons) the entire time. I should mention now that we had a Hong Kong tour guide, and a Chinese tour guide the whole time (waste of $$$ - glad I wasn't paying). My boss told them they would have to babysit me and Mark, ooh how little they knew (or maybe they knew too much).

Now in China, the group was set to go go-carting. This had been the plan, and I really wish I had put down some serious money on winning. Not only did I work at a go-cart track in Canada for 4 summers, I knew how to make the cars go "illegally" faster. With my luck the carts in China were already unregulated. Wow where they fast. At two points in the race I actually skidded off the track, across gravel and grass, and back onto pavement. It happened twice, once on purpose because it was so much fun. The staff weren't exactly bothered by anything. Had one of us blown up they might have gotten off their chairs under their umbrellas. The fools had also given me the pole position, ha, the win was in the bag. I won the race easy, even lapping a few other co-workers. This was a big deal on a 10 minute race with 1 minute lap times. I didn't get the fastest lap time though, this was stolen by the cheating Japanese teacher, cheating because he only weighs about 100 pounds. Oh yes, there were two Japanese male teachers as well, so Mark and I were not the only men.

After carting we cruised down the dirt/metal/gravel/deadbodyparts "road" to our hotel resort spa dealy. The hotel itself was very nice, a 5 star in China. Meaning it was more like your average 3 star American hotel. It was funny how out of place everything in Zhuhai was. There were huge gaps of nothingness and then bam! a huge hotel.

We stayed in the Ocean Springs Resort. Along the tour of the grounds we saw the hot springs, the pool, the restaurants, the 'bar,' and got a run down of all the stupid rules we were not allowed/supposed to break. After the tour we went straight to a massage about 5 minutes away from the hotel. It was more like 2 people who didn't have a clue what they were doing punching you in the back for 1 hour. I'm glad I didn't get the 2 hour option. It was super cheap, about $10 CDN for 1 hour. After our lashings Mark and I went over to this really weird restaurant beside the massage place (the only two buildings within 10 minutes drive - weird). We ordered and drank their remaining beers. You don't need to know how many they had. Some we took back to the hotel as well. The hotel bar was not stocked very well and for China it was way over priced.

So back to the hotel for dinner. Lack there of I should say. There was lots of rice, and lots of......mystery dishes I'll call them. There wasn't anything crazy like dog as you're all thinking, but the chicken could have tasted a little more like, I dunno, chicken! Also the soups were puzzling, I stayed away from them. Why not order something I like, you ask? I wasn't given a choice, it was all pre-ordered package deal stuff.

***ADVICE***

DO NOT order from set meals in Hong Kong or China unless the restaurant is very expensive and well regarded for having good meals. Why? Because usually it is cooked for the masses, has been sitting, tastes dull and chewy sometimes, and lacks display points.

After dinner we were still hungry - the 2 BWG at least.

From dinner until about 10ish we had free time before the whole school staff went to the hot springs together. Oh yes, I went to China with my entire school staff in case I didn't mention it. There were 25 on the trip I think, some stayed home. During our free time Mark and I decided to go and check out the 'bar hub' (as it was labelled) section of the resort. Wow, that took about 5 seconds. Everything was closed! Bar hub my behind! Instead we raided the convenience store and purchased a few of their finer vintages for our evening festivities. I'll mention it once and I'll probably mention it again, DON'T EVER DRINK BIJO! (Beejo? Beijo? Beigo? Some Chinese paint stripper drink it was nasty)

At 10 we all went to the hot springs. This was probably the most unique part of the trip (at least the most unique aspect I will print). They had all kinds of weird pools from the likes of Red-Wine to Chocolate hot springs. The water wasn't actually pure wine, but it was scented or something along that line. In total they had about 90 different ones. No, they were not all natural. My favorite one was the fish hot spring. This was the weirdest feeling I've ever had. You would sit in the hot spring, much like a regular hot tub, and these tiny little minnows would come up to you and eat away at your dead skin all over your body. Eeeehehehehehe it was the strangest feeling. I have to say my skin did feel better after about 30 minutes of fish feeding.

After the Hot Springs we had the evening to do whatever we wanted, and seeings how there was nothing to do at the hotel other than eat and drink (pfff or go to bed like sissies), we ate and we drank. Everyone ordered these special chickens that are unique to that area of China. Our tour guide recommended them. Can you say CASH GRAB!? The chicken was quite tasty, it came with the head and everything. I ate a whole chicken, as did Mark. As did Mark I say. Yes, Mark and I did nothing other than eat chicken all night like the nice boys we are. Some might tell you otherwise, but they are all liars. Fighting with hotel staff members and stealing fake flowers are all just figments of sober people's imaginations.

So "everyone" retired early to their rooms by midnight and the Chinese tour guide did not almost get fired, and the Japanese section supervisor was not hit on by Mark, it never happened. It was a win win situation for all involved and we awakened to a glorious smog enhanced sunrise, the END.

Stanley Dragon Boat Races

On June 19th Hong Kong celebrated the 'Dragon Boat Festival.' It's a national holiday in Hong Kong, so everyone has the day off to head to the beach and watch the crazyness that is dragon-boat racing. I'm really not too sure how it worked, but there were many different races around the city/country/whatever it is - pretty much anywhere with water. We watched a few on tv before I headed off to Stanley Beach. The boats on tv had up to 50 people in them, they looked like they would sink! When I got to Stanley the boats were all 20 people per team, so it didn't look as insane, I was dissapointed that none of the teams sank. One boat did crash rather violently into another which made everyone on the beach applaud with laughter. Although it was a mostly fun event, you could tell some teams were a little more prepared and serious than the others.

The photographers were also out in full force. Many of them would stand in the water knee deep to get a few shots of the boats landing on shore after the race. How it worked was the boats raced directly onto the beach, so it was slight caos with 8-9 large boats 'crashing' into a sea of people all at once. There were 3 categories, Mens, Womens, and Mixed, with a seperate category for white dudes and asian dudes. I think this was mainly for weight difference. I didn't stay for the finals as it all started to look the same to me and I only went to get some photos and I was alone and melting in the sun.

I would really recommend this event high up on my list of things you have to do in Hong Kong if you're here in June. Next year I'm even going to try and sign up for a team.

> Photos Here <

Honglish Names

Most of my students have English names to go along with their native Chinese names that I can't pronounce. It's convenient as it's easier to identify them, but many of them don't really know their English name too well yet, and some of them change it all the time. The 2 year olds don't know anything at all much, so they only respond to hand gestures. It has become entertaining seeing what crazy name the parents come up with for their child's English name. Not only is the spelling often wrong (sometimes intentionally) I have no idea where they come up with these names. Here's some of the stranger names.

Austin - I call him Texas
Icy
Kinki - who names a kid Kinki?
Marco - I think they like the Marco Polo hotel, honestly
Ching Ching
Sunshine

Kiki, Mimi, Yoyo and Jojo - they sound like the new panda names at the local zoo
Vivian
Happy
Sam - chinese kids should not be named Sam, it doesn't fit at all
Randy - see above
Winnie - does she like pooh?
Angel
Hill - huh?
Kitty - why not doggy?
Rain
Backy - Becky maybe?

Sheep - I'm not kidding, that was his name, as in baaaah baaah baaah

Chirs - Yes it's C-H-I-R-S. Chris I asked? No Chirs. That's how the mom spells it, even if it's wrong and everyone knows it. Apparantly as an English teacher I am not allowed to change the spelling of their English names even if they are very WRONG!

There's many more that escape me at the moment, but I'll add some as I think of it. And the #1 stupid name in all of Hong Kong goes to a local celebrity who calls herself....

Vincy!

What the hell is Vincy? she's a girl too.