China Update!

Hi Everyone!

I am yet again sorry we haven’t blogged in a while. We’ve been very busy with the end of the school year and finals; packing up our things; planning for our end of the year trip; and applying for jobs in the US. Also, Google has been kicked out of mainland China and into Hong Kong. That means they are blocking any websites with English on them and Google is impossible to use. They rerouted all of their traffic into one server in Beijing so they can monitor everything and they’ve really been targeting schools. It’s a chore to even check my email at all. We’ve been pretty frustrated with it but we’ll be home soon with no internet restrictions! I can’t believe we only have two weeks left in China! We’ve got some updates for you as well…

A few weeks ago we celebrated our first Easter in China. It’s not the same as being home but I think we did an okay job of creating a homey holiday event. We got up at a decent time for a potluck Easter breakfast that included my good friend Iain’s famous French toast casserole, homemade bloody mary’s, and white wine sangria (did I mention that Iain gave up drinking for Lent? Hence the various alcoholic beverages at brunch…). We also decorated Easter eggs the night before and hid them the next morning for the only kid in our dorms; a 6 year old Japanese boy named Yuhong. He is adorable and we always try to plan something for him during our western events or holidays. (He even went trick-or-treating in the dorms during Halloween!) It was a lot of fun. That evening Thomas and I made homemade veggie pizza, had a bottle of wine, and watched a movie. There wasn’t a big ham dinner with potatoes and the family head count was small but it was a very nice Easter overall.

Besides being busy and getting ready to head home, Thomas and I stopped by the botanical gardens last weekend and took some really cool pictures. We spend a few hours roaming around the green house taking pictures of the exotic plants and enjoying the lack of crowds. Apparently the botanical gardens don’t attract huge groups of people in Nanjing, one of its many appealing features. We’ve got some great pictures though!

This past weekend I decided it was time I through a little roof party. We were originally going to have this party last weekend but the weather was cold and rainy. But we had perfect weather on Saturday: 86 degrees and sunny! This party was themed: A Party for America… also known as a pre-4th of July/“We Got Him!” (as in Bin Laden) party for nostalgic Americans and their foreign friends. My friend Kris painted a big American flag and I flew my little tiny American flag that you see sticking out of flower pots during the 4th of July. We had a grill going all night long and everyone brought burgers, hot dogs, and chicken wings. I even picked up a bunch of apple pies at one of our favorite western restaurants in town for everyone; it was a huge hit! We only played classic America rock (including such bands as CCR and Crosby, Stills, and Nash) and there was also a fireworks display as well as a fire spinning show put on by, yet again, my good friend Iain. When the fireworks started we all broke out in song simultaneously singing “God Bless America!” It was a great party! Over 35 people showed up. The guards on campus were not very happy about 35+ foreigners grilling on the roof but all it took was a few slices of apple pie and a couple of burgers to change their minds. Success!

Now we only have a 1 week left of school until we head off on our final trip around China! We are leaving school a week early and traveling with our friend DW (Dennis Williams) to Xian, Beijing, Hong Kong, and finally Shanghai. We fly home June 23rd out of Nanjing. We land in Chicago Friday the 24th and are spending the weekend visiting my wonderful family in the area (Thanks Aunt Sal!) Then on Sunday Thomas and I are heading down to Indiana to visit some of his relatives (although we are missing two of his brothers who are both currently preoccupied with their military responsibilities…). We head back to Hudson for the Twins game and my parents big 4th of July party the next weekend. We are so excited to get home and see everyone! I keep telling DW that he is the harbinger of America for us!! Haha… We love and miss everyone! Take care and we will be home soon! And keep reading because we have more blogging to do about final days in Nanjing and our last trip around China. We also have pictures to add! If China will let us… :/

Suzhou Pictures

Hi Everyone!

Here are the pictures we took this weekend at Suzhou. There are a little under 300 pictures total. I'm not sure if we were just trigger happy with our new camera or if Suzhou is just that beautiful of a city... you can be the judge! Enjoy!

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Beautiful Suzhou

Thomas and I don’t take weekend trips too often but Suzhou was definitely worth the time and energy. Suzhou is about 30 minutes outside of Shanghai and is considered the Venice of China due to its canal system. The center of the city, where you can find all of the artsy attractions, contains rows of low rise buildings that are painted white with black tile roofing. The government doesn’t allow skyscrapers to be built there in an attempt to preserve the historical charm of the city (good call China!) but around the city center you can see several tall buildings and skyscrapers dotting the skyline.

We got into Suzhou early Saturday morning. The taxi driver pointed us in the wrong direction so we proceeded to wander for about an hour before we found the hostel. Our hostel was located on the historical Pingjiang road, a little pedestrian street where you can find amazing Chinese architecture in the southern style, wonderful tea houses, and fantastic little shops that house homemade, handcrafted tea pots, artwork, and jewelry. Once we checked into our hostel we realized our camera broke. It was only a matter of time before our camera gave out on us (we were using a paper clip to take pictures with it) so we decided to just commit and get a new camera. We quickly stopped over at a PC Mall and purchase a little camera for the rest of the week (and the rest of our time here in China). After running around all morning we decided to take a lunch break and try a restaurant that was recommended to us and close to the hostel. The restaurant is called Pin Von Teahouse and it was by far our favorite place to eat in Suzhou. This particular teahouse has been operating for 130 years. It was probably one of the best meals we’ve had in China yet.

After our lunch at Pin Von Teahouse we rented bikes from our hostel and headed down the street to visit the Humble Administrator’s Garden. This garden was very beautiful and extremely busy! It was built in the 16th century and was covered in early spring flowers. A huge part of Chinese gardens is their rock formation and placements. Hopefully you will see that in the pictures. Afterwards we headed to see a pagoda tower called Beisi Ta. This particular pagoda was built during the Song Dynasty, so around the 10th century. It took us ages to climb to the top but we got some great pictures of the surrounding city.

That evening we went shopping around Pingjiang road, ate dinner at another tea house, and had a few drinks before we turned in early. The next morning we ate a quick breakfast before we grabbed our bikes and headed off to visit the Pan Men scenic area. This was a much less crowded site and it had equally beautiful gardens. Pan Men also contains China’s only water and land gate: very exciting stuff!

Our final stop was at the famous Tiger Hill Park. This park is the burial site of the founder of Suzhou and contains the “Leaning Tower of Suzhou.” The whole park consists of intricately woven pathways that lead to various outlooks and buildings. We even took a boat ride along the canal that circles the park. Towards the north entrance Thomas and I stumbled upon a little tea farm where you could watch workers picking tea. There was also a little café where you could order a cup of tea that was freshly picked and dried just days ago. It was fantastic!

Our train left for Nanjing around 6:45 and we left the city tired but happy. It was such an amazing trip and a nice change of scenery. Suzhou was the perfect place to celebrate our 3 year anniversary.

KL Pictures

Hi Everyone!

Here are the rest of our pictures from Malaysia. Sorry these are so late! Next weekend Thomas and I are planning on visiting Suzhou for a short trip to celebrate our three year anniversary. We will be posting a new blog with pictures afterwords, so stay logged in!

KL Pictures:

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KL Bird Park:

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PS We love and miss you all! We fly home on June 24th and are looking forward to seeing everyone when we get back... clear your calendars, we are coming home!

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Here it is, the long awaited blog for Malaysia. We ultimately decided the most economic way to get from Phuket to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia would be to take an over night bus. We started off in a small passenger van to Surat Thani, one of the few bordering towns on the Thai side of the border. We were told a VIP passenger bus would pick us up about an hour and a half after getting to the drop off point in Surat Thani. About two hours later another passenger van picked us up and literally drove us about two blocks over and dropped us off at another tourist office. There we were told the VIP bus would depart in about two hours. Eventually it showed up and we were on our way. The border crossing went pretty smoothly and after about six or seven (unnecessary) pit stops we arrived in Kuala Lumpur around 5AM, almost 24 hours after starting the trip.

Fortunately our hostel was within walking distance and we found it with relative ease. They were serving continental breakfast by the time we got there so we grabbed a bite and hit the hay for awhile.

Later that afternoon we mingled with several other hostel guests and meandered around a bit to get our bearings straight. We took it relatively easy that first day and just walked around a weekend market and sampled a wide variety of food and snacks. As we were walking around one guy selling watches told me he could sell me a Rolex for a "boom-shaka-laka price". I was curious to know how low a "boom-shaka-laka price" was but had to resist showing any interest.

The next day we went to the the KL Bird Park. Supposedly it's largest bird atrium in southeast Asia. There were several species of birds free to fly amongst the park visitors. As well as many others caged in smaller atriums. Of all the tropical birds on display the Hornbill and Cassowary were particularly interesting. In addition to the scheduled feedings visitors could buy a handful of sunflower seeds and a small cup of some sugary drink (maybe coconut juice?) to feed the birds. We ended our visit to the bird park with a quick bite to eat in the amazon cafe.





Later that evening we went with a large group of friends we made at the hostel to a sky bar that had a great view of the iconic Petronas Towers. Although the drinks were priced fairly steep the view was definitely worth it. We stuck around long enough to have a drink and some appetizers as well as take in the view.

The next day we made an excursion to Batu caves, one of the most popular Hindu shrines outside of India. Just a couple of weeks earlier the path leading up to the caves would have been swarming with people celebrating the festival of Thaipusam. Although the caves were still relatively crowded a clan of macaque monkeys almost outnumbered the visitors. The monkeys seemed to coexist relatively peacefully (so long as not provoked) with the visitors of the cave and made ample use of discarded food and drinks. Cans of Coca Cola and half eaten fries seemed to be their preferred food source. I personally didn't think the caves were particularly fascinating but it was still worth a visit.

On our last night in KL we went with a group of hostel pals to an area of open air sidewalk restaurants, most of which were buffet style. I couldn't tell you exactly what all the dishes were that we tried but for the most part everything was pretty good. While at the restaurant we met a lady that worked for the KL government tourism agency. She was nice enough to take everyone on a short walking tour around the area, sharing some history and random facts along the way. The late evening turned into the early morning hours chit chatting with our friends back at the hostel before we hopped a cab to the airport. Our month long trip to southeast Asia had come to an end and it was time to head back to Nanjing.

Nanjing in the New York Times

Hi Everyone!

Nanjing is making it in the big leagues these days. An article in the New York Times was just published about Nanjing's rising youth and art scene. Check it out:

http://travel.nytimes.com/2011/03/20/travel/20nextstop-nanjing.html?scp=1&sq=Nanjing&st=cse

The article even mentions our favorite western restaurant/bar called Ellen's. How exciting! Enjoy!

Koh Phi Phi Island Pictures

Hi All!

Here are the pictures for Koh Phi Phi... enjoy! The last post we will be making is about our final stop in Malaysia. Thomas will be posting that information soon, so stayed tuned!

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