Leaving Hong Kong happened so fast that it was a real blur. One minute we are watching the big light show downtown, and the next minute our good friend Farshad is in town and we crammed all things good into his itinerary for the three days he was there.
We went to the Big Buddha which was extremely beautiful. I could have stayed the whole day there, there was this peaceful energy that I can’t even find the words to describe. We took my family to Peking Garden, which is Yee Ling’s favorite and ours as well. They had really great service and the food was amazing! Then of course we hit all the usual drinking spots: Yumla, Drop, The Gecko Lounge (which is the only place in Hong Kong that legally serves absinthe)
On our last day in Hong Kong, our friend James took us into Shenzen in China and helped us book our tickets out. It was a gong show considering the population in China. He took us shopping at the electronic mall and helped us hail a cab to bypass the line up. We were in such a rush, to get there on time and during rush hour – I hear this BOOM sound! This was the sound of our cab getting a flat tire during rush hour. He was so efficient that with Sebs help we were outta there in like 15 minutes. And we got to the airport in time just to find out we were delayed by about an hour!
Being in China is interesting because all the things we usually take for granted like Facebook and Youtube is censored. The upside is it makes you realize how much you waste in front of the computer when it’s not there. In case anyone is wondering that’s why I haven’t been updating my status.
For some reason, I had the idea in my mind that I was going to see the China from 15 years ago. A country where everyone rides bicycles, and wears china men hats, and chinese silk dresses. Man was I in for a surprise, China is so modern with big high rises and cars and electronics everywhere. It’s not what I had imagined at all – what a shock!
One of the first things we did when we got into Shanghai was go to the World Expo. It’s a really cool thing to do, but the line ups for the popular pavilions are ridiculous. The best one we went to was the U.K. pavilion. They did a seed exhibit to preserve all the different seed species. It was really remarkable. The line up for this one was only one hour, but when we went to check out Japan, the line up there was five hours!
Another interesting experience I had while being here in Asia was one that has to do with language. I came to Hong Kong for the first time when I was twenty and I had never travelled anywhere where I didn’t understand the language. I just remember how annoying I found it to hear everyone talking such crap all the time. I found Chinese people so loud and rude!
Then after my stint of travel through other Asian countries, where I barely understood a lick of what they were saying, I found it really refreshing and cool to be able to communicate with people in Hong Kong. It was such a treat. The other thing I was able to experience is what it’s like to be illiterate. I can speak Chinese but can’t read the characters, so there is a bit of bumbling around but overall I am really loving it! Now we are heading into Beijing, where they speak mostly Mandarin so I picked up copy of the Lonely Planet phrasebook, and am using the Rosetta Stone lessons. And thanks to James for teaching me the basics!
Also, my cousin Derek lives in Shanghai and has been living here for 41/2 years. This time around I got to spend some quality time with him and his beautiful wife. We went for dinners, clubbing, massages, shopping. It was amazing to reconnect with him, as we have known each other as kids and played together all our lives!
He has this New York deli in Shanghai. It is super pimp with a big screen t.v., pool table, bar and everything. He took us there and let us all make our own sandwiches which was such a treat especially for the guys who were sick of eating noodles and rice all the time. I loved it! It was those creature comforts that reminded me of home, making a sandwich with all the fixings I like (mustard!) and watching family guy while laughing with the guys!
Afterwards we went to Logo. The guys had lined up two gigs at Shelter and Logo here in Shanghai which was really cool. It really reminded me of home and made me realize how much I appreciate their music. In Asia there is a lot of electronic music but it is really cheesed out because the population here really loves the commercial trance anthems so it was nice to hear a bit of the electro underground again.
And keeping with our regular tradition. After bar food and of course we had to teach Farshad Slap jack! So much fun! My cousin has some really cool friends out here from Vancouver as well so it was fun to reminisce about my city.
The next day, Mimi had invited us out to udancecn.com which is the underground electronic radio station where Sebastien recorded a one hour set for her podcast. It was really high tech and cool. So much fun and what a surreal experience!
Well tomorrow morning, Sebastien and I are boarding an eleven hour train to head into Beijing where we will see the Great Wall, Forbidden City and Tiananmen square. We will go back to knowing no one and getting back on the backpackers trail. It has been an amazing ride here, but as usual we are excited for the next adventure!
** The internet connection is unbelievably slow here ... will be posting photos when it is not so painfully slow! **
