Beijing...Day Two

We got up early on Friday morning to meet our tour guide. She laid out the plans, "Great Wall, the Ming Tombs and then onto a jade facto." As if on cue all six of us woke from our morning slumber and cut her off. We had heard about tours forcing people into these places and none of us wanted to go near any jade. This threw her for a few minutes and after a phone call into the office one of us had to sign the paper saying he had ZERO interest in checking out anything made of Jade. This picture, the gang outside the entrance to the Great Wall in happier times.


This didn't last as Shelly had said in our E-mail to the tour company some of us wanted to hike the wall and others wanted to Cable car to the top. Unfortunately the tour guide missed this memo and we all had to cable car up. Joel and I wanted to walk but with temperatures near 30 degrees I was cool with the ride up. Joel on the other hand couldn't get to the top fast enough. He soon disappeared into the crowds leaving us five to fight the crowds alone (as he walked down and hit the better side of the tourist hill.)


Saejin and Tony.


Shelly the only blond in the frame.

Chan Young plopping down for his picture.




Lunch was at a horrible, horrible government run tourist restaurant. Think the worst Chinese food you've ordered at 3:30 am and times it by five and you are still seventeen times away from how bad this place was. Luckily with the sun beating down on us all day the cold beer felt twenty-three times colder than normal.

At lunch we had to wait for our tour guide (who probably ate the best food that we'd never know) as we were supposed to shop, shop, shop at overpriced stalls but instead we hung out in the sun and met a cool American lady. When she heard we were headed to the Ming Tombs she warned us it was a bore. I couldn't disagree with her more. I loved them.


Joel holding a pose as long as I could make him before the plant brigade made him move so they could water.


One of the only shots minus people.


Shelly and Tony.


The boys.


Saejin and the tour guide.



It was a great day. On the way home we made the driver stop for cherries and they made a special detour for us to shop. We asked for them to drop us off at the Silk road (not knowing where it was but it turned out to be a ten minute walk from our hotel.) This place was Seven floors of knockoff goods. When it comes to these places bartering is the only way to shop. I'm shit at bartering. Get me to 50% of the price and I get giddy. We headed down to the shoe floor and after an exhausting day of sightseeing I was a salesperson's wet dream. Luckily for me Joel was around. He had been here before and knew the "real" prices. The Chinese salesman saw rookies but we weren't playing and so shoes were thrown in disgust at our hard line stand (yet right stand). We ran away to get other (read same shoes at lower prices) but were chased down, apologized to and coxed into (in the end) paying a lot more for shoes. Hint to Olympic shoppers, six percent of the price asked.

Beijing...Day One

The trip to Beijing started out Thursday afternoon after work. With six people travelling together and six different finishing times there was some stress making sure we could all meet up. Luckily we all made it and we got seats all together.


The boring side of the plane.


The fun side enjoying our first Chinese beer of the trip.


We stayed in a brand new five start hotel that was running at forty percent capacity. Like a lot of Beijing they are trying hard to get up and running for the Olympics but we never heard any construction and from what we saw and got, the place was amazing.


Shelly and I enjoying the bathtub.


Our first group photo down in the bar enjoying our complimentary free drink.


We made up half the bar population (the whole hotel was pretty much empty) and the band playing were great. Here the lead singer from America did her best to get everyone dancing. Chan Young gave it his all.


Our hotel was in the CBD and there really wasn't much around. So even if we were paying a lot more for drinks (ten bucks a drink in a hotel bar is very, very reasonable) we had a great time checking in each night for a nightcap.

Great Little Weekend

I promise to get on the Beijing posts soon but first, this past weekend was a nice little one. Friday night was a boozy affair when a friend Saejin had met in Shanghai was in town on business from England so we went out for some drinks. It should of been a quiet night except for the fact that the said traveling Businessman Johnathon is a drinker. A drinker with a company card makes for a wild night. Shots made their way to our table and then we made it up to the bar for more.

Saturday night Saejin, Shelly and I went to watch the Sex and the City movie which we all liked. Luckily for us we all had sensitive stomachs from Friday night so we just had a couple of beers with our chicken after the movie before heading home early.

Sunday Saejin and I set off early to enjoy a rare blue sky of summer. We started off grabbing brunch at Bonji's (aka Boji), had a couple of beers for dessert then went to see the Art of Cartier exhibition at Doksu Palace downtown. Saejin was in heaven checking out all the necklaces, brooches, tiaras and assorted luxury items. His only disappointment was that none of the exhibits had the price tags on them showing off their insane "worth".

I-Pod Meme

I don't want to make it a habit of doing Meme's but I came across this one on Muzbot's site. Some of the things he got made me laugh so I had to try it out myself. What you're supposed to do is put your MP3 player on random and fill in the songs name to each of the headers given in the Meme. I had no intention of actually posting about it until I saw some of the results I was getting.

What does next year have in store for me? "Happy Ending" Mika
What’s my love life like?"Neeeeeewwwww" Kate Nash (this isn't even song, I just deleted it from my player)
What do I say when life gets hard? "We are Pilots" Shiny Toy Guns
What do I think of on waking up? "Middle Man" Jack Johnson
What song will I dance to at my wedding? "Panic" - Morrisey
What do I want as a career? "Dig for Fire" - The Pixies
My favorite saying? "Warsaw" - Joy Division
Favorite place? "Gone Daddy Gone" - The Violent Femmes
What do I think of my parents? "Tainted Love" - Soft Cell
What’s my porn star name? "Seasons Of Love" - The Rent Soundtrack
Where would I go on a first date? "Walking in the Sun" - Travis
Drug of choice? "Good Old Fashioned Loverboy" - Queen
Describe myself. "L'Aigle Noire" - Patricia Kass
What is the thing I like doing most? "Walking with a Ghost" - The White Stripes
What is my state of mind like at the moment? "Irish Blood, English Heart" - Morrisey
How will I die? "Someday" - The Strokes

I honestly didn't make any of these up, if you have time try it out at home.

Reading at Sunset

I find nothing wrong with coming home as the sun is just taking it's last bow and reading on the front step with a beer in hand. Trying to explain this to Korean friends had them stunned and thinking I was the weirdest person alive. They're the odd ones I can think of no better way to get through the last sixty pages of a book.

Back from Beijing

I'm back from Beijing but way too sleepy to post about it just yet. We had LONG days full of sightseeing, shopping, eating and a few drinks along the way. Good times. Here's a picture from our hotel lounge where we enjoyed a complimentary drink after checking in.

Wild Wednesday

We were supposed to have the afternoon off to go hiking on Wednesday but because it was raining we settled in for an afternoon movie. Unfortunatley there were only four English movies at the theatre and I'd seen three of them. So it was a repeat of What Happens in Vegas.

Dinner was a seafood, beef and veggy hotpot that had a live octopus shut into the pot to steam itself to death. I somehow got ushered down to the alcohol table and although going home to pack for Today's trip to Beijing would of been wiser we drank through dinner then hit up more than one bar after dinner. The best was the Makoli restuarnt because it has been far too long since I had this milky rice wine drink. It was a fun night and I got to hear all the other teachers complaints about the parents over involvedness(?) at school.

I have one of my afternoon classes covered so I'm off to the airport to Beijing.

The Calm Before the Storm

Quiet weekend here. Saejin and I met up with Eve and Leoni on Friday for some raw tuna and quiet drinks. They are one of the coolest couples out there and while Saejin let them in on some new swear words in Korean all Leoni took away from the night was my annoying habit of Uh(ing) along with a conversation. It's a horrible Korean habit that you are supposed to use when you agree with or understand what someone is saying. Sadly it dominates a huge space in my lexicon.

Saturday we met up with Shelly for some Thai food before we ditched her for a movie. Saejin got to pick this time and I reluctantly went to see What Happens in Vegas. I went in expecting the worst and was really surprised that although the story did exactly what I expected there were enough laughs along the way to make it good. The flick did put Saejin and I in a good mood and getting a text message that Shelly was headed back to Itaewon we joined in. We met up at Soho and the place was rocking because Saturday was Korean Pride day. Able to get some nice patio chairs we hung out for a couple more hours just watching the crowds.

It was a great weekend and one where the gang of us off to Beijing this Thursday were able to recoup for what will be a busy, wild, fun weekend.