Jul 8, 2015 - Jing An Temple

Today Lauren and I visited the famous Jing'an Temple. I was amazed at how the old was right in the middle of the new. I've never seen Buddahs so big before. We loved exploring the temple and we even gave an offering witht he insence. This is definitly a temple I will have to come back to....

Jul 8, 2015 - Nanjing

Today we arrived in Nanjing. I learned that "jing" on the end of a word simply means city, also that Nanjing is the capital of the Jingsu Provence. It's a huge city and my favorite place is the Confusious Market Place. I found some of the best little purses and artwork and jewlery. After the market place a lady from Canad aand I went to the 1921 District. It's a place with clubs and resturants where everyone goes at night. After a long day I made it home and fell right asleep. Tomorrow we are off to our host city....

Jul 5, 2015 - Headed to Shanghai!

Today it was rise and shine at 3:30am. I quickly got dressed loaded the car and said good bye to my house for the next month. The airport was extreamly empty at 5:00am but the plus is that I got through security very quickly. I boarded the plane and it was off to Atlanta. I landed in Atlanta and had to run to my next gate. My layover was only 45 minutes. WOW! Then it was off to Seatle. As I approached Seatle I saw the space needle from my window. And as we landed I saw the most beautiful mountain behind the airport. I had a 4 hour layover...

Feb 12, 2015 - DAY 2 - Lantau & Kowloon

Highlights: Explored several cities by foot, ferry, caught a metro, survived a 25 minute cable car ride that stretches nearly 6km (3.5miles) that were lifted by 10 towers, roughly 1,000 feet off the ground ... YIKES!!! Got to enjoy a nice dim-sum lunch afterwards, and wanted to get Ritzy by showing up at the Ritz-Carlton to check out their Glitzy scenery. Links to further investigate: > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong_%26_Kowloon_Ferry > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tung_Chung >...

Feb 11, 2015 - DAY 1 - Hong Kong China

DAY 1: After nearly 14 hours of (direct) flight time on Singapore Air, we arrived at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong_International_Airport, and immediately hopped on a bus to Kowloon for our 1st (5 hours) tour of the day! Not to mention time difference, that's roughly 20+ hours of pure assault to body/mind/spirit, to say the least. Why all the torture, you might be asking. Well, for one, our ship, Crystal Cruise (Symphony Line) allow boarding of all passengers after 2pm only and not any earlier, but we managed to board around 3pm and...

Jan 31, 2015 - Le bouc vous transmet ses Meilleurs Voeux! - The Goat's best wishes!

En cette nouvelle année calendaire et bientôt lunaire, Nous vous souhaitons tous nos meilleurs voeux pour 2015, l'année du Bouc (chèvre) !!! --- In this new gregorian year and soon a new lunar one, we would like to wish you all the best in 2015, the Year of the Goat !!!

Jan 22, 2015 - Hong Kong

Having flown many times between the UK and Hong Kong, this was the smoothest flight ever, shame about the lack of leg room for Stuart who could barely walk afterwards! Our hotel was brilliant, good location, welcoming staff and with amazing views of the harbour, as you can see - also THE best breakfasts. We noticed a sign in the lift saying "When there is fire, do not use the lift" WHEN?? We went to Lantau Island to see the Giant Buddha which is in the Po Lin Monastery, had Dim Sum (not great) and tasty noodles for lunch, in the Monastery,...

Jan 17, 2015 - Harbin la ville de Glace et de Neige - Harbin City of Ice & Snow

English below ----------------- Mais ils sont fous ces gaulois? Pourquoi s'exiler du Canada si c'est pour retourner dans le grand Nord de la Chine par -20 degrés? Pour voir si les enfants résistent au froid Pour voir ce que c'est qu'une ville encore plus polluée Ou tout simplement pour partir entre amis découvrir les majestueuses sculptures de neige, les incroyables et too much palais de glaces, glisser assis sur des chaises sur la rivière gelée, voir ce qu'il reste de l'église orthodoxe et assister au repas des tigres, poulet vivant dans...

Jan 7, 2015 - Inmiddels 4 maanden verder, deel 2

Deel 2 DECEMBER Terug in Shanghai was het wel erg stil zo zonder Bart. Ik heb lekker veel gesport en de weekenden volgepland. Zo ben ik bij een Kerstmarkt geweest met Caroline en Leticia. Met gluhwein en bratwurst en twee Chinese meisjes van hun werk. Leuk om eens met Chinese meiden te kunnen praten. In het begin waren ze erg verlegen, maar na een tijdje werden ze steeds losser. Leuk om te zien. We hadden een Italiaans kerstdiner van Italiaans collegaatje van Bart georganiseerd door haar geboorteprovincie. Heerlijk eten! Ik heb ook een...

Jan 7, 2015 - 3 maanden plus deel 1

Dag lieve allemaal, Ik kom er dus achter dat ik echt al heel lang geen verhaal meer heb geschreven. De tijd vliegt hier echt voorbij. Ik zit hier nu alweer ruim 3 maanden. En nog steeds geen saaie boel hier hoor. Tja de korte versie is: Ik heb mijn visum gekregen. Ik dans, squash en fluit nog steeds. We hebben inmiddels een optreden met orkest in de metro gehad. Joyce (zus Bart) is langs geweest en we zijn samen naar Hong kong gegaan. Bart is in de tussentijd in India en Europa geweest. Ik ben zelf en paar dagen op stap geweest naar de...

Jan 5, 2015 - Coming Home: The Great Wall and Wrapping Up

We began our epic (and grueling) journey home yesterday, with a boat ride from Koh Yao Noi, a flight from Krabi to Bangkok, 6 hours in the Bangkok airport and a 5 hour flight to Beijing. This was possibly the best thing to happen to us, as going directly from 90 degrees in Thailand to -5 in Iowa could've been QUITE the shock to the system, but luckily we have some 25ish degree weather to enjoy for our last outing in China! To be perfectly honest, I didn't enjoy China all that much the first 8 hours out (I know, I was such a pro on the...

Dec 25, 2014 - Six Hours in Beijing

Some things from our post-14 hour flight and 8.5 hour, Christmas day layover in Beijing. 1) I've never been a minority in my life and it was SO. AWESOME. Nathan and I were gawked at everywhere we went. 3 Chinese girl asked for their photo with me because I was the first white girl they'd ever seen. #CelebrityStatus 2) During Chinese sign of peace at Mass, we all bowed to each other and I want that to come to the U.S. LOVE.  3) The fact we were in a communist country was SUPER apparent and I honestly felt uncomfortable with it almost the...