Shopping trip to Hong Kong

This is the massive Hong Kong airport...I'm glad that I have always been with more seasoned travelers when I've had to use it! My El Salvadorian friend, Lupita, needed to take a trip to Hong Kong to close a bank account as she prepares to move to the U.S. and she graciously allowed me to tag along with her on a quick, two day trip. She knows all the great shopping areas and is a wonderful person--a great combination!
The famous view across Victoria Harbor from Hong Kong island to the Kowloon side (if I remember correctly!) I never got to see this view at night, but it is reported to be pretty awesome when all the buildings are lit up. Hong Kong is a confusing mix of island and mainland components that I can never keep straight. Again, I like to travel with those who know more than I do and are not so directionally impaired.
Clock tower at the harbor. This place was almost deserted, though I imagine that's not always the case.
This is for my girls! Hong Kong is such a shopping and fashion mecca and it shows in the cabs. We only have green, blue, yellow and purple cabs in Xiamen, none that I've ever seen with advertisements quite like this. And, is it just me, or does this cab look like an English throw-back to the times of colonialism? Of course I benefited from this city's past as it left a legacy of spoken English.
Shopping at the night market, also called the Ladies' Market. We didn't find too much to buy here but did get some cute little things for the kids. This is the site of some terrible acid attacks, one of which happened when we were in HK for visa changes last October. A disagreement had escalated and a man returned to the market and splattered a bottle of acid across several stalls, blinding one man (with whom he had a money dispute) and injuring several bystanders. There have been other random attacks with people dropping open bottles of acid from windows onto the throngs of people below!
This is a long, narrow alley with stalls on both sides; we had to squeeze through the aisles at times. Sometimes we felt that the shopkeepers' knowledge of English was a detriment since they could then understand our discussions with each other! If I was more confident in my Spanish we could've used that language, but my vocabulary isn't great. Speaking of that, one day back in Xiamen we were having a pedicure together and were able to converse in Spanish when we didn't want the people to know what we were saying. I felt triumphant to be able to finally turn the tables--it really becomes tiresome to not understand what is being said all around me, no matter how hard I try to learn. Of course I get it that this is China and I should adapt to Chinese or suffer the consequences but it takes time.
One of the many malls we visited--I don't recall how many stories it had, but there were a lot! This is the inner courtyard, showing the corridors and the floating escalator. Lupita knew of many shops that I was not familiar with and we spent quite a bit of time looking for clothes. It was so great to find sizes that actually fit "Western" bodies and not just the under-100-pound frames that most Chinese women seem to sport. We were able to score quite a few good buys and I stuffed the extra duffle bag I had brought with clothes for myself and the rest of my family, cosmetics with familiar brand names, hard-to-find food items like lentils and split peas (and chocolates and cookies from Marks and Spencer!) and a few souvenirs.
We had purchased Octopus cards in the airport that allowed us to use the airport train into the city and then subways and cable cars throughout the city. We rode the tall, skinny cable car just once and it was fun. We took seats on the second story for a better view and I wished my kids could've come along for the ride! This was a quick trip but I think we walked about 50 miles judging by the state of my feet and were able to enjoy some lovely sandwiches the likes of which I've never seen in our part of China, did some successful shopping, saw a few sites and enjoyed a much-needed getaway!

What's all that noise?

A few weeks back Amanda said she didn't feel well and needed to stay home from school...I wasn't so sure that she was actually sick, but decided not to chance it. Her room is located in the back side of our apartment or, as we call it these days, the cold side. I'm directionally impaired, but I think it is the north side and doesn't get any sunshine. She and I were huddled under her covers, watching Lost on my laptop when I heard a loud voice and music. When I finally looked out her window, I saw that there was some type of presentation going on in a seemingly empty lot that is next to a construction site behind our place. A lady was yelling into a microphone (that's the way it's done here) at a group of people seated under a temporary shelter. This is the view, with just a little bit of zoom, from the window.
A closer view of the action--of course I couldn't understand any of the yelling, but we figured that it was the ground-breaking ceremony for yet another apartment building. I could not tell how those giant gold lantern/ball things were suspended so high in the air, but I guess they were attached to the construction cranes.
Next came loud music and a dance extravaganza! We watched as these big puppet guys danced around and put on a show (I found out later that it was probably the traditional lion dance--will post pictures of the one performed at the kids' school for Chinese New Year soon).
It was hard to get a good picture, but several times there were loud explosions and tons of gold confetti was shot into the air. Here is the aftermath!
We went back to watching our show. When I looked again about an hour later, this is what I saw. Seems that the ceremonial stuff had to be taken back to the rental place right away! We will continue to monitor the progress of this building from our 15th floor vantage point, but we hope the loud banging at all hours of the day and night that usually means construction around here doesn't disturb our peace too much.

Hiking the weather station path

Very near our home lies a high hill with a weather station perched atop. We'd heard that it offered a nice little hike and a great view but had not tried it ourselves until a beautiful Sunday in late January. (I refused to consider a hike during the very hot months of August, September and even part of October and then forgot about it during the more temperate months that followed!). This is the main entrance to the hiking path--we could tell that there were other entrances for both pedestrians and cars but are unsure of their beginning points. I suppose this place has a name, but we don't know what it is!
Oops, my head was not supposed to be in this picture--notice the round, white thing peeking over the treetops. That is the top of the weather tower.
This is the back side of the "mountain," looking out toward the shipping yards and across the water to the mainland. Even on this nice, sunny day only the closest buildings were in clear view as the distant haze shrouded the far-lying locals. But we know that our hometown tends to be gray for pretty much all of January and February, so we didn't complain!
About half way up the climb the tower loomed large. We had to walk in the road since the path only covered part of the distance, but not many cars came up this way. Many people we saw were wearing winter coats but I was down to my sleeveless shell by this point! The general population seems to focus more on the calendar than the actual weather when deciding on wardrobe choices...I could not disagree more!
We reached the plaza at the foot of the tower. Pretty anticlimactic as we couldn't find out much about the weather station itself, but maybe a reader of Chinese characters would have been able to appreciate it more.
See the smog? I would've called this a clear day before seeing this view. Xiamen is considered to be one of the cleaner cities in China, thanks to the proximity to the ocean (I guess?). I've heard that one can actually taste the air in Beijing and Shanghai and it's not pleasant, so we are certainly glad to not have that situation here, but we have noticed lately that we are congested all the time. We assume this is a physical reaction to the air quality or possibly our allergies flaring up. Either way, it is unpleasant but not unbearable.
Another close-up shot. Our daughters like to say that this is a giant golf ball and golf tee set up. I wish I knew more about this thing...
Gotta love signs like this...I know we have funny signs in the US too, but I couldn't resist.
This is apparently a tea cafe of some sort. There was a little stand that sold small, packaged snacks and tea (served in Xiamen-style sets made up of a tray with a receptacle underneath to catch the spillings, a small pot with a wire mesh insert to hold the tea leaves, tweezers to hold the little cups while sterilizing the cup edges in a cup of hot tea and a number of shot-glass sized tea cups). We don't really know how to order tea and all the tables were taken so we didn't spend much time here. Even though this is right in our neighborhood and people tell us that we live in the "foreigner" area, we were the only non-Asians to be found. It was a nice day and a nice walk that I might try a few more times before the heat begins to blast us again...

A hike in the hills of Xiamen

One afternoon a few months back I went on a hike with some ladies I know. Three Western expats, three Asian expats and the teacher/owner of our Chinese language school met for a stroll over a mountain in the middle of the island. If I could read Han zi (Chinese characters) I could tell you the name of this place. Alas, I cannot, so I'll just call it a mountain. Apparently there is a military installation toward the top of the mountain, given its good vantage point and view, I guess. There were many reminders along the road to "enhance vigilance, guard against spy." I don't really understand what that means, but I tried not to look suspicious!
The sunny, clear day offered us a nice view of this lake part-way up the mountain. We have not had much rain for many months and this lake seems to be suffering. It might have been more of a reservoir than a real lake, but it was pretty anyway.
The city of Xiamen has lots of bougainvillea bushes all around but they are usually much less spectacular than the ones I've seen in Hawaii and Mexico, so I was glad to see this one with many flowering branches instead of just a few small blooms.
There were some residential areas along the way, complete with vegetable gardens. The lettuce looked so inviting! They were not rice paddies but the way they were laid out reminded me of the paddies we used to see in Korea. Seeing these gardens made me miss "our" farm back home even more than usual--I'm still paranoid about getting sick and, therefore, don't eat much salad. I plan to make up for it upon my return home!
Teamwork...this couple was not more than 5 feet tall and their bag was almost as big as their bodies! I don't know what was inside it, but it was clearly very heavy. They were making their way down a pretty steep grade and handling it well so I figured they must've had some experience in carrying large loads yoke-style. I'll say it again, these are hardy folks over here!
This cute little cafe celebrated the bikers who supposedly ride down this road. I took this picture for my bike-loving brother. I have no intentions of biking up or down this road, partially because I don't like steep roads, partially because I'm afraid of being hit by one of the millions of crazy drivers we have and partially because I don't have a bike! It's frightening enough to walk along the sidewalk, let alone try to manage riding in the roadway.
This is the view back toward the city. We try to relish the clear days here since we have plenty of over-cast, smoggy days too. Now that it's winter, we have many more cloudy days than sunny...but the steamy hot weather is also gone, so I have to count my blessings.

I tested the zoom lens on my small camera to get a snapshot of the big Buddha carving in the side of the mountain. It is hard to gauge the size in the picture, but it sure looked giant from where we stood across the gorge. Note the tree branch in the foreground for perspective, if that helps. We stopped toward the top of the mountain at a hidden restaurant for lunch. We shared green beans, eggplant, rice and the other ladies had chicken of some sort and had an amazing view. We would've never known this place existed if not for the Chinese teacher who seems to know everything about Xiamen! We were the only customers, possibly because there was a large, black dog that barked menacingly at us when we entered the long driveway. We found out quickly that she had a little of young puppies to guard, but she calmed down after the lady of the place gave her a talking-to. I was glad to find that this restaurant was not so different from the Sichuan place near our home, and not like the one further down the road that offered both cat and dog on the menu! Again, my understanding of Han zi is very poor, so I only know about the meat choices because one of the other ladies read the signs. Must be very careful here in the south of China! All in all, it was a good day and a nice way to spend a few hours.

Christmas decor--Asian style

Well, we knew that Christmas over here in China would be different that what we are accustomed to in the US, but it was a bit sad to see so much plastic junk everywhere (okay, we see that at home too, but not exclusively). Apparently Christmas means snowmen and trees and Santa; again, not completely different than at home, but clearly there is no religious connection made whatsoever in the Middle Kingdom. Not so in the Philippines, which was part of why we wanted to go there during this time of the year. Not only do they speak English, the country is also predominately Christian and very into Christmas! Enjoy the following Christmas ornamentation... Since I'm not as tech-savvy as I'd like to be, I cannot get the pictures on here to change order once they've been uploaded. I do not like this...but I don't want to make it disappear all together. This is from our post-Christmas shopping trip to Zhongshan lu, a big pedestrian shopping street in Xiamen. We were on a hunt for Ugg/Bearpaw type boots for the girls and were thrilled to find them in the colors and sizes we wanted for a decent price. This lovely pink and silver monster of a tree is in front of the swanky PCD department store (of trick-or-treating fame...)
The PCD display in the front entry of the store--no crowd to dodge this time like we had at Halloween.
We decided that a tree was a must, even though it ended up being a rather small, plastic one. We really missed going through our large box of decorations, remembering who gave them to us/when each child made them as each is unwrapped and carefully hung. It has become tradition for us to do that each year, so hanging a few little cell-phone charms and star- and Rudolph-painted clothespins just didn't have the same feel! But it was better than nothing, as we told ourselves repeatedly.
The girls' school put on Christmas concerts for the parents (I was less than thrilled that the lower school started at 9 a.m. and the upper school at 2 p.m., meaning that I had to mill around the school all day long, but it gave me the chance to have lunch with Amanda and relax in the library between shows). Interesting that there were many Christian-themed songs sung...not sure how many religions are represented at this school, but I'm guessing there are at least a few.
Look closely and you....won't see either of my kids. Choosing the pictures requires a bit of squinting on my part as the thumbnails don't want to be enlargened. Why is it that I can delete a picture on accident, but not when I try to intentionally?!
Very prominent Christmas tree and sea of poinsettias displayed in the courtyard of the school.
More poinsettias in the Xiamen airport.
I don't think we're in China anymore...tropical nativity scene, set up in the Manila airport.
I know that nuns are not actually decor, but we see them so rarely in China or elsewhere that I couldn't resist. It also struck me as funny to see them making calls on the payphones, though I couldn't explain the joke if I had to!
The international school on Boracay's island hosted a Christmas bazaar right in back of our hotel and a sandal-clad Santa indulged us one photo.
Sand-sidewalk Christmas lights display at one of the hotels.
Our hotel lobby tree (as an aside, can you believe my 13 year old is almost as tall as me now?!)
Our apartment complex erected a tree while we were gone. We were so surprised to see it...it was cute but we didn't really love the big Santa heads!
Our little tree got a bit more festive after a last-minute trip to Metro (the French version of Sam's Club, stocking mostly Chinese stuff but also a good bit of Western things). We found a bucket of silver decorations that weren't too junky to help our tree be less anemic. Tree skirts do not exist here and I never made it to the fabric market to get a length of cloth as I had intended, so a newly-donated striped towel did the job (thanks again, Tina and Mark!). I can't help but think of our time here as being similar to camping--an ill-equipped kitchen, no central heat, primitive-ish clothes-washing, no dish washer, and the need for multi-purposing at every turn! But we like camping, so it's not completely unfamiliar.
Yes, that is a gift wrapped in a page from a magazine. We got desperate after running out of wrapping paper (the rolls are really tiny here and rolled so tight that the actual act of wrapping was beyond frustrating). Actually, we were quite pleased with the results!
We hope you all enjoyed your Christmas this year!

Holiday visit to Boracay, Philippines

When we were contemplating living in China, one of our goals was to see as much as possible while in Asia. Given the fact that our children's international school has both Western and Chinese holidays, we thought we'd have lots of time to travel without taking them out of school. As is common in those before-you-know-what-you're-talking-about ideas, we found out after we got here that EVERYONE in China travels during the national holidays (especially Chinese New Year, February-ish depending on the lunar calendar, when schools are closed down for a month) making it not only difficult to get good tickets but also undesirable to stay in the country or in our "resort city" which can be inundated by visitors. Also, by the time December rolled around, we were really wanting a bit of a break from China. We justified a lovely vacation on White Sand Beach in Boracay, Philippines by telling ourselves that we will likely not have another chance to travel there; it's not China, but it's still new and exotic to us! I will not trouble you with all the trials of getting this trip planned but, suffice it to say, we were glad when everything was in order and tried hard not to think about what was going to go wrong at the next turn. We pulled the kids out of school a day and a half early so that we could spend a week on vacation and still be back in our (temporary) home for Christmas Eve. What we did not quite realize when booking a trip to one of the 7,000+ Philippine islands was that it would take us pretty much an entire day to get to our resort...a plane ride, a three hour lay-over in what must be the most boring capital city airport, another plane ride, a bus ride (mercifully booked in advance with the hotel and accompanied by guides who had our name on a placard in the airport--didn't you always want to see your name on one of those?!), a very dark ride on an out-rigger boat with huge orange life vests and one nervous 9 year old daughter and a van ride to the door of our place. Whew! Thankfully the restaurant was still serving dinner at 9pm when we finally arrived.
We did plenty of relaxing beach- and pool-side but also found time for some little adventures. Only the second half of the photos are on my computer so I'll have to start with the end of the week. We found the only place along the beach that offered sea kayaks and took turns paddling and enjoying the view of the supposedly less expensive and also less crowded end of the beach. We think we'll have to look for this kind of kayak once we return home--sitting up higher in the boat was so much more comfortable than the sitting-in-the-water type I've used in the past.
We had to do a bit of dodging of the other watercraft but managed to avoid any collisions.
Gene and Liz made it to the top of the highest peak on the island on their dune-buggy foray. The big mountains in the background are the island we landed on and took the 1 1/2 hour bus ride across, the strip of ocean in between was crossed in the dark. The island is sort of bone-shaped with a long skinny area down the middle and two larger sections at either end. This view is of the windier side, home to the kite surfers (see below) and a not so perfect beach (a bit too rocky to attract the tourists who don't kite surf).
Another view from the buggy riding trip. We so loved the clear skies and were thrilled to see stars at night! Oh, the things we hardly notice until they are gone...even though we live in a rather clean city by Chinese standards, I still don't see enough stars for my liking.
The pollution machine that Daddy really wanted to try--the two more sensible members of the family stayed back at the beach! Good thing, too, since I found out later that they drove the thing on the roadway for part of the time. They had a blast!
Along the walkway to the other side of the island there were several little fenced-in yards that housed numerous roosters, each tethered to a numbered sandwich board. I used my keen sense of deduction to figure out that these birds are used for cock-fighting battles. They also did a good job of making sure no one took a relaxing nap as they made noise all day long. We were glad to be far enough away from them to not have to deal with that, a benefit of staying in the "high rent" area.
The girls didn't want to make the trek but Gene and I were sure glad we did. The two ends of the "bone" made a protected cove of sorts that was a haven in the late afternoon for windsurfers and kitesurfers. I have no innate need for speed, nor the upper body strength, to try such a sport, but they were amazing to watch!
This is the "sidewalk" that ran the length of the island, right off the back decks of the hotels, bordering the beach. It was lined with all types of little bars and restaurants and, unfortunately, people hawking their various wares. We tried not to let it get to us too much, we all have to make a living after all, but it was quite tiresome to be asked repeatedly if we wanted to buy sunglasses, have a massage, go for a sailing ride, get our hair braided, etc. We found that walking along the beach was a little more peaceful, but it was also in the beating sun. One our 15 minute walk to the kayak place, Amanda counted 27 solicitations!
We had a family room, with a separate bedroom for the girls and a little front porch with a bistro set. Our balcony in Xiamen is nice, but the front porch was much more like home for us (and we didn't have to constantly wrestle with those nagging little thoughts: what if I forget that it's a bad idea to throw my coffee cup over the railing...what if I accidentally toss my wedding ring over the edge...I've heard that other people don't have these thoughts, but Gene and I both do!)
We said a silent prayer that none of us would need to avail ourselves of emergency medical care, and another for those people who have no choice but to use this place...I sort of over-looked the fact that there is rampant poverty in this area and we were all reminded to be thankful for the blessings we've been given.
We enjoyed glorious sunsets almost every night (and discovered that our camera has a "sunset" setting!) All in all, we had a great time in Boracay and had a bit of a hard time leaving.