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Blogs from Henan, China, Asia - page 3
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March 21st 2012
After being tourists, we are looking forward to baby visiting. After all, the day before was the first day that we didn't visit Eris. We are making up for it today. Eris is so much more alert than when we first arrived. She notices objects around the room and tracks with eyes when the objects move. She recognizes faces and will look at you long after you put her down from holding her. There is a lot of Skype the past two days with the USA family. Baby Eris is known internationally! Chinese Grandfather cooks us a delicious meal that includes Julie's request for eggplant. There was also winter melon with pork, cauliflower with beef, and cilantro fish. Then more baby :) Enjoy the pictures. Up next, Baby Eris gets a check-up.... read more
March 19th 2012
We are planning and preparing for our journey to Xi'an. After sleeping in again (yeah!), Chris takes us for lunch. This place has a great menu for us since there are large, color pictures. Chris orders his favorite pork and pepper dish. We also get some stir-fried cabbage and a clear noodle dish. Julie gets her regular craving for ice cream. We make a quick visit to McDonald's. I'm not an ice cream fan, but maybe I will get an apple pie. Even though the burgers are exact, the fries look perfect, apple pies are not available. There's pineapple and taro only. We head to baby central to get our mandatory Eris time. We (well mostly Chris) work on an itinerary for our jam-packed touring day. It’s a tight schedule and we are hoping there's enough ... read more
March 18th 2012
Our first bus ride since arriving in China is to White Horse Temple. But first we have to eat. We succumb to a guilty pleasure that we have walked past several times: McDonald's...the one that sells hamburgers (as opposed to the one that just sells ice cream). The girl who is working the counter knows a tiny bit of English. She quickly whips out a hand-held menu to help us make our selections. The burger tastes exactly the same as the states. The fries look exactly the same. Julie and I both agreed though that they had a "been in the freezer a long time" taste. The small soda was actually a small soda which in the USA is a kids' size these days. Yes we have been stuck-up taxi folks until today. Our interpreter, Kelly, ... read more
March 17th 2012
The Chinese Grandfather works at the zoo. Today we are in for a treat because he is taking us for a VIP tour. Before we leave, I successfully heat up some dumplings from a previous meal he cooked for us and made the dumpling sauce myself (it was /ok/ ). After a short cab ride, we arrive to meet the Chinese Grandfather and his girlfriend. Neither of them speak English so it’s going to be a day of pointing, hand signs and smiles. The zoo is actually also an amusement park but more importantly, it is the epicenter of the wildly popular Peony Festival held annually. The whole city is busy preparing for the onslaught of tourists. The zoo has already created some large sculptures of dragons and peonies that are several stories high. There are ... read more
March 16th 2012
Our mission today is to visit Old Town Luoyang with our interpreter, Melody. But first a massage is in order. Julie finds the Massage Hospital while I sleep in (yeah!). Once we are finishing being leisurely, its off to lunch. Our interpreter takes us to a cluster of restaurants. We are wary since it looks like 'street meat' places. We explain we are worried about getting sick, so she takes us to a Muslim noodle and rice restaurant. I had a yummy beef noodle soup and a strange tasting soda called Vibrate. After lunch it was off for ice cream at McDonald's and then a trip to the post office. The post office was actually a combination post office and bank. There were only two desks open. This place, more than most, folks pushed right in ... read more
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More Baby! Then a Fancy Department Store & Grocery Store
Published: March 16th 2012Asia » China » Henan » Luoyang
March 15th 2012
We start off with another trip to visit baby Eris. Julie and I venture out on our own to successfully call a cab, communicate the destination, and navigate the complicated apartment complex layout. Then it’s a venture up 7 flights of stairs to the Chinese Grandfather's apartment. We are told that buildings are either 7 stories or a giant high-rise since the law is 8 or more stories require a lift. After our necessary injection of baby wonderfulness, it’s off to the store to investigate the baby products we want to recommend to the new mom. The department store is like any upscale store in the USA with departments organized by floor. We start to notice the inordinate amount of employees. It seemed there were just as many customers as patrons even though the store was ... read more
March 14th 2012
The whole reason for our trip is this super wonderful little person, Eris. Julie and I set out to cab it from the apartment to 'baby central' where the mom and babe are resting with the superb care of her Chinese Grandfather. Armed with a piece of paper with addresses and lots of pointing and smiling, we safely get ourselves transported for even less money than we were told we would pay. The city is bustling with cars, bikes and pedestrians. Its hard for us to even tell when to cross the street even though the traffic and walk signs are moving from red to green. Although people are polite, they don't wait for anyone and are just in a hurry at all times. Once at the apartment we visit for hours on two separate occasions ... read more
March 13th 2012
Off to Luoyang with my friend Julie to visit her son, his wife and their new grandbaby. The flight (Boeing 777) was 14 hours to Beijing, a 4 hour layover and then a China East flight (Airbus 321) into Luoyang. Aside from being seated next to Harry Halitosis, the trip from Dulles Airport to Beijing went off without a problem. Beijing airport is huge, as you would expect with lots of show-off technology and eye candy. Everything was neat, clean and best of all had western facilities. Hazy and chilly, the most notable detail to me was the smell of Beijing once we got out of the international terminal. I am instantly thrown back into my childhood being raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where coal was king and all the Renaissance-ing hadn't quite completed. Checking in for ... read more
Hostel from hell and more Buddhist Grottoes
Published: January 6th 2012Asia » China » Henan » Luoyang
December 10th 2011
In Pingyao we met a nice French lady named Maria and she told us about the Luoyang caves she was just going to. Even though we already visited Yungang Grottoes in Datong we decided to check this place out. Besides, Luoyang is a base place for visiting Shaolin Temples so we were quite happy to stop there. We choose International Youth Hostel in the Old Town, quite far away from the train station. We just thought there would be far more charm in this place then in new town development. Luoyang is a rather big town, however transport system is very efficient so we had few bus options to the Old Town and were dropped by the main square where Hostel was located. This hostel was not listed in Lonely Planet and maybe we should have ... read more
August 16th 2011
We were ushered out of the hostel very early thank god, however we were hearded into KFC for breakfast, something we were not expecting and not particularly happy with, especially as one of the boys on tour is a coeliac and a diabetic meaning that a KFC breakfast was not great for him. After a sprite for breakfast and many miserable faces, we headed on our trip for the day which was to the Longmen Grottos, which are huge caves in the sides of the mountains right by a river. It was a lovely place with hundreds of caves carved into rock with huge buddha statues carved into the rock face. It was an impressive sight especially as it has not been restored and is claimed to be thousands of years old. Our visit concentrated on ... read more
