China Diaries 8 - Blog from Xiamen, end of the tour and back to the states.

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Wednesday, December 05, 2007


Another Blog from Xiamen....end of the tour
Current mood: fabulous
Category: Travel and Places

Dec 4th, 2007


Hey hey hey......it's 11:15 pm here in Xiamen and the tour is over! Yay!!!! Finally......The tour was an experience foooo shooo! We did a few gigs here in Xiamen at YoYo, U2, and Abar. YoYo was cool, the set up was cool but again the Coors reps here were drunk and stupid, it was a hard trance night so we were dancing pretty hard. We brought ourselves a little traveller as well that consisted of Brandy and 7up. Lacie and I don't drink beer so the traveller did us well, everytime the Coors guys weren't looking, we were pouring shots of our mix to get a buzz on. We figured we might as well get a buzz on to deal with the night, so we got buzzed and took alot of silly photos (as one does when you have few to drink). Some of the photos are up in my album, good times.

Lacie and I have completely different styles but we mesh well on stage. She does back hand springs, cheerleader dance moves (she's Miss Myspace USA for November btw) and there I am pop locking. She's blonde and I'm a brunette so it was interesting to see us up there both shaking our tail feather but we did well. The crowd seemed to like us so that was good, but it's a bit awkward here as we danced at smaller venues and though they have gogo dancers, they are the show. No one is dancing, so every one just sits there and watches the dancers, there's no vibe (hence us drinking a bit to deal with it all) around cause' everyone is sitting around drinking. Once our set was over, thank god for Paul's lady cause' she's like me.......anal. She has her watch, she makes sure we're up at the right time and off at the right time, then when we're done, she makes sure we go where we need to go. VIRGOS RULE! Once our sets were done, we changed and headed out quickly back to our little neighborhood.

The area we are staying in is pretty neat, because there's an outside market that sells daily caught fish, they butcher, chop heads off, peel, pluck, cut, pull guts out of, yank, etc.....etc......there's quite an aroma in the air...you see all types of marine life, squid, crabs, all sorts of fish, it's neeeeeeaaaaatttoooo. During the day they sale fruits and vegetables, some meats, but towards the end of the day is when the real deal comes out...fish. There's also a few bakeries and little shops, salons, it's just a real nice and convenient spot to be. Plus McD's is close by with another cool resturant next door that served western style food. so we ate there a few times. The following day we cruised around a bit and hit up the mall that has another Walmart super center, ate some food at the restuarant that served waffles with black pepper tuna and whip cream. It sounds like something a pregnant woman would eat and believe it or not, but it was so good! I'm not pregnant but I'd eat that meal again.

We danced at another venue called U2 that was kind of fun because we interacted with the crowd and the MC's. There's not much to say about it because it was just another night, and same for the Abar, though we did another traveler and actually found some white people there! Lacie hit the wall behind us and ended up cutting her fingers, she took one for the team that night. I did get in one guys face though because he dropped his cigarette on me and didn't move to let me through and what ticked me off was he was laughing, he thought it was funny. So I got up in his face and cussed him out, he wasn't that much bigger then me and the amount of crap we had to deal with this tour, I was fed up with everything and I would go down swinging. I think he was a random but his friend had an ear piece in his ear, don't know if his friend worked at the club or not. Needless to say his friend took downstairs and I don't know what happened to them after that.

Following morning we took a bus 3 hours south to the Guangdong Provence for our last night on the tour. It was cool because we got to see more of China and some farmland, coast, mountains, hillside along the coast, more chaotic traffic and people with death wishes. Where we were heading we drove through some areas that should be in documentaries, in fact I told Lacie we should of made a documentary to experience the way we traveled and the places we went to.


I'm actually going to stop here because we have to pack and get ready to leave tomorrow, I will finish my blog either in transit or back in the states.

Peace.

Dec 4th through 5th, 2007 (gaining a day)






Hi again! Ok I'm back home in the states finally, hooray!!!! Long journey back but Lacie and i landed safely into LA, said goodbye and went back to our normal lives. But picking up where I left off previously, our bus stop was the city of Shantou about 3 hours outside of Hong Kong. When we arrive, some of the local Coors guys where there waiting for us. As soon as we stepped out of the bus, we were swarmed by crazy people talking to us, felt like they were screaming at us, telling us to here and there. I had to admit I was a little freightened, but more along the lines of overwhelmed cause' wouldn't get out of our faces. When I tried to find Paul, he was walking down the road and so I gestured this guy who kept telling us to put our luggage in the car to wait. I called the main Coors guy over to us and said to him, "You do not leave us with strangers, you need to protect us, we are two foreigners getting hassled" so he said he would ride with us in the car and Paul can ride in the second car with the Coors crew.

Once we got into the car and took off, he turned to the back seat and told us he was really impressed with our dancing and is planning to do another tour. He also said he tried to put this tour together before with two Russian dancers, and for some I guess they weren't good because apparently the first day they were sent home. However, I told him the tour was unorganized, we need to be paid more, and stipulations need to be met or we don't come again. His English is poor but understandable so we had a stable conversation and I just mentioned you get what you pay for and in order for us to come back, things need to be changed. I think he understood but it was good to have a clear conversation so it was out there for next possible tour. That was pretty much the conversation along in the car ride to the last stop of the tour.

On the way down to the next city I wish I could describe to you the way of life. China was a communist country not too long ago so within the ten years, many people have said the drastic changes it has made is amazing as a country overall. When we driving down in these little towns, it was a such a humbling experience because you know 99.9% of these people aren't going to see anything else. Riding old rusty bikes, gas bikes, old dump trucks, old buildings, the roads are still old and the concrete is giving out, here we are two American girls traveling for a tour and getting to see all around and a sense of life in a different world. I love that feeling to embrace everything you see with your eyes because you know deep down you're fortunate enough to experience it all regardless if it's a bad experience or good.

The drive down to the next city was over an hour though it should of only taken about 45 minutes, but with traffic and going slow enough that marathon runners can pass us, it was killing time. Once we arrived into the city, we got dropped off at the hotel (in a city that was also slowly developing with old buildings and old markets but had a fast pace of life) and we passed out. We didn't want to eat or do anything. The night before in Xiamen, we were told to be ready at 9am, and when we were, no one else was so we had to wait another hour and half to get picked up, then 3 hour bus ride, 45 minute car ride and then the hotel, we were exhausted. Luckily we didn't have to go to sound check either so we got to a take a nice nap.

We got ready and even though it was our final stop on the tour, we did not want be there. We were just over the little drama that comes up, not having a call time, etc.....There's a few things that can be dealt with, but after awhile it does take a toll. We got dressed, met everyone in the lobby to our 'fanatic' hotel (that's the name) and headed to the club, or show bar I should say. It was in another city across the river that was being built up too, the river was nice and it had a couple of high rise apartments built along side of it, which I thought was posh. When we arrives, Lacie and i sat for awhile in gulfing all the smoke and watching people star at us. We waited for an hour or so watching the singers, and dancers perform their numbers. Shortly there after, we got ready and jumped on stage to dance. It was great that our sets were short because in haling the amount of smoke we were doing, ten minutes is rough. On top of that, we are the show so no one is dancing, there's no natural high of vibe feeding off the crowd so we had to stay motivated. When a crowd gets into it with you and they make contact to mesh with the dancer, it's that much better. We did the best job we could do, we put our game faces on and tore it up.

When we were done with our last set, we told Peter we wanted to be out of the hotel at 10 am the next day. There's no point in sticking around, so he did his best to get out in time the following morning. Not exactly 10 am, we had to wait for some sleepy heads, but it was close to. We took a taxi this time from the city to Shantou and he was flying down the road. we made back in no time at all and even had twenty minutes to eat lunch before getting on the bus. As we gathered up to get on the bus, we took some last goodbye pictures, said thank you and off we went back to Xiamen. it was a long trip back, we glad to go back and spend a day just relaxing and packing up.

The day we had off, we didn't really do much. I went cruising around trying to find a pair of boots. Even though there are countless styles of boots, I just didn't find a pair that stood out for me to buy. When I did, it usually were the expensive knock offs Christian Dior, Gucci, etc.....and I wasn't about to spend money on knock off boots that someone who is actually wearing the real deal is quick to notice they are obviously fake. Purses I will consider but not boots, shows, luggage, etc....Needless to say, i didn't come home with a pair of boots but I found cute shorts, and purses with sketches on them that I really dug so I bought those instead. Also, during this time I was contemplating getting my hair cut in China because it was so much cheaper but I was nervous knowing that the last 9 years, I've had one hairstylist that I've been going to in Ramona. I was a bit paranoid to have someone else cut my hair let alone someone who didn't speak English in a different country. However, my hair desparately needed a cut, the price is out of this world, and I just wanted a change. So I just thought screw it, if it's bad it can grow back.

I went down to the salon right around the corner of our complex, used hand gestures to tell the stylist what I wanted. I was so nervous, I looked at her with prayer hands and she patted her chest and smiled as in, 'trust me, please trust me.' When she cut the first lock of hair off, I held my breathe until she was done. Certain times she asked how long I wanted my hair, and even though there was a language barrier, we managed to get each other and the picture. It took her awhile to cut my hair because every time I thought she was finished, she would chop more, I didn't know whether I should say anything or believe her. At this point, all I can say is for $3USD, I absolutely honestly LOVE MY HAIR CUT. She did an amazing job!!! I was so happy, she cut about seven inches off and it's short layered, so I was very pleased with the outcome.

At this time, it was 8'o clock in the evening, I ordered some lamb on a skewer from a local vendor on the streets, and went back up to the flat to pack. Lacie stayed up all night and packed whille I tried to catch some sleep, but couldn't really. I think we both just had anticipation to leave so sleep wasn't gonna happen. When 5 am rolled around, we gathered up the rest of our stuff, I told Paul that we wanted to leave at 5:45 am to the airport. At 5:35 am we managed to get all of our luggage out to the street to get a taxi. It was 5:45 am and Paul wasn't down yet from his apartment, we needed to go so I told Lacie we just needed to go. We weren't on anyones' time anymore, we did not want to miss our flight, so we got into the cab and left. I text him we left and thanks for everything.

When we arrived at the airport, once we checked in, we had to pay for excess luggage and weight, so $100 we had to pay which was a bummer but whatever it needed to be paid. As soon as we got through security, we had 5 minutes before we had to jump on a bus to board. Luckily we did leave at the time we did from the apartment because with all the time we were waisting going back and forth paying for luggage at different counters, we wouldn't of made it. We boarded Xiamen airlines boeing 737 said our good bye out the window and back to LAX via Biejing In'tl, via Seoul Incheon In'l, final destination LAX. Our flight was early in the morning from Xiamen therefore the plane wasn't full and we were the only foreigners on the plane. The flight was two hours and thirty minutes, we landed at Beijing, gathered our luggage at domestic, walked across to terminal 2 to check into international departures.

Beijing had alot of foreigners and it was extremely busy. At that airport, in order to check in you have to clear customs first which is opposite here. After we filled out our form, we walked thru customs checked into Korean Airlines, had to pay another hefty amount for excess weight (we were gone for a month) grabbed our tickets and had about thirty minutes before we had to board our flight to Seoul. But first we needed to exchange our money back to USD was such a hassle because we had to go back out to regular departure area, then go to the Bank of China only for them to only exchange half the amount, fill out another customs form to re-enter, then go through security check in and then onto our gate. it was an adventure, I'm glad Lacie and i can deal with each other because it was so annoying, then we found a starbucks inside the waiting area. We were relieved after that. 8-0)

Out of all the trips I've been on and the starbucks I've gone to, I have never bought a cup with the name of the city on it and that's something I regret because it would of been alot of mugs. So this time I did, and I'm glad I bought a Beijing mug because one mug is better then no mug. We ordered our coffee, walked to the gate and board the 777 to Seoul, South Korea for a 4 hour layover in an airport that is so boring. There's nothing but DUTY FREE shops at Incheon airport, NOTHING BUT DUTY FREE, oh and designer stores. No magazine shop, no snack shop, no bars, just duty free and internet cafe. For four hours we had to keep ourselves busy, but once it got to an hour before boarding, we headed to the gate ready to get on. Our flight was scheduled for 7:30 pm departure, we were ready to go home.

After a ten hour journey back stateside, we landed into LAX around 12:45 pm, and it was good to be home. I said bye to Lacie at Tom Bradley Int'l, Arthur met me at the airport, gave me the biggest hug and kiss, told me how much he missed me, loaded the car and back to San Diego we went. I was very tired as I didn't get much sleep on the plane, so my mind was dilarious. It was good to be back, as soon as we opened the door to the apartment, I called my cat who was excited to see me. I know when my cat misses me because he will talk to me a lot and is obsessed being right next to me, which is very cute. As soon as I laid down in my bed, I passed out. Haha..... Arthur let me sleep abit, but after about an hour and half, he came in and woke me up with little kisses everywhere. It was sooooooooooooooooooooo nice, you can use your imagination as to what came after. ;-)

Now it's 7:45 am in the morning, had jet lag so I've been up since 3 am doing laundry and going over my month of what and where I'm working. It's so lovely to watch the sunrise from my balchony in America's Finest City, it's always funny to think back just last week I was somewhere else looking at another city, in another country, in another culture. Finally I'm home.

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Photos

Bus ride
To the last club on our tour

My name
I thought that was pretty cool to see. We ended up meeting a few foreigners from Holland.

Fun fun fun!
We had a few days off in Xiamen so we walked around the city and enjoyed ourselves.

clueless
Found this wall on our walk.