生日晚会 - Birthday Party

Last night, as you should all well know, Gaoshan, Jiwu and I celebrated our birthdays together with our mates. We wined and dined at a Korean restaurant just near university. We had booked a private room, which had two long tables set into the floor - hard to explain, but you actually sit on the floor and there is a recess under the table for your feet, so it feels like you aren't actually sitting on the floor. The service was wonderful - we arrived to find everything already set up for us, all we had to do was order the meat and alcohol.

The beer flowed (not in my direction though [15+ bottles]), as did the soju (a Korean alcohol with no smell, hardly any taste, no burn on the way down, and high alcohol content - served nearly frozen, like a slushy [4 bottles]). The food was delicious as it always is at Korean restaurants, and I think I ate a lot (at least it felt like a lot, but you see, I was wearing my new corset, and it is impossible to overeat in that thing). Us birthday kids were also served a traditional birthday soup, which tasted a bit like Japanese miso soup, but with a stronger fish flavour and more seaweed - very tasty.

Here is a picture of what we dined on - the Koreans really must love doing their washing up, either that or they just love a good side dish!



Let's have a look at some new faces now, shall we?



Clockwise from the top, we have the waitress, Candra (you should already know him), Nalisha (one of our new classmates from Kyrgyzstan (I think) - she's a real doll, and is Candra's girlfriend), Beiya (also a new classmate, from Russia), Me, Oliver (or Olly - British chap, also a new classmate, and Mega's new boyfriend) and Andri (you should already know him too).

How's about a group photo now?



Top row - Gaoshan's Chinese friend (I cannot remember his name!), Candra and Nalisha
Middle row - Andri, Jiwu, Me
The next middle row - Gaoshan, Olly
Front row - Andres, Aysesin, Mega, Jiwu's wife (yeah, I'm bad with names)
Missing - Beiya, Candy (she got into the soju a little too hard) and a Turkish friend of Aysesin's

Then out came the cake:



Us blowing out the candles:



Gaoshan:



Jiwu and myself:



Jiwu, Andri and myself:



After dishing out the cake, Jiwu, Gaoshan and I made our speeches (much to my horror) in Chinese. After we had all eaten ourselves into oblivion, everyone headed home, except for Mega, Olly and myself, who headed to Sanlitun for some partying - I was all ready to go home and hop into bed, but I was tempted out with the offer of free birthday drinks. We first hit Butterfly - a very tacky club with music that was released when I was still in primary school, where we ran into Beiya and her friend. Then we moved onto China Doll, for some decent techno music, tasty Tequila Sunrises and bad dancing. Will post photos from Sanlitun when I temporarily steal Mega's camera.

Oh, and how could I forget - my gorgeous pressies! From Nalisha and Beiya, I got the most beautiful red roses, and from Andri I got a mixtape! Yes, a mixtape! Filled with all the music he thought I would love - lots of Mexican bands, one of Bjork's records, lots of Hotel Costes and Colette, and Sigur Ros (the kid's got taste)). Also with the mixtape were some Mexican lollies - some tasty marshmallow/strawberry/something crunchy combinations covered in chocolate called Bubu Lubu, some chocie and a lollypop called Vero Elotes - which is apparently strawberry flavoured covered in chilli! Andres even wrote "caution - hot" on the packet.)

Today shall forever be remembered as the day of the chocolate fish cake

Thankyou everyone for the birthday wishes!

I had a pretty good day considering I had class. The four hours went like a breeze (normally I'm counting down the hours, minutes, seconds), I had my favourite lunch at the shitang (cafeteria), the teacher set only a tiiiiiiiny bit of homework that I had already done, I got free gift-vouchers from a couple of my favourite online stores, I had a massive siesta, and the best bit? Mega surprised me with 40 (yes, 40!) chocolate fish cakes! What are chocolate fish cakes, I hear you ask? Only the greatest thing in the world worth 1元.

They are fish-shaped cakes made from something like pancake batter, with melted chocolate inside, served toasty hot. The seller used to camp outside one of the exits at uni last winter, but the police have cracked down and made everyone move. I had been hanging out for fish cakes ever since winter ended last year, and I thought I'd never find the seller... But Mega did, his new location is right outside the Wudaokou subway station. So she bought me 40! I didn't eat all of them, of course - I shared maybe 20 with my classmates (now I'm the popular kid, because everyone loves fish cakes).

Here is a picture of what is left, so finally my parents will know what I've been raving about all year long. (I don't know how well they will travel, but I might be able to bring some home too... only if you're lucky and don't mind risking possible food poisoning from eating food made on the street - I'm pretty much immune now!)

g - at least with my Tibet blog, I had my journal to go by. This time I am not so lucky, so this may be sparse (but I'll make up for it with pictures). And if you're back home in Australia, just ask my parents - I'm sure they remember more details than I do.

Oh, I guess I should explain for people other than my immediate family that my parents came to China to visit me for 2 weeks at the end of the school holidays. We just did the touristy thing around Beijing, then headed down to Guilin for a few days too. I have no idea in what order we did, or where we went every day, so lets just look at some pictures, shall we?



Apart from that, I don't really have any news. Friday night our classmates and I are having a massive birthday party, because it was Gaoshan's birthday on the 18th, and Jiwu's birthday today as well. We're heading to a Japanese restaurant near uni, which should be fun. (P.S. Mum and Dad, I'm squandering this fortnight's rent to pay for the dinner - because in most Asian countries, the host pays for the dinner). So no doubt I will have lots of photos to share then.

And I promise to post about our trip to Guilin soon!

Fumu lai Zhongguo Pt 1 (Parents come to China)

Ok, this is where it gets interesting - at least with my Tibet blog, I had my journal to go by. This time I am not so lucky, so this may be sparse (but I'll make up for it with pictures). And if you're back home in Australia, just ask my parents - I'm sure they remember more details than I do.

Oh, I guess I should explain for people other than my immediate family that my parents came to China to visit me for 2 weeks at the end of the school holidays. We just did the touristy thing around Beijing, then headed down to Guilin for a few days too. I have no idea in what order we did, or where we went every day, so lets just look at some pictures, shall we?


Somewhere in the Minority Park


The Tibet area of the Minority Park


Dazhongsi (I think!) Great Bell Temple - The largest bell in China. This is a photo of the decorative dragon on a smaller bell.


The next few are taken at Summer Palace






These few are taken at the ruins of the Old Summer Palace






Obviously dad found this odd/funny/interesting. It's funnier when they stack or crash.

See, I told you it would be primarily pictures. I think I used the word 'primarily' loosely. Will blog soon with Guilin pictures!

Tibet Part 3 - Shigatze to Lhasa to Home

Firstly, apologies for not blogging in what seems (and probably is) months. What can I say? I'm a gifted procrastinator. My memory is pretty terrible so I am sorry if I am a bit light on the details - it's because I've forgotten everything. So without further ado, behold my blog:

Day 7 - SATURDAY

Straight after breakkie we headed to the Tashilhunpo Monastery, which boasts the largest sitting Maritreyu Buddha statue in the world (and what a claim to fame that is). The areas open to tourists were primarily tombs, but I wouldn't have known that had we not had our guide - every hall was very similar; a massive Buddha statue in the centre, surrounded by walls painted with thousands of Buddhas, or with thousands of tiny Buddha statues in glass cases on the walls. We didn't see anyone else, it was just us because the weather was terrible, and we were there at what seemed like the crack of dawn.

Some photos inside the monastery walls/outside the tombs











After the monastery, we visited the "Old Markets" in the town centre for a quick look , then began on the drive back to Lhasa. We ate lunch at the same restaurant along the way - this time we tried the most delicious yak and potato curry I think exists - I finished mine and wanted more. I then slept most of the way back to Lhasa, in preparation for the massive shop-up we were planning when we arrived home. Which we did - I bought lots of stuff, mostly presents for people back home (and if you're lucky, you might score one). Due to the excitement I was experiencing from shopping, I didn't pay attention to how much money I had in my wallet, so soon I was down to 5 kuai. Not a problem, I thought, so I tried to find an ATM. I found them alright, but they wouldn't accept my card. I eventually gave up after walking for hours, and had supermarket noodles for dinner, and started fretting about having no food or water for the train trip home. Then we had a call from the travel agent saying there was a problem with our return train tickets - the problem being we didn't have any. I went to bed to leave the girls to fight and complain about it.

Day 8 - SUNDAY

We woke up bright and early to head off to the train station. We weren't overly worried because the travel agent had assured the other girls we had tickets, but when we were sitting in the station at 8am, knowing the train left at 8.30am, we were less than hopeful. A screaming match ensued between the girls and the poor travel agent, who finally got us tickets spread out over the train. Everyone was being such a hassle and demanding we be put in the same cabin, but honestly that thought less than pleased me, so I bit the bullet and said I wouldn't mind being by myself. And low and behold, I was rewarded by karma with a soft sleeper ticket to Beijing (this will make sense in a second)! I went to my cabin, and was asked to swap with a teenage boy into the next cabin, as they were a family of 6 and wanted to be together - no problems - we swapped tickets and I moved next door. I had the nicest Malaysian couple with me, so we chatted in English and Chinese as the train departed - turns out their son lives in Sydney studying at uni. The lovely Malaysians even fed me - they asked me if I would like to join them for dinner, but I lied and said I wasn't hungry, when in reality I had no money. When they returned, they had bought me pringles and fruit! Bless them. I managed to sleep a lot, while soaking up the comforts of soft sleeper - including a door, enough room to sit up, personal reading lamps, nicer bedding, and a TV for every bed!

Day 9 - SUNDAY

I woke up to a surprise. The girls had noticed that their tickets were only until Xi'an, not Beijing. I had no idea where my ticket was to, because I had firstly swapped with the Danish kid next door, and the attendant had collected our tickets at the start of the trip. While I secretly worried about being kicked off the train 12 hours away from home, I slept some more, and was fed an apple for breakfast by the Malaysians (the first time I had ever eaten an entire apple - peel and all). The lovely Malaysians then left me at Xining to continue on their holiday, and I was joined by 3 Chinese men with bad table manners. They spent most of their time outside somewhere - in the corridor or in the food carriage, so I had the cabin to myself, so I slept and read. I was also told how to cure my asthma by a mathematician. I won't go into details, but it involves deep-fried fresh squirrel soup. Ehh, I think I'd rather have asthma, thank you very much. We arrived in Xi'an late at night, and luckily the attendant didn't come by to warn me, so I was in the clear. The girls weren't so lucky though - all their tickets (in hard sleeper and seater) were only through to Xi'an, not to Beijing. They had to pay extra to be allowed the pleasure of seating in the corridor for the rest of the trip.

Day 10 - MONDAY

I woke up just before the train arrived into Beijing West train station - at 7.30am. Having no money to my name, I searched high and low for an ATM in the station, to no avail. So I took a chance and caught a taxi, hoping I'd be able to withdraw money from the ATM at my uni. Luckily I could, so I made it home at about 10am thanks to the peak hour traffic. I then had a most refreshing shower, and ate some well-needed food.

A couple of pictures I took from the train window on the way home: