Skyscraping

From [09.07.14] New York From Above

Check out some amazing pics I snapped from my JetBlue flight from Orlando to Boston! I was watching TV the entire flight with the window down when I suddenly had the urge to take a glimpse and the clouds. To my surprise and delight, at that very second we were soaring over Manhattan! talk about timing. In a week’s time I had two near brushes with the city I love the most: once when I transferred in Newark and then this. I guess I’m always subconsciously in a New York state of mind!

Lower Manhattan to Midtown:

From [09.07.14] New York From Above

Central Park and Uptown:

From [09.07.14] New York From Above

[09.07.14] New York From Above

Cruisin’ through Cali

From [09.07.04] Return to the US and 4th of July

After 14 hours aboard various China Eastern flights that were a lot less painful than I had anticipated — with the exception of some epically disgusting “chicken” and noodles — we touched down in our homeland once again. The only mild panic I experienced crept up when we were singled out for agricultural inspection. Normally, this isn’t a problem as I don’t make a habit of traveling with raw meats and fish from far-flung locales. However, as a special treat for some gourmand friends, I smuggled back in quite a number of bags of Sichuan peppercorns, the numbing, metallic-tasting spice native to the central region of China. These tongue-tickling spheres harbor a citrus canker that can threaten US citrus crops, not being native to North America. Therefore, import of the peppercorns is banned unless they have been heated above 160 degrees F. I’m pretty sure the peppers I’m packing are simply dried and not roasted, so I sweat it out as my bags went through the scanner. Luckily, we were either not found out or within import laws and we stepped into the States happy to be home.

We spent the next week in the Los Angeles area with Sean’s family, taking time out to enjoy a massive BBQ dinner in downtown LA with a few friends. By Friday, we were traveling again, this time driving to the Bay Area to visit with friends and family. We had a lovely time seeing friends Reina and Alex along with their new son, Cameron, and spent considerable time eating, laughing and enjoying the company of Brendan and Sunny, soon to be parents. Finally, we were able to see my Uncle Bob and Sean’s Grandpa Frank, who I met for the firs time. Grandpa Frank is a serious sports fisherman, and a 6-foot sailfish gleams down on all visitors to his house. The next week, I relaxed poolside with my own grandfather and great aunt, enjoying the lack of internet and the sunshine.

This is the life.

[09.07.04] Return to the US and 4th of July

Beer Garden Beijing Bye-Bye

From [09.06.28] Beer Garden Bye-Bye

After two great nights of parties, we didn’t think we had it in us anymore, supposing Sunday night to be a quiet night at home with a lowkey dinner at the local Wudaokou beer garden. Haha … what a joke that we thought anything in the Wu with our friends could be “quiet”!

The “evening” — which was really 4PM — began with our friends Natasha and Anne bringing over two bottles of wine for a “house cooling” party. We recapped some of our favorite Chinese adventures and headed over to the beer garden to meet the Swedes and our friends from Cuba and Greece for some chuanr and chitchat.

The beer garden is packed with Chinese food stalls as well as cheap ($0.25) draft Tsingtao beer, and offers some great Chinese cultural encounters, such as the chuanr cooks who use hairdryers to speed up the skewers’ cooking process. All of our closest friends from school still left in town got together for one last night of reverie that included Cuban cigars, lots of beer, a giant heart made of small, bulbous balloons and a late night stop at our local hot dog joint, Crazy Dogs.

Even though we didn’t turn in until 2AM and had to get up a mere four hours later, it was worth it. We’ll miss our Beijing good times, good food and good friends!

[09.06.28] Beer Garden Bye-Bye

Going Away in Style

From [09.06.26] Going Away Party at Obiwan and Chocolate

A fond farewell isn’t very fond without that time honored tradition: the going away party.

In true Colleen and Sean fashion, we started the party on Friday night and kept it going all the way through Sunday night at 2AM. Well, of course interspersed with bouts of sleep.

Friday

From [09.06.26] Going Away Party at Obiwan and Chocolate

We began the marathon with what we originally believed to be our only going away shindig at Club Obiwan, a chill bar/lounge with a roof deck overlooking Qihai lake right in the middle of Beijing. We should have known that things wouldn’t have ended there, as the whole crew rolled over to Chocolate. Chocolate might just be the most spectacular club I’ve ever been to. Run and staffed by Russians, the club features a midget doorman sporting a mohawk, scantily-clad (um, underwear only) “dancers,” gaudily opulent velvet banquets and Louis the XIV chairs,a live band that sings Russian electro hits and reasonably priced bottles of alcohol. It didn’t take us long to realize our group of 15-20 definitely needed to buy the best booth right next to the stage — for a meager $150 in spend, which is 3 bottles of booze, mixers and a hookah. This was 1000 kuai here and would easily have cost $1000 in NYC (probably more). The night devolved and I’ll let what happened at the club stay at the club, but I escaped unscathed and sober. We sure went out with a bang!

Saturday

From [09.06.27] Ristorante Sadler and 最后的 Cash Box (KTV)

After packing up all day Saturday, we met up with Jonathon, Emily and Emily’s mom, Sandy, on Saturday. As a lovely engagement present, Jonathon and Em treated us to a wonderful dinner at Ristorante Sadler, an Italian restaurant in the Legation Quarter created by 2-star Michelin chef Claudio Sadler. The handmade breads were one of the highlights, as was my liquid risotto-filled ravioli topped with sweetbreads. Mmmm, brains. I definitely felt a bit smarter eating them.

From [09.06.27] Ristorante Sadler and 最后的 Cash Box (KTV)

After dinner, we hit up “Cash Box” — also known as Party World — for one last epic karaoke session. On the ride home, I couldn’t help but get a little weepy that I was leaving my best friend behind in Beijing.

[09.06.26] Going Away Party at Obiwan and Chocolate

[09.06.27] Ristorante Sadler and 最后的 Cash Box (KTV)

Aaaaand … we’re back!

After 16-hours of door-to-door travel, a not-so-bad two flights on China Eastern airlines, one viewing of Stallone classic Demolition Man and 200-pages of Foreign Babes in Beijing, the fiance and I made it back unscathed to our country of origin. We currently rest our weary bones and decompress just south of Los Angeles, cozily welcomed by Sean’s family. Although we’ve only been back just shy of 30 hours, We’ve already compiled a list of American things for which we’re grateful and Chinese things which we miss (in no particular order).

What I already miss about China:

• Great cell phone reception for less than $10 a month (not to mention no contracts)
• $0.25 bottles of soda
• My electric bicycle
• Being able to eat a feast for $3 or less
• The exchange rate
• Cheap subway rides ($0.25) on clean modern subways
• The fact that a 35-minute taxi ride costs less than $10
• Cheap rent
• Chuanr
• My best friend, Emily
• All my other friends still in China
• The little baby girl growing up right next door to us
• Crazy Dogs
• The Wudaokou Beer Garden
• Cheap bootleg DVDs
• REAL Chinese food (esp. Peking duck)
• Coitus Maximus
• The fact that I’m missing the Great Wall Beach Party
• My Chinese class
• Sundays on Top with Patrick Yu
• That you can usually haggle a better price for anything
• Not getting to practice Chinese on a daily basis

What’s awesome about being back in America:

• No squatting toilets!!!!!!!!!
• Not having to carry around your own toilet paper with you everywhere
• Voicemail
• That spitting is considered disgusting and unhygienic
• Avocados
• In-n-Out burgers (ok, this is just one thing that rocks about being in Cali)
• No time difference hassle when I want to call people
• Uncensored movies
• More than 12 TV stations (with only one in English)
• People not staring at me like I’m a curiosity
• Sour patch kids
• Pollution levels nowhere near as bad as Beijing (even in LA)
• Subway rides without cell phone service (people screaming into their phones)
• Not always worrying you are getting ripped off
• Wine and cheese
• Seeing much missed fam and friends
• Being able to have a conversation with someone about anything without having to grasp for vocabulary (also known as: Everyone speaks English!)
• People saying “excuse me” and just generally being polite

The best thing about being back in the USA: MY BLOG IS ACCESSIBLE!

I’ll have some more up on our last few days in China over the next week. Stay tuned!