China

Sorry for the delayed Blogs - my parents were in China and could not send these out - Blogs are blocked by the government - Welcome to China!  


Our ship first docked in Hong Kong for the day and then sailed to Shanghai. For the most part, kids independently traveled in this country and didn’t sail with the ship. Most of my friends in this country went through a program called China Guide- which I would recommend to the future SASer. As for me however… I had something much better planned- my family came to Beijing to meet me! Talk about lucky J

Well, the first day in Hong Kong was super packed of activities to say the least. Michelle, Natalie, Lindsey, Olivia and I made a day out of it, and got off the ship first to start roaming the streets. We first docked at a huge mall where it was literally like stepping into a land of "Hello Kitty" and small Asian people. It was awesome- especially wearing my pink sparkly fanny pack…I fit right in! The mall took us out onto the street where we realized we weren’t even in the city of Hong Kong, so we ferried over to the city. We got onto a double decker tour bus (I know so touristy, but we made it happen) and started our journey. We first stopped at a shopping market, made some deals- everything was so cheap! Hong Kong was the first place that I actually felt a language barrier. I used charades and pictures a lot, and I wasn’t really expecting to have such a hard time communicating. Our next stop was to Victoria’s Peak, which was a definite site to see. This was a rooftop view off the tallest building in Hong Kong. We took a tram up to see the view, and man was it worth it! We also had the most expensive lunch ever up there, which I'm still pissed off about... but that’s beside the point. We also stopped at the largest escalator in the world that took us to the “Ladies Market”. We shopped here, and realized it was already 5pm when Lindsey and I had to be back at the ship at 6 for dinner! Hans and Bonnie (my secret family parents… remember them?) took our family out to a really expensive, amazinnnng dinner downtown. Everyone ate pig, crab, duck, dog (just kidding... but seriously, who knows?) and everything else in sight. We then went to a famous street to meet everyone called LKF. Since it was the night of the international rugby tournament in Hong Kong, this street was packed with Europeans, Australians, Asians, Americans, babies, mothers, white people, blue people, seriously- I have never seen anything like this. I wish I could paint a picture for you because words don’t do it justice. People were decked out in different hats, there were flashing lights everywhere, the bars and pubs were jammed with people and it was absolute chaos. This night definitely topped Mardi Gras or Halloween at UCSB for sure! Needless to say it was a great night and I ended up staying in Hong Kong city in a hotel.

Probably not the smartest decision I have ever made, considering I woke up about 30 minutes from the ship the next morning (a ferry ride away) and I had to meet my SAS trip group in 30 minutes! Thank god I packed my bag before I left or I would’ve been in trouble. I met the group at the ship just in time and took a flight to Beijing. Arriving at the airport, I met with my parents and we drove about 2 hours away to our hotel in Beijing. We had dinner this night at the hotel. Julia (my sister for those of you who don’t know) and I watched Due Date on her computer and passed out.

We woke around 8am for our long hike on the great wall. Oh I forgot to mention that this SAS trip was titled- “Hiking the Great Wall”. Wonder who choose that?? My crazy active family is who! Well, we woke up, and drove to the great wall to hike for 12 kilometers. This took all day (around 7 hours) and we took a break for lunch on the wall, which they provided. Guess what it was?? MCDONALDS! Eating McDonalds on the great wall was definitely an interesting experience- considering I don’t even eat that crap to begin with. The great wall wasn’t exactly what I expected either. I assumed there would be a lot of tourists, it to be paved, and there to be a city around it. Well, this road was not paved, that’s for sure. At some points we were on our knees climbing the stone steps! Pretty strenuous, but my family did great- mom (who trained for this?), dad (who does yoga on the reg), me (the naturally active one) and Julia (who didn’t complain too much). We drove this night to a new hotel to have dinner, and rested our sore legs. After dinner the fam and I walked down the streets to different shops and into a giant mall, which was totally local to this suburb of Beijing. There were no tourists in sight, and we were definitely immersed in the culture. Julia and I tried the sugar fruit dessert that China is known for- it is strawberries on a skewer with melted sugar on it. Delish!

The next day we pretty much did the same thing, except today was a lot more strenuous. The hills that we were climbing were brutal and there were over 3,000 steps! The tour guide told me this was the most challenging hike on the great wall (orrrrr I might have made him lie to me so I could write that on my blog). When we finished our hike we drove to a traditional tea ceremony, which are all over Beijing. They introduced us to different Chinese teas- my favorite was the lechee rose one just in case you were wondering. We drove to a dinner that night at a famous restaurant for the traditional peeking duck. Literally everything is made of duck in these meals (awesome for a veg right?). Like no joke- the soup was duck soup. Ew. That night we went to a famous street where they have bars and pubs that line the street. Each bar was different with different Chinese pole dancers or drunken Americans playing karaoke. Julia and I tried the weirdest dessert this night- it was a crepe ice cream with red beans it. Probably the most delicious dessert ever. After the parentals ran out of steam, Julia and I roamed the street and she got to meet a couple of my friends from SAS.

The next day we THANK GOD didn’t hike again, and went to go see the sights. We saw the famous Tiananmen Square, and the Forbidden City. These places were great to see especially because I had seen so many pictures of them in my class on the boat. Funny story- so for those of you who know I seriously have a bladder problem sometimes and I literally couldn’t hold it on the bus right before the Forbidden City. Well we were at a red light and I ran out into a local villages “public restroom” aka six holes in the ground all full of Chinese women squatting. That was an image I will never forget. Probably should be saying that about the Tiananmen square but sometimes those uncomfortable cultural moments are the ones you remember more. We took a flight later that day to Shanghai, which I was really excited for considering I didn’t really love the city of Beijing. Shanghai was everything I hoped it would be and more. It was colorful, beautiful, busy, and full of life. Finishing with the SAS trip, my family and I went to our hotel and out to dinner at the most amazing restaurant I have ever seen. This place called M1NT (best restaurant of China 2010) was on the roof of a building with amazing glass walls that overlooked the whole city. They also had a club attached to it with a shark tank, chandeliers, and huge glass walls over looking Shanghai (even above the urinals!). This place was totally hip, and I loved watching the dynamic of the 40 year old business men in suits hitting on skinny Chinese and Eueropean models. My roommate on the ship Missy (who I love btw) met us there to roam Shanghai. We went to a famous bar street called Xin Tian Di and partied at a couple different bars and clubs. At the hotel that night, Missy and I video chatted with our mutual friend Jenn who is studying abroad in London right now. SHOUT OUT! It was great seeing her face even for a little while- its crazy how much I miss all my friends from home!

Prior to my parents visiting, my grandma (Omi <3) made a connection for us with a local Chinese girl who she met and loved last time she was in China. Bato (or Nora the Explorer as I called her because Nora was her American name) was the cutest little Chinese woman ever! We went on a four hour bike ride through Shanghai and really felt the activity of the city. We went through a local food market, the French section, the Old City, and crossed the Huangpu River by ferry. We saw amazing looking buildings- my favorite was a building called the Gran Melia Shanghai- which had two huge pink balls on the tower. This city was aesthetically hard to explain. It looked like a mixture between Washington DC (because of all the buildings) but also New York City (because of the crazy amount of people and multicolored lights). Once we were done with the bike ride (ps- such a great way to see the city) we went to Nora the explorers favorite place to eat dim sum (which I have decided is just an array of different dumplings). This place was as big as my bathroom and didn’t look like the typical “Sigal family restaurant” for lunch. Padre just pointed to the picture of the different dumplings, and this woman made them for us. Bringing out tray after tray of the freshest most delightful dumplings was probably the best lunch I had the entire time I was in China. Afterwards, we went shopping on Changle Street which was supposed to be a good place to get clothes… ended up being way to expensive (who would’ve thought?), so we went to another area which was recommended for shopping. This place was awesome- little maze of small stores through alleys, outlined with bamboo and little restaurants - Taikang Road,   I loved this area and honestly didn’t want to leave because every corner we turned were more shops- any girl's dream! We went to dinner that night at an Italian restaurant (getting sick of Chinese food?) right before the acrobat show! This was a highlight of my trip in China. The women were so bendy and the men were extremely strong. It was beautiful to watch, and I loved every act. Afterwards, we went to a famous area called The Bund to see the buildings all lit up at night. On the bund we met up with my two friends from Penn State (Jeff and Armand) so they could meet my family.  We had drinks at a famous restaurant called M on the Bund and went on the terrace that overlooked the water. For the rest of the night, I took everyone back to M1NT and a club called Rouge where we met up with the rest of my friends who did China Guide. It was great to reunite with everyone, and it was awesome to have Julia there to meet my friends.

My final day in shanghai was very bittersweet. With Missy, we traveled about two hours outside Shanghai to a water village ( Zhu Jia Jiao)  that resembled Venice, Italy. The boats on the water that looked like bananas, the bridges over the city, the stores and street food that lined the streets… made this village look like a movie set. Nora the Explorer brought us here, and introduced us to many different types of street food and things to buy. My favorite thing we ate was this handmade peanut butter brittle (that I snuck back onto the ship yayy) and this green paste that looked like a soft taco. This village was very historic, and I loved running around the gardens with my family. On our way back to the ship, we had an hour or so to kill so we decided (of course) to go to the urban planning museum. Even though I was not too thrilled to be in a museum for my final hours on land… it was super cool. The museum basically showed what Shanghai were to look like in the future with different models and this elaborate movie that was surround sound and made you feel like you were actually in the city. Its crazy how futuristic some of the places we have visited look like. Singapore being the first one that I can think of… also felt so much more developed than America. We are really behind. Anyways, after the museum Nora the explorer just seemed to stumble upon the greatest mall known to man. We took an escalator under the museum to literally a mall on steroids. There was an endless street (yes underground) of just shops and different places to eat. With no time (of course they do this to me) we only shopped for a little untill we had to part at the ship. Such a bummer ending the trip like this because my parents weren’t allowed to come on the ship. I literally threw a little bitch fit at this Chinese man but it didn’t help. At least they got to see the ship and me of course! Overall, China was a great port. I loved having my family there, and I loved Shanghai. Two days till Taiwan, and more to come soon!

QOS outtt