Overly frugal?

Compared to other SE Asian destinations, Bali is quite expensive. Thailand and Malaysia are much cheaper. Vietnam is midway. Bali, quite expensive.

We went to Bali for 9 days. We decided to stay at the Grand Hyatt, in Nusa Dua (the Beverly Hills of Bali) on … POINTS. Thank you Charles….your gift to us for all your business trips!

We had two adjoining Club Hyatt rooms and they were delightful. They were going for US$250 per room per night…how grateful am I that we weren't paying!! THe resort itself is gorgeous. Four swimming pools, on the water, private beach, storks and other birdies, lizards, fish in the ponds, etc. Beautifully kept grounds.

The weather was a dream. It rained twice, for two hours, and then stopped. Just enough to take the edge of the nailing heat.

Back to bucks.

The resort was….expensive. The cost of a cheeseburger and chips was $100HKD, or $15US.

We were given a complimentary breakfast in Club Hyatt. This consisted of fruits, tea/coffee/juices, yogurt, breads, a couple of cereals, and two small heated items, like sausages and grilled tomatoes.

For me, this was perfectly adequate. Tea, toast and fruit for breakfast? WHat could be better? The kids were appeased that none of the cereal included the word "Choco" in it's title when they discovered the fresh baked chocolate croissants. Charles was content-ish. He would have been happier with lattes, an omelette station, and a few other bonuses one associates with a nice (but not free!) breakfast.

So we would eat our great breakfast and then head off to our activity. If it was a hotel day, when it came time for lunch, because I am cruel and mean, I would up our family and move them off the resort and further up the beach to some indpentent surfer hangout restaurants where a burger and chips was HK$38. It was five minutes walk, but look at the difference in the price!

Speaking of price, we were there for Easter. The Kids Club was hosting a one hour Easter Egg Hunt. They said it was two hours long, but if you looked at the schedule, check in was 30 minutes long, and eating the chocolate and other sweeties was 45 minutes long. I bet explaining and would be a good 20 minutes, re-ezplaining another 15, which left 20-30 minutes for the hunt itself. The cost? US$20 oer child.

Our kids were quite keen on this idea. I told them that (surprise!) i wasn't. I offered to make a deal with them. We would have Easter Egg hunts (and make the blasted gingerbread houses) the Sunday after we returned from Hong Kong, and the kids could choose one special event/activity if we didn't do the Easter Egg hunt. They agreed.

The girls decided on hair braiding

Jasper wanted tennis lessons but settled for a new hat (he loves it)

Seb got to watch a movie approved by his father

And if it was a day in the hotel, after I let breakfast settle, I would get changed into my running kit and go for a run – first up to the temple near the hotel, then down to the golf course, then turn round, go past the resort entrance again, and into nusa dua. there was a little restaurant we went to a few times, and not only was the price right, BUT THEY OFFERED FREE PICK UP AND DROP OFF. That's a savings right there!

Then I would run back to the resort. One time, just as my run was finishing and I was heading back up the drive to the GH, i met a fellow carrying two Starbucks cups.

Starbucks….exactly what our accountant has in mind when he refers to "the Latte factor".

But, it was a holiday and I had been a bit of a frugal miser, and so I inquired if the Starbucks was near or 45 minutes by car away, and he pointed to the shopping complex across the street. YIPPEE!!! I found it, and bought my man some sort of cold vanilla latte drink. It wasn't a condescending "here's a treat because you're saving so well," and I hope he didn't take it that way, it was more, "I know these are something you love, and we're loving this holiday…so it's a good match." Just like MC and I are.

Is too much frugality a bad thing? I think so. You need to enjoy experiences without constantly worrying about cost or ordering the cheapest thing onthe menu. But do kids need to learn the value of money and choices? I do think so. I'm trying to strike a balance. Any feedback welcome.

 

vacation with no baggage

there was a time when holidays were best described as a change in venue, rather than a vacation.

vacations bring to mind that fantastic 90's (and you thought i was going to say 80's…how predictable do you think i am?) commercial – I need a vacation, I need to get away –

and really, Charles and I werent getting away, when we went on vacation from 2004-2009 we were bringing our baggage (and all their baggage) with us. Except the annual trips to Canada, I don't even think we attempted "vacations" while the triumverate were in nappies.

Phuket and Kota Kinabalu were great, but we were the entertainment. We and our large bags of hats, drinks, change of clothes incase someone vomits, toys, sunblock, mossie spray, bla bla bla. and once we had clunked our way to whichever kiddie pool we were spending the day at, there were the endless trips to the bathrooms, and then the requests to come into the pool, go to the playground, come exploring.

meals were an opportunity to get to know the take out menu. for years, i have judged resorts by their club sandwich. the kids needed to be asleep by 7.30 if they were going to be tolerable the next morning and the one time we did rent a sitter we found them asleep in the same bed as the kids, so we didn't go that route again!

so, here we are in 2011. with a nine year old and some seven year olds. and my goodness the difference it makes.

we had a vacation. in bali.

i read at least five books. found a new author i really like.

sebastian made a friend and would disappear for two or three hours at a time, jasper trailing after them. the girls were very happy in their world and played away in the water.  every day i could take a run into nusa dua, make us dinner reservations and explore the area a little more. it was great to slap on the sneaks without feeling guilty. at night, after dinner, charles would get a massage, not feeling that he was leaving me with the impossible task of getting four children into bed. because it wasn't difficult.

it was a great holiday. volcanoes, frugality, perspective x 2…lots of posts coming.

 

 

what’s in a name?

i was awoken very early this morning by a gentle finger on my elbow. there is only one person who does that in my family.

"hello jasper".

"hello mummy," he replied, and scurried into bed. while charles has been gone i have been trying really hard to sleep facing the window, in order to be good to my heart, bla bla bla, so i turned around to face my little blond hero, who was getting ready for early morning confidences.

"mummy, where are we going tomorrow?"

"are you telling me you don't know?"

"yes I know, we are going to bali, but what i want to know is what else about bali. is that the city? or the country. or all?"

this tripped me up for a moment. (please remember, it was 6.15am).

and to be fair, this question is one the kids don't really understand. hong kong to them is city, province/state and country. and another bonus – no zip codes in HK!!!

but JUST bali wasn't good enough for jasper.

i thought, started to say "seminyak" and then remembered where we are going and changed my mind to "nusa dua". this was of great interest to jasper, he raised his head from my torso and said, "semnoosaduet?"

"close enough."

"is there a country?"

"indonesia."

he practised that a couple of times then asked if he could watch television. i said no, but he was welcome to leave and read a book in his room. jasper then tried compromise.

"what about read a book in your room?"

"as long as you don't talk to me, even to ask a question or how to say a word," the promoter of literacy and reading declared.

in my younger years i was a bit despondent about my name. teresa. nothing too glam about that. i had friends with glam names, but i was a teresa, a "hard worker". not so great. as time changed, i began to take pride in my name, and feel that i could not let the "teresa team" down by giving less than 100per cent.

 i freely admit i don't fully get the story of martha and mary in the Bible until i study it very carefully. SOMEONE had to do the work and YES it was great that MARY took the break when JEsus beckoned to her, but there was still work to be done! Never one to leave undone work, Martha did it. i know you need balance – (lthough you don't see me clamouring for a more balanced school week/weekend) – but it's just a hard one that concept.

in recent weeks, i have appreciated the words of another teresa – st teresa of avila, as words i want to live by.

here they are:

Lord Christ,

You have no body on earth but ours,
No hands but ours,
No feet but ours.

Ours are the eyes through which your compassion
Must look out on the world.

Ours are the feet by which you may still
Go about doing good.

Ours are the hands with which
You bless people now.

Bless our minds and bodies,
That we may be a blessing to others.

AMEN

 

It is easier to be a burden than a blessing. But all we can do is try. And then try again the next day.

Off to Bali tomorrow, which means I should probably start packing soon.

Today the day was off to a great start (you just know this is going to have an ominious ending). I was up at 6.45, and planned a great Sunday school lesson. Downstairs was very foggy and the kids were itching to go outside (and scream) but I insisted they stay inside and watch television. Aren't I a winner mum?

Apparently not. When I gave them breakfast, they asked why they did not get pancakes or waffles. I responded because they had syrup yesterday. The four quarters of one whole evil were quick to inform me that their dad always lets them have syrup.

What do they think, that they can play us off each other? Do I give a Ding Dong Double Dipstick on what their dad does (I do, but not right now. I had righteous anger and even better. a MORAL to impose).

I launched into the dangers of syrup on teeth, too much sugar, wise eating choices, and how I didn't believe I had seen any fruit or vegetables (chippes notwithstanding) cross their (probably) weak teeth since Friday, when I made them eat broccoli. Their eyes glazed over and they just murmured resentfully through mouths stuffed with sensible fibre filled cereal, "Dad…better…loves…" whatever.

Let's go to church. I do like being a sunday school teacher. I try to make it a good time for the kids. Last week we went on a coin hunt. This week, we made fishes. But before that, I asked them what they had for breakfast (lesson was jesus calling out from the shore to the fishermen who hadn't caught anything). Then the assistant and i drew their breakfasts and the kids told us who drew it best. If they were older, they could draw it, but we've had too many incidents of them going off on tangents on the white board.

Once we were home again, we decided to play wii.

This was a good idea, except it could not be achieved without fighting, apparently. Or shouting at each other. So after 15 minutes I sent the girls to their room for one hour to do puzzles and beads and let the boys wii on. After an hour, I let the girls come out and the boys, all excited by the virtual light sabre bashing they had been doing, headed down to the playground to do some real life smashing.

The girls put on a Dora the Snow Princess wii thingie. Well, who knew! They could even fight with Dora. While Dora was seemingly shooting coins out her bottom and into the piggy bank, the girls felt it necessary to smack each other.

And that was it for mean mummy. I erupted, but quiet and deadly like. I think I felt my eye begin to tic, which Pammy will tell you is not a good sign.

"And we're done here!" I informed the spawn.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO" they predictably shrieked.

"To your rooms!"

Carys kicked the sofa. She then jumped up and landed on the ground. She did this to upset me, and hey! It worked!

I assisted her to her room with a not so gentle swat.

She informed me i didn't love her. "You only love the boys".

Sela told me this was her worst day ever.

Carys told me I must be the meanest person ever. I said, "And are you perfectly innocent?"

And they chose to scream.

I am getting really bored telling this story. The upshot is, I informed the girls that I was going to Bali in three days, and if they could not get along with each other and their brothers, they would not be coming. I did not wish to be with disobedient, loud children. They had a choice to make.

They chose to pack with me, and we had a lot of fun trying on clothes and putting aside many new items for ICM that they had outgrown without wearing.

Dinner was pizza and pirates of the caribbean. right before dinner when the rain started to come down, I sent them outside, where they ran and stomped and raised their heads to heaven with their friends. 

exhausted.

we miss our charles.

 

birthday night hike 2011

Last night I celebrated my birthday. Or I got to celebrate my birthday the way I wanted to.

41 is not known as a "landmark" year. Hardly the need to have a massive party or celebration. But birthdays are special. Each day deserves to be marked. There are so many new experiences…why shouldn’t we be giving them a go?

I love hiking. I love being outdoors, and just walking.

I am also enjoying getting back into more “adventure” stuff, which has been rather dormant since the prodigies arrived.

So for my birthday, I wanted to do a night hike.

You would be surprised how many people this does not appeal to.

Why would you do that? People were asking me, and were surprised when I told them it was my idea.

I asked about 12 friends, and only three were interested and wanting to come. Dear Tara wasn’t even that interested, but she knew that a lot of people had dropped out. So she determined to stick it through and try something new. Emily, my friend who is a great marathoner. Terri, who is leaving for the Philippines in the morning. She came.

There have been plenty of things I have edged away from, and I don’t blame people for not coming if this was not their thing. I just find it incomprehensible, because this is so my thing!

Tara’s husband planned the route with me. Pessimistically, I allowed for six hours to do 15 kms. I wasn’t sure about the Night Factor, how slow we would be and what the path would be like at night. Andrew helped plan a trail that didn’t have too many stairs. Also, we were avoiding illegal immigrants, animals, and likelihoods of wrong turns, please!

Wednesday I walked through the trail with Terri’s brother David who was visiting for a while. We saw a snake and we made one wrong turn, and it took us 3.10 or so. Not bad for a first run. We took it really slow, and I took lots of pictures but at one point David said, “at night, everything is going to look the same!!”

Today, I filled up my camel back, put in bandages, the map, and asked Charles for his rugby whistle, just in case we got lost and needed to whistle for help. “As if the search and rescue wouldn’t hear four women talking!” he exclaimed. Not a scathing comment, but a wondering comment.

And we gathered. Just the four of us. Talked about headlights, shone headlights in each others eyes, chatted about snakes, falling, what time we might finish, snakes, bla bla bla!

Charles drove us to our starting point, at the Wilson Trail. We took a picture and started off. Climbed about 140 steps and turned left, hugging the hill. After climbing the steps, it was suggested that we might like to stretch first. Oh RIGHT!!!

From the beginning, Tara made it clear that she didn’t like spiders. Terri was also in that group.

Approximately 30 minutes in, with Emily leading the way, Terri and I spotted a snake. This snake was barely a teenager. It was a snake wearing a training bra and just starting to need deodorant, if you know what I mean. And it was right in front of us. We said, “Girls!” And we stopped, and everyone looked at the snake who was not impressed at the headlights being shone at him. (Poor little dote). Took a picture, then we moved on.

Next Terri spotted a tree frog. Extremely cute! Tara looked at it, and said, “Hmmm.” And kept walking.

We kept going. When we had started, the headlamps weren’t necessary. By 45 minutes in, they were very necessary.

I didn’t know about everyone else, but I was having the time of my life. It wasn’t creepy, but it was unusual. I don’t know the woods like this. It was getting misty. It was quite, quite amazing.

We finished the first portion of our hike and climbed maybe another 100 steps to meet up with our next junction. Perfect. This was the most precarious bit as we really needed to “lean into the hill” as the path was really close to the drop. (and it is a very far drop).

We were doing a pretty good time.

About one kilometer before we reached Parkview, right when we were discussing swear words  and children, we heard a rustling to the right of us. Emily was already ahead, but Terri, Tara and I swung our heads round and focused on the rustling area. We saw an animal with shiny eyes (possibly the effect of having three headlamps shone on it?) and thick tail and body, right up in a tree. Very high up in a tree. Tara thought it was a monkey, I thought it was a lemur, and Terri thought it wasn’t a cat. V V V V cool.

At Parkview there was a very sweet surprise, Tara brought out my “Birthday Cake”. It was two brownies, moist and delicious, and we lit candles and I was serenaded! Yay! We all had a scoop and then kept on going.

It was here that Terri left us. She had been a superhero and come along, even though she was leaving the next day for the Philippines (where Charles is right now! Xoxo) and needed to get home. We were in good time, 90 minutes or so gone.

The three of us continued on. Emily confessed she had gone first because she was clearing the spider webs away. What a trooper!

We found Lady Clementi’s ride, and we started up those steps, and on our path. This was really foggy with lots of deciduous branches hanging down. Some uneven steps but not too bad. We were making good time, but Tara requested that I make swimming motions with my arms so that I got all the spider webs.

Quite early in, we heard a BIG NOISE. Not like a tree falling, but rustling along a path noise.

We all swung our headlamps towards the noise and Emily said, “It is two big dogs”. And it did look like dogs, except they weren’t. They were porcupines. Quills tipped white, and massive. As far as porcupines go, these were the Hounds of the Baskervilles. REALLY BIG! It was so neat watching them as they hustled down the path. Noisy little twosome and let’s talk about LONG quills!

Keeping going. Tara saw a jumping spider.

We got busy talking and I stopped paying attention. The trail got thinner, and the overhang grew closer. The trail became uphill, made it look more of a bush whacker path, than the Lady Clementi Ride. I started wondering where I had gone wrong. Up we went and I stopped and confessed to the ladies that this seemed odd. They agreed. I wondered where it had been that I made my mistake. Bloody! They suggested we turn back to get on a wider path. I was still walking, but said “the thing is, I think it just might look different at night”. I kept walking, and boom, encountered a sight. We were on the Hong Kong path. We had done nothing wrong.

Worth noting is I had started off the night wearing a long sleeve shirt. By now I was down to a tank top and my ¾ length hiker pants. Emily was in a t-shirt, Tara in a long shirt but we all agreed it was pretty hot. It was a perfect night for hiking.

I thanked them for coming along. If they hadn’t have come along, I wouldn’t have been able to do this. It was so great of them to do this, and we weren’t done yet.

We kept going, along the HK trail, and soon connected up to the Aberdeen Upper Reservoir Road. This last stretch was less than .5 km of uphill, and would take us to Wanchai. I smelt a funny skunk smell, but it could have been the plants.

A few more minutes, and then, we were done! Night hike 2011 was over, and it was time for celebrations! Time for happy feet or a drink? And we had plenty to celebrate, we had finished in 3 hours. A very good time. We weren’t really pushing it, and we weren’t knackered. It was 10pm.

We decided it was too cruel to share our feet with anyone and headed to Lan Kwai Fong where Lesley, Andrea and Colleen were waiting.

At 12.45 I needed food. Quite badly. Kebab time!

At 1.30, I showered and went to bed.

At 1.35 I was asleep.

I learned today (thank you Dr Google!) that the animal we saw in the tree was a Masked Palm Civet. It gives off a Skunky smell when scared. Maybe there are more of them than we knew running about?

Final thoughts: will do this again. It was as great as I thought it would be. Don’t know why night hikes appeal to me so much. But they do. So grateful we can do this. There's not a lot of places in the world where you can.

It was amazing. LOVE 41

OOOh, tomorrow is going to be fun. I am going on a night hike. I have organised it, and earlier this week, Terri's brother David and I walked it through and even very sensibly took pictures along the way.

I used my Camelback for the second time. I really really really do not like having anything on my back (especially children) when i hike and it is even worse when I jog. Last Saturday I went for a run. I left the flat, intending to run to the Boat Club. I took a backpack which contained a change of clothes. I ran up to the Peak. Smack smack smack, the backpack against my back. It had no waist clip, it should be mentioned.

I was very irritated, it should be noted.

By 5km in, I was thinking, "I should just go home and change." But that would be wimpy and I didn't want to be that! So I kept going. Run run run. But that darn smack smack smack.

At 10 km I was walking and texting my lovely husband that I was 2hrs away. I knew I would not be running again, not with this albatross on my back. He was amazed. I was not impressed. And it was hot and I was unhappy. I had even brough water, and twisting to get it was annoying. It just wasn't good. All of it. Eventually I called Charles once I hit the road and totally abandoned the idea of walking the last four km. He came to collect me. I was so disappointed.

So yesterday, knowing it was going to be a walk, and that the Camelback had a Waistclip, i gave it a go. Filled up the bladder, carefully closed it, and was off with my map. Found the starting point and we were off.

THe entire hike took us 3hrs15minutes. This included about 15 minutes of watching cool things, and 0 minutes as I tried to find the entrance to Lady Clementi's Ride, which we eventually found without asking for help or consulting the map which means that we weren't lost or didn't make a mistake. It will be interesting to see how we do in the dark. The headlamps are v. cool.

The bladder worked well, but I found I was swallowing a lot of air, which means I am doing something incorrectly. I was quite uncomfortable by the end of the hike with all the air I could feel in my esophagus.

Tomorrow is a half day (end of term) or as Jasper put it "no lunch at school". The kids are getting excited about half term in Bali, moreso now that I have shown them the movies that Singapore Air is showing and the entertainment units available. You have to love kids. I'm trying to manage things and to show Charles where we can save a copper or two…but the problem is that I keep finding really cool and sadly, expensive things to do on Bali. Like I want Sebastian and I to get up one morning and climb the live volcano. Sadly, this experience will cost us around $100USper person. BUt I mean, how cool is that going to be, climbing a live volcano and seeing the sun rise at the top? Getting up at 2am, arriving at the base at 3am, climbing in the dark for a few hours? I think it sounds great!!!!

And that's only ONE of the things I have found to do…this is going to be a really great trip.

 

shaking off the unsettled

i'm home for the next 10 days. after that we are headed to bali, which will be amazing. just our family. so lots of quality time. someone asked if we were renting a villa. to this charles and i looked at each other and said, "do villa's have kids clubs?"

we are looking forward to the kids club, this i happily confess. hope the kids like it!

tuesday night we returned from the philippines. it was a great trip. it was really heartening to see so much development on the building site. they are a hard working community. sadly, it is harvesting time, so the sugarcane is getting yanked down. this means if you need to do a subtle wee it is about a five minute walk!

we heard the choir sing again.

these kids are so dear to me.

i need to get a bit of balance, and i don't know where this is going to come from or how long it is going to take. i'm getting really worried about the kids i am getting to know. the kids in the choir, the kids i know by name at the sites. what is going to happen to them? what will their future be? they have dreams. but what are the chances that their dreams will be anywhere except in a poverty ridden barangay?

i need more faith, and the bigger picture. i know this is going to pass.

***********

sebbie is home from camp. we got home from the philippines tuesday night and 12 hours later he was on the bus with the rest of his yearband for a three day camp. what amazing teachers! he had a great time apparently. he was a little upset about one of the boys teasing him, but he needs to learn to deal with these things.

seb's bus arrived at the school at 2.45, and by 2.50 we were home. he had a quick snack, and then at 3.30 he had a "play bath" which means loads of hot water, toys and make believe stories. he got out at 4.15. he put on some pajamas. i asked him if he had washed his hair. he got back in the tub, washed his hair, got out of the tub, and put on his pajamas.

at 4.45 i went to find him.

there he was on his bed, fast asleep.

my little man.

i hope he slumbers until morning.

the bog blog

apparently vaccinations or transistors are the greatest inventions of the 20th century.

i would like to add a humble submission to that list: the flush toilet.

 

i have no problem with squatter toilets. i have friends (and you know who you are) who are against north american toilets, stating that they don't promote natural functions. these same people claim that squatters are excellent in getting "it all out of you". these same people tend to be in good shape and have great thigh muscles.

the train station in hung hom was our first of many squatter toilets. it wasn't the cleanest we encountered that weekend, and it wasn't the dirtiest.

it's too general a statement to say the further north we got the worse the toilets were, because our squatter in the hotel with an S was extremely tidy. and every time you washed your hands, a cigarette butt (i am assuming the same one) would float to the top of the squatter because the sink water washed into the squatter.

on day two of the hike, we visited the public washroom. this toilet probably wins for worst kept toilet. it had doors on the stalls, but no squatter, just a drain. and the drains were pretty much filled with number twos. ladies would walk into the toilets, walk out, check other stalls, see the same sight, and eventually just shut a door and go. janne and i were smart, we just went into the first door we saw.

as i waited (outside) for janne, i watched a lady walk into a stall, and walk out again. she checked out a couple more stalls, and was disgusted with what she found waiting for her in each stall. this demander of sanitation was so disgusted with the uncleanliness, to express her disgust, she began spitting (not vomitting) on the floor as she described to her friends how dirty the bathrooms were. so what ? you add to the dirt? i didn't get it.

in town, before boarding the bus, we used the toilet. there was a lady guarding it (of course) and janne and i greeted her. janne took her picture, which caused the lady to comment loudly. we assumed she was saying good morning and we wished her a happy day in return.

the bathrooms here were clean (it was early morning!) but there were no stalls. there were only partitions. so when someone walked by you, they could see you in all your glory. again, this was a drain type system, not a squatter.

in changsha, before heading off to the airport, we used the public toilets. it was later in the day, and these drain toilets were a little more populated with people and poopulated. again, no doors, and the only vacant area was the one closest to the door, so everyone had a great view of my canadian caboose.

so there is the bog blog.

ironically, when we were in the philippines last week (got home tuesday night), we spent a lot of time digging to make room for the septic tanks. i think i have washrooms on my mind. toilet tess…it does have a ring to it.

 

 

the journey home

Sunday…time to come home.

We had requested a wake up call, but we weren't so certain it would come. Our train left early…7.10, so all night we were getting up, checking our watches and sinking back into oblivion again.

In true form, there was one incident that was so loud it woke us both up. We wondered if it was a wake up call, but no, a quick glimpse at the watch revealed that it was 11.54 or thereabouts. So back to sleep we went.

At 5.30 we were both awake, wondering if the phone would ring at 5.45.

We sat there, drowsy, wondering.

The phone stayed silent.

We got up, quickly dressed, pushed all our belongings into bags, and as we were brushing our teeth, someone pounded on the door.We looked at each other. We were pretty sure we had been really quiet, so what was this all about?

Janne answered the door. It was our wake up call!

Hair in the inevitable ponytails, we headed off downstairs.

The night manager was asleep on his chair, but woke up quickly, and accepted our room key. We then gestured that we wanted our $100RMB room deposit back. He did not seem to be willing to do this. He tried to explain, we tried to understand. Sherry had warned us that the staff required the deposit because they were worried about the condition of the television and the air conditioner, but seriously?

After 10 minutes, the lady who had come to our room for the wake up call walked down the stairs, spoke a few words to desk man, who bent over, rummaged through some papers, and then handed us 100RMB. She had been through our room, checked that we hadn't used any of the for sale toiletries, that the television still worked, and that the air conditioner was still firmly installed instead of in our handbags.

HOORAY!

We saw a taxi across the road and jumped in.

Janne showed him the slip of paper that said PLEASE TAKE ME TO THE BUS STATION.

He gestured, "2". We agreed. Yesterday it has been 6RMB! excellent deal!

He took a slightly different route than we had taken yesterday, and this did not impress us. But eventually we got there. Janne grabbed her bags and i gave the man 2RMB. He got very mad. He wrote down "20". I laughed. Did we look dumb?

We shook our heads and Janne got out of the taxi. Fearless and beautiful, a great combination.

He motioned to his meter and indicated that it was 6RMB to turn the meter on. I decided this was fair and gave him four more RMB. Then he did something we considered slightly creepy…he trailed after us for a bit. Janne struck up conversation with another man, and all was beautiful.

We decided to do last minute wees. (Remind me again for a blog on china bogs).

Then we found our bus, our seats, and sat down for breakfast. Excellent.

Oranges, apples, peanut butter sandwiches, some fruit bars janne had bought and caramels. Excellent.

The bus ride was pretty uneventful.

And suddenly we were in Changsha. We had to transfer to the airport. We could have done it by bus, but we decided to take another taxi. THere were lots of stationary taxi's who looked very happy to help us out, but we pushed by them and flagged one down. Janne showed him a piece of paper that said, PLEASE TAKE ME TO THE AIRPORT, and so we headed that way. It had been raining…and the car infront of us braked suddenly, as did our taxi…who slid…and rearended the car.

The taxi driver motioned to us to stay.

After five minutes we decided to leave.

It was easy finding another taxi and the drive to the airport was smooth.

The airport was excellent, and we landed in Shenzhen. We walked out of customs, and saw a sign offering bus rides to central. We decided this was the bus we would take. It was leaving in five minutes.

More excellence.

Jump on the bus.

Drive through Shenzhen…wow it is massive….and then change buses at the border.

At the border, something in me snapped a bit. There were some ladies in front of us and they had switched to our lineup because theirs was moving slowly. They still had friends in another lineup. When it came one of the ladies turn to see the Immigration officer, she motioned to her friends from the other queues, who headed over to our lineup. cheeky monkey!

No, that wasn't going to happen.

I tapped her on the shoulder and asked her to go back to her queue or get to the back. She and her friend looked at Janne, me, everyone else in the line, and meekly went back to the queue.

Yay, victory truly was ours.

In Hong Kong now….text message home,..New Territories, Kowloon, change buses, then take the tunnel…in Central….

jump a taxi, where we kept saying what a great trip it was.

it really was unforgettable. not just the sights, but the streets, the challenges, the compromises, the way you handle the small adversities. we had done it, together and it had been a trip of a lifetime.

and there is nothing better than coming home when you had a wonderful time away. so many arms, a birthday cake, and best of all charles, who was so excited for me to go.

i loved it and i rediscovered a love for china. i want to go back there alone or with a friend, soon. and i have another destination in mind.

 

 

rain, fog and wonder

Janne and I awoke pretty much the same time the next day. Before the sun. She lunged for her phone which had gone dead.

No worries, we had 30 minutes to get ready for our guide.

We didn't have to change our clothes, we were still fully dressed from last night! It came down to wees, ponytails, tea and breakast (granola bars and peanut butter sandwiches). And waiting for Sherry to show up, which she did, 10 minutes early. (We like that in a guide.).

We were not spending the night in the hotel with an S again, so we hired some people from the village (remember, the hostel was surrounded by 10 houses, including the one attached to the mom and pop shop where we bought our cup noodles the night before) to transfer our bags to the sister hotel in the city. For some reason I just knew they would arrive intact.

And we were off. Janne and I started briskly walking, trying to get warm and because we are brisk walkers. Sherry was determined to be first "I am the guide!" and so she was soon puffing as she staying a bit infront of us as we walked along a deserted road, which we now knew would connect to the main road where the bus was.

Sherry sang us a local song. SHe had a very nice voice. She told us a bit about herself and her boyfriend, her life. She works maybe 10 days a month as a guide. Her boyfriend is in hotels.

Since we were staying in the park, we didn't have to wait for the park to open, and the first bus that passed had room for us. We jumped in and up to an area. It was pretty foggy, but the hiking was great. Janne and I were having a great time, despite the limited vision. OUr guide asked if we wanted breakfast, and we said No, we ate at the hotel. We walked past these men who offered to give us rides either on motorbikes (!) or their sedan chairs. We continued walking. It was a beautiful morning and we weren't cold anymore.

Observing piles of litter, I asked Sherry why so there isn't care about the environment. She replied that it is the farmers who litter, and they haven't been to school to be educated about the necessity of using rubbish bins.

Janne and I found this answer fascinating. Janne said, "But the farmers do not have money to be doing tourist things. Here we are at a tourist place and all the rubbish, people unwrapping and then throwing away to the ground, those are not farmers. Those are people with money to spend who have been to school!"

Sherry said they weren't, that educated people were not the ones littering in the cities, etc in China. ANd we left it there.

We kept hiking. It was raining a bit and we were having a great time. We encountered a gentleman who was heading up a rocky area, and he offered to take us. We said sure.

This was a great part of the day. THe hike was extremely narrow, requiring us to duck under rocks, squeeze between them, and really check our footing. Lots of steep downhill, with no handholds. We had a good pace going, and suddenly became aware of 23 year old Sherry suggesting that we "maybe take a rest at the pagoda halfway".

"Sure," we agreed, sort of in surprise. I mean, I am 41 years old. Practically twice this girls' age!

We kept walking, and stopped at at shrine at the top. It was typically peaceful and we stayed there for a few minutes. We said goodbye to the gentleman, and continued on, although Sherry was wanting us to stay for longer! The next bit was really cool..Sherry asked us if we wanted to cross a hanging bridge, then climb a ladder and oversee the mountains. HELLO! She suggested she would take pictures as she is scared of heights and Janne and I scampered off.

Over the bridge we went and I confess, I was glad it was a cloudy day so I didn't see how far down the ground was! And then there were these two tunnel ladders (need to be tunnel ladders to direct your fall in case you fall!) and we climbed up maybe 35 rungs and then there was the top. Not much of a few, but we weren't there just for views, we were there for the journey. Even though i couldn't see a thing, i knew what we were doing was amazing.

This looks familiar, vaguely familiar,
Almost unreal, yet, it's too soon to feel yet.
Close to my soul, and yet so far away.
I'm going to go back there someday.

At one point, walking back, the men who had originally asked if we wanted sedan rides beckoned to us. They had a fire going and wanted to know if we wanted to share it with them, we reckoned. We had just climbed 150 stairs so Sherry was no where to be found, but that's what we figured they were saying to us. THey led us to an abandoned shack, and there was a really warm lovely fire going (lots of smoke, but at least it wasn't cigarette smoke!)! We waited until we saw Sherry, and told her where we were, and she was a bit surprised but gamely joined the party. She told us the men wanted to know how old we were. Janne told them to guess. They guessed she was 25 and I was 28. LOVE THE CHINESE, and smoke and firelight is great too.

THey had a good laugh when we revealed our ages, and one fellow said he was 41 also. I barked like a dog (1970 is basically the year of the dog) and he giggled and barked too. Then we left.

OUr day continued. We saw many more great things. Some things we chose not to see, such as the "cultural shows". This is where people in "cultural dress" come and dance and have their photos taken for you and then you get to pay for this pleasure. That's REALLY not Janne and Me. Sherry was disappointed. The show was 20 minutes long! We could sit for 20 mintues!But there is nothing authentic about this.

We kept walking in wonderment. Slippery rocks and fog. Seeing sights come and slip right by us as flog took over again.

Sun rises, night falls, sometimes the sky calls.
Is that a song there, and do I belong there?
I've never been there, but I know the way.
I'm going to go back there someday.

 

I did buy a 2RMB raincoat. But there were more people, and the visibility wasn't getting better so we stood in line to take the bus to ride the glass elevator. I think it was at this time, that Sherry emerged from asking when the bus was coming with pot noodles in her hand. Sherry! Sherry! Sherry! we were yelling! Janne and I reckoned we would be fine sans guide, so we jumped on the bus, and all of a sudden, there was Sherry with her 10am snack!

I'm not sure I am talking about bathrooms just yet. Or the various types. That might be a blog for an entirely different day. remind me though, ok? just say, LIFT BOG.

the glass elevator down to ground level. And once there, we were awed again by the incredible vistas. We walked and stared."This is so us," Janne whispered.

(Can I mention that Janne was an attraction of her own? I didn't see any other blondes there, and i believe on the second day we saw two Caucasian gentlemen. On the first day, we didn't see any other Caucasians. Janne had her picture taken plenty! i did meet a nice man from toronto during one of jannes photo shoots!)

The views we were seeing at times brought tears to my eyes. Janne and I were totally in sync, not just in pace, but in what we wanted to see and when. It was so wonderful to have these incredible sights, and no stress, no wondering if the other person was pleased or not, feeling like anyone was accommodating you, etc,..we were great travelling companions as well as such good friends.

Come and go with me, it's more fun to share,
We'll both be completely at home in midair.
We're flyin', not walkin', on featherless wings.
We can hold onto love like invisible strings.

The beauty of what we were seeing, the immensity, i really can't describe.

But we kept walking, promising SHerry , who was now massaging her calves, that we would eat very soon.

We took one last walk, knowing we had to leave soon, to buy our train tickets back to Changsha.

This walk was only a couple of kilometres both ways, and had a train if you would rather not walk. Well, you know what we would do. We waited for Sherry, and she told us that "being a tour guide is very tough, I would rather be an office lady." Janne asked if she does this every day, and Sherry responded, "No one can do what you ladies are doing every day!" and Janne said, "Yes they could!"

The walk (this part wasn't a hike) was beautiful, but we felt too short. We stopped at the end, choosing not to be photographed by the locals. It is really quite sad, they take the prettiest girls and throw them in costume, and so they huddle in blankets, waiting for tourists to come, and when they do, they chuck off the blankets and sort of pretend that they wear these outfits all the time. Eventually Sherry joined us, and we offered to let her take the train back. And she agreed.

Janne and I strolled back, and it was a great time of just talking, and laughing.

We met back up with Sherry, who was sitting and massaging her legs. "Already!" She exclaimed. So fast! But we hadn't been. We had stopped, taken photos, looked and read signs….

But it was lunch time. Since the meat had been sitting out in the sun for a while, we chose to go with just veggies and noodles from one of the stall sellers. One bowl of veggies, two bowls of rice noodles, tofu, veggies, one bowl of fried rice, for 20RMB. A great deal. We sat right near the stove, to stay warm, which sort of upset the owner, because they wanted us to sit out front so they could show the world they had foreigners.

Then it was time to go.

We left the park with regret, but appreciation. And the desire to come again.

We took a 2 RMB bus into the city, and then transferred to another bus that would take us to our hotel. We checked in. Our bags were there. THe room was fine, and apart from the fact there was a mountain of unwashed laundry right outside the lift, everything was perfect! We noticed a heater, and turned it on immediately. THen it was time to get train tickets.

We got in a taxi and Sherry directed us to the train station. We took careful note, knowing that tomorrow she wouldn't be with us. It was 6RMB I noted.

We bought train tickets, reserved our seats for the next day, and then Sherry asked if there was anything else. Janne and I looked at each other and decided we wanted to have a massage. Into another taxi, and to a massage place. Goodbye and thank you Sherry. She complimented us on our fitness and went to meet her boyfriend, thrilled with the bonus we had given her.  The massage place was a hoot. It looked like a palace that was under renovations. It was filled with smoke, but for 128RMB we got a fantastic massage. THe ladies actually balanced us on their bodies, suspending us in the air. It was quite amazing! And then they braided our hair!!

Then the question of dinner. We weren't worried. THis had been such a magical trip we knew something would happen. We spotted a shop and went in. THey had apples and we happily bought some. And Yogurt for breakfast the next day. Water also. But no real dinner food as neither of us thought we could handle another night of pot noodles. What to do? We walked out of the store and found a street vendor.

Bingo. For 12RMB we got a great deal, much like our lunch, and including rice. NOt as spicy as I thought it would be as Hunan cuisine is known for spiciness. We hopped in a taxi, returned to our rooms, had showers, ate our dinners which included the last of the bread which had served us so well, read for a bit and then the drowsiness that was becoming quite familiar (plus, it was now 9.45!) took over me and we said Goodnight.

Unlike the night before, this night, before I fell asleep, i thought about how lucky i had been and all i had seen.

There's not a word yet for old friends who've just met.
Part heaven, part space, or have I found my place?
You can just visit, but I plan to stay.
I'm going to go back there someday.
I'm going to go back there someday.

 

Thank you Jim Hensen, for yet another great song.