Plaid, Planes, Phuket

Look at my husband.  Ain't he the cutest?

Sure, he seems unassuming in his plaid-pattern mixing (don't worry, he doesn't leave the house like this) snacking on his saltine cracker.  But little did you know that Jason takes his status as an ISFJ (Meyers-Briggs... have you taken it?  It will reveal the multitudes Whitman talked about) and uses it to great advantage.

Jason has planned a super-rad trip for the two of us from here to Malaysia, then island hopping up to Phuket (PS Potty-mouths... that's pronounced Poo-Ket.  Not... the thing you're thinking).  "Planning a trip?  Easy Peasy!" you may be thinking.  Not this trip, friends!  Oh, no!

Here is our trip in numbers, according to Jason's major J-induced planning ("J" stands for "Judging" on the Meyers-Briggs.  It doesn't mean he's a bigot, it just means he thinks there's a right way to do things, and feels comforted by planning).

1: number of nights we'll stay in each hostel en route to Phuket
3: number of ferries we'll be taking between Thai islands
4: the subway line we'll be taking to get to Beijing South train station
12: approximate check-in time at our first hostel in Kuala Lumpur (as in midnight)
24: number of pages of Jason's homemade itinerary/travel guide to Kuala Lumpur and southern Thailand
30: amount of minutes it will take to get from Beijing to Tian Jin via bullet train
1200: approximate amount of RMB saved by taking a flight from Tian Jin to Kuala Lumpur rather than flying directly from Beijing (yay, Air Asia!)


I'm so excited!  Thai iced tea!  Ocean!  Curries galore!  Ocean!  Warm weather!  Cheap coffee!  OCEAN!  Did I mention I love the ocean?

Beijing, I think we're close enough friends for me to be brutally honest with you and tell you that I will NOT miss you at all while I'm basking in the glorious sunshine and soaking up all that good Thai hospitality.  Sorry... but not really.

A flood of gorgeous, scenic photos forthcoming!

Chang Ping Adventure!

Beijing is HUGE.  Just when you think that you've figured out your bearings around this city, a new suburb pops up, or you end up lost in all of Beijing's winding hutong alleys.  As of late, I haven't strayed far from my west side student-populated pocket of the city, but given all the time we have with the Chinese New Year holiday, my friend MLK and I decided to venture north into Chang Ping-- a suburb in northwest Beijing. 


The journey north begins on the special Chang Ping subway line, which conveniently connects to Beijing subway line 13.  As soon as you board the Chang Ping line, the Chang Ping theme of everything being miniature begins.  The special CP line cars are about the same size, but everything feels just slightly smaller, narrower, and just a little mini.

On our way up, it was hard to believe that we were still in Beijing.  The CP line travels through stretches of countryside and rural areas, plus a forest of construction cranes.  Looks like those vast expanses of countryside won't be around for long.

When we finally reached Chang Ping, we boarded a minibus to get into town.  The bus was tiny!  It probably seated about 15-20 people, and ambled along the eerily empty streets of Chang Ping district.

When we got into town, we'd arrived a bit earlier than our friend and Chang Ping resident, Amanda.  Fortunately for this American, our bus stopped right in front of Chang Ping's lone McDonald's, where I indulged in a quick cheeseburger snack.  MLK has a personal vendetta against McD's, so she resigned to sitting with me whilst shooting me a disapproving look.

Outside, street vendors sold snacks equally processed, though perhaps slightly less clean.

After meeting up with Amanda, we spent the evening eating tasty Chinese hot pot, chatting, eating Amanda's home baked goods, watching Nacho Libre, and marveling at our matching headwear.

The next morning, we awoke to a lovely view of the mountains surrounding Beijing that we rarely get such a clear view of because of the pollution and density of tall buildings.

After a lazy morning of chit-chatting, we headed out to an early lunch at a French restaurant around the corner from Amanda's.  Yes, you read that correctly-- a French restaurant.  Not a French-themed restaurant with Chinese food and kitschy waitresses in berets.  I mean a real, legit, true blue (or bleu) French restaurant.  The restaurant is called 6'eme (Sixth in francais) and is run by a few local Chinese former students who went to Paris and got their diplomas at Le Cordon Bleu.  They started 6'eme as a start-up restaurant to practice their skills in a low-rent area, and eventually take their restaurant model and menu into the city.  We were glad to be guinea pigs in their little experiment.

Goat cheese, apple, and honey salad with bacon.

French onion soup!  Baaaaahhhhh.... look at all that cheeeeeese!

MLK with her bacon and caramelized onion tartlette.

Amanda and Beouf Stroganoff French style

Sometimes, it's easy to forget that you're in China when you live in Beijing.  Foreign goods are readily available, English-speakers are everywhere, and especially when it becomes your home, you forget about what country you're in.  It's good to be reminded that this city alone is so much bigger than what I see day-to-day... and a relief to see that it still comes with cheese.

Whoo-Wee! (Jie)

May 1st was China's May Day Holiday, otherwise known as Wu Yi Jie (which sounds like "Whoo-Wee!" if you say it really quickly).  I'm not really sure of the origins of Wu Yi Jie, but I believe it's something akin to America's Labor Day.  It began as a one-week holiday, but I guess that was just too much fun for a country like China, so they shortened it to a measly 24-hours.  My students usually go shopping that day because there are a ton of good deals.  A ton of people brave the crowds and travel.

We were lucky this year because our buddy Lance came to visit us while he was in China on a month-long business trip in Shanghai.  Beijing is just a quick two-hour plane ride or so, and it was such a blessing to see a familiar face and share our lives in China with him.

When tourists attack...

Given that it was an official holiday, we fully expected there to be a ton of crowds at all the major tourist sites, so we decided to give Lance a more local walking tour of Beijing.  We walked through the hutongs and down Nanluoguxiang-- a really neat "bohemian" street with a ton of little shops, bars and restaurants, and snack stalls.  We walked through Houhai Lake and past the Drum and Bell Tower.  Basically, we walked a lot.

We took public transportation a LOT.

And we didn't just take pictures of the backs of each others' heads.

Of course, we ate a lot of really tasty grub.  Lance is a fellow yogurt enthusiast (Jason isn't so much into yogurt), and his wife, Amy, had told him about famous Beijing yogurt.  Plus, eating yogurt is one of the best ways to fight indigestion or traveler's diarrhea-- two things that are almost guaranteed to visit you while you visit China.  Suffice it to say that a good deal of yogurt was consumed in our three days together.

Iced fruit tea at Bellagio 

Mango Coconut Milk shaved ice at Bellagio

Lance and his first cup of Beijing yogurt

Beijing Yogurt comes in a tiny clay jug that you can keep for an extra 1 kuai.
Each cup is covered by a little piece of printed wax paper, secured by a rubber band.

Lance and me with some friends having hot pot for dinner.

Even though we wished his trip could have lasted longer, we were so glad to have our very first visitor to our home.  We miss you, Lance!  Hurry back, and bring Amy with you next time!

Lance in his favorite chair at our apartment

Frat Stanrey

Okay, okay, I know.  As an English teacher in China, it's totally unprofessional and insensitive of me to take such a cheap shot at the ever-elusive Asian accent.  Sometimes, though, I do think that speaking English is overrated when actually understanding and interpreting accents is the true challenge in championing the English language.  I mean, what would you think if your student said the following to you?

"In zer countryside, some time you weel find some unhygienic sh*ts on the bed.  In a hotaire.  You know hotaire?  They don't often cling the sh*ts.  So, you must pay much monays to go to a nicer one to slip on the cling sh*ts."

True story, folks.  Translation:  "In the countryside, sometimes you will find the sheets on the beds in hotels are not clean, as the sheets are often left unwashed between stays.  So it's worth it to pay a bit more to stay in a higher-end hotel where you can sleep on clean sheets."

But that's totally not the point of this blog post.  As stated in the title, I wanted to tell you about Flat Stanley (whose Chinese name is Frat Stanrey), who was sent via envelope from my cousin's home in Pleasanton, CA to spend some time with me in Beijing.

In case you haven't figured it out by reading this blog, my life is actually quite boring.  Work, home, work, home.  Sometimes I'll bake something.  That didn't stop Flat Stanley from seeing the sights, though!  (Like the little Chinese track suit I gave him?  His hat says "Bei Yu Xiao Xue," for BLCU Primary School.  Represent!)  Here are Flat Stanley's Greatest Hits from his trip to China.

BeiHai Park, Beijing

Forbidden City, Beijing

Map of Beijing at a bus stop

Bus schedule

Flat Stanley got to "visit" two places that I still have yet to travel to!  The grasslands of Mongolia and Jiuzhaigou Valley in Sichuan Province!*

Ride 'em, Mongolian cowboy!

Jiuzhaigou's natural terraced mineral lakes

What's a trip to China without a little Chingrish?

Of course, Stanley had his fill of traditional Chinese dishes, plus some Cantonese icy desserts!  Yum!

All in all, it was an eventful trip for Stanley.  Now it's back into the envelope from whence he came.  Bon voyage, Flat Stanley!  Send my love to my cousins back home!  And try your best to steer clear of the unhygienic sh*ts!

  

*All right, so he didn't actually go there.  But c'mon.  We're talking about a paper doll, here, people!

Business Class

Say what you will about money not buying happiness.  But it sure does make certain things a lot easier.  Like a 14 hour flight, for instance.  Some people don't get along with their in-laws.  Other peoples' in-laws do ridiculously dope things like use their miles to buy Business Class tickets on their daughter in-law's favorite airline.  Some people just luck out, I guess.  Behold, a few highlights from our flight with Asiana.

You can easily tell who the Business Class rookies are.  First hint: they're usually the idiots taking pictures of the amazing amount of leg room you have.  Yes, my legs are short, but this was still pretty awesome.

Not just one little button that pushes your seat back down a measly 6 inches.  The seats can lay down at 180 degrees, at three different default settings, or you can opt to control the seat back or leg rest independently.

The Husband was very excited to see that we could play Go Stop in-flight.

 And of course, the food.

Snack:  Beef Empanadas

First Course:  Prawns in some kind of creamy sauce.

Main Course: Bibimbap.  This is a classic stand-by on Economy, but portions and side dishes were of course better.

 

Dessert:  Tea with Korean Cookies and Candied Walnuts

Snack:  Smoked Salmon Canapes

The Business Class lounge at Incheon-Seoul International is fully stocked with massage chairs, showers, bar, and buffet.  Incheon-Seoul is probably one of my favorite airports to have a stopover at with its excellent shopping, wide variety of snacks, and now that I'm an Asiana Gold Member, I have yet another reason to look forward to my stopovers.

 I should state that I was in no way paid by Asiana to endorse their airline, but I've always been a huge fan.  The Husband likes to make fun of how much I gush about the gorgeous flight attendants, but overall, it's simply one of the best airlines I've ever flown.   Business Class was a great experience, but I certainly won't mind flying Economy the next time I head Stateside.

Lastly I leave you with an artsy-fartsy shot of me mid-flight.  Look how calm and serene.  Some things are worth every penny.