In Which I Set Out to Travel, Again

[Sidenote: I don't update my blog for a while, and I come back to find it HACKED. Thanks a lot, internet. ]

The past three weeks have gone by incredibly fast. Between classes and night activities and programming for websites and shopping combined with the terrible internet connection, there hasn’t been much time for blogging. Tomorrow we are heading out to new destinations — mainly, Beihai, a city in South China famous for, according to Wikipedia, sandworms(?!).

Said goodbye to my kids today, with much regret. I will miss my girls.

Look how cute they are!

Details »

Published on July 29, 2011 2:42 pm.
Filed under: Life, Reflections, Travel Tags: ,

When in China

These days have been super busy, teaching from 9-12 in the morning, 2-4 in the afternoon, then 7-9 playing with the kids at night, with some time in between for meals. Hardly anything like in Greece, when I had most of the day free.

Details »

Published on July 15, 2011 12:27 pm.
Filed under: Travel Tags: ,

Hong Kong

Hong Kong was really nice the second time around. I stayed in a hostel located in the apparently infamousChungKing Mansions. The downstairs was EXTREMELY sketchy, with a melting pot of all Indians and Africans trying to get you to go to their hostel room. The hostel that I stayed in, Canadian Hostel (also run by an Indian) was really nice. It had free wifi and cold water! We also lived right by the harbor, so it was a fun experience.

The first day, we went to the Avenue of Stars and hung around until the light show. Again, the view was pretty breathtaking.

Details »

Published on July 10, 2011 8:56 am.
Filed under: Travel Tags:

So the Thing About China…

In Wenzhou, I am never made fun of for disliking bread. My family and their friends share my astonishment at how someone could like cheese, let alone eat whole blocks of them. And they cannot, cannot imagine a life without eating seafood, and cannot cannot imagine why it is ever a good idea to dispose the fish head, which contains a main delicacy, the eyeball — good for your eyesight!

There are tons of other delicacies, of course, other than fish eyeballs, that my family tend to try to overfeed me with whenever I’m back.

Exhibit A: Yanmei, aka the BEST FRUIT EVER.

So so so good.

Details »

Published on July 9, 2011 11:19 am.
Filed under: Food Tags: ,

Village.

When I first got back to China my aunt took me to this village an hour away from Wenzhou where she had been living for a few months, away from the city pollution and noise.

Linkun Old Village.

Details »

Published on July 7, 2011 1:45 am.
Filed under: Travel Tags: , , ,

Travelogue: Conversations with Strangers

In China now, and it’s hot sticky humid gross and am eaten to death by mosquitoes. Luckily, I’m also eating enough to cancel out the unpleasantries. I should make a food post, too, hmmm…

Anyway, during my adventures to my hometown, Wenzhou, I had a great many interesting conversations with people while I’m bored out of my mind sitting in one place forever. It’s amazing how much people like to talk about the most intimate things with a complete stranger; perhaps it’s because I’m still young. Most conversations are older people imparting their wisdom upon me, a young little girl traveling by herself.

 

1.

Byebye, London!

When I headed to London City Airport to go to China, I had a sudden fit of laziness and decided to call for a cab. The driver was very friendly, chatting with me the whole way, and informed me that there was a) transportation, b) passport, and c) teacher’s strike t hat day. Which meant if I a) tried to take subway I would have faced potential problems with random stations being closed, b) trouble getting through customs at Heathrow, where I had flown in , and c) because the teachers were on strike there was hardly any traffic on the road and I made it to the airport in record time.

Details »

Published on July 4, 2011 11:41 am.
Filed under: Life, Reflections, Travel Tags: , ,

London, Day 3: Museums

On my final day, I resolved not to spend any money except for food and souvenirs. So I went museum touring, which are all free thanks to the graciousness of the city.

First stop, the British Museum. I was duly impressed. The outside was like the typical columned façade white-stone type like the Met and all the other very large museums. The inside…was gorgeous.

Details »

Published on July 3, 2011 9:36 am.
Filed under: Reflections, Travel Tags: , , ,

London, Day 2: In Which Shirley Went Everywhere and It Rained Some

I apologize in advance for the length of this post. I did a lot on that day.

This day was basically Shirley on touring bloodlust. That is the only way I can explain how I managed to go everywhere. In summary, I went to the Monument, Tower Hill, Tower Bridge Experience, Design Museum, London Bridge, London Bridge horror tour or whatever that’s called, Parliament and Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Jewel Tower, St. Paul’s, and Shakespeare’s Globe. I bought this London Pass which promised access to all the major attractions, which is A LIE because there’s a spending limit to the places I could visit which I found out at the last minute. Still, a good bargain overall.

Details »

Published on July 2, 2011 4:43 am.
Filed under: Travel Tags: , ,