jessica's tales: email 1



July 13, 2009
in search of mt.fuji, stirrup pants and scorpions!


hey guys,

so been a long time coming i know...hope it somehow made it thru the grapvine to you that we are alive and kicking...

so trip over was pretty ok - managed to score seats on the upper deck of the flight from vancouver to tokyo (9hrs?) - so that was sweet - no babies or kids and 60 ppl vs 200 in lower deck! movies ran continuously so lets get say im not just that into "he's just not that into you" anymore and hope i will never be "17 again"...in avoidance of mushrooms and some gross fish i choose to be a fruitopian again and that was ok as me and mum swapped from each others...

almost missed our connection from tokyo to nagoya - as we were gettin off the first plane a lady told us a different gate than our tickets - she looked pretty official and my japanese is not quite up to snuff to argue or ask questions so we headed there - i felt something was wrong and we asked 2 ppl if we were at the right gate and they said yes - stuck around for a bit more and it still felt wrong to me so i went up again and the guy gasped and realized we were at the wrong place and then we had to hightail it across the terminal of course - catch a trian to another terminal and get that all done in the 10 min we had before the plane left...i made sure the guy called that gate to let them know we were on our way - needless to say not too cool...and the adventure began...

i was kinda paranoid bout the whole swine flu bs but it was clear sailing thru japanese customs - i think we walked thru a temp scan (in china they actually came on the plane with like temp guns and stuck them to our foreheads which was kinda scary - one of the guys on our trip had someone on his plane who had a fever so they made everyone stay on the plane and ppl in white came on and did wierd things but they were all let off eventually - we were most worried about china becuase it think they are being the strictest but it was all good for us...)

jamie and his replacement teacher matt got the bosses car and picked us up from the a-port and tried to figure out japanese eps which was pretty hilarious - after a detour thru the burbs of nagoya we got to jamies friends apt where we were crashing for a few days. the place was actually quite bigger than i expected...wierdest thing was the toilet which for some insane reason the dude put like a fabric cover over the seat which was so gross...and there was a sink built into the top of the toilet! so you flush and then water comes out on top for you to wash your hands...weird. the whole of japanese toilets are totally wierd - you usually get an option to have a flushing noise running while you are doing your business so i guess for those who have stage fright that is a good thing...also there are tons that have different spray options for your pleasure - never was brave enough to try the "massage" setting - think i either would have been super awesome or super uncomfortable - but either way probably would have ended up with me exiting the stall with soaking wet pants and possibly shirt so just skipped that whole experience...there were a few squat toilets in japan but mostly western - our trians in china have had squatties which is not the best when on a moving entity but i just make sure to take off my pants completely to avoid any potentially dangerous situations! ok toilet talk over...for now.

so first night we got to the apt pretty late and just went to the supermarket with jam and matt and got some stuff to make dinner in the apt...next morn up at 6am (every fricken day in jap up at 6am!) and we were off the mt.fuji in the morn and then tokyo in aft...bullet trains all the way - fast but expensive. get to fuji and were greeted by lovely blanket clouds instead of scenic views...kinda reminded me of the time the fandamily went to mt.rushmore and the most exciting thing i saw there was a hawaii license plate...ended up going to this temple that was actually quite nice and not crowded at all so that was rad. climbed up a hill to see if we could see anything of the fuj but no dice...so i guess that means i will have to go back someday...and got a sweet postcard from the mayor of fujitown that roughly translated to "too bad suckers - come again soon!" - very exclusive gift...

tokyo afternoon was rad - not as crazy as i thought it would be for such a big citay...went up a tower for a view (still no effin fuj) went to the harajuku shopping district and saw a few crazy japanese ppl - mostly wierd outfits and hair - the big wierdo day is apparently sunday where they just swarm the area...the norm japanese fashion is high heels all the time - even when riding bikes, even when you are so knocked kneed you can't even walk and even when or your shoes are too big and you can't even walk! - and all heels (open toe or not) are accessoried with panty hose - so that looks quite nice. also apparently leggings and scrunchies are still cool here - and my personal fave the stirrup pant is back (or maybe never left?...man i woulda rocked japan in the late 80s). people are pretty much dressed up all the time so its awesome to be a bummy traveller and blend in seamlessly...

next day was kyoto all day - hit 4 major unesco sites in like 7 hrs - we are power tourists apparently...there are like 15 unesco world heritage sites in kyoto as there were able to save a lot of stuff from war action so its a pretty cool city...saw a working temple with monks (i was stalking them trying to get a good pic - im a total ppl stalker its prob actually pretty creepy) saw japans tallest pagoda, saw a crazy emperor palace that had nightingale floors that creaked and sounded like birds so ninjas could sneak into it, and saw a golden pavillion (like full on all golded out) on this little lake...did some underground subway shopping - all the subway stations seem to have like underground malls with them (samers in china) so thats kinda cool...me and mum went to the supermarket and got a bunch of wierd japanese stuff to try - the desserts are not so good - like gelatinous bean paste weirdness but had to try it!

next morn jams gf took us to see sumo wrestlers training which was pretty awesome becuase we were super close to the action - close enough that i was afraid one was going to fall on me and crush me...also close enough to see some nastiness in the form of huge sweaty men body - lets just say it was like looking at a car crash...but they did a bunch of warm up excersises - for being quite big they are pretty flexible and of course super strong...then they fought each other and whoever won would keep fighting until he lost...the main guy was actually a white guy who looked medeterranean or something...very hairy everywhere - you think he would actually be em-bare-assed haha...then in the aft went to nagoya palace which was cool and then dinner out with some of jams friends and his boss kose at a japanese bbq place...then a bit of a farewell hang with some of jams friends - bed at 2am and up at 5am to header to airport for beijing! kose drove us there and it was the only day it rained for us in japland - i said it was japan cryin because it was sad to see us go! prob true haha

then arrived in bei around 2ish got a taxi and got to our hotel - had some nappy times and then met the group around 6pm - we have a really good group - 15 plus leader (Jai-li or Jenny from China) 5 couples - 2 british, 1 danish, 1 oz, 1 kiwi, then 2 british guys and us 3...mum is oldest younges is 23 - avg age prob 25/26? will be lots of fun with them...all went out for dinner - its like getting chinese food at home - order a bunch of dishes and then split it all...no fortune cookies though - thats not chinese tradition...food is super good - so far not a ton of mushrooms which is aces...we just let jai-li order and have faith in her - hasn't let us down so far...the food here is very cheap - cheap beers and most drinks (vodka 4 me - not so cheap) back at hotel that night...next morn climbed the great wall - pretty hot but not dying hot - i think it was actually 35 degrees but the wall was fairly high up and seemed a bit cooler - the hardest part was actually climbing up to the starting point - the actual wall itself was not that bad...that night went to a shaolin show - basically the legend of kung fu and how it started...it was a good mix of acting, acrobatics, dancing and amazing martial arts strength and agility. pretty cool.

next day was tieneman square and forbidden city - forbidden city was huge - maybe saw 1/4 or 1/3 of it you could explore for hours - crowded with crazy asian tour groups - like leader on megaphone style which is nuts...had a luch at a little outdoor cafe then went to a park that overlooks forbidden city so you really get an idea of how huge it is...went to engrish bookstore and susses out the night market that we were gonna go back to at night - fell in love with candied fruit on a stick and eyeballed the scorpions on a stick that i was gonna eat later...they are live and moving and then they deep fry them...all you taste is seasoning! passed on the grubs, starfish and crickets - warned they weren't the greatest...scorpions were coolest - the ones i ate were like maybe an 1 1/2 not the creepy black ones but maybe will try those if get the chance again...mum was sickened and convinced i was gonna die that was prob the best part - i dont even think they were poisonous though...?

dinner was peking duck which was pretty good - tasted pretty much like turkey but fattier which was cool - oh yeah the night before my fave thing we've had (besides fruit sticks) was eggplant covered in sweet seasame seeds and kind of a light toffee - so amazing i think i ate 1/3 of the plate...then to the night market for my scorpion and candied fruit!

next day was free day in bei - me and mum and jam and 2 from the group headed out to the summer palace which was where the emperors when in summer (duh) lots of water and was nice and cool - highlight was a marble boat...for reals. then we took a rickshaw back to subway station..3 of us in one - poor guy...then hit up llama temple a tibetan temple that had the largest statue of buddha carved from a single tree - tons of incense - super cool. then temple of heaven and the highlight was an echoing wall that you could hear someone across the courtyard talking to you...super long day and everyone thought we were crazy for hitting all that up (power tourists!) - then got on a night train to shanghai - interesting but not too bad - 6 beds (3 on top of each other) in a cabin...me mum and jam were in one with some snoring and hoarking chinese - oh yeah the cool thing to do here is hoark your guts out and spit it out wherever...i was praying the dude on top of me wasn't gonna spit on me - who knows where he actually did spit - the internet place i was at yesterday had hoark all over the screen...(is it hoark or hork? never thought i would actually have to think about that one?...)

so go into shang (the trek to the train station was a nightmare btw - the first time i actually had to carry my pack on the trip and it was sooooo hot and humid i was literally soaking by the time we got thru the subway, past security and into the station...) shang was different from bei in that the traffic was waaay crazier...bei was ok you had to watch out a bit and just a bit wacky - shang was pretty much anything goes - green or red lights are just a suggestion and at one intersection you can have people walking, people on bikes, motocycles, rickshaws, buses, taxis and cars all trying to turn in 4 different directions all at once...pretty funny. constant honks and you gotta look both ways for sure! bei was also ancient china and shang is future city. the buildings look like alien world - they are crazy. when we got there headed to shang museum which had a bunch of old chinese stuff - it was ok would have passed but the group was heading striaght out to dinner and then after dinner an acrobat show - had all the crazy chinese acrobat stuff like cirque du soliel-y jazz...pretty cool - then at the end had the ball of death with 5 motorcylces going in it at once...all the stuff was performed by the same guys and girls so they basically had to know everything! crazy...oh and cabin ladies - we thought one hula hoop was hard - these chicks were doing like 30 at once...we'll work up to that one day im sure...

next day was walking tour and we headed up of of the tall towers and that was cool to see the sprawling city of 17? million...and at the top the ladies were cracking open oysters with pearls inside we could keep! then we went to an awesome old market and this awesome garden that was a private garden so it was mazelike and super cool - probably one of my fave things - not that crowded and really pretty...that night me and mum went to the pedestrian street with all the high end shops...and pizza hut is a pretty classy joint in china apparently (yes left to our own devices we could only handle pizza hut - lame i know but we did try to go to this one chinese place on our own but we realized it would be pretty hopeless - but we have been trying everything else when our guide is with us - dont want some accidental dog or cat...)...i liked the pedestrian street in bei better but me and mum did the tacky tourist mini train ride back down the strip - apparently it was quite popular and we had to fight to get seats - im pretty sure i arm barred an 11yr old...oh well hopefully she learned not to be so pushy! the kids are for the most part pretty adorable here though...except there is a wierd tradition of just letting the kids pee and poo in the street while the parents hold them - the kids don't wear diapers and there are just slits in their pants...pretty gross when we realized all the puddles in the street we thought were water we prob actually pee pee...yep.

next day was a free morn so i interneted and started composing this mutha of an email (maybe i should do shorter ones more often?) and then we caught another night train to xi'an where i currently am for one more day after tonight...this night train seemed a lot hotter than the other - or maybe it was just the 16 hrs! of breathing recycled air...gross...and squatty toilets again so needless to say i didn't drink much water...

arrive in xi'an around 8am today - home of the terracotta warriors and hit that up first thing - pretty crazy! there are like 4 of excavating happening - i think so far they have unearthed 7000 and no two are the same...pretty unreal - still excavating more...the bus ride out there was less than $2 for an 80km trip! the transport here is actually very very cheap - try a 17 cent bus ride...and taxis are pretty good too...like i mentioned before food is quite cheap also - some of the souvenirs can be a bit pricy but it depends how much you want to barter...sometimes i can't be bothered to save myself the 60 cents which is nothing to me but loads to them...

so just got back from a traditional dumpling dinner - very good - probably the fullest i have been so far and that was like $7...nutty. then wandered around the muslim markets - more food on sticks! tomorrow we will walk around the city wall and see the historic sites of xi'an...then another day train and off to yichang...(whatever that is?!)

oh yeah and facebook is banned here in china because of some rioting going on so if you are trying to reach me just email it cuz im not sure how long it will be banned for and we have about 10 more days in china!

hope you are all well and hope you can follow my ramblings!

love jess