so i was away for a good two weeks with another 13 family members which was quite awesome because there was enough people for a private tour group which meant;
` we could sleep in a bit later if we chose to
` we could choose where we wanted to go in free time and have the tourguide take us there instead of needing to find our own way there like when travelling with strangers
` we could take our time instead of needing to hurry with the group
` we could choose to do our tour in different orders =D
The Highlights of China;
` the pretty light decorations at night =]... honestly decorated nicely
` i witnessed my first solar eclipse. i was also on the old City Wall of Xi An at the time so i had a very very good view of it =]. it was so pretty because the sun was looking like an orange version of my beloved moon. in china you can't really see the moon. and the sun is also a dim orange because it's covered by smog/fog/smoke/clouds. in Xi An that is anyway.
` i got to go up very very high up on the Oriental Pearl TV tower in Shang Hai and walk on the clear glass floor which looks down on the city ^-^ [yes i love heights]. me and andrea were jumping up and down making the mums and melinda scream in fright ROFLMAO. yeah it was just glass and only glass with nothing to save you if it happened to break and you fall the hundreds of meters LOL. no net, no nothing, which is why i loved it because it didn't block the pretty views of being so high up =]
` the fact that Bei Jing market people pull you back desperately so you know you can buy the stuff for cheaper
` it was very cold there ^-^
` the food was extremely cheap [i could buy ice cream for less than 50 aussie cents =D... it was my paradise... yehp i ate ice cream more than once a day there because it was so cheap]
` i ate a lot of yummy food =D. even got the chance to eat at a 5 star restaurant which is meant to be the number one most famous restaurant in Bei Jing which serves Peking duck **drools**. it's a MUST try!!! the skin is so crispy and omg i can't describe it in words, you just gotta eat it yourself!
` the shops close late = very good for midnight snacks
` the really cool Kung Fu show in Bei Jing. i was surprisingly interested throughout the whole show. very well done.
` the Terracotta Warriors were AMAZING!!!
` the fact that you never really need to wait in line for very long because they have so many workers
` there are many adorable little marshmellow babies ^-^
` taxi's are EXTREMELY cheap. a 20 minute drive costs Y19RMB-Y23RMB which is approx $3-$4 all up... so with 4 people in the taxi, its around 1 aussie dollar each =O
` walking around normally you can bump into people shooting a movie/drama
The Lowlights of China;
` the amount of people that hark and spit their phlem on the walkways was horrendous. i was literally looking at the floor everytime i stepped so i wouldn't step on the waste that came out the many people in the streets
` things that were not edible were still around the same price as australia
` the air in the smaller cities/countries [Xi An, Guilin and Yang Shuo] was disgusting! literally dust floating in the air that cars, seats and floors were dusty
` the amount of little kids that just pee on the roads. also the amount of people that don't close their toilet cubicle doors. LOL there was even this one time when we were in front of the biggest pit for terracota warriors and this kid came out, fondled with his zipper and peeed onto the main entrance pole of that pit =.=
` the SQUATING toilets
` the nutty traffic. you'd literally lose an arm if you dangled your arm out the window because thats how close they drive. also in china, it seems pedestrians have to give way to cars rather than cars giving way to pedestrians =.=.
` people don't really wave at you. out of the many people we waved at [due to boredom on the bus] only one lady waved back, and 2 adorable marshmellow babys waved while we shopped =D.
` there are MANY guys that have a tendency to do the head to toe and back up to the head checking out. and they do it very obviously and don't even mind if you realise it. even if you chuck them a disgusted look they still do it. the stare back technique does NOT work because then you'd just end up making awkward eye contact with them and they do NOT look away. luckily for us we had nelson to scare them off with homosexual gestures [such as rubbing his nipples, winking, licking his lips and eating food in a sexual manner].
Uncategorised;
` the waiters in china stand there and stare at you while you eat. kind of awkward but i guess they'll know when you need their service. and yes theres so many people working that there's enough waiters staring at each group of guest.
` the hoteliers help bring your luggage up for you, only they expect a tip in return =]
` the old people in china are more fit than me. just imagine an old grandpa [literally very old old] playing hacky-sack. well in china they play with shuttlecocks. i was shocked at how energetic they were moving around to kick the shuttlecock
` there are people that steal stuff and walk up to you quitely telling you they stole the item and asks if you want to buy them
Things I Learned;
` you have to be careful of red taxi's with X in their number-plate because they are private owned taxi's and so they can cheat the prices and rip you off and are usually their own boss. the rest of the taxi's are owned by companies. you should always ask for a receipt so if you realise they were taking you around in circles to rip you off then you can call up and complain and they would usually compensate you with the taxi driver getting in trouble. so company owned taxi drivers are usually too scared to trick you whereas private owned taxi drivers would usually rip you off especially if you are a foreigner
` china people are only allowed ONE child unless your first born is disabled, then you are allowed to have one more child 5 years later. also if the irst born of a farmer is a girl then they are also allowed to have another child 5 years later. if a family has more than one child otherwise, they would face serious charges. only because of this law which has been imposed for the last 30 years or so, there is starting to be less young people working so they may change this law again
` the retirement age of people in china is 56
` there are many pick pocketers that look spanish or mexican which alludes you to thinking that they are also foreigners and hence won't pick pocket you. but in fact they are actually from a region of china that don't look asian and specifically go to the big cities to trick you and pick pocket you. there are also armed pickpocketers which would hold a knife up to you if you were to ask them to return your wallet or bag =O
` in China, you are not meant to throw your used toilet paper in the toilet. you throw it in a bin that is provided which doesn't even have a lid on it. thats right! even if you have your periods or chuck a shit, you are still meant to throw the toilet paper in the bin. poor andrea got scarred by a toilet paper which had a mix of period anddddd shit!!! we learnt this after one of the toilets got clogged and a cleaner came up to unclog it. she then told us we were meant to throw the paper in the bin o.O [no we didn't listen. we just continued flushing it in the toilet. i doubt you'd want to have your hotel room smelling like piss and shit because you had to throw the paper in the lid-less bin. so yeah, if you ever go to China and you realise that the toilets look so pretty and clean yet still reeks badly of shit and piss, that is why =]
anyway, before i start to go out and catch up with friends, i'm gonna unpack all my luggage and clean up my rooms in the period of tonight and tomorow.
CYA'S =D. LOL must say blogging was quite fun. now i'll leave you's with a few random photos from China [clickity click for enlargements] ;
our private bus =D enough room for two seats each with spare seats
WEEEE grand staircase
mmmmmm yummmmm crepes at breakfast
department store in our hotel's neighbourhood
my favourite shop in which i forgot to go back to buy a mickey mouse thermo mug =(
LOL SWINE FAMILY... no not really. people in china mask their face due to the cold, not due to sickness. yehp we were about to climb The Great Wall. it was the coldest part of our trip =D
it was so cold that our windows literally iced up =D
the staircases that only the emporer was allowed to walk
brenden's snowy gloves
BEIJING OLYMPIC -birds nest stadium =]
PEKING DUCK step 1; cutting the duck
step 2; the filling wrap stage
step 3; wrapping it
XD PANDASSSSSS!!!
Nelson kicking panda Andrea
parentals getting foot massage and a free health check up
riding on a richochette [i think thats what it was called]
fatty finished 5 bowls of noodles
experience of sleeping on a train
daddy playing the Gu Zheng
we caught a movie shot in action
my best picture of the eclipse
failed attempt at groping a concubine =.=
extremely perverted room where the blind which are right next to the shower are opened from the outside NOT the inside of the bathroom =O. luckily our water system stopped working so we got upgraded to an enormous room with a living room and non-perverted bathrooms.
doesn't it look like we're in an ice land when really we're in a cave full of rocks =O
the whole family
ROFLMAO dirty cunts
we ate at a dumping place that shapes their dumplings into the shape of whats inside.
[cabbage, pig, duck]
[fish, and i forgot the other one]
this soup has baby dumplings in it and the amount of dumplings you get has a different meaning =]
lol i'm loving my mums face here
the Bund
another part of the Bund
on TV tower =D... weeeeee so high up ^-^
lol melinda refused to look down. and when she did she was clinging onto us so hard i lost blood circulation
can you spot my mum?
daddy cheating on mummy
daddy cheating on mummy again
about to experience the mag lev train which went somewhere close to 400km/h if i remembered correctly. we got to the airport in 8 minutes or so. =O
[tour guide on the left]
TOODLESSSS!!!
