Hangzhou

Hello to all those avid readers of our blog (all 3-4 of you!),

We are in Hangzhou now and it is way better than Guangzhou. It is definately more of a touristy city and the scenery is much more appealing. It has also been cooler as it has been raining.

We were stuck in Guangzhou (also known as Canton) - the place where cantonese was created and is still mainly spoken. This left Caitlin's translation powers looking crippled and decrepit. Not to worry though as now we are in Hangzhou (1.45 hours flight north east and 45 minutes train from shanghai), she is coming into her own. It's pretty amazing how well she can speak this crazy language, and whenever i try and repeat what she says (and i still feel i do it verbatim), i only get puzzled looks from the chinese folk I am trying to converse with...jerks. She bought a super duper translator today (she needs a bit more than mine can handle for her uni course mum and steph), and it is touch sensitive with a stylus. She can copy any chinese character she sees into it and it will translate it into english (text and voice). This also works for english to mandarin and also for phrases. It's pretty gnarley, I'll add a picture.

We went out to the night markets tonight but they were just like any old markets. I'm keen to go to a techno market at some stage. We missed out in Guangzhou. Stupid Guangzhou.

Ok the real reason we didn't like Guangzhou is because a restaurant tricked us into drinking tap water which we though was distilled water. This left us both with a horrible case of "pepper belly". $400 worth of cancellations and re- bookings, 10 gastro-stop pills, 8 gastrolite drinks and a course of doxycyclin later - we may have left Guangzhou, but its memory will remain with our bowels forever.

Anyway, I'm going to sign off for now. See you when I have something more exciting to write.

Pauly

P.s - We are staying in another 4 star hotel for super cheap but once again, I don't think we really belong here.

The thing is, laundry at these hotels costs HEAPS (like $30 for 4 shirts and 4 shorts) so we havn't had a chance to get much done. We have been using detergent in the bathtubs and stuff for small items of clothing and hanging them in the bathroom. So we are down to some of those old clothes we thought we could need at some stage but probably wont be wearing much (me more so than Caitlin). So, when coming home from the night markets, we walk back through the lobby (remember it has been raining) and there is classical pianist placing in the lobby and adjoining cocktail lounge. I walk past the pianist with insanely loud and sqeaky white sneakers, an old grey shirt and board shorts with a bag containing the pizza we couldn't finish at pizza hut. We were all all wet. All the nicely dressed people in the lounge kinda looked at us weird. We don't belong in places like this...but I don't care because in China.....I'M RICH BIATCH!

Where are we?

I've been meaning to do this since before we left! Here is a rough map of where we're going. I think that if you click on it, it will open it in a new window and make it really big so that you can read it.

Still not missing anyone yet...

ok, just a little bit.

C

Rugby... League?

Hey noobs,

Pauly here. Not gonna write too much as not much has happened over the last couple o days. Shanghai should be awesome though. I'm really enjoying the dim sum and dumplings over here....nothing like what they are like in Australia.

The main thing I wanted to say was that I am now able to enjoy a cheap beer, aforementioned dim sum and the NRL in China. I subscribed to a website known as Aussie Sport TV.com, and, for a small monthly fee I can now enjoy all of the NRL games over the internet. Although the games are not live (usually come online 1 - 2 days after actually), I am still excited to be able to watch the nrl and hopefully the rugby league world cup wherever I am on our travels. As the games are delayed please do not comment on the games on this blog unless I initiate the conversation with you, noobs ;) This internet site is only available outside of Australia and is basically just the Bigpond sports NRL feeds. Still, it is better than nothing.


Also, check out this awesome advertisement we found in the Guangzhou subway. Very creative I thought.



The picture on the bottom is an image of what the Guangzhou subway system looks like. The ad probably resonates more with us as we have been becoming familiar with the subway and the different train lines, but still, its pretty cool. I think the ad says stuff about how smooth, safe and easy the ride is (as if it is a car but its not, its for the train system how cool!)

Matto will like this one.

Anyway, peace out noobs.

Pauly

I MISS MY KITTEN!

Hey Gizmo, I hope you're keeping up to date with our trip! Maybe you could subscribe to our RSS feed? You'd like that. Then you can get an email everytime we write a new post! Are you being a good kitten? I hope so. Don't annoy Heckle too much. Or eat Blue. You only eat canned fish, ok? Good girl. (I bet you're purring as you read this) I know you miss me too.

Love you little monkey. xox

PS: Thanks mummy and daddy for looking after her!! xoxoxoxoxox

IT'S SOOOO HOT!!

The average temp during the day has been between 36-38 degrees CELCIUS! Apparently it's going to be 42C on monday. The relative humidity around 62%. You walk outside, it hits you in the face...and then you sweat. No one else seems to be worried about the heat. They use umbrella's to shield from the sun...but the sun is hotter in Aus. It's the damn heat that is hot EVERYWHERE! We stand in the shade and it doesn't matter! It's crazy watching men work and women carry huge loads of merchandise...I think we look hotter than them! It's insane. But as long as we stay in air-conditioning my body continues to function. This means only one thing: Shopping! As long as we shop in air-con, everything is fine! :) This makes me happy!

I bought a bag today! It's '很好皮‘ (very good leather) and very soft. I bartered the lady down to 600RMB which is about $90ish AUD. Look at this:

It's awesome!

We did brave the heat yesterday; I dragged Paul around to some touristy sites. Guangzhou doesn't have too many...people mainly come here for the food and shopping! We did make it to the huge garden in the north of the city though, as there is the Sun Yat Sen Monument (couldn't find..the garden is so huge), the Five Rams statue (also didn't see...), and the Zhenhai Tower. This is the Zhenhai Tower. It's part of the old city walls and, being the on
the tallest peak in Guangzhou, was where they kept an eye out for intruders etc.

There are also many other little statues etc hidden throughout the park. Trying to convince Paul that walking up steep steps when we were literally melting was tranquil and relaxing was quite hard to do. I must admit that it was a lot quieter (and if we sat still enough for long enough, it might have been cooler) than the actual city outside the park. There were heaps of little hidey spaces and clearings in the gardens and people were either lying in hammocks fanning themselves and sleeping, or squatting on the ground playing card games. We also passed a couple of older people walking around for what looked like excersise. At one stage there was an old man by himself in a little clearing walking backwards and forwards, faster one way and clapping on the way back. It was way too hot for us to be walking anywhere that wasn't with a purpose!

Beautiful! The gardens were too I suppose!

According to Paul, this was part of 'The Lame Wall of China'.

I'm finding I can use my mandarin a lot more here. In Hong Kong everyone spoke Cantonese and most spoke English. Here everyone speaks Mandarin and then Canto and then if we're reeeeally lucky, a smattering of English. This is good. I have to remember how to barter, and find laundry detergent, and ask directions...so far so good. I do have to thank Stephanie for then electronic translator she gave Paul! It's coming in handy!

What else...oh yeah....you know you're in China when you see people peeing in the street (or on the street that you just walked on). So far it's only kids, and only peeing.

Before I go, I'll show you some of the food!

This is Paul's 'spaghetti with sausages and vegetables' and soup (?) and
sweet potato chips. He also ordered an Oreo milk drink...it was yummy!

This is at the same restaurant (RBT) as above. I ordered the 'RBT Beef noodle with
mushroom' as well as my favourite...Pearl milk tea (a strong milky tea with sago pearls at the bottom!)

Teapuccino anyone??

This is in the middle of Beijing Lu (Beijing Street), which is a mall like Queen st. This is what is
underneath the actual street that we're walking on. They found parts of old streets and city walls. Some are
over 7 centuries old! As you can see, they keep putting more roads on top. (Also notice the Coke advertising, very subtle)

This is Beijing Lu. It's really busy and pretty much like Queen Street...notice the McDonalds??

Duets

Hi all!
Last night was a great night! We decided that we would go to the Avenue of the Stars and soak up the night life and the skyline. During the day we went out to the Ladies Market and Pauly bought the most stuff! Ironically it was me who did the buying in the Technology street! It was all clothes and bags and the like, which is always fun! It's obviously a place where a lot of tourists go as we saw several beggers. They weren't just any old beggars though! There was one boy, about 11 years old, who was in something that looked like the down dog yoga position (hands and feet on the ground with bum in the air) but he had one foot wrapped around over his back with his foot next to the opposite ear. When we saw him, we both gasped out loud. It looks like it really hurts! His knees and joints were hyper-extending. It was crazy. We gave him money in the hope that he stopped!

Anyway, after the markets, we came back to the hotel...just in time for happy hour! Usually we just help ourselves to the food and drink in the lounge upstairs, but this time they kept refilling our drinks for us, so we kept missing the hotel's bus to Tsim Sha Tsui and just had to keep on drinking! After missing the final bus, we caught a cab at 9ish. We made it to the avenue of stars for a look around and some photos.

It was a lovely view of the Hong Kong Island (we are on the Kowloon Peninsula, which is attached to Mainland China). We missed the light show, which is at 7.30 I think. In the light show most of the buildings have laser lights and strobes etc flashing around and writing in the sky. I'll make sure we don't miss it on the way back!

After soaking up the sights and taking photos of the stars' name plaques and hand prints on the avenue...ok, we only knew Jackie Chan!

We decided it was time for another cocktail. We had a couple at a blues bar overlooking the skyline, again...it's pretty amazing, I can't believe we are actually in Hong Kong! Then Pauly decided that as I had not yet sung Karaoke, I had to partake in this 'rite of passage' and I had to do it tonight! So we jumped in a cab and the driver dropped us off saying 'it somewhere around here'...he didn't know much english! We eventually found one after asking around and then had to request some songs. We were the only westerners in there and they didn't have any of the songs we asked for...except one: 'My Heart Will Go On'. Let me just say...I nailed it. Then I think they found the only other english songs they had: 'Where have all the flowers gone' and another one about 'finding my man' or something to that effect, which Pauly did an awesome rendition of! Then they took the mic's of us.


After another couple of cocktails, we decided to approach the table of rowdy boys playing a dice game. They agreed to teach us how to play and we picked it up pretty quickly! Let's just say...I'm awesome! The game went a little like this:
Everyone had a cup with 5 dice in it and we all shook it and then the loser from the last round got to pick how we'd play it: either Lucky or Liar. If it was lucky, we all took our cups off and showed everyone and the one with the lowest hand got another chance to roll whichever of the dice he wanted to improve. If he was still the lowest, he drank. If not, the next lowest got a chance etc. That's 'lucky'...now for the part I shone in...'liar'! This is a lot like poker. You have a look at your dice and then say something that you think that either everyone actually has, or you bluff it! Example: "5 4's" in all the dice on the table (we were playing with 6 ppl, so that was 30 dice) I was guessing that there were 5x4's rolled. Then the next person would have to say either 6 4's or 5 5's, they have to go up at least one. I was great at bluffing so I would say something like 7 6's and then someone would say 8 6's and then I'd call them. I'd win coz I didn't have any 6's!!!!!!! HEHEHEHEHEH I'm awesome. Then there was this other game that was a lot like the crazy game that Barney, N.P.H., played on How I met your mother.

((Side note...this is why we don't belong in the executive suite: Paul is sitting on the couch eating macca's and spilt ketchup from his chips on the carpet...I turned around in time to see him trying to RUB IT INTO THE CARPET!!!!))

Ok, back to the game: It's not going to make any sense as I still don't think we understand it!!! We would watch them and it just did not make any sense at all!!! It didn't help that they would speak in Cantonese! Ok, so two people play. They put their hands in fists out in front of them and then it works a little like 'scissors paper rock'...ish. One person calls out 5, 10, 15, or 20. (this is how many fingers there are...) as they call out the number, they flash their hands out. The number they call is a guess of how many fingers the other person puts out as well as theirs. Is this making any sense? I didn't think so!

ANYWAY....it was fun and we played it all the way home on the taxi. The driver was laughing at us! We got home at around 4am. Here are some more photos of the night:

Executive Decision

Ok...where do I start?? First of all, I must agree with Paul's observation of the girl sitting in front of us. She looked like she was 20+, but acted like she was 12. It was quite irritating!!

Anyway, we're off the plane, we have our bags, navigated the taxi rank (they have different coloured taxi's depending on where you are going! We are in the red zone...) We started getting nervous as it was a 50 minute drive from the airport and things started looking seedy. BUT THEN...we arrived at a hotel that was something out of a movie!! (The Royal Plaza Hotel) The lobby is full of plush carpeting, gold, and chandeliers! There were porters who opened our doors and took our luggage (brought to our rooms later (((This is Paul....that's normal Caitlin...ok do go on...)))). We were whisked away to check in, wonderful service, and then paid the deposit and were asked if we would mind if we were upgraded....for free. Paul and I looked at each other and made an executive decision...the Executive Suite it was!!! The upgrade means that we have access to the exclusive Executive Club lounge, breakfast daily (in our choice of the downstairs restaurant - open to all - or the club lounge which is lovely and peaceful), the China South News daily, complimentary afternoon tea, and free cocktails - or anything for that matter - between 6-8pm!!!!!!!! We can't believe our luck!

(Hi...this is Paul editing Burnsey's post...because I can.....and also, in the spirit of ########... (i had to edit my own post..fill in the blanks.) I'd like to mention some things Caitlin may not have emphasised enough about our sweet suite upgrade! (((I have just been smashing the free cocktails at the EXECUTIVE LOUNGE p.s))) I can have my suit pressed each day, ((((I knew i should have brought that thai suit....I'll have to buy another muahahaha)))), Sweet in room dvd player, PLUSSSSS we can check out at 4:00 on our last day! I love this hotel...they get me. Screw it...we are staying here until March 09. I love you all dearly and miss you already.)))))))))

(p.s the in room internet is a god send...ok, back to Caitlin....she has authority to edit my posts to so this could get very interesting.)

We've had pretty good food so far, although we haven't had time to venture too far away from shopping centres and the like. My favourite pick has been BBQ Pork and a Pearl Milk Tea (strong milky iced tea with tapioca pearls) Yummy!

Today we got ourselves organised (I haven't actually received any cash yet, so there were emails and even phone calls to try and sort it out. It will be rectified by the end of the week. There are smiles all around) and then went out on a mission...to buy our new phones! Pauly wants to get something extremely awesome and up to date but will have to pay big for it...even here. If he wants an iPhone, it's AUD$1200ish and must be on a 3 year plan...obviously that can't happen (P.s this is paul again...this fact is wrong. The iphone is cheap but it must be on a 3 year plan (like 300 AUD) but to buy it OUTRIGHT and unlocked is like $1400 AUD...just thought i'd clear that up. I think i'll use caitlins old phone and buy and up to date phone when i leave HK in March-ish-ly-ism). So while we were in the technology streets of Hong Kong, I ended up buying everything! (Actually 'I' ended up buying everything as burnsey as broke as heath ledger and jake gyllanhall at the moment (what too soon...poor spelling...meh...it was worth it...i have no regrets)) I got a LG KF700. It's fantastic! The only downside is that it's an LG! It's really easy to use and has a touch screen and number pad. We looked at a couple of phones, including the iPhone, and found that my LG's combination of touch and buttons is the best! It also has a little stylus pen that comes with it...and it's really cute too. :)

As a side note...as I write this, Pauly is watching Jackie Chan sing a song called "We are Ready"...can you guess what it is about? Yes...the Olympics! As we expected, Hong Kong has Olympic fever. Every shop has the colours or the mascots somewhere. The shopping centre that's connected to our hotel (7 floors of shopping!) even has a replica of the Olympic Stadiums made out of Leggo! It's huge and really intricate; all of the stadiums and streets are full of people all doing something...and there's a little train that goes around!! I was excited! Paul, not so much. If I can get the video to work, I'll post it!


Otherwise, I'm going to post some photo's of the hotel and our room, hong kong streets, lunch, and of course, my new phone!


Apparently videos are difficult to add...I'll let Pauly do that in a later blog! P.s that thing hanging off the side of the phone is the antenna....not really...it's the stylus. noobs. hahah this is paul again without brackets. noobs

Love to all...don't miss you too much yet!
XOXOXOXOX

The Departed

So we have arrived in Hong Kong. I'll let you know a little about our flight and stuff and Caitlin can talk about what we have been up to.

We finally flew out of the land of sweeping plains whilst sleeping on a plane. Not really though. The plane was pretty cramped and I struggled to get any sleep at all so I just annoyed Caitlin and watched movies on demand (And trust me, I was pretty demanding too). The two noobs sitting in front of us made me ashamed to be Australian and I pittied all of the Hong Kong people who would have to deal with them during their stay. As we flew into Hong Kong, the gorgeous landscape and city scapes were slightly tainted by the arrogant narration provided by the ,ugly, fat (and slightly retarded i still believe) woman in front of us.

"Check that joint over there ey! WOOOO shit I don't think he knows how to steer this thing hey! Hey, they definately love their shitty skyscrapers don't they, they all look the same though. Each one of them cargo ships are huge hey, in real life they are massive. Woooooo shit i dont think he (the pilot) knows how close he is to the water...oh no theres some land.....woooo shit I'M F#@KING RETARDED!!!! etc"

I was going to get a photo of her but i think it might have broken my camera (the olympus is shock proof, water proof and freeze proof but I dont think it is ugly okka proof)...

Anyway, enough of all that whinging....after that things in Hong Kong started going our way! I'll let Caitlin tell you all about that though. I'll leave you with some photos of taking off, mid flight and landing plus some very weary photos of us waiting for our bags.


Pauly

Six days to go...

Dear Diary,

Yep. Six Days.

We are flying out to Hong Kong on Sunday the 20th of July to begin our 7 month stint in the middle kingdom. We've decided to start this blog instead of doing the group e-mail thing so those who are interested can keep up with what we are doing over there (and therefore won’t have to listen to our noobish holiday stories once we get home!).

Caitlin will start Uni at Shandong University on September 1st and I will begin teaching at the Shandong Institute of Commerce and Technology (that's a scary thought!) on August 31st. Both of those are in Jinan City, Shandong Province for those of you playing at home.

We are just in the process of clearing out our old West End Queenslander - selling all of our furniture, moving stuff over to Megan and Jim's and cancelling all financial obligations we have in Australia (not many just gas, electricity, internet, phone etc).

We are going to miss this place. I am going to put some photos up for reminiscent purposes, but you can look at them too if you like.

We went out for some spirited spirits at Southbank's 'Plough Inn' as a small going away bash with some friends. It was really good. We got home about two and had to get up this morning to apply for my visa and get Caitlin's visa back. Caitlin now has her F visa and I should have my z visa (working visa) by tomorrow. I paid extra to have it done by tomorrow because you can't put a price on good organisation ;)

Anyway, as far as this blog goes, we will try to put in an entry once or twice a week. I think I'll do all my entries on the Sabbath each week.

Until our next post, see you later faithful readers.

Pauly

P.s - for those noobs who need an explanation, this wikipedia article relating to noobs should bring you up to speed. Noobs.

Origin

The word newbie is a variant of 'new boy' and comes from British public school and military slang. Its earliest known usage on the Internet may have been on the USENET newsgroup talk.bizarre^[1].

Before it entered popular discourse by way of the Internet, the term "newbie" had a limited usage among U.S. troops in the Vietnam War as a slang term for a new man in a unit.^[2]

Alternative spellings

"Newbie" can be used as a term to identify newcomers to a game, place, or organization. The variant spellings of "newbie" are also used, especially in online games, as a catch-all insult regardless of the recipient's actual skill or experience. Someone who acts like a "newbie," but isn't one would be referred to as one of the variant spellings.^{[citation needed]} The variant "noob" has become common in spoken English in parts of New York City and New Jersey as a substitute for the word dude. Alternative spellings include "newb," "n00b," "N00B," "noob," and "nub". These alternative spellings of the term, other than "newb," inherit the definition of "newbie" but are generally used in a derogatory manner to indicate uselessness because of the ignorance associated with being a newcomer.