exploring Xi'an

While in China, I decided that it would be silly to visit only one city (Beijing) so I decided to schlep on over to Xi'an as well. Besides being a city of great historical importance as a former capital of China, it also had the famed terracotta warriors. That was enough to convince me. Unfortunately for me, Xi'an is a popular destination, and this was the tourist high season, which means that it was very difficult to get space on a train. Rather than get a bed for the 11 hour trip, I could only get a standard seat, and on a slower train which took 15 hours. To say I didn't get a good night's sleep would be an understatement, but on the plus side, I got a window seat, which meant I had a small table in front of me. This was great, as it meant I could slump on the table to sleep, which was much more comfortable than trying to sleep while leaning against the rigid seat back. (trying to look on the bright side here!)

After that I made my way to my hostel, and promptly passed out for some sleep in a real bed. Over the next few days I explored Xi'an, and hit up the terracotta warriors (of course), but also checked out the tomb of emperor Jingdi, went for a bike on the city walls, and even took a day-trip to hike a local mountain (more on that in a future entry). I had also discovered that I could download a lot of classic books onto my iPhone, and spent a decent amount of time just relaxing (something I'm actually quite bad at doing), and re-reading the Harry Potter series (still good!). It was very nice to chill out for a bit. After 5 days in Xi'an, I returned to Beijing (this time I had a bed in a sleeper car, which was amazing. I slept like a baby for almost the entire trip), where I chilled for a day while waiting for my train to Mongolia. After the hustle and bustle of China, I must say I'm looking forward to the natural splendor and vast open spaces of Mongolia, but we'll save that for another entry.

Without further ado, it's picture time!

the Xi'an Drum tower at sunset

me and the terracotta army

more warriors

the terracotta warriors are famous for their level of detail: every single statue has a unique face, and just look at the detail in the sole of this soldiers sandals

well, I guess this is a good regulation, but it seems like common sense to me - is that sign really necessary? "hey, lets light a terracotta warrior on fire!! Oh, wait, nevermind, we're not allowed to burn things here. . ."

this is how I would get places in a taxi, or buy train tickets - I'd just ask the person at the hostel to write down the address or request, and then hand the note to the appropriate person. This note is asking for a train ticket to Mt. Hua Shan. Or it could be saying that I am a dangerous criminal who has recently escaped from a mental asylum and that the person reading this note should call the police immediately - I certainly wouldn't be able to tell. I just had to trust that the people who wrote the note for me didn't have an evil sense of humor. . .

the guard tower on the Xi'an city walls. This wall is huge - I biked the whole wall (you're allowed to bike / walk on top of the wall - pretty cool), and it took 80 minutes!

I was more than a little suspicious about this "suger", but in the end, I really didn't want to drink unsweetened coffee, so I risked it, with no adverse effects . . . so far . . . ::twitch::

adventures in Beijing

Hello from China! Well, technically, hello from Mongolia. Thanks to the Great Firewall of China, I wasn't able to access my blog from China, so I've saved up my China entries and will be posting them now that I can actually get to my blog again.

Anyways, I arrived in China and was instantly overwhelmed. While some stuff is written in English, the majority is not, and navigation is quite confusing. Maps aren't particularly helpful either, as only about 1/3 of the streets are labeled on them. Luckily, Beijing's subway system is excellent, so I was able to get to the general vicinity of my chosen destination without much trouble. (another fun fact - the subway in china is ALWAYS crowded, no matter what time of the day you're there, as opposed to Washington DC, which is only crowded during rush hour. Also, it's perfectly acceptable to bump/shove people while trying to get in and out of the subway). However, as soon as I got out of the subway, I was immediately in trouble. Thanks to a dodgy Lonely Planet map I wandered for about 30 minutes looking for my hostel, but at least I found it eventually!

I spent the next week exploring Beijing, and it certainly has a lot to offer. I was able to meet up with several friends in the area (former coworker Max, and old college friends Vinny and Andy). I did the requisite Great Wall trek, saw the forbidden city, explored the Olympics area, and much more. But rather than just blab on an on about it, I'll show you pictures - enjoy!

while this "squat toilet --> western toilet" converter might look like a good idea, I can assure you it's not. Funny, though!

Yay Olympics!! Bring on the games!! Where's Michael Phelps!?! Wait, what's that? The Olympics were in 2008, not 2010? Hmmmm, I guess that explains the relatively small crowds. Oh well. That won't stop me from posing by all the cool Olympics buildings and pretending it's 2008. . .

probably my favorite Olympics building, the water cube. Apparently it was recently converted to a giant water park, but I didn't have the chance to check it out (given the massive crowds at al the tourist sites in Beijing, I deduced that there would be gigantic lines at the water park, and that isn't exactly my idea of a good time).

chilling on the great wall with college buddy Andy whose visit to Beijing overlapped mine

I declare myself king the wall!!! Just like "king of the hill" in middle school. Except that I'd really appreciate it if no-one tried to unseat me 'cause it's a bit of a steep fall from my perch on the wall. . .

me magically pouring a giant, endless teapot

who's in the mood for scorpion on a stick!?!(answer: me)

while the pollution might not be so fun to breathe in, it does make for a pretty cool picture

snapshot of daily life in China - locals crowded around a boardgame

this is a very typical scene on the Beijing subway. It is always crowded. And no, this is definitely not rush hour - during rush hour I wouldn't even have enough space to lift up my arm to take this picture. . .

they certainly like their kites in China. This one is being flown at the Summer Palace, and the guy flying it had a 1 kilometer reel of string, and was actually attached to the reel with an over-the-shoulder harness thing. As I said, they don't mess around.

cool sculpture at the Beijing 798 art district: watermelon tree!

artsy shot of a brick wall

the forbidden city is popular!

me 'n Mao at Tianenmen square

quick tour of Singapore

On my way from Bali to Bangkok (where I'd catch my flight to Beijing), I decided that rather than take a 2 hour layover in Singapore, I'd stretch it into a 36 hour layover, which would give me time to explore. Singapore is much more developed/advanced than most other places in Southeast Asia, and reminds me of an American city (in fact, people usually say it's like American cities will be in 20 years). It was nice being in a more developed place for a bit, although I didn't appreciate the more American prices that seemed to accompany such progress. One thing I really enjoyed was that Singapore has potable tapwater! It was great to be able to use my nalgene for a bit, rather than constantly buy bottled water.

Anyways, my stay in Singapore got off to a rather slow start, as I arrived at my hostel only to see that it was locked with a "back when I feel like it" note on the door, and a contact number. Unfortunately, I didn't have a Singapore cell phone, so that wasn't much help. I eventually got a random passerby to call for me, and the lady came and let me in.

After unpacking and relaxing for a bit, I took off to explore the city. There were some very impressive buildings there, and I was especially captivated by this one building, called the Marina Bay Sands. It's basically three huge skyscrapers, with a giant deck resting across all three which looks like a boat (just the part that floats, no sails or anything). I ended up going to the top, where there was a huge viewing platform (great views of the city below), as well as a park of sorts. There was also an amazing infinity pool which went right to the edge of the building. Unfortunately, us common riffraff weren't allowed to use the pool, even though we'd paid about $15 US to get up there. It was only for use by Marina Bay Sands hotel guests, who probably spent my month's lodging budget on a night there. Oh well. I still hung out, watched the sun set over the city and the pool, and brainstormed business ideas which would bring me enough cash to so that I'd be able to stay at a place like this the next time I made it to Singapore.

The next morning I did some random admin stuff in the morning, including sending home a giant package full of souvenirs from Vietnam, Malaysia, and Bali. My bag was so nice and light after that. At this point I had about 2 hours before I needed to leave for the airport. Always eager to fit in as much as possible, I decided that that was enough time to see the Singapore Botanical Gardens, which had been highly recommended to me. After following some truly terrible and misleading directions from the manager of the hostel (very nice lady, but she never once gave me good directions in my 2 days there), I found myself far from the botanical gardens, but was too stubborn to admit defeat, and trekked 2 miles to the gardens. They were well worth it, especially the Orchid area.

Eventually I headed back, picked up my stuff at the hostel, and rushed off to the airport, where I barely made it in time to check in for the flight. I then flew to Bangkok, where I spent the night attempting to sleep on a bench at the airport, which is always a good time. (fun fact: since I had no Thai currency, I took out 400 baht from the ATM, which is about $13.50 US. Probably my smallest ATM transaction ever). And then the next day I headed to China! But this post is about Singapore, not China, so you'll have to wait for my next post for news on that front.

Pics below - enjoy!

Singapore's esplanade building is nicknamed "The Durian" because it looks a lot like the fruit. It also makes for some good artsy shots.

another artsy shot, this time of the Singapore Flyer (giant Ferris wheel, where each container can hold 28 people. Fun fact I discovered when linking this to the Wikipedia article: "Initially rotating in a counter-clockwise direction when viewed from Marina Centre, its direction was changed on 4 August 2008 under the advice of Feng shui masters."

old-fashioned river tours Singapore-style. By which I mean "inside a super-fancy mall."

scene at the Marina Bay Sands roof deck pool. Guess there are some advantages to being rich. . .

sunset at the Marina Bay Sands roof deck pool

the MBS building as viewed in the evening light

Singapore all lit up

as the joke goes, "Singapore is a FINE city." Within 45 minutes of arriving in Singapore I'd already broken the "no food in the subway" rule (accidentally), but rather than get a $500 fine, I was just asked to throw out my food. Whew!

artsy bird photo taken at the Singapore Botanical Gardens

some of the many Orchids on disply at the Singapore botanical gardensflowers

Read this book!!!

As you may recall, a few months ago I went to Cambodia, and spent a day exploring the Cambodia's dark side, the genocide under the Khmer Rouge.
In addition to checking out the S-21 museum and the Killing Fields, I also started reading First They Killed my Father. It's about the Khmer Rouge takeover, and life under the Khmer Rouge. It is told by Luong Ung (the author), who was 5 years old when the attack came. I liked the book so much that I read Luong's second book, Lucky Child. This one is about Luong's new life in America where she and her brother and her brother's wife are able to seek refuge after the war. It is also about the life of her sister, who stays behind in Cambodia because the family does not have enough money to send everyone to the US.


I would highly recommend these books to you. Both books are incredibly powerful. I warn you that the first one especially, is not a fun book to read. I found it incredibly sad, and was often frustrated/angry by the cruel hypocrisy of the Khmer Rouge. (They say everyone is equal, but the people originally from the city are given less food and less clothing. The people are slowly starved while they work all day farming only to see the food shipped off to China to pay for weapons. If they are caught stealing food to survive they are badly beaten or even killed). Still, I think it's an incredibly powerful story, and very worth reading to help keep us conscious of some of the terrible things going on in this world, and to remind us to try and prevent this from happening again.

If you make it through the first book, I'd highly recommend that you continue with Lucky Child as well. While it is also sad, it's not nearly as tough as the first book, and I also found it incredibly inspiring to read about how the members of Luong's family (in Cambodia, France, and the US) pulled themselves up by their bootstraps and fought so hard to make life better for themselves and the other members of their families. It certainly helped me remember how damn lucky I am. . .

Anyways, hope you have a chance to read these books. Real eye openers. As an added incentive, if you read this book and want to meet up at a bar to chat about it, the first round's on me!

Bali Underwater Adventures

While I enjoyed exploring the rice paddies and other sites of Bali, that wasn't the main place I wanted to explore. What I was really looking forward to was getting underwater for some snorkeling and scuba. After arriving, we spent two torturous days in Kuta, a super-touristy surf/beach hot-spot near the airport. (Ok, I actually enjoyed myself there - the tourist shops,and bajillion restaurants were nice for a bit, but I was itching to get to the diving). Then we went to the East of Bali, to Amed, an area famed for its snorkeling/diving. (fun fact: Amed is actually a 5-10km stretch of coast, composed of several small towns - we stayed in Jemelak which is especially well known for its snorkeling.

As soon as we were settled in our hotel, I rented snorkeling gear and headed for the water. Within 2 minutes of stepping into the ocean I'd already seen a pufferfish! Definitely a good time. I spent the next hour swimming around, marveling at all the sea life at depths of 1-3 meters. I saw pufferfish, needlefish, parrotfish, trumpetfish, triggerfish, butterflyfish, and many more! These are all fish I'm accustomed to seeing while scuba diving, but not just while snorkeling. Amazing!

The next day I went to nearby Tulamben and dove the USAT Liberty, a WWII-era shipwreck, Bali's most famous dive site. And the day after that I explored a smaller shipwreck (the site is called "Japanese Wreck") which had the most incredible collection of coral and sea life I have seen in any of my dives ever. Even superior to the Great Barrier Reef! I had no idea Bali's diving was going to be so good, so this was a very pleasant surprise.

Oh, and again, you don't need to take my word for it. I rented a camera, so check it out for yourself! And yes, I know that I've included a ton of pics, but I got so many great photos, I couldn't cull down further than this!!

nice view of the USAT Liberty wreck

cool soft coral

orangelined triggerfish. There were a bunch of different triggerfish in Bali, and I decided that they are one of my favorite fish - very pretty! Oh, and here they aren't frighteningly territorial like they are in Koh Tao (we had to change our itinerary mid-dive in Koh Tao to avoid a pair of triggerfish that were charging at us). They're much nicer when not trying to bite us.

Nemo hanging out in his anemone

I'm sure you're wondering why this crappy photo made the cut. Well, because it's the best photo I have of an Octopus. Well, at least I'm pretty sure it's of an Octopus - that's the sign my guide made, and I think I kind of saw it through the silt that had been kicked up by the previous divers. It's hard to tell 'cause, well, it was hiding from me, and they hide in dark areas. . .

me with the wreck

cool starfish

gorgeous sea fan at the Japanese Wreck dive site

clown triggerfish! These guys are quite colorful, and pretty rare (first one I've seen), so that was cool.

school of batfish hanging out near a sea fan

hey look over there! I think I see a fish! Or maybe a thousand. . .

Nemo family portrait

I really liked this anemone. Or coral. Not sure which. Either way, it's pretty.

ok, in case I haven't emphasized this enough, there were a TON of fish in the Bali dive sites. Absolutely incredible!

look, a scorpionfish! This guy actually charged me after I got too close for a photo. Whoops!

pufferfish hanging out in a pretty sweet seascape

another pic of me with the wreck

these two tobies were either fighting or courting. Either way, it was quite rare/cool.