Beijing

Beijing is alright; it's far from being my favorite place but it's still fun and comfortable; it's clean and I'm not getting harassed. Beijing people think they are that much more civilized and like to talk about politics. Getting around is cheap, the food is good and I love speaking in mandarin. Also, all the attractions are so huge; I've never walked so much in my life.

I'm staying at a courtyard. Most have been destroyed to build skyscrapers, so there aren't many of these left in Beijing. It is quickly shedding its historical face in favour of modernity. It took a lot of effort from people to keep some of these places. I'm glad I'm staying at one of these while they still exist. There are some Chinese guys practicing Kungfu every day here as well. I think it's so manly.

Inside. I love this place.

Wangfujing is a modern shopping street, which reminds me of Nanjing road in Shanghai. It's my mom who told me about it actually. I kept asking her to recommend me things to do...but maybe because I'm not raised in China, we don't have the same interests. I know that if it were my dad, he would go to Tiananmen to see Mao's mummy.

Wangfujing.

This is a food street near Wangfujing. There is so much food, but I had none because I didn't want to get sick. There were even geckos, starfish, seahorses, spiders, and all kinds of bugs to eat....so I decided it's worth getting sick for one of these. I won't have the chance to eat these in Canada y'know...

I chose to have scorpions...they were the less intimidating ones. They were still moving on the stick, so it means that they are fresh :)

Here's the proof. It was yummy.

Of course, I had to go to the Great Walls. I've never seen so many mountains in my life, seriously. It wasn't too crowded and it was more challenging than I thought. I made it, duh, because I'm fit :) It's a pretty amazing feeling to walk onto the walls. My legs are still hurting though. I took the toboggan ride down, which was fun and random. Chinese people always invent so many random things for foreigners to do.

This was taken in front of the Forbidden city. There were so many people inside; it kind of ruined the experience. I already knew most of the facts about it because I always see it on TV, but it's still good to visit in person.

A hutong.

Monument to the people's heroes in Tiananmen Square.

The olympic stadium.

Summer palace.

Temple of Heaven. We can see many retired people playing cards, knitting and exercising around the park. I love to see that.

The fake Disneyland of China; Shijingshan. There were many characters similar to Disney's but not quite; it's just funny to see. I thought I would go there and play like a kid, because I spent a horrible night on the plane, ha.

:)

That was Beijing. I'm really sleepy now. I'm taking the train to Xi'an tomorrow which will take 12 hours...

My cockroach story

September 11 is such a weird day to fly.

This morning when I went to the bathroom, I saw a baby cockroach that was big like a thumb. I thought I killed it yesterday night. I used boiling hot water to flush it down the shower drain. Even a human being would get burned, how did it survive? Does it hate me now? Why is it looking at me like that? Or is it one of his brothers that wants to take revenge?

I was like...I'm going to brush my teeth first and I hope it will disapear meanwhile. I came back and, it was still there; it didn't even move an inch. I was thinking of a way to take my morning piss, but it was too close to the toilet bowl. I looked around, and saw a bigger one on the wall right next to the toilet. It was at least two times bigger. I was like...what the hell! Why are there so many cockroaches here? I didn't even bring food to my room. Could it be the Vodka mix? When I saw the big cockroach, I knew I had to give up. I waited until I got to the airport to pee which was an hour and a half away. Poor me.

Why am I talking about cockroaches? Well, because my flight is delayed. I'm in Shanghai airport at the moment...Why am I here? I even wondered whether I'm on the right plane...but I was pretty sure I was on the right plane. Beijing accent is so obvious.

Anyways, it took me 25 hours of travelling to get to Beijing. You know how many things I could've done in 25 hours? I could've came back to Montreal...

Goodbye Southeast Asia...

It's been almost two months since I left home and today is my last day in Indonesia and Southeast Asia.

I'm so tanned...
...and I have so many mosquito bite scars.
...and I'm so hairy, haha.

I can't say that I've always been independent, but I've been alone for most of my life...from the time I hated it, and then got used to it and until the day I started embracing it. Although this is not the first time I go far away alone, I'm just reminded that travelling alone is definitely one of the more rewarding decision I've made.

I rested enough, drank enough, ate enough, slept enough and had enough fun in Bali...Now, I'm ready for a new adventure!

Tomorrow, I will fly to Beijing, which is my starting point for my next journey. I will board the train from there and travel the silk road to Turkey.

Why did I choose the silk road over the Trans Mongolian, Trans Siberian,Trans Manchurian, etc? Mainly because I'm interested in seeing the ethnic minorities in China, and the silk road has more route options. Ideally, I would go to Europe as well, but my time is limited and even if I had next time, I would probably choose Alaska or Africa. I'll leave Europe for when I get older, mainly because I think Europe is almost like a typical vacation spot, and there is a lot to see, but not enough to do...

I'm still young, I don't want to be on vacation; I want some adventure, and explore the unknown. The silk road is like a myth to me; a road that permitted the diffusion of ideas, trading of goods, discovery of the new world and revolutionary wars.

I can't wait to eat some Beijing duck and climb the Great Walls, yay!

Places

places you have been
places you told me you wanted to go and never went
and places you don't remember anymore
are all in my mind.

Ubud

I was Yogyakarta couple of days ago...I didn't like it at all. Maybe I wasn't at the right spots but to me, Yogyakarta is a little like Suzhou of China in the sense that it is known for the philosophers, temples, palace and preserved ancient culture...but all these things are all miles apart and surrounded by the dusty roads and polluted air of the city. Sometimes, well-preserved things can lose their meanings. There is little difference between seeing those monuments on a picture and in person.

Ubud is different; everything feels so fresh and balinese here. I don't need to walk 2km across a dusty city to find a balinese temple; the culture is simply everywhere I go. The rituals, the nature, offerings made to spirits, nature-based worship, flowers, bali coffee, penjor, etc. Those are things that I cannot see on a picture. It's a very special place; little things like walking out of my house to see flower offerings on my doorstep make me love this place so much...

I stay in an Indonesian house; there's a pond right in front and a rice field in the backyard. There is no aircon here, but it is surprisingly cool. But sometimes, I'm a little scared at night because I can hear the noise from outside...

Monkey forest. I saw monkeys having sex for the first time...I was so embarrassed to look at them! They were so close to me that I could even see their penises, tits and vaginas. I'm so immature, right.

The penjors are in front of every house.

Kiddos :)

Having breakfast overlooking an active volcano; Mount Batur.

Why am I so sad?
What does it change to my life?
Absolutely nothing.

When I'm watching Chinese movies

"Hello?"

"Hey, what you up to?"

"HUH??!" Still focusing on the movie, and refusing to turn down the volume.

"What are you doing?"

"...Chinese!!!" Trying to talk louder than the T.V.

"...what?"

"...Chinese!!! Geez, call you back later," with an annoyed tone.

That's so me, watching a Chinese movie.