China foto

Dear Lottie, et al.:

Some pictures of my Chinese escapades for your enjoyment! I have finished sorting through China (and Leslie's new baby's portraits), but have not yet made it through Japan or Singapore. Those are up next.

For now, here are story-tellin' some favs. I will add a few more to a link here (because it is easier and quicker to load a batch than on blogger) but this will give you the inside scoop on the story behind the photo.

Tienenman Square and the front gates to The Imperial City (the Emperors palace), which is the center of town.

Proof that I was there.

L: You get through one set of gates, and there is another, and another....
R: my buddy Fabiano, the Brazilian co-worker who is 8 months in Beijing and lucky for me, loves sight-seeing and accompanied me for the day

L: the obligatory "pinch the monument" picture

R: because nothin' says love like your toddler helping you light up your ciggy.

Chinese exhibitionism at it's finest: people filled the park dancing as if they were at a WSP show. This lady was my favorite-- she was feelin' the flow...

If you aren't up for dancing, bust out some ribbons and twirl! Here, see The Pro. It was all serious business for her.

And now behold: The Novice. Bless her heart - she was having some difficulties (and somehow tied a knot in her ribbon)

"Welcome To You!" (just checking that you're paying attention)

Hiking The Great Wall
Pierre, my hiking buddy.

Yes, I hiked all of that, and then some.

Proof I was really there. And yes, that is snow.

My new best friend, Christina. Best known for forcing me to grope her belly or shrieking at me to say, "Lady, this is a joke, right? You are joking me! Come on, lady. ....Lady... I really like you."

My work here is done

Sure, I spent 3 weeks in Asia. Sure, can point to $17MM of earnings and three teams now opererating proactively and efficiently. Sure, a couple execs now know me personally and apparently been telling others what a 'great job' I did while I was over there.

But that is NOTHING compared to the accomplishment realized tonight.

While on an 8pm call with Asia, my Swedish co-worker and new friend who was the recipient of the bulk of my time, insight and grammatical corrections (he was asking, I wasn't volunteering the corrections!! ) ... said... in perfect context... "Bless his heart" (if only you could hear it with the thick Sveeee-desh accent.

Ah - Sweet Fulfillment.

Shocking News

Are you sitting down? Don't fall off tour chair or anything... But while in Asia, it seems I picked up a shocking habit. Let's go with: I has some 'stressful experiences' which lead to... (are you ready?) ...me working out. Not just once! No, my friend, Five (5!) times!! Yes, you heard that right. We shall see if this dirty little habit continues Stateside.

There you have it. Shocking, I know.

Props

Totally late- but supa-props to Kelley for the heads-up on 'cowbell' on TV with the Will Ferell special, prolly almost 2 months ago now...

I still smile when the thought of the text msg pops into my mind. Didn't see the text until after I got home that night; but I was, in fact, watching with Mimi at my parents house during SNFD (Sunday Night Family Dinner).

You rule.

Xxoo - me

Sayonara Japan

Somewhere over the Pacifc right now... Got to appreciate the Japanese and their suberb germophobia. It is like a haven for, say, germophob-international travellers like myself. Especially travellers who may have just been in one of those top-ranked 'emerging infectious deseases' countries...like oh, I don't know, China? :)

I loved my hotel. It was very fung shui with suburb attention to design detail, just as you might expect. Upon my arrival, I couldn't help but think that this place was given to me for recovery.

I have to say that Japan easily has the nicest toilets of anywhere on the world. I am not to proud to say that indeed, I am going to miss the heated-seat toilets and motion sensor sound machines in every bathroom. It's such an unexpected surprise. :)
Mimi B: remember those fancy Toto washlets you found during your remodel? Well, I found their market and let me assure you that they do some Big Business in Japan.

Mon April 4, ~6:30 pm local time,(2:30am Mon in Austin)

Rhetorical Questions

Just because you know something might happen doesn't mean you loose the option to be disappointed should it end up happening.

For example: it might rain today-or any day-, but you chi'ed you're hair this morning and were looking forward to dinner plans. When it does rain and you get caught in it, your hair gets messed up, you're gonna new sad. If someone flippantly told you, "well, the weatherman said there was a 10% chance of rain this week" make you feel better, or (after you thought about it for a minute) make you want to punch them in the mouth?

Similarly, if your scoop of ice cream fell off your cone and onto the ground. Does a cool, "yeah, it happens" help.

Or if your flight was cancelled, does "hmmm... Maybe if you checked in a little earlier, it wouldn't have happened that way..." make you feel any better, or possibly just enrage you a bit? There is no connection between the two things! It is still upsetting that your flight was cancelled, your plans have now been forced to change, and you are disappointed.

I understand that human nature makes us instinctively want to answer the question "why" when something bad happens. But what makes us lose sight of how to me (even coordially) sympathetic?

I'm typing in this tiny little screen here, and not sure if this post makes my point; so I'll try one last analogy. This one a bit darker...

I believe the saying goes: "only two things in life are certain: death and taxes". So we know it could (will) happen eventually to all of us, surely no one would find it acceptable (let alone appropriate or compassionate) to say to a distraught young widower, "well, it happens sometime. Do you think it was something you did?"

Sun April 4

Fish market

Standing in the queue right now for sushi at The Fish Market in Tokyo. Every color, shape, size, texture you can imagineof shell, fish, or sea creature, alive or dead, sliced or snapping.

Bustling with men in rubber boots, crisscrossed by electronic carts, and filled in with bikes, wooden carts and and men carrimg large styrofoam boxes overflowing with crushed ice....and an occasional large fin flopped out of the back.

The familiarity with the energy and excitement is fascinating.

Sat April 4. ~9am

Secular Rosary

Memories without a photo can be the most poignant, but have no vehicle for memory but spontaneous recall. Few of them with my constant shutter clicking.

Sitting in a Tokyo highrise board room, meeting with a team from one of Japan's leading brand companies. Business card exchange ritual completed, introductory conversation complete and presentation underway. Looking past the screen, through the blinds and out pass the carpet...rises three blue bumps that slowly grow into helmets, followed by flopping squeegies, followed by suspenders until three Japanese men are in full view, suspended momentarily but never stop sliding their black wands.

Couldn't help be reminded of the slow lyrics of that Bare Naked Ladies song: them staring in, us staring out. "a modern day tomb" I think it says or alludes to....

Only a few moments of time but set me wondering.

Friday April 3

In Full Bloom

konnichiha (pronounced as konnichiwa)

No, not me. That would be the magnificent cherry blossoms coating Tokyo right now. It is breath-taking; they are everywhere.

Cherry blossoms are to the Japanese what firecrackers are to Americans, or bluebonnets to Texans. But maybe even more so... Hanami is literally the tradition of looking at the cherry blossoms when they are in bloom which can last just a few days if there are strong winds or rain in the 10 day window each year that they bloom. They are quite delicate and even a mild wind and they will fall from the trees like snow.

People all around town have been lingering and congregating under the trees at lunch and breaks, smiling, laughing, taking pictures.

It's Friday night in Tokyo. Tomorrow morning I'll wake up bright and early, head to the fish market to check it out... then off to Ueno park to join the masses that will likely already be there. From what I understand, it is as if the entire country will be tailgating tomorrow, ear-marking their spots in the parks with blankets and spending the whole day drinking sake and gazing at the trees. And with them I plan to join! Here is a 'How To' for Hanami

I'm a bit in disbelief that My week in Japan is coinciding with this magical weekend here. There are literally 'Cherry Blossom Weather Reports' created each year because the days in which the trees bloom varies and rolls up the country from south to north as the temperature warms. Even the difference between yesterday and today is remarkable.

This page describing Hanami is great. It is all anyone talks about between meetings, walking to lunch, on the trains..

Of course I LOVE to partake in the quintessential 'things' of any destination. "When in Rome..." is the law that governs my travel. Even when it's silly or strange. Eat fish & chips in England? Gross, but check. Mehndi in New Delhi? Check. Surfing in San Sebastian? Check. Discothèque in Prague? Check. Bargain shopping in the markets of Chichicastenango? I'll take it. Topless in Juan-les-Pins? Check. Champagne on the Champ-du-Mars and baguettes and cheese on the Siene? Check & check, and repeat. Even absinthe in Barcelona.

But this... this one might take the cake. After this week, I'm considering it Karma.

Sayounara.
(8pm Friday night, Tokyo time)

Tune in Tokyo

Can't believe in typing this given that at home we are finally finishing up the upstairs bathroom I designed a couple years ago...... But I want a bathroom laid out just like the one in my hotel room. It's frakin' awesome. It has floor-to-ceiling glass and you walk into the shower area AND there is a tub in the enclosed area!! So you can steam it all up and shower while running your bath, then slide right on into the tub without even leaving your steam room! It's brilliant. So brilliant, in fact, that I was sure to utilize it's double functionality every night with myPod blaring (I found the perfect place to set it down so the sound echoed real loud in there). And the toiletries were fantastic too of course, to complete the experience (aveda-like) and the left a new bath fizz tablet each day. Mmmmm

Intercom message on shuttle from Tokyo Airport

*Bong* sound followed by message I can't understand; followed by another message I can't understand--followed by the third translation (British accent):

"Passengers should be reminded not to use there telephones, as it annoys other passengers"

Can't make this stuff up....

There is a level of clairty provided with being direct, wouldn't you agree?

April 1, 2:10pm local time

Bye Bye Beijing

I'm leaving for Tokyo in bright and early in the morning... just a quick note before turning out the lights...

Beijing is such an interesting city full of dichotomy: - signs of a city here for tens of thousands of years, brand new construction every direction you look. Perfectly preserved history amoung incredible relics that are ignored-- people who will rip you off without a second thought, only to smile and invite you to meet them for lunch because you are their new best friend moments later. A city full of life...

I don't know if saying the past few days (or even the segment that was just the past 36 hours) were 'insane' or surreal or how you'd explain it-- maybe it's just hyperbole, maybe I'm just jet lagged.

But I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt and can say with complete certainty that I shall never forget my stay in Beijing.

Chinese Firedrill

Literally. I'm staying in the hotel today, and of course this is the day that they would test the fire alarm system during the afternoon.

However.... and this is brilliant... While the sirens are going off, they are blasting the speaker system with some sort of Chinese-teeny-bopper-pop-tart-type music that repeats every 30 seconds or so, in order to drown out the sirens.

Awesome.


Good thing I got a full three hours of sleep last night!

Tues March 31

More than I bargained for

Holy shit! That was totally effin nuts. Are you kidding me? Okay- enough with the explatives, though I likely dropped enough dancing f-bombs (You know... The kind im most likely to drop. As in 'f*ckity-f*ck-f*ck') the ") on the great wall to blow it up.

So: this was no sight-seeing event. This turned out to be a group of hard-core, everyweekend for 12 years, euro-hailing hikers that go to different parts of the Wall each Sunday and hike. Sorry, make that Hike.

When the bus stopped, we were in what seemed to be the middle of nowhere and everyone hopped out of the bus to start bundling up. As well they should have since it was well under freezing. Not to worry!! I wasn't cold long, oh, no. We started up tge steep incline -a mere 60 degree incline which proved later to be nothin- at a breakneck pace.

If you'll recall, the Great Wall lines the mountain TOPS. Oh eff.

In short (since the 'hike' sure as h*ll wasn't), we were NOT just going up to take some pics and come back down. As soon as my sorry@ss made it to the top and caught my breath (no longer in the middle of the pack biut now bringing up the rear with Pierre from Holland--just wait until you see sweet Pierre's picture. And to be sure, he was being kind to stay back with me, not the other way around) off the rest of the crew went. Fastforward to the part where I think I cannot possibly go any further than the 40 minutes of excrutiating torture already endured and innocently ask (inbetween heaving breaths) 'when do we turn around?' only to learn that we don't (!). Softly followed by, 'hmm. How high do you think we are?' oh, that would be a 500m ascent.

At this point we've been joined in the back by Klas, my Swedish colleague who brought me along on this fine journey, and who was now feeling quite guilty that this very well may be the death of me. A couple hours later, as it was snowing, he turned back and said with a smile (imagine sveedish aksent) 'I got you on dees mountain, I'll be sure to get you off dees mountain!'. I replied with a hearty 'Thanks, Klas!!'

We were fortunate enough that todays path had an option -after 4 straight hours- of making it down to a valley, and then a road, and a short 30 walk back to the bus. Which I happily opted, thank you very much! I figured, well my shoes are already busted so maybe I should call it quits.


So, yes, I have seen, hiked, and become intensely well acquainted with The Great Wall of China. And in a way, I can safely say, very few others have. Therefore, I believe I can adequately check this, of the 7 World Wonders, off my list.


**please excuse the excess cursing in today's post. :)

**author's note: I recognize that there were way too many commas and side notes in this post. What can I say? Today I apparently am long-winded, need a few more pauses and am craving alternate routes.

*final note: the area we went to was near a village called hochunnen and is at the furthest east point from Beijing, almost to Taipei.

March 29, 4:30 pm, Beijing

Chinese countryside

Sitting on a nice but very full bus for a two hour drive to The Great Wall. Thankfully (1) I have an mp3 player (2) I got a great seat. Quite narrow but comfy and more -than-average foot room Plus a big window to stave off motion sickness from yhe crazy driving.. (3) I have my trusty myPhone to play with :)

Lots of rice fields and neat rows of tall thin trees. It's 32 and overcast today; unlike yesterday's abnormal blue clear skies and sunshine that filled the parks with Beijing's people en masse: dancing, singing, tai chi'ing.

In a small town now. Wonder the name of it... Or where I am on a map. I'll have to wait to publish this... Likely until tonight when back in Beijing. Klas taught me a neat trick with my phone so I can get *some* Internet access- occasionally. Unpredictable or not, it's nice to have.

Back to staring at roadsides...

March 29, 9:30am, Beijing time

Pulling a 'Charlotte'

Remember that scene in the Sex & the City movie where Charlotte is in Mexico in the shower, so relaxed and comfortable that she forgets where she is, opens her mouth and it fills with water?

Yeah, that was me last night. So glad to be in a hot shower and done with my marathon travel over to China... i'd been so careful, already brushed my teeth with bottled water.. and... whoops. But not to worry! Good news: i promptly spit it out, reached for my trusty listerine and rinsed away...

MORE good news: that was last night and there's been no 'running to the bathroom' scene that followed Charlotte's mishap.

=)


Tomorrow: Tiananmen Square, The Forbidden City and The Temple of Heaven. Woohoo!!

Pimp tight in Peking

I admit I was a bit skittish - but you would be, too - had your travel agent hurled a "i've never heard of THIS airline..." as your ticket is booked to fly over the big blue ocean. Hmmm... nothing like a little reassurance.

Turns out, the flight from Seattle to Beijing on Hainan Airlines (China-based International with a new flight to Seattle) was fantastic! Not only were there swarms of sweet attendants catering to my every need (seriously, when I was reclining in my massive chair: someone came over and held her finger on the button so I didn't have to. WHUT?) ... the meals were incredible. Lobster, delicious ravioli with generous fresh cilantro (!) and on from there. Here's the real thing that won my heart: clean bathrooms. The whole way there.

Guess I'm just going to have to start flying in/to China more often now so that I can partake.

Needless to say, this trip is off to a good start. In spite of the fact that I didn't get to sleep until after 4 hours of laying there...mind racing... with the lights out, fluffy satin blanket, a couple pillows, eye pillow and noise cancelling earphones...

So other than not really sleeping (which isn't a huge shocker since I always have trouble sleeping on planes) my trip and arrival as been extremely smooth. Cake walk. I dig it.

Need to get to sleep soon so that I can catch up for the 27 hours of travel - woke up at 3am (Austin time) then arrived Beijing the following day at 5am (Austin time).

Everyone is REALLY helpful, but I get the feeling they may be skeptical of me.

One more comment - don't get me started about how much I LOVE all the gorgeous geometrical print designs on everything. Wait, to do it right, this is gonna need a post all it's own. Tomorrow! Good night (or good morning for my party people back home!)

Great Expectations

The weekend I'll be at The Great Wall of China. Pretty cool.

Have a whole unpublished blog. Post from last week, but as herring ready for 3 countries in 3 weeks (in another hemisphere) will do to you... I've kinda been chasing my tail to get ready to go.

So here's the scoop:

Beijing, china
Then next wednesday
Tokyo Japan
The the following Monday
Singapore

Day before Easter at 6:40pm:
Home.

More to come...

Xxoo

Last Hurrah

Big work trip coming up: 3+ weeks in Asia! Trouble is, I found out about the trip last week and my Chinese work visa hasn't come through just yet. Actually, that turns out to be a good guy because it has helped me postpone my trip by a few days (they wanted me to leave tomorrow, the 16th). Once my paper work is complete, we'll finalize my itinerary and i'll be off to the other side of the globe as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, had a lovely weekend states-side and headed to H-town. Quick summary of the whirlwind 24 hour celebrations:

• Cassie's 30th Birthday and Surprise(!) Engagement Party ...got to know that I'm HUGE a fan of the surprise engagement party, having attended my first SEP (if you will...) at my own engagement announcement =) Saw tons of old friends- fantastic evening
• Got to stay with the lovely Sara T & Boyd - whose house would classify as 4 stars if you could rate it... in fact, I wouldn't have minded to extend our stay by several days... but alas, a few more fresh baked cookies, another cup of coffee, an hour of 'bejeweled' (a method of time-loss and meditation fueled by play station) and we were on our way, leaving their beautiful home behind.
• Spent the afternoon with EmCon and precious little Georgia and her (not-so-little) baby brother Deacon (said by G as "Deaccoli"...she learned his name the same day as the word 'broccoli' ...let me just say: so damn cute.) Deacon *might* be the happiest baby ever. Remind me to tell the "rice and beans" story at some point. I might wet my pants laughing trying to type it up right now...

Wahoo! Home by dinner. Ran a bunch of errands today and going to start packing for my multi-latitude, multi-country work trip (where I insist to do some sight-seeing). Read the multi-country part as: 'several inter-asia flights' meaning: better not pack too much or you'll regret it because (1)not sure of my trust level of these airlines track record on lost checked luggage (2)i'll be lugging my bags all over the bloody continent. Packing challenge? Um, yes. Slightly. More where that comes from soon...

Anyway - how fortunate to get to see all those fun faces before heading to another continent for several weeks.