Thanks for dropping by. Formerly this blog was used to share goals/accountability and other interesting stuff with one another but it was tough to keep it updated. So for now, I shall use it as a means to blog about life. I welcome comments and other opinions but any nasty or personal attacks will be ignored and deleted.
Any blog entries before or after those 4 entries will not be relevant to your interests, as I will be blogging about other places and events.
DAYS 8-17 PART 4 - Lasting Memories
James 1:27
New American Standard
Bible (NASB)
27 Pure
and undefiled religionin
the sight ofourGod
and Father is this: tovisitorphans and widows in
their distress,andto
keep oneself unstainedbythe world.
Again, if you want to support IC...I mean the ORG
through sponsoring one of the kids in their care, let me know and I’ll put you
in touch with the right people.
***
One rainy night, our team was invited by a very nice man to his 'house in the mound' for dinner. It felt like going to someone's basement, except there was no main floor!
(Below: The house)
(Above: The trek to his house was quite slippery in the rain. My shoes would get MUCH worse by the end of the night. Below: Some ladies had to put their hands on the ground to prevent slipping!)
(Above: Just for laughs, I took a picture of this lady who had worn sandals. But when I was washing my shoes that night, I was thinking that she was the smart one. Below: Another person's shoes the next morning...lol)
(Above and Below: But the meal was worth the effort! Not to mention that romantic ambience. (I think the power was out)).
***
Back to the kids...
More stories from my recollections:
-
Grubs, who doesn’t really associate with the other
kids, came to me one day during class and sat on my lap. I rocked him up and
down, and then moved his hands for dancing. He had a great time and then he
leaned back and tried to get more love face to face. But I had to be careful
not to let him get too close because he had too many self inflicted bumps,
bruises on his head that looked scabby and red. See, Grubs tends to sit by the
wall and then sometimes just decides to bang his own head against the wall. As
a result, he hurts himself, cries, and then does it again as if he can’t
believe it would hurt. He was one of the boys that really troubled me…mostly
because I couldn’t understand his behavior, and also because I felt the pain
when his head impacted the wall. Short of tying him down and not letting him
move, I couldn’t think of a way to stop him from hurting himself (no, telling
him to stop doesn’t work).
-
Another of the downs boys, Spits, got his nickname from
his horrendous habit of spitting on people that displease him. He’s a very
interesting fellow, and although he doesn’t talk, far more intelligent than the
first impression he gives. I first noticed him when he first spit at Shadow for
being by my side so much. I think he was jealous. Surprisingly, Shadow just
wiped it off and ignored it like nothing happened. Then later in class, Spits
glared at Shadow again in an angry manner for still being by me. It was tough
and I wasn’t sure what to do at the time.
-
Another time, Spits finally got me alone in the
playground and sat on my lap and leaned on my chest as I stroked his head. But
he was quite a jealous type, as he kicked out at another boy who was coming to
show me a plant he had picked, and threatened to spit at those who came too
close. Interestingly enough, Shadow and Buddy avoided us when he was on me.
-
Spits also gave me some ‘mind blown’ moments. Once when
he accidentally ran into the back of my leg, he quickly got up and tried to rub
the area where he hit my leg as if to soothe it. Another time, he brought
another of the downs boys to me. When I took Spits’ hand, he shook it off and
instead offered me the hand of the other boy. He was trying to introduce me to
the other kid! Finally, on another occasion, when we were taking just Prince
and another boy on wheelchair out to town, he tried to join us by pretending to
be the designated pusher. After one of us tried to take the wheelchair from
him, he waved us off, trying to show that he was the one to push. Of course, we
told him to go back to the room, but the fact that he tried to sneak out in
such a manner…quite impressive. LOL
-
One day, I took Buddy for a walk, with the teachers strongly warning me to hold on to him because he can run away. So I walked around the
Orphanage with Buddy, and told him not to cause me any trouble, which he
nodded agreeably. He showed me where they showered, where the food was prepared, where
they ate dinner, and where they washed their clothes. Then we walked up to the
Toddler room where I introduced him to the youngest team member there, an
English girl, and Buddy looked down shyly and smiled happily as she tried to
say his name. Seriously cute moment for the both of them.
-
Shadow, one of the boys who kept asking me if I will
come back the next day, asked me where I was going next. Without much thought,
I said I was going to Korea.
And then he said he wanted to come too. My heart sank cos I didn’t know what to
say. Then he asked if I was going by plane. I said yeah…and he said he wanted
to fly too. So, I tried to make him feel better by telling him how annoying
flying was (yes, it’s annoying to me cos of the cramped quarters and length of
time on your butt)…but he didn’t seem convinced. I’m a poor dissuader.
-
Monkey, who had put his head on my lap in a previous
entry, had been coming up to me regularly, wanting love. Being that I was
dragged around quite a bit by others, I did try to make some time for him.
Sometimes I’ll warm his hands by rubbing them, and then hold him from behind
looking down on his face from overhead…and he’ll smile and squeak happily. For some reason, that makes me very happy too.
-
One day I got Buddy, Shadow and an older boy extremely
high by playing a tickling game with them. Since I knew pressure points from my
Taekwondo days, I was able to target those points on them, resulting in a more
intense tickle. And then I would break their guard by telling them, “Hey look!
Jay Chou (a famous Chinese entertainer) is over there!” Then when they looked, I attacked. It’s funny how many
times they fell for that. Once they stopped believing, I pointed to a cartoon
character on tv and said, “Hey look…what’s that thing on his head?” They can’t
help but look, and I attacked…Later, they tried it back on me, giggling deliriously. What have I
taught them!!??
-
On another day, one of the office people was giving a
tour of the facilities to local city folks, and when they reached the Older
Boys room, the guide told these Chinese guests that this was where all the older boys hung out. So these two middle aged
Chinese ladies were looking through the open window at these curious kids running up to them, and saw that some of the boys were
older (we have a couple of guys in their 20’s). Now the teachers usually wore
track suits, while we wore normal clothes like t-shirt and shorts, so when I
came walking up with the rest of the kids, the ladies’ eyes nearly popped out.
The tour guide had to quickly explain that I had come to volunteer and play
with the kids, while I shook their hands and gave them the most charming smile I
could muster. But just imagining what they must have thought when they first saw me approaching cracks me up even today! (If you don't know, I'm about 6'2.5" and kinda monstrous compared to the kids)
***
I have more stories of course, but I think I’ve given enough
of a sample of my life for those two weeks. Plus these entries are without
pictures of the main subjects so I have to be considerate of those who find reading just words
tedious. LOL
On the final day when we had to go, I had a heavy heart and was really sad the whole afternoon. In fact, I
actually could not stop the tears when it was time to go. I had to leave them
quickly because I didn’t want the kids to see.
The two that were most upset about our leaving were probably
Shadow and Buddy.
I had considered how coming into their lives and leaving
again could exacerbate emotional issues with the kids.
But one of the team leaders said something I thought was
wise.
She said, “It’s better for the kids to experience love and
care, than none at all.”
And apparently, by having us around, the kids open up more easily to the next team and also to their teachers. So although the goodbyes were heartbreaking for many of us, it's great that they start learning to have hope for their futures.
***
To continue this semi-food blog, here are a few more pictures of the food and the team.
(Above: After a happy meal, I did my usual thing. My roommate however, tried to be so cool. BLEH! LOL Below: The happy meal I was speaking about. Hot Pot!)
(Above: On our final night, I had this at Pizza Hut in Beijing. Below: Our last supper together for this trip! Thanks for the memories and friendship guys. Without everyone, I don't know how I could've made it through this as smoothly as I did.)
This entry marks the end of the Mission Trip Report. I hope you enjoyed reading the last 4 entries, and I want to thank you for joining me on this emotional journey through memory lane.
Any blog entries before or after those 4 entries will not be relevant to your interests, as I will be blogging about other places and events.
DAYS 8-17 Part 3 - My Own Heart
Theme Song: Laura Story – Blessings
The above song, together with 10,000 Reasons, were songs
that reverberated through my heart and soul the whole time I was there. Very meaningful lyrics.
I suffered greatly in 2013, with stress over a big financial
hit that rocked me to my core. In my disappointment and hurt, I comforted
myself by saying things like…I’m better off than others who had their houses
and lives destroyed by typhoons, and also that God was showing me just how much
money meant to me, something I had thought wasn’t true about myself.
But deep inside, I was resentful that God didn’t protect me.
Maybe I had lessons to learn, but why did they have to be this harsh and
painful? I was hurt, from the One I loved the most. It was a difficult time
indeed.
Through a series of circumstances, I found myself being
forced to go on this trip. You may ask me in person if you see me, but suffice to say for
now that every time I tried to find a reason not to go, God made a move that
flattened that reason. It happened about 4 times, and I could no longer deny
that my paths were being directed.
***
(Above: I went to visit the mighty Yellow River on our one free day...although it is very green in this photo. Below: Houses carved into the side of mounds. Not sure about the soundness of this sorta architecture, but it is definitely quite interesting!)
I hit the wall (figuratively) sometime midway through the mission.
I found myself getting really fatigued...fighting to keep my eyes open, especially in class when the teacher was teaching the older children the name of fruits. Physically it was okay, but mentally and emotionally, I was drained. I
needed more downtime but I could not find enough of it, and I seemed to do no more
than go to the Orphanage, eat my meals and sleep.
Before going, I had actually planned to study a few hours
every night. What a fool I was! Needless to say, that was a huge fail.
I think when you hit the wall, you just have to sacrifice some social activity, pop in vitamins and sleep as much as you can. I did that, and thankfully overcame it within a couple of days.
Back to the kids...
One of the boys that touched me deeply was Prince.
When I first met Prince, I didn’t pay him too much
attention. That was because the other boys were grabbing on to me and asking me
a gazillion questions…or should I say one type of question a gazillion times
(Question is: Are you coming back later? Are you coming back tomorrow? Are you
coming back the day after?)…and I didn’t have time to get to know those who
didn’t have the ability to grab me and talk.
Prince was on a wheelchair, and he couldn’t move his arms or
legs due to cerebral palsy. He also couldn’t talk and would on occasion drool
cause he is not in full control of his facial muscles. So basically, he needed
full care, and some of the other boys like Shadow would help feed him
sometimes.
One day when Cocky was in the Older Boys’ room and trying to
talk to me, I told her in mandarin that I couldn’t understand what she was
saying. Cocky put her hands on her hip, sighed and then began repeating what
she said in a SUPER LOUD voice.
Which of course, helped in no way since I wasn’t deaf.
With some annoyance at being shouted at, I shouted back at
her,” COULD YOU STOP TALKING TO ME SO LOUDLY!”
Cocky sighed, and at the same time I saw Prince break out
into a huge smile from the side of the room some distance away. He had been
observing our interaction unbeknownst to me.
And it got me thinking…this boy is quiet but he listens and
he knows what I’m saying.
I know it sounds a bit condescending, but seriously, if you
get any of the boys to voluntarily listen to what you’re saying, you’re
awesome. Why do you think I have to answer ‘Are you coming back tomorrow?’ a
hundred times a day FROM THE SAME KIDS.
I went back to the office later and found out that Prince
was actually 17 years old (I had thought he was 13), and from talking to the
others came to realize that he was actually a real intelligent boy trapped in a
body that doesn’t work.
That actually made me really sad for a long time that day. I
resolved to spend a bit more time with him since I had not done so prior.
The next day when we were playing the parachute game (we
have an air ball on a parachute like piece of cloth, and we toss it up and down
on the cloth, trying to control it. It’s quite fun), I took a break and sat
down beside Prince. He had a frown on his face, as he was trying to solve some
math problems put a small whiteboard on a tray in front of him.
I watched as he slowly wrote out a beautiful looking 9 on
the whiteboard. Which was the correct answer.
After he finished his set of questions, I took the pen from
his hand, marked them correct, and then gave him a couple more. He got them
correct too.
I was really impressed cos his math level was way better
than the other boys. Not only that, he writes beautifully, even though it’s
very slow.
As time was running out for me to be there for the day, I
told him that when I come back tomorrow, I’d tell him some stories as a reward.
I spent the night thinking of some stories to tell him, and
the next day when they let the kids out to the playground to get some fresh
air, I sat down next to him and began to tell him stories about one of my
mission teammates who could project his farts and how he once used that skill
to frame his classmates in school, and how they got punished when a teacher was very offended by the smell and nobody near confessed to it.
Prince had a great time with that story, laughing silently.
Then I told him the story of my grandmother’s supernatural encounter, and he
looked amazed.
I began to notice how his face communicated. The other
teachers told me how if he wanted something, he would nod and blink once. Then
if he didn’t want something, he would have this frown, and push his chin down.
Anyway, I pushed his wheelchair around later and then
nicknamed him Prince that day. After all, he got me to push him didn’t he? LOL.
***
Midway through the mission, I began to see more and more
clearly why I had been forced to come.
Even though I was suppressing it, God could see clearly the
resentment in me.
And the more time I spent there, the more I understood how
ungrateful I had been to Him.
Even though I had a lost a lot of money previously, I was in
no way lacking in anything. I still have food, clothes, housing, skills,
talents, a working body, a working mind etc…and money can always be made again.
God even gave me His own Son Jesus, an immense and
unparalleled gift of love that I confess I’ve taken for granted at times.
When I had time alone, I wept and apologized to God. I could finally see just how dark and
ungrateful my heart was/is. See it so clearly that it hurts even now when I'm writing this.
These kids…they were teaching me so much more than I could
teach them.
***
What I wrote above represents one of the most important lessons I have ever learned in my life. I don't really want the following photos to distract from it, but I also do understand that I have only allocated 4 blog entries to complete this trip report, so I will have to add them in.
So for further culinary interests, here are some more of the food we ate for dinner on various nights.
(Above: Mini Burgers...yummy and I had 2-3. Below: That's pork and I don't even know what to call the dish except it's really good!)
(Above: Lest you were not convinced it was chicken meat. Below: This green pastry was one of my favorites.)
(Above: Lamb meat in a crunchy bun. Love it! Below: One of my favorite dishes. Veggies fried with eggs)
When you are in rural China where foreigners don't go, you are a celebrity just for not looking Asian. Since I did not quite have this celebrity status, below are some of my teammates posing with locals who asked to have photos with them.
(Above: At the Supermarket. Below: At a fast food restaurant...okay, that fried chicken burger one.)
(Below: The older gentleman was the one who asked for this photo)
Finally, here are some other locals I snapped pics of...
(Above: Not exactly a local, but this cut out full sized image of Jeremy Lin seems to have found a permanent home in the KFC. Below: I caught these 3 ladies sneaking photos of my white friends, so I took a photo of them back.)
(Below: The trendy bus drivers. Check out their uniforms... :-D)
Any blog entries before or after those 4 entries will not be relevant to your interests, as I will be blogging about other places and events.
DAYS 8-17 Part 2 - Getting Into The Groove
(Above: Haha, get it? Groove...cos the man is in a groove...lol. Ok don't laugh whatever, I don't care.)
After the first couple of days, I had trouble sleeping.
Something was affecting my spirit deeply but I had yet to figure out exactly
what. I began to think of ways to reach out to the boys, to give them an older
brother friend who they know cares for them.
But of course, most of that never manifested. When you enter
the room, you are swept up by them more often than not, and all your plans are
pushed aside.
They have this exercise in the morning where they just walk
around in circles, holding hands and singing songs. So when we arrive, we break
their chains and join in. I wrote this because I still can’t believe how long
the walking goes on for. We estimated we must have walked several kilometers.
LOL
(Above: This was the outstanding food our team had for lunch on an almost daily basis. We needed it after walking circles around the room for kilometers.)
(Above: If you really can't handle the Chinese food, then you can always go Easternized Western food. I don't remember the name of the store above but it was near our hotel. Below 2 pics: Fried Chicken burger from above store and Fried Chicken from Dico's. There's a KFC too if Dico's isn't good enough for you.)
Some interesting stories and observations of the first few
days.
-
The man teacher of the older boys is really something.
He’s a talented artist, frequently drawing these ultra realistic things on the
board, and he can dance, breaking out Michael Jackson moves when MJ music is
being played. And his patience with the boys is incredible.
-
The boys are quite clingy and aggressive. They tend to
run up to you, grab you rather strongly and then drag you off somewhere or to
sit with them.
-
Grubs, as you may recall from my earlier entry, was so
happy to see me the next day. He can’t really talk, but he came up to me,
pushing a little chair and saying ‘BABA’ with this huge smile. Then the teacher
tells me that it means that he wants me to sit on the chair. After I sat down,
he grabs another chair, and pushes it towards another teammate and says ‘MAMA’.
Although it’s funny because he was saying that to a guy, it actually broke my
heart somewhat and made me quite sad. The back story on this fella was that he
was abandoned around when he was 7 or 8. Because it was so late before he had
help, his mental disabilities are harder to treat. It also seems like he is
still looking for his parents.
-
Buddy, an 11 yr old boy, tried to run away because his
best friend got adopted recently. He got caught and was now under close
supervision. When we were down in the playground one day, I saw him playing by
himself in the sandpit. So I sat down next to him, and struck up a
conversation. He began to ask me from where did I come from, and was it far?
And whether it was by train or by plane. Then he began to ask me if the tickets
were expensive…at which point I said yes, but I’m not going to tell you how
much. Fishing me for information? LOL…these boys can be crafty.
-
Shadow, a 12 yr old boy, so named because he was
holding on to me very tightly the majority of the time, asked me if I ever went
to the cinema. It made me feel very sad because these boys are so
underprivileged, and they all sound so wistful when talking about things we all
take for granted…like riding a train or a plane, and even seeing a movie in the
theatres was something special to them.
-
Happy, a 14 yr old boy with downs who doesn’t say
anything…one day he just grabs me really tightly just as they are about to
switch classes and pretty much drags me to that class with them. Then he held
my hand throughout the class. I know it sounds like it could be troublesome to
be held like that, and while it’s true that I could have broken off anytime, I
also realized that they crave contact so much, and I won’t be there too long.
-
Finally that brings me to Monkey. Monkey was the boy in
the sandpit who ignored me when I tried to play with him that first full day.
He can’t talk but really just makes squeaking sounds when he wants to
communicate. A couple of days later, he surprised me by coming up to me and
without a sound just sits himself comfortably on my lap. Then later that
afternoon, while the others were doing some activity in the room, he comes up
to me again. First, he sits next to me, then he holds my left arm and lays his
head on my lap near my knee. Then he rolls his head around as I pat him on the
head and rub his neck. Poor boy, wants so much love too.
Each of these encounters really affected me deeply.
You know, none of us chose the conditions of our birth. We
did not choose where to be born, which era to be born in, what to be born as…
These kids could have been me. Could have been you.
The clarity of this realization made me realize why God had
forced me to come.
But I’ll explain more in the next blog entry.
***
Here are some pictures of the city.
Initially many of the team imagined the city would have the feel of some rural town/village. While it wasn't a huge city, it was more modern than we thought!
You can seriously get a workout climbing these stairs. No joke!
View from the top. Some of us came up here on the half day off. It was good cos it was near the hotel, and only took a couple of hours so we could just go back and sleep after!
Any blog entries before or after those 4 entries will not be relevant to your interests, as I will be blogging about other places and events.
DAYS 8-17 Part 1 – Mission Begins
Here is where my blog becomes very word intensive. This is
because there are some restrictions on what I can say or post up (and no photos of the Orphanage, the kids there, or China flags), and so
if it is not your cup of tea (to read a lot of words), then I refer you to skip ahead to
when my South Korea
trip begins.
Also, I will become a lot more philosophical and serious
here, so again if you only like the corny side of me, you should probably skip
ahead to South Korea.
***
Our theme song for the trip: 10,000 Reasons. For some reason, it kept being chosen to be sung at devotion, so if you wanna get an authentic feel for the trip, press the play button! :-D
Together with my team of 19, we traveled together to the
city of MX. The city is actually
working together with my mission team on this project, but for the sake of
privacy, I will not be mentioning the city, nor names.
The purpose of this trip was to show some love and give care
to abandoned children in China.
Formerly China
had a one child policy, and sometimes when the child born to the parents is
handicapped either physically or mentally, the parents can’t handle it for whatever reason and give
them up, sometimes also so that they can try for another kid.
The Organization (henceforth referred to as the ORG)
I was with…the founder began to help out after observing the high mortality
rate in these orphanages. Anyway, in the locations where the ORG
is currently involved, the mortality rate has dropped drastically.
That’s why it’s important to help out and sponsor a child.
(Contact me for more details if you want to help)
(Above: My room for the 2 weeks. Shared of course.)
When I was first given a tour of the Orphanage, I noted that
the kids were divided into 4 rooms: Babies, Toddlers (not a baby but up to 9),
Older Girls, Older Boys. We went to each room for brief introductions and play
with them, and I must say I felt really out of place even though I pasted on a
big smile and waved like I was their long lost friend. I wondered if I could do
anything at all for them.
Then when I was in the Toddler Room, one of the boys crawled
up to me and wanted to toss a balloon ball around with me. And so I started to
play with him, and another boy crawled up to play also.
They were crawling cos they can’t walk even though they were
around 7-8, but that didn’t stop them from having a great time. And they
crawled REALLY FAST!
I think one of the misconceptions that folks like me tend to
have is that those with physical handicaps must be miserable. No doubt some
are, but from what I could see, many of them go to rehab, and try to live as
happy as they can.
So I played with these kids until one of them got a
nosebleed shortly after (from too much happiness I hope)…and so that was that.
But it definitely allowed me to warm up to them.
I think I should mention by now that there was still a
significant language barrier even for me. My vocabulary was quite limited even
though I could speak Mandarin without an overly foreign accent, but that also
meant that my comprehension was only about 60-70%, and even worse when the
speaker has a strong local accent. But I shouldn’t complain, most of my
teammates couldn’t speak mandarin at all, and they were doing amazing.
I went back to my hotel that night and I can’t say I know
how I felt. It was such a jumble of emotions inside of me. I felt apprehensive
about the work ahead, happy to be there, sad for the children, and all those
feelings at the same time.
I prayed that God would show me what to do.
***
(Above and Below: Devotion time to mentally ready ourselves. We met like this daily, sometimes twice)
Having devotions with the group in the mornings and
sometimes in the evenings really helped. I think I needed it very much to get
centered on the work. It wasn’t going to be all about my issues. We were going
to be doing this together.
I needed to know that.
The second day was our first full day. We arrived just as a
lot of the kids were going off to their classes. I was given the older boys to
work with (my choice) and so I arrived with my two Aussie mates, and this nutty
American girl to the room to find that only 3 boys were left there. So we took
the 3 boys downstairs to the Orphanage playground.
Right off the bat, I began to face things I had no idea how
to deal with.
-
Grubs, an 11 yr old boy, would pick up candy wrappers
and lick them, and then run off to find garbage bins. He would open them and
rummage through to find food. Note: He’s VERY WELLFED but somehow it doesn’t satisfy him. We
had to chase him, and my two Aussie mates had to carry him kicking and
screaming back to the playground.
-
Smiles, a 12 yr old boy, who has the widest smile of
all, was playing in the sand pit when suddenly he grabbed a bunch of sand and
put it inside his mouth. The teacher brought him to the bathroom to wash off
his mouth.
-
Monkey, an 11 yr old boy, said nothing and just played
by himself in the sandpit. I tried to play with him, but he just ignored me.
All in all, not the most terrible start. It was a good,
gentle way to break me into the work. Also, it allowed me to see the tremendous
job the teachers were doing.
After our lunch break, I met the others who got back from
class. The more noisy ones naturally got our attention as they would run up to
you and grab you.
There was this particularly hilarious 15 yr old girl who
would constantly come up to me and bump me, as if challenging me.
So I’ll look at her and go,”WUT WUT?” in my most cocky face
and she’ll burst out laughing and back off.
It became our thing for the rest of the time there, and I
nicknamed her 'Cocky'. LOL
***
We ate street food a couple of times while we were there. I was a bit wary at first, but it turned out to be quite good.
(Below: Seasoned lamb skewers from the stall above.)
(Above: The owner of the fried yogurt stall (left) saw us sitting there, and naturally, as lady on the right was a celebrity, she gave us a free one to sample! Quite yummy!)
Everytime I go to Beijing, I have this song in the back of my mind. In many ways, it exemplifies the Chinese attitude very well. That is: - They try hard to impress you when you are a foreigner, or an honored guest. - They don't give a crap about you if you are local, or a nobody. Of course there are exceptions to what I just wrote...but in general, I believe it's true. So here's a tip for all you foreign born Asian looking people. Speak English. LOL Or at least drop bits of English when you are talking to your friends. Yes, it'll give away that you are a tourist, but at the same time, it protects you from the abuse the locals give one another. Just don't do it too much when shopping or they'll give you foreigner price. There is another side to this of course...after being polite to you, they'll gossip about you and say/think that you're 'sad'* for not being able to speak Chinese even though you look like one. But if you have a thick skin, who cares right? If you don't...well, probably should develop one. *can sometimes also be translated as 'pathetic'. Back to Beijing. Beijing is actually quite a nice place to visit if you haven't been there before. But since I've been there twice before, including spending a whole week just there, I decided to just get ready for the mission instead of being a tourist. But here are a few things in Beijing you should see if you are there for the first time (Pics from my previous trips).
Above: Outside the Forbidden City (Gu Gong). My hotel was nearby, just off the perimeter walls.
Above: Inside the Forbidden City.
Above: Great Wall (less well trodden path)
Above: Great Wall, another section.
Above: The Temple of Heaven
Above: The Summer Palace I actually made a mistake when I made my plans to go to the designated hotel. I looked at the hotel directions and on google maps and decided that I could just walk the distance once I got off the subway. That was truly stupid. Mistake 1: Taking the subway to a hotel NEAR the Forbidden City stops (to be exact: Tiananmen stops). Beijing Subway Trains heading there are packed, packed, packed. During rush hour, you may not even be able to get on period...especially if you have luggage. It's truly quite intimidating even for a big guy like myself who uses his Jedi powers (or is it Sith) to clear the crowds. I felt violated, crushed and suffocated, and that's not a good experience. Mistake 2: From the subway to the hotel took me over 30 minutes! That's because I got lost, and nobody knew where the hotel was. The below picture is what I had to wander through...frequently just on a prayer!
In this area, there are what you call 'Hutongs'. Hutongs are basically leftover enclaves or teeny neighborhoods of old school living. The buildings are heritage style, and the street names are so confusing that even the cops directed me to the wrong alleys. Mistake 3: Letting your cell phone battery die! It died cos I was using the subway and ground maps too much...leaving me in serious trouble. But after pushing my heavy luggages through the alleys, praying and asking at least 6-7 people for directions, I finally found the hotel/hostel with my shirt drenched with sweat, and my hair all puffy from stress. To give you an idea of how flustered I was at that point (and I haven't been this flustered on a trip for many years), when I got to the glass door, I couldn't figure out how to open it!! I tried to press the metal plate, then I tried to pull it apart, but it didn't budge, and then finally I saw a young guy in a suit sitting there looking at me and I waved for him to help me. Then he looked at me like I was stupid (seriously I can't blame him), and made a pushing motion. Yes, so I just pushed the door and it swung opened. I laughed and the guy laughed at me, and I just said 'xie xie' and then looked on the ground as I rolled my luggage past him. Luckily I never saw him again. (Note: There were no protruding handles on the door but that's not an excuse really.)
Above: Hotel lobby and my room.
Above: View from my room. For some reason, my hostel room was super stinky, like someone didn't flush (there was nothing in the toilet...I checked). I suspected it was the vents. When I came back to stay on the final day of the mission, I was given another room, and that was fine. So I guess I was just unfortunate on that day. After failing to get a room change (it was fully booked), I opened the windows and then just went out to my old shopping haunt (10 mins walk away) and walked around.
Photos: Wang Fu Jing Shopping area. I was there in the day, but these were night shots taken on another day.
Above: Wang Fu Jing white people sighting.
Above: West side thug life...lol. Displayed prominently inside a mall in Wang Fu Jing. Beijing is one of those half modern, half ancient cities. And if you wanted to, you could completely immerse yourself in one of the halves and not interact with the other side. So I went to meet a friend who lives in the modern half.
I call the above picture 'The Great Squish'. I was waiting at the Tiananmen subway to go meet my friend in another part of Beijing, but it was so packed, packed, packed that 2 trains went by without me being able to get on. By the time the 3rd train came, the people behind me were so impatient that they PUSHED me into the train, ignoring the cries of the people trying to get out of the train!! So basically I could see and hear these girls screaming,"I want to get off! I want to get off!" (in Chinese), and I was like physically blocking them off from the train exit because I had been shoved inside by the people behind me the instant the doors opened. I shrugged helplessly as I was carried by the wave into the back of the train. Then the doors closed and nobody succeeded in getting off! I took the picture for commemoration. Is this what a mosh pit feels like?
So this is what the modern part of Beijing looks like. My friend and I took a cab to a Japanese place and ate there. I was so hungry I forgot to take pictures of our food there. But it was a great meal. Thanks for bring me there King. But I did remember to take some pictures of other foods.
Above: Ajisen ramen in Wang Fu Jing. Was okay with it until they wanted to charge me for a paper napkin to wipe my mouth. WHAT???? Below: After I met my mission teammates the 2nd day I was in Beijing, we went out to eat. And we had a really good dinner!
That was really yummy!
I'll just finish off this part with a couple of stories. - I was walking along an alley one morning to a convenience store to buy water when I noticed an old lady from the hutong staring at me. She stared at me without looking away for a long time, as I kept approaching her. I didn't look away, but I said 'Zhao An' (good morning) as I got close. And then she looked so shocked and stammered a greeting back. I don't know what that was about. Could it be that they are not used to people saying hi?
- The weak flushing toilet in my hostel room plugged up twice. Apparently you're not supposed to put ANY paper in there. Not even the single ply toilet paper that they provide. I was informed later that you should wipe and throw it into the bin next to the toilet, but I was like...WUT?????? Yeah well, you didn't need to know about the toilet, but I just wanted to share. Next up: The Mission Begins
