Photo 1: At the Summer Palace in Beijing - lovely bridge!
Photo 2: It's raining at Meiji Jingu, a shrine in Tokyo (somehow the pictures got out of order when they loaded- sorry!) This place was beautiful - greenery everywhere, and cool wooden prayer plaques you could write messages on.
Photo 3: Vending machine madness in Tokyo
Photo 4: A busy, neon-filled Tokyo street - in the Shibuya neighborhood
Photo 5: Photo booth picture from Tokyo. These machines are the BEST. They're made by Sega, and my new goal in life is to import them to the US and become richy. I heart them.
Photo 6: Temple of Heaven, Beijing - this is the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests.
Photo 7: Tiananmen Square at night - "Hello, hello... Welcome to China!"
Photo 8: Great Wall 'o China!
Photo 9: The tobagen ride down from the Great Wall. This is the sign for the "speed chute," which was comforting. It was rad.
Photo 10: Forbidden City pagoda.
Sunday, July 1, 2007
We're home, we're home!
Sorry so long no blog! Thank you for continuing to check in with us! Our last days in Asia were a whirlwind, and blogging facilities weren't always close at hand.
Beth and I arrived back home safe and sound last Monday - and have since been reveling in the joys of it (full meals that don't include Pocky, showers attached to living quarters, giant-sized everything, etc). Below is a synopsis of our final days in Asia to round out the tale of adventure!
Our first night back in Beijing was spent at Tiananmen Square to it lit up. We got there just in time to do a quick lap around the huge square as dusk fell and it slowly became illuminated. The massiveness of the square struck us once more - wow! Our most touching moment in China came when we passed by the Monument to the People's Heroes, a large statue in the center of Tiananmen. We were walking by, and heard someone shout "hello, hello?" Worried that we'd stepped on a cultural relic or otherwise offended in some way (we were a bit on our toes in the square - it's pretty intimidating with police everywhere and I'm sure lots more in plain clothes; we tried to be as inconspicious as possible, but as some of the only white people there, and with our freakish twin looks on top of that, it was somewhat difficult). We looked around anxiously and realized that the greeting had come from the soldier guarding the monument, about 100 feet from us. We looked at him, and he then shouted, "Welcome to China!" So sweet.
Our days in Beijing were spent touring the Temple of Heaven (a big park in the city, the highlight of which is the huge Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests - see pics!), visiting the Great Wall (we went to a somewhat off the beaten path section void of throngs of tourists - definately the way to go! We climbed up some steep parts, enjoyed amazing views, had many photo moments and pocketed a few crumbling bits for mom and dad - I promise, they fell off in my hand. Seriously.), exploring the massive Forbidden City and taking in the Summer Palace. All of these sights were fantastic - it's hard to imagine more history jam-packed into one area!
Our final stop on the trip was to Tokyo, where we spent two days getting lost in the city, and one day visiting Mickey (hailing from the OC, how could we not see how they do Disney in Tokyo?) We were struck by the city's cleanliness and trademark neon signage everywhere, and by its inhabitants' orderliness, polite and friendly dispositions and stylish/ adventurous fashion sense. We loved the glowing vending machines everywhere, the adorable knick-knacks (Hello Kitty everything; we spent no less than 3 hours in a 6-floor toystore) and the cool, futuristic technology. We spent our days visiting the city's famed shrines and temples (Meiji Jingu and Sensoji), getting extremely lost on somewhat frustrating no-name streets (the public transportation in the city is amazingly orderly and efficient, which is in sharp contrast to the city's virtually unplanned nature. Finding a random building in Tokyo can be a daunting task, as many streets aren't named and locations don't have actual addresses. We walked for an hour before finding our hostel, and only found it because a really nice stranger took pity on us and personally walked us there!), making our way with the masses through the trendy and so-cool neighborhoods of Shibuya (my favorite!) and Ueno and relaxing on tatami mats in our "Ryokan" (Japanese Inn). My high school foreign language Japanese skills (?) were put to the test (I basically remember how to say Yes, No, Hello, My name is Amy and Where is the bathroom; all of which were used, thank you Japanese class).
Our last day in Tokyo, and the last day of "Asiadventure 07," was spent...at Tokyo Disneyland. Loved it. Curry and noodles instead of hot dogs, orderly lines for photo-taking with Walt's statue, "Western Land" in Frontier Land's place, Star Tours in Japanese ("light-o supeed") and a myriad of other fun differences. It's a small world!
To all who read-- thanks for for journeying along with us!!!
:) Amy
Beth and I arrived back home safe and sound last Monday - and have since been reveling in the joys of it (full meals that don't include Pocky, showers attached to living quarters, giant-sized everything, etc). Below is a synopsis of our final days in Asia to round out the tale of adventure!
Our first night back in Beijing was spent at Tiananmen Square to it lit up. We got there just in time to do a quick lap around the huge square as dusk fell and it slowly became illuminated. The massiveness of the square struck us once more - wow! Our most touching moment in China came when we passed by the Monument to the People's Heroes, a large statue in the center of Tiananmen. We were walking by, and heard someone shout "hello, hello?" Worried that we'd stepped on a cultural relic or otherwise offended in some way (we were a bit on our toes in the square - it's pretty intimidating with police everywhere and I'm sure lots more in plain clothes; we tried to be as inconspicious as possible, but as some of the only white people there, and with our freakish twin looks on top of that, it was somewhat difficult). We looked around anxiously and realized that the greeting had come from the soldier guarding the monument, about 100 feet from us. We looked at him, and he then shouted, "Welcome to China!" So sweet.
Our days in Beijing were spent touring the Temple of Heaven (a big park in the city, the highlight of which is the huge Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests - see pics!), visiting the Great Wall (we went to a somewhat off the beaten path section void of throngs of tourists - definately the way to go! We climbed up some steep parts, enjoyed amazing views, had many photo moments and pocketed a few crumbling bits for mom and dad - I promise, they fell off in my hand. Seriously.), exploring the massive Forbidden City and taking in the Summer Palace. All of these sights were fantastic - it's hard to imagine more history jam-packed into one area!
Our final stop on the trip was to Tokyo, where we spent two days getting lost in the city, and one day visiting Mickey (hailing from the OC, how could we not see how they do Disney in Tokyo?) We were struck by the city's cleanliness and trademark neon signage everywhere, and by its inhabitants' orderliness, polite and friendly dispositions and stylish/ adventurous fashion sense. We loved the glowing vending machines everywhere, the adorable knick-knacks (Hello Kitty everything; we spent no less than 3 hours in a 6-floor toystore) and the cool, futuristic technology. We spent our days visiting the city's famed shrines and temples (Meiji Jingu and Sensoji), getting extremely lost on somewhat frustrating no-name streets (the public transportation in the city is amazingly orderly and efficient, which is in sharp contrast to the city's virtually unplanned nature. Finding a random building in Tokyo can be a daunting task, as many streets aren't named and locations don't have actual addresses. We walked for an hour before finding our hostel, and only found it because a really nice stranger took pity on us and personally walked us there!), making our way with the masses through the trendy and so-cool neighborhoods of Shibuya (my favorite!) and Ueno and relaxing on tatami mats in our "Ryokan" (Japanese Inn). My high school foreign language Japanese skills (?) were put to the test (I basically remember how to say Yes, No, Hello, My name is Amy and Where is the bathroom; all of which were used, thank you Japanese class).
Our last day in Tokyo, and the last day of "Asiadventure 07," was spent...at Tokyo Disneyland. Loved it. Curry and noodles instead of hot dogs, orderly lines for photo-taking with Walt's statue, "Western Land" in Frontier Land's place, Star Tours in Japanese ("light-o supeed") and a myriad of other fun differences. It's a small world!
To all who read-- thanks for for journeying along with us!!!
:) Amy
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Picture captions!
Just-loaded photo captions:
Photo 1: Soaking in the Muslim Quarter of Xian
Photo 2: Meet Beth, whose come as part of the "infestation of foreign adventurers." Yes, small children have been visibly frightened by her on the street. Seriously.
Photo 3: We are now giants and almost as tall as the Oriental Pearl. I don't think we'll fit on the plane home.
Photo 4: This was the view out our window at our romantic dinner at M on the Bund. Beth proposed to me.
Photo 5: The beautiful Yu Yuan Gardens in Shanghai!
Photo 6: Pingyao!
Photo 7: Happy times and bicycles in Pingyao
Photo 8: Xian at night!
Photo 9: Try not to set fires while at the terra cotta, aiit? Thanks. -- China.
Photo 10: The terra cotta! Seriously so amazing.
Photo 11: Welcome to the "wood craving center." It's not like we can speak Thai or could come even close to translating words, but we're smart-asses at heart. Can't help but enjoy the horrible signage; It's just too good.
Photo 12: Sistas. The traveling hat is traveling, ladies!
Photo 13: Old and new Bangkok.
Photo 14: That crazy small bathroom at the floating market.
Photo 15: The market that floats!
Photo 1: Soaking in the Muslim Quarter of Xian
Photo 2: Meet Beth, whose come as part of the "infestation of foreign adventurers." Yes, small children have been visibly frightened by her on the street. Seriously.
Photo 3: We are now giants and almost as tall as the Oriental Pearl. I don't think we'll fit on the plane home.
Photo 4: This was the view out our window at our romantic dinner at M on the Bund. Beth proposed to me.
Photo 5: The beautiful Yu Yuan Gardens in Shanghai!
Photo 6: Pingyao!
Photo 7: Happy times and bicycles in Pingyao
Photo 8: Xian at night!
Photo 9: Try not to set fires while at the terra cotta, aiit? Thanks. -- China.
Photo 10: The terra cotta! Seriously so amazing.
Photo 11: Welcome to the "wood craving center." It's not like we can speak Thai or could come even close to translating words, but we're smart-asses at heart. Can't help but enjoy the horrible signage; It's just too good.
Photo 12: Sistas. The traveling hat is traveling, ladies!
Photo 13: Old and new Bangkok.
Photo 14: That crazy small bathroom at the floating market.
Photo 15: The market that floats!
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Captions for Thailand part 2 pictures...
Pic. 1 - a Tuk Tuk - we loved zooming around Bangkok and Chiang Mai in these! The're everywhere, and can squeeze in-between busses and other cars to get places in no time!
Pic. 2 - An image from Doi Suthep in Chiang Mai. This Wat was amazing - on top of a hill (where we saw the 6 monks in a pickup truck) overlooking the city.
Pic. 3 - Beth at the Khantoke dinner, with the feast before her.
Pic. 4 - The Khantoke dinner dancers
Pic. 5 - an enormous golden Buddah, the tallest in Bangkok!
Pic. 2 - An image from Doi Suthep in Chiang Mai. This Wat was amazing - on top of a hill (where we saw the 6 monks in a pickup truck) overlooking the city.
Pic. 3 - Beth at the Khantoke dinner, with the feast before her.
Pic. 4 - The Khantoke dinner dancers
Pic. 5 - an enormous golden Buddah, the tallest in Bangkok!
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