From this, in winter:
To this, in summer:
And there are definitely no water restrictions here. The new grass gets watered twice a day for about an hour at a time. Pity they couldn't wash my windows at the same time.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
The changing scenery
I'm not entirely sure why, perhaps its because summer is here, or because of the Olympics, but there have been workers outside my window creating a garden. And they've done a semi-decent job. Hell, it would be nice if people walking past couldn't see into my room, and certainly some flowers wouldn't go astray, but it's not too shabby indeed.
From this, in winter:
To this, in summer:
And there are definitely no water restrictions here. The new grass gets watered twice a day for about an hour at a time. Pity they couldn't wash my windows at the same time.
From this, in winter:
To this, in summer:
And there are definitely no water restrictions here. The new grass gets watered twice a day for about an hour at a time. Pity they couldn't wash my windows at the same time.
Andri the cartoonist
Warning - the following picture contains swearing and therefore may be unsuitable for any family members who are under the impression that I don't swear
Click to enlarge / read text
Click to enlarge / read text
A few things I had forgotten...
I remembered that we have done a few so-called "exciting things" in the past few weeks that I had completely forgotten about. I also remembered (at roughly the same time) that I have a terrible memory. I also noticed I use (brackets) a little too often.
Last week (Monday I think) I decided to go for a short stroll after dinner, because it's all the rage here in China and I hadn't exercised for ages. I was planning just a little stroll, maybe twenty minutes or so. An hour and a half later, I finally got home! Yeah... I got lost. I ended up walking along side on the ring roads, which one I have no clue. All I can say is thankfully there are footpaths alongside the road. It was looking a little touch-and-go for a while until I realised where exactly I was. Also a little scary - it's incredible how different two neighbouring areas can look. I was only one main road over from my street, and the area looked like Germany at the end of WW2! Buildings falling down or in varying states of disrepair, no street lights... There was even a family huddled around a little bonfire on the side of the road. Just weird. I probably wont be going walking that way any time soon, but at least I know it takes over an hour to walk around 'the block'.
I found a nice little sandwich bar at uni (well, Mega found it and dragged me along). 15元 and 25元 for 6 and 12 inch subs respectively (relatively "expensive" in Beijing, but half price compared to Subway back home). And dare I say it, it was almost better than Subway. The store next door also sells the most amazing home-made lemonade for 10元 a glass (I know, steep, but worth it). I managed to down 3 glasses over the course of the day, as well as a 12 inch sub and some chips that we shared. We met two Chinese girls who were sitting next to us, one of them asked me how to spell 'precious'. Turns out one girl's name was Soso... Yup, like "How are you?" - "I'm so-so". The other girl didn't have an English name, so we named her May because she was born in May (original, I know). So they helped us translate the Vogue magazines that we were reading, and we talked about fashion for a few hours. THEN after eating all day, we managed to ate dinner as well (then called Mum for Mother's Day - she thought I had forgotten... ehh, well I sorta had until I finished dinner). Awesome lazy Sunday.
We tried out a new restaurant (just one street over and a few blocks down from my place, for the kids playing at home). (I cant remember the name but I'm working on it). The kids who went: Jiwu, Gaoshan (both Japanese), Aishanxin (Turkish), Andri and Candra (Indonesian), Li Lumei (Korean) and myself. We had booked our own private room (and by "we", I mean Li Lumei, as the restaurant is very famous for its Korean-style Chinese food). The private rooms are much better - more privacy, air conditioning, your own designated fuwuyuan (waitresses)). And you get to cook your own food! Each place at the table has its own "hotpot" for lack of a better word. It's basically a pot of spicy watery soup sitting over a flame, and you cook whatever you want. We had a selection of dishes: beef slices, "ham" (it was really Spam), lamb slices, fish balls, beef balls, flat rice noodles, cabbage, herbs, Chinese cabbage (bok choy)... I think that was it. You just choose what you want, drop it in the boiling soup, wait for it to cook then eat! You even get a very stylish apron to wear. And all the beer you can drink (pity I don't drink beer).
We're going back on Friday for Candra's 21st birthday party. It was his birthday yesterday but Monday is a hard day to celebrate on, seeing as we have class Tuesday at 8.30am. I also heard on the grapevine that we're going dancing in Sanlitun, so expect photos!
Candra's mini-party in class that we held today:
And more photos from Hongluosi:
Everyone looking a little sleepy on the way home
Last week (Monday I think) I decided to go for a short stroll after dinner, because it's all the rage here in China and I hadn't exercised for ages. I was planning just a little stroll, maybe twenty minutes or so. An hour and a half later, I finally got home! Yeah... I got lost. I ended up walking along side on the ring roads, which one I have no clue. All I can say is thankfully there are footpaths alongside the road. It was looking a little touch-and-go for a while until I realised where exactly I was. Also a little scary - it's incredible how different two neighbouring areas can look. I was only one main road over from my street, and the area looked like Germany at the end of WW2! Buildings falling down or in varying states of disrepair, no street lights... There was even a family huddled around a little bonfire on the side of the road. Just weird. I probably wont be going walking that way any time soon, but at least I know it takes over an hour to walk around 'the block'.
I found a nice little sandwich bar at uni (well, Mega found it and dragged me along). 15元 and 25元 for 6 and 12 inch subs respectively (relatively "expensive" in Beijing, but half price compared to Subway back home). And dare I say it, it was almost better than Subway. The store next door also sells the most amazing home-made lemonade for 10元 a glass (I know, steep, but worth it). I managed to down 3 glasses over the course of the day, as well as a 12 inch sub and some chips that we shared. We met two Chinese girls who were sitting next to us, one of them asked me how to spell 'precious'. Turns out one girl's name was Soso... Yup, like "How are you?" - "I'm so-so". The other girl didn't have an English name, so we named her May because she was born in May (original, I know). So they helped us translate the Vogue magazines that we were reading, and we talked about fashion for a few hours. THEN after eating all day, we managed to ate dinner as well (then called Mum for Mother's Day - she thought I had forgotten... ehh, well I sorta had until I finished dinner). Awesome lazy Sunday.
We tried out a new restaurant (just one street over and a few blocks down from my place, for the kids playing at home). (I cant remember the name but I'm working on it). The kids who went: Jiwu, Gaoshan (both Japanese), Aishanxin (Turkish), Andri and Candra (Indonesian), Li Lumei (Korean) and myself. We had booked our own private room (and by "we", I mean Li Lumei, as the restaurant is very famous for its Korean-style Chinese food). The private rooms are much better - more privacy, air conditioning, your own designated fuwuyuan (waitresses)). And you get to cook your own food! Each place at the table has its own "hotpot" for lack of a better word. It's basically a pot of spicy watery soup sitting over a flame, and you cook whatever you want. We had a selection of dishes: beef slices, "ham" (it was really Spam), lamb slices, fish balls, beef balls, flat rice noodles, cabbage, herbs, Chinese cabbage (bok choy)... I think that was it. You just choose what you want, drop it in the boiling soup, wait for it to cook then eat! You even get a very stylish apron to wear. And all the beer you can drink (pity I don't drink beer).
We're going back on Friday for Candra's 21st birthday party. It was his birthday yesterday but Monday is a hard day to celebrate on, seeing as we have class Tuesday at 8.30am. I also heard on the grapevine that we're going dancing in Sanlitun, so expect photos!
Candra's mini-party in class that we held today:
And more photos from Hongluosi:
Everyone looking a little sleepy on the way home
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Hongluosi - 红螺寺
Firstly, apologies for not posting sooner - I have been slack, what can I say! I haven't even really been that busy, apart from studying for exams (which went quite well).
Hongluosi literally translates to Red Shell Temple, 'Red Shell' being the name of a fairy in ancient Chinese folklore. It is approximately 55kms north of the centre of Beijing. It was built around 330 AD, and is home to the largest Buddhist monastery in northern China.
It took about an hour to reach Hongluosi from uni, so everyone slept and I stared out the window (apparently meeting at uni at 8am is too much for everyone else - hell, everyone else is still asleep when my bus gets to uni!). Once we arrived, we were free to do as we pleased, provided we were back on the buses at the designated time. I was befriended by the most annoying girl in our class, Indira (from Kazakhstan, 22, already been married 3 years) which everyone else thought was hilarious as it meant they didn't have to deal with her.
So we wandered around the park for a few hours, struggling to hold a conversation because a) she doesn't speak English, b) our Chinese isn't that fab, c) her three favourite topics are herself, her husband, and her country (all of which I didn't really want to know about). Anyway, here are some pics from Hongluosi:
Some of our class - Jiwu (Japanese), Me, Indira (Kazakh), Phoebe (Philippines), Mega
Aishanxin (Turkish), Andres (Mexican), Andri and Candr
Me looking particularly pasty
Indira's quite a poser (and yes, she always wears t-shirts slightly too short)
After Hongluosi, we were treated to a particularly unappetising lunch, served at a juice factory (I don't know why) on jailhouse-style metal trays. At least the free "juice" was good, even if it was only 10% juice.
Must run, I have just been invited to a BBQ in 15 minutes!
Hongluosi literally translates to Red Shell Temple, 'Red Shell' being the name of a fairy in ancient Chinese folklore. It is approximately 55kms north of the centre of Beijing. It was built around 330 AD, and is home to the largest Buddhist monastery in northern China.
It took about an hour to reach Hongluosi from uni, so everyone slept and I stared out the window (apparently meeting at uni at 8am is too much for everyone else - hell, everyone else is still asleep when my bus gets to uni!). Once we arrived, we were free to do as we pleased, provided we were back on the buses at the designated time. I was befriended by the most annoying girl in our class, Indira (from Kazakhstan, 22, already been married 3 years) which everyone else thought was hilarious as it meant they didn't have to deal with her.
So we wandered around the park for a few hours, struggling to hold a conversation because a) she doesn't speak English, b) our Chinese isn't that fab, c) her three favourite topics are herself, her husband, and her country (all of which I didn't really want to know about). Anyway, here are some pics from Hongluosi:
Some of our class - Jiwu (Japanese), Me, Indira (Kazakh), Phoebe (Philippines), Mega
Aishanxin (Turkish), Andres (Mexican), Andri and Candr
Me looking particularly pasty
Indira's quite a poser (and yes, she always wears t-shirts slightly too short)
After Hongluosi, we were treated to a particularly unappetising lunch, served at a juice factory (I don't know why) on jailhouse-style metal trays. At least the free "juice" was good, even if it was only 10% juice.
Must run, I have just been invited to a BBQ in 15 minutes!
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