Work suuuuuucked…. I taught for 7 hours. We had booze and pizza for dinner. I’m ok now.
Sydney
Saturdays are the early days for both of us. I am working from home since our team lead is still gone and we do not have a meeting. I have been organizing all the paperwork that Wally printed out and putting into the binder we have for our future travels.
They are still doing construction in the apartment below and it is so hard to work from home. Also, why is there construction on a Saturday at 8AM. WTF?!?!?! Just China problems. If it keeps up I will have to go to Starbucks to work or into the office which would suck! The jackhammer has not stopped in 3 hours, I finally moved to the other room and that only quieted it a little bit.
Today, I had a student whose English name was RZA. It was pretty funny and she was my favorite student of the day.
We picked up some food for dinner and watched House Hunters and talked a lot of shit. I cannot wait until we can buy our first house. Packing for Nanjing tomorrow. Weekend getaway on TUesday and Wednesday.
The construction continues all day BTW and the wet dog smell will not leave.
So I messed up and thought the ayi was coming at 8am. I set my alarm for 7:10am because we needed to work out and then get ready for the ayi. Well we did our workout and we went through our photo album to tell the photographer what pictures we want and don’t. 8am comes around and I ask Wally to message the ayi and he said she is not coming until 10am! Wally just thought I wanted to be up early to get stuff down. FACE PALM!!!!!! The ayi was coming on the 8th not at 8! Ugh, I feel so dumb. Oh well, we ended up being very productive. We emailed the photographer to change the photo album. There are so many changes! We also found out that he lied about why are video was taking so long. I cannot wait to get home to get everything from him. I am so mad and they are very unprofessional.
Anyways, we took a break and got some Chinese breakfast burritos. Our addiction here! OMG so good. We came home and watched House Hunters International. There was an episode on Shanghai and it was really cool to see the sites. The people were so annoying and complaining about dumb stuff. The apartment they chose has a daily breakfast served in the dining area, a playground in the building and a gym. It was huge and amazing and they were picky about everything. FU! Switch me apartments. They wanted more charm and less modern. They ended up getting the most modern. You want charm and specifically Chinese take my place because our whole apartment fit in their living room!!!
We took a nap and Skyped my mom a little and then Wally headed to work. I worked out some more and then worked from home. The servers at work crashed so we were all having internet connection issues and no one was answering us through the group chat on how to fix it. The higher ups at the online center are really dumb. It finally was fixed after trying about 6 different links and we were told that if one crashes just try another.
Shout out to my dad, the villain you love in Charmed is Barbas!! I love this show and it is so fun to rewatch. Also, Bianca and Greg enjoy the game on Saturday! 🙂
I have been doing writing corrections for work and making more leis. Also, Jenn texted me that pineapple and taro pies are back at McDonalds and those are Wally’s favorite treats. Today had beautiful weather and I was in shorts all day and I was not cold. Finally it is starting to warm up a bit. Unfortunately the nice weather will not last as Shanghai does not really have a spring. They go from cold to hot and humid and miserable, so I have been told very quickly. Enjoy it while it lasts.
The wet dog smell is back in our house and it is disgusting. Our bathroom has been wet since last night when we showered and the walls and floor never really dry. It is gross and so irritating. China, what can you do. I miss having dry and great smelling apartments. NO amount of Febreze (thanks mom) can get rid of the smell in the afternoon especially when construction is going on.
WE SLEPT!!! Disney really takes a toll on you. We woke up and planned a bit for our Paris trip and when I looked at Euro Disney I got a bit scared. We got to HK Disney at 9 AM and stayed till 9 PM a 12 hour day, but in Euro Disney they’re open from 9 AM till 11 PM…. That’s going to be loooooong day.
I left for work early because I had to do a money transfer. When I got to work some people were already there. We chatted for a bit before our stupid Thursday meetings. What I hate most about these meetings are the stupid questions and how it just drags on. For example, today’s topic was how to run a fire drill. Classes 1-7 will go out the front door while classes 8-14 will go out the back. One genius asks what if there is a fire in the back door? Well I guess you and all your fucking students have to cross the blazing inferno then. In the event of an emergency is it ok for me to speak to them in Chinese? No you’re going to have to communicate to toddlers in English and hope that they understand you enough to survive in an emergency situation. What if parents are rushing into the school trying to retrieve their kids? You let them fucking die. It was their choice to run into a burning building while people are being evacuated. FUCKING USE SOME GOD DAMN LOGIC!
My classes were bleh and my day was meh.
Sydney
We slept for eleven hours. I did not think we were that tired but clearly our bodies needed the rest. We got up to get our stuff done. We did some more laundry and started booking Paris for dad’s trip. We booked some tickets and got a doc together.
I went to get my laptop ready to work from home and I found out we have a mandatory meeting today. I email and message the other team lead who is covering for my boss to ask why I need to do this training since my last day is next month and she does not get back to me. More people are messaging her in the group chats but she does not respond and neither do any of the hire ups. It was so annoying. Well, I wait to hear as long as I can then I walked to work. It was cold today but had stopped raining so that was nice.
My walk to work was quick and easy. My classes were alright today but there were so many internet issues and non of the team leads were really helping. The mandatory training was useless and the trainers boob was out the whole time. It was really hard to take her seriously when bra and tit are just out and about. After the training I finished up work and taught until 10pm. My walk home was nice and I booked it. I really just wanted to be home. Hopefully tomorrow I won;t get an email and I can work from home. More planning tomorrow and getting ready for Nanjing on Tuesday. Good Night!
** A friend messaged me about one of the EF teachers who died on April 1st. Here is another example of why Chinese bitches be cray! The teachers landlord and landlord’s husband accidentally killed her. They got into a fight and the landlord threw hot water on her then the husband body slammed her. She suffered a brain injury and she slipped into a deep coma then died. WTF China?!?!?!?!
Man I miss Hong Kong… We woke up early and were taken to the airport. The fair was significantly lower, even without the discount, than from when we originally got in. So, we were given the run around by the first cab driver… That’s why people are using Uber now because of sleazy mother fuckers like that guy. Whatever, we get checked in right away because like any decent airport they have people working around the clock to get people checked in, in a timely manner. We got some McDonald’s breakfast. Syd got something safe Sausage Egg McMuffin and a side of pancakes. I decided to try something uniquely Hong Kong.
HONG KONG COMFORT FOOD: MACARONI SOUP
Macaroni Soup is a very common breakfast option and is usually offered as part of a combo served with sides such as fried eggs, toast, and milk tea. The macaroni is almost always a little past al dente, comes in a slightly over salted broth, and is covered with strips of a barely recognizable ham-like meat substance. Taken with the right attitude, the mediocre components plus some nostalgia and cheap cheap prices results in an synergistic combination that is much greater than its parts. If you didn’t grow up with it you probably won’t like it at first but spend any significant time in Hong Kong and you will learn to love it.
As you can see they totally nailed it! Overall it wasn’t all that bad. Also, I’ve read about how McDonald’s is trying to not become this faceless corporation that no one can relate to and in order to do that they tailor their restaurants to not only have the typical Big Mac, but to also have tastes that the locals love. In China they have a shitty version of the Chinese breakfast burrito we get, in Hong Kong they have a shitty version of the macaroni breakfast noodles and in California they have a shitty version of the breakfast burrito. All in all you can get a relatively shitty knock off of what locals in the area like to eat at McDonald’s. With that in mind I plan on trying a McDonald’s item unique to the region in all my world travels. It’s something stupid and fun and it’ll make going to McDonald’s in a far away exotic land sound more exciting.
The flight itself was ok, but what did suck was that we experienced an hour delay while sitting on the tarmac. I was able to fall asleep through most of the wait and woke up during take off. We watched a bootleg version of Deadpool on our flight with Korean subtitles and what appeared to be random ads for a Russian casino. I really liked the movie and I’m a bit bummed I didn’t get to see it in theaters.
Once we landed in Shanghai we were greeted by cold damp weather, long lines in customs and no real internet. I hate China. Hong Kong is what China should be. Hong Kong is what China wishes it was. Hong Kong is the cooler version of China. Hong Kong is better PERIOD. I miss Hong Kong….
We went through all the mumbo jumbo and headed home. Once we got home and got settled we heard massive sounds of thunder and Syd even saw lightning. We were invited to go out, but with the rain we decided to stay in and order pizza.
I miss Hong Kong…
Sydney
Woke up bright and early to head to the airport. Gideon, the owner of the airbnb, was kind enough to call us a taxi to take us to the airport. The ride was smooth and it was so much cheaper then on the way in. The cab driver who drove us from the airport ripped us off!!! Always stay at places that have hotel airport pick up and drop off only! We got all checked in and Hong Kong International Airports is one of the best I have ever been too. It was efficient, no problems, and they were so helpful. We got some breakfast then headed to our gate. The airport is huge and they have metros in the airport to take you to different gates. We sat at our gate and enjoyed our last few minutes of free internet and not having to use a VPN. We boarded the plane and what was nice is that we were going to take off early….then China decided to be a bitch! Shanghai radioed in to say that the weather and air pollution was so bad we could not take off because we would not be able to land but they stated we would only be delayed 30 minutes. Ok, fine 30 minutes is not bad. Well, an hour and fifteen minutes later we started to taxi back. Fifteen minutes after that we finally were in the air. We fly and Wally and I watch Deadpool on the laptop! It was such a great movie and I can’t wait to watch it again. I was so sad that we could not see it in theaters.
We finally get to Shanghai and they state that we need to circle around for the next 30 to 45 minutes. Ugh, finally we land. Then customs takes about 40 minutes and now we are back in shithole China. I am having hard core Hong Kong blues. I miss free internet. We got our luggage and headed to the metro to go home. We were going to go run some errands but with all the delays we realized we needed to stay home. There were also crazy thunderstorms! The lighting and thunder was terrifying but cool to witness.Wally and I did the blog, laundry, and got ready for the next day. When we finally finished up we passed out so quickly.
This vacation went to fast and I am so sad it is over but I am so glad we went. Hong Kong is amazing and I cannot wait to go back. It was so amazing and Hong Kong is everything mainland China is not.
Side note – I thought Hong Kong was one main island, it is not. It is like Hawaii, you call it Hawaii then you ask which island you are going to. Hong Kong is the same way.
We did way too much to go into a ton of detail on everything we did, but you can see what we did in the videos and pictures. Instead I’ll point out some of the differences and similarities we noticed.
HK Disney is extremely similar to ours back home, but a size smaller.
You’re constantly listening to 3 languages Cantonese, Mandarin and English.
Instead of typical snacks like churros there was Korean grilled squid, fish cakes and a hot dog on a stick.
Disney recreates it’s magic worldwide and it’s awesome. They had 2 actors that played Elsa and Anna and they never broke character. They saw Syd and I in our matching clothes and they gushed over it.
All the employees were extremely helpful and happy.
Everything was still overpriced.
Space mountain was pretty much the same, but they had a few more asteroid decorations.
Buzz Lightyear ride is EXACTLY the same.
Jungle cruise had a couple of other affects and the jokes don’t really translate well with someone who isn’t a native English speaker.
Crowds were A LOT smaller. Don’t know if it’s cause we went right after a 3 day weekend or just cause it’s off peak season. Either way it was amazing.
We didn’t spend a lot of time in lines, we literally spent more time on rides than we did in lines. My favorite ride from today was Mystic Manor. The premise of the ride is that a Professor comes home with a magical music box that brings inanimate objects to life. His pet monkey opens it up and all hell breaks loose.
We were also fortunate enough to time our visit on their 10 year anniversary, so we were treated to a special fireworks show. We never really stay late enough back home to watch the fireworks, or we just take the opportunity to ride as many rides as possible. Seeing as how we probably won’t be coming back to HK Disney anytime soon I wanted to experience the fireworks show. We asked an employee where “front row” was and they were nice enough to show us where we’d need to go. We ended up FRONT ROW AND CENTER! Before the fireworks we saw their night time parade.
Then the Fireworks
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Sydney
Wally covered a lot of the differences and similarities. I just want to say it was so great to be around people that spoke English. Really good amazing English. There was only a few times things lost in translation, which it fine with me.
Thing I noticed:
Korean Squid is smelly and everyone was eating it.
There are not a lot of snack stands; popcorn, churro, that kind of stuff.
Also, an entire section of the park was closed. You would never see that back home but it was cool to walk around in an abandoned section.
Only one stand that did sell popcorn have, as it was titled “Salty USA American Style Popcorn”
They do not have face characters except Elsa and Anna for autographs. You would think they would have a Mulan but nope, nothing.
No villains. Anywhere! Not even villain merch. #IloveCruella
The souvenir stuff was only classic Disney Characters, Elsa and Anna, Marvel stuff, and Star Wars. Not a lot of other character stuff, maybe a random Belle shirt here and there. But nothing like Disneyland and the shops were pretty sparse.
There was only one place in the park that sold churros. LAME!
Souvenir popcorn holders are really not offered. They have one that is a Mickey head and one Star Wars TIE fighter. Usually at Anaheim Disney each land has its own and then they have the special edition ones and it says Disneyland. The only 2 that I mentioned did not say Disney, which Disney or have anything special. It was weird.
Hong Kong Disney was amazing! There was a game to find Easter eggs of the characters and you will get stickers. I played for a little then gave up. I did get a birthday pin and every employee that wished me happy birthday also gave me little stickers and they were so cool. I am going to scrapbook when we get home so I will be able to put them in there. I ate a Mickey shaped vanilla chocolate covered head, some caramel corn, delicious salty popcorn, chicken, and a Disneyland Churro.It did make me so homesick though because it was so similar that we were walking out of the park and I automatically started walking right as though I would go to Downtown Disney and the car. It was a great experience and I would absolutely do it again if the opportunity arose. There were not a lot of rides and the place is small but so much Disney Magic. This is the first time in a long time that I had been there since the park opened, stayed until it closed, watched a parade AANNNNDDD got front row center for the fireworks show. It was such a great day and I cannot believe it is over but I definitely lived in the moment and soaked up every once of what was happening. Now, enjoy the pics and videos we posted.
Man it’s been a long day… The treck to the airport wasn’t all that bad and the whole process of getting through customs and immigration was smooth. Yeah, don’t let anyone tell you that Hong Kong is part of China, it’s an international flight.
The airplane we got on was nice enough and we had seats to ourselves. Syd wasn’t doing so hot throughout the flight and it didn’t help that there was turbulence, her motion sickness was really kicking in. It was a short flight from Shanghai to Hong Kong only 2.5 hours long and they still served us food! Syd chose eggs and sausage, safe choice, and I got pork noodles. Hers ended up tasting like shit and my noodles were meh.
We landed and immediately we feel the difference in the weather. It honestly felt a lot like Hawaii hot, wet and humid, but it honestly wasn’t that bad. As soon as we entered the airport we turned on our wifi and connected. GOD BLESS THE INTERNET! Seriously mainland China is so ass backwards. Their internet is nerfed, blocked and censored at some point in history people will look back at this period of time and look at China as committing crimes against humanity. You might think I’m exaggerating, but there are some countries that feel that the internet has become a basic human right like having water and electricity. Either way I’m in love with Hong Kong, Syd and I got through customs so quickly because we didn’t even notice we were waiting in line. We were just so happy to be able to use our phones without restrictions. +1 Hong Kong!
We took a cab into the city to where we’re staying. The driver was friendly enough and attempted to have a conversation with me with his limited english and my limited chinese. Another thing is that you don’t NEED to know Chinese to get around here most everyone speaks English. +2 Hong Kong! The driver did mix up the name of the street and took a bit longer to get to our place, I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt and hope he wasn’t trying to rip us off.
We got to the BNB and got checked in. The place is pretty sweet, it’s nicely decorated, a descent view and the host provided us with all the amenities we’d need. I was looking for a place to put my converters and it turns out Hong Kong outlets are different from mainland China’s…. But I did notice a converter outlet and plugged my power strip into it. BZZZZZAP! 0_O I blew a fuse…. I didn’t know where the fuse box was and I called the BNB guy. He rushed over and reset the fuse, I told him we got in and the internet was out and a set of lights didn’t seem to work. =P
We got settled, changed and headed to Tim Ho Wan, a franchised dim sum restaurant. When we first started planning our trip to Hong Kong I was excited to try some dim sum out here because it’s where it originated. My excitement grew after watching an episode of something with Anthony Bourdain and he spoke very highly of Tim Ho Wan. This restaurant has a Michelin Star and is touted as the cheapest Michelin meal you’ll ever have. By dumb luck we ended up in the exact restaurant that Bourdain had been in when shooting the episode I saw! We ordered a ton of food, but the one thing that stood out the most was their pork buns! I’ve never had pork buns this good…. I’m salivating just thinking about it. It’s not a traditional bun because it’s not steamed, but instead lightly baked and the texture of the pork melted right in your mouth. It had the perfect balance of salty and sweet and when you bit into it, the juices coated your mouth like the warm embrace of a loving grandparent.
Following that epic meal we wandered back home and rested for a bit before going back out to see the Hong Kong skyline. I have to say getting around in this city, or any city in China, is easy, but it’s made even easier here because most everyone speaks English. We exited the metro and walked towards Victoria Harbor. They had big fences up because of some construction, but as we turned the corner I laid my eyes on this.
I had never fallen in love with a city so fast. The skyline was absolutely amazing, I was at a loss for words and my heart skipped a beat. This is the high that travels love, this is the high that they’re always chasing and I finally experienced it. Syd and I stood around and snapped photos for at least an hour before the weather took a turn for the worse and it started to pour on us. We couldn’t go to the Avenue of Stars, their Hollywood Walk of Fame, because it’s been underconstruction and will be for the next couple of years, but they did move their more famous statues to the Garden of Stars. There I snapped some pictures of the biggest Kung Fu star there is.
Along with the epic statue they had handprints of Jackie Chan and Jet Li. I learned that Jackie’s hands are bigger than mine and mine are bigger than Jet Li’s. And now you know that piece of trivial information. Have fun with that. After that we got home and wrote this essay of a thing. OFF TO HONG KONG DISNEY TOMORROW!
Sydney
Today started out dark and early….that 3:45 alarm came all to quickly. We cleaned up and about 15 minutes later (our taxi isn’t scheduled until 4:20ish) calls and says he is almost here. OH SHIT!!! Ok, well we hurry up and get everything and head outside. Luckily it had stopped raining so we did not have to worry about that. The cab ride was more expensive than last time but whatever we have to take a cab. We realized that when B, Greg, and the 2 of us are heading to the airport we might have to take 2 cabs because of luggage but that is future us’s problem. The check-in was pretty painless and we got to our gate with no problem. We were starving and knew we would not be at the dim sum restaurant for awhile so we got a bite to eat at BK. It was disgusting I did not even finish all my food and will not be eating there again. I knew I should have just grabbed a tea and a muffin. UGH!!! We waited at the gate then were able to board.
The plane was nice and it was not full which is great but we did not move seats since I fell asleep pretty much the instant we got on the plan. They hand out the softest blankets, nice headphones, and a towelette right when you sit down. The stewardesses all spoke amazing English and were so friendly. Now, the flight itself was fucking awful!!! In case you did not know, I hate flying, pretty much the worst thing in the world is flying for me. I would rather eat broccoli and stir fry before flying (people know that’s a big deal for me). It was bumpy, turbulent and was relentless. Wally’s motion sickness was bad and as he put it, “if mine is bad then yours must be fucking terrible!” Thanks babe. That makes me feel better. This flight was less than 3 hours but they ended up serving food. Wally got a noodle thing and I got sausage and eggs. I looked at it and said nope! I drank the juice and tried the fruit but did not eat hardly anything. Wally tried mine and said it was not good either. We watched part of Lucifer on the plan but then it was time to pack up and land. THe flight seemed to drag on for me since I was so sick the whole time. Once we landed it got much better.
Now the next leg..we need to get through customer. We turn our phones on and we can connect to the free wifi in the airport! NO VPNSSSSSS!!!!!!! FUCK YOU CHINA, and your dumb restrictions. Hong Kong I love you! We were able to look up maps, directions, and use social media; it was a beautiful moment. The sad part is that we do not get a stamp in our passports because they hand you a piece of paper but maybe when we leave or something. We went and exchanged our money then went to get a taxi. The taxi driver spoke a little English but not much.
The weather here is like Hawaii, even though there were thunderstorms and partly cloudy, the breeze and air felt nice. It did get a little muggy at times but it was fine after awhile. The cab driver drove us around the block until finally we found the airbnb. We got inside no problem and it is cute. A perfect place to shower and sleep since that is all we need. Once we got situated, I spoke with my dad for a little and it was cool to talk to him from Hong Kong. He brought up some stuff that he wants to do in Paris but we will discuss more when we are back in Shanghai.
Side note – everyday when I check the weather I always check Shanghai and Placentia. I check P-town because it is home and is a habit. Well since being in Hong Kong today I check Hong Kong’s forecast and Shanghai, since that is home. Weird things you think about when you are living somewhere else.
We headed out to the dim sum restaurant. The walk was not too bad, Wally got us a little lost but we corrected our path pretty quickly. We put our names down at the restaurant and someone asked Wally how long the wait was since they heard him speak English and were curious. They kept talking to us and one of them kept taking pics. They suggested we eat together but we could not say no so we said yes, Wally went to change both of our reservations but I went up after him and said no let’s just say it will take too long. I do not want to sit with these people at a meal that was supposed to be just us. We said bye and they at us right away. The food was phenomenal. The pork buns were to just melt in your mouth amazeballs! Sweet baby jesus they were so good. This was one of the best Chinese meals we have had since being out here. We gorged ourselves on michelin star dim sum at the exact restaurant Anthony Bourdain was at. A pretty cool moment. We left and walked around. We found a shop so Wally could get some gummies for tomorrow and I got a little ice cream cone. We walked back and cleaned up to head to the harbor.
The walk to the metro was a little confusing but we managed to get there without any hassle. The tickets got us to almost the harbor about 3 blocks away. It started to rain but stopped right as we got to the harbor, we turned the corner and Wally squealed and he said it took his breathe away. I have to say that this was a skyline that really impressed me and it was another WTF moment, I am in Hong Kong for my birthday and I am looking at the skyline with my husband. It is moments like these that I am trying to appreciate it as this time in our lives goes on. We took a 3 hour flight, a small bs weekend trip to Hong Kong. How is this my life right now?? We got a coffee and just sat and stared at the beauty of where we were. We saw the storms coming off the horizon and we could see the rain move towards us…then the lightening and thunder hit and it poured. It was crazy but weather always just adds to trips. We walked to the Garden of Stars since the Avenue of Stars is under construction. It was really cool and we saw the Bruce Lee statue. I also found out from this walk the my only pair of boots have holes in them and my feet were soaked. Fingers crossed it stops raining tomorrow or my feet will be wet all day. Whatever YOLO! We navigated the metro back home and my awesome navigational skills got us from the metro to the apartment. Also, I found a Mrs. Fields and we got cookies they were delicious. All in all a great first day in Hong Kong. Below are some pics and a video. Tomorrow HONG KONG DISNEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Today blew chunks, but Syd surprised me and brought me Starbucks at work. She trekked through the rain and navigated the metro just to do that for me. I was completely flabbergasted. It really made my day and made me feel incredibly loved.
My classes were bleh, but we had an open door today. It’s basically an excuse to parade the children around to their parents to show how much English they’ve learned. Well one kid had not written enough stuff for his presentation and I asked him to just write a bit more and to use the book as an example. For some reason he wasn’t having it and began to break into tears. When it came time to present he literally stood there crying. It was awkward…. Like dude it really doesn’t matter just say a few words and be done with it. Chinese kids don’t have time to be kids, it’s sad.
Whatever I’m off and we’re off to Hong Kong tomorrow!!!
Sydney
Woke up to Wally getting ready and I was awake maybe five minutes for him to kiss me and say he was leaving for work. I fell back asleep for about an hour then I got up and got ready. I was craving a Chinese breakfast burrito. I went down and he was out of the yotiao to put inside it but I just got one without it. I was able to order it and the guy behind me started speaking English and said he would order for me, how many I want and if I want it spicy or not. Now, I actually did it by myself but the guy was so sweet and corrected a couple things I said so the order was correct. Meeting nice Chinese people and being offered help like that was so nice and refreshing. I got my burrito and headed to Starbucks and picked up a coffee for myself. I was on my way home and thought I should go and surprise Wally before I had work.
I dropped off my stuff and headed to his school. It is about a 45 minute commute and right by his center is a Starbucks. I got him a flat white and a beef and cheese breakfast sandwich. I thought he deserved something nice since he made my birthday so much fun, he was sick and still was a trooper and went out even though we still left earlier then I wanted hahah. Once I bought everything I went to his center and I was afraid I would not find a teacher I knew but one of the teachers I had met said hey Wally’s wife, what are you doing here? I said I think Wally is teaching but can you drop this off with him and say have a great day. She said sure and I took off back home.
When I got home I turned my phone back on and I had 29 messages from Wally haha. He said he was so flustered and he loved it. I will let him explain his side when he types today’s blog. I was glad I could do something nice for him. I cleaned up around the house and finished all my stuff for HK tomorrow.
My classes were fine and the only interesting part of them was I had a student named Cool, and she was very cool. I had food ordered and delivered and have been re-watching Charmed on Netflix. I love this show! I loved it when it was on and I still do. I also applied to about 20 jobs, so fingers crossed. Wally came home and just kept saying thank you for his coffee and sandwich. I am glad I was able to make him so happy. We did some laundry and cleaned up and headed to bed. Off on another adventurer at 3:45 AM…..
Work yesterday was bleh. I had 3 classes and my voice was completely shot. Luckily 2 of my classes were teens and I was able to get away with whispering. As soon as work let out Cathy, coworker, and I headed over to the Friends Cafe to meet up with Syd. We had quite an interesting conversation.
Cathy is from mainland China, but study abroad in the UK. Her english is excellent and she holds a lot of western ideals. I chatted her up and asked her a bunch of questions.
W: I understand that most of China’s recent history has been greatly censored in your teachings. While you’re in school, do people actually believe everything that’s being taught? When you studied abroad and had the freedom to look things up how did that affect you?
C: Growing up we believed what we were taught. However, when I discovered the actual truth I was not all that surprised. We did have access to information here and there.
W: What was something that shocked you about western culture?
C: In China, it’s assumed that the guy should pay for dates. However, in western culture it seems to be ok for people to go dutch when going out and if a guy pays for the meal then they’re into you or you’re dating. I wasn’t aware of this and when I started dating my ex I was unsure of what he thought of me and my flatmates asked me who had paid for the date and I said he did. They told me that was an indicator that he was into me.
W: Because you embody so much western ideals and beliefs what’s something about Chinese culture you don’t like?
C: Pressure. There’s constant pressure from everyone around you to succeed, to make money, to get married, to buy a home and the list goes on and on. On top of that the amount of control friends and family have over you. They seem to dictate your life and judge all your life decisions. In western culture it seems to be more important that you’re happy over status.
Those are the questions that stand out in my mind, but it was a very interesting conversation. I did tell her that the one thing about the Chinese people I respect is their resilience, work ethic and how far they’re willing to go to save a buck.
We got to the cafe no problem and wow it’s cute. It wasn’t an exact replica of Central Perk, but being in there you definitely feel like you’re in it. Syd and her friend, Jennifer, just kept ordering drinks because on top of the coffee they’d write messages in chocolate like “Rachel is my favorite”, “How you doin?” and “Friends.” We spent a couple of hours sipping on coffee, chatting and watching Friends episodes that they had on.
Everyone went to the bars, except for Cathy, at the Shanghai Brewery we met up with Summer, Bryan and Katie. We had a few drinks and talked. There was one guy there that was PASSED the fuck out. He was out for over an hour and the staff tried to wake him up multiple times, but he waved them off. He had a plate of perfectly good onion rings, so naturally I….
We then went to Zapata’s where Syd just danced her ass off. We ended up home around 1 and I knocked out.
Sydney
Up and ready for work. I worked from home today because I wanted to get ready for my birthday party. I spoke with mom and ralphie for a bit. Good Luck Ralphie on your race tomorrow!!! The day flew by and a lot of my students had tech problems which was great because then I did not have to teach. I finished packing for HK and got everything together for the trip. I am so excite!!!
Once my classes finished I packed up and headed out. It took me almost 40 minutes to find a cab because no one would go to The Friends Cafe. Finally when I found a cab that would take me there it turns out to be a 22 RMB cab ride!! It’s not that far I still have no idea why no one would go but I got there safe and sound and thankfully it stopped raining. So, Wally and his coworker Cathy were on there way as well, now they left almost 20 minutes before me and I was waiting around for almost 20 minutes before they showed up. Luckily right as I walked in everyone that was sitting on the couch left so we were able to have the couch and the penguin to ourselves. This place is so cute and I am so in love. Wally and decided that we should go back in the day as well. The coffee and food was amazing as well! OMG! So good. I ordered a blueberry muffin and it was homemade, the blueberries were to die for and the top of the muffin was perfectly crispy yet soft. The first cup of coffee was a marshmallow macchiato and it said Friends in cursive with a heart around the marshmallows. The next was a caramel latte, I think, and it said “How you doin’?” Jenn got a drink that says I love Rachel. We also ordered some black pepper beef pasta and a pizza. Cathy, Wally, Jenn, Chris (Jenn’s husband) and I shared everything and sat and took pics for awhile. They also play all the Friends episodes on the tv so it was fun to watch and quote the scenes. We stayed for awhile then hit the next part of the party. Cathy went home because she was already tired and had an early class. Side note – she got me a really cute gift, it is a little house candle holder.
Jenn, Chris, Wally and I got a taxi and were on our way to the Shanghai Brewery and Zapatas. The brewery was nice and we all sat and chilled with Wally’s other coworkers and drinks, chatted and finished up our drinks. Katie got me a bottle of wine, 2 little nippers of malibu, samaos (which she brought back from the states, she guessed that they would be my favorite and she was right), also a cell phone case, and an EF backpack. We all had a couple of rounds, oh and Katie met up with us at this point. Now our group moved to Zapata’s were we could dance and have lasers and drink more!!! Brian, Katie, Jenn, Chris, Wally and I found a place to put our stuff down and all of us girls hit the dance floor. I did not stop dancing the whole night. Jenn and Katie are the best people to go out with OMG I love them. We all got on the bar and danced up there and there were balloons everywhere. It was so much fun! We were there for a little bit but unfortunately for me, Wally was starting to feel worse and worse he is still so sick. We left around 12:15, which is so early but we had all been partying for about 6 hours at this point. Wally was a trooper and next time we go out we will stay later. We caught a cab home and showered and headed to bed.
My birthday party was amazing and so much fun!!! It was one for the record books. I am lucky to have an amazing husband and great friends out here. I got to drink and dance my little heart out. Now onto another adventure.
There was a lot of love this morning from everyone wishing Syd a happy birthday. It was great to see. We also ended up Skyping a ton of people and caught up with them it was nice. I took Syd to Mr.Pancake for her birthday breakfast. The food has seriously improved a lot since the last few times we’ve been. Also I got to say I miss sausages because for some reason they only have chicken sausages here…. We ate up and headed back home. We Skyped Greg and Bianca and they showed off their Coachella shirts… I’m SOOOOOO jealous and sad and depressed and and……………… I want to go to there so bad!
On my way to work I decided to stop by this repair guy down our street. There is one thing I’ll say about the Chinese is that they’re cheap and resourceful as fuck. I’ve seen this guy repair women’s shoes to umbrellas to people’s luggage. Last week when R&L were here I ended up breaking off a piece of plastic off my backpack. It was part of the strap that I connect at my chest to keep things high and tight. I was naturally really bummed because this backpack has been with me on pretty much any adventure of significance and I neutered it… I went to this guy and asked if he could help me. The following was all in Chinese.
Me: Hello. Can you help me?
Repair dude: Of course! What do you want?
Me: This thing [bracket] broke off my backpack and I need another one. It’s like a hook [bracket].
* I then make my hand look like a C in order to show a visualization of it *
Repair dude: OK, so you want a ciaelfknae [didn’t really understand what he said]?
Me: Uh… Yeah that should be it.
*He rummages around a suitcase and pulls out a bag. He dumps the contents on the ground and I see a ton of buckles, brackets and clips*
Repair dude: You want this? *points to a buckle*
Me: No I need something like this. * I proceed to take off the good half of my backpack so he can see, I then point to a bracket* Are you able to cut a small hole in that, so that I can loop these pieces on?
Repair dude: Of course I can! Whatever you want I can do!
This dudes physical appearance is old and worn out. Dudes hands were made of leather, but he takes that piece of metal and clamps it down with a plier. He then takes out some primitive bolt cutters and uses his knees to push together the handles to cut through the metal. He pulls out another plier and with all his might he pulls the metal to create an opening big enough to loop through the cloth. After he attaches the pieces to my backpack he decides it’s not good enough. He was scared that it would fall off, so for good measure he pulls out even larger pliers and grips the edges of the bracket and pushes and squeezes it till he seals the opening ensuring that the pieces won’t fall off. It was quite a feat to behold considering his physical state. I asked him how much and he retorted with whatever you feel is fair. I gave him 20 RMB, $3, but for the Chinese a descent amount. Now, no matter what I’ll have a piece of China and a token of the resourcefulness of the Chinese strapped to my chest on my world travels. My favorite backpack has been made better. =)
Work was bleh… The kids did pull a prank on me. One of them asked me to fix their pen and when I clicked it, it shocked me… They all laughed till I snatched it out of his hands and jabbed it in his neck! But no seriously I totally did that, maybe not at the ferocity that you’re envisioning. I then proceeded to jab kids in their ribs, neck and back if they weren’t paying attention or doing their work. It was awesome!
On my way home I picked up some cakes for Syd to surprise her for her birthday. I walked over to Paris Baguette and got us 2 slices of cake and candles. I then walked across the street to pick up a lighter. I was originally going to beat her home and surprise her as she walked through the door, but she had left work early and wanted to meet at the train station…. Great… I shoved the box of cakes into my backpack and situated it so that it wouldn’t move too much. The whole walk home I was trying to walk as steadily as possible without making it too obvious. When we got home we went through our routine of setting our stuff down. Syd was talking about something, to be honest I wasn’t listening, in the other room while I desperately tried to take out a slice of cake, plate it and light candles without her seeing. She then comes into my room and I just glared at her and told her to GET OUT!
She went to the other room and I turned off the lights to sing her the saddest Happy Birthday song because my voice was gone. Happy Birthday Sydney!!! Everyday with you is truly a blessing and I’m grateful to have you in my life.
Sydney
Woke up to some texts and calls from the fam wishing me a happy birthday. We had a skype date with Aunt Dianne and Uncle Neal and it was nice to talk and catch up. They are now on a 2 year plan for Vegas and that is awesome they will be closer and in VEGAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAYAYAYAYAYYAAYA. It will be nice that they will be there first stop when we get home. After a lovely chat, we talked to my mom and ralphie and they sang to me. We also Skyped my dad and it was so frustrating because the connection was not good but we talked a little about our Paris trip and tried to figure out where we were going to stay. Once all of our conversations were over we headed to breakfast.
So, the last few times we had gone to Mr. Pancake it was not good but when we went last week for National Pancake Day it was delicious so Wally decided to take me for a birthday breakfast. I got the most amazing blueberry and raspberry pancakes with so much whip cream on top. They were SSSSSOOOOOOOO GGOOOODDDDDDD!!! Also, I tried their Brulee Macchiato and it was to die for. My breakfast was so tasty and a perfect way to start my 26th year.
Side note – the guy sitting at the table next to us was an ABC as well and his Chinese was like Wally’s, I saw his ID and he has a Cali DL so that was pretty funny. It is always a trip when we see or hear Chinese people but they are Americans. It really makes the world feel so much smaller.
We went to the bank since we need to convert money for Hong Kong. I was told that they have it on hand and will just convert it right there which is different from back home but I was given wrong info and they need to order it. So unfortunately for us we will need to convert it at the airport which sucks since the conversation rate is a bitch when you do it there but whatever.
We came home and relaxed and then Bianca and Greg called and sang me Happy Birthday!! So sweet! I love them and I was blushing so hard. I really miss my loves but they will be in China in less than 2 months!!! So many adventures ;), ya they know what’s up. It was great to talk and hopefully we can talk again before Coachella. Wally headed to work and I started my day working from home.
My first classes were good but all GL’s so it was time consuming grading them. Once the 3 GL’s were done I headed into work. I called Melrose Pizza and they were to deliver at work. Well they say it will take 40 minutes, ok perfect I will be walking up to the building at that time. Nope, they call me about 10 minutes later and I am still walking to work. I message Jennifer to go and pick up the pizza but she does not get back to me. I finally make it into work and I call the guy and he says he is in the lobby. Well I am in the lobby where are you??? He puts someone else on the phone and she says oh sorry he is in the lobby of the office not the building lobby. OMG! I get up there and finally get the dinner. Jenn pays for dinner and I giver her the latest shopping trip. The rest of work was pretty funny and my classes went by smoothly. My last class was a tech problem and I walked home and met Wally at the metro.
He explained what happened when I walked in the room but in my defense I just thought he was putting his stuff down. I did not see anything and when I came back in the room and sat down he came in and was singing to me and brought me the cake slices. The slices were not that good haha but it was the thought that counts.
Wally has done an amazing job with making my birthday special, I will always remember my 26th since I celebrated in China. The gift was so funny and drawing on the wrapping paper and making my card was so funny. I am truly lucky to have him and this has been a great birthday!!!
WangTower 