Beijing

On to City #2 of our incredible China trip... Beijing!

We had an easy 2.5 hour direct flight from Shanghai to Beijing. We got in, took a bus to our hotel, checked in, then headed to an acrobat show. The show was very impressive - we were amazed by their flexibility and strength! In this picture, the guy at the very top was balancing on a rolling board while flipping bowls onto the top of his head.

We started our 2nd day off at the Forbidden City. Apparently it's named this because it was literally off limits for 500 years. It's the largest and best-preserved cluster of ancient buildings in China, and was home to two dynasties of emperors. This picture is right outside of the entrance.

The grounds were huge, you could probably spend a couple of days exploring everything inside. There were many ancient buildings, paths, as well as a variety of museums. The only real downfall was that there was no shade anywhere! We were roasting!

After visiting the Forbidden City we ventured on to Jingshan Park to get an aerial view of the Forbidden City. We climbed all the way to the top - and were surprised to see a buddha in the top building. The shape of this hill supposedly protects the palace from the evil spirits.

Aerial view of the Forbidden City from the top of Jingshan Park - I wasn't kidding when I said the grounds were huge.

The Bird's Nest at Olympic Park. This entire area was very touristy, but neat to see. We paid to go inside the stadium - it's very nice, wish we could have seen an event there.

We couldn't go to Beijing without trying the famous Peking Duck. We went to the most popular restaurant in town, known for their "lean" duck. Even though it was lean, it was still pretty greasy. But the flavor was good, and we really enjoyed it. We bought the entire duck for about $30, then they bring it out and carve it in front of you. They even bring you the head, but no - we didn't try this part.

We started the next day at the Summer Palace. It was a huge area filled with temples, gardens, pavilions, and lakes. Very beautiful! Apparently this area was originally a "royal playground" for the emperors and royal court living at the Forbidden City. It was their summer vacation spot to escape the heat at the Forbidden City.

Next we went to Beijing's most famous Buddhist temple, the Lama Temple. The buildings were beautiful, each with it's own buddha or statues and worship area. Inside this building holds the largest indoor buddha in the world... carved from a single block of sandalwood, he stands 26 meters (85 feet) tall! Unfortunately, I couldn't take a picture inside.

Here is a picture of one of the statues inside one of the many buildings on the Lama Temple grounds. It was hard to keep track because there were so many buildings and statues.

We ended our trip to Beijing at a Kung-Fu show. It was a really neat experience. See the "statue" behind us? It's actually a real boy!

I didn't post pictures from The Great Wall, I thought this deserved it's own blog post... stay tuned :)

Visit facebook or http://emilyandjoepictures.shutterfly.com/ to see more pictures of Beijing.

Shanghai

Joe and I just spent about 2 weeks in China for vacation and to celebrate our anniversary. We went to Shanghai, Beijing, and Hong Kong. You can just imagine how many photos we took (I have albums on facebook and http://emilyandjoepictures.shutterfly.com/ if you want to take a look). I'm going to try to blog about the main attractions we saw while we were there... 3 different posts, one for each city. Then I will end with a China FAQ blog post to share some of our opinions.

Welcome to city #1... Shanghai....

We were surprised by how large Shanghai was - both in area and population. The city has over 16 million people, and we definitely got to experience what it feels like to be in an overpopulated city. It was very overwhelming, claustrophobic, and caused constant stress and anxiety. The city was very large and modern. It was just about impossible to get around without using the subway system. Luckily, we have had plenty of experience getting around in Japan using public transportation, which turned out to really help us navigate our way through Shanghai.

Overall, Shanghai consists of many different districts, each with its own unique feel: the French Concession, The Bund, New World Shanghai, and Old Town. It was surprisingly modern, and cleaner than I had imagined (maybe because the World Expo is there right now?). It is not how you might picture "traditional" or "rural" China.

We started our trip at an area called the French Concession. Surrounded by tree-lined streets, this area is filled with narrow allies leading to cute little retail shops, restaurants, cafes, and bars. This was my favorite area of Shanghai - so unique!

Next we ventured on to a neighboring district, called Xintiandi. This area is known for it's international cuisine, bars, and designer shops. We landed at this wine bar and ordered a pitcher of sangria! We were nervous about the ice cubes (since you can't drink the water in China) but turned out to be ok. The sangria was delicious and the bar had a fun & relaxing atmosphere. Next we ventured on to a Chinese restaurant to have my favorite Chinese dish: dim sum (similar to dumplings... round noodles filled with whatever you want! YUM!)

We started our second day off at the Shanghai World Financial Center. It's the world's third-tallest building, measuring 492 meters high. This building has the highest observation deck in the world and as well as the world's highest hotel above ground level. The building is very distinct from the rest of the skyline, and looks like a bottle-opener.

The view from the top of the Shanghai World Financial Center building. The river was pretty brown, and had quite a bit of trash in it.

Next we went to "The Bund" - a famous area along the river bank which separates 'new world' Shanghai from 'old world' Shanghai. This pictures is of 'new world' Shanghai, an area called Pudong.

'Old world' Shanghai at night from "The Bund." Beautiful, old, unique buildings - but incredibly crowded. We found a local brewery down one of the allies called The Bund Brewery - which had good beer and a pub atmosphere, but may have contributed to Joe getting sick the next day... maybe from the water in the draft beer?

Day 3 started out at Yuyuan Gardens. This picture is right outside the entrance, and a very popular sight to see.The teahouse in the picture is one of the most famous teahouses in China, and the "zigzag bridge" is also a popular site to see.

This picture is inside the gardens, although it was very hard to get a good picture to capture the entire feel of Yuyuan Gardens. It was a huge area with tons of beautiful halls, buildings, pavilions, ponds, bridges, small allies, amazing doors/entrances, rock pathways, etc. We have tons of cute pictures from Yuyuan Gardens on shutterfly and facebook.

After fighting the crowds at Yuyuan Gardens and being in 95 degree hot & sunny weather - we decided to try to escape the crowds and heat for a while at the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum. Wow, were we wrong... it was so busy that we couldn't even find a place to sit down (including at the restaurants!). We ended up waiting in line for about 30-minutes just to get a drink and quick snack, then we found a spot on the floor and sat down in the middle of the museum. The museum offers a lot of interacting exhibits, like taking a penalty kick at an electronic goalie, but the wait in line never seemed worth it and was quite disappointing.

We ended our trip at Lawry's Prime Rib Restaurant... a fantastic way to end our Shanghai experience! Joe loves Lawry's seasoning (and they even have it on the table!), so it was perfect. The meal was incredible & the atmosphere was excellent.

Thanks Dad A!!

Dad A sent us a wonderful package for our anniversary - thank you so much! We had a relaxing anniversary, and spent the day recovering from our trip to China. We'll share our China experience in the next few blog posts... stay tuned :)

How did all that stuff fit in one little box!? Filled with our favorite candies, marshmallow fluff for Emily, and artificial syrup for Joe (we can't find fake syrup in Japan!).

Love the Bell's shirts! Thanks again :)

SUMO!

We went to watch our first Sumo match right before we left for China. There are six Grand Sumo Tournaments a year - only 1 in Nagoya (every July). Each tournaments goes for 15 days, starting about 8:00am and lasting until about 6:00pm each day. The day starts out with beginners, and ends with the most popular and highest-ranked sumo wrestlers. It was a long day, but very fun!

You sit on mats on the floor (the purple mats behind us). If you want an actual seat, you have to sit in the back few rows of the stadium.

The ring (dohyo), made with clay and sand.

Sumo wrestlers gather in a circle around the referee in the ring-entering ceremony. Wrestlers wear an embroidered silk 'apron' for the ceremony, which I read costs between $3,000-$5,000!

The winner of a sumo bout is either: 1) the first wrestler to force his opponent to step out of the ring, or 2) the first wrestler to force his opponent to touch the ground with any part of his body.

There are no weight divisions in sumo wrestling... so weight doesn't matter, and sometimes a wrestler will face an opponent twice his own weight. Do you think this little guy had a chance against the big one? Actually, the little guy won.

Updates and such

We are going on vacation to China! We leave tomorrow afternoon, and will be gone for 11 days. We're going to Shanghai, Beijing, and Hong Kong! So I thought I would give you an update of some things going on before we leave.

I'll start with... I'm finally done with my Japanese class!! It was a stressful couple of months, and I'm relieved that it's over. I'm taking the summer off, and then I might continue with private lessons in the fall. I discovered that Japanese is a difficult language to learn, and I'm not sure if I'm that committed to learning it. I think I would do better with private lessons - to learn more conversation skills rather than grammar. So we'll see. Joe, on the other hand, has been doing well. He's been taking 2 private lessons a week and seems to be committed.

I updated our pictures website. So you can see all of our photos from spring and summer on: http://emilyandjoepictures.shutterfly.com/

Joe received an award for his exceptional performance and hard work at Boeing/MHI!!! He's been a dedicated worker, and was recognized for his commitment and leadership skills by his Manager, Senior Manager, and the Director of the 787 program for Asia. I'm so proud of him!


The girls from the cosmetology school contacted me again to do another event. They made me into an "ice bride," and I got to do a modeling shoot at a local photography studio in Nagoya.

I really am wearing clothes... a tube top. The stuff on my head was so incredibly heavy. My hair/head hurt for several days!

Close up! They always put a lot of detail into the jewels/body art.

Moroccan Restaurant: Casablanca

We went out to a Moroccan restaurant on Friday evening with friends, Mio & Joe. It was our first experience with Moroccan style food - and we loved it! It's quite possibly my new favorite restaurant in Nagoya.

The inside of the restaurant was decorated very cute. Clothing hanging on the walls, and pillows/bench style seating.

Appetizer platter, with: kabobs, falafil, hummus, spring rolls, salads, and dips.

Beef couscous... yum!

A 30-minute belly dancing show. The dancer tried to get Joe M to come on stage.... he wasn't thrilled about the idea.

Ended the evening with Moroccan mint tea.... by far the best tea I have ever had!!! Even Joe liked it, and that says a lot.

Tokyo Disneyland & Disney Sea

I've met an amazing group of girls from my ikebana and yukata classes. We took a 2-day girls trip to Tokyo Disneyland and Disney Sea in May! From left to right: me, Emily from Indiana, Penny from Canada, Meagan from Michigan, Mio from Seattle, and Louise from Scotland.

The castle looks the same as Disney Orlando, but I was disappointed that Tinkerbell didn't fly out of the top window during the fireworks show at night. The park was made up of 7 different themed areas: World Bazaar, Adventureland, Westernland, Fantasyland, Tomorrowland, Critter Country, and Mickey's Toontown.

One of my favorite Disney characters! I love Eeyore! And yes, we are all wearing Mikey shirts!

On the monorail to Disney Sea. We loved how the hand-holders were mickey mouse shaped. It was truly such a magical experience! Disney is the only place where adults feel like kids again! :)

DisneySea was almost like a small version of Epcot in Orlando. Each section of the park was a different theme: American Waterfront, Lost River Delta, Port Discovery, Mermaid Lagoon, Arabian Coast, and Mysterious Island.

The gigantic volcano, Mount Prometheus, located in the center of the park.

Yes, we all bought Minni Mouse ears, and yes we wore them around the entire time! :) Like I said above, Disney is the only place where you feel like a kid again... so fun!!

Ikebana: May & June

Here are a few pictures of my recent ikebana arrangements from May and June.

This piece may not look like much... but it's by far the most difficult arrangement I've had to do. Only two different materials were used, and the rule to this style is that all materials must be in a straight line (see picture below). I believe it's called Shoka style.

All materials must be in a straight line facing the front to create ONE single line.

Again, this style used only 2 materials... and it had to be in a single file line facing the front. Very difficult! Apparently these materials are only available during the summer, so my teacher made us try this style a few weeks in a row. It's not my favorite, but neat to learn.

This is the same style (Shoka style) with a single-file line - but uses only one material.

Shoka free-style.

Free-style!

Thank you!

We sent out our new address via e-mail last week. This blog is public, so we didn't want to post our address on here! If we missed anyone, please let us know.

We want to say thank-you to Lori & family for the awesome package they gave us in Austin. Filled with candy, pictures, and even pink chocolate chip pancake mix! Here are a few pictures of the incredibly cute pancakes....

A big thank-you to Mom-A for sending us a delicious package full of goodies this week! :) And thank you to Jenny for bringing us chocolate chips & regular pancake syrup... and Stephanie and Matt for bringing us twizzler pull & peels, orange slices, and pam cooking spray!

Everyone has been so thoughtful with emails, cards, phone calls, packages, etc. We are so fortunate to have such wonderful family and friends! We just passed the 6 month mark, and homesickness is starting to sink in. So thank you to everyone for your continuous effort to make our lives living abroad easier. We miss you all so much!!!