Wednesday February 24th 2010
I am currently on the ship traveling to Vietnam. I don’t know the weather right now because I am too tired to walk outside. But, from here on out it is suppose to be like 90’s and up. I know Vietnam and India are going to be especially hot.
I feel the need to make a side note real quick. I don’t actually know who reads my blog but, I got news that my Uncle David passed away yesterday. He was my dad’s brother. I have been debating whether to add this on my blog on not since it is kind of personal but I decided to since I know I will be looking back on this for years to come and this is a significant event that I do not want to ignore. From what I understand it was a very peaceful goodbye between him and my whole family. We all know it was really for the better and he is in a much better place now. He has been paralyzed for 7 years and I do not know anyone stronger willed than him. He really is one of a kind and I am going to miss him a lot. For my friends reading this, please keep my family in mind the next couple days and if you see them give them a hug for me. For my family reading this I just wanted to say that I wish I could be there and I am thinking about all of you as I continue my travels. I really wish I could be there.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
CHINA!
Ni Hao everyone!!! I just had the best time ever in China. I feel like I may be saying that about every country but this one for sure was stupendous. My first day was spend in Shanghai and then I flew to Beijing and began a 6 day tour. I was on a tour with about 60 other semester at sea students through a company called China Guide. We were in Beijing from the 17th to the 22nd. Then, I flew to Hong Kong. My trip overall was really awesome. The fact that our tour guide through Beijing was a total babe and I had a crush on him the whole time was just an added bonus!
Day one: Tuesday February 16th 2009
We arrived in China. It was pretty freaking cold. This was my only day in Shanghai so I took the day to explore. I went around with my friends Tolan and Sarah. Currently it is Chinese New Year. I had heard rumors that it is not what Americans think it is (dragons and festivities everywhere) but those rumors were fortunately not true. The first place we went was called old town and it was INSANE. Like there were people everywhere. It was basically just shops, food stands, weird statues, and other random stuff. In China it is NOT rude to push and shove. Consequently, there was a ton of pushing and shoving. I felt like I was at a concert trying to get to the front row.
After that we walked around, got a rickshaw ride to the wrong place, walked more, and then got some dinner. The food in China is definitely different from Japan. The portions were bigger, there was more sauce, and it was more meat and less fish. We ate dinner at a part of Shanghai called People’s Square. It was like a huge promenade. Like HUGE. There were lights everywhere and stores from Nike to Gucci. There were also a lot of candy stores so we ate a lot of candy. We hung out there the rest of the night and then called it quits around 11 and headed back to the ship.
This may seem like an ordinary day but it wasn’t. Let me tell you some things I noticed in China:
People look at me like I am alien. I don’t know whether it’s the freckles, the curly hair, or my bod but I have not been stared at so much in my LIFE
China is dirty. So dirty. People throw trash in the street when they are done with it, the let their kids pee on trees, there is a constant smell of poop.
Drivers are so wild. Like there is no such thing as an illegal u-turn. Pedestrians never ever have the right of way. I don’t know if there is a speed limit. And if you don’t move cars will hit you (& buses, bikers, and moped-ers)
The Chinese eat anything. ANYTHING.
China is super super cheap and bartering is out of hand. If you show the slightest interest in a product you will be bothered by a barterer and not left alone until you buy that product. Although, you usually get it for a disgustingly cheap price
OHHHHH AND THE BATHROOMS ARE UNUSUAL. Well, they are this way in numerous places but the toilets are in the ground so you have to squat and aim. I am a girl who has not done a squat in months and was never taught to aim.
Day two: Wednesday February 17 2010
I woke up, got breakfast, and headed to the airport to go to Beijing. My friends Greta, Sarah, and Chloe were all doing the same trip as me so we traveled together. The airport was nothing too exciting. It was pretty much the same as any airport in America except stuff was written in China and security wasn’t quite as strict. The flight went smoothly. It was about two hours long. Our plane was huge – there were about 8 seats across in each row. Even though it was only a two hour flight we still got a full meal. It consisted of a container of water, some water melon, chicken and rice, and some dried radish.
When we got to Beijing our tour guides were waiting for us with a Semester at Sea sign. Let me just say we lucked out with tour guides. Vincent (<333) and Linda were their names. They were both 25 and spoke pretty good English and were totally chill and fun. Vincent even went out with us at night. Anyways, from the airport we headed to the hotel. The hotel is nice. It is an old university building or something. It’s no Holiday Inn but I have no complaints about it. We took it easy for the rest of the night. The olympics were on in Chinese - I have never watched so much curling in my life. We got some dinner at a restaurant close by. It was an interesting experience because we ate in this huge banquet room but were the only ones there. I ordered soup and it came out in a huge mixing bowl. We also ordered fried rice which came out in like a wooden bucket. It was strange but that happened to be the trend when it came to dining in China. Afterwards, Sarah (my hotel roommate) and I read Chelsea Handler’s book about all of her one night stands. It is very funny – you should read it for sure.
Day Three: Thursday February 18th 2010
So I woke up and went to the best continental breakfast of my life. Or maybe I just thought it was good because it was the best breakfast I have had in a while. All I had was eggs, toast, watermelon, and baby oranges (the size of pong balls). There were also these Chinese puff balls filled with something yellow that were delicious.
Our first stop today was the Forbidden City. This used to be the emperor's house. Basically you entered into these doors and this palace was the size of a small town. It was a lot of open area but there was tons of history in it that we learned about. Next, we went to Tiananmen Square. I am embarrassed to say that I don’t know much about this other than there was a super long line of people in line to see Chairman Mao’s dead body. Weird.
Okay so after those two places we went to the silk market. Let me try to get this picture in our head. It was an indoor market. 6 floors. All fake everything. From fake northfaces to uggs to watches, phones, polos, jeans, makeup, jewelery, etc. EVERYTHING. I have never been so overwhelmed in my whole entire life. We only had an hour and a half so I felt some-what rushed. I walked and walked and walked trying to figure out what to buy. I left with some fake true religion jeans, a fake Ralph lauren polo, and a watch. Total money spent: around 27 american dollars. But really, it was crazy because the barterers are insane. All they know how to say is “Hey lady want some ___(insert whatever they were selling)?!”
THEN, WE HEADED TO THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA! We went to the Simaiti part. We hiked for a little while to get a good position to watch the sunset. Unfortunately, the clouds hid the sunset so we didn’t see much but it was still such a nice view. (we come back to the Great Wall later today)
We left to get some dinner. Now, let me describe this meal to you in detail because a couple other of the meals we had (later on in the trip) were exactly like this one. 6 -8 of us sat around a table. In the middle of the table is a piece of circle glass that spins around. We each had our own small plate, small bowl, and chopsticks (no napkins anywhere in China). About five minutes after we sat down a plate of food was put on the glass that spins. Then every 2 or 3 minutes another dish came out. There was probably a total of 17 dishes by the end. The dishes were things like orange chicken, chicken with nuts, pork and egg, corn stuff, rice, soup, tofu something or other, and a couple veggie dishes. It was very overwhelming. We all are like stuffing our faces just to keep up with all the dishes. By the end we all feel like we have ten food babies inside of us. It was good but got old fast. There was also beer with every meal so that made some people even more full.
This is when the night gets intense. After dinner we headed to the Jingsaling part of the Great Wall. We were all bundled up because it about -15 degrees celsius. Give or Take. I was wearing underarmour, long sleeves, zip up hoodie, half zip sweatshirt, regular hoodie, northface, and rain jacket. On the bottom I had underarmour spandex, yoga pants, and fleece warm yoga pants. Then, two pairs of wool socks on. We started hiking up to our sleeping spot. Because, oh ifI didn’t mention – we were sleeping on the great wall for the night. As we began hiking my layers felt a little over bearing. About 750 steps upward later (no exaggeration) we got to the sleep spot. We could either sleep out on the wall (with no walls on it) or inside a temple that had no doors or windows. I chose the temple to help protect myself from the wind. The stars were AMAZING. Like picture the planetarium times a million. There was no smog blocking our view of the sky. I have never see the constellations so bright before. I felt like I could have unbuckled orion’s belt if I wanted to (because we were that close)…is that weird? Anyways, soon after that I got a sleeping back and mat (about 1 cm thick) and found my sleeping spot. I bundled myself in and fell asleep. About an hour later I woke up. FREEZING. I have never been so cold in my life. And, if you know me, I HATE being cold. But, I was on the Great Wall so I definitely wasn’t going to complain. I woke up at least 25 more times by 7:30 the next morning for one of the following reasons:
I had to pee very badly but did not know how to go pee without a toilet (since there are no toilets on the great wall)
I was freezing and thought my toes had fallen off and were floating in my socks.
I could not breath because I had two scarves covering my mouth and my head was dug into my sleeping bag.
Despite all the bitching I just did, IT WAS WORTH IT. The next morning all my problems were solved because:
I peed on the Great Wall, literally.
We began hiking and I got warm very fast
I could breath very easily while hiking because the air was fresh and free of any stanks.
Day Four: Friday, February 19th 2010
Like I said, I woke up and became happy very fast. We had some breakfast on the Great wall – hot water (because I did not want any powdered coffee mixed in), apples, pastries, and cookies. Yum. Then, we began our hike. We did about 4 miles total today. But, do not act like that isn’t a big deal because on the Wall it is. Some of the stairs were so steep I had to use my hands and legs so I didn’t fall back. And, some of the ramps downward were so steep I had to hold onto the wall so I didn’t fall down. The hike was nothing but amazing. I loved every step I took. We took a while because we were allowed to go at our own pace and take pictures as we pleased.
At the end of our hike….we ZIP-LINED!! The funny thing about this is that there weren’t really any rules other than you had to wear a harness. But, I don’t actually know if that was even a rule, more of a strong suggestion. It was like 5 dollars to zip-line and you just took your bags with you. You did not need to sign any type of release form. If you wanted to go two at a time, you could. Greta and I went together and I video taped the whole things. Basically we zip-lined from the great wall across a small body of water to the other side of this water where the restaurant we were eating lunch was. IT WAS SWEET.
Afterwards we had lunch. It was the same exact meal at the dinner the night before. I wasn’t feelin it so I only had a little of each thing and then ate some chocolate later on. YUM.
One would think that after sleeping on the Great Wall and then hiking on it that the next step would be some form of rest. But, no. We don’t waste time. We headed right to the Olympic Village. Also, very sweet. We saw the Swim Cube, Birds Nest, and other arenas. It was very cool to see. We did not go inside but we walked around and saw where the Olympics had been in 2008. There isn’t much to say about some of this stuff other than wait til I post the pics.
Then, we headed back to the hotel. We had the rest of the night off but had a big day ahead of us. Consequently, we got some dinner at a local hot spot and hit the sack around 9:30.
Day Five: Saturday February 20th 2010
Palace, festival, Palace, food, festival, shopping. That’s pretty much how it went today.
Today I woke up and got breakfast at the hotel again. YUM. Our first stop today was the Temple of Earth. Basically, it was a huge carnival of festivities, shopping, parades, and shows to celebrate Chinese New Year. We were able to go off on our own so we bought some fun stuff, walked around and watched. People-watching is pretty exciting in China. There is so much that people do differently. I would call them strange but I am sure they would call me strange also. (Once again, wait for the pics) I felt famous here. I had people taking pictures of me like they were paparazzi and I was a super star. But really, I was a white freckly girl with a goofy Chinese hat on (Greg- if you read this the hat I was wearing is a present for you, you’re welcome). People were lovin’ it.
Next, we went to the Summer Palace which is the Palace of the Dragon Lady. Then, we took a rickshaw ride around this little town called HuTong. We went into a local’s house and had some good food and made dumplings. It was great to see a traditional Chinese home.
Our last stop on the agenda was the Beijing Acrobat Show. OH MY GOODNESS I literally almost bought the dvd of the show afterwards just so all of you could see what I witnessed. It was insane. It was like amazing acrobatic moves mixed with the Chinese Culture (super strange). I do not know how to describe it at all. At one point there were two circles that looked like human hamster wheels that were attached. This contraption was suspended in the air and there was a guy in each wheel. The contraption spun around in circles like a carnival ride and the guys would do flips inside and then went on the outside and ran around the outside. This was the weirdest and craziest thing ever. That was just one of the many acts involved. Try You-Tubing ‘Beijing Acrobat Show’ and see if anything comes up. If it does – watch it.
That night was a wild one. We went to some bars to experience the night life. I went around with some of my guy friends and danced & and karaoked the night away!!! One thing that I noticed this night was that at the kareoke bars there were Chinese people singing songs in english. I asked Vincent if these people knew english and he said no, they only know the songs. They didnt even know the meaning of any of the weirds. I found that kinda interesting.
Day six: Sunday, February 21st 2010
Today was our last day on the tour. We went to the Temple of Heaven. It was really weird in here because it was more like a temple and then a public park. There were tons of festivities going on that were so random. For instance, there were a few ladies singing chinese opera, tons of people playing cards, and some old people playing chinese hacky-sack. When we got to this one open area there were like 100 older people just dancing around to different music playing on a loud speaker. Some were doing their own line dances, others just had their eyes closed and were moving freely. It looked totally strange but was super cool. I took videos that are real funny. Right beside the temple of heaven was an outdoor public gym. It was like a play ground for stretching and exercising. There were like elliptical looking things that had the leg parts swinging back and fourth. It was all so unique and interesting.
Later, we ate Hot Pot. Basically, what happens is they put this pot (that is super hot) in front of you and three other people that has boiling water in it. Then they bring out trays and trays of food that you cook in this hot pot. There was food from cabbage to meat to peanuts. It took a lot of work, especially for someone like me who sucks at chopsticks. but, it was very unique and fun to do. Apparently, its a really big thing to eat in winter time. Our guide said he has it three times a week with his friends.
The rest of the night was blur just because everyone was super sleepy and we all pretty much just packed and crashed really early. My flight to Hong Kong was the next morning.
HONG KONG
Day seven & Day eight: Monday & Tuesday February 22nd and 23rd
These were my two days in Hong Kong. I did not do anything too eventful since I was exhausted and since there was free wifi in the mall right next to our ship. But, Hong Kong was a really interesting place. It is a part of China but is not really like it at all. The way I would describe Hong Kong would be like a mix of Tokyo and New York City with a tropical touch. It is a set of islands so there is water and trees around. But, it is also a very trendy city with a mix of different people and a ton of high end shops.
The first day I used the Wifi, took a nap, and then got some dinner at a little local place. My friends and I walked around the city and saw the light show that goes on at the city sky line. Then, we checked out the markets. I am pretty marketed out after China but i know there are tons more to come in Vietnam! There was a crazy night life in Hong Kong with a whole street of cool bars. I didn’t participate since i was already running on empty and super sick from sleeping on the Great Wall in such cold weather so I took the subway back and called it quits (after skyping for hours). The next day we went to a famous Dim Sum place which was pretty ritzy but it was really good. Then, we took a cable car up to victoria’s peek. This is a mountain that overlooks the city. It was a really nice view.
That was all for Hong Kong!
Day one: Tuesday February 16th 2009
We arrived in China. It was pretty freaking cold. This was my only day in Shanghai so I took the day to explore. I went around with my friends Tolan and Sarah. Currently it is Chinese New Year. I had heard rumors that it is not what Americans think it is (dragons and festivities everywhere) but those rumors were fortunately not true. The first place we went was called old town and it was INSANE. Like there were people everywhere. It was basically just shops, food stands, weird statues, and other random stuff. In China it is NOT rude to push and shove. Consequently, there was a ton of pushing and shoving. I felt like I was at a concert trying to get to the front row.
After that we walked around, got a rickshaw ride to the wrong place, walked more, and then got some dinner. The food in China is definitely different from Japan. The portions were bigger, there was more sauce, and it was more meat and less fish. We ate dinner at a part of Shanghai called People’s Square. It was like a huge promenade. Like HUGE. There were lights everywhere and stores from Nike to Gucci. There were also a lot of candy stores so we ate a lot of candy. We hung out there the rest of the night and then called it quits around 11 and headed back to the ship.
This may seem like an ordinary day but it wasn’t. Let me tell you some things I noticed in China:
People look at me like I am alien. I don’t know whether it’s the freckles, the curly hair, or my bod but I have not been stared at so much in my LIFE
China is dirty. So dirty. People throw trash in the street when they are done with it, the let their kids pee on trees, there is a constant smell of poop.
Drivers are so wild. Like there is no such thing as an illegal u-turn. Pedestrians never ever have the right of way. I don’t know if there is a speed limit. And if you don’t move cars will hit you (& buses, bikers, and moped-ers)
The Chinese eat anything. ANYTHING.
China is super super cheap and bartering is out of hand. If you show the slightest interest in a product you will be bothered by a barterer and not left alone until you buy that product. Although, you usually get it for a disgustingly cheap price
OHHHHH AND THE BATHROOMS ARE UNUSUAL. Well, they are this way in numerous places but the toilets are in the ground so you have to squat and aim. I am a girl who has not done a squat in months and was never taught to aim.
Day two: Wednesday February 17 2010
I woke up, got breakfast, and headed to the airport to go to Beijing. My friends Greta, Sarah, and Chloe were all doing the same trip as me so we traveled together. The airport was nothing too exciting. It was pretty much the same as any airport in America except stuff was written in China and security wasn’t quite as strict. The flight went smoothly. It was about two hours long. Our plane was huge – there were about 8 seats across in each row. Even though it was only a two hour flight we still got a full meal. It consisted of a container of water, some water melon, chicken and rice, and some dried radish.
When we got to Beijing our tour guides were waiting for us with a Semester at Sea sign. Let me just say we lucked out with tour guides. Vincent (<333) and Linda were their names. They were both 25 and spoke pretty good English and were totally chill and fun. Vincent even went out with us at night. Anyways, from the airport we headed to the hotel. The hotel is nice. It is an old university building or something. It’s no Holiday Inn but I have no complaints about it. We took it easy for the rest of the night. The olympics were on in Chinese - I have never watched so much curling in my life. We got some dinner at a restaurant close by. It was an interesting experience because we ate in this huge banquet room but were the only ones there. I ordered soup and it came out in a huge mixing bowl. We also ordered fried rice which came out in like a wooden bucket. It was strange but that happened to be the trend when it came to dining in China. Afterwards, Sarah (my hotel roommate) and I read Chelsea Handler’s book about all of her one night stands. It is very funny – you should read it for sure.
Day Three: Thursday February 18th 2010
So I woke up and went to the best continental breakfast of my life. Or maybe I just thought it was good because it was the best breakfast I have had in a while. All I had was eggs, toast, watermelon, and baby oranges (the size of pong balls). There were also these Chinese puff balls filled with something yellow that were delicious.
Our first stop today was the Forbidden City. This used to be the emperor's house. Basically you entered into these doors and this palace was the size of a small town. It was a lot of open area but there was tons of history in it that we learned about. Next, we went to Tiananmen Square. I am embarrassed to say that I don’t know much about this other than there was a super long line of people in line to see Chairman Mao’s dead body. Weird.
Okay so after those two places we went to the silk market. Let me try to get this picture in our head. It was an indoor market. 6 floors. All fake everything. From fake northfaces to uggs to watches, phones, polos, jeans, makeup, jewelery, etc. EVERYTHING. I have never been so overwhelmed in my whole entire life. We only had an hour and a half so I felt some-what rushed. I walked and walked and walked trying to figure out what to buy. I left with some fake true religion jeans, a fake Ralph lauren polo, and a watch. Total money spent: around 27 american dollars. But really, it was crazy because the barterers are insane. All they know how to say is “Hey lady want some ___(insert whatever they were selling)?!”
THEN, WE HEADED TO THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA! We went to the Simaiti part. We hiked for a little while to get a good position to watch the sunset. Unfortunately, the clouds hid the sunset so we didn’t see much but it was still such a nice view. (we come back to the Great Wall later today)
We left to get some dinner. Now, let me describe this meal to you in detail because a couple other of the meals we had (later on in the trip) were exactly like this one. 6 -8 of us sat around a table. In the middle of the table is a piece of circle glass that spins around. We each had our own small plate, small bowl, and chopsticks (no napkins anywhere in China). About five minutes after we sat down a plate of food was put on the glass that spins. Then every 2 or 3 minutes another dish came out. There was probably a total of 17 dishes by the end. The dishes were things like orange chicken, chicken with nuts, pork and egg, corn stuff, rice, soup, tofu something or other, and a couple veggie dishes. It was very overwhelming. We all are like stuffing our faces just to keep up with all the dishes. By the end we all feel like we have ten food babies inside of us. It was good but got old fast. There was also beer with every meal so that made some people even more full.
This is when the night gets intense. After dinner we headed to the Jingsaling part of the Great Wall. We were all bundled up because it about -15 degrees celsius. Give or Take. I was wearing underarmour, long sleeves, zip up hoodie, half zip sweatshirt, regular hoodie, northface, and rain jacket. On the bottom I had underarmour spandex, yoga pants, and fleece warm yoga pants. Then, two pairs of wool socks on. We started hiking up to our sleeping spot. Because, oh ifI didn’t mention – we were sleeping on the great wall for the night. As we began hiking my layers felt a little over bearing. About 750 steps upward later (no exaggeration) we got to the sleep spot. We could either sleep out on the wall (with no walls on it) or inside a temple that had no doors or windows. I chose the temple to help protect myself from the wind. The stars were AMAZING. Like picture the planetarium times a million. There was no smog blocking our view of the sky. I have never see the constellations so bright before. I felt like I could have unbuckled orion’s belt if I wanted to (because we were that close)…is that weird? Anyways, soon after that I got a sleeping back and mat (about 1 cm thick) and found my sleeping spot. I bundled myself in and fell asleep. About an hour later I woke up. FREEZING. I have never been so cold in my life. And, if you know me, I HATE being cold. But, I was on the Great Wall so I definitely wasn’t going to complain. I woke up at least 25 more times by 7:30 the next morning for one of the following reasons:
I had to pee very badly but did not know how to go pee without a toilet (since there are no toilets on the great wall)
I was freezing and thought my toes had fallen off and were floating in my socks.
I could not breath because I had two scarves covering my mouth and my head was dug into my sleeping bag.
Despite all the bitching I just did, IT WAS WORTH IT. The next morning all my problems were solved because:
I peed on the Great Wall, literally.
We began hiking and I got warm very fast
I could breath very easily while hiking because the air was fresh and free of any stanks.
Day Four: Friday, February 19th 2010
Like I said, I woke up and became happy very fast. We had some breakfast on the Great wall – hot water (because I did not want any powdered coffee mixed in), apples, pastries, and cookies. Yum. Then, we began our hike. We did about 4 miles total today. But, do not act like that isn’t a big deal because on the Wall it is. Some of the stairs were so steep I had to use my hands and legs so I didn’t fall back. And, some of the ramps downward were so steep I had to hold onto the wall so I didn’t fall down. The hike was nothing but amazing. I loved every step I took. We took a while because we were allowed to go at our own pace and take pictures as we pleased.
At the end of our hike….we ZIP-LINED!! The funny thing about this is that there weren’t really any rules other than you had to wear a harness. But, I don’t actually know if that was even a rule, more of a strong suggestion. It was like 5 dollars to zip-line and you just took your bags with you. You did not need to sign any type of release form. If you wanted to go two at a time, you could. Greta and I went together and I video taped the whole things. Basically we zip-lined from the great wall across a small body of water to the other side of this water where the restaurant we were eating lunch was. IT WAS SWEET.
Afterwards we had lunch. It was the same exact meal at the dinner the night before. I wasn’t feelin it so I only had a little of each thing and then ate some chocolate later on. YUM.
One would think that after sleeping on the Great Wall and then hiking on it that the next step would be some form of rest. But, no. We don’t waste time. We headed right to the Olympic Village. Also, very sweet. We saw the Swim Cube, Birds Nest, and other arenas. It was very cool to see. We did not go inside but we walked around and saw where the Olympics had been in 2008. There isn’t much to say about some of this stuff other than wait til I post the pics.
Then, we headed back to the hotel. We had the rest of the night off but had a big day ahead of us. Consequently, we got some dinner at a local hot spot and hit the sack around 9:30.
Day Five: Saturday February 20th 2010
Palace, festival, Palace, food, festival, shopping. That’s pretty much how it went today.
Today I woke up and got breakfast at the hotel again. YUM. Our first stop today was the Temple of Earth. Basically, it was a huge carnival of festivities, shopping, parades, and shows to celebrate Chinese New Year. We were able to go off on our own so we bought some fun stuff, walked around and watched. People-watching is pretty exciting in China. There is so much that people do differently. I would call them strange but I am sure they would call me strange also. (Once again, wait for the pics) I felt famous here. I had people taking pictures of me like they were paparazzi and I was a super star. But really, I was a white freckly girl with a goofy Chinese hat on (Greg- if you read this the hat I was wearing is a present for you, you’re welcome). People were lovin’ it.
Next, we went to the Summer Palace which is the Palace of the Dragon Lady. Then, we took a rickshaw ride around this little town called HuTong. We went into a local’s house and had some good food and made dumplings. It was great to see a traditional Chinese home.
Our last stop on the agenda was the Beijing Acrobat Show. OH MY GOODNESS I literally almost bought the dvd of the show afterwards just so all of you could see what I witnessed. It was insane. It was like amazing acrobatic moves mixed with the Chinese Culture (super strange). I do not know how to describe it at all. At one point there were two circles that looked like human hamster wheels that were attached. This contraption was suspended in the air and there was a guy in each wheel. The contraption spun around in circles like a carnival ride and the guys would do flips inside and then went on the outside and ran around the outside. This was the weirdest and craziest thing ever. That was just one of the many acts involved. Try You-Tubing ‘Beijing Acrobat Show’ and see if anything comes up. If it does – watch it.
That night was a wild one. We went to some bars to experience the night life. I went around with some of my guy friends and danced & and karaoked the night away!!! One thing that I noticed this night was that at the kareoke bars there were Chinese people singing songs in english. I asked Vincent if these people knew english and he said no, they only know the songs. They didnt even know the meaning of any of the weirds. I found that kinda interesting.
Day six: Sunday, February 21st 2010
Today was our last day on the tour. We went to the Temple of Heaven. It was really weird in here because it was more like a temple and then a public park. There were tons of festivities going on that were so random. For instance, there were a few ladies singing chinese opera, tons of people playing cards, and some old people playing chinese hacky-sack. When we got to this one open area there were like 100 older people just dancing around to different music playing on a loud speaker. Some were doing their own line dances, others just had their eyes closed and were moving freely. It looked totally strange but was super cool. I took videos that are real funny. Right beside the temple of heaven was an outdoor public gym. It was like a play ground for stretching and exercising. There were like elliptical looking things that had the leg parts swinging back and fourth. It was all so unique and interesting.
Later, we ate Hot Pot. Basically, what happens is they put this pot (that is super hot) in front of you and three other people that has boiling water in it. Then they bring out trays and trays of food that you cook in this hot pot. There was food from cabbage to meat to peanuts. It took a lot of work, especially for someone like me who sucks at chopsticks. but, it was very unique and fun to do. Apparently, its a really big thing to eat in winter time. Our guide said he has it three times a week with his friends.
The rest of the night was blur just because everyone was super sleepy and we all pretty much just packed and crashed really early. My flight to Hong Kong was the next morning.
HONG KONG
Day seven & Day eight: Monday & Tuesday February 22nd and 23rd
These were my two days in Hong Kong. I did not do anything too eventful since I was exhausted and since there was free wifi in the mall right next to our ship. But, Hong Kong was a really interesting place. It is a part of China but is not really like it at all. The way I would describe Hong Kong would be like a mix of Tokyo and New York City with a tropical touch. It is a set of islands so there is water and trees around. But, it is also a very trendy city with a mix of different people and a ton of high end shops.
The first day I used the Wifi, took a nap, and then got some dinner at a little local place. My friends and I walked around the city and saw the light show that goes on at the city sky line. Then, we checked out the markets. I am pretty marketed out after China but i know there are tons more to come in Vietnam! There was a crazy night life in Hong Kong with a whole street of cool bars. I didn’t participate since i was already running on empty and super sick from sleeping on the Great Wall in such cold weather so I took the subway back and called it quits (after skyping for hours). The next day we went to a famous Dim Sum place which was pretty ritzy but it was really good. Then, we took a cable car up to victoria’s peek. This is a mountain that overlooks the city. It was a really nice view.
That was all for Hong Kong!
Sunday, February 14, 2010
JAPAN!!!
Today- Sunday February 14th. It is Valentines Day!!!! I do not have a Valentine on the boat but my roommate was nice enough to give me a box of chocolate she had bought for her home stay family instead of giving it to them i guess? oh well! i’m not complaining! Its 3 pm and i am already done the box :)
We have class today and tomorrow and then arrive in China on Tuesday the 16th. I am going on a trip with a bunch of other semester at sea kids so it will be relaxing to not have to navigate through China independently. We will be exploring some parts of Shanghai and then flying to bejing and hiking on the great wall. Then, venturing to Hong Kong. While on the ship for the next couple days I am just going to catch up on some sleep and do some laundry in my bathroom sink since the laundry service doesn’t do my floor’s laundry until after vietnam which is gross since i only have like three pairs of pants.
After China we head to Vietnam and then India. I have no plans for either of those places so if ANYONE has any suggestions of what I should go see or anything please email me (I know to go see the Taj Mahal already).
NOTE: I love sending post cards but do not really have any addresses so please email me your address if you are interested in a post card!!
Here is a recap of everything I did in Japan. Enjoy!
Tuesday 2/9/2010:
First day in Japan was super wild. i was traveling with three of my friends: Max (south Dakota), Ryann(Cali), and Lele(Boulder). They all go to University of Colorado Boulder. We started off departing the ship in Yokahama. We had prebought ourJapan Rail Passes and needed to go pick them up so that was our first stop. Afterward, we made our way to the Ramen Noodle Museum. It was...interesting. When we walked in we were in the souvenir shop. It was full of little toys and weird foods (that seemed to be the pattern of things found in most Japanese stores from here on out). When we ventured downstairs we found ourselves in some sort of ‘town’? It was all these mini restaurants around the outside with tables and a concession stand of treats in the middle. I wasnt going to leave without eating there so i picked a mini restaurant randomly since none of the menus or signs were in english. I chose what i wanted out of a machine in front of the restaurant. Then, i handed the little sheet of paper that the machine printed to the waiter. Not realizing that you had to eat inside the restaurant you ordered from and not out in the open eating area I ended up eating separately from my group but i enjoyed my ramen based soup. After eating we decided to head out. The museum was referred to as a ‘food amusement park’ but i can’t say that was true to name. It was an interesting place but definitely not worth more than the 300 yen we paid.
Next, we made our way to Tokyo. At this point we were aware of the fact that there was barely any english on signs and not many people spoke very good english. Consequently, it was quite the adventure in every train and subway station. We eventually found the bullet train to Tokyo and got there in no time. TOKYO IS HUGE. Picture New York City with all of the signs in Japanese. It was kind of like that but even bigger.
We had our first authentic dinner in a small place that we thought looked interesting. After butchering the Japanese word for rice for about five minutes our waiting said “are you trying to order rice?” and we were like ‘wait...you speak english?” and indeed he did. Kind of embarassing, oh well. That made the ordering process a little easier. We ended up getting some meat skewers and rice. It was pretty good.
We had heard about this famous Tokyo Ice Bar. It was the only plans we had made our whole time in Japan so we were determined to get there. After a lot of confusion, some walking, and a cab ride we arrived at what we thought was our destination. Long story short the Ice Bar had moved across Tokyo but we were told that it had closed. It took us quite some time to realize this. Needless to say, once we found it (two hours later) we were super relieved. We were meeting two other groups there at 9. Around 8:50 we pulled up to the right location we got out of out cab and saw some of our friends walking from the left, some getting off a bus to the right, and some pulling up in a different taxi. It was funny because we could all tell that each group had their own story of how they’d been so lost and trying to find this bar for hours. I have never been so relieved to see some familiar faces though. In the end it was way cool. The whole bar was ice - the bar itself, the cups, the seats the walls. They gave us robes when we walked in and one drink came free with the cover change. It was pretty sick but definitely got cold quickly. Our reservation was for 45 minutes and that was more than enough time in there.
The night got a little more chaotic all this point. Our group went from 4 people to about 30. Eventually we all split and went to numerous places. Every place whether it was a bar, restaurant, or karaoke room it was super small. We stopped at a few bars but felt very uncomfortable because they all seemed like very small local places that didnt want tourists. Eventually we all met up at a Karaoke place. Kareoke in Japan is HUGE. The way it works is that you rent a room to yourselves and do karaoke that way. It got late so we didnt stay long but seeing the way it is run was interesting. the night ended by us tagging along with some other friends and staying at their hostel. The hostel was nice - just a room for us with 4 sets of bunk beds and a communal bathroom.
Wednesday 2/10/2010
Today we had an early start. We headed to the giant fish market in Tokyo around 5 a.m. It was huge. I have never felt so in the way in my life. there were tons and tons of fish of all kinds everywhere. there were butchers killing fish and gutting them. There were little carts flying around hauling boxes of fish. it was crazy there.
Afterwards we went back to the hostel and took a nap. We then got some soup for lunch and headed to the shopping districts- Shinbuya and Hirijuku. Both of them were insane. Stores and people EVERYWHERE. There were stores from high scale american stores to low scale Japanese shops. Gadgets to shoes. Nothing like I have ever seen before. We were looking for the Hirijuku girls but had no luck. There were some fashionable people but none that were like WOW. (Quin if you are reading this you would have LOVED it and probably would have spent all of your money). The forever 21 was 4 floors!
That night we headed back to the main part of Tokyo. We found some dinner at a sushi place that I think was a Japanese chain restaurant. Either way it was very good. Although I am going to have to give props to the eastern dragon at home because it was almost as good as the sushi in Japan. Anyways, we then found a capsule hotel to stay at. I dont know if you have heard of these but basically you have your own like box with one side missing. its kind of like bunk beds that are enclosed. There is one side open that just has a curtain. You have a locker to lock your valuables. I was nervous at first because anyone could just like enter my capsule. But, more SAS students stayed in the same room as us so that was reassuring. There was a public bath room that i did not use because it was coed and that’s awkward. Knowing myself I am sure I would have run into some sort of really awkward situation if i went in there. SPEAKING OF AWKWARD some of the toilets were built into the ground so you had to squat way low and know how to aim which i cant say i was very good at. (sorry that is weird to say but whatev)
Thursday 2/11/2010
Our plans for Japan were to wing it completely and those plans are going great. We woke up around 6 this morning and got on the Bullet train to Kyoto. Kyoto is a smaller city than Tokyo with some more traditional parts such as temples and shrines. Unfortunately it was cold and raining today. We decided to find a place to sleep first so that we didn’t have to carry our bags around all day like we had been doing for the past couple days. Our shoulders were getting pretty sore. Max had his blackberry with internet so that helped us search for places to sleep and google maps helped us get everywhere. We ended up at a traditional styled Japanese place. The room we slept in was two small rooms divided by a sliding door. The ceiling was slanted and the whole place was made of wood. There were mats built into the floors and pads to roll out when it came time to sleep. It was really cool looking. We had our own bathroom which was nice. The crazy thing was that it was not in the middle of the city so we figured we would be the only SAS people staying there. But, that night when we got back i saw my friends Sarah and Tolan (the ones i traveled around Hawaii with) there. So not only did some other SAS people find it but they were my good friends. Pretty ironic.
Anyways that day we walked around this indoor market/mall and got a sense of Japanese shopping and such. It was a very chill day which was nice. We did not do as much walking as some of the other days so that was a nice break. We did see two huge Temples. They were like nothing I had ever seen before. The one was the biggest wood building made or something crazy like that. We headed back to our place and got dried off and relaxed for a few hours just talking. It was nice to hear eachother’s stories from home about family and school and everything. We had an okay dinner afterwards. I got some sort of Hotpot with chicken meatballs. Let me just say that none of the people i traveled with were familiar with the last name ‘Patel’. I thought that was strange since in Hatfield we are very familiar with that name.
Friday 2/12/2010
Today was my favorite day in Japan. We stayed in Kyoto and decided to explore since yesterday’s weather had held us back. We rented bikes for only 500 yen a day (5 U.S. dollars. We rode all over - To little towns, more awesome temples, and a few other random areas. It was great to see so much in so little time. It was also great to be riding rather than walking. The city was pretty bike-friendly. The side walks were not clearly marked but for the majority of our riding time we were on a bike path. We hit some hills which were pretty tough on an old single speed cruiser but we made it. Our first stop on the bikes was breakfast. We went into this Japanese cafe not knowing what to expect. We somehow pointed to a random thing on the menu and ended up with a pretty western meal - bacon, eggs, toast, ketchup, and...salad? It was a nice change from fish and noodles for sure.
After our day of exploring we decided to move on. We got on the train with the intentions to head to Hiroshima but it was getting dark so we stopped half way in Kobe and ended up sleeping on the ship. it was a nice change to be back in our own beds for some time. We met up with some friends and got dinner together. We called it an early night because we were exhausted and decided to get up real early to head to Hiroshima.
Saturday 2/13/2010
Our last day in Japan: We got up early so that we had as much time to travel around as possible. Because we had bought the rail pass ahead of time we wanted to get as much use out of it as we could. We departed at 5:15 am to make our way to Hiroshima. After a subway ride and then a bullet train ride we arrived. We got some breakfast as soon as we got there. There were these pastry places all over Japan. They were similar to panera only some wayy different options. The options ranged from a plain donut or muffin to a sweet potato pie with fish and bacon inside. It was petty weird but definitely had some good choices. We ate at these type places numerous times since they were cheap and quick. After breakfast we headed to the Atomic Bomb Sight of Hiroshima, took some pictures, and got back on the bus to continue our travels. The sight was one dome building that had survived the bombing. There was a museum we did not have to go to. Our plan was to go to the oldest hot springs in Japan. We took the Bullet train back to Kobe then a bus, a subway, a tram car type thing, another bus, and then we got to a cable car. The cable car was suppose to take us to the Gondola which was suppose to take us to the hot springs. After deciphering a badly translated sign we realized that the Gondola was shut down for service. Therefore, we had traveled for about 5 hours to take an uneventful cable car ride up to the top of a mountain to see a sweet view of the city of Kobe. It was kind of a bummer that we did not get to the hot springs but the adventure was fun and we still saw a lot.
Overall: Japan was unreal. There were some things that I noticed everywhere I went:
First, was that there was anime pictures everywhere - In trains, billboards, small advertisements, etc. No advertisement looked serious because it had some kid of weird character on it.
Second, there were no napkins and minimal trashcans in the roads. Every restaurant would give you a hot towel to start and then no napkin after that. For all the slurping the Japanese do (since it is acceptable) I would think they would need napkins. As for trashcans they believe that you should throw away your trash in your own house. Plus, no one eats or drinks in public on the go.
Third, it was quiet everywhere. The trains, buses, and streets were also silent. I felt like a stupid loud american just from holding a conversation with a friend.
Fourth, crosswalk signs were a man with a hat on. i have a picture to explain but rather than it being a neutral person shown walking on signs or on the blinking green electronic sign in intersections it was a neutral person with a top hat on. Weird.
Lastly, there were strange sounds in public. For instance, when the subway came a strange carnival sound would play on the loud speakers. On some buses there would be jingles playing. On the toilets you could press a button for a fake flush sound.
That’s all for now!
We have class today and tomorrow and then arrive in China on Tuesday the 16th. I am going on a trip with a bunch of other semester at sea kids so it will be relaxing to not have to navigate through China independently. We will be exploring some parts of Shanghai and then flying to bejing and hiking on the great wall. Then, venturing to Hong Kong. While on the ship for the next couple days I am just going to catch up on some sleep and do some laundry in my bathroom sink since the laundry service doesn’t do my floor’s laundry until after vietnam which is gross since i only have like three pairs of pants.
After China we head to Vietnam and then India. I have no plans for either of those places so if ANYONE has any suggestions of what I should go see or anything please email me (I know to go see the Taj Mahal already).
NOTE: I love sending post cards but do not really have any addresses so please email me your address if you are interested in a post card!!
Here is a recap of everything I did in Japan. Enjoy!
Tuesday 2/9/2010:
First day in Japan was super wild. i was traveling with three of my friends: Max (south Dakota), Ryann(Cali), and Lele(Boulder). They all go to University of Colorado Boulder. We started off departing the ship in Yokahama. We had prebought ourJapan Rail Passes and needed to go pick them up so that was our first stop. Afterward, we made our way to the Ramen Noodle Museum. It was...interesting. When we walked in we were in the souvenir shop. It was full of little toys and weird foods (that seemed to be the pattern of things found in most Japanese stores from here on out). When we ventured downstairs we found ourselves in some sort of ‘town’? It was all these mini restaurants around the outside with tables and a concession stand of treats in the middle. I wasnt going to leave without eating there so i picked a mini restaurant randomly since none of the menus or signs were in english. I chose what i wanted out of a machine in front of the restaurant. Then, i handed the little sheet of paper that the machine printed to the waiter. Not realizing that you had to eat inside the restaurant you ordered from and not out in the open eating area I ended up eating separately from my group but i enjoyed my ramen based soup. After eating we decided to head out. The museum was referred to as a ‘food amusement park’ but i can’t say that was true to name. It was an interesting place but definitely not worth more than the 300 yen we paid.
Next, we made our way to Tokyo. At this point we were aware of the fact that there was barely any english on signs and not many people spoke very good english. Consequently, it was quite the adventure in every train and subway station. We eventually found the bullet train to Tokyo and got there in no time. TOKYO IS HUGE. Picture New York City with all of the signs in Japanese. It was kind of like that but even bigger.
We had our first authentic dinner in a small place that we thought looked interesting. After butchering the Japanese word for rice for about five minutes our waiting said “are you trying to order rice?” and we were like ‘wait...you speak english?” and indeed he did. Kind of embarassing, oh well. That made the ordering process a little easier. We ended up getting some meat skewers and rice. It was pretty good.
We had heard about this famous Tokyo Ice Bar. It was the only plans we had made our whole time in Japan so we were determined to get there. After a lot of confusion, some walking, and a cab ride we arrived at what we thought was our destination. Long story short the Ice Bar had moved across Tokyo but we were told that it had closed. It took us quite some time to realize this. Needless to say, once we found it (two hours later) we were super relieved. We were meeting two other groups there at 9. Around 8:50 we pulled up to the right location we got out of out cab and saw some of our friends walking from the left, some getting off a bus to the right, and some pulling up in a different taxi. It was funny because we could all tell that each group had their own story of how they’d been so lost and trying to find this bar for hours. I have never been so relieved to see some familiar faces though. In the end it was way cool. The whole bar was ice - the bar itself, the cups, the seats the walls. They gave us robes when we walked in and one drink came free with the cover change. It was pretty sick but definitely got cold quickly. Our reservation was for 45 minutes and that was more than enough time in there.
The night got a little more chaotic all this point. Our group went from 4 people to about 30. Eventually we all split and went to numerous places. Every place whether it was a bar, restaurant, or karaoke room it was super small. We stopped at a few bars but felt very uncomfortable because they all seemed like very small local places that didnt want tourists. Eventually we all met up at a Karaoke place. Kareoke in Japan is HUGE. The way it works is that you rent a room to yourselves and do karaoke that way. It got late so we didnt stay long but seeing the way it is run was interesting. the night ended by us tagging along with some other friends and staying at their hostel. The hostel was nice - just a room for us with 4 sets of bunk beds and a communal bathroom.
Wednesday 2/10/2010
Today we had an early start. We headed to the giant fish market in Tokyo around 5 a.m. It was huge. I have never felt so in the way in my life. there were tons and tons of fish of all kinds everywhere. there were butchers killing fish and gutting them. There were little carts flying around hauling boxes of fish. it was crazy there.
Afterwards we went back to the hostel and took a nap. We then got some soup for lunch and headed to the shopping districts- Shinbuya and Hirijuku. Both of them were insane. Stores and people EVERYWHERE. There were stores from high scale american stores to low scale Japanese shops. Gadgets to shoes. Nothing like I have ever seen before. We were looking for the Hirijuku girls but had no luck. There were some fashionable people but none that were like WOW. (Quin if you are reading this you would have LOVED it and probably would have spent all of your money). The forever 21 was 4 floors!
That night we headed back to the main part of Tokyo. We found some dinner at a sushi place that I think was a Japanese chain restaurant. Either way it was very good. Although I am going to have to give props to the eastern dragon at home because it was almost as good as the sushi in Japan. Anyways, we then found a capsule hotel to stay at. I dont know if you have heard of these but basically you have your own like box with one side missing. its kind of like bunk beds that are enclosed. There is one side open that just has a curtain. You have a locker to lock your valuables. I was nervous at first because anyone could just like enter my capsule. But, more SAS students stayed in the same room as us so that was reassuring. There was a public bath room that i did not use because it was coed and that’s awkward. Knowing myself I am sure I would have run into some sort of really awkward situation if i went in there. SPEAKING OF AWKWARD some of the toilets were built into the ground so you had to squat way low and know how to aim which i cant say i was very good at. (sorry that is weird to say but whatev)
Thursday 2/11/2010
Our plans for Japan were to wing it completely and those plans are going great. We woke up around 6 this morning and got on the Bullet train to Kyoto. Kyoto is a smaller city than Tokyo with some more traditional parts such as temples and shrines. Unfortunately it was cold and raining today. We decided to find a place to sleep first so that we didn’t have to carry our bags around all day like we had been doing for the past couple days. Our shoulders were getting pretty sore. Max had his blackberry with internet so that helped us search for places to sleep and google maps helped us get everywhere. We ended up at a traditional styled Japanese place. The room we slept in was two small rooms divided by a sliding door. The ceiling was slanted and the whole place was made of wood. There were mats built into the floors and pads to roll out when it came time to sleep. It was really cool looking. We had our own bathroom which was nice. The crazy thing was that it was not in the middle of the city so we figured we would be the only SAS people staying there. But, that night when we got back i saw my friends Sarah and Tolan (the ones i traveled around Hawaii with) there. So not only did some other SAS people find it but they were my good friends. Pretty ironic.
Anyways that day we walked around this indoor market/mall and got a sense of Japanese shopping and such. It was a very chill day which was nice. We did not do as much walking as some of the other days so that was a nice break. We did see two huge Temples. They were like nothing I had ever seen before. The one was the biggest wood building made or something crazy like that. We headed back to our place and got dried off and relaxed for a few hours just talking. It was nice to hear eachother’s stories from home about family and school and everything. We had an okay dinner afterwards. I got some sort of Hotpot with chicken meatballs. Let me just say that none of the people i traveled with were familiar with the last name ‘Patel’. I thought that was strange since in Hatfield we are very familiar with that name.
Friday 2/12/2010
Today was my favorite day in Japan. We stayed in Kyoto and decided to explore since yesterday’s weather had held us back. We rented bikes for only 500 yen a day (5 U.S. dollars. We rode all over - To little towns, more awesome temples, and a few other random areas. It was great to see so much in so little time. It was also great to be riding rather than walking. The city was pretty bike-friendly. The side walks were not clearly marked but for the majority of our riding time we were on a bike path. We hit some hills which were pretty tough on an old single speed cruiser but we made it. Our first stop on the bikes was breakfast. We went into this Japanese cafe not knowing what to expect. We somehow pointed to a random thing on the menu and ended up with a pretty western meal - bacon, eggs, toast, ketchup, and...salad? It was a nice change from fish and noodles for sure.
After our day of exploring we decided to move on. We got on the train with the intentions to head to Hiroshima but it was getting dark so we stopped half way in Kobe and ended up sleeping on the ship. it was a nice change to be back in our own beds for some time. We met up with some friends and got dinner together. We called it an early night because we were exhausted and decided to get up real early to head to Hiroshima.
Saturday 2/13/2010
Our last day in Japan: We got up early so that we had as much time to travel around as possible. Because we had bought the rail pass ahead of time we wanted to get as much use out of it as we could. We departed at 5:15 am to make our way to Hiroshima. After a subway ride and then a bullet train ride we arrived. We got some breakfast as soon as we got there. There were these pastry places all over Japan. They were similar to panera only some wayy different options. The options ranged from a plain donut or muffin to a sweet potato pie with fish and bacon inside. It was petty weird but definitely had some good choices. We ate at these type places numerous times since they were cheap and quick. After breakfast we headed to the Atomic Bomb Sight of Hiroshima, took some pictures, and got back on the bus to continue our travels. The sight was one dome building that had survived the bombing. There was a museum we did not have to go to. Our plan was to go to the oldest hot springs in Japan. We took the Bullet train back to Kobe then a bus, a subway, a tram car type thing, another bus, and then we got to a cable car. The cable car was suppose to take us to the Gondola which was suppose to take us to the hot springs. After deciphering a badly translated sign we realized that the Gondola was shut down for service. Therefore, we had traveled for about 5 hours to take an uneventful cable car ride up to the top of a mountain to see a sweet view of the city of Kobe. It was kind of a bummer that we did not get to the hot springs but the adventure was fun and we still saw a lot.
Overall: Japan was unreal. There were some things that I noticed everywhere I went:
First, was that there was anime pictures everywhere - In trains, billboards, small advertisements, etc. No advertisement looked serious because it had some kid of weird character on it.
Second, there were no napkins and minimal trashcans in the roads. Every restaurant would give you a hot towel to start and then no napkin after that. For all the slurping the Japanese do (since it is acceptable) I would think they would need napkins. As for trashcans they believe that you should throw away your trash in your own house. Plus, no one eats or drinks in public on the go.
Third, it was quiet everywhere. The trains, buses, and streets were also silent. I felt like a stupid loud american just from holding a conversation with a friend.
Fourth, crosswalk signs were a man with a hat on. i have a picture to explain but rather than it being a neutral person shown walking on signs or on the blinking green electronic sign in intersections it was a neutral person with a top hat on. Weird.
Lastly, there were strange sounds in public. For instance, when the subway came a strange carnival sound would play on the loud speakers. On some buses there would be jingles playing. On the toilets you could press a button for a fake flush sound.
That’s all for now!
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