sleepy head

i like to document things while i travel. i keep a strict money diary (down to the cent), which tells me a ton of things: where i stayed, how i traveled, what i ate, what i saw, etc. so in my first installment of my money diary, i want to share how i slept each night - and what it cost me.

10 Oct: BEIJING/Elaine's apartment (on the college campus where she is teaching); Y0
11-12 Oct: BEIJING/Parents' apartment (owned by a church); Y0
13-14 Oct: BEIJING/Elaine's apartment; Y0
15-18 Oct: BEIJING/Parent's apartment; Y0
19 Oct: BEIJING-XI'AN/Overnight train (soft sleeper); Y405/2 (sleep + transport)
20-21 Oct: XI'AN/Hostel (private ensuite/shared bathroom); Y158 (x2)
22 Oct: XI'AN-CHONGQING/Overnight train (hard sleeper); Y191/2 (sleep + transport)
23-25 Oct: THREE GORGES/Cruise ship; US$350/3 (sleep+transport+tour fees)
26-28 Oct: SHANGHAI/Tram's apartment in Pudong; Y0
29-31 Oct: HANGZHOU/Hostel (4-bed female dorm room); Y50 (x3)
1-4 Nov: SHAOXING/Heng-Hartses' apartment (provided by the university where they are teaching); Y0
5-7 Nov: HONG KONG/Couch-surfed (floor of a couchsurfing host); Y0

total: Y764(US$101.87) + US$116.67 (1/3 of cruise) = US$218.54. not bad for a month's worth of sleeping!

twice during my trip, i stayed with strangers. the first time was in Shanghai, wherein i stayed with a younger sister (Tram) of a Seattle friend (Mai). i stayed there for three nights and was hosted graciously by Tram and her fiance, even though they were both super busy running the Chinese headquarters of the his family business and preparing for their wedding. (they were leaving for L.A. a few days after my departure.)

staying with Tram in Shanghai was a quite interesting affair. first of all, they live in a very fancy apartment a block away from what will be, for a few short weeks, the tallest building in the world (World Financial Center). to give you an idea on how fancy the place is, there are no key or code entry for the apartment - only fingerprint. secondly, there wasn't a spare bed - so i slept in the window alcove (that was comfortably cushioned) of their office. a unique arrangement for sure, but the cool thing was that i had a view of Pudong from my "bed".

my second round sleeping with a stranger was via Couch-Surfing. i got turned onto the idea when i got concerned about the guy who was subletting my apartment. i wanted to make sure that my departure in early October wasn't too late; that he had a place to stay in the meantime; perhaps like my former subletter, he was staying with friends. so i asked him if he was couchsurfing.

he answered, "no, but i did that in Europe!"

huh??

so couch surfing is a real thing - not just something you do with friends when you get in a fight with your parents or partner!

the basic idea is: you log onto a site, search for cities where people are offering up their couches (or in this case, a floor), contact the individual and ask to be hosted, and then sleep on a couch. the intention is to be an open community of hosts and guests - to be a host and to be hosted.

anticipating that Hong Kong would be both overwhelming and expensive, I decided to give it a shot while there. (i had the money to stay at a hostel - even a hotel, but i wanted to try this method of lodging.) So before i even left Seattle, i contacted a woman who was offering her floor. she had similar demographics as me: single, in her late 30s, social worker, living in a tiny apartment in the city. we emailed back and forth over the next few weeks (she was in Croatia traveling when i first contacted her), making plans for my arrival (which was always in flux since i wasn't traveling with an itinerary.)

despite some minor trepidation (it was my first time couch-surfing; it was her first time hosting) about inviting/staying with a stranger in a strange city, we hit it off splendidly. she was extremely accomodating (even taking some time off from work to host me). she got to practice her English with me, and i got to learn about/experience H.K. from a native's perspective. it was a wonderful experience, and i'm hooked to this cross-cultural exchange idea. moreover, lodging didn't cost me a thing! (i did treat her to a couple modest meals while we were out together, but the cost was significantly less than what i would've paid for lodging. anyway, i wouldn't have gotten, what was essentially, a native tour guide in the mix!) we are now Skype and Facebook friends too!

when i return to my own computer (i'm in a PC bahng right now), i'll post pictures of Fong and her lovely apartment. needless to say, couchsurfing was a resounding success!

static

apologies for the radio silence. i've been sick on and off since i was in Xi'an four weeks ago. it's taken a turn for the worse in the past few days, so writing is a mental chore.

thankfully, i went to the hospital this morning. i've been reassured that i'm not dying and that many drugs will help me get better. the hospital visit: about $16.50 (less than my Group Health co-pay); four different drugs: about $12.50 total.

China/Hong Kong trip

04-05 Oct: Seattle to Seoul
10 Oct: Seoul to Beijing
12 Oct: Tienanmen Square, Forbidden City, Wangfuxing
13 Oct: Walking tour of Central Beijing (with Elaine)
14 Oct: Walking tour of Back Lakes area; Beijing opera (with Elaine)
16 Oct: The Summer Palace
17 Oct: Happy Birthday, Elaine Magil!
18 Oct: Great Wall of China
19-20 Oct: Overnight train to Xi'an
21 Oct: Xi'An - Big Goose Pagoda; Muslim Quarter
22 Oct: Xi'An - Banpo Village; Terracotta Warriors; overnight train to Chongqing
23 Oct: Chongqing; board Yangtze River cruise boat "Three Kingdoms"
23-26 Oct: Yangtze River cruise (Chongqing - Yicheng)
26 Oct: Three Gorges Dam (Yicheng); bus to Wuhan; flight to Shanghai
27 Oct: Shanghai - The Bund; China Sex Culture Museum; Nanjing Road; Pudong
28 Oct: Shanghai - The French Concession; Renmin Park (People's Square); Shanghai Museum; Yu Gardens
29 Oct: Hangzhou - Leifeng Pagoda
30 Oct: Hangzhou - Biking; West Lake; Yellow Dragon Cave Park
31 Oct: Hangzhou - Biking; Lingyin Temple
01 Nov: Hangzhou - China National Tea Museum; train to Shaoxing
02 Nov: Walking tour of Shaoxing - Fushen Park; city square
03 Nov: Shaoxing - Orchid Pavilion; Canal boat ride; historic district walk; Night market
04 Nov: Shaoxing - KTV
05 Nov: Flight to Shenzhen; Light rail to Hong Kong; Victoria Peak/Tram
06 Nov: Hong Kong - Lantau Island; Po Lin Monastery; Night market
07 Nov: Hong Kong - Sai Kung
08 Nov: Hong Kong to Seoul

a weekend in Shaoxing

this is an entry that i never finished or published while in Shaoxing. but since it's half-written, i may as well post it...

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it's an overcast Sunday morning in Shaoxing - perfect for coffee, a New York Times crossword puzzle and lounging around. the Heng-Hartes and i enjoyed glorious weather yesterday by spending the day (mostly) outdoors. we embarked late (so we thought) for the Orchid Pavilion (10 km away) and were pleasantly surprised by an essentially empty site. we explored paths that led us to different delights (pavilions, ponds, museums, wildlife, etc.)

after we having a pleasant lunch at a semi-hidden restaurant, we were shocked at how populated Orchid Pavilion had gotten in 45 minutes. there were tourist groups everywhere, complete with the sea of matching red caps and tour guides' megaphones!

beautiful Hangzhou

i spent 45 minutes earlier this afternoon writing a post, and then somehow lost it. i think i wrote some interesting stuff about Hangzhou, its beauty and its sights - links and all. but alas, all gone!

i'm staying at the lovely West Lake Youth Hostel right on West Lake, the major attraction in this gorgeous city. it's across the boulevard from Leifeng Pagoda, which has a long history - both real and mythological. a famous legend/opera about White Snake Lady takes place in Hangzhou/West Lake/Leifeng Pagoda. Elaine and i saw a scene from this legend at Beijing Opera a couple weeks ago.

this morning, i rented a bicycle from the hostel to explore the scenic area - lake, pagodas, tree-lined boulevards, arched bridges, ponds, temples... (yes, a very romantic city). i had intended to go out for the entire day (weather forecast: sunny and 70 high), but it was foggy and chilly the entire time - visibility close to nothing. then it began to rain around noon.


after trying to ride it out (pun intended) for a couple of hours, i gave up and returned soaking wet to the hostel in the early afternoon. i had intended to leave Hangzhou tomorrow for an mountain island, Putuoshan in the East China Sea (about five hours away by bus & boat), but i've decided to stay here another day instead. the forecast tomorrow is supposed to be warm and partly cloudy. one can only hope that the weather will be better than today.

interesting sight of the day: an italian olive oil specialty store & hair salon. i kid you not.

this hostel is clean, comfortable and has a lot of character. it, however, does not have good food. after a bland and disappointing dinner last night (cheese sandwich with fries) and an equally bland and disappointing breakfast this morning (congee and fried egg), i was in search of FLAVOR. so lunch today was a McDonald's cheeseburger and fries (salty goodness), which almost hit the spot. but i must've not totally sated my desire for flavor because this evening, as i was wandering around, my eyes fell upon an Indian restaurant and i made a beeline for it.

i don't know if it was an appetite borne out of the biking/hiking i did today or if it was just that good, but i ate the entire order of naan and chicken tikka masala. it felt like the most delicious meal i've ever had in my life. i was in gastronomic heaven!

sadly, i've not been totally in love with the Chinese food i've had in China. so far, nothing in my travels has come even close to the delicious, spicy food i had in Thailand - of which i still remember and dream. food in Vietnam and Cambodia was okay; food in China has been okay. tonight's Indian food (in Hangzhou, CN) was fantastic.

there's a VERY cute little resident black puppy in the hostel. cute and little (about 9 inches long) are the operative words. when i was on the internet this morning, he stole one of my slippers.

i'm heading to Shaoxing in a couple of days to visit Joel & Sarah. we actually got a chance to hang out a bit this weekend in Shanghai; as it turned out, we were visiting the city at the same time! we got a chance to ooh-and-aah over the dazzling and strange Shanghai lights at night. somehow beautiful in an eerie way... J & S, after reading about my hot pot woes in Chongqing, have promised me a hot pot night in Shaoxing! i'm very excited... i think some tasty hot pot will make a positive dent in my Chinese gastronomic experience.

i have just nine days left in China. my last significant stop is Hong Kong out of which i'll be flying on November 8. i'm feeling sad about leaving because i've so loved being here and exploring the country, but i'm also excited about starting the next phase of my sojourn in freezing cold Seoul.