Wednesday Shopping in BEIJING

Catching some lunch before shopping

16 October, Morning (well, it is here anyway),
Thursday in Beijing, and we are leaving tomorrow. Been here over a week, and have had a marvelous time! Yesterday went back to the Silk Market, where they sell all the knock-offs and clothes and anything you can imagine. We had all written out what we were going to get - Caleb needed a jacket for Tibet, Lianna still wanted sandals!!! She's been looking since... May? Artemis, another Juicy bag, and I wanted some Mao T-shirts and T-shirts with the communist star in the middle. So off we went, but upon arrival realized we were all hungry.

So we walked around a bit. There was a Kenny Rogers Roasters restaurant, serving up woodfire roasted chicken and playing Kenny Rogers music. We passed on that, moving around, but finding ourselves at a corner, looking around with no restaurants in site. A woman across the street motioned to me that we were looking for food. I said yes, and she pointed to a doorway in the middle of a building. Looked like... nothing. So I took the bait and went over the looked in: a small room with some tables, clean, with many middle class Chinese.

I noticed in the middle of the table there was a hot plate, and realized it was the type of restaurant that serves a boiling soup base, and you order stuff to put in it and cook it right there. So I called over the troops, and we went in. The waitress didn't speak any English, but was very good at using sign-language, pointing to the menu, and communicating using Chinese at the same time. Luckily all the menus in Beijing have photos, which makes ordering much much easier. So we ordered a bunch of things, including some kind of meat, and another type which looked like... chicken. It all came and it was all great, and we had a great lunch, enjoyed by all, and all for 15 bucks.


One glimpse of shopping area

We then went to shop, which we did. We bargained like pros, and got right down to the bone. L & C got themselves 3-in-1 jackets, with fleece linings and wind/water resist outers, for 22 bucks. Artemis got herself another Juicy bag, for a hundred!!! Yuen, which is like 16 bucks. But way too high. She has to go back to bargaining school. She also got a T-shirt (fancy one with sequins and a large image, by some hip designer) for 50!!! Yuen, and our target price was 10. Hmmmmm. She loves them anyway. Dad got T-shirts! Mao, another revolutionary hero (not that Mao is: he is hated by some, and loved by others), and the communist star: 7 for 140, which is 22 bucks. L finally got her sandals. A Chinese brand, not a knock-off. They're made in the US. Just kidding.

C also got a great zip-up sweatshirt, which he did great on, getting it for 40 Y, and two T's for 45, which is great. All the girls in the market commented on his bargaining ability, and on how cute he is! There are mostly girls working in the market, and many are quite young, like early teens. One yesterday was 14. Oh yeah, we also got 12 DVDs for viewing on the trip, for 1.50 each (CDN). Then back to the hotel, freshened up, and off to the Chinese Acrobat show.

Bloody Cabbie took us for a ride, but we got there. The show was charming and delightful. The theatre was run-down, there were many Chinese tourists, as well as some Westerners. We all had a great time. Was like being at a village festival.

Famished after the show we looked for a restaurant, and happened upon a Korean bbq type place, with a place in the middle of the table for hot coals and a grate. There was a chimney above it. We looked through the menu, avoiding the dog, and sticking to beef, lamb and chicken, and of those just the parts we're used to, not the brains, genitalia, etc. It was great fun, and great food. We all partook in some beer, except for Artemis, who stuck to Sprite. Full and content, we went home and all passed out. Beijing's been great.



Checking out new stuff in hotel room


The next part of our journey begins Friday, when we take a night train to Xi'an. We arrive in the morning, drop our bags at our hotel, and then head off to see the Terra Cotta Warriors. Spend the night, then embark the train to Lhasa Tibet. We will spend all day, that night, and the next day on the train, and arrive in Lhasa that evening around 8, where we will be met by our guide, taken to our 5-star hotel, and begin our 4 day tour of Tibet. After that our guide and private jeep will take us to Nepal, where it turns out Lianna's cousin (whom we saw at the wedding, Nicholas, around 20) will be as well! So we'll meet up with him. Stay tuned.
Love Mark

The Olympic Site - Tuesday

Lunch for adults, Breakfast for kids

Our schedule lately has been a slow morning. Mark and I get up, actually Mark gets up first around 7:00. He writes and checks email on the computer, news etc. I get up around 8:00 and go down with him for breakfast which end by 9 am. I am also waking up around 3 or 4 in the morning when I do a bit of meditating. My meditating is not going that well however, too many distractions of the day and mainly I think just too tired to relax - does that make sense. Anyway we head down for a lovely Chinese breakfast of who knows what but there are always eggs - boiled or fried, wonder bread like white bread and COFFEE! It is sweatened and has maybe condensed milk in it but very delicious. Breakfast is also a major deal of $1.50 each for the buffet so who can turn it down.
We return to the room and the kids are just getting up or reading in bed.

On this day we didn't actually leave the hotel until around noon and by then we were all hungry. Found a great place around the corner from the hotel, probably some of the best food we have had so far with a soupy fish dish, tofu in sauce, sweat and sour pork-best I have ever had in my life! and some rice. Kids are eating everything that comes to the table as well. Its fantastic to have children who eat everything or maybe they are realizing that they have no choice so they have adapted to whatever comes up.


on the Subway

We venture on the subway to the Olympic site. The subway is new, clean, large. It takes us 5 transfers to get to the Olympic site as we are located mid town and it is at the very north end of the city. Our first reaction after getting off the subway is of WOW! We can see the birdsnest and other Olympic venues from this point and it all looks amazing not to mention that the walkway towards the venue is at least 30m wide, there are kites flying everywhere, the weather is gorgeous and people are milling around everywhere.

Caleb instantly bargains for a kite and Mark for a t-shirt. Just can't stop those two. Artemis wants an ice-cream but the one we end up getting is really frozen sweet green bean which I end up liking very much.

The Birdsnest is now open for viewing luckily for us. It is an archetectural masterpiece. It is a large scale piece of incredible modern art. The whole site it like this.





Birdsnest Shots



The Aqua Cube is out of this world. The walkway through the Olympic site must be 3 km long with lights on the ground and along the walkway, buildings that housed the Olympics all along walkway, each unique and amazing in its own way. There is an underground garden, a river running next to the site with fountains and music. One has to go to really appreciate the splendor.

We are there for a good 3-4 hours and are about to leave as it gets dark, when the light shows begin. First on the Aqua Cube, then the dancing of the fountains in the river.

As I see it, the Chinese are just exploding with creativity. You can see it all around the city but the Olympic site really presents the ultimate in magical living art. Yes I was impressed.



AquaCube - and others


Had a strange dinner later at a hotel like restaurant, except quite shabby. I was starving and pushed to the limit by this point so was ready to take anthing. Although the food was moderate the waitresses were bizarre and basically out to lunch. Upon leaving we are accused that our money is not good - there was a tiny rip on the top of one bill. its been difficult to get rid of this bill as everyone we present it to thinks something is wrong with it. The male money checker, who was hiding behind a desk the whole time is freaking out. I give him another bill, he is still freaking out. Mark is angry that they are all nuts. We all get out of there quickly, get in a cab quickly and head to the hotel.

A day of unexpected experiences as all days have been.

Lianna

Mon/Tues Beijing -FORBIDDEN CITY

Outside the gates of Forbidden City

Kids were tired last night, so they stayed here at the hotel and ate on their own in the hotel restaurant. The food is quite good, especially the dumplings, which are a Beijing specialty.

Lianna and I headed out to the Szechuan food area, known for its spicy dish restaurants. After getting out of the cab, we realized we only had a little bit of money. We walked around, and found this very cool restaurant filled with young people and a great atmosphere, so we ventured in. On the tables were large shallow metal pans, which were suspended over another pan holding hot coals. In the pans were whole fish, smothered in chiles and other wonderful items.

Our waiter - and every waiter there - spoke nadda English. We looked at the menu, trying to figure out what 38/500 meant, and eventually it dawned on us that it was the price by weight. When you order a fish, they bring it - live - to your table in a net, for inspection. The catfish he brought was not that appealing, so I went to the back with him and asked in sign language for a different kind of fish, which he eventually brought out. However the fish was going to cost more than we had, so back to the table we went. All the while the owner, behind the counter, is yelling at the poor guy, and he now has no idea what we want. I show him my money, trying to tell him we have very little, but he is unimpresed, and does not understand. Finally I point to what I think is a chicken dish. The price is 38/500, with a 1000 minumum, which is fine, as we have enough for that. I cross off the two fish dishes he wrote down, and point to the chicken. OK. All is good.

L and I sit back and enjoy the atmosphere, looking at the great fish dishes everyone is eating. Finally our food comes. It's the fish we couldn't afford. We look at each other, and dig in. It's too late to do anything about it at this point. And no, they don't take credit cards, which is standard for most restaurants. The only thing I can think is that I have some emergency US cash in my wallet. We eat, enjoying the fish tremendously, and as we do so a white guy comes in with two Chinese girls. I looke at him as we eat, smiling to each other. I'm thinking "Dude, you will be my saviour". The bill comes, and it's 206... we have 184. And the fun begins. I go to the white guy, asking him if he speaks English, which he does, as well as Chinese and French, as he's from France. Turns out the owner won't take the US cash - claims he doesn't know the exchange rate. Right! Like anyone in China knows that. So the French guy offers to buy the US cash from me. Thank you mister French man!!! We leave there without having to wash a single dish.

At home the kids are in bed reading. They had a great meal in the hotel. It was a great day. In the afternoon L & A and I went for a bike ride to the Forbidden City, which we then toured around. Caleb was tired and stayed at the hotel, break dancing and talking on Facebook, although he said he wanted to catch up on homework.



The Forbidden City was actually immense. We rented some autoguide recorders and strolled through, with about a million Chinese tourists. It was quite fun, and very impressive. The place dates back from 1492, and is a maze of walls and doors and rooms - 9,999 rooms to be exact. The Temple of Heaven has 10,000 rooms, and it was thought nothing should have more rooms that it, so they stayed one room shy.





Images around Forbidden City


Across from the Forbidden City is Tiananmen Square, which is immense as well, and is flanked by two immense buildings the size of the Hapsburgh Palace! In Tiananmen Square is Mao's tomb - in the tradition of the old emporors. So how far had China come with Mao.... Lots of Mao paraphernalia around, and lots of people waving flags, but Mao's reputation is quite mixed, with many hating him, and many loving him. There are these great Mao-era paintings avaiable, showing usually revolutionary girls dressed in army garb, holding Mao's book. Will probably purchase one. Please let me know if you would like one of these cool retro reminders of the excesses of fanatacism.



Tiannamen Square

And finally, I have spent the day getting our trip to Tibet and Nepal organized. It's incredible to believe that I can go to an ATM here in Beijing, stick in my card, and withdraw money from my account in Canada!!! And we wonder why this banking crisis is international... we are living in a very small global village indeed, which I considered after purchasing a coffee at Starbucks for 3 bucks CDN afer taking out money from my account.

Looks like the trip is coming together, and we will take an overnight train to Xi'an from here (12 hours in a first-class sleeper for 70 bucks each), and then see the famed Terra Cotta warriors, after which we will take a first class sleeper to Lhasa Tibet. Tour Lhasa for 3 days, and then have a driver drive us to the Nepal border. You cannot be in Tibet without a guide at all times, and it's actually quite expensive, but well worth it we think. So we will be leaving Beijing on Friday, 17 October, and arriving in Nepal about 10 days later. If we lose contact during that time, fear not, we are well.

Some quick notes on Beijing:
- it is a national pass-time to hork and spit like crazy. People think nothing of taking a huge hork and spitting it out on the street. This seems to be particularly so in famous places like the Forbidden City, where many Chinese tourists come, probably from the country. Not seen in chi-chi Beijing society yet.
- same goes for blowing one's nose - saw a guy do this in a restaurant, albeit not a very fancy one!
- people are quite friendly, and the city is very safe
- cars stop for no one, not even on cross-walks, not even when the pedestrian light is green and one is on a cross-walk. Big double busses make huge sweeping U-turns on red lights, so crossing the street is nightmarish, as the distance from one side to the other is like a chasm. Strange thing is, despite insane driving, crazy large boulevards and seemingly free-for-all driving methods, we've yet to see an accident or even a close call.
- food is very good and very cheap. All restaurants, even cheap greasy spoons serve good, hot, tasty food
- there is a decided lack of street food of any type, as well as noodles: Beijing is not a noodle city

Also, check out our Flickr photos, which are being slowly updated here: www.flickr.com/photos/travelallplanes

More to come... Love Mark

Last Beijing Post

Its a long one. All the formatting got messed up when I tried to add a video. AHHH! I'll have to work at that as we have some great short clips I want to post.
Love Ya
Lianna

First few days in BEIJING

We're in Beijing!
One of the many hilarious translations

11 October, Beijing

Well today, day 4 in Beijing, has been just as great as the previous 3 days! First afternoon we arrived in Beijing around 3 in the afternoon. Our cabbie had some trouble finding our hotel, as we were warned he would from reading some website. He was circling around the main train station, but across the street from it. I remembered seeing a photo of someone who stayed at the hotel, showing the tracks right from her bedroom, so I realized we had to cross the street, which we did, and he soon found it.

Outside of Hotel in Beijing

We were all pleasantly relieved to find the place, spacious, clean, quite nicely decorated and comfy, despite being on the 4th floor without an elevator. The kids were pooped, as we were up early that morning to get to the airport early. Thanks Isono for driving us! Lianna and I left them in the hotel room and went to explore the area. We walked around the train station, which is quite close to the hotel. We immediately dove in and bought some kind of buns from a stand near the station. They were onion buns. Not what we were in the mood for, but tasty. There is lots of hustle and bustle around the station, but surprisingly clean, and there is a feeling of ease and safety, or lack of any kind of intimidation. We went to some grocery stores around, looking at the strange things for sale. It was all very exciting and interesting. We quickly realized that Beijing is HUGE, with huge buildings, and boulevards of huge proportions. Walking seems to take forever, as things are very far away, even if you can see them, and even if they seem close on the map.

Caleb riding around Beijing

We returned to the hotel and decided to eat at the hotel restaurant. Chinese food, with the waitresses speaking very little English, but enough. There were pictures in the menu, thankfully, so we had an idea what we were ordering. Things were very inexpensive: most dishes costing around 3.50 CDN, like a sweet and sour pork, or hot and sour soup. We ordered dumplings, which ended up stealing the show, as they were home-made, and great. After eating dumplings, sweet and sour pork, which had a bizarre spice, like anaise, which didn't quite sit right with us, and a beef and pepper dish, which was tasty, they brought the hot and sour soup we ordered. It was huge! Could have fed 12, and cost around 3 bucks. Needless to say we left over a lot of food, but had a good meal.

Caleb and I had energy, but the girls were pooped, so he and I went for a walk to see the famous Wangfujing shopping area. We walked by the station, and decided to go through a small little street. It was dark, but many people were out. There were tiny shops on this tiny street, which is kind of like a hutong - an old neighbourhood with winding, walled alleyways. People were out, eating on the side of the street. There were small shops, selling cigarettes, some fruit, the odd jacket and bag. Some were offering a variety of food like steamed veggies, pots of chickens, etc., which you could eat there on the street. But all in all quite quiet. We got to one of the huge boulevards, and were amazed by the massiveness of the buildings, the length of time it took to walk from one end of the block to the other, and how far it was to cross the street!

We finally ended up at Wangfujing. There were many people out, but not hordes or anything. I was expecting a covered outdoor market with stalls and food vendors. But this was brand-name stores like Dior and Channel! There were large shopping centres, pretty much empty, filled with high-end brand-name shops - all geared toward rich Chinese! These huge malls were basically empty. May have been near closing time, but still, the place was huge, filled with shops, and no people. Caleb was delighted to find a Sega arcade place, like we saw in Japan, but with older games for 1 Yuan, rather than 1 Yen, which is basically 1/6th the price. We went outside, where the people were (mostly Chinese tourists), and found ourselves in a small alley-like shopping area outside.

Market Area - Like the Chinese night market in Vancouver

Here, we saw some food vendors, and realized they were selling, well, there were selling skewers with LIVE scorpions on them, which one young Chinese woman had ordered. I saw the scorpions, and Caleb said they were live, which I didn't believe, but after staring at them for a bit, I realized they were indeed LIVE!!! They bar-b-qued the scorpions for her and handed them to her. She kind of looked at it, obviously just as squeamish about eating it as we. She asked the guy if they were bar-b-qued enough, and he assured her they were, so she dug in, and chomped one off the skewer. Caleb and I, and some South African tourists next to us, just looked at each other. This was obviously not usual food for anyone, as an older woman was eating a skewer, perhaps of snake, and laughing as she ate it. Truth be told Caleb and I went to the McDonald's and had an ice cream!

Bugs for sale

The next day we decided to go to Tianamen square. We had breakie at the hotel. About $1.50 for quite a spread of fried eggs, rice, veggies (salads with things like marinated cucumber, cabbage, noodles), toast, buns (with onions inside), coffee (actually not too bad, with sweetened and condensed milk), orange juice, and other weird stuff. We headed out after trying a variety of these items, walking the long boulevards. Apparently the subway is very clean and efficient, as are busses, although we've yet to try them. Cheap too at about 15 cents a ride. Cabs are cheap too, with a 30 minute ride from the airport costing about 14 bucks, and a ride across town (which is huge) at about 3 bucks, which makes the hassle of the subway seem silly. The main issue with the cabs is telling the driver where you want to go. One afternoon it was pouring and we wanted to take a cab to a market. But how to tell him? We went into a large supermarket called "Wu Mart" - I'm sure a take-off on you know what, and asked around if anyone spoke English. A cashier did, and a girl relieved him so he could help us. He wrote out the name of the market in Chinese, which we then showed to the cabbie, who took us there, for 2.50 CDN. So, we're heading down a boulevard toward Tianamen square, and this girl in her 20s says hello to us. She's with a guy around the same age, and we say hello back. We quickly start up a conversation, and the next thing we know we're spending the day with them taking us on a tour of Beijing.

With the students

They were students and wanted to practice their English. They took us to a building downtown, in the basement, to buy Great Wall tickets. The next thing I know I'm shelling out 150 bucks for tickets from some Chinese speaking booth in the basement of this building. I have a moment's hesitation, and then think, go for it. Turns out it was all good! Had a great day, but more on that for tomorrow's entry. Dough (his name) and Xia-qi (as she spelled it; their spelling of things in English tends to help very little, as they right away start with the "Xia"s and "Qi"s, which I have no idea how to pronounce, as it's all about these schia-shou-shi words)

They take us on a tour of the hutongs; take us to some shopping places, and after we invited them for lunch, take us to this very dicey looking place in the middle of the hutong. Dough looks at it and says, "This place looks good", and I'm thinking "!!!!!???!!!". But we go in, and have an amazing lunch. I see a plate of chips, potato chips, on the table next to us, so I ask him to order that. And then he orders some lamb on skewers (scary looking, but very very delicious, including the fat); a noodle dish; a chicken dish; and then this huge stew thing. All were very tasty, and washed down with some large bottles of good old Coca Cola! Beer here is available everywhere, like in Japan, but here it costs about a buck for a large bottle.

Lunch with students

After lunch we walked around a bit more. Dough then called his friend and got us a deal on tickets for the Chinese acrobat show. We met the guy at a bus stop. He got off, gave me the tickets for below face value (25 bucks instead of 30), and he then left.

Tour of streets with students

We said good-bye to them, thanking them for a magical first day in Beijing.

We then took a cab to the Silk Market, which is a white tourist shopping area specializing in brand-name knock-offs - which is what Artemis has been waiting for since we left. The place is four floors of shopping madness, with each floor specializing in different items: basement, purses and shoes; main floor, jackets and jeans; second floor electronics, and third floor, who knows, as we never made it there. Each floor is broken up into small alleys, with small stalls along each alley filled to the brim with goods, and the most aggressive young women you will every meet, grabbing you, physically, and pulling you physically into their stall to buy stuff. You have to bargain HARD, as they try their hardest (and usually succeed) to rip you off. We got Liana a silk jacket, which started at 1,600 RMB, and was eventually purchased for 120 RMB (about 18 bucks), as I absolutely refused to budge on price. She begged me, holding on to my arm, pleading with me loudly, but with humour (some go to the verge of tears) to offer her more. When we were ready to leave, she finally relented, although we fought for about 5 minutes over the last 5 RMB, as she wanted 125 and I refused to move from 120. Quite funny, but tiring. She was smiling when we left. The thing is, they are actually quite honest, and when they say something, they do it. So although she wanted 125, I gave her 200, and she gave me 80 back. I bought a Gortex jacket with a soft-shell lining, and nearly killed the girl, who relented at 360, but only if I bought her and her associates ice-creams (for 3 bucks), which I agreed to.

Artemis New Juice Bag

Upon returning to our hotel that night, we got a call from our Great Wall tour leader. We were supposed to go Saturday, but he thought we were going to next day, Friday. Anyhow we did, and he picked us up at our hotel at 9, and we had a magical day at the Great Wall of China! The bus had about 8 other people: a couple from Iran, Tennessee, Toronto, and a Swiss student and us. We went to the Ming tombs, which was cool, a jade factory, where we had lunch - which was excellent Chinese food, then the Great Wall, which really was great (see our flickr shots of this, if I've uploaded them yet: www.flickr.com/photos/travelallplanes).

The Great Wall is one of those famous attractions that really astounds you and delivers everything - and more - that you expect. There were many many people there on this spectacular sunny clear day. Tourists from all over the world, including many from China itself. We met people from Montreal!!! Toronto, Malaysia, Singapore - you name it. We climbed to the topmost part of this part of the wall. It was really one of those moments when you say, "Holy shit, we're on the Great Wall of China!!!". Started in 700 B.C., it is truly amazing, and were all very impressed and moved by the experience.


From there we went back to town and found out they were taking us to a Chinese medicine place as part of the tour. We got an explanation of Chinese medicine, as part of the government's desire to share cultural traditions. We all had a Chinese foot massage (3 bucks), which was great, and had a 20 minute lecture on Chinese medicine. The place was very high-end, clean, nicely decorated, and everyone spoke very good English.

From there our guide dropped us off at his recommended Peking Duck restaurant, DaDong's. Well, WOW! What an experience that was. It was very high-end, posh, and gorgeous, with the ducks being roasted right there in the very fancy and elaborately decorated entranceway. Many rich Chinese and Western visitors. Waiters in chic black suits with earpieces to talk to each other. There were 5 wood-burning ovens cooking up ducks as fast as we could eat them. We waited for an hour for our table, and were not disappointed.


They bring the perfectly cooked little fella right to your table, neck, head, beak and all! They then proceed to cut it up right there. We ate one, and it went down so quickly and easily we ordered another! All this was only $35 CDN a duck! Dinner followed by fruit and then an iced dessert. Truly a magnificent experience, and a perfect end to a perfect day. We ended up walking 3 Kms back to our hotel. It was 10 p.m. on a Friday, and there were many people out walking. At one subway station dance music was playing and people were line dancing! We all took part in this ad-hoc event. What fun! Dancing in the street in Beijing on Friday night. Back to the hotel pooped, and very satisfied.

And much more to come!!!

October 8 in Beijing - Caleb tells it all

Hey guys this is Caleb. Today we are in China and it is absolutely amazing. Ok so the day of leaving Japan we had to wake up at 6:00 in the morning. Now for Mark and Liana that's usual, but me and Artemis??? NOT good. So we got up and got dressed and went downstairs and had breakfast and then we had to say goodbye. Witch was really tough because we had really become good friends with Chiaki and Satomi. But we finally left and Isono came to pick us up to drive us to the airport. The drive was about 1 1\2 hours and Artemis and I where about to fall asleep for life because we where so tired. But of course Mark starts talking about Seth and out of body experiences. And Isono is not that great at english so it went on for a while, basically the whole ride.

Well we got to the airport awake and walked around spent our last yen and all that jazz. Well we got on the air plane and it was HOT! The plane ride was good and we watched Hancock and the beginning of Get Smart, which were both sort of good.

Well we got to China and everything was immense. The airport was huge the buildings on the way to the hotel where massive. We went into the hotel and chillaxed for a while and then we went and had supper. Which was average. After supper me and Mark decided to go to this shopping block called Wangfujing. Turns out it is a high end very expensive shopping area. So we went to this tiny street packed with people and where just looking around and some stuff when we turned and saw a food seller. Well we looked at what he was selling and there was this jar and inside the jar where 2 types of skewers. The first type was live scorpion. Let me say the again. LIVE SCORPION, LIVE!!!!!! There where about 3 scorpions per skewers and they where actually moving and like squirming around. And the grossest thing was that a Chinese lady ordered one and they fried it up and she ate the whole thing, tail, head and all. So the second skewer was seahorse. Thank god it was dead. And in the display there was snake meat and cockroaches and some other stuff witch I didn't even know what it was. So that was an experience. And as we where walking along mark stops into this store and starts to look at this Mau hat. And he asks how much, the guy says 40youan. So mark starts to get that price a little down till the price was at 10. And then Mark decides that he doesn't want the hat but the guy wouldn't let him out of the store. He was literally standing with his elbow pointed at mark and wouldn't let him by. Finally Mark gets out and we are walking down the road and the guy is screaming out prices all the way down to 2yuoan. That was another experience.

So we where walking home and the buildings on the street where so huge it was crazy. And we got to the hotel safe and went to sleep and then there's tomorrow...

Last days in Japan

Akihabara girl giving out fliers

NOTE: We are starting to get these photos organized - taking zillions but can't post them all on the blog so check this link if you want to see more:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/travelallplanes

We're back in Kisarazu after 2.5 days in Tokyo.
Went there on Friday to hang for the weekend. It's our last Tokyo blast for this trip, and we're sorry to see it go.
Got in Friday afternoon, and went to our hotel to drop off our bags. We then headed out. Had a great Chinese lunch. We were all a bit bagged, but walked to Akihabara, the electronics and anime centre of Tokyo, and possibly the world. The girls quickly got fatigued, and opted to head back to the hotel room. Caleb and I were up for it though. Caleb went off for a bit on his own (a foreshadowing of the next day, when he spent the entire day on his own for the first time of the trip, and undoubtably not the last), as did I. He played video games at one of the huge Sega buildings, which is floor after floor of a variety of video games, everything from those electronic crane things where you maneuver the crane over an item you want to win in an attempt to win it, to video-based instrument games, to pure battle royales between your character and a variety of opponents. There is smoking in these places, as well as multiple vending machines selling iced coffee, water, tea, soft drinks and vitamen drinks, to name a few.
Anyhoo, he did that and I bopped around, visiting all these different stores, from bizarro anime videos and action figures to floor after floor of manga books, DVDs, anime, electronics and more.

Caleb and I finally met up, walked around a bit more, and then pooped, headed back to the hotel room, getting lost for a bit. We then met Lianna's friend Ken for dinner, which was really enjoyable. We went to a typical Tokyo place on the 5th floor of a tall skinny building. We had our own booth, isolated and private. Ken kept the food coming - a kind of Japanese tappas, with everything from French fries, chicken scewers, meat scewers, eggs and more. Ken was lots of fun, and we talked for quite a while. Tired and full, we returned to our hotel, where we were in separate rooms - the kids on one side, and L and I on the other.

A word about the room from Lianna:
Artemis and I arrived at the hotel earlier than the boys. We were given a key to a second floor room, small, four beds squished inside a box. I loked out the window to see the wall of another building. I lay down to hear the whirling of a generator belt, LOUD. After about 5 minutes I said there is no way I can sleep here tonight. I left Artemis in the room and went to the lobby to complain. Being the great service you usually get in Japan, they said they would change it immediatley. We waited in the room for their call and as I am telling Artemis how terrible the sound is and how I could possibly put up with traffic noise, but this? No way. The sound stops. We run to the window and see that the belt is not moving and it is quite quiet. There is a knock at the door and the hotel clerk comes in to retrieve one of the beds. He says nothing, we say nothing. They move us to the 10th floor, a suite with a view! It is fabulous.
Liana

The next day L and I headed out for coffee while the kids slept in, as has become our habbit. A brief stop at Dotour, the Japanese version of Blenz, and then we walked around looking for something for the kids. Found an excellent bakery, and loaded up on stuff like apricot danish, raisin and nut loaves, chocolate swirl bread, and ham and cheese buns. All very good.

After returning to the room and feeding the kids we left for the our day of discovery. It quickly became evident that Caleb's long face and grumpy mood was going to be an issue. I suggested he spend the day on his own, walking around Akihabara, playing video games to his heart's content. L was a bit concerned, but soon realized this was going to become an issue, and we were going to have to do this at some point. So we loaded him up with money, the name of the hotel, directions orientation and faith in his ability as a young man, and set him on his way.


Caleb going off on his own! (shorts and black backpack)


The girls and I headed for Kanda, which is the big book area in Tokyo, which it was. We then walked through the Imperial grounds, which was quaint, and ended up in Ginza, on a Saturday, which was a show! Ginza is ground zerio (love that expression!) for brand-name designer goods: Louis Vuitton; Tiffany's, Bulgari, Chanel, Dior, Prada, and on and on they go.




Ginza Street

They actually close the streets to cars, and people just mull around, with stores packed and people shopping like crazy, even at incredibly outrageous prices. Artemis ran from store to store, becoming more disappointed with every step, as the designs, the bags, the clothes, were all very... boring! Chanel bags at over $3,000 were not really very nice at all. We finished the day with a coffee and pastry at a chi-chi place. Payed $30 bucks for it, had fun and went back to the hotel, to find Caleb there waiting for us!


Imperial Grounds-Tokyo

We were supposed to go to a ball game: Tokyo Giants were playing, but the kids could barely move. They were glued to the computer, catching up on this season's "America's Next Top Model". The didn't even want to go out for dinner. So L and I went for a great dinner down the street, and ate lots of fish!
Japan is definitely the place for eating fish and seafood. We stopped at the 7-11 on the way home, and picked up the kids some great stuff for dinner. Unlike our 7-11s, these have great food! Salads, noodle dishes, bentos and more. All fresh, as the turnover is high.


Caleb enjoying Ice Coffee

Sunday, finished off with a bang, as we went through Shinjuku, a funky fashion area, and ended up in Yoyogi park, which, to our great joy, had all these bands, set up around the perimeter, playing every kind of music imagineable!! We slowly made our way around, watching and listening. Actually bought a CD from one group it was so great. People were dressed up. At one point we came across the Tokyo Rockabilly club, which had guys and gals dressed like it was the 50s, whith HUGE duck tail hairdos, sock hop skirts, leather jackets, and even a fire-engine red Cadillac from the 50s. Very cool. And they were all dancing to 50s faves.


Singer in Yoyogi


Walking in Yoyogi Park


Another band-there were lots of these kinds of groups




Afer returning by train we were picked up by Lianna's friend Isono, as we'd made a date with him to have a pizza night at his place, which we did. They ordered 4 pizzas, from PIZZALA,which were all very good with a definite Japanese flavour. Found out that his wife is taking Hula dancing lessons and performing in different places around Chiba.

Lianna on Disney and last day...
The next day is Tokyo Disney Sea. There is also a Disneyland but we decide to try out the new Disney Sea. It is raining in the morning, great time to go, hopefully noone will be there. There are less people than usualy. We park close to the entrance, it is pouring and cold. I am wondering what the hell we are doing However we have a blast. The rain stop after lunch and we whirl around from ride to ride, not waiting more than 10 minutes for each and going on some of them more than once. We all had a blast!


Disney Sea with Chiaki






Last day before we leave to China is for last minute items and some schooling which is yet to set into any kind of pattern or schedule. I leave in the morning to Satomis Spa as I am going to be her model for the upcoming brochure and the kids and Mark stay at the house trying to get started. In the evening we have a big Gyoza making party with Satomi. They are delicious after taking hours to prepare. WOrth it for sure and now we know how to make them.


Room at Satomis - Clean up time!

Isono picks us up early in the morning to take us to the airport to catch our flight to Beijing. We are all tired but ready to go. There are tears at Satomis house, especially from her daughter Chiaki. We are all sad to go yet excited about moving on to our next adventure.

In the car Mark talks to Isono about Out of Body experiences and the meaning of time and other consciousnesses. Isono says that maybe we are brainwashed. Mark replies than maybe Isono is brainwashed. Who can tell? Isono agrees that he is definetely brainwashed. Stimulating conversation about 7:30 in the morning.

Next CHINA
Lianna