Nirvana

I’m writing this on Wednesday, February 23th around nine p.m. I can’t believe that China is over!! Shanghai and Hong Kong seemed to have gone way too fast. My first day in Shanghai, Feb 16th, Andrea, Brittney, Mariel Matt and myself all went to see the Jade Buddha Temple. Our first task to concur, and one we never really overcame, was communicating with the cab drivers, who spoke less than zero english-if that’s possible. It took about three cabs to get the point across where we wanted to go, and another that was willing to follow because only four passengers were allowed in a single cab. Our second task was staying alive through this cab drive. You would not believe the rules of the road here. Pedestrians have no right of way, but even when they’re crossing at the appropriate time and place cars still bully their way through with their horns. We clipped several people on our way and just continued to our destination. They also drive really old VW’s that clearly have transmission problems because the gears grind, the tale pipes push out a near solid form of gas and the engine would periodically turn off if at a stop too long. But all of this chaos was forgotten once I stepped into the Temple. It was 22 Yuan to enter, next to nothing. The Grand Hall, also called the Great Hall, which is the first building you see, has many statues. There are the Three Golden Buddhas, Guatama Buddha, Amitabha and Bhaisajyaguru, then the Gods of the Twenty Heavens, the 18 Arhats and last Guanyin, Shen Cai and his 53 teachers above him. Around all of these statues were gorgeous hand picked flowers, which are replenished every day. Thorough the temple the smell of incense was close by because in-front of this building were huge pots where incense sticks they could be lit and then brought to the different statues. If you keep walking the Jade Buddha Chamber is to your left when you exit the Grand Hall. There are no pictures allowed in this section, but the amount of work that went into these Buddhist sculptures was truly fascinating. On the way out we got to rub the Buddha belly and near the gift shop and lady brought us upstairs for a tea tasting free of charge! There were all sorts of teas which promoted different things. One would help with digestion, another with cancer, and another still with headaches. All of them were so delicious. We learned how to brew each one and had the opportunity to buy blessed tea and beautiful porcelain cups. After that, the plan was to take a cab to the Bund to do some shopping but our cabs accidentally separated so Andrea and Brittney ended up at a different end then Mariel, Matt and myself. We will made the best of it and had a delicious lunch inside and some drinks to get into the bargaining mood. The Bund building itself was a very riche shopping mall which is where we had lunch but if you went down the road a ways you found a small souvenir shop with escalators to a downstairs which is where the real magic happened. There was everything from Northface to Rolex to jewelry, antique paintings, t-shirts to stuffed animals and everything was negotiable. We went into so many “secret, secret rooms” full from the ground to the ceiling with purses and bargained things down to cents in American dollars. It was fun for a while but soon it got to the point where people would pull you and follow you asking you to buy so it got old after about an hour. We were thankful to get out of that basement building and into civilization. Mariel and I both had to use the bathroom so we went into another mall and found.......a Dunkin Donuts!!!!!! It was so exciting we couldn’t even contain ourselves. We literally ran across the mall towards it. Once again we had to risk our lives to get back to the boat in a taxis. This time was even worse than the first. Our cab driver was so lost getting back to the ship, he even brought us to the wrong side of the river. We had to direct him where to go! Looking back of course it was really funny, but at the time it was really scary not knowing where we were or how to communicate. You learn a lot about yourself when you’re uncomfortable and that’s a lesson I think we’re all learning on this voyage, more and more with each country. That night I went to an area called People’s Palace with Matt, Mariel (Snookie) and Heather and met up with Brittney and An. We found a place with a 60 Yuan cover charge--again basically nothing, this city is so cheap!!--for all you can drink. They played all American songs and everything was VIP, we couldn’t believe it! Because it was Chinese New Year and it is the year of the tiger there were performers dressed in risk-ay tiger costumes. We were literally the only white people in there so everyone was paying us a ton of attention and we were invited to dance on stage with these performers and everyone wanted pictures with us. I never really expected for anyone on this trip to be excited to see a bunch of white kids. For some reason I assumed that most countries really didn’t appreciate America--the reality is the opposite. The whole trip people were staring at us, and so excited to practice their english and took pictures with us. One girl said a family took a picture with her while she was holding their new born baby! It really is such a strange feeling to be the center of attention or to have eyes always on you because you are the minority-I never experienced that.
The next morning Andrea and Brittney were off to Beijing so it was just Matt Mariel and I. We went in search for the Yu Gardens and Bazzar shopping area. I now know just what people mean when they say packed like sardines. There were so many people in the Bazzar area of Pudong. The whole place smelt of putrid urine but it was absolutely hilarious. So much shopping and everything was decorated for the new year. People were walking around with meat on a stick that looked like tiny whole chinckens fried and burnt--needless to say we did not eat in this area, but we did do a ton of shopping...yes, more shopping. We never found the Yu Gardens, everything was so hectic and no one spoke english to help us so we went back to the Bund area to have dinner. We ate a traditional Chinese dinner where you order different plates for the whole table, like pineapple chicken and honey chicken and rice and noodles etc and everyone gets their own plate. They food was...interesting. A lot of different smells and tastes for me, too many! But there were some really good spices to put on top which I loved and we all ordered a drink called “Around the World” because we thought it was appropriate :)
The last day all of my friends but Matt were gone so we both slept in a bit and then went up to the Pearl Tower to get a view of all of Shanghai. It felt very similar to the Empire State Buidling, a ton of long lines but well worth the wait. The building is made of eleven different pearls and we went up to the second highest (the higher the ball the more money). Engraved into the building is a poem about the sound of pearls hitting jade and how beautiful it is. The view was spectacular and you could really see all the construction that was going on in the city. We could also see our ship, the zoom on my camera could see all the way onto the seventh deck!
The next two days were spent sailing to Hong Kong on the ship. It was very quite, only 100 of us sailed, most others were in Beijing. It was nice to catch up on sleep and be able to relax. It seems that for the past month or so we have either been in class or in port and haven’t had a lot of down time. They played a ton of movies for us, including F.R.I.E.N.D.S. which made me incredibly home sick for Greta and just my friends in general. But we arrived in Hong Kong rested and ready to go!! Matt went off to Macau island, the Las Vegas of Asia with his friends and I bummed around the city with Maria while we both waited for our friends to get back from Beijing and the Great Wall. Our port terminal was part of a mall with free Wi-Fi which was totally convenient and that was my first task-talk to family and upload pictures. We got a bite to eat inside the mall and bought a forty of Chinese beer called Blue Girl. An was due to come back around 1 p.m. so we didn’t have much time. She came back with lots of stories about the Great Wall, I really wish I had gone but Dad keeps saying next time I come back ;) An and I walked around Hong Kong, looking for places to shop but we quickly found it was not like Shanghai at all. It was more expensive, much more. There were a ton of designer shops, even Dolce & Gabana kids!! Some how inside this city we found a floating garden which was totally unexpected. There were fountains and animals and people having picnics. It was so nice to be around nature again!! At the end of the park there was a great view of Hong Kong’s skyline and a Hookah Bar where we sat and got a bite to eat and some drinks, Green Peace for An and Easy Lover for me! It catches me by surprise everytime when we see european restaurants, I bet this was the last of them until South Africa so we tried to take advantage. We got back to the ship just as the sun was setting and managed to take naps before we went out. An’s roommate and her boyfriend, An, myself and Maria all took the ferry to Hong Kong Island (we had been in Kowloon) to Lockheart Street, the supposed night life area. We conquered the foreign subway and after almost giving up finding it we finally made it to the area and were very surprised. We had forgotten it was Sunday night and also the Chinese New Year. Nothing was open but a British Pub with live music-so naturally we went right in!! They lured us in with Lady Gaga’s Poker Face...how do we find these places!!?? They had all British and American beer, we ordered Coronas and nachos, so gooooood!!! While they were there Let It Be came on and I had to take a deep breath and soak all of this in. It was one of those moments when you really think to yourself, I’m the luckiest person alive, and couldn’t be happier. Thank you George Harrison. The song also made me miss my friends from back home and I began to think about Kollin and was hoping everyone was staying safe. We danced the night away and had fun talking to all of the British people, learning their stories of how they somehow made it to Hong Kong. When we got back on the ship we all passed out as fast as possible.
The 22nd Andrea, Jenna, Emily, Abigail and I all went to see Tian Tan Buddha this is the largest, seated, outdoor bronze Buddha statue in the world. We took a ferry to Hong Kong Island and then the subway to Lantau Island. We then bought tickets to a cable car ride up the mountain and to the Buddha statue. Although it was foggy the view were still spectacular. We practically saw the whole island and were so high up in the air!! I couldn’t believe how big the Buddha actually was. It is said that you can see the statue from Macau Island, where Matt was--I wonder if he could!! There were 251 steps all of the way up and was such an incredible view. Once we got up there it started to clear up, like a sign, and we got some amazing pictures. At the bottom of the mountain where the Tian Tan Buddha sits is the Po Lin Monastery, an obviously Buddhist Monastery. The main temple building has three bronze statues representing the Buddha of the past, present and future. When we got back to the ship and the mall, An and I found a California Pizza Kitchen and ordered our weight in food--including avocado club egg rolls. I miss them so much!!!! We took a quick nap before going out for the night. It was our friend Victoria’s birthday, a student who lived in Hong Kong until she was ten, and visits often. This night was probably the most fun I’ve had on the trip so far, and that’s seriously saying a lot because I have nothing bad to say!! We found the street where literally everyone from SAS was. Everyone was partying and hanging out on the street which was full of bars and music and there was dancing and love and happiness.
Exhaustion set in the next morning and after getting up early to skype with family I needed more sleep. An and I napped in my room until 1 pm and then we went to Hong Kong Island for one last walk around the city. We found a Zara and I bought new jean shorts, which I needed, because I hear it is 90 degrees in Vietnam!! The Star Ferry was so much fun, I think that’s the only reason we even went out! We had to the be on the ship by 1800 and we both wanted more internet time so we went back to CPK, just because it’s heaven, and then got back onboard.
As we were pulling out of the harbor there was a huge laser light show on all the buildings in Hong Kong Island and I got great video of it. Also Matt and I were reunited and it was great to see him after almost three days apart. We watched the show from the fifth deck and talked about our days apart from each other. He was so lucky! He stayed at a 5 star hotel and everything was free, including steak dinner, bowls upon bowls of fresh pineapple and a kitchen full of food. His friend Alec’s father is a professional gambler so they all got the star treatment. So jealous!! But it was nice to have a separate experiences and miss each other for a bit.
I got used to having free internet in Hong Kong, I miss it!!! I loved seeing you all and skyping and I really really hope that I’ll have some in Vietnam. The plan is two FDP’s, one for the Cu Chi tunnels and Cao Di Temple and the other to a deaf orphanage and we’ll visit the zoo with them! I’m so excited, exhausted and really need to get my school work in order. I hope you’re getting my postcards!!! I love you all bigger than the sky!! xoxoxo B