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| Nothing says "Welcome to China!" like blueberry flavored potato chips. |
Without further ado, may I humbly present - China.
Please be advised all captions are short and sweet (sorry), and there will be a brief recap of what I've been doing since I've been home, along with a preview of 2011's plans at the conclusion of this post. There will also be time allotted for Q & A.
Downtown Shanghai, the entertainment district.
2010 World Expo in Shaghai, China. Beautiful weather!
Where's Mere?
First pavilion - China!
The closest I will ever get to Tibet, I bet.
Shaanxi
Yunnan
Beijing
Inner-Mongolia
I don't know the provence, but the little white statues remind me of the wood spirits from a Japanese classic anime called "Princess Mononoke".
Next country - New Zealand!
Kingdom of Cambodia
Maylasia
Singapore
The Phillipines
Thailand
One of the Scandinavian countries. Finland?
Latvia
Sweden
Iceland
Turkey
The closest I will ever get to Cuba.
USA! USA!
We watched a pretty moving short, silent film about a little girl who wanted to build a garden in the middle of a run down apartment block. SPOILER ALERT! The whole community helps out.
Awwwwwwwww.
Angola and Nigeria
AH MOTHERLAND! Russia
(in case you couldn't read the cryllic on the front)
Inside the Italian pavilion, by far my favorite one. Hence why I took so many photos.
Chair sculpture/tree
A high heel, made of high heels!
Ze pasta room.
The United Kingdom's pavilion, which gives me the overwhelming desire to touch it.
Me in front of the Chinese Pavilion
Nepal
Indian and Saudi Arabia
South Korea
Up close at the side of the South Korean pavilion. I didn't have enough time to check out the North Korean pavilion, which is a shame, because everyone knows 'North Korea is best Korea'.
If I ever get to design my own house, I want my bathroom to look like Uzbekistan.
Japan
Hong Kong
Maccau
Chinese pavilion at night.
And that concludes my time spent at the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai. From here, I hauled ass back to the flat I was staying at, grabbed my bags, took a taxi to the train station, and literally ran onto my overnight Beijing-bound train as the doors were closing.
I only paid around $45 for a one-way 'hard sleeper', which means there were six people to a cabin. It wasn't bad at all, plugged in my iPod and was asleep in no time. The only draw back to buying the cheapest ticket available is that it stopped every 30 minutes (or so it seemed) so it took FOREVER to get there.
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| Snug and secure in the middle bed. |
And now, Beijing!
The front entrance to the Forbidden City.
The Meridian Gate at the Forbidden City.
(I think)
A bronze crane statue.
A bronze turtle statue.
The Hill of Accumulated Elegance
The Hill of Accumulated Elegance
The moat surrounding the Forbidden City.
The skyscraper to the left is the highest building in Beijing, and I was staying with a very nice guy who lived quite close to it.
Hungry? Fried scorpion.
Tian'anmen Square
After a full day of wandering around "downtown" Beijing, Barry and I ate delicious Chinese food at a mom and pop shop near his apartment.
Tuesday, I woke up bright and early, and took myself down to the Beijing South Railway Station and bought a ticket to Badaling, to see and walk on the Great Wall of China.
View from the train
You can start to see parts of the wall that are overgrown or dilapidated as the train approaches the more well-maintained parts.
Just to let you know, this wall is deceptively steep.
Barry and I at a mall in Beijing, grabbing something to eat before I head down to Suzhou to visit John David.
Beijing Railway Station
And now, Suzhou!
John David's apartment complex, which is next to a Kraft factory, so his apartment always smells like cookies.
J Dizzle and his e-bike.
"Have you seen our canals?"
JD and I, touring Suzhou via e-bike.
Of course, I convinced JD he NEEDED to buy the drum kit for Guitar Hero.
Autobots - Roll out!
Hunter and Tucker betting if they could fit through the well opening and land safely on the table below.
Nightly light/water/techno show at the man-make lake.
K-Phu's birthday party.
Yes, there is really a bar in Suzhou, China called the Drunken Clam, and yes the sign works. Amazing.
So that's all for China. I have a million pamphlets/papers/brochures if you want details, but it's taken this long just for photos, so it'll have to do.
NOW! Since I've been home, I have:
Eaten lots of American food
Seen most of my amazing friends and family
Played with my nephew
Driven whatever car I can steal
As for future plans, yall get ready for another new year, and another blog, because I'm moving to Brisbane, Australia February 1, 2011.
Why? you may ask.
Why not?
