TravelStream™ news feed for member katemel on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/katemel en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Fri, 06 Feb 2009 00:22:36 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katemel/2/1205834340/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katemel/2/1205834340/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katemel/2/1205834340/tpod.html Fri, 06 Feb 2009 00:22:36 -0500 ~*~ Our trip to China ~*~

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Guilin, China

I woke up at 7.40 with an incredibly sore back from the hard bed. Straight away I went to the window and looked outside I found it was raining, there we lots of motor bikers with rain coats on and lots of people getting their photo taken at a shrine then walking into the park.About an hour later we went down to breakfast. I had a continental breakfast consisting of two eggs, bacon, salad, fruit, basket of bread, coffee or tea and orange juice (orange cordial) I didn't eat much. We then went across the road to a weird market with people madly trying to sell us things. People dressed in traditional We then caught bus 58 to Reid Flute caves but we were meant to go to other caves. Two Chinese people kept taking photos of me. We went to buy tickets then went to the line for the cave. The tour guide took us into these caves with stalagmites and stalactites. They were absolutely amazing. One of the two Chinese people that took our photos earlier grabbed us by the hand and dragged us around the caves- it was so annoying. They had lit up the caves with many coloured lights and had even named some of the stalagmites and stalactites as that is what they looked like- the Snowman, the lion, the city. The tour guide gave our group a very detailed description of the caves etc - unfortunately we couldn't understand her at all - she only spoke Chinese!!!!! We went to the toilet after we left the caves. Luckily we found a 'western toilet' - all the other toilets there were squat toilets. We also have to make sure we carry tissues with us at all times as they usually don't have toilet paper. We caught a taxi back to the hotel.We stayed in our hotel rooms for about 5 minutes and then we went out on a walk to find some lunch. We ate at, what looks like, an unhealthy and un-hygienic restaurant. Unfortunately they didn't have knives and forks so I had to use chopsticks which was an absolute disaster. After lunch, Keith came back to the hotel as he was feeling un-good. We went on a walk, to look at all the local shops and markets. On the way we stopped at a local school which is very different to my school. It was about 4 stories high and was very noisy. As we were walking passed it seemed to be play time for some children, A few children noticed us walking by and came to talk to us but we couldn't get in and they couldn't get out as there were scary security guards. They came and talked to us and asked where we were from. We asked them where they thought - the first guess was England, then America and finally Australia. One of them ran to get a piece of paper and then the others followed. They all shoved their paper or book through the security gates and asked us to all write our names down. We must have written our names down about 30 times. We walked along further and finally reached the market place. I saw a sign saying McDonalds. After I found out that it was a tiny shop that only sold sundaes and hot pineapple pies.A man started to talk to Nana and walked with us for ages talking about the area and the market. Finally the man took Pa of to a shop and the stayed there. Pretty soon after wards we came back to the hotel for an hour or so. At 7:30 we caught a taxi to the market place again. We walked around looking for somewhere to eat. A man approached us and took us walking to his friends restaurant but it was full downstairs. The only seats available were upstairs and Keith and Nana weren't able to walk up the stairs, so the man took us across the road and down a few shops to another restaurant but this one was smaller. It was still the same restaurant - same owner etc. After dinner Mum and I walked to the Waterfall Hotel. At 8.30, the back of the hotel turned into a waterfall and the water slid down the peoples windows and caught in a pool at the bottom. It was absolutely magnificent. It's in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest man-made waterfall in the world. (45 metres high, 72 metres wide at the top and 75 metres wide at the bottom. They also had loud music playing at the same time. After we saw the waterfall we walked back to our hotel via a bakery and two 2 yuan shops. From Kate The sights you see just walking along the streets are amazing. We saw a man who was, very slowly, riding a bike towing an elderly man. The elderly man just sat there looking at the sidewalk whilst the ridder read the newspaper! There is both motorbikes and electric scooters here. Very few people wear helmets, and of the few that do wear them, the majority are similar to a hardhat worn on a building site - nothing to keep it on if you are in an accident. I am amazed that we haven't seen any accidents here. They drive on the wrong side of the street - not only are the cars left-hand drives - meaning that the drive on the other side of the road from Australia, but they don't always drive on the side of the road that they are meant to. It is quite frightening driving in a taxi at night and seeing on-coming traffic coming on both sides of the vehicles. No-one panics. When it is time to get out of the taxi, the driver just stops - no indicators, not even pulling over to the side of the road. There is no way I would even drive 100m here - way to scary. And in amongst all this 'confusion', they drive along talking on phones!When you cross the road, it is probably safer to take a deep breath, close your eyes and just walk! The cars don't stop - even at pedestrian crossings. People just walk out if front of cars and bikes and the vehicles seem to manage to swerve around them without anyone being hit. It sure is a different experience.Lunch was a very different experience. We walked into an eatery (for want of a better word) There was only seating for about 20 people. If you think of a garage with the door open - that was the size of this place - kitchen and all. At the back of the eating section was a table filled with bowls of food. Mushrooms, bamboo shoots, garlic, beans, tomatoes, eggs, bacon, fish etc. All out in the open - not covered - not refrigerated. We had to look at the ingredients and decided what we wanted to eat. She would put in as many ingredients in our dishes as we wanted. We managed to stumble our way through the ordering of the food (she didn't speak and English) then went and sat down. No-one at the table actually knew what we had ordered. Was it soup? Was it stir-fry? How many dishes did we order? Would it taste OK? Surprisingly, the food wasn't to bad. Walking along the street, we are often 'picked up' by friendly Chinese people. You just don't know if you can trust them. Walking to the caves, the two women kept indicating that we follow them. We weren't sure that we were in the right place but they insisted that we follow. They would talk to us in Chinese even knowing that we could not speak their language. When we went into the caves, one of the ladies grabbed my hand and would not let go. Mel was trying to show me a photo she had taken and I had to say 'sorry but I can't look' as the lady would not let go, or slow down. The group we were in stopped whilst the guide talked to them. Better photos were to be had if we walked up 2 or 3 stairs. She grabbed me and dragged me backwards up these stairs. It did not matter that I couldn't see where I was going, that I would have felt 'safer' walking a little slower up the stairs (the floors in the cave were wet as well as being slippery in a few places)or that there were other people in the way. We just did not know if she was a tourist like us, or if she was going to ask for money at the end of the tour as she had assisted us. Walking along the mall, a man approached our group and started talking to mum. We just kept walking along the mall, and he kept up with us, not missing a beat. Again, we did not know if he was just someone who was also walking in that direction and wanted to practise his English (a good conversation starter that many use) or if he wanted to sell us something. He managed to convince Pa that what Pa wanted was to be found at his 'sisters' shop around the corner. Related? I doubt it, friend maybe! The same thing happened on our way to dinner. Another man walked along with us. He found out that we were looking for somewhere to eat. "I know a good restaurant - just around the corner". He indicated with his hands that it was just around the corner. We passed a nice looking eatery and Pa stopped and said why not try in here. "No English menu" When Pa was handed a menu with English on it he then said "this where tourists eat. Local food better. Eat where locals eat - much better" Another 5 minutes later, we made it to 'the restaurant just around the corner!!!'. It was full down stairs, so they said we could go up stairs. Mum has a crook leg from a car accident years ago so said 'no stairs'. That was OK - the man took us to another restaurant just across the mall (and this time he was truthful!). He ushered us in then bade us farewell. Now, he must receive some sort of kick-back from the establishment for bringing us there!)From Kate's diaryOur first day here. Very exciting. Went to 2nd floor for breaky. Continental. Basket of cold toast, rolls and slices of different varieties of bread (rolls hot) Each got a basket. Bacon (greasy_ eggs (sunny side down for Mel and I asked for fried and got scrambled), 1 cherry tomato and a few thin strips of purple cabbage for decoration and either cold coffee with hot milk (did get hot coffee after we asked and hot milk was hot powdered milk) and orange cordial (supposedly orange juice!!).We caught a free bus to some caves. We were adopted by 2 Chinese ladies who made sure we went to right place. I bought tickets for everyone but Keith decided not to go so Mum got 2 tickets refunded and she and Keith just sat and watched the passing parade.Val, Dad, Mel, 1 of our adopted ladies and I went into the caves. The tour guide gave everyone a very detailed account of the caves and used the spotlight to point out interesting facts. It was a real shame that we did not know what she said. The caves were beautifully lit up with multi-coloured lights and rope light. Someone had even gone through and labelled some of the areas - backstage curtains; the snowman; a centipede look in a mirror and getting a fright; the city; the city in the distance; the lion waving us off - at the end of the tour. Lots of stalagmites and stalactites. Was wonderful and most enjoyable.. we then caught a taxi back to the hotel. After freshening up, we then went for a walk to find lunch.The area we walked down was definitely off the beaten track. All the eateries (can't call them restaurants) where were the locals ate. Whole place, including kitchen was the size of a carport. All had maybe 5 tables and little wooden stools to sit on. The one we ended up at (although I suspect they were all the same) had all the ingredients in bowls near the kitchen. We went and chose what we wanted from the 20ish bowls. She had fish, meat, beans, tomato, eggs, onion, bamboo shoots, garlic etc. She got a plate out and she/we put on it what we wanted. We then went and sat down and speculated as to what we'd get. Fried rice?; Noodles?; soup?; noodles?; Soup?; how many plates of food (anywhere from 1 to 6 was the guess). It all came out and was lovely - we got 3 dishes and plain rice. It cost about $4.00 for the 6 of us!! Keith went back to the hotel while the rest of us walked on. We get to a school which Mel found fascinating. Watching through windows as students worked. The noise from the children was extremely loud. Others were out in the playground and came running over when they saw us peering in. One girl had very good English and was very happy to speak to us. After a few minutes she madly looked around then said wait! She raced off very fast. She came back with paper and pen and asked us all tho write down our names. Out of nowhere, more paper and pens arrived and we must have written down our names 20 times. We waved good bye and left feeling like movie stars. We kept walking and found the Waterfall Hotel.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katemel/2/1205747460/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katemel/2/1205747460/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katemel/2/1205747460/tpod.html Thu, 05 Feb 2009 05:54:11 -0500 ~*~ Our trip to China ~*~

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Guilin, China

I got up at 5.10 (Mum was up at 4.45). I got dressed. Dad dropped in to say good bye at 5.20am. 10mminutes later we had put all our bags/luggage in the car and we were off. At about 7:20 we had finally arrived at JetPort parking. We got on the shuttle bus, with 3 other people , once we arrived at the airport we dropped 2 people of at the Virgin Blue terminal. Then we got dropped off at the international terminal. We went to maccas for breaky then we went to put our luggage to the people. Nana Pa Keith and Val arrived and then it took at few minutes to get the seats we wanted.We walked around for a bit then everyone went to hungry jacks for breakfastWe went through customs and then went through security checks where Keith had to take his shoes off.  WE walked a bit further then went and found Gate 5... A lady (airport worker) asked me to do this survey about the airport. We went and looked first duty free shop then pretty soon afterwards we got on the plane. I was boring and I thought we were almost there but we were only in South Australia. We sat next to a chick that kept doing her hair and putting lip gloss on, then we turned around to see her in a white plastic face mask. It was so funny. WE got off the plane finally and went to get our bags. That took for ever. We then had to go to the domestic  terminal to catch our next flight to Guilin. We went through customs and my travel sick medicine got taken off me. We borded the plane and i had to sit next to two other people but luckily the flight was only 55 monutes. We got an airport shuttle bus to the Fubo hotel We found our door and amazingly found how to open it.  It was 10.40 when I got to bed  - 1.40am Melbourne timeFrom Kate - The Chinese people are known as being a small race of people - this can very clearly be seen when you fly on a Chinese plane. The seats on the planes are definitely not built for westerners! It did make for a very friendly flight - you couldn't avoid rubbing arms with the person next to you. The food on the plane was - well - food! I can't say much more about it. Soft drinks were warm, rolls were from a very heavy dough mix, rice very gluggy. But it was edible and filled the gap! Customs in Melbourne allowed me to take a small glass bottle on the plane that contained about 25ml of liquid medicine. Going through the domestic customs in China, it was taken off me. I tried in vain to explain that I had to have it or Melissa might be sick on the plane but there was no way the lady was going to let me take it on board. I gave Mel half a dose in front of the lady, but didn't want Mel having a full dose at that time. Mel said the lady stated that if she had drunk all the liquid then she would give me back the bottle. The key to the hotel door is in the shape of a key but plastic and about 10cm long. The door lock looks like it has a peep-hole in it, and it is here that you place the metal dot from the 'key'. It then opens the door.  It was a very long day for all of us and we quickly went to sleep. The thinks we sleep on look like beds but are as comfortable as if you were sleeping on the floor. If you have a nice woollen plush carpet - it would be more comfortable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!From Mum4.45 comes around way to quickly when you don't make it to bed until 11.40. All the last minute packing, cleaning, washing - disher's and clothes, hanging clothes on line, getting long term forecast for the cities we are visiting and last check of emails.Peter was going to ring me at 4.45 but I was wide awake. Sent him a message saying I was up, then jumped in shower. Mel also woke early (4.50ish) but stayed in bed. Quick breaky. Peter dropped by for last good-byes and put cases in car for me. I planned on leaving at 5.30. We did well - leaving by 5.36. Good run. Traffic kept moving until Hallam then slowed down. Kept moving at ~50km going up to 80 for a little while. Travelled so far but still close to home - passed Buzz Electrics van and OPS truck!! There was a car accident just prior to airport. Fire brigade arrived about 2 mins before we passed it (going slowly!!). Luckily didn't hold us up too much - but it did make a lovely start of a holiday for some people - both taxis and at least 2 people with suitcases! Arrived at Jetport parking about 7.15 - Nana and Pa were still at Bourke Rd so Mel and I caught the bus to the airport. Check-in not yet open - and we can't check in as Mum has our passports and tickets!! If they don't get to the airport, we don't go!!. Had breaky at (surprise surprise) - McDonalds. By time we finished, Nana had rung - they were on the bus. Mel and I lined up to check in. Mel went to watch out for them while I made my way to the top of the queue. I then started to let people go ahead of me until they arrived. Checked in then went to Hungry Jacks for Mum and Dad and Keith and Val. Mel found a power point so we plugged the laptop in and Mel wrote the start of her travel pod. Unfortunately we could only get internet access to the airport site. Confirmed we were still scheduled to leave on time!!We went through customs. Wondered around until time to board. Duty free - Nintendo DS $179 with $10 off if we bought it today and collected it on the way back. Animal crossing game was $62. We saw Lewis Hamilton - he is famous. Everyone was running after him asking for photos and congratulating him. Will have to find out who Lewis is as I have absolutely no idea!! Could have been my one and only time of meeting/touching/having photo taken with someone famous and I blew it!! Nana asked if it was someone from the band "Kiss". He was young and possibly from Pakistan. I DON'T THINK SO!!Got on the plane. Nana and Pa are in 22 and we're in 23 - both window seats. 3 seats in a row so we have someone next to me.Asians are known to be a very small race and they build their planes with that in mind. I might have 6cm between my knees and the chair in front. Mel is so close to me that I had to ask her to take her windcheater jacket off as it kept rubbing my arm and was really starting to irritate me. Walking to the seats, we went through business class - aisles fine for me, a backpack and a laptop - not so when we got to economy. I had to have backpack in front of me and laptop behind me. Just a little squeeze. It will be a very long 4672 miles to China!! Took off at 11.10 and expect to arrive at 4.31 - quick flight until you add on 3 hours time difference. (left terminal at 10.53).We took off in our squishy seats and within an hour received food and drink. Face washer, cold, in plastic, then a drink then food. A wholemeal roll that was made with a very 'heavy' (for want of a better word) dough. A prawn cocktail? with 3 or 4 prawns on a somila? base. No idea if that's what it is - 'small balls - (rice grains cut into 10 pieces sort of size). This was on a bed of lettuce and the base had something stirred through it. Mel and I had the chicken with rice, beans and baby carrots. Chicken covered in tomato sauce. It was edible - just. Soggy rice is so yum. We also got a small container of pieces of fruit - watermelon, cantelope, honey dew. was given another drink.Lights out after meal. Mel and I tried to have a sleep - Mel with the blanket over her head! I think we both dozed on and off but can't say it was a comfortable sleep by any means, Mel was using my arm as a pillow rest so i couldn't move my right hand at all. Hence I got pins and needles in my hand and fingers. This also meant that I couldn't really move the rest of me - I couldn't rest my head against anything and I had to use my pillow as a back support. The fun of flying.Got a hot towel. Our next meal consisted of either beef (or lamb - not quite sure) in a gravy on some flat noodles (I had this) or a bolognaise on tortellini (Mel's meal). We also got the container of fruit (with pineapple and/or red cherries/grapes) and a sponge cake that wasn't too bad. Nana gave me hers and Mel gave me ½ of hers. I tried to steal Pa's but just didn't have the room to jump over the seat to get it. Nana also tried to pinch it to no avail!! I gave Pa Mel's ½ and I ate mine and ¾ of Nana's. Another drink then cleaned away. There's only the TV on the roof in the aisles to watch - we haven't even bothered with getting out the headphones!Yet again I must thank Peter profusely. After Mel and I left yesterday after doing the final move from one unit to the next (Mel went to Garfield Pool for family day with basketball) he went to Pakenham then to Fountain Gate to buy me a Nintendo DS. It has made this trip so much easier. He also bought me a game which Mel tried to play but plane was way too noisy. Mel and I now each have a Nintendo and we have both been playing at the same time. Mel is now reading the book I bought her for the trip - hopefully enjoying . just had an announcement - they have a little boy in need of medical attention if anyone is qualified. How awful for the family and child. Still an hour or so to go.It is always fascinating watching the people around. The lady next to me has constantly had her mirror and lip balm out and I turned around before to see her with a face mask on - all we could see was the plastic!!(see the photo). That was finally removed - hair re-checked and all good again for the next 20 minutes. I guess I should apologise to her - here she is trying to keep herself looking nice and I've been expelling air (better than saying the 'F' word) the whole trip.We finally landed. Our cases were the last to come off the plane (we checked in early so they went on first and off last!!). we then exchanged money and headed to the domestic terminal for our flight to Guilin. Going through customs I got Mel's Phenergan taken off me. Bottle had ~20ml liquid and not allowed any liquid. Made Mel have ~half a dose then left. I think if she'd had a full dose I would have got the medicine bottle back but didn't want her over-dosed!! Will be fun for the flight home!!Next flight to Guilin was only 55 minutes. Enough time for a couple of Nintendo games and to show Nana and Pa what it does.Off plane and caught local bus to hotel. Mel so tired - she dozed off for a few minutes, booked in and up to room and straight to bed. Only 10.40 when we went to bed - 1.40am Australian time. Can understand why she is so tired and cranky.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katemel/2/1207145400/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katemel/2/1207145400/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katemel/2/1207145400/tpod.html Mon, 26 Jan 2009 07:02:44 -0500 ~*~ Our trip to China ~*~

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Melbourne, Australia

Maccas for breaky for Mel and I. We had an egg and ham muffin and a serve of hotcakes to share (you only get 2 hotcakes. Made it easier to share but we did feel ripped off!!), hash brown and orange juice. I also tried (for the first and last time) a Egg and ham McPuff. It looked like a Hot Apple Pie and came in a similar-looking box but was not as nice as the Apple Pie. Won't be trying that again!!!!!We caught two taxis to the bus terminus. The large taxi queue (where we caught the taxi from on our way here) is very slow moving when you are approaching the terminal. We ended up getting out and walking the last 200 metres - it was either that or we sit in the taxi and pay the driver for moving us no-where!!!! Luckily Nana and Mel had the same idea and jumped out just ahead of us. Great minds think alike! Pa had tried to get out a few minutes earlier but there was nowhere that was safe to walk. We were driving right next to a footpath, but there was a large fence between it and us - I couldn't quite see Pa straddling it to get to the other side.Whilst two people sat with the luggage, the other two would go off walking. Mel and I  went around the shopping centre next to the terminus. It was amazing. This centre was chokers full of lots and lots of small stalls. Before you even get to the centre, people are approaching you - "shopping centre this way" " What are you looking for - I can help you" "here is my stores business card" "whatever you want, we will have" Pa wanted a radio and showed a man the picture of it that Pa had on his digital camera. The man ASSURED Pa that his store had this. Pa stated that it HAD to be the exact one. "Yes, yes - we have that one". Surprise, surprise, when we finally found our way to his store, he did not have that radio - but do you want a handbag?The stalls were a mixture of many things, but the most amazing was the range of items that each stall had. The one store might sell 10 handbags, 15 pair of shoes, a dozen or so ladies tops and a few computer games. Very few of them specialised in only one item. We walked into a DVD store but could not find what we wanted. As soon as we walked out of the store, someone approached us "you want DVDs - I sell DVDs - come to my store" It was uncomfortable walking there with so many people trying to attract out attention and get us to look at their items. We caught the fast train - this time the correct train and in our allocated seats back to Guangzhou. We then caught a taxi to the airport for the final leg of the journey. Very sad. We checked in then walked around the airport and, pooling all our money together, were able to afford some dinner!Whilst waiting to check in a man came up to me and said hello. I looked at him very blankly, then passed him to his wife - still had no idea who they were - then back to him. Just before I said "Do I know you?" I recognised him. This man and his family were on the same flight from Australia as us. When we arrived in China, we all caught the same plane together from Guangzhou to Guilin. He was heading down to Yangshuo to stay at his friend's hotel - the Magnolia. We were also going there but not for a few more days. We arrived at the Magnolia in time to see them before they departed for other places in China. And here they were again, on our flight - heading back to Australia with us!We endured the long long flight back to Australia. The dinner Mel and Nana had was, in Nanas words, the worst airline food she has ever had - and since they travel a few times a year, I guess that is saying something. Pa found his light wasn't working and asked for it to be fixed. Luckily they carry a light-fixing man on board each flight - not. So Pa asked for another seat where he had a light. They found him a seat about 5 rows back in the middle and he happily moved there. Mind you, he took no reading material with him - it was just to make a point!!!! Don't you love parents!!!! Mel slept quite well on the flight, Me - average, Pa not to much at all and poor Nana had a massive headache which she couldn't shake despite taking tablets. We were woken to stale club sandwiches for breaky (Yummy!!!!). We happily got off the plane in Melbourne - unsure of the time. The plane said it was 8am, but we thought it was 9am. It seems that everyone thought that Australia changed to normal time from day light savings on the weekend - a week before we actually did!!!!!! Very confusing. We had to wait ages for our luggage - probably an hour, then make our way through the customs queue that was just a long. It really wasn't a good introduction to the country for tourists and was just really annoying for us Aussies who just wanted to get home. Finally out of there --- we had declared Mel's Jansey as it had bird feathers but the lady said that, although they might be real bird feathers, were that processed and coloured that it was Ok to take through. She didn't check any of our other bags, which made the process pretty painless. They were filming Border Security (or some such show), but we didn't have a starting role. We followed them out of customs, but they never turned at the camera around onto us!  
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katemel/2/1207057620/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katemel/2/1207057620/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katemel/2/1207057620/tpod.html Mon, 26 Jan 2009 06:21:44 -0500 ~*~ Our trip to China ~*~

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Shenzhen, China

We had a buffet breaky at the hotel this morning. It was amazing - the orange juice, whilst still orange cordial - was actually cold. They do not believe in cold drinks here in China at all. The milk for my cereal was still warm, but when Pa came in 10 minutes later, they had out a new jug of milk that was cold. When I say milk, I do mean a powdered substance that they call milk. It's OK on cereal, but NOT for drinking by itself!!!!We went back to our room and I received a text message. As soon as I saw it was from Telstra (of all people) I raced across the room and I WON PINCH AND A PUNCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We then went running to Nana and Pas room, bursting through the door to 'get' them.We spent the day walking around Shenzhen - we finally found Nintendo DS games for sale - the first place we have found them in China. Of course, once we finally found one stall, we found heaps of them. They had 6 or 8 covers on the counter to draw your attention but when you started to look at them, they would produce a pile of booklets about 7cm high that come with the games. As you near the bottom of the pile and obviously haven't found what you want, another pile of booklets comes out - then another!!!!!!! I had been carrying a Nintendo around for the last week in case we found some games and had almost taken it out of my backpack this morning as I felt we were not going to find any and I didn't need the extra weight on my back.Mel was able to buy a couple of games, so she was very happy.We went into a supermarket for a look as well as a department store. Avon is purchased over the counter here - next to Lamcome (think that's how its spelt) and Revlon etc. Tupperware is also found in shops or in the supermarket. I guess taking Avon catalogues door to door here would be imposible!!!!!! 
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katemel/2/1206970680/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katemel/2/1206970680/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katemel/2/1206970680/tpod.html Sun, 06 Apr 2008 09:47:20 -0400 ~*~ Our trip to China ~*~

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Shenzhen, China

We got up and caught two taxis to the train station - one taxi could not fit 4 people and the luggage for 4 people so Mel and Nana went together and a few minutes later, Pa and I went. The taxi had been driving for at least 5 minutes when I noticed a sign similar to the one that I could see from our hotel room. I look out the other side of the taxi and what do I see but our hotel. Because of the road system and one-way streets, it took us ages to just cross the road!!!! We arrived at the station and finally found each other. Nana went and purchased the tickets for the fast train to our next destination - Shenzen. We then went through security and sat in the waiting room. Security was similar to the airport but - as effective???? - I'm not so sure. Everyone had to place their bags on the conveyer belt so they could be scanned. Bags went on top of bags and the people were pushing through so fast. It was hard to try and get the 6 suitcases, the laptop and 2 backpacks onto the belt before we got pushed through the security. It was then a scramble to get the luggage as the conveyor belt was quite short and the items were all falling to the floor and piling up on each other. We made it through with a huge sigh of relief. We sat until we heard the boarding call for the train. The gates then opened so we could walk to the train. We followed the crowd and Pa took off with a flying start. We were on carriage D - down the other end of the station. He started to walk and never once looked back until he was at the carriage. Nana had stopped to check with someone if we were in the right place, as the announcements seemed to be saying a different train number. We were on the incorrect platform and we had to hurry down the escalator to the correct platform. Unfortunately Pa had kept walking, so I had to go running up the platform to find him and tell him we needed to be elsewhere. "I knew it was the wrong platform, but I was told to go, so I went" The whole trip, as we would walk in our group. I would continuously make sure that we had not left anyone behind - very easy to do when something catches your attention so you stop to look!!!. Pa obviously didn't believe in doing this. We headed off to the correct platform but someone else said to just get on this train. When you buy the tickets, you are allocated seat numbers so it's not as easy as just getting on the train. We started to walk back down the platform when Nana spotted the dinning car. We made the great decision of jumping on board here and getting a drink. We had nice seats, a table in between us and our luggage very close by. The train had a sign that showed the speed of the train and the internal and external temperature.  We reached 202km at one stage.We arrived at the station and followed the "TEXI" sign. The queue of taxis was amazing. There was someone telling you which taxi to get into and to make sure the queue kept moving. We again caught the two taxis to our hotel and arrived safely at our hotel - sounds strange thing to say but with the way they drive here, it is amazing to arrive safe.We went for a walk around Schenzhen and ended up at the Shenzhen Maccas - it is the first McDonalds in Mainland China. There was the small ice cream counter downstairs. Here you can buy Sundaes, Shakes and Soft Serve Cones. Upstairs is the longest McDonalds counter I have ever seen - probably three times the size of Pakenham's store. As soon as they saw us there, they bought out the English menu. Despite the fact it was in 'our language' it was still hard to read. We could work out the various products but working out if they had meal deals and if they were the same as ours was harder to work out. Sign language is a wonderful thing and we were able to order lunch.Maccas food - amongst the usual Big Macs, you could find Hot Taro and Hot Banana Pies; cups of popcorn (Corn Kernels); Sundaes in either white, chocolate or white and chocolate swirled together; Vegetable Soup and Chicken Drumsticks.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katemel/2/1206878040/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katemel/2/1206878040/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katemel/2/1206878040/tpod.html Sun, 06 Apr 2008 09:38:24 -0400 ~*~ Our trip to China ~*~

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Guangzhou, China

(Kate)It is a sad day - my laptop broke down today. That means no more internet access, no more checking emails and, the most important, no more travelpod. So I do apologise - this is written days after it all actually happened!!!This morning Pa, Mel and I caught the ferry again. We saw the most amazing sight- a man was riding his bike - not unusual I know - but he had a load of new polystyrene foam hamburger clams - the sort you get from a fish and chip shop with your burger in and has a base and lid. He must have had 15 packets of these clams - I would estimate (from my 'working in the school canteen' knowledge!!!!!) that he had 100 clams per packet and he must have had 15 packets on his bike. You would hope that you do not come across a big gush of wind or he'd be off doing a Mary Poppins!!!! The load was so high that, when he got to the ferry terminal, he had to unload the top half of the clams and place them on the ferry before his bike and the remaining clams would fit under the roof.  It was amazing to see.After we got off the ferry, Mel ran to the exercise equipment again - she does love to use it. It was amazing the amount of people using it. The old lady we saw the other day was back again - it is obviously a daily routine for her. I guess with such small houses, you would want to be able to get out and have something to do, not just sit on a park bench! Pa went off to have his hair cut. He has not had his hair cut in Australia since GST was brought in. And he likes his 20 Yuan cuts ($3.00).  Mel and I followed after playing on the equipment but Pa had either gone to another hairdressers to Nana or he had already finished. Mel and I combed through the DVD shops again and found Pa!!!!  A DVD costs 5 Yuan here - or $1.00. I added a few more DVDs to my collection of ones I have bought whilst in China - only 50 all told!Mel and I wanted to look at some clothes shops but I could tell that Pa was itching at the feet to go. We sent him on his way after convincing him that we could catch the ferry and walk back to the hotel by ourselves - I guess he was worried about Nanas reaction if she found out that he had deserted us and we were lost in amongst the twelve million inhabitants in this city.We went into a clothing store to look for a top for Mel. It seems that each table of clothes has a girl attached to it. We would pick up a top from a neatly folded pile, look at it then return it to the pile. It was instantly re-folded correctly and carefully placed back on the table. We assume that the girls each work on a commission - they were trying to each show us tops at the same time. It is most confusing. As is the system when you decide to purchase something. The sales girl writes details of your purchase on a piece of paper. You then take this piece of paper to the cash register located at the back of the store and pay. They give you a duplicated receipt and an empty plastic bag. You then take the receipt and the bag to the girl whose table you purchased the tip from (which of the girls was that????). They take a copy of the receipt then place your item in the bag. Mel and I made it safely back over the river and to the hotel. Pa had been going to go out elsewhere but went back to the hotel first (taking our DVDs - I hope he doesn't show Nana how many I bought!!!) and never made it out again! 
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katemel/2/1206777420/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katemel/2/1206777420/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katemel/2/1206777420/tpod.html Sat, 29 Mar 2008 11:31:35 -0400 ~*~ Our trip to China ~*~

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Guangzhou, China

For only the second time at this hotel, we all made it down to breaky -  no-one was or felt sick.We were walking down the street when  we cam e across two Canadians who looked very lost. Nana and Pa asked them if they would like to join us. They were looking for a market but didn´t know where to go to find one. The four of them got talking and somehow ended up that they were coming with us to the Chen Family Academy.We walked down the street and over the bridge to get to the underground train station. I bought the tickets using the automated ticket machine. It cost 18c for one person one way. We only had to go two stations to get to the Chen Family Academy Station.  It was a short distance from the underground to the Chen Family Academy. There was a park just outside the gate and, in China, if there´s a park, there are people selling janseys (refer yesterday shuttlecock). I found some little ones that the man said were only 1 Yuan. I got out my one Yuan and gave it to the man and chose my colour jansey - except he then said it was 3 Yuan, but with a bit of time, I got it back to one Yuan. We walked into the academy into a courtyard. Mum and I played with the jansey for a while, while Nana and Pa talked to the Canadian couple. We went into a building that was meant to be set up like a home in Guangzhou one hundred years ago.  There was lots of old furniture from 100 years ago. We went into more buildings with hand fans,( the exhibition is only weeks old) and ivory, camel and cow bones made into cute little sculptures and carvings. We saw a piece of ivory about 1 cm long and ¼ (or smaller) cm wide and when you looked through a magnifying glass you could see pictures of little people of Chinese characters - they were cute.  You could not see and of the pictures/writing without the magnifying glass. We saw more of the bronze statues but they were slightly different.  I found a green statue and it was the same as one I found in the shopping mall. It was weird because it had a different title this time - it was called Sufferig from Indolence (Yes - spelt sufferig!)and the other one was called Naughty Kids (Kate)We headed back to the underground station but heard a lot of noise so followed it - there was a Chinese dragon outside a shop dancing with a large crowd watching. Nana assumes that it was a newly o pened store and it was being blessed. From there we headed to the station, passing McDonalds on the way. Mel was very excited when she realised that we were going there for lunch. She ordered a nugget meal, Nana a Big Mac and I a Big Mac meal. Pa just had a chocolate thick shake. Mel loved the taste of the nuggets - it tasted like real chicken. I searched for the pickles in my burger and finally found one. My burger had also been made out of order - I got the base of a roll, filling, the top of the roll upside down, filling and then the middle of the roll on top!!!!!! Customers do not use the rubbish bins there - they just up and leave the mess on the tables - McDonalds employs someone to clear the rubbish and wipe over the table between each customer. The poor lady was very surprised when I walked up to the bin with my rubbish. Again, the drinks came, not in the cardboard carry tray the we are used to , but in specially designed plastic bags. It was a nice break from Chinese food - although nowhere near as filling!From here, we caught the train to the end of the line - got out, walked around, then got back in the train and headed to our station. The underground train platforms are very different to what we are used to. When there is no train at the station, glass panels and doors stop you accessing the tracks. When the train pulls into the station, it stops at exactly the right spot. The train doors open the same time as the glass doors on the platform open. You enter or exit the train, then the platform doors close with the train doors closing 1 second later. Again the platform is sealed - bad luck - there is no playing on the tracks in between trains! We went back to the hotel for a much deserved rest before dinner.We caught a taxi to the Aiqun Revolving Restaurant. Probably should have been called the Aiqun Revolting Restaurant! The view was great. The restaurant takes an hour to do one circuit and, of course, you can see everything. Unfortunately we could see KFC and Maccas - as we ate our food we would depressingly pass by these places. Even Nana would have let us eat at Maccas again today if it prevented us from dining here.A few items on tonight´s menuICE CREAM MIXED FRUIT & PUMPKIN  STIR FRIED DUCK TONGUE AND SQUIDSTIR FLIED (spelt as per menu) SHREDDED BEEF W/PEPPERMINT SAUCESTEAMED CHICKEN & FISH MOUTH W/TENDER GINGERDEEP FRIED APPLESTEWED BLACK SNAIL W/TEA SAUCE OR W/ HOT PEPPERBAKED SNAILS W/RED WINE We chose Fragrant Fried Sliced Potato in Christ Mountain Style - possibly potato crisps that have been deep fried with herbs, chillies and other un-named things.Stir Fried Chicken Wing w/Spicy & Sour Sauce - this was pretty normalChief Fried Rice - wow. Even with Nana and Pa´s many many trips to China, they have encountered nothing like this before. You will probably have to look at the pictures as I try my hardest to explain this dish. The rice was in bowl shape and was entirely wrapped in very thinly cooked egg - like a blanket - even underneath the rice on the plate. A cross had been cut into the top of the rice (I guess - Christ Mountain style) and spring onions (at a guess) had been sprinkled onto the top of the mountain. The rice inside had (we think) beef. Around the outside of the mountain were the ingredients for you to add as you liked. Tiny pineapple pieces, tiny squares of ham, dried (really dried - Yuk) shrimps and some other stringy thing - your guess is as good as mine.I thank Nana and Pa profusely for taking Mel and I to this restaurant, but it was by far the worse meal I think any of us have had in China. In fact, it is the worst meal I have eaten in a long time ( and that is saying something since I am not a fantastic cook!!!!!!)We had a lovely stroll back to our hotel along the river front. 
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katemel/2/1206711540/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katemel/2/1206711540/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katemel/2/1206711540/tpod.html Fri, 28 Mar 2008 10:51:23 -0400 ~*~ Our trip to China ~*~

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Guangzhou, China

One day, the four of us might make it down to breaky together. This am, Nana wasn't feeling 100% so thought it best if she not eat. Pa, Kate and Mel had a lovely breaky together. Unfortunately some of the food kept falling off the table. It did give us some fruit for the rest of the day!We decided to go for a walk around Shamian Island today. The hotel we are staying at is situated on this small island which used to be a sandbar that was given to the British and French people in the 19th century. They fortified the area with artificial embankments and developed the area. The Victory Hotel and the nearby White Swan Hotel are very popular with the American couples who are in China to adopt a baby. The number of baby shops on this small island is unbelievable. Most of the time, the Americans don't even leave the island - hence the dearer prices for the tourist items. DVDs are available for 30 Yuan here - over the river I buy them for 5 Yuan!! There is a little man on a tiny boat that goes on the river every day picking up the litter and reeds.  He looks really stupid and he must only pick up .000000001% of the rubbish.We had a lunch of left-over's in the hotel room today. Biscuits we bought when Nana wasn't well, biscuits from the airplane from Guilin to here, fruit and cheese from breakfast, vegemite from home (can't leave Australia without the vegemite!!) and anything else we could find.After lunch Nana stayed in the hotel whilst Pa, Kate and Melissa caught ferry to the other side of the river. Look at the photo of the man on the bike with the pink load. They seemed t be polystyrene boxes on the bike - so not very heavy. The load was so high that the man had to remove half of his load so the bike could get onto the ferry. He then had to re-stack the bike on the other side. I guess they are lucky that it is not very windy here otherwise you don't know where you might find him!!!!Melissa again played on the exercise equipment along the river front. It is very popular with the locals - both old and young! Pa went and got his hair cut for 20 Yuan (~$3) - he said he hasn't had a haircut in Australia since they bought in the GST! We then hit the DVD shops again. Pa found some Fred Astaire DVDs so was very happy. Kate and Mel bought 20 DVDs - hopefully most will work. Pa went back to the hotel and had planned on going shopping in a large computer market nearby but I think sat down when he got to the hotel and didn't feel like moving again. Kate and Melissa stayed shopping. We went into a clothes shop where there were about 3 customers (including Mel and I) and about 15 staff. Each staff member had an allocated areas and probably worked on commission. Mel looked at the same top 4 or 5 times. Each time we put it down on the table, it would be carefully folded - just in time for us to come back and look at it again. Once we had decided to purchase one of the two tops that Melissa liked (leaving one poor salesgirl very sad), we were given a docket with the price and sales assistants name on it and had to take it to the cashier at the back of the store. They would then give us two receipts and an empty plastic bag. We then had to go back to the salesgirl who then gave us the top and one of the dockets. Very confusing.We headed back to the hotel via the ferry again then caught up on emails and Amy's travel pod (Melissa wrote)We went to Lucy's again for dinner as we were going to go to a revolving restaurant but decided that we would go tomorrow night and go to Lucy's tonight. Lucy's was like a 70s restaurant that was made for Grease (the movie). I had chicken wrap with way too much lettuce and way to less chicken. They were awful. We went out after dinner to the back of the restaurant (the footpath) to look at all the colourful boats going down the river taking people on tours to see all the brightly lit up buildings.Suddenly music started then lights started and it kept going and going for about 15 minutes. There were green strobe lights coming from the tops of buildings and one from the ground. They went out in a web and they were flashing over each other which made it look like the pictures that sometimes appear on the computer when you play music. It was fantastic. The lights were coming from the other side of the river as well as some on our side.(Kate writes) On the way back to the hotel, we came across some men playing badminton in the park. They were using a bike as the net! There were also groups of people - usually 5 or 6 - kicking this 'thing' around the circle. It is similar shape to a shuttlecock but the end is made from washers and cardboard joined together with feathers coming out the top. The way they so easily kick this thing, using the side of their foot, from one person to the other is amazing. Nancy gave Melissa one of these things in Yangzhou - I think she has lots of work in front of her to become that good!!Maybe more so in Yangzhou, we noticed people going through the rubbish bins. Melissa sat outside our hotel room in Yangzhou looking over the local street and counted the people that went through the rubbish bin that she could see. She counted (approx) 8 people - some poor,  some faking it , some collecting recyclables (paper and cans) and the rubbish collector. I guess that the poor would always get fresh food from the bin as there was only 10 or so minutes between each (Melissa) Did you know the rubbish bin here is also a toilet? We saw a mum dangling her little boy over the bin while he did a poo with absolutely no privacy and no toilet paper. It was not a very good sight to look at. Mum wasn't embarrassed, just held him up there with his legs over her arm as he did what was required, then quickly pulled up his clothing when he was finished and went back into the supermarket. Now think of the poor people we were just talking about going through the bins!!! Hopefully not this one!!! 
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katemel/2/1206624780/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katemel/2/1206624780/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katemel/2/1206624780/tpod.html Thu, 27 Mar 2008 10:55:46 -0400 ~*~ Our trip to China ~*~

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Guangzhou, China

This morning for breakfast we decided to go to McDonalds so we walked there except they didn't have a breakfast menu. Mum and I bought a chocolate milkshake but wasn't as nice as Australia's as they hand-mixed the chocolate in. Instead of the drinks being given to us in a cardboard tray as in Australia, they came in a plastic bag especially designed for drink cups.  We walked a bit further down the street to a food market and went to a bakery and bought 4 egg tarts (yuk), apple pie (there was very little apple in the pie) and a croissant.  Crossing the road here can be a challenge as there will be busses, taxis, people in cars and bikes going crazy. The traffic lights say to walk across the road and for the cars to stop except the opposite happens - the vehicles may still drive around the corner. You have to still watch both ways and it is more confusing because everything is opposite. When we were walking along the road there was a truck backing into a narrow laneway. The driver was watching us and not where he was going. It was quite scary until Nana realised that the man was the passenger and not the driver. We walked down further looking at the other food market stalls. We saw everything from sweet corn on the cob to Aussie BBQ mutton to egg pancakes and freshly squeezed juices. There was a stall that only sold cooked meat on skewers. We walked back up the food market and around a small area taking more photos of the bronze statues. There was a rickshaw statue that I was able to get into - just. Pa went to off to look at watches while we took even more photos of the statues. Nana went and bought a corn-on-the-cob. It was rather bizarre. It felt really but tasted cold and the corn was white coloured and tasted yuk and not sweet at all. It was very heavy tasting - very hard to describe. (Mealy Nana called it) None of us liked it.We saw Pa smiling like a kid in a candy store and furiously trying to get us to go over to him so we decided to cross the road but there was a massive bus in the way of the zebra crossing so we had to skilfully and carefully cross the road without getting hit. Pa was so excited that he had found some cheap watches but he didn't have any money. He hadn't been calling us - he'd been calling the money.  Everyone bought a watch except me and Pa bought 3. We walked slightly further and still couldn't find a 2 Yuan shop but we found another shop like it but everything wasn't 2 Yuan. It didn't take me long to find some bracelets that I had been looking for. The bracelet was made of woven brown cord with spheres of jade threaded on them. WE left the shop and FINALLY found a 2 Yuan shop - YEA!!! I ended up feeling sick as the shop was small and there were a million people in there and so it was hot. We ended up buying 4 nail clippers, a precision screwdriver set, packets of tissues, tweezers, scissors, a book on how to learn Chinese using pictures and a little notepad for me. We caught a taxi to the 6 famous banyan trees. Near the entrance to the Banyan tree there are a million and one beggars throwing tins and bowls in your face and doing some trick hoping you'd give them money.  The absolutely freaked me out. We went into the Banyan Tree and looked at the temples with big buddas in them. People were burning 3 incense sticks in front of a buddas then bowing three times then putting the incense in a pot to finish burning.  We walked up a 8 storey high temple and the stairs (160 of them) were really high and the roof low so it was more tiring to walk up than normal stairs and every time you got near the end of the flight of stairs, you'd hit your head m- it was so annoying. Once we had reached the top it took about 7 minutes to get Nana's attention so we could wave to her. Once I was bored, I ran down the stairs and left mum at the top. Once we had finished at the temple, we went to a computer and electronics market - Pa's heaven. A chick who had blonde hair recognised Nana and Pa from their last trip here two years ago sold them some items for Pas camera. It was very hot in there so Nana and I went outside and sat on the stairs while Pa and Mum kept looking.We walked to the underground station which didn't really look like it was goinfg to be there. We walked down stairs where there was a big supermarket that sold EVERYTHING. They had people from Avon Olay and heaps of other beauty places like that. They had people on little taste testing tables everywhere with samples of dumplings, cornflakes, and other weird things like that. They had a massive spot with lots of chocolates and lollies. They don't sell many chocolates here except snickers, M&M's , dove and Mums favourites - frerro rochers.  There were boxes about 15cm long with mini bars of chocolates , little tubs of jelly (?) lollies, lollypops and other stuff I can't name. I bought little pyramid shaped packets of M&M's - they're so cute. This shop also sold a large range of blenders, milkshake makers and other electrical appliances. They were open table of meat for you to choose from - including a large pile of chicken feet - and my favourite - aquariums. You could buy a like fish or turtle to eat. We left there and walked and walked around until we finally found the station. I used a little machine to order tickets  - I worked out it was 9c to travel from one station to the next per person. We found our platform (platform 1) and went down more stairs and waited for the train. Within three minutes, it was there. We got on and went 4 stations before we got off. I found a sign that said there were no animals or balloons allowed in the station. We then walked back to the hotel for a rest. We met up with David - a man that used to work at this hotel as a bell hop last time Nana and Pa were here. Their friend had kept in touch with David. We went out for dinner with David and he ordered us our meal.  After tea we walked back to the hotel and mum downloaded all of Pa's photos onto her computer using a new thing that Pa had bought at the market today. 
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Guangzhou, China

We were up at 7.30 but by the time breaky came around, Mum didn't feel like eating. Breaky costs $8.00 and she didn't think she'd eat that much. I went down to breaky with the others and came back to Mum with some toast and gossip. Keith has a very sore back and it has been getting worse. They have decided to go home on the next flight. After they finished breaky, we took the laptop to their room and emailed the travel agent. They were able to get a flight out tonight - leaving here at 9.05pm. Mum rang the airline and tried to upgrade their tickets to business class but it was going to cost them $1500 each. They will try again at the airport - maybe cheaper there. We spent the morning in the hotel trying to organise everything, get them packed and moved them into Nanas room for a few hours. Val wanted to go and look at computer things so Keith stayed in the hotel room while the rest of us went for a walk. We found a shop but the Nintendo looked fake. Pa, Mum and I walked to the White Swan Hotel - Nana and Val got Keith and luggage - and we had buffet afternoon tea. You could have nuggets, prawn sticks, fish (yuk), crab, noodles, more fish, beef, pizza dim sims...... then lots and lots of cakes and sandwiches and mousse and sago and biscuits....After we finished Nana and Pa took Keith and Val to the airport. They were both upset at having to leave and both had tears in their eyes. Mum and I walked back to our hotel through the park. All around Guangzhou are these big statues - just near our hotel we must have seen 20 of them. Some were kids playing marbles, playing Paper, Scissors, rock and folding origami. There was old men playing instruments, men taking photos, all sorts of different things. We then went back to the hotel room.
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