DAY 1 Fri, 2 Sep 2011

Woke up early, had breakfast and chatted with Sandy (guy working at my hotel). Breakfast is typical Western style continental, toast, little packaged muffins and cakes, yogurt, fresh fruit, kiwi or orange juice, and coffee or tea. 
I told him my itinerary and he suggested I switch it up a bit, so I headed to the center of the city on the bus. The buses are pretty easy, the numbers and all the stops are listed on a board, then you just stand behind that bus number and wait for it to show up. My friend Amy gave me a pass-card,  so I just buzz in on the bus, no need to fumble with change. I arrive at the stop Sandy told me, but I'm not sure where to go. 
I walk a bit and come across a Nokia store, so I went ahead and bought a cell phone for about $30. Finally! Connectivity! Sandy already told me that Nokia is the best brand--I guess it's pretty popular in China, but the cheapest one was Samsung 

I walk outside and i cannot figure how to get across the street to the square :( I run into a three Israeli guys and they show me how to cross the street for Tian an' men Square. Two leave (they also just met) and one, Daniel goes on with me, walking down the street eating Chinese bun with a jar of peanut butter. He was going to see Chairman Mao Ze Dong's tomb, it's only open few hours a day and you cannot bring anything in with you, so I left him and walked on to Gu Gong Forbidden City. 
It costs 60 to get in and 40 for the audio tour. Total is less than $20 USD.  Not sure how much I liked the audio. They ask you a lot of questions! I saw two tall blonde girls who turned out to be Dutch and asked them if I could tag along with them. We walked around gu gong for several hours. It's huge! Difficult to imagine one family living and working there and their day to day life. I'm definitely going to watch Last Emperor when I get home to get a better feel for it. 

Als ik jou mijn telefoonnummer geef, zou je het houden of weggooien?

After our visit, Willemijn and Saskia decide to go back to their hotel. I was kinda disappointed because it was lunchtime and I hoped to have someone to eat with. I just started walking toward Beihai lake, which my hotel suggested I visit after gu gong. As I was walking this girl said Hi! Hello! I figured she wanted to practice English.In China, so many people will come up to you and say a few words in basic English and then they usually ask to take a photo with you. It's so hard to imagine this in the US, can you imagine if you'd never seen a person that didn't have your same basic physical features? (Well, it's possible if you live in an isolated town in the mid-west and never travel, but still it's rare!)
I asked her in Chinese if she wanted to practice English and she was so shocked and happy! We chatted a bit then I asked if she and her friend had eaten. She said the food nearby was expensive and not good, so we walked all the way back down the street I'd already come down to find food :( Found out Lu and her friend Ren were from Qingdao (yes Tsingtao the place where they make beer!) , she came for school and he was on leave from the Army visiting her. I asked and no he's not her boyfriend, they grew up together since childhood! We finally went to a small shop that Lu said was good for pot stickers (pan fried dumplings) and I ordered niu rou mian beef noodle soup cuz I recognized the characters, but they didn't order anything! Ren said he wasn't feeling well. They asked me about what other places I wanted to visit in Beijing, if I preferred Italian style noodles or Chinese (I answered diplomatically and said they are completely different and cannot compare them), and how much money I make and cost of rent. All very typical questions! Culturally Americans don't usually ask other's salary or if they ask you how much rent is, Americans are like "um if you don't mind telling me, uh can you tell me how much it costs to live here?" but Chinese just go right out and ask. Of course I am not shocked because of all the years I have studied Chinese language and culture.
Lu is studying Chinese medicine because it's what her grandfather does and Ren is a truck driver. He hopes the Army will just help him find a job after he's done because he hates school. After my lunch we started walking towards a shopping center I heard about, but when we got there they said they were leaving since Ren had a headache. 

Again, I was disappointed to be alone. I took the bus home cuz I didn't want to shop that much and just relaxed and talked on the phone with my friend Ben in Sichuan, Chengdu who is meeting me in Hong Kong next week.
Later I went to a late dinner with a French girl i met online on couchsurfing before i left. Couchsurfing.org is a website I've been involved with for about 6 years now. The basic premise if that you offer your couch to travelers and vice-versa. Everyone has a profile, and people leave references after they stay with you. If you are not comfortable having strangers stay in your home, you can also offer to meet up 'for coffee or a drink'. It's a great way to meet local people, who usually speak decent English, and are fellow travelers and can help you get around. Depending on the community, local couchsurfers hold picnics, or happy hours, or other events to meet other people. I personally have only couchsurfed twice, once in LA back in 2007 and once recently in Vegas. I wanted to try it somewhere in the States, so I would have a backup just in case. And I always only choose females. The lady I met in LA was really nice and she took me out to dinner and to meet her friends, but it was inconvenient because during the day I was locked out of the house. Vegas experience was only one night, so I can't say to much about it. I love meeting couchsurfers, but of course everyone has different comfort levels and "house rules" and it's difficult to not have the option of going back to the place where you are staying (this isn't always the case, but it's common)

So, Louise from France is in China for a 6 month internship in the film industry and can barely understand when someone asks if she speaks Chinese!! I don't know how the poor girl will survive. We had crappy jia jiang mian black bean sauce noodles in a dingy shop with people watching a soccer match on TV, a bit of window shopping, then a famous cafe 85c from Taiwan that I'd been wanting to try in LA. While shopping the owner in a clothing shop wanted to practice English, well, his girlfriend said he needed to and forced him to talk to me! Haha he wants to move to US and girlfriend said I should help him lol. I told him yeah, I'll show you around LA and he said no, I wanna move East. I was like yeah I can understand, fashion industry needs to go to NYC. So we exchanged emails ::eye roll:: girlfriend was really persistent but he never spoke even ONE word of English to me! I asked if he had an English name and he said Pierce, but he couldn't remember how to spell it.  Louise and I hard to catch taxis home since it's late. We wait about 15 mins and there isn't one with its light on. Not a repeat of the night before! I see a couple of buses that I know will get me home so I tell her peace out and catch a bus. Overall a good day, still have yet to eat anything good though.

My place: Kelly's Courtyard in Beijing

I arrive in Beijing around 9:30pm and my friend Amy from high school took the subway to 'pick me up', it was helpful because she navigated us onto the airport "shuttle" and to the normal subway, but unfortunately during the weekday, the trains only run until 10:30pm!! Everyone was kicked off the subway and we had to find a taxi :( No one would stop and this bike & cart guy kept telling us to give up and just let him give us a ride. Amy told him he was too expensive, so he kept trying to barter, but really I was tired and didn't wanna ride in a cart for who knew how long, struggling to keep my luggage from falling into he street!

A couple of taxis stopped, heard where we were going and just drove away!! Ack! Amy finally decided, let's just get in before we tell them where we are going and hopefully they wouldn't kick us out! It works. Our taxi is pretty cool, we make it, but then it's pitch dark and no idea which courtyard it was :-/ Amy walks all through the alley trying to find it, and finally driver is like "yo! call them! DUH!" hahaha (yeah but said in Chinese of course), and Sandy, the hotel worker comes out looking like a shorter Alvin Abalos with his skinny legs and sandals :)

www.kellyscourtyard.com

To be honest, I was a bit skeptical when I found this place online. (click on the photos to see them larger)

common room/living room

Super cute, affordable, and easy access to several notable places in Beijing? Too good to be true! But it was all I imagined and more. Quiet and comfortable, you really feel a part of the traditional hutong style life in Beijing. The staff was so friendly and helpful with suggestions. Cost is about $60 USD per night

my room

patio upstairs

courtyard where the rooms are

 common room/living room

En route Wed, 31 Aug 2011

Jason drops me off at LAX, one of the most awful airports I have ever been to, a couple hours before my flight. It's crazy packed, and the secret check-in machine that I usually use is gone!! I wait in line, check my bag, go through security, no big deal. I really feel bad for those infrequent travelers who look so lost! If you are going on a trip and you haven't been to the airport in a while, please read over the airport or TSA websites, or give me a call and I'll give you some tips! :)
I hang out at the gate, charge my phone, and grab a chamomile tea so I can get sleepy for the first 12 hour leg of my flight which has a layover in Tokyo. The charging station is in an awkward corner and I end up just standing in front of a vending machine. Standing there bored when this little old lady comes up to me and says, "help?" and opens her hands to reveal a bunch of change. She points at the vending machine and makes a lost face, so I start counting it up and we're short. This other girl who is sitting on the floor charging her cell phone and laptop looks over and opens her coin purse so I'm able to buy the lady a water. It was so cute, the lady gives me the nickle and 3 pennies that we didn't use and smiles at me very sweetly. :) Next to the vending machine is a BestBuy machine with mp3 players and gameboys or whatever, so people are constantly walking up to where I'm standing. But here comes another little old man with money and a confused look! haha I guess word got out that I'm there to help!

My plane leaves LA almost 45 minutes late, but the pilot insists we'll arrive ahead of schedule. Luckily the plane is quite empty, most people can sit alone or share the five seat middle row with only one other person. Lunch is chicken with rice or beef with mashed potato. Chicken tastes kinds like coconut curry. Also served w salad, roll, sushi (cucumber and crab), crackers & cheese and a brownie. Hopefully I can get food coma and sleep? :) 

I overhear the flight attendant ask another passenger if she wants 雞肉 chicken or 牛肉 beef--ooh! Another single, young lady and she speaks Chinese?! Most of the other passengers are Japanese and Korean. After the meal and a nap, I approach her. Turns out she's Taiwanese--darn no China tips! :(

Oh well. So she just graduated from Michigan, we chat about travel, dating, and work. The flight attendant is Japanese, but studying Chinese so he can get a higher position and Shanghai flights. He comes by several times while we are chatting and asks how to say different things and shows us his study notes. I stay up most of the flight and watch Something Borrowed and Kung Fu Panda 2.

We finally make it to Tokyo and I'm stoked! I have been saving a free pass to the American Airlines Admirals Lounge and I knew Tokyo would be the perfect place to use it. It takes a few minutes to get off the tram, and up and around the airport, but I make it and it's all that I imagined and more! Couches, chairs, barstools, televisions, computers, showers, free drinks (including alcohol) and food! Grab some food and a chair and get comfy!

I had sushi, a sandwich, and a savory pastry and ginger ale from the fountain. Watch some tv, then hung out at the computer and checked in on facebook, wrote some people on couchsurfing, printed the map to my hotel and let them know i'd be in late. So convenient!

About 3 hours later, I hop back on a plane to Beijing! 

More food and magazines and I'm almost there!

obento and apple sorbet

egg, fish cake,tofu & a star shaped carrot, lotus, burdock root, seaweed, potato salad, and greens