Ready or Not

I don't know. I'm just not where I thought I'd be. Things came up in my stupid moody little head.

But I did get some productivity out of it. And there were a few moments of relaxation. Playing piano and enjoying it for once. Reading David Sedaris' When You are Engulfed in Flames while drinking black coffee in the morning, or late afternoon.

I still won't say I'm satisfied with this week. But like my mom said, "When are you ever?"

In my defense, there were times I did like the way things turned out from breaks. But she still has a point. So whatever. What's happened has happened. All there is to do is face the music. Maybe then, I'll get to live a little and be happy.

OM NOM NOM

So my last post on China was very long, which made me hesitant about posting this, another post on China, this time on food.

But as a good Anthony Bourdain fan, I feel a need to promote awesome food that may not be in people's comfort zone. A lot of the stuff I liked best were very simple in preparation. Chop, boil/grill, and serve.

One time, my uncle took me to a fish farm near Beijing. Restaurants nearby use the fish in their dishes.

Holy shit. Best piece of grilled fish I have ever had, hands down. So good I couldn't help but eat half before taking a photo. The two yellow buns (I really can't find better words for those =D) on the side are corn meal filled with wild plants.

For a meat lover like myself, this was pretty damn good. And that's saying a lot since it had no cilantro.

Another weekend, my uncle took us out again, this time for Beijing street food.

Shredded cow stomach, no seasoning just boiled to well done. Sauce on the side. Think hot pot but done for you.

Chopped lamb head. Same preparation. Slightly different but equally awesome taste.

The more “normal” stuff that I had: lamb kabobs and beef noodles. Simple but hellz-yea-amazing

Looking back I have to say a lot of the stuff did not look too appetizing. But in the words of Bourdain, “You only live once.” Just go for it, you never know how it's gonna taste till it's in your mouth. It was all good for me the whole way through.

China 2009

I'm writing this blog post on Word. It's July 7^th, 2009. But this post will probably be posted sometime in August. And that's because in China, Blogger is blocked. So instead of waiting till the end of my vacation to share what happened under serious amounts of jet lag, I write this now. This also means that I haven't been able to catch up on some of your interesting stories on blogger. Though I do get xanga subscription digests by email. And those have been somewhat interesting. You may know who you are. ;)

Overall, my stay in China was far more than what I expected. I'm pretty sure I'll feel great every time I look back at this trip.

Stuff I did:

1. Stayed inside my uncle's house for 7 days: As required by swine flu regulations. I also had to report my body temperature for that time. Kind of excessive actually. It's not like I could have crossed a street with the jet lag I had, a task that's the equivalent of playing Frogger with your life.

2. Civil Engineering Tour: Hells yeah, this was a good 10 day trip.

3. Internship at Beijing Institute of Architecture Design (BIAD): Worked there after the tour.

4. Food!: Had a lot of variety of good eats while I stayed. From KFC and Pizza Hut to Cow stomach and Sheep Head. Tasty q:

Here are the highlights of the tour. I'll go into the food later =D

First stop of the tour, Beijing.

Tian An Men Square. A place of controversy, but one thing's for sure: That's one big ass flag pole.

Forbidden City. It's size makes MTV cribs look like Barbie doll houses.

Commune by the Great Wall. Basically 10 Asian architects were invited to design their own villa. Pretty cool places.

The Great Wall. This section was intentionally left unmaintained. I kinda like the unkempt look of it all.

The Water Cube was surreal almost. The Bird's Nest was pretty big. Ritchie Kwan's reaction: “Of course you guys would visit a hunk of metal”

Next on our tour, we went Xian. On the train ride there...

Think beer pong except with a shoe and a pack of gum. Oh and you still get to drink beer.

Countryside. I actually did not expect that we'd go to a place like this. Pleasant surprise

LOUD NOISES aside, KTV twas fun.

Terra Cotta Warriors. Most of them are actually still covered, as this is the best preservation method. Otherwise they lose their paint and end up like the ones on the top.

As with all visits to foreign countries, a photo displaying perfect English grammar is required. Thanks the cooperation. (Lampoonery aside, most of the travel guides spoke great English)

We then flew to Yi chang. The place is sorta remote. And by sorta, I mean very. Not a lot of people or traffic, and absolutely no karaoke bars in sight.

The spectacular view outside the hotel.

The Three Gorges Dam

Mr. Wang, one of the chief engineers of the project. Pretty cool guy.

“Damn! That's one big dam...ok let's go to Shanghai”

Night skyline. We were here a little early, so some of the buildings didn't light up yet

Visited Tongji University. Had some interesting conversations with the CivE grad students.

TV Tower, Shanghai World Financial Center, and Jin Mao Tower.

The glass balcony on the top. A great way to cure height phobia?

Here's the elevator to the top of the SWFC. Portal?

Maglev Train, which transported us to Pudong Airport in exactly 7 minutes and 20 seconds.

Awesome people to go on tour with. Good times.

Though I wish we stayed in Shanghai a lot longer. Lots of interesting architecture. I shall return. With a tripod. And a local friend who would be willing to help me? Cause I can't speak Shanghainese. Let alone enough Mandarin. xD

Alaska

Looking back at my first cruise, I'd say there were a lot of things that went wrong. The cruise food was usually under seasoned, overcooked, or just didn't taste good. There were a lot of things to do on the cruise, if you were over age 21. But being the good kid that I am, no alcohol was involved. Nothing racy, dangerous, let alone exciting. The one time I tried to go "clubbing" on the cruise, no one was there, resulting in a pointless conversation with strangers, whom I sadly ditched.

Then again, I did watch a good number of movies on the ship from the comfort of my cabin. And I have to say, this was a relaxing trip. Sure the 8 hour tours of nothing but icy, snowy mountains, and lakes got very boring, but I never had a real chance to just sit, sleep, and take in the beauty of things....behind a dusty glass window of the bus. Yay happy thoughts.

But really, I did have a chance to enjoy some of the pleasant scenery.

A normal trip for my family means touring an entire country in one month. This tour usually consists of six cities, waking up very early in the morning, and literally running through tourist destinations. Shopping? No time. Enjoy life like a local? Impossible.

In this respect, a chance to relax and take a good look at nature was practically salvation. Sure, I didn't get a chance to eat at local Alaskan restaurants, but I get what I can get.

My journey started on a plane ride to Seattle. As for all plane rides, a sky picture is mandatory. So here it is.

Frank Gehry's EMP building and Seattle Space Needle


The clouds were really nice that day


Later, we went to Banff National Park in Canadia. I mean, Canada. Such funny names for both country and park.

Wildlife. Funny how the car is a Dodge. Man coexisting with Nature?

On an ice field/glacier. Hope my shoes' dirt doesn't end up in someone's Deer Park.

After Banf and a long, car-sickening ride, we meet up with family friends. Onto the cruise? Nope. First a tour of Butchart Garderns. Flower pics? Definitely.

Onto the cruise, the Sapphire Princess.

The Office!


Ziplining. Full Gear. Yea! Probably the most exciting part of my trip. Definitely doing this more often.

Putting macro lens to good use. Mosquitoes actually tolerate Alaskan climate. Where's OFF! when you really need it?



Formal cruise night. We didn't actually go into the room behind us. But there was that interesting looking sculpture at the entrance.

And finally, the scenery I came for.


World's smallest desert








Denali, the final attraction.

The next time I come to Alaska, I hope I'll get to hike more often. Yeah, it's comforting to sit in a tour bus and see it all passing by. But it feels too dull, too inactive. Sure, I won't get as far by walking. At least it would be a pleasantly different experience.

Then again, this was more relaxing than many past "adventures" and for that, I'm somewhat content.

The End?